A group of urban Tibetans scattered across the People’s Republic of China (PRC) published on 22 June 2004 an open letter to the Chinese authorities urging them to prevent the famous Chinese athlete, Zhang Jian, from swimming across the holy Namtso lake (Chin. Namco; alt. 5,400m) on 31 July. Namtso is approximately 100km north of Lhasa in Damshung county, Nagchu prefecture. Written in strong words but with marked respect to the sensitivities of the PRC’s political establishment, the letter is another testimony to the determination and skill of a young, well-educated generation of Tibetans striving to obtain the respect of Chinese society for Tibetans, their culture and in particular their religious feelings, without challenging the power of the state authorities and within the limited scope of freedom of expression in the PRC. Zhang Jian, a teacher at Beijing Sport University, became famous for swimming across rivers, lakes, bays and channels. In 2003, he swam across the Tso Ngonpo Lake (Chin: Qinghai; also known by the Mongolian name ‘Kuku Nor’). Referring to that event, the petition states that, whereas the authors respect Zhang for his sporting achievements, he should have considered that Tso Ngonpo is the object of religious veneration for Tibetans, particularly since 2003 was a sacred year dedicated to the deity believed to live in the lake, which occurs only once every 60 years. Zhang swam across the lake "without the knowledge of many Tibetan compatriots", which, as the letter states, "caused very bad responses from the Tibetan masses". As an educator and "a member of the big family of 56 ethnic groups", Zhang should have understood the need to "respect the religious beliefs and customs of different ethnic groups". The authors argue that whereas people should be treated with tolerance for their lack of knowledge, and blaming Zhang for past events would not be suitable, after mentioning that the issue has already attracted a high level of attention among Tibetans, they ultimately reject "another blind attempt" by Zhang to swim across the Namtso "without any investigation and understanding". They added, "we resolutely oppose this and won’t tolerate it again".
The letter is addressed to the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the State Bureau of Religious Affairs, the State Sports General Administration of the PRC, as well as to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) People’s Government, the Beijing Sport University, and Zhang Lian himself. It explains that Tibetans have respected and worshipped the Namtso as a holy lake for generations, and that in their view, it is "not just the second largest saltwater lake on the roof of the world", but rather it is "serene, peaceful, full of sanctity and compassion, and is an important venue of religious activities". The lake is then declared a "focus of the Tibetan people’s long-standing and persistent spiritual pursuit", and as a consequence, "any disrespect towards it is equivalent to disrespect and violation of the Tibetan people’s spiritual beliefs". The authors reaffirm: "As Tibetans, we definitely cannot accept the blasphemous act of ‘swimming across the Namtso’".
The letter continues: "In this superficial era marked by materialism and unscrupulous actions for personal gains, Zhang Jian’s attempt to swim across the Namtso is a manifestation of a willingness to disregard and trample upon a people’s spiritual beliefs just for personal interest. In their quest for personal gain, many people have lost their due respect and awe towards nature and life. No matter for what purpose, Mr Zhang Jian has fought through wind and waves countless times, we believe that he should understand this, and we hope he does possess this quality of respect and rationality". Whereas the letter repeatedly mentions that it’s purpose is to protect the Tibetans’ "ethnic feelings", "dignity" and "self-respect", and emphasises "devout" and "spiritual beliefs" as characteristic of the Tibetans (thus implicitly drawing a cultural line between them and the Chinese), it takes great care to stay in tune with the dominant political discourse of the PRC and to characterise the request to stop Zhang’s endeavour as ‘patriotic’ in nature, so as to avoid any ‘political’ connotations. At several points, the authors explicitly state that they aim to prevent "hurting ethnic feelings and sabotaging ethnic unity", "(…) because we value the country’s [i.e. the PRC’s] hard-won ethnic unity and prosperity" and that Zhang’s plan would "sabotage the good situation of ethnic unity, and bring about unnecessary losses to the nation and the people’s healthy development". The request is presented as an "issue of principle which has bearings on ethnic unity and national stability" and is based on the PRC’s constitutional order: "The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that citizens have the freedom of religious belief. The relevant departments of the state have the responsibility to safeguard citizens’ religious beliefs according to the constitution". The authors then "strongly request" the state authorities represented by the relevant departments, and Zhang Jian himself, to "immediately cancel this act that runs counter to the Tibetan people’s spiritual beliefs" and to "resolutely prevent Zhang Jian’s ignorant act of swimming across the Namtso" since "they cannot ignore certain individuals’ wilful behaviour". Anticipating similar endeavours in the future, the authors also "call upon the relevant state departments to prevent such incidents which violate the holy land and holy lake and hurt ethnic feelings from ever happening again" and exhort the media: "Don’t lose justice and principles and produce senseless publicity only for the benefit of certain individuals and groups, or even advocate and praise Zhang Jian’s harmful act of swimming across the Namtso". The letter closes by stating: "We are closely watching any development in regard to this issue. And we expect relevant leaders and departments and Zhang Jian himself to give a satisfactory response on this matter".
The letter is strong in language and documents a vigorous determination, but the authors, apparently concerned about possible counter-productive emotional reactions among Tibetans, explicitly call on those to approach the issue with due rationality and with respect to established order by stating: "Lastly, we especially urge all Tibetan compatriots who are concerned about this issue to act with rationality and sobriety and use normal channels in line with the constitution and laws to prevent Zhang Jian from swimming across the Namtso".
