Some summers ago when I was in Lhasa, I noticed that the sun rose surprisingly late and daylight diffused quite a long while into the evening. This was because Beijing dictates that every one of its subjects from the outer reaches of East Turkestan and Inner Mongolia to the whole of the Tibetan plateau run on Beijing time. Even though Lhasa is as far away from Beijing as San Francisco is from Washington DC, the Tibetans in Lhasa must rise and sleep in harmonious lockstep with the Party chiefs at Zhongnanhai.
Not content with temporal conformity, Chinese leaders in Qinghai Province have now targeted linguistic autonomy. The Qinghai Provincial Government has issued orders that, by 2015, all lessons and textbooks in Tibetan schools should be in Chinese language instead of Tibetan. This will mean that Tibetan children growing up in the region (the historical Amdo region of Tibet famed for producing scholars and intellectuals) will be taught in Chinese instead of Tibetan. Tibetan students will have to learn history, science, social studies etc. in a second language instead of their native language. In fact, in most other parts of the Tibetan plateau, Chinese language instruction has already replaced Tibetan. This latest attempt to promote Chinese language at the expense of Tibetan has sparked the largest and most significant Tibetan protests since the seismic protests of 2008.
On Tuesday, October 19, over a thousand students from six different schools in Rebkong (called Tongren in Chinese) marched in non-violent demonstration against the planned language change carrying a banner that read: "Equality of Peoples, Freedom of Language." Over the following days, the protests spread to Chabcha and other areas of Qinghai, as well as to Minzu Daxue, the Minorities University in Beijing where four hundred students participated. Their banner read, "Preserve Nationality Language and Expand National Education."
These wide-ranging student protests come at the heels of a highly significant letter signed by at least 133 teachers from different schools and submitted to the Qinghai Provincial Government on October 15th. The letter was obtained and published by the popular Tibetan blog Khabdha. In the letter, submitted in both Tibetan and Chinese, the teachers wrote,
The plan of leaving one's language aside and prioritizing another's language, teaching all classes except Tibetan language class in the Chinese language, is a dangerous one that violates the current Constitution of the People's Republic of China; violates the Law of the PRC on Regional National Autonomy; violates the principle of pedagogy; and violates science-based development.
The letter goes on to say, "If both the spoken and written language of a people die, then it is as if the entire population of that people has died and the people have been decimated." The teachers referred to the 4th Article in the PRC Constitution: "All ethnic groups have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages and to preserve or reform their own folkways and customs." They were careful to note that their appeal is in lawful alignment with the Chinese Constitution as well as the PRC's Law on Regional National Autonomy.
Policy makers from the Qinghai Provincial Government, as well as Beijing, should take a note from Newton and notice: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. They should also carefully note the deep-seated concern about language and culture apparent in these courageous appeals by the teachers and students. And then they should consider, at length, the fact dictated by common sense, and upheld by education experts: Children learn better in their mother tongue.
The medium of academic scholarship is language, as the medium of music is sound. Forcing students who grow up speaking Tibetan to study the concepts of science, social science and mathematics in a second language is to disadvantage them from the start: a handicap that will place certain stumbling blocks in their educational development.
Unlike the 2008 protests, which were attributed to social and economic causes as well as political ones, these protests and appeals are clearly in reaction to the education policies of the local Qinghai Government. If Chinese leaders want to give any impression to the Tibetans, and to their own growing number of politically-conscious middle class citizenry, that they care about the wishes of the Tibetan people, they should for once listen to the voice of the Tibetan people, and yes the voice of conscience, and at least allow the Tibetans this small zone of linguistic autonomy.
The problem in Tibet is that the zf would do it in a heartbeat. Dangerous and inflammatory imbalance, which will be corrected by one means or another. Better for the zf to correct it by a means which the zf controls, rather than angry popular reaction.
The CCP has never ever been able to conceal its prejudice towards non-Chinese people.
Tibet has one of the richest literacy traditions in the world; it is a complex system, and without maintenance, will easily be lost. Tibetan artists at a show recently inside Tibet commented that some of the younger people's Tibetan-language art (featuring paintings and carvings of Tibetan words) already exhibited signs of illiteracy (misspelled words, pidgin grammar, etc.)
There is absolutely zero justification for this.
The reality is that the governments intentions, with this language swap, are not admirable; they are not for the purpose of raising one language up, but bringing another down.
As a Xinhua reporter leaked several years ago (not via Xinhua obviously), the top leadership of the CCP aims to "wipe the name Tibet from the lips of the world." I'm still hunting for that link, which along with the quote has disappeared. It's my own idiotic fault for not taking a screenshot, but I still hope to turn it up; I remember the chill that ran through me when I first read it. If anyone else has it I'd be very grateful.
If this policy continues then it goes without saying that it will harm harmony of the people. We fully oppose the policy that by 2015 a common language of the nation (Mandarin Chinese] will be taught in all the primary schools and all indigenous languages will be treated as secondary. This is a plan to destroy Tibetan language and languages of other minorities.
As Tibetan writers, we consider language as the core identity of the Tibetan people. The survival of their identity depends on the language. To destroy a language is to destroy people and their identity. "
That, resolves all issues unless some foreign nation is willing to risk blood and treasure to challenge that claim. That IS always an alternative, but I do not see that as being realistic.
Everything else is just annoying flies and mosquitoes.
Never mind some "foreign nation" being willing to "risk blood and treasure." When the Chinese Empire implodes, Tibet (and a number of other places ) will spin free. It might not happen in our lifetime, but it WILL happen.
In China people do not waste time with periodic lying contests to select leaders - as it is clear that with all the attack ads you see around you, it is clear the the best liars win most of the time. The Chicoms believe that they have a much more effective way of selecting capable leaders through a meritocracy. But that's another blog. But OK, DOES YOUR VOTE COUNT? Ask yourself that honest question.
Let's be honest for one moment here: Han Chinese do own most businesses in the region right now. You can't complain about things like unequal job opportunities and then complain about learning the official Chinese language because the later is the solution to help address the former. If you want Tibetans Chinese to own more successful businesses than Han Chinese, then you have to learn mandarin because that's where the greatest amount of potential customers will be speaking and writing.
Also, in other parts of China people speak local languages and have vibrant local cultures, despite being taught mandarin in schools. Most of the major dialects such as Cantonese, Hakka, and Shanghainese are completely different from Mandarin and for your average Chinese it would still take years to learn. Cantonese dialect even introduces some additional new characters which are unique to its culture. If they can retain their own culture and language while learning mandarin (and English if they want to graduate from college), why can't the Tibetans do the same?
The Tibetan Independence movement incorrectly thinks that cultural isolation and keeping racial purity is the best way to fight the dominating Han culture. If you look at China today, the government is pushing for English and actively promote Western culture (save the politics) because that's where the potential is.
And you do realize that its NOT only tibetans, The other Minorities in Qinghai have to learn Mandarin too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qinghai
Ethnic composition Han - 54%
Tibetan - 21%
Hui - 16%
Tu - 4%
Salar - 1.8%
Mongol - 1.8%
Regarding what is being taught at school and what you can learn on your own, even if you think that different dialects somehow does not represent local culture as well as the tibetan language (which is arguable in itself), there is no reason to believe that Tibetans cannot learn Tibetan language/culture if they are taught in Chinese at schools.
If you know anything about schools in Asia in general, the best ones, the ones whose students have the highest chance of getting into the best colleges in the world, the ones which produces the most amount of celebrity and creative talents, they are all international schools which are taught in English. Using the logic of the free tibet people, these students who go to these schools must be somehow ignorant about their own local/native cultures. The fact is that all of these students can communicate fluently in both their native language and in English. Most of them will succeed as the result of their communication skills and understanding of multiple cultures. What's so bad about that?
If Beijing were Singapore, there'd be libel lawsuits going.
Serious as a heart attack, that is.
Why the double standard? Why do you feel you are qualified to sit on that high horse and point fingers, when your own country is funding much worse?
Meanwhile, the Tibetan people face the darkness. I hope they can preserve their culture and traditions in exile, at least, until one day returning home.
There are lots more American iniquities to worry about today, than what happens with the greeting card theology that had been so exquisitely packaged and repackaged over decades. Theocracy will NEVER be returning to Tibet - accept that as fact and go on and live a useful life.
Peace.
Tibet was very much a live-and-let-live society in 1949. The wild stories of tortured slaves and serfs were made up. Chinese scholars have already debunked the "95% serfs, 5% serflords" manure.
http://www.rxhj.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=23802
At least the Chinese government is not labeling opposition leaders as terrorists and then drop bombs on them to kill them and their families, or running over Tibetan people's homes with bulldozers along with people in them.
In fact, are you and the other free tibet folks not pushing for a complete isolation by the Tibetan Chinese from the Han Chinese? You don't want the Han Chinese to migrate to a place where there are more opportunities for them and you don't want Tibetans to benefit from any opportunities which contacting Han chinese may provide. What do you think that will accomplish ultimately other than the further slump of Tibetan people as a whole?
It was plainly a mistake to have the native youths be schooled in the native language principally till 6th or 9th grade. It would be the same as if teaching Hispanic kids mainly in Espanol till 6th or 9th grade, and then demanding that they then go on to high school and college with the rest of the nation. It'd be pure torture for the kids, and would forever doom them to under performance in schools, and lack of self confidence in society. HOW are they going to make a living in mainstream China when they grow up?
Knowing that it was a mistake before, Beijing is simply doing what is right, and righting the wrong, so that the native kids could have a bright future just like all other Chinese kids growing up in this 21st Century, so that they can join and and help build the century.
Here watch this video, about Tibet made by an American documentary award winning filmmaker who has traveled all over the world and has made many documentaries on China Africa and Tibet.
He offers his viewpoint on the Tibetan situation.
Two schools systems:
A designed for those more concerned with their culture-- most classes in Tibetan with intensive Chinese language, literature and culture lessons.
B" For those more concerned with upward mobility-- most classes are in Chinese with intensive Tibetan language, literature and culture classes.
This is why I recommended to have two systems, one of which will enable upwardly mobile Tibetans, unconcerned with Lamas and Rinpoches, to succeed in China.
China would lose great face if they pursue the same policies.