Why is Tibet a hot issue in the coming Olympics?

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Why is Tibet a hot issue in the coming Olympics?

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Police officers tangle with Tibetan exiles demonstrating in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 1. [AP]

Did you see the torch-lighting ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Olympics on television two weeks ago? After beautiful performances by actors dressed as ancient Greeks, Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, addressed thousands of spectators, dignitaries and Olympic officials.
Suddenly, two men ran onto the field where Liu stood. One man unfurled a banner that showed handcuffs in place of the five Olympic rings, while the other tried to grab the microphone from Liu. Police soon pulled the pair off the field, but the men had already made their point. Broadcasters aired the brief disruption live around the world.
But why were these people trying to disrupt this event? What could people find controversial about the Olympics, a symbol of peace and harmony through sports?
As many of you may have guessed already, the protesters are using the Olympics as an opportunity to call attention to Tibetan aspirations for independence from Chinese rule.
A plateau region in Central Asia, home to more than 6 million indigenous Tibetan people, the region is the highest area on Earth and is often referred to as the “Roof of the World.”
China has long controlled the region, claiming Tibet is Chinese territory. Indigenous Tibetans believe otherwise. Tibet, despite decades-long diplomatic feuds and sovereignty disputes with China, was until 1950 largely an independent state controlled by its religious leader, the Dalai Lama.
In 1950, China’s People’s Liberation Army invaded the Tibetan area of Chamdo, defeating the ill-equipped Tibetan army and forcing the Tibetan government to sign a treaty incorporating Tibet as a Chinese territory. In 1956, a Tibetan rebellion rose against Chinese control, only to be crushed. Some estimates say the Chinese military killed tens of thousands of Tibetans. The 14th Dalai Lama and other top Tibetan government officials fled to exile in the aftermath of the failed revolt.
Several more rebellions, most prominently in 1959 in the capital city of Lhasa, ensued, but the Chinese military crushed them all immediately. The Dalai Lama, considered not only the spiritual but also political leader by Tibetans, has been banned from entering Tibet. Instead, he has traveled around the world to plead for the international community to help Tibet earn independence. He has since moderated that aspiration to a wish for Tibetan autonomy.
What angers the Tibetans more than anything else, apart from colonization, is the mass immigration of ethnic Han Chinese into the region and social discrimination against Tibetans. The Dalai Lama said in 1991 that the Chinese settlers in Tibet were creating “Chinese apartheid.” He said the Chinese are denying Tibetans equal social and economic status in their own land, stealing economic resources and smother Tibetan culture. The Dalai Lama has indicated in a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, a daily newspaper in Hong Kong, that Tibet is willing to remain under Chinese control as long as China’s central government guarantees to “preserve Tibetan culture and environment.”
The Dalai Lama’s concern over China’s quashing of Tibetan culture, which he has described as “cultural genocide,” is not entirely unfounded. According to various human rights groups and the United Nations, monasteries in Tibet, which once numbered more than 6,500, has shrunk to only 45.
The Chinese government has forced more than 500,000 monks back into secular society. Now only about 2,000 monks live in Tibet. They are required to get Communist Party approval after taking classes in communist doctrine in order to become monks. This drew ire from many Tibetans, who consider Buddhism an integral part of their life and culture.
The Chinese government also bans the use of the Tibetan language in public places and schools, forcing young students to learn Mandarin instead. This measure drove many Tibetans to flee to neighboring countries like India and Nepal. There, children can learn the Tibetan language, culture and religion inschools in their expatriate community. Many Tibetan children risk their lives crossing the border through the Himalayas, while their parents stay in Tibet.
Despite such pleas from Tibet and increasing criticism from the international community, China’s central government is taking no definitive moves to loosen its grip on Tibet. The region is full of precious natural resources that China wants in order to fuel its rapidly expanding economy. Tibet, whose 1.2-million-square-kilometer (463,322.6 square mile) territory is crisscrossed by rivers offering enormous potential water power, and its snowy mountains, valleys and the North Tibet Plateau contain a massive amount of minerals, including uranium, copper and zinc.
According to Chinese governmental data, Tibet is home to more than 90 known mineral types, 26 total reserves of which have been verified. Eleven rank among the top five by volume in China by province. Also, Tibet’s prospective lithium deposits are among the largest in the world, while the region serves as China’s lithium production base. Tibet’s prospective copper and gypsum reserves rank second in China, while other valuable mineral resources, including salt, potassium, sulfur and natural soda, are aplenty.
The Tibetans’ decades-long frustration under Chinese occupation reached a new peak recently, as Tibetans staged the biggest protest in almost 20 years on March 10, the anniversary of the failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.
Days of monk-led marches developed into a citywide riot in Lhasa on March 14. Days-long clashes between rioters and the police left 18 civilians dead, the Chinese government said, while the Tibet government-in-exile said more than 140 people died.
The latest development reflects negatively on the Chinese government, which has been working hard to use the Olympics to showcase its growth and image as a modernized, unfied country.
But so far, China’s hopes seem to have little chance to come to fruition amid the massive publicity disaster over Tibet.
A number of international dignitaries have already said they will boycott the Olympics. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would not attend the opening ceremony, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy indicated he may not attend.
Now Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, is urging President George W. Bush to skip the opening ceremony.
With the Olympics still four months away, the world is watching to see how Beijing will clean up its damaged national image and regain the respect of the international community.
The recent events in Tibet are teaching us all a lesson about the harsh reality of international politics.
Unlike other human rights crises in countries like Sudan or Myanmar, major advanced countries have shied away from openly criticizing China, given China’s increasing leverage in global security and economy. Although some leaders of several large nations have expressed their discomfort with what’s going on in Tibet, few have stepped in to threaten a possible boycott of the Olympics.
Will anyone direct criticism at the Chinese government?


By Jung Ha-won Staff Reporter[hawon@joongang.co.kr]
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