Deaths and new crackdowns in Tibet/Sichuan

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16805695


China steps up security in Tibet following protests

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58189000/jpg/_58189346_013823935-2.jpg Security has been stepped up in Sichuan following the protests last week, activists say




Tibetan 'dies in Sichuan unrest' (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-16764849)
China confirms second Tibet clash (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-16713380)
Tibetan killed in China protest (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-16690393)


A senior Chinese official has ordered tighter security in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and on main roads following deadly protests in Sichuan province.
Lhasa Communist Party Secretary Qi Zhala also warned of a crackdown on those involved in "separatist, destructive and criminal" activities.
The move came after protesters clashed with security forces in parts of Sichuan province last week.
At least three people are reported to have died, with dozens more injured.
Sichuan province borders Tibet and several areas have large ethnic Tibetan communities.

'Strike hard'

Mr Qi called on police to step up security at monasteries to prevent further unrest.
"We must strike hard at all the separatist, destructive and criminal activities of the Dalai clique and make efforts to realise our goal of not letting any incident, big or small, occur," he said in a speech published on the Lhasa government website.
He was referring to Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

The Tibet Divide



China says Tibet was always part of its territory
Tibet enjoyed long periods of autonomy before 20th Century
In 1950, China launched a military assault
Opposition to Chinese rule led to a bloody uprising in 1959
Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled to India
Dalai Lama now advocates a "middle way" with Beijing, seeking autonomy but not independence


"Lhasa officials and functionaries at all levels, especially the police, must increase... efforts to rationally dispatch police forces and step up registration and inspection work along national roads, at key monasteries and among leading suspects."
The BBC's Martin Patience says these comments highlight Beijing's growing concern that the recent unrest could spread.
Observers say the recent violence is the most serious outbreak of anti-government protest among Tibetans in nearly four years.
Tibetan areas of Sichuan are said to remain extremely tense. Since March 2011, at least 16 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in apparent protest against Beijing's rule.
Last week three violent protests were reported in the province.
China said that one protester was killed on 23 January in a confrontation with security forces in Draggo county, known as Luhuo in Chinese.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58085000/gif/_58085817_china_sichuanseda_01_2012.cmp.gif
China also confirmed that a Tibetan was shot dead by security forces in Seda county on 25 January, the second incident of unrest that week.
And just last week, a man in Aba prefecture was also reportedly shot dead during a protest.
Tibetan campaign groups, however, say that the number of Tibetans shot dead is higher than the Chinese government's count. The figures are hard to verify because foreign journalists are not allowed to enter areas of unrest in Sichuan.
The Chinese government claims that protesters in Draggo and Seda attacked police stations. But rights groups said that the marches were peaceful protests.
The groups say the protests are a sign of rising frustration among Tibetans because of growing religious repression and harsh security measures adopted by China.
It is a shame that China can just dismiss any calls for reform and public protests in that area by accusing everyone involved of being a "splittist" and crack down on them, without bothering to dialogue with or address people's real concerns. It's not the propaganda of the "Dalai Clique" which is driving Tibetans to do this ... such an analysis is anti-materialist ... it's the response by Tibetans to their material conditions. The military/police state response will just cause more division and suffering in the long term. Nonetheless I am sure that there are plenty of folks on this forum happy to defend the actions of police against unarmed protesters because those police march to a red flag.

[Xylophage]

The BBC and other western news agencies are not to be taken seriously when it comes to reporting about China. There exist far more authoritative coverage that comes from China, some of which is available in English.

The bourgeois media's familiar narrative of "evil Chinese commies vs. poor Tibetans" is to be doubted in this case. What happened in the Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture was that an armed band attacked stores and smashed militia cars, which prompted the militia to open fire as an act of self-defense. Contrary to the bourgeois narrative you're promoting, this incident had nothing to do with politics of ethnicity, but was a matter of security.

Anything that happens in Tibet is China's internal affair, to be resolved by the Chinese people themselves. China is a free, independent country that for the past 60 years has been constructing socialism. Big progress in all areas have been made by CCP, including lasting solutions to ethnic issues. China's enemies among the imperialists and their stooges coming from China have tried their hardest to wreck the Chinese Revolution by organizing and encouraging subversion and secessionist forces, but they have failed in their goals because of the superiority of socialism and the vigilance of the Chinese working-class.


It's not the propaganda of the "Dalai Clique" which is driving Tibetans to do this ... such an analysis is anti-materialist
Tibet for a long time has formed an inseparable part of China. With the exception of the Dalai Lama and the people he has misled, no one seriously challenges this fact. The workers and peasants from the Chinese, Tibetan, and all other nationalities of China must work together to meet their common interests, rather than pursuing narrow-minded, sectarian causes that will only lead to disaster. Other than China's enemies, no one would benefit from a separate Tibet that would suffer from backwardness and isolation. An idea like "independent Tibet" makes absolutely no sense, as socialism can only be accomplished with the cooperation and solidarity of workers of all nationalities.

[Princess Luna]

Yes the CCP has made good progress in socialism, thats why western companies are moving all their manurfacturing to China.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

The BBC and other western news agencies are not to be taken seriously when it comes to reporting about China. There exist far more authoritative coverage that comes from China, some of which is available in English.

The bourgeois media's familiar narrative of "evil Chinese commies vs. poor Tibetans" is to be doubted in this case. What happened in the Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture was that an armed band attacked stores and smashed militia cars, which prompted the militia to open fire as an act of self-defense. Contrary to the bourgeois narrative you're promoting, this incident had nothing to do with politics of ethnicity, but was a matter of security.


"The politics of security" is always a convenient excuse for the State to repress protests. Tunis, Tahrir Square, Yemen, Oakland ... just because the police drape themselves in a red flag it doesn't make their police-state activity more reasonable than in those other cases



Anything that happens in Tibet is China's internal affair, to be resolved by the Chinese people themselves. China is a free, independent country that for the past 60 years has been constructing socialism. Big progress in all areas have been made by CCP, including lasting solutions to ethnic issues. China's enemies among the imperialists and their stooges coming from China have tried their hardest to wreck the Chinese Revolution by organizing and encouraging subversion and secessionist forces, but they have failed in their goals because of the superiority of socialism and the vigilance of the Chinese working-class.Tibet is not an "internal affair" any more than what happens in any other country is. As Internationalists, our concern should be the rights of all people regardless of their national affiliation and whichever State lays particular claim over the land. Nor is China currently "building socialism" ... China is a capitalist country and the only thing it is "building" is Imperialism. No socialist country would lack public health care, public education, the right to strike against a capitalist employer and a large number of liberal bourgeois folks in the party. And no socialist country would exploit corrupt governments in Africa and Asia to gain low-cost natural resources. Heck if I was a Tibetan, I'd be rioting for the free health care and free education that the Maoists promised!

Apparently not all the solutions which they have found for ethnic issues have been "lasting", as Mongolians and Turks have also rioted in recent years in China due to resentment towards real or perceived Han chauvinism by the state and state companies. It's not only the Tibetans.



Tibet for a long time has formed an inseparable part of China. With the exception of the Dalai Lama and the people he has misled, no one seriously challenges this fact. The workers and peasants from the Chinese, Tibetan, and all other nationalities of China must work together to meet their common interests, rather than pursuing narrow-minded, sectarian causes that will only lead to disaster. Other than China's enemies, no one would benefit from a separate Tibet that would suffer from backwardness and isolation. An idea like "independent Tibet" makes absolutely no sense, as socialism can only be accomplished with the cooperation and solidarity of workers of all nationalities.Excuse my French-what the fuck does an "inseparable part of China" mean? This is a new concept in Marxist analysis. Finland was not seen as "inseparable" from the USSR, why are the Tibetans any different? If members of a particular nationality feel alienated from the central government, that is not the fault of that nationality but the nature of that central state. It is easy for a foreigner to tell the Tibetans, Chinese and other nationalities to just work together, and to blame all of the minorities for the unrest without ever trying to see their point of view. These real Tibetans on the street, supposed citizens of the PRC and not exiles, see things differently however. They see very real problems with the quality of Chinese governance in their area. It is an anti-materialist position but also a presumptuous one to assume that these protests come from the Dalai Lama somehow mystically misleading these people and not for the real conditions on the ground that the Tibetans face (IMO the PRC State seems to bequeath that one man with more magical powers than the most fanatic Buddhist ... he can magically fly all over rural China inciting Tibetans to riot for no reason)

FYI the Dalai Lama actually supports Tibet remaining a part of China but as an enlarged autonomous region with more local rights of self-governance (I don't know about the so-called "parliament in exile" thinks but many Tibetan nationalist are more extreme than him in this regard and want full independence). The dude wrote hagiographic poems for Mao, and even today says the Chinese brought good things to Tibet ... the real threat is from violent nationalists who think the Dalai Lama's religious commitments cause him to take too soft of a line.

It is also highly paternalistic, even racist, to assume that the Tibetans somehow need the Chinese to govern them and that they would become backwards if they resorted to self government. This isn't 1950, Tibet no longer has a feudal economic system, and there is no reason why the Tibetans would ever adopt such a system again whether they want Chinese rule or independence.

[Satyr696]

As a supporter of China, I have to say it's really not as black and white as you think it is. In terms of material wealth, the Tibetans have ALL improved. I've seen many pictures of feudal lords beating people to death with sticks for not paying enough food to them before the Invasion.
I do, however, agree that a bit more autonomy is advisable. I'm in no way saying they should suddenly split from China or that the current Dalai Lama should return.

I'm not going too much into details today, as I'm somewhat ill...

[Igor]

Where is this support to PRC from the left is seriously coming from? PRC is an imperial power and we should treat is as such. No leftist in their right mind would defend anything done by the US or the UK with that shitty "it's China's internal affairs, man" defense because we're talking about imperial powers here. 21th century China is not something that should be protected from imperialism, they're increasingly spreading their influence in Africa, SE Asia and Latin America, and it's doing a lot of harm in the region. They're a capitalist superpower in the making, it's something certain sect of the left has to understand, else they'll just be apologists for imperialism. Modern anti-imperialism is not just about sticking it to the USA, the rivals of America are in the end as bad as they are.

Now, I get it, the pre-1950's feudal lords were really shitty. It still doesn't mean Tibetan people don't have the right to not be independent from Beijing control! Some of you people are treating Tibetans like fucking children, like they don't deserve their independence because they'd go back to feudalism and beating people to death with sticks again. Fuck that.