Chinese armed police patrol in Lhasa on March 15, 2008 (Photo source: Getty Images)
In mid-March 2008,TibetThe largest anti-communist demonstration since 1989 broke out. The demonstrations began on March 10 (Monday) and have been peaceful for several days. On March 14 (Friday), it suddenly turned violent.
The violent scene is unavoidably strange: a group of men in their 20s acted in a planned manner. They first chanted slogans, then set fire to vehicles near Ramoche Temple, then rushed into surrounding shops, looted goods, and then burned down dozens of shops. The steps are orderly, the pace is compact, and the movements are capable, which is amazing. People have noticed that at the intersection near Ramoche Temple, thoughtful people have already placed rocks of uniform size and weight, about one or two kilograms, but they were not “discovered” in advance by the police and plainclothes officers everywhere? After that, a large number of military police and military vehicles arrived and opened fire as a matter of course to “quell the violence.”
Who planned the violence? And who played the thug? The outside world can be suspicious. As early as 1989, Chinese journalist Tang Daxian, who had gone deep into Tibet, wrote a documentary: “The Bayonet Pointed Directly at Lhasa1989 Records of the Tibetan Incident”. The article disclosed: In those days, a few days after the Tibetans launched a peaceful demonstration, the Chinese Communist authorities arranged a large number of spies and plainclothes agents to pretend to be citizens and monks to build momentum in a planned way: burning prayer pagodas, smashing and looting grain stores, looting shops, and encouraging people to loot supplies. After successfully “building momentum”, the military and police launched a bloody crackdown.
After 19 years, has the CCP returned to its old ways and used its old tricks? Judging from its historical credibility, it is difficult for the CCP to escape suspicion. After “quelling the violence,” the CCP accused the “overseas Dalai Lama clique of instigating the riots,” but at the same time expelled all foreign media and reporters from Tibet (why not keep them and collect information that “the Dalai Lama clique was organized, premeditated, and carefully planned”). evidence of “inciting riot”?). This move not only violates the CCP’s commitment to open interviews with foreign media and reporters (since 2007), but also reveals its evil intentions of “there is no three hundred taels of silver here.”
The Dalai Lama categorically denies the CCP’s accusations. In fact, the international community knows that the Dalai Lama represents exactly the moderate and compromising faction among the exiled Tibetans.
Under pressure from the international community, the Chinese Communist authorities have been forced to maintain contact and negotiate with representatives of the Dalai Lama for many years. However, the Chinese Communist Party has blocked information from the domestic people, leaving the domestic people unaware of this. In such negotiations, the Dalai Lama has a sincere attitude: he adheres to the golden mean and does not seek Tibetan independence, but strives for a high degree of autonomy for Tibet, hoping to solve the Tibetan issue through the “one country, two systems” model. However, the Chinese Communist Party only uses this kind of negotiation as a delaying means to deal with Tibetans and the international community, which shows no sincerity.
“One country, two systems” was originally an “invention” of the Chinese Communist Party. In order to regain Hong Kong, the CCP initiated “one country, two systems”; for Taiwan, which is blocked by the strait, the CCP also forced “one country, two systems”, but was rejected by the other side; the Dalai Lama hoped to implement “one country, two systems” in Tibet, but the CCP ignored it. It can be seen that no matter what political model is implemented in any region, the CCP is all about itself and imposes its will without considering the other party’s position. As a result, the CCP and the Dalai Lama have been in and out of talks for nearly half a century, with no results so far.
Whenever something goes wrong in Tibet, the CCP framed and abused the Dalai Lama, thinking that through this provocation, it could force the Dalai Lama to come forward to restrain Tibetans and reduce the “trouble” of the CCP’s rule. As everyone knows, the Dalai Lama can no longer restrain all Tibetans. The younger generation of Tibetans in exile can no longer wait. Since even the Dalai Lama’s golden mean and middle way are not feasible, the relationship between the CCP and the Tibetans has become increasingly tense. In March 2008, the Tibetan demonstrations centered in Lhasa and spread to three provinces were a profound reflection of this change. It is the CCP’s high-pressure rule and tyrannical face that forces Tibetans to become intolerable and rise up for justice. In this sense, the instigator of the “Tibetan Rebellion” is the CCP itself.
Future generations will have their own comments on what the CCP did in Tibet. To name just one: According to Zhang Rong’s book “Mao Zedong: The Little-Known Story”, in the 1950s, during the so-called “democratic reform” of Tibet, the Chinese Communist Party destroyed more than 2,500 temples, accounting for 10% of all temples in Tibet. 97%! The 10th Panchen Lama, who stayed in the country, once lamented that the so-called “new socialist Tibet” “looks like it was destroyed by artillery shells and the war just ended.”
The protests in March 2008 also showed the world that the CCP’s totalitarian dictatorship is not impeccable. In China, emergencies such as Tibetan demonstrations may break out at any time, embarrassing the CCP. Cracks may appear in the high wall of the Chinese Communist Party’s dictatorship at any time.
Naked political high pressure, coupled with superficial “economic development”, the so-called hard and soft tactics, did not win the hearts of Tibetans. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, built at a cost of US$4.2 billion, is nominally to promote the economic development of Tibet, but behind it lies the political purpose of the Chinese Communist Party: resource plunder and political control.
As soon as this railway opened, it was accompanied by a huge scandal: a photo entitled “The Qinghai-Tibet Railway Opens up Life Channels for Wild Animals”, showing the harmonious coexistence of Tibetan antelopes and plateau trains, won the CCTV “Top Ten Pictures of the Year” award. One of the criticisms of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway from the outside world is that it destroys the ecological balance of Tibet and endangers the survival of the rare plateau animal Tibetan antelope. Afterwards, the award-winning work was exposed by netizens: it was a computer-generated photo and fake. Xinhua News Agency and other state media were forced to apologize, but some officials still argued that synthesis is also a kind of creation. Award-winning photos can be faked, so why can’t so-called “riots” and “counter-violence” be faked?
The common history of Tibet and China can be traced back to more than 300 years ago. However, whether it was the Qing Dynasty or the Republic of China, China and Tibet could live in harmony. It was only during the Communist era that the bizarre sight of Tibet’s top political and religious leaders being forced to leave and exile overseas for a long period of time emerged. For China, the CCP has no merit in reunification and is guilty of division. The Communist Party, which sings about “national unity”, is actually the eternal sinner of national division!
Editor: Wen Li Source: China Column
Short URL:
All rights reserved. Reprinting in any form requires permission from this site. It is strictly prohibited to create mirror websites.
[Honorary Members Wanted]Streams can merge into the sea, and small kindnesses can achieve great love. We sincerely recruit 10,000 honorary members from Chinese people all over the world: each honorary member only needs to pay a subscription fee per year and become an honorary member of the “Look at China” website, which can help us break through censorship and blockade and provide services to at least 10,000 mainland Chinese compatriots. Provide independent and true key information to warn them in times of crisis and save them from pandemics and other social crises.
