The Tibetans that died in Jyekundo had the right to die as Tibetans, not as Chinese.
The tragic 6.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Jyekundo yesterday has been consistently labeled the "China Quake" by the mainstream media. It is worth noting, for many reasons, that Jyekundo is firmly planted in what was formerly Tibet and the vast majority of the victims are Tibetan.
Jyekundo is part of historic Tibet's Kham province. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, control over Kham and the wide, sparsely populated region of Amdo vacillated between Chinese and Muslim warlords and the Tibetan government in Lhasa. Finally, after a period of Tibetan independence, Kham was invaded and occupied by the People's Liberation Army along with the rest of Tibet in 1950. The entire region was divided by the government of the People's Republic of China into its current provinces in 1965, but years of occupation and the migration of Han Chinese west into Tibetan provinces have not diminished this region's Tibetan identity. Even China refers to the area as a "Tibetan area," and the particular prefecture -- Yushu -- is 97% Tibetan.
When Chinese state media refers to "Qinghai province," the vast majority of what they are referring to -- outside of the city of Xining, which holds 66% of the provinces population -- is historically Tibet.
The people of this rugged, mountainous region have always been fiercely nationalistic. From the mid-1950s through the 1970s Kham-pas and Amdo-wa formed the brunt of resistance to Chinese rule. Contrary to the popular view of Tibetans as passives, the Chushi Gangdruk warriors were anything but. They fought a longstanding guerrilla war against the Chinese, only laying down their weapons when directly asked to by the Dalai Lama. Many of these warriors were executed along with their families; many more committed suicide rather than face Chinese rule; and many others escaped into exile, where they still live.
Most of this history is lost on or ignored by reporters and politicians. Both CNN and BBC coverage of the quake makes little or no mention of the victims as Tibetan. No media outlets have mentioned the region's historic independence. In most of the coverage, Tibetan names have been Sinocized and Xinhua, China's state propaganda apparatus, has been quoted as the primary source. Hillary Clinton, in a brief statement of condolence yesterday, made absolutely no mention of the word Tibet, stating instead that "our thoughts and prayers are with... all the people of China." By contrast, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a long time supporter of Tibetan rights, made sure to reference the victims as Tibetan.
A tragedy is, of course, a tragedy, beyond any political and historical squabbling. But the political and historical backdrop to this horrible quake is important, as it informs how events will take shape over the days to come. As Lindsey Hilsum reported on World News Blog, the fact that this disaster took place in historic Tibet makes it not just a disaster, but an issue of extreme political sensitivity for China. This is a region that does not look favorably on Chinese rule. It is a region that saw widespread independence protests in 2008, including the takeover a Chinese police station by Tibetan protesters mounted on horseback. And the last thing the Chinese government wants is to bring any international attention to this restive area or give the local people any further reason to protest.
Public gatherings are banned in this part of Tibet, and from all on the ground reports it is already clear that the Chinese soldiers that have been trucked in Jyekundo are there to serve two purposes. They are there to help remove victims from the rubble, and they are also there to make sure that Tibetans -- homeless and freezing and distraught -- do not begin to demonstrate or make political statements. Wen Jiaobao, when outlining the plan for disaster relief yesterday, made sure to mention that efforts were being made to "safeguard social stability." In other disaster areas, this would translate as preventing looting and crime. In Jyekundo, it means preventing the locals from political agitation. As of yesterday, Tibetan monks and PLA soldiers were unified in their efforts to rescue schoolchildren from the quake's rubble; but more monks are on the way from neighboring monasteries, and the more days go by in which Tibetans are forced by circumstance to live in miserable conditions under the watchful eye of the PLA soldiers whom they already despise, it is highly likely Jyekundo will turn into a powder keg. And that's when China will kill the switch on any shred of media openness.
A few international reporters made their way to the quake site early and have been allowed to report relatively unimpeded. But reports have already started that access is being limited. Minnie Chan from South China Morning Post stated that the PRC has issued a ban on reporters traveling to the region. And, as the New Yorker posted yesterday, the Chinese government propaganda apparatus has quickly sought to control exactly how the story of the Jyekundo quake is told, limiting results on the state-sanctioned search engine and continually and relentlessly referring to the the quake as the "China quake" and the victims as Chinese.
This amounts to a second tragedy to this tragedy -- the death of the true story. Quite simply, the people of Jyekundo are not Chinese. They are Tibetan. And the Tibetans that died in Jyekundo had the right to die as Tibetans and not Chinese. They had -- and have -- the right to have their story told correctly and justly. It is a story of a fiercely independent people, of nomads and warriors, herders and farmers, tradesmen and monks, and artisans and craftsmen. It is a story of a people invaded -- not liberated -- by an occupying force and of two generations under foreign occupation. It is a story of a people who struggled to maintain their Buddhist faith and their cultural traditions during the horror and mass starvation of the cultural revolution, who picked up arms and then were silenced, and who have borne the weight and humiliation of occupation with what can only be called grace. The victims of Jyekundo were and are a distinct people. They are not Chinese, they are Tibetan, and they had a right to die with dignity, in their own land.
Our responsibility, the responsibility of those who can -- with very little effort -- find the truth to this story, is to tell it.
Follow Josh Schrei on Twitter: www.twitter.com/brooklynjosh
Take time to read them is my humble request.
Other details you might have mentioned would be the significance of newly rebuilt (or in the case of Jyeku monastery, partially rebuilt) monasteries being reduced to rubble once again.
The role of the reinvigorated sangha seems apparent from their involvement in the relief efforts. But I I imagine Beijing also enjoys the illusion of ethnic harmony that their juxtaposition with PLA soldiers creates for the Chinese viewer.
Many of the victims are likely to be new residents of Trindu ("Chengduo") and Jyekundo ("Jiegu Town"), relocated under recent policies that aim to depopulate the grasslands. http://www.hrw.org/ru/news/2007/06/09/china-tibetan-herders-livelihood-jeopardy
I noticed that you did not mention how poor infrastructure has hampered the response to the disaster. I suspect that you are not the biggest fan of roads and railways linking major Chinese population centers to areas of Tibet.
How do you recommend that readers respond to this horrific disaster? Americans donated generously to the Sichuan quake relief effort. Would you advise Americans to do the same for Yushu? If so, how?
How about Hawaii? It was a soveriegn state until it was annexed by the Americans and their queen forced out. If a volcano erupted and many Hawaiians were killed, would we think of them as just Hawaiians and not Americans?
How about African Americans who were brought to America in chains and forced into servitudes? Are they Americans or are they Africans? Were they not oppressed too? They too worked hard to gain equal standing in today's America. Yet even a sixty years ago, Blacks were not allowed to ride in the front of the bus.
There are so many things in the world that are dividing human beings from one another. Only in times of great crisis do people come together. As Mr. Schrei wrote, the PLA soldiers are working side by side with Tibetan monks to help. Why stir the pot and cause division rather than mutual understanding? Is a name worth further bloodshed? Haven't the Chinese and the Tibetan people suffered enough in the last hundred years?
More importantly can't a Tibetan be a Chinese? Or a Chinese be a Tibetan?
African American's issue with the Tibetan issue simply put its apple's and oranges..
Hawaii issue President Grover Cleveland administration found the overthrow of the queen illegal. President Clinton and the Congress have apologized for US actions. Furthermore Hawaiians have accepted being a part of the US.So there.
Tibetans original displaced people and haven't accepted Chinese sovereignty over their territory.
Chinese tibetan Chinese..? Occupied become occupiers and occupied ?
I disagree, the African American issue is very relevant to the Tibetan Chinese issue. One is in power the Whites, Chinese and the oppressed, Blacks and Tibetans. You can argue that Tibet is their own country, but it's not because they fought a war and lost. Just as how the Confederates lost their war and is no longer a country. Tibet is a part of China now regardless of how you feel about it.
Love and respect to all the innocent victims of this tragedy, Tibetan and chinese alike.
Can you post this article on my wall, Camis? Also, you can send me an email. Tashi Delek!
Thanks for your brilliant and powerful article. Sadly, the International mainstream media failed to report accurately about the land and the people..
to Tibetans.
Thank you so much for writing this article. It has moved me deeply. The Tibetans have the right to die in dignity and as Tibetans, not Chinese. Please keep writing.