Human rights concerns in China

The story of the “haves” and the “have-nots” is an old story with humankind. It is common (though not fair) to have a dominate culture that controls more of the resources, and minority cultures that see less of them. My time with the Tibetan refugees (exiles in India) and the Uyger people (in Urumqi and Turpan in Western China) has made me think a lot about what it is that China is doing that is different than our own systems of inequality, classism and oppression in the USA. Of course I kept these thoughts to myself while I was in China, writing (true but harmless) tourist blogs. I wanted time to process what I saw, and time to clear the border as all incoming and outgoing information is monitored. All email is run through filters that look for key words that notify officials of any controversial content. For these reasons I was careful. Everything here I learned directly from people who have or who are experiencing this. I asked questions and tried to get information without getting on any soap boxes, or putting the people I talked to in awkward situations. I worked to understand the Han perspective, while also learning from other voices. I haven’t written like this before, but hope to raise awareness with my sharing.

In McLeod Ganj, India, I spoke with many Tibetans in exile and saw films shared by activist groups. What did I find? The clamp down on the Tibetans that increased after their protests just before the 2008 Olympics has not let up. People are imprisoned and tortured for slight infractions or unfounded accusations. Family members of those that escape into exile are under threat. Tibetans that return after fleeing are beat and imprisoned and fined. One filmmaker that taped what Tibetans thought about the Olympics being in China was arrested and is still in prison. Though it came through with the message that the world should hear the Tibetan people’s cry for support, and know that human rights violations continue there, the film’s criticism was moderate. The Chinese response was not. I also saw a film that showed clips during the protests where several non-violent Buddhist protesters were beaten to death. The soldiers standing nearby laughed and smoked as the Tibetans were kicked and beaten by their comrades not 10 feet away.

I heard the stories of some of the nuns that had fled after they had been imprisoned for practicing non-Party approved religious studies. The numbers of people allowed to enter or stay in the monastic life is tightly regulated to keep the numbers low, and the Chinese government created a benign course of study for them to use in the monasteries. Those caught using traditional content rich with their heritage and culture, are punished (some with their lives). The nuns I spoke with had served an average of 3 years each, and were routinely beaten for their “crimes.” They had made the decision to flee to India to a free nunnery where they could practice their faith and be close to the Dalai Lama, even though this puts their families behind at risk of harassment. All of their families supported this decision.

The Dalai Lama is asking for freedom of religion, and freedom for his people to maintain their culture and language. He is not asking for independence from China. There is a feeling the Chinese are just trying to ignore his requests until he dies, and no matter what he says, the Chinese Government is convinced he demands an independent Tibet. They are hoping time will erase the problem. But there is growing unrest among the young that are demanding nothing less than independence. The situation is tenuous.

The Uyger people in Western China have more freedom to practice Islam than the Tibetans have to practice Buddhism, but the oppression of the people is evident. The calls to prayer ring out over the city during the day, and mosques all over the city are well attended. The strategy there seems to be more of a systematic approach. The Han Chinese run the education system. The children are not allowed to speak the Uyger language at school, and must speak Chinese (or English in their English classes). There is a strict prohibition against prayer at school. Separate schools, clubs, or classes about the Uyger language and culture are forbidden. There are observers at the mosques during prayer, (it is thought they do this to prevent any organizing). In Kashgar, military presence is more overt. Police are throughout the city in full riot gear even though it has been a year since the small uprising there. A German tourist shared that the feeling in the city is one of intimidation and tangible police threat.

Everywhere there is massive construction happening. Old parts of cities (literally every city I passed through) are being knocked down to make way for new shiny high rise apartments. The people living in those old areas are forcibly moved to new housing, even if their families have lived there for many generations. The last three remaining historic neighborhoods of the ancient city of Kashgar are slated to be replaced this year. Any objections have been muted. The scale of this effort is astounding. “Modernize! Modernize!” sounds the cry.

The Chinese I talked to are proud of all the progress and construction efforts. They don’t have information about any “down-sides” and only get the positives done up on their national TV stations with swelling patriotic music and high production values. The Chinese government are masters at controlling information and generating propaganda. The message that comes through is: See all the benefits a modern and prosperous China can bring to these backward, misled people. China offers the children of these quaint and simple people such generous opportunities with education and better economic standing…a chance to be part of something truly great…a member of the biggest and best country on earth. Why, when given the choice of continuing their silly ways with their old superstitions, or gaining wealth and the respect of the Chinese, would they chose the former? It seemed most Chinese simply don’t know (or don’t care to know) what is happening behind the scenes to bring these people into the folds of the red flag.

So for me, there are a few things China is doing that take them into the arena of deliberate, dangerous, unforgivable human rights violations, above and beyond the more common systems of oppression that develop when a dominate culture is present. One is their suppression and outright prosecution of the religious, spiritual, and cultural lives of the Tibetans and Uygers (and other minority groups with smaller populations). Another is the way they are controlling their information so their own people cannot know about and fight the injustice happening there. And the third is (something the US has also done) which is to effectively gut the cultures of the minority groups, but continue to use their ethnic costumes and images of a few aspects of their culture to “prove” how inclusive the dominate culture is. It makes my heart hurt.

I hope to take action by seeing what is being done by international human rights groups, especially related to the Uygers, as they have no one as well known and respected as the Dalai Lama to speak for them. If anyone finds any direct ways to support action to help these groups, please post them on the comments here.