What Did the Chinese Do in Tibet?

These days probably the vast majority of people on the planet, especially the younger generations, would have absolutely no knowledge of Tibet and the Chinese invasion and atrocities committed in that country during the 1950s. So why am I interested? Read on . . .

Back in the early 70s I discovered Buddhism and initially, I was drawn towards Tibetan Buddhism. It was around 1975 that I discovered the Samye Ling Tibetan Monastery and Cultural Centre just outside the tiny village of Eskdalemuir in southern Scotland. This wonderful place was founded by the late Lama Akong Tulku Rinpoche and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and was the first Tibetan Buddhist Centre to be established in the West and was named after Samye, the very first monastery to be established in Tibet. I met both of them whilst researching for my book, Buddhism in Britain that was published in 1979. Anyway, I shall leave the deaths of these two Tibetan Buddhist icons for a future blog.

I am not going to go into the details of what caused the invasion of Tibet by the Chinese other than to say it was an evil and dastardly takeover of an independent country masterminded by the then vicious dictator, Mao Tse-tung. It was stated at the time that the reason for the invasion was to free the Tibetan people from their religious beliefs and to create a separate national, cultural and religious identity. What twaddle. And of course, we had the Dalai Lama, a figure that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) regarded as a fraudulent ruler of Tibet and would have to be removed one way or another.

The destruction of Tibet’s culture and oppression of its people can only be called absolutely brutal during the twenty years following the uprising. About 1.2 million Tibetans, about one-fifth of the country’s population, died as a result of China’s Nazi-like policies. Many more languished in prisons and labour camps (I'd prefer to call them concentration camps) and more than 6,000 Buddhist monasteries, temples and other cultural and historic buildings were destroyed and their contents pillaged. The Communist invaders burnt tens of thousands of sacred Buddhist texts and other media and banned all aspects of the Tibetan religion especially the monkhood. Of course, by this time, the 14th Dalai Lama had fled to India and made his home in exile in the town of Dharamsala in the foothills of the Himalayas.

During the subsequent takeover of Tibet, the Chinese committed so many crimes that could be said to be human rights violations. Again, I won’t go into details right now and would end this blog by saying this. Today in Tibet, although one can still practice one's religion, there are other negative aspects to Chinese rule.

1.  Today, Tibetans are subject to arbitrary arrest and detention.

2.  Torture still prevails in Chinese prisons and detention centres despite it being in contravention of the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

3.  Many Tibetan children are denied access to adequate healthcare and schooling.

4.  The rate of imprisonment for political reasons is far greater than in other areas under Chinese rule.

5.  There are forced disappearances. This is where a person is taken into custody and the details of his/her detention are not disclosed to anybody.

6.  Then there is Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, recognised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama, has been missing since 1995!

7.  More than 70% of Tibetans in Tibet now live below the poverty line.

8.  The Tibetan flag is banned in the country!

9.  And lastly, anyone being found to have a photo of the Dalai Lama in their properties or their persons will be arrested, tortured and thrown in jail.

This is Tibet today under Dictator Xi Jinping.