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Taiwanese must speak
up for Tibetans
By Yang Shin-nan 楊信男
The New York Times recently carried a report with the headline “Many Chinese
intellectuals are silent amid a wave of Tibetan self-immolations.” The report
was depressing, and conjured up images of things I had seen when traveling
between Huanglong and Jiuzhaigou in the northern part of China’s Sichuan
Province.
One of the people we met there was a young Tibetan woman whose job it was to
sweep the trails in the Huanglong scenic area. She greeted us in a friendly way,
but when asked whether she had heard about young Tibetans setting themselves on
fire, she just nodded sadly.
What could have happened on this plateau so far from the bustle of the big city
to make devoutly Buddhist Tibetans resort to agonizing self-immolation to make
their voices heard?
The New York Times report quotes the views of two Beijing-based Tibet experts,
who identify three reasons for Chinese intellectuals’ indifference to Tibetan
self-immolations.
The first is that Chinese intellectuals do not like the way in which, as they
see it, Tibetan people are ungrateful for all that the Chinese government has
done to improve their living standards and are only interested in rebelling.
The next reason is that Chinese intellectuals accept their government’s account
that Tibet has been China’s territory since ancient times and that China’s
sovereignty is indivisible.
Finally, the experts say, China’s majority Han people have always seen Tibetans
as a different ethnic group and have the attitude that “whoever is not of our
kind is sure to have a different mind.”
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has since its foundation considered the quest
for minority ethnic groups’ liberation as one of its missions, but in light of
what the party has done in Tibet and Xinjiang, its actions do not live up to its
words.
It is often said that the best way to convince others is to lead by example. The
legend about how Zhuge Liang (諸葛亮), a renowned strategist of the Three Kingdoms
period of Chinese history, defeated and captured the rebel leader Meng Huo (孟獲)
highlights this.
Newly elected CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平) has recently been making
high-profile remarks about how the country should advance toward “a great
renewal of the Chinese nation.” Adopting more open and enlightened policies
toward ethnic minorities, including Tibetans, would be in keeping with
traditional Chinese culture and would be a good way to go about reviving the
Chinese nation.
Japan ruled Taiwan for 50 years from 1895 to 1945. It helped Taiwan modernize to
some extent, but always discriminated against Taiwanese in politics and culture.
Considering this historical background, we Taiwanese should be capable of
empathizing with the Tibetans in their current situation. We should take the
lead among overseas Chinese people voicing concern and support for Tibetans. We
are also well placed to soothe the emotional relations between the Han and
Tibetan peoples.
At least 92 Tibetans have set themselves on fire so far in the current wave of
protests, attracting widespread attention from around the world. The US has
urged China to re-examine policies that may threaten Tibet’s culture and
religious identity.
The struggle for rights is a long and slow process. Xi’s remark that “to forge
iron, one must be strong,” is a worthy reference point for Tibetans. Life is
precious. If Tibetans’ self-immolations aim to achieve certain goals, then once
those have been reached they should stop. The tragic suffering and deaths should
not be allowed to continue.
Yang Shin-nan is professor emeritus of physics at National Taiwan University
and a member of the Green-Water Society.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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