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The Tibetan struggle for freedom
The Chinese occupation of Tibet
The Chinese occupation of Tibet
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Recommended: The Tibetan struggle for freedom
Max Hannah
Mr. Helling
English 10
3 March 2014
Chinese occupation of Tibet
Starting in the early 1950’s China began an invasion and occupation of neighboring Tibet. For centuries Tibetans had lived in their own, independent country with their own religion and culture along with their own government. Over this time period China and its people have seen Tibet in a different way; they see it as always being part of China. This is an important issue for not just Tibetans and Chinese, but for the world even with many people never knowing that Tibet was in a struggle for freedom. The action that is going on in Tibet could, and in some cases already has, affected many people in many different countries. I believe that what the Chinese government is doing to Tibet is wrong in almost every way, and that action needs to be taken from outside governments or people to help change the issue. Throughout this paper I will further my argument with facts while showing the other side of the spectrum by writing how the Chinese are trying to help.
In 1910 the Qing Dynasty rulers sent a military expedition into Tibet in order to kick out the Dalai Lama and make it so China had direct rule over the nation. Following the Xinhai Revolution of 1912 the Tibetan militants were able to defeat the Qing garrison and restore the Dalai Lama’s titles in 1913. (“Issues facing Tibet today”) For hundreds of years before then and for the years that followed until 1950 Tibet was regarded by many to be its own country. The question a lot of people ask is why didn’t the United Nations attempt to intervene and help the Tibetans? It is due to the fact that though Tibet was recognized as a country by many people, it was...
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...he population was mostly Tibetan in 1992 with the Chinese being the minority. Now however, the Tibetans are the minority alongside a 95% Chinese population. (“Chinese presence in Tibet, population transfer”) The influx of Chinese people in major Tibetan cities has led to the expansion of the cities, which have now turned mainly rural areas into urban areas. Job bias is rampant in the cities, with major Chinese employers selecting Chinese immigrants over the Tibetan locals. (“Chinese presence in Tibet, population transfer”)
In conclusion, China’s occupation of Tibet has destroyed the environment, laid waste to the traditional agricultural techniques, and has harmed the Tibetan people in many other ways. Even when the Chinese government tries to aid the Tibetans through the tourism plan their own corruption and greed ends up bringing the money right back into China.
It states that “Tibet declared itself an independent republic in 1912.Although its status did not receive widespread recognition, Tibet functioned as an independent government until China sent troops to Tibet in 1950” (BBC News). The Tibetans feel as though their freedom is being retained and they are being dictated by China, which they did not approve of. China claims that Tibet is better with them leading them and insists that Tibet is there’s. The tension between them still exists today and is clearly shown in both books, by Xinran and Ma Jian. The concept of Sky Burial is inspired by a true story.
The Mongols, a nomadic society in the 13th century, were quickly able to conquer a vast amount of land in Eurasia. The Mongols were able to accomplish expanding their empire so widely and so fast because they had many military tactics, and their army was extremely well trained. These both got them a leg up on their enemies. The Mongols were incredibly ruthless at times in battle and used interrogation tactics to gain intel. Plus, their soldiers were trained from a very young age and always prepared.
If China had not reannexed Tibet, that peace park would never have existed. Its entire raison d'etre is predicated on Chinese oppression and western interest. Without oppression the Tibetan traditions lose their most alluring aspect. Tibetan Buddhism is no longer dangerous or sexy. Without western interest, their potential converts and donation pool shrinks to a trickle crippling their ability to sustain the tradition.
Ever since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the legitimacy of the revolution of which it was built upon has perennially been in question. For example, in a 1999 issue of the International Herald Tribune, a prestigious scholar claimed that all of China’s tragedies are ‘sustained by a mistaken belief in the correctness of the 1949 revolution’ and that the future progress of China depends on the recognition that the revolution was a failure. However, the CCP government was certainly not perfect and its most significant failures were its political failures such as the Anti-rightist movement and the Cultural Revolution and also economic failures such as the great leap forward. Millions of peoples were falsely accused and persecuted during the political movements of the Mao period as the CCP focused on class struggle instead of economic development during the period and tens of Millions of peoples died due to starvation as there were widespread food shortages during the great leap forward movement.
It was led by His Royal Highness, the Dalai Lama. Before the Chinese came in and took over Tibet, Tibet had nothing to do with China. The Chinese invaded Tibet in July 1949. They caused many disasters and much sadness to the Tibetan people. Today, Tibet is nothing but a prison.
In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, President George W. Bush reached out to the world to back the U.S. in a war to eradicate terrorism. One of the more surprising participants in this coalition, China, had until that point been at odds with U.S. policy but seemed to find sufficient common ground with the U.S. to support the war. In recent months however, China has not been lauded for unprecedented cooperation with its “strategic competitor” but has instead been criticized for using the war on terror as carte blanche to step up its “Strike Hard” campaign in the Uigher Xinjiang Autonomous Region in the northwest, resulting in unprecedented numbers of executions of political prisoners, a suspension of free religious worship, and a general decline in respect for human rights. The western media has claimed that Beijing had been waiting for a chance to crack down on Uigher separatists and is now behaving as an opportunist to pursue these goals while the U.S. is in no position to decry its behavior. However, this opportunism argument only explains some of the recent actions in Xinjiang; in this paper I will seek to show that Beijing’s increased policing of Xinjiang serves primarily to demonstrate to the international community that it will not be excluded from Central Asia.
Before the US entered World War II, the west coast of America was riddled with racism and prejudice against Asian-Americans; especially in laws like the Chinese exclusion act of 1882 and the California Alien Land Law of 1913 which mainly targeted Japanese immigrants. Then with Imperial Japans seemingly unprovoked and unjustified attack of pearl harbor, it was easy for Americans to justify hysteria and their pre-existing prejudices against American citizens of Japanese descent. It was to the point that even being 1/16 Japanese could brand you as a possible treat to the nation. Then on the incredibly baseless, possibility of an internal Japanese threat Executive Order 9066 was enacted; declaring most of the west coast a war zone and declaring the region under martial law. The Order made it legal to send Japanese Americans to
Before any of these questions can be answered though, one must first know the origin of the conflicts between the two regions as well as the history of the Free Tibetan Movement. As said above, Tibet used to be a place that not many people knew about. This made it much easier for the Chinese government to come in and take control of the people and the land without much protest from the outside world. In fact even if other countries, like bordering India, had known, not much would have been done. This is because no nation had ever recognized Tibet as an independent country. Rather, it was the events that followed which caused the uproar. According to defected citizens of Tibet that traveled to India and then dispersed throughout the world, the Chinese started a form of spiritual cleansing. Monks and spiritual leaders that would not follow their ground rules were detained, captured or killed. The lama's of the Tibetan people were either taken as political prisoners or exiled. However, there are also those that said that some of this never happened.
A precise definition of genocide was instituted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948. It states that genocide occurs when, “one group kills members of another group, causes serious bodily or mental harm, inflicts conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, prevents births within the group, and forcibly transfers children of the group to another group” (Destexhe, 1). Using this definition as a guideline, it is clear that China has not only committed genocide against Tibet in the past, but is continually doing so in contemporary society.
The Potala Palace has seen its fair share of controversy, as Tibet is a very controversial part of the world. When Communist China invaded Tibet in 1950 with over eighty thousand troops, massive protests were held at the palace. It has been estimated that about one million people have been killed since the Chinese occupation and the exile of Tibetan government officials. During this time, the treasures of Potala were stolen and priceless, irreplaceable historical documents and artifac...
It has happened to most native peoples, they’re pushed out of their homelands by a big, foreign power. Peoples’ rights get violated, and they are treated as second class citizens. Native Americans, Africans, Siberians, Indians, it has happened to all of them. In Asia, a new superpower has risen up, communist China, and has gained a massive amount of influence, using the largest military in the world. The native peoples in the western borderlands have suffered the greatest, and most people have heard about the struggle of Tibet. Most of us, however, have not heard of another, more violent crackdown, on the Uyghur people. This paper will take you through all the inner workings of the conflict, from the background, to the reasons, to the violence.
The Tang Dynasty (618 -907 A.D), also known as China’s glorious revelation, was a time of major change both politically and economically in the Chinese Empire. During this time period, trade became greater than ever. The military power strengthened. The population also increased during this time period from fifty million to eighty million in just two centuries with its large population base, the dynasty was able to raise professional and conscripted armies of hundreds of thousands of troops to contend with nomadic powers in dominating Inter Asia. The Tang also has a strong influence on its neighboring states such as Korea (which was at the time made if of three kingdoms) and Japan. During this time period the Silk Road expanded and trade
Members of The United Nations have a duty “to maintain international peace…in conformity with the principles of justice and international law.”[1] China, a core member of the United Nations since its formation in 1945, fails to comply with international human rights’ norms set forth by The United Nations Charter. This failure is noticeably prevalent in the practices of the Chinese Legal System. Its judicial proceedings in handling peaceful, political dissenters fail to provide the minimum protection of human rights guaranteed to all through international law. By examining accounts of Tibetans detained for such peaceful protests, this paper will set out to highlight the discrepancies between Chinese enforcement of international law in theory and in practice. Before this paper goes any further, the notion of international law must be explained. Providing a better understanding of international law will make easier the task of highlighting China’s struggles with enforcing such standards.
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic, or Laos, is a politically stable and peaceful landlocked country in Southeast Asia, centrally located in the Mekong sub-region. The country occupies about 236,800 square kilometers and almost half the length of the Mekong River that flows through it. It is bordered by China to the north, Myanmar and Thailand to the west, Cambodia to the south and Vietnam to the east. The country has a tropical monsoon climate with a rainy season from May to October. Temperatures range from highs of 40°C along the Mekong River in March and April to lows of 5°C in the high mountains in January. (The World Fact Book) Most of Laos is covered by mountains and dense forests and its population density is among the lowest in Asia. Laos has a population of about 5.6 million, comprising 47 ethnic groups.
Fifty-one countries established the United Nations also known as the UN on October 24, 1945 with the intentions of preserving peace through international cooperation and collective security. Over the years the UN has grown in numbers to include 185 countries, thus making the organization and its family of agencies the largest in an effort to promote world stability. Since 1954 the UN and its organizations have received the Nobel Peace Prize on 5 separate occasions. The first in 1954 awarded to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva, for its assistance to refugees, and finally in 1988 to the United Nations Peace-keeping Forces, for its peace-keeping operations. As you can see, the United Nations efforts have not gone without notice.