Radio Silence

With money and power comes temptation, as evidenced by the (now former) New York state governor and some (now former) Bear Stearns executives. But in the case of the Chinese government, stubbornly authoritarian in the political sphere, yet amazingly successful economically, temptations are much more dangerous.

In the past few days, the government’s repressive reaction to the popular protests in Lhasa, capital of Tibet, has put China’s human rights record in the spotlight, precisely as the Olympics loom in the horizon. Seeking to control public perception, the Chinese regime has tried to minimize international exposure to the issue. Yet tanks and soldiers will not go unnoticed forever. Tibetans’ demands for autonomy are reasonable, and it is only a matter of time before even the mighty Chinese government has to give in.

The protests in Lhasa in the last week have been the most violent in the last forty years, but are hardly a new phenomenon. In fact, they started during the anniversary of a failed rebellion on March 10th, 1959. Ten years before that, and just months after securing control of continental China after a long civil war, the aptly named Maoist People’s Liberation Army (PLA) invaded Tibet. The New York Times and other international media outlets covered the desperate radio broadcasts of a “shocked” Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual and political leader, in the wake of invasion. Yet Mao got away with it, much like Stalin had gotten away with his construction of puppet regimes from the Baltic to the Adriatic after World War II.

Throughout the next decade, and especially during the 1959 rebellion, Tibetans tried to resist Communist “liberation,” but to no avail. Like the Soviets did in response to the 1956 Hungarian revolution against the Stalinist regime, the Chinese army consistently crushed revolutionary movements. Amidst the violence, the Dalai Lama went into exile in India, where his government-in-exile still resides.

With their main opponent gone, the Chinese followed the Stalinist puppet state model: They installed a loyal, ethnic Tibetan in charge of the administration and a Han Chinese in the powerful position of secretary of the regional Communist Party. The Chinese constitution technically allows for a “Tibet Autonomous Region,” but Lhasa’s policy decisions are made in Beijing. Slowly but surely, China has asserted absolute power in the last forty years through economic investments, political control, and Han migration, seeking to silence Tibetans forever.

As evidenced by the violent reaction against anything Chinese in the streets of Lhasa over the last ten days, Tibetan identity is very much alive and tired of the status quo. Tibetans’ demands have not changed, but their oppressor has. As host of the upcoming Olympics, China is in the spotlight. Quickly, Beijing blamed the protests on the Dalai Lama, oddly accused the Tibetans of “reactionary separatism” and of trying to ruin the Olympics, and cut off access to the region, where The Economist was the only foreign media outlet with a correspondent. Silence and government-sponsored news are all we can get from Tibet, so the extent of the repression is left to the imagination.

But the Dalai Lama has been smart enough to acknowledge China’s power; he repeatedly calls for coexistence of Han Chinese and Tibetans, respect for the upcoming Olympics, and true autonomy for Tibet through non-violence. He wants precisely what Hong Kong has. After all, Tibet has a distinct history, ethnic identity, and, quite importantly, a very strong religious tradition that differentiates it from China. If there is a case for Western-styled self-determination, this is it.

This is a perfect opportunity for Western governments to stand up to the Chinese regime’s human rights record and advocate for dialogue with the Dalai Lama. On Tuesday afternoon, the French foreign minister and human rights advocate Bernard Kouchner said that Reporters Without Borders’ idea of boycotting the Olympics opening ceremony should be considered at the next European Union foreign ministers gathering, scheduled for March 28th. Considering the overwhelming power of the Chinese in both economic and military terms, international pressure in the context of the Olympics remains the Tibetans’ best hope, and all Western democracies should jump on this opportunity.

No matter how powerful a regime is, no matter how much radio silence there is around its human rights violations, media exposure and international pressure in this age of globalization works. Just as Hungarians reclaimed their history when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989 by reburying the tragic heroes of 1956, the Chinese “liberation” of Tibet will one day be re-written: Autonomy will begin to break the silence.


Pierpaolo Barbieri ’09, a former Crimson associate editorial chair, is a history concentrator in Eliot House. His column appears on alternate Thursdays.