tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/free-tibet-4610/articlesFree Tibet – The Conversation2022-02-16T20:02:25Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1768732022-02-16T20:02:25Z2022-02-16T20:02:25ZThe International Olympic Committee and China are using politics to obscure human rights abuses<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446644/original/file-20220215-24208-msgcd4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C8403%2C5597&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Actors cheer as President of the China, Xi Jinping, arrives for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics on Feb. 4 in Beijing. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>China is using yet another Olympic Games as a political tool to reinforce its position as a global power and <a href="https://theconversation.com/2022-winter-olympics-will-help-beijing-sportwash-its-human-rights-record-154911">sportwash</a> its dismal human rights record. </p>
<p>This was first seen in 2008, when China and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) made <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2008/01/31/china-olympic-promises-are-not-being-kept">opaque promises</a> about the Olympic Games improving human rights in the authoritarian regime. But since then, the situation has worsened and continues to deteriorate. </p>
<p>The IOC continues to claim it is an <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-olympic-movement-claims-political-neutrality-in-reality-that-ideal-is-often-selectively-applied-164558">apolitical organization</a>, while <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-sanctioning-a-refugee-team-to-letting-china-host-does-the-international-olympic-committee-support-human-rights-172467">allowing China to host</a> and use the Olympics as a distraction from its <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8591242/beijing-olympics-china-human-rights/">industrial scale human rights abuses</a>. Few nations know how to politicize the Olympics quite like China.</p>
<h2>A new sort of Cold War</h2>
<p>In the United States, critiques of China have started to feel more like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jan/13/beijing-winter-olympics-human-rights-politics">hypocritical warmongering</a>, leveraged for domestic political pandering, rather than a sincere desire to improve human rights in China, or the United States for that matter. </p>
<p>What is needed, as sportswriter Dave Zirin and political scientist Jules Boykoff aptly observed in <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/society/beijing-olympics-china/">The Nation</a>, is: </p>
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<p>“a mass independent current that can stand with the oppressed in the United States and in China, and that refuses to paper over structural inequalities on either side in order to win political points.”</p>
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<p>Those familiar with Teng Biao (one of the authors of this piece) know that he has experienced both the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/asia/12china.html">politics and physical brutality</a> of the Chinese state first hand. </p>
<p>As a vocal human rights lawyer, Teng resisted the authoritarian regime’s crackdowns on the freedoms of speech and expression, resulting in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/08/china.olympicgames2008">three forced disappearances</a> and a physical beating by authorities prior to the 2008 Olympic Games. He knows the stakes, and the costs, of standing up for human rights in China.</p>
<h2>Boycott, boycott, boycott</h2>
<p>For much of its existence, Communist China has <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674028401">boycotted the Olympic Games</a>. After the Chinese Civil War, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) made its debut at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, leading the Republic of China (ROC) to withdraw in protest, furious that the Communist mainland was permitted to enter under the name of “China.” </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-taiwan-competing-in-the-olympics-under-chinese-taipei-175895">Why is Taiwan competing in the Olympics under 'Chinese Taipei'?</a>
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<p>This <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2759241">two-China debate</a> was a recurring theme at the Olympics until the 1980s. At the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the the ROC competed while the PRC stayed home. And in 1958, the PRC formally withdrew from the Olympic Movement, rejoining in 1979. They only participated in the 1980 Winter Olympics however, joining the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics.</p>
<p>The PRC’s politicization of the Games worked. The IOC has made the ROC — now more commonly known as Taiwan — compete as Chinese Taipei since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, under an Olympic flag rather than the flag of Taiwan. </p>
<p>This has remained the Olympic status quo for over thirty years, despite the obvious fact that Taiwan functions as an independent, democratic nation.</p>
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<img alt="A group of people wearing matching uniforms waving at a crowd." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446626/original/file-20220215-17-14og2iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446626/original/file-20220215-17-14og2iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446626/original/file-20220215-17-14og2iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446626/original/file-20220215-17-14og2iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446626/original/file-20220215-17-14og2iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446626/original/file-20220215-17-14og2iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446626/original/file-20220215-17-14og2iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Taiwan delegation parades during the opening ceremonies for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/File)</span></span>
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<h2>Beijing 2008 as a boon to high-tech totalitarianism</h2>
<p>The 2008 Beijing Olympics has a grim legacy. In <a href="https://publicseminar.org/essays/oppression-resistance-and-the-high-tech-totalitarianism/">Public Seminar</a>, Teng Biao convincingly argued that China governs through “high-tech totalitarianism,” using artificial intelligence and other technologies to maintain “total control of Chinese society.” </p>
<p>Although Italian philosopher <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo3534874.html">Giorgio Agamben’s</a> “states of exception” theory has typically been applied to disasters and other emergencies, political scientist <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Celebration-Capitalism-and-the-Olympic-Games/Boykoff/p/book/9781138805262">Jules Boykoff</a> has made a strong case for the extension of Agamben’s work to moments of jubilation and euphoria, particularly the Olympic Games. </p>
<p>A “state of exception” is similar to a state of emergency, except instead of the state’s ability to transcend the rule of law being invoked in an emergency, it is done in the name of public good.</p>
<p>It can open the door to a legally sanctioned eradication of not just political opponents, but anyone living on the margins of society. For Tibetans and Uyghurs, this rings all too true. In Tibet in particular, the Chinese government used the Olympic Games as an excuse to <a href="https://journals.library.brocku.ca/index.php/jess/article/view/3589/2727">dramatically escalate</a> its suppression of language, religion, speech and peaceful protest. </p>
<p>As international relations scholar <a href="https://www.google.ca/books/edition/The_War_on_the_Uyghurs/Nqw_EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=sean+r+roberts&printsec=frontcover">Sean R. Roberts</a> has shown, the Chinese government leveraged both the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. and the 2008 Olympics to re-frame peaceful Uyghur cultural protests — typically labelled as separatism — as a terrorist threat to justify their mass incarceration. </p>
<p>Since 2008, Tibet has been closed off to foreigners, but details of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1982067779619">boarding schools</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-54260732">arbitrary detentions</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/xi-jinping-is-my-spiritual-leader-chinas-education-drive-tibet-2021-06-11/">restrictions on religion</a> and a general assault on Tibetan culture are well-documented. For some, the situation has become too untenable to bear. </p>
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<img alt="A group of people holding protest signs stand around a flag that's on fire." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446627/original/file-20220215-21-ri04oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446627/original/file-20220215-21-ri04oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446627/original/file-20220215-21-ri04oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446627/original/file-20220215-21-ri04oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446627/original/file-20220215-21-ri04oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446627/original/file-20220215-21-ri04oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446627/original/file-20220215-21-ri04oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Exiled Tibetans burn a Chinese flag during a protest against Beijing Winter Olympic Games in New Delhi, India on Feb. 4.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)</span></span>
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<p>A total of 157 Tibetan monks and nuns have <a href="https://savetibet.org/tibetan-self-immolations/">self-immolated in protest</a> since 2009. </p>
<h2>The IOC, politics and human rights</h2>
<p>Despite China’s history of using the Olympics for political gain, the IOC has refused to intervene, going so far as to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/04/world/asia/ioc-china.html">cut off talks with human rights groups</a> concerned with the possibility that official merchandise for the Beijing Olympics was being made with forced labour in the Uyghur Region.</p>
<p>Both the IOC and China have started framing all criticism as political matters, unfit for discussion at a so-called apolitical event like the Olympic Games. </p>
<p>Criticism of the disappearance, silencing and carefully choreographed re-emergence of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/peng-shuai.html">Peng Shuai</a> is “just politics.” Criticism of policies aimed at the cultural eradication of Uyghurs and Tibetans, as well as China’s decision to have a Uyghur light the Olympic cauldron, are more “politics.” </p>
<p>But there must be a line drawn between politics and human rights. While the definition of politics depends on the context, the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights">United Nations</a> is quite clear when it comes to what is, and what is not, a human right. Violations of these rights are not merely political wranglings of foreign diplomacy, but rather real, tangible assaults on people and their cultures. </p>
<p>But the two — politics and human rights violations — are obviously intertwined. The former can be used to hide the latter. Unfortunately, that’s precisely what the IOC and China have done with Beijing 2022.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176873/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Few nations know how to politicize the Olympics as effectively as China does.MacIntosh Ross, Assistant Professor, Kinesiology, Western UniversityBiao Teng, Pozen Visiting Professor, Human Rights Scholar, University of ChicagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1752122022-02-10T15:39:02Z2022-02-10T15:39:02ZTrudeau should have withdrawn Canada from the 2022 Beijing Olympics after reports of Chinese residential schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443595/original/file-20220131-23-11bdif3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5751%2C3819&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tibetans use the Olympic Rings as a prop as they hold a street protest against the 2022 Winter Olympics in Dharmsala, India on Feb. 3, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/trudeau-should-have-withdrawn-canada-from-the-2022-beijing-olympics-after-reports-of-chinese-residential-schools" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Last June, Canada’s delegation to the United Nations was part of an international effort calling for UN inspectors to have <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/china-canada-un-calls-investigation-crimes-indigenous-uyghurs-1.6075025">free and unfettered access to China’s Xinjiang region</a> to assess reports of human rights violations against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims. </p>
<p>Chinese UN representative Jiang Duan promptly <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/china-canada-un-calls-investigation-crimes-indigenous-uyghurs-1.6075025">fired back</a>, noting that Canada “robbed Indigenous people of the land, killed them and eradicated their culture.” </p>
<p>The truth is, the Chinese government is taking a page out of Canada’s cultural genocide handbook in Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia — extinguishing multiple cultures within their borders. </p>
<p>With the 2022 Beijing Olympics underway, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-diplomatic-boycott-winter-olympic-games-1.6277773">refusal to support a full boycott</a> of the Games is perplexing. </p>
<h2>Ongoing colonialism</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0097700421995135">Settler colonialism</a> is a specific kind of colonization where settlers seek to not only displace Indigenous people, but <a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/stolen-lives-indigenous-peoples-canada-and-indian-residential-schools/chapter-3/killing-indian-child">replace them entirely</a>. </p>
<p>In Canada, this has <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/oka-crisis">included armed assault</a>, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-reserves">geographical displacement</a> and the eradication of Indigenous culture and fragmentation of families (as was done through <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools">the residential school system</a> and the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/cbcdocspov/features/the-sixties-scoop-explained">60s scoop</a>). </p>
<p>China has used settler colonialism to destroy Uyghur and Tibetan cultures, moving large numbers of Han settlers <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv28x2b9h.13">into Xinjiang</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26921467?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">and Tibet</a>. </p>
<p>International affairs scholar <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/our-authors/roberts-sean-r">Sean R. Roberts</a> and anthropologist <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1326761032000176122">Uradyn Bulag</a> have labelled Chinese efforts in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia as settler colonialism.</p>
<p>As international relations scholar <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2018.1534801">Dibyesh Anand</a> explains: “The basic premise behind development in contemporary China is not the empowerment of these peoples but their disempowerment, by making them dependent on the state, by destroying their traditional ways of being, and by taking away their dignity, ultimately through state violence.”</p>
<p>And Anand isn’t alone. Academics are pointing to ongoing settler colonialism along China’s borders. Identifying China as an imperial state, anthropologist <a href="https://www.aup.nl/en/book/9789463728713/frontier-tibet">Carol McGranahan</a> argues that the regime’s settler colonialism has inflicted “dispossession and domination, including the loss of state sovereignty.” </p>
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<img alt="A woman wearing a head covering reaches out with a metal scoop into a bag of dried herbs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443570/original/file-20220131-117572-1kwgbea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443570/original/file-20220131-117572-1kwgbea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443570/original/file-20220131-117572-1kwgbea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443570/original/file-20220131-117572-1kwgbea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443570/original/file-20220131-117572-1kwgbea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443570/original/file-20220131-117572-1kwgbea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443570/original/file-20220131-117572-1kwgbea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">An Uyghur woman who fled China for Turkey works in her shop in Istanbul.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)</span></span>
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<p>In Canada, the Indian Residential School system <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-in-the-past-colonialism-is-rooted-in-the-present-157395">and colonialism are often framed as in the past</a> — but the last <a href="https://www2.uregina.ca/education/saskindianresidentialschools/gordons-indian-residential-school/">school closed less than 30 years ago</a>, and colonialism is still ongoing.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1450124405592/1529106060525">Truth and Reconciliation Commission</a> published <a href="https://irsi.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/inline-files/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf">its final report in 2015</a> detailing the horrific atrocities that occurred at Indian Residential Schools and its ongoing impact on communities. </p>
<p>The report also included <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf">94 calls to action</a> that must be completed as steps toward reconciliation — in six years however, <a href="https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform-single/beyond-94">only 13 calls have been completed</a>. </p>
<p>Summer 2021 was a period of reckoning for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jun/27/canada-must-reveal-undiscovered-truths-of-residential-schools-to-heal">many Canadians as they faced the horrific truths</a> dredged up by unmarked graves at former Indian Residential Schools. And Canadians are still reckoning with the country’s acts of genocide as more <a href="https://bc.ctvnews.ca/potential-remains-found-in-93-spots-at-b-c-residential-school-but-some-children-will-be-unaccounted-for-even-after-investigation-1.5753439">unmarked graves continue to be found</a>. </p>
<p>We’ve now begun to face the realities of whats been happening in our own country, but we must maintain that same expectation in our relationships abroad.</p>
<h2>Concerning parallels</h2>
<p>For hundreds of thousands of children in China, being taken away from their homes and placed in boarding schools is a grim reality. </p>
<p>A recent report by the <a href="https://tibetaction.net/campaigns/colonialboardingschools/">Tibet Action Institute</a> estimates that the Chinese government is forcing three out of four Tibetan students into boarding schools and separating up to 900,000 children from their families. </p>
<p>The goal, explains the Tibet Action Institute, is to “eliminate Tibetan identity and supplant it with a Chinese nationalist identity in order to neutralize any resistance to Chinese Communist Party rule.”</p>
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<img alt="People standing in a line wearing blue masks with red hands painted across the mouth area" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443571/original/file-20220131-27-15cauw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443571/original/file-20220131-27-15cauw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443571/original/file-20220131-27-15cauw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443571/original/file-20220131-27-15cauw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443571/original/file-20220131-27-15cauw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443571/original/file-20220131-27-15cauw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443571/original/file-20220131-27-15cauw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Student activists wearing masks with the colours of the pro-independence East Turkistan flag protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia in January 2022 to demand the cancellation of the Beijing Olympics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)</span></span>
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<p>In Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia, traditional language education is being eradicated. In Xinjiang in particular, more than <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4438757/china-uighur-muslim-interment-camps-xinjiang/">a million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims</a> are forced into political “re-education camps,” used for “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2018.1507997">coercive social re-engineering</a>” compatible with the government’s aim to promote a universal Chinese culture within its borders. </p>
<p>Many children of detainees are sent to state-run institutions where they are “<a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691234496/the-war-on-the-uyghurs">raised ostensibly as Han children in a Chinese-language environment with Han child rearing methods adopted by the state as standard</a>.” </p>
<p>Should we — as Canadians — be shocked? That’s partly how settler colonialism works: domination has its regional differences, but the broader patterns are mostly the same.</p>
<h2>The prime minister hasn’t learned</h2>
<p>It seems Trudeau hasn’t learned as much as he should have from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Because here we are, with a prime minister who refuses to take a political stance against what is happening in China. </p>
<p>His approach, which borders on disinterest, diminishes <a href="https://theconversation.com/amid-more-shocking-residential-schools-discoveries-non-indigenous-people-must-take-action-161965">the efforts made by Canadians to address their own country’s wrongs</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/2022-winter-olympics-will-help-beijing-sportwash-its-human-rights-record-154911">2022 Winter Olympics will help Beijing 'sportwash' its human rights record</a>
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<p>Following Chinese UN representative Jiang Duan’s condemnation of Canada’s human rights record at the UN, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-trudeau-challenges-china-to-publicly-probe-its-mistreatment-of-uyghurs/">Trudeau asked</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“In Canada, we had a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Where is China’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission?” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Although Trudeau did appear to see the parallels between China and Canada, and Canada’s quest for truth and reconciliation, he still stopped short of withdrawing the nation from the 2022 Beijing Olympics. </p>
<p>The Olympics will undoubtedly draw attention away from the Chinese government’s genocidal policies, permitting the authoritarian regime “<a href="https://theconversation.com/2022-winter-olympics-will-help-beijing-sportwash-its-human-rights-record-154911">to sportwash</a>” its reputation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175212/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The similarities between ongoing settler-colonialism in China and the history of settler-colonialism in Canada are frighteningly similar.MacIntosh Ross, Assistant Professor, Kinesiology, Western UniversityJanice Forsyth, Associate Professor, Sociology & Director, Indigenous Studies, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/841582017-09-20T12:54:05Z2017-09-20T12:54:05ZLessons from the Doklam Pass: how little Bhutan faced down China over a border dispute<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186798/original/file-20170920-932-7hqyo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bhutan-buddhist-kingdom-on-eastern-edge-711723511">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In one of the less reported stories of the summer, India and China came to a stand-off over a plateau in the Himalayas called the Doklam Pass.</p>
<p>This small strip of land separating the Indian state of Sikkim from its neighbour <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12480707">Bhutan</a> is one of several areas disputed by China and Bhutan. After the Chinese started <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-4649640/Bhutan-protests-China-border-road-dispute.html">building a road</a> on the controversial territory in June, India, with its own interests at stake and as Bhutan’s former representative on external relations, stepped up to engage with China.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2103601/bhutan-can-solve-its-border-problem-china-if-india-lets-it">Border disputes</a> between Bhutan and China have a long history dating back to the Chinese <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-16689779">occupation of Tibet</a> in the 1950s. The recent episode arose on May 18, when China objected to two concrete observation bunkers built by the Indians in the disputed area. Three weeks later Chinese troops destroyed one of the bunkers with a bulldozer, leading to scuffles with local Indian patrols. India responded by sending more troops to the area, escalating tensions.</p>
<p>The incident acts as a reminder of the unsettled border between Bhutan and China as well as the areas of direct border <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40478813">disputes</a> between India and China. Under the original terms of Article 2 of the <a href="http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b4d620.html">1949 Treaty of Friendship</a> between India and Bhutan, Bhutan agreed to be “guided” by India in its “external relations”.</p>
<p>As a result, in the 1950s, India asserted its right under the 1949 treaty to negotiate border disputes with China – a stance that the Chinese authorities rejected. The disastrous 1962 <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2012/08/historys-hostage-china-india-and-the-war-of-1962/">Indo-China conflict</a> further worsened relations between the two countries with Bhutan firmly held by India.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186799/original/file-20170920-19168-12ccjrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186799/original/file-20170920-19168-12ccjrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186799/original/file-20170920-19168-12ccjrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186799/original/file-20170920-19168-12ccjrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186799/original/file-20170920-19168-12ccjrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186799/original/file-20170920-19168-12ccjrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186799/original/file-20170920-19168-12ccjrg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Xi of China and prime minister Narendra Modi of India have both acquiesced in border issues with Bhutan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.epa.eu/politics-photos/treaties-organisations-photos/brics-bimstec-summit-in-goa-photos-53070474">epa</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Restraint vs rhetoric</h2>
<p>This grasp was loosened, slightly, to allow Bhutan to begin a series of private talks with China in 1984. Unfortunately, although the talks appeared to be moving towards a settlement in 1997, Bhutan <a href="http://www.bhutannewsservice.org/bhutan-china-border-mismatch/">revised its claims</a> on its position. Observers and indeed many Bhutanese thought that this change in position was due to India’s strong influence on Bhutan.</p>
<p>Bhutan surprised many observers in 2007 when it secured Indian agreement to changes to the 1949 Treaty. In a <a href="http://www.commonlii.org/in/other/treaties/INTSer/2007/2.html">new treaty</a> signed that year, India’s right to “guide” Bhutanese foreign affairs was removed. The amended Article 2 provides that the two countries will “cooperate closely with each other … Neither … shall allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security and interest of the other.” The change effectively gave Bhutan control of its foreign policy.</p>
<p>The Doklam incident is noteworthy for the nationalistic rhetoric that flowed from the main protagonists India and China, and the remarkable restraint of Bhutan. There are important lessons to be learned from this recent incident. </p>
<p>In July, as the conflict escalated, the Tibetan historian, <a href="http://iar.ubc.ca/persons/tsering-shakya/">Tsering Shakya</a>, voiced his belief that Bhutan could handle its own affairs. His belief was well founded for Bhutan did, after a tense eight weeks, secure <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/doklam-standoff-bhutan-welcomes-troops-withdrawal-by-india-china-4818960/">Chinese withdrawal</a> from the disputed area. Bhutan managed to assert itself despite its diminutive size. But there are wider lessons from the Doklam incident.</p>
<h2>Political potential of social media</h2>
<p>The online debate in Bhutan highlights the importance of modern social media. Online newspapers and discussion forums were used by ordinary Bhutanese to express their <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/all-that-matters/with-two-bellicose-neighbours-noble-silence-was-the-only-option-for-bhutan-karma-phuntsho/articleshow/60341157.cms">concerns and views</a> on this incident. In a country that only allowed television in 1999, this shows the remarkable change that has occurred. Indeed, with the exception of leading newspaper <a href="http://thebhutanese.bt/giving-bhutan-its-due/">The Bhutanese</a>, the mainstream media in Bhutan barely mentioned the stand-off, reflecting the government’s restrained handling of the Doklam incident.</p>
<p>As Bhutan approaches its <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Bhutan/Government-and-society">10th anniversary</a> as a parliamentary democracy next year, the Doklam incident appears to suggest a new phase of political discussion and engagement emerging. Many of the views expressed throughout were deeply <a href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2017/jul/27/who-is-bullying-bhutan-bhutanese-youth-take-to-facebook-on-china-india-face-off-over-doklam-1634510.html">critical</a> of the Indian media. More worrying for the Bhutanese government, which has close ties with <a href="http://www.elections.in/political-leaders/narendra-modi.html">prime minister Modi</a>, is the widely expressed <a href="http://thebhutanese.bt/more-than-the-doklam-issue-bhutan-worried-about-hydropower-projects-and-trade/http://example.com/">view</a> that India continues to seek to control Bhutan.</p>
<p>Bhutanese blogger Sonam Tashi openly suggests in an <a href="http://www.bestchinanews.com/International/11529.html">online post</a> that there is “an unwritten ‘no go zone’ in Bhutanese politics and media”. The focus of Tashi’s post is on India and its economic influence over Bhutan. However, what his post reveals is a new emerging aspect of Bhutanese political discourse – a challenge to existing political taboos.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186800/original/file-20170920-961-yq91e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186800/original/file-20170920-961-yq91e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186800/original/file-20170920-961-yq91e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186800/original/file-20170920-961-yq91e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186800/original/file-20170920-961-yq91e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186800/original/file-20170920-961-yq91e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186800/original/file-20170920-961-yq91e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=957&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prime minister of Bhutan Tshering Tobgay showed great political acumen in dealing with the two superpowers on Bhutan’s doorstep.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.epa.eu/politics-photos/diplomacy-photos/tshering-tobgay-prime-minister-of-bhutan-visits-assam-photos-53429551">epa</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bhutan and its current government, led by the prime minister, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/bhutan-prime-minister-business-gross-national-happiness">Tshering Tobgay</a>, have emerged from this recent border dispute enhanced by restraint and a display of political acumen. The Bhutanese may now wish finally to settle the ongoing border disputes with China. The rhetoric of the superpowers undoubtedly is seen for what it is – mere rhetoric. Yet the Doklam Pass incident ought to provide an incentive to <a href="http://www.tourism.gov.bt/map/thimphu">Thimphu</a> to reflect on its long-term relationships with its neighbours.</p>
<p>The maturity displayed by the Bhutanese government in its dignified handling of the Doklam incident deserves respect. Following the <a href="https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/As-Brics-Comes-to-a-Close-India-and-China-Hold-Bilateral-Talks-20170905-0003.html">first bilateral talks</a> since the incident, India’s prime minister Modi and China’s <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11551399">president Xi</a> both <a href="https://thewire.in/173989/modi-xi-bilateral-meeting-doklam/">agree</a> it should not happen again.</p>
<p>The Doklam incident may boost support for Tshering Tobgay’s ruling party next year in the National Assembly elections. What is certain is that the democratising effect of social media will make the 2018 elections distinctly different from the first and second elections held in 2008 and 2013.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84158/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard W Whitecross has received funding from:
The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland
ESRC
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Frederick Williamson Trust
The University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh Napier University. </span></em></p>The world has much to learn from the maturity, restraint and negotiation skills of one small country facing two superpowersRichard W Whitecross, Associate professor, Edinburgh Napier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/130922013-03-27T19:03:12Z2013-03-27T19:03:12ZSelf-immolation and human rights: why we need to talk about Tibet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/21744/original/khwq2bqw-1364272231.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Campaigners say the Australian government should take a stronger stance against Chinese occupation and human rights abuse in Tibet.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Narendra Shrestha</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the past week, the number of Tibetan self-immolations in protest against the Chinese occupation has <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/agencia-efe/130325/2nd-tibetan-immolated-china-last-24-hours">risen to 111</a> since 2009. Despite the <a href="https://theconversation.com/self-immolators-in-tibet-near-100-as-pressure-grows-from-china-11729">increasing numbers of Tibetans self-immolating</a> and general unrest in the region, the issues facing Tibetans are still on the fringes of Australian political and media discourse.</p>
<p>In 2011, the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China <a href="http://www.cecc.gov/pages/annualRpt/annualRpt11/AR2011final.pdf">recommended</a> continued engagement with international governments to ensure that inherent human rights are not abused. Concern was raised again in 2012 when the United Nations human rights chief <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43399&Cr=China&Cr1#.UVEPpFuPhCo">called on China</a> to address the allegations of human rights violations in Tibet.</p>
<p>This is supported by the <a href="mailto:http://tibet.net/2012/04/30/ottawa-declaration-on-tibet/">Ottawa Declaration on Tibet</a>, which:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>urges leaders of all governments…to engage the government of China in the potential for serious consequences should it scrap its constitutional and legal provisions on autonomy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Historically, Australia has condemned human rights violations across the world. But where China is concerned it is a different matter. It seems we only raise human rights concerns in the context of engaging China in an economic context with the volume on condemnation turned well down.</p>
<p>On January 27, 2011, prime minister Julia Gillard and then attorney-general Robert McClelland released a <a href="http://www.alp.org.au/federal-government/news/gillard-government-strengthens-human-rights-commis/">joint statement</a> about strengthening the role of the Australian Human Rights Commission. In the statement, Senator Kate Lundy was quoted as saying:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>we will continue to engage with the international community to promote and protect human rights at home, in our region and in the rest of the world.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Despite this sentiment, in the same year the prime minister <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/praise-for-dalai-lama-snub-20120628-215fw.html">refused to meet</a> with the Dalai Lama to discuss the current political issues and human rights abuse facing the Tibetan people. Her reasons reasons for this were ambiguous and ill-defined. </p>
<p>Internationally, prime minister Gillard has openly condemned human rights abuse in <a href="http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/gillard-condemns-bloodshed-in-syria-20120608-2000v.html">Syria</a>, yet in a speech following the meeting with China’s then Premier Wen Jiabao she could merely “<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/julia-gillard-rejects-need-to-contain-china/story-fn59niix-1226045266144">hope</a>” that human rights in China were improving, stating: “Australia hoped China was not taking a "backward step” on human rights.“</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/21739/original/t9qrmxvv-1364271033.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/21739/original/t9qrmxvv-1364271033.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21739/original/t9qrmxvv-1364271033.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21739/original/t9qrmxvv-1364271033.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21739/original/t9qrmxvv-1364271033.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21739/original/t9qrmxvv-1364271033.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21739/original/t9qrmxvv-1364271033.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nepalese police arrest exiled Tibetan protesters during a protest at the Chinese embassy to mark the uprising day in Kathmandu.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Narendra Shrestha</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The most recent Human Rights Watch <a href="https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/wr2013_web.pdf">World Report</a> suggests the human rights situation in China has not improved. The report says fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression and religion, are severely restricted and women are increasingly subjected to forced abortions and sterilisations through family planning policies. Both Tibetan and Chinese advocates for human rights and political and social freedoms are often detained, face police harassment, house arrest, short term detention, forced to undergo reeducation through labour, imprisonment on criminal charges and beatings and torture while in detention.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1751821/">Research</a> also claims Chinese border guards are detaining Tibetan refugees on the border and repatriating them back to the Tibetan Autonomous Region. In September 2006, Chinese border guards <a href="http://www.tibetmurderinthesnow.com/assets/files/ict-report-dangerous-crossing.pdf">opened fire</a> on a group of Tibetan refugees attempting to cross the infamous Nangpa pass, killing 17 year-old nun Kelsang Namsto and wounding two others.</p>
<p>In 2011, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1751821/">two Tibetan women reported</a> that Nepalese border police on the China-Nepal border beat them with guns and then sexually assaulted them. On the China-Nepal border there is increasing speculation that if captured attempting to escape Tibet, refugees face beatings, torture and sexual abuse in the hands of both Chinese and Nepalese border guards. </p>
<p>China’s repression does not just apply to Tibetans. In a <a href="http://asiancentury.dpmc.gov.au/published-submissions/A">submission</a> to the Australia in the Asian Century Taskforce, the ACT Tibetan Community highlighted that suppression and abuse extended to all Chinese minority groups including the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8136043.stm">Uighurs</a> and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/world/asia/11mongolia.html?pagewanted=all">Mongolians</a>. They argue that China should not be considered a world power until <a href="http://hrichina.org/content/4081">policies</a> aimed at eliminating these cultures and identities are revoked.</p>
<p>On March 18, 12 young Tibetans spent the day <a href="http://www.atc.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2121:tibet-advocacy-day-2013&Itemid=563">meeting with ministers</a> at Parliament House to urge stronger engagement with, and action on the Tibetan issue. Six of the 12 Tibetan delegates have experienced Chinese oppression during their time in Tibet. Several were imprisoned for speaking out against human rights abuse. On the same day, the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/archive/2013,03,18">ABC</a> discussed Iraq, Myanmar, Sabah, and Pakistan, yet remained silent on the fact that over 100 Tibetans had burned calling for human rights in Tibet.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/21745/original/xtjqsddf-1364272508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/21745/original/xtjqsddf-1364272508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21745/original/xtjqsddf-1364272508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21745/original/xtjqsddf-1364272508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21745/original/xtjqsddf-1364272508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21745/original/xtjqsddf-1364272508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21745/original/xtjqsddf-1364272508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">21 year old Tibetan monk Phuntsog set himself on fire March 16, 2011.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia/Rédacteur Tibet</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite clear breaches of international human rights conventions, Australia has remained hesitant in expressing support for the Tibetan people and in condemning China’s human rights abuse. Rather, Australia is determined to strengthen political and strategic engagement, boost bilateral and economic prosperity and develop ”<a href="http://dfat.gov.au/publications/asian-century/china.html">people-to-people</a>“ links regardless. </p>
<p>Following <a href="http://atc.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2116%3Ameet-the-advocates-for-tibet-advocacy-day-2013&Itemid=563">Tibetan Advocacy Day</a> on March 18 this year, the <a href="http://atc.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2122:tibet-motion-passed-in-senate&Itemid=563">Senate</a> heard a motion from Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young to support the exiled Tibetan Prime Minister’s call for international investigation into the deteriorating human rights in Tibet. That same motion was defeated <a href="http://greens.org.au/content/greens%E2%80%99-effort-encourage-media-scrutiny-violence-tibet-defeated-govt-coalition">37-10</a> in the Senate in 2012 but passed unquestioned this year. Despite the fact this did not reach the mainstream media, it is a start.</p>
<p>Australia’s new and influential position on the UN Security Council and our increased ties with China will force us to consider our own patchy record on <a href="http://humanrights.gov.au/about/media/speeches/speeches_president/2012/20121024_refugees.html">human rights</a>. If we are to capitalise on our growing influence we need to be more willing to raise human rights issues and more discerning about the nations with which we chose to establish economic ties. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/13092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bodean Hedwards does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the past week, the number of Tibetan self-immolations in protest against the Chinese occupation has risen to 111 since 2009. Despite the increasing numbers of Tibetans self-immolating and general unrest…Bodean Hedwards, PhD Candidate, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/117292013-01-29T03:09:56Z2013-01-29T03:09:56ZSelf-immolators in Tibet near 100 as pressure grows from China<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/19478/original/p5cs832y-1358831686.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Chinese police in Tibet are equipped with guns and a fire extinguisher to deal with any person protesting through self immolation.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/STR</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On January 12, a young Tibetan man, <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/burn-01122013095415.html">Tsering Tashi</a>, set himself on fire in a nomadic area in China’s Gansu province, while calling for the long life of the Dalai Lama and a free Tibet. Less than a week later, another young man, <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=32881&article=%e2%80%9cMy+son+died+for+justice+and+freedom%2c+I+have+no+regrets%e2%80%9d">Drubchog</a>, set himself alight in a nomadic area of Sichuan province. A third young man, <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=32889&t=0">Kunchok Kyab</a>, burned himself last Tuesday. All died at the scene of their protest.</p>
<p>These three <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2043123,00.html">self-immolations</a>, the first in 2013, follow a month-long pause since the self-burning death of a teenage girl, <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/girl-12102012151407.html">Wangchen Kyi</a>, in a Tibetan region of Qinghai Province on 9 December last year. Since the first such act in 2009, <a href="https://theconversation.com/drafts/11729/edit">97 Tibetans</a> have now reportedly self-immolated in Tibetan-populated areas of China: 12 in 2011, 81 in 2012 and three to date in 2013, most fatally.</p>
<p>As they burned, the self-immolators have each called for a free Tibet and cultural freedoms they believe are under threat, but above all they call for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet. The Chinese government has blamed the self-immolations and protests on external provocation, specifically instigation and encouragement by outside “hostile forces” the government refers to as “the Dalai clique”. <a href="http://us.china-embassy.org/chn/zt/szwt/t996235.htm">Official spokespeople</a> reject any responsibility for the self-immolations.</p>
<p>Local authorities already deploy <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/12/tibets-acts-self-immolation-china">massive security forces</a> in the areas where self-immolations have taken place, treating these acts as criminal threats to social stability. Government and security offices utilise additional forms of coercive and punitive measures, including propaganda efforts, blocked communications, and detention of self-immolators’ associates.</p>
<p>Despite intensive security and other pressures, self-immolations surged in October-November last year, with 28 reported in November alone. Notably, during that period, the overall profile of self-immolators shifted from a monastic majority concentrated in Sichuan Province to a lay majority located outside of Sichuan, especially in Qinghai and Gansu provinces. From a political and security perspective, the shift to a secular majority and wider distribution poses a significantly more complex challenge to the Chinese government.</p>
<p>As local authorities intensified their crackdown, China’s Supreme People’s Court, Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security <a href="http://gn.gansudaily.com.cn/system/2012/12/03/013508017.shtml">issued</a> a joint legal opinion to align judicial, prosecution and security agencies behind the drive to punish Tibetans who they suspect of having links to self-immolators as criminals, or who express sympathy for them. The <a href="http://www.duihuahrjournal.org/2012/12/china-outlines-criminal-punishments-for.html">opinion</a> sets out parameters for local officials to use to criminalise a range of activities that officials associate with self-immolation, and to treat a number of such activities as “intentional homicide”. Other activities, such as gathering a group to mourn or collect funds for a self-immolator, would be prosecuted as <a href="http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/index.phpd?showsingle=185206">crimes</a> under China’s criminal law. This represents a more formal and powerful approach than previous measures.</p>
<p>State authorities may hope that such legal measures will effectively deter any further expressions of protest. Official pressures and measures putting family and sympathetic supporters of self-immolators at risk of punishment may have deterred self-immolations in the weeks between the burning deaths of 9 December 2012 and 12 January 2013. But the opinion more likely anticipates sensitive periods ahead, for example Tibetan New Year in February and the anniversary in March of the 1959 uprising in Lhasa when the Dalai Lama fled into exile.</p>
<p>By easing some of the pressures on Tibetans, and considering more effective application of its own system of “ethnic autonomy,” Chinese authorities could reduce tensions. But the recently-issued opinion foreshadows no such relief. </p>
<p>Threatening the consequences of non-compliance, public security officials <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=32834&t=0">forced</a> Tsering Tashi’s family to forego customary Tibetan Buddhist rituals and accept the immediate cremation of his remains. Security personnel <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=32881&article=%e2%80%9cMy+son+died+for+justice+and+freedom%2c+I+have+no+regrets%e2%80%9d">took</a> Drubchog’s body from the site of his protest and cremated it the same day without informing his relatives. <a href="http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=32898&t=0">Kunchok’s</a> body too was confiscated by authorities: mourners have gathered to perform prayers for him in front of the local government office, despite warnings to desist. </p>
<p>The disturbing probability of the 100th Tibetan self-immolation looms. Amid the strengthening of punitive measures against expressions of Tibetan grievance, the level of Tibetan resentment can only rise.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11729/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susette Cooke receives funding from the ARC for a Discovery Project on ethnic minority identity and culture in northwest China.</span></em></p>On January 12, a young Tibetan man, Tsering Tashi, set himself on fire in a nomadic area in China’s Gansu province, while calling for the long life of the Dalai Lama and a free Tibet. Less than a week…Susette Cooke, Lecturer in China Studies, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.