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Groups demand China
stop repression of minorities
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
Human rights advocates yesterday called on Beijing to stop the repression of
people in Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, and blamed the recent cases of
self-immolation by Tibetans and ethnic conflict in Xinjiang on the Chinese
government.
“The situation in Tibet and East Turkestan [another name for Xinjiang] is
becoming critical as 25 people have set themselves on fire in Tibet since March
last year — of which 15 have died — and there have been violent clashes between
Uighurs and Chinese in East Turkestan,” Taiwan Friends of Tibet chairperson Chow
Mei-li (周美里) told a press conference.
“The Chinese government may claim that [Tibetan spiritual leader] the Dalai Lama
is behind the suicides and that foreign ‘terrorist’ groups are fanning ethnic
conflict in East Turkestan ... [but] the authoritarian rule of the Chinese
government in these places should instead be blamed,” she said.
Tseng Chien-yuan (曾建元), an associate professor at Chung Hua University’s
department of public administration, also blamed Chinese authorities for the
recent violence.
“Since this recent outbreak of uprisings against Chinese rule in Tibetan
communities throughout China, the Chinese Communist Party has launched a
‘patriotic education campaign’ through which they have asked Tibetan Buddhist
temples to hang portraits of Chinese leaders such as Mao Zedong (毛澤東), Deng
Xiaoping (鄧小平) and Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) instead of their religious leaders, such as
the Dalai Lama,” Tseng said. “If you are a monk or even an average Tibetan, how
could you tolerate such acts and how could you not do something about it? ”
Tenzin Tsundue, a Tibetan poet and independence activist who was born in exile
in India, said China’s occupation of the region had become a major source of
public discontent among Tibetans and that while information and images of the
current situation in Tibet might be blocked, many people are choosing to
sacrifice themselves through self-immolation.
“Self-immolation is the last act that a human being can take to express their
freedom and the freedom of their country,” Tenzin said. “The hope is that the
news of the self-immolations will at least get to the outside world.”
Political analyst Paul Lin (林保華), who has been in close contact with Uighur
activists, said recent attacks on Han Chinese residents in Xinjiang has sent a
clear message to Beijing: Uighurs do not want any more ethnic homogenization.
“Between 1949 and 1953, when the China first took over East Turkestan, 75
percent of the population were Uighurs. By the end of the Cultural Revolution
[in 1976], the percentage dropped to about 60 percent. In 2000, only 45 percent
were Uighurs,” Lin said.
“In the name of anti-poverty programs, China has sent tens of thousands of
young, unmarried Uighurs to work in China’s more developed coastal provinces and
the purpose is clear: They want to detach young Uighurs from their culture and
hope that they will end up marrying Han Chinese as well,” Lin said.
The Chinese government should be blamed for the “poverty” issue since Beijing
has taken most of Xinjiang’s natural resources from the local population, he
added.
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