Tibetans Trying To Scrape By in 2022
The general malaise facing Ukraine and Taiwan with an ongoing conflict in the former, versus the grey zone intimidation tactics facing the latter by the PRC, leaves Tibetans, as usual, on the periphery of the international community vis a vis human rights, cultural genocide, and the daily intimidation by Chinese officials in their homeland. Tibetans, like everyone, have to navigate the effects of COVID. So, where does Tibet stand or fall in 2022?
Freedom House ranks Tibet 1/100 as not being free. -2/40 on political rights and 3/60 on civil liberties.
Furthermore, Freedom House indicates that COVID has exacerbated the situation in Tibet:
1) 2,000 inspectors were added to police rural regions and impose rigid travel restrictions
2) Chinese authorities are leveraging COVID to limit access to monasteries and temples including the installation of video surveillance supplemented with human supervisorsand informants
3 Tibetan students who receive government funding must enlist for military service for a two year period
4) Wang Junzheng a former deputy secretary and security officer in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was installed as TAR (Tibetan Autonomous Region) party secretary in October 2021 raising fears that the repressive policies enacted onto the Uyghurs would be replicated in the TAR onto Tibetans.
5) The regional people's congress and NPC (National People’s Congress) of the CPC (Communist Party China) vet all appointments to government positions in Tibet and those ethnic Tibetans serving in senior positions act as nominal leaders that echo CPC instructions.
6) Any co opting with political groups outside the CPC is illegal and harshly punished and includes working surreptitiously with the TGIE (Tibetan Government in Exile) in Dharamsala, India.
In 2022 there have been two self immolations in Tibet, that continues to reinforce the severity of the sustained oppression in Tibet.
Taphun. Age 81. He self immolated outside of the police station in Ngaba county.
Tsewang Norbu. Age 25. He was a popular Tibetan singer and self immolated in Lhasa, died in hospital close to the Potala Palace.
Lobsang Sangay, president of the CTA (Central Tibetan Administration) resigned in May 2021 and was replaced by Penpa Tsering. The role of the CTA is to provide assistance to the Tibetan diaspora in India such as “schools, health services, cultural activities and economic development initiatives for the Tibetan community which numbers approximately 100,000.
With the 63rd anniversary of the Tibetan uprising, the focus, particularly, due to COVID, and now Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has left Tibet out of foreing policy discussions with international heads of state. While much of Europe decouples from Russian energy, Chinese goods remain in demand through export. Indeed, U.S. President Joe Biden is rumored to be considering easing trade sanctions imposed during theTrump Administration to ease inflationary pressures on Americans. The irony is that China has become Russia’s primary importer of energy products and both are authoritarian states. As painful economically with the shortage of Ukrainian exports, it is imperative that the international community stand with Tibetans, like Ukrainians, in the face of human rights abuses and oppression. Ultimately, during the reign of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the situation on the ground has gotten worse.
Those in support of Tibetans that oppose the Chinese occupation can contact the UN Human Rights Commission by email here: CP@ohchr.org and/or contact U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Twitter here: @SecBlinken
