›› Lectures et opinions
Background (1)
Until the early 50’s Tibet was one of the most isolated and self protected places on earth. The Chinese asserted their presence in Central Tibet from the early 50’s. They were cautious at first, and the cohabitation between the Dalai Lama’s Government and the CCP lasted an uneasy 8 years that culminated with a revolt and the flight of the Dalai Lama in 1959.
What followed, the 60’s and 70’s, was a time of great suffering and unparalleled destruction. In 1980, Yu Yaobang visited Tibet and was shocked by the state of utter poverty that he found there, and vowed to make amends. Like in the rest of China, communes were dismantled, trade allowed and borders opened. Circulation between India and Tibet resumed and families were reunited. Dialogue was engaged and there was even talk of the Dalai Lama returning, at least, for a visit.
What had begun in great hope soon began to stall. The Tibetan Government in Exile wanted to include what was labeled as ‘Greater Tibet’ in the discussions, Tibetan ethnic areas that had once been part of Tibet around the 9th century, and were now included into the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan.
The Chinese could not consider dismembering four of their provinces and creating an Autonomous Region of enormous size. This created a stalling point. Finally, in 1988, the Dalai Lama publicly stated that Tibet sought a solution with China in the context of the Middle Way, autonomy and self-rule within China. This concession, which should have opened new doors, failed to do so. The issue of ‘Greater Tibet’ continued to hang, Tien An Men happened the following year and the Chinese leadership changed course. The continuing rounds of talks led nowhere, though individuals continued to move back and forth, visiting family on either side.
Throughout the 90’s and the first decade of the 20th century, Tibet and the refugee community continued to evolve, each in their own way. The exiles watched China’s economic rise and the importance it began to take in the world in general and they stepped up their efforts of claiming human rights abuses, getting some attention and respect, especially with the Dalai Lama winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. The whole effort of gaining attention became a force in itself.
The evolution of life in Tibet from 1980 is a complex one. In the first few years, economic freedom greatly raised the living standard of ordinary Tibetans, Then the changes going on in China began to seep in and with that the collisions that inevitably come in when a messy new meets old. Schools were opened, a limit on 3 children strictly imposed, towns were built in the middle of the pasture and consumer goods became part of everyday life.
The Chinese viewed this as a sign of progress that they had introduced to a backward area. They said they wanted to bring economic development to Tibet and the Western provinces. University departments began research programs on the yak and modernizing ways to conduct animal husbandry. Most of these moves were experimental and untested. The Chinese scholars tended to stay out of the field and few of their ideas had any practical applications.
The nomads viewed it all with resignation, suspicion and contempt. With its typical top down approach, the government imposed new rules to improve the input on the high plateau ; it imposed fencing, luring the nomads into owning their land, in their search for a meat market let the number of cattle rise to dangerous levels, and made a program to provide nomads with winter housing. The nomads followed the rules they couldn’t avoid, but continued to do things their way when they could, especially since it meant their survival.
Other aspects of modern life became popular ; motorbikes, solar panels, cotton and wool cloth, shoes, hats and ready made clothes from the market. Supplies were easier to get, less time could be spent on making everything oneself. The price of wool was high and brought in extra income. The first generation of schooled children brought in the rewards of government jobs that diversified family income. Slowly though, becoming part of global scene had its problems too. In 1990, the world price of wool fell and with it that of other commodities. By 2000, the government job market was saturated and the children who had been to school didn’t want to be nomads anymore.
Even if they tried, their years out of the system made them loose their edge in a harsh way of life that requires highly toned herding skills obtained since childhood. These youths found themselves stuck between two worlds ; their education level, centered on Tibetan, mass produced poets and writers but little else. It was no match for the competitive Chinese job market. Though some managed to modernize traditional trading methods and became wealthy in the process, most couldn’t compete with the enterprising Chinese that were making their way inland in search of new markets.
They continued to barter with the middlemen who brought little income. Schooling and 3 children policy made for too few people to look after too many animals. Emphasis on the meat market led to overgrazing ; too many animals for too little pasture. Those who were denied schooling for the sake of their family herds grew bitter, resenting their lack of literacy, feeling life has bypassed them. Everything happened too fast, there was no time to adjust and diversity efficiently.
Background (2)
The CCP still sets the rules in rural areas, as it does everywhere else. Many of the local officials are issued from Tibetan families, but most of the higher level ones are Chinese. Officials receive instructions and objectives from higher up that they try to fulfill. Their rise in the system depends on it. A social scientist in far away Beijing has an idea on how to reduce poverty on the plateau and passes it down.
It translates into number projections and five year plans that include model farms and industrial areas, induces meetings in prefectural towns that include lively evenings, quick announced visits in the field that insure positive reports for their superiors, which in turn are linked to securing their promotion or at least maintaining their privileges. That these developments mean little in terms of practical application because no one asked for them or was trained to make them work doesn’t really bother anyone.
This is what most of life in Tibet, inside and outside the TAR is about ; a decent life for some, a harder one for others. Many youths, who don’t know where their life is going, confused by change and with no one who can direct them, live aimlessly, riding their bikes, playing pool and drinking beer on the money from their parent’s sold cattle.
One learns to avoid talking about politics, the Dalai Lama, the TYC or anything else about life in exile in public places, in front of people one doesn’t know well, or without taking the batteries out of one’s cellphone. A strong monastic presence goes on, keeps people together as they did in the past and giving them hope that even if life is hard, there are other rewards ahead. Thousands of monasteries have been rebuilt in the last 30 years and signs of a rich and very traditional cultural life can be seen everywhere.
There are many problems in Tibet, and there are rings of truth around what fills the media. There are arrests and some nomads have been parked in shoddy housing. There are think tanks and Social Sciences Institutes that want income figures to go up and talk about raising sheep in glass houses, bringing Holstein cows to increase milk productivity, parking the dris and dzomos into fenced off farm like areas, of ridding areas of pigs (one official decided he didn’t like pigs) of selectively raising only sheep or yaks in certain areas, etc, etc.
There is talk, fortunately little action. No one wants to be on the field, risk failure and have social problems on their hands as a result. Lately, the reforms have become easier to implement ; hand outs to fix existing houses, insurance for dead animals (though this encountered many problems and was dropped in some areas) and subsidies for the very poor. Actual implementation of any of the schemes depends very much on the mindset of the local officials and how they choose to dispense the funds they receive from the Central government.
Though the exile groups claim that it is difficult to obtain exact information of what is happening in Tibet, they seem to make little effort to acquire any. Tibet inside and out of the TAR is no longer closed. Thousands of Tibetans visit their families in Tibet every year, coming and going quietly. There is also extensive research by Western scholars conducted on the field since the 80’s that has grown into a very vast body of publicly available information such as the Western Case Reserve, among others.
In spite of these resources the activists seem only interested in detailing abuses, which they use in their to support their Human Rights issues. The rest, the everyday life of the majority of people gets little attention. It is almost as if people outside of Tibet are afraid that they may have something positive to say about life there.
All over the world, SFT chapters are campaigning for the rights of the Tibetan people. They lobby politicians in the US, Europe and Australia, organize demonstrations and events. They make young Tibetans in India and the West feel purposeful, give them an opportunity to speak publicly and experience media advocacy making them part something, challenging the giant, the CCP. They encourage visits to Tibet, where members go loaded with prejudice and look at to find points to justify their prejudice. This is easy to find especially in Lhasa with its tight security and heavy armed presence.
They debate point by point how nomads are being driven off their land, deplore tourism in Tibet, and seek to boycott Chinese goods. They are « cool » the way adolescents are, repeating the same thing, screaming, shouting and enlisting rappers and singers. Older Tibetans look at them with affection, thinking they haven’t forgotten who they are, a least they still fight for their identity. They are all the media and the public ever hears about Tibet. The other groups, the researchers and NGO’s who work out of Tibet, those who have the facts and insight to paint a realistic picture of life in Tibet are quiet, no one hears them.