Author: By Staff Writer

Dorjee Tseten, a member of the Tibetan parliament, said on Wednesday in Ahmedabad that freeing Tibet from Chinese domination is crucial to India’s safety. He continued by saying that China’s imperialist and regionalist policies worry every Asian nation.

As part of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile’s Tibet advocacy campaign in several Indian states, Tseten, who is heading a parliamentary delegation touring Gujarat towns, conducted an engagement with the students of Gujarat University on Wednesday. He is here with his colleague lawmaker, Tsering Lhamo.

In addition, he urged the heads of state in India to educate their people about Tibet.

at response to allegations of “forced assimilation” of over a million Tibetan students at state-run boarding schools, the United States has proposed tighter visa restrictions for Chinese officials.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Beijing to halt its “coercive” tactics in the culturally diverse far western area without naming any specific people.

For their role in what the United States and the United Nations call the “forcible assimilation” of over a million Tibetan students in government-run boarding schools, the United States has announced additional visa restrictions for current and past Chinese officials.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Tuesday that these “coercive policies” are an attempt to “eliminate Tibet’s distinct linguistic, cultural, and religious traditions among younger generations of Tibetans.”

Blinken pleaded with Chinese officials, “please stop forcing Tibetan children into government-run boarding schools in Tibet and elsewhere in the PRC,” referring to the People’s Republic of China.

Foreign nationals may be denied a visa to enter the United States under the authority of Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act owing to serious unfavorable foreign policy ramifications for the United States.

A State Department representative said they couldn’t disclose which CCP members were banned from entering the US because “individual visa records are confidential.”

According to the spokesperson, today’s announcement on visa restrictions applies to current and former PRC and CCP officials who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, policies or actions aimed at repressing religious and spiritual practitioners, members of ethnic groups, dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists, labor organizers, civil society organizers, and peaceful protestors in the PRC.

Since 1951, when Chinese troops invaded Tibet in what they called a “peaceful liberation,” China has kept Tibet under its rule.

According to official Chinese statements, the goal of Chinese policy in Tibet is to promote “religious harmony, social harmony, and ethnic harmony.”

Tibetans living in exile allege their people have been targeted for systematic persecution, imprisonment, and death by the Chinese government for decades.

The Chinese government’s inhumane practice of forcibly removing Tibetan children from their homes must be stopped. President of the International Campaign for Tibet Tencho Gyatso said this indicates how far Beijing is willing to go to destroy the Tibetan culture and convert Tibetans into obedient followers of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In response to U.S. steps restricting visas for Chinese officials, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said that China “firmly opposes and strongly condemns” these actions.

Chinese Embassy Spokesperson Liu Pengyu stated, “Boarding schools have gradually developed into one of the important modes of running schools in China’s ethnic minority areas, and the centralized way of running schools effectively solves the problem of ethnic minority students’ difficulty in attending school at a distance.”

U.N. human rights experts expressed “very disturbed” in February over reports that the Tibetan residential school system is being used as “a mandatory large-scale program intended to assimilate Tibetans into the majority Han culture,” in violation of international human rights standards.

The usage of “Xizang” rather than “Tibet” in English references to the occupied country has been advocated by Chinese academics as a way to redefine Tibet’s worldwide reputation and further incorporate the territory into China’s narrative. This suggestion originated during the August 14-16 7th Beijing International Seminar on Tibetan Studies. There were about 320 people present, including around 40 academics from countries other than mainland China, during the seminar.

Professor Wang Linping of Harbin Engineering University’s College of Marxism was a major proponent of this idea. He said that the name “Tibet” misrepresented the region’s borders and contributed to confusion about the area. To fix this, he advocated for using the Mandarin romanization of Tibet, “Xizang,” as a more accurate name reflecting the region’s actual size and breadth.

The name “Tibet” as it is frequently used worldwide comprises territories that extend beyond the limits of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region, as was stressed in the official report of the seminar. inside provinces like so-called Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan, this larger understanding encompasses territories inside those provinces.

The propaganda campaign outlined by President Xi Jinping at the 2017 Communist Party Congress is being implemented by Beijing. The plan’s stated goal is to encourage the use of Mandarin to strengthen national identity in areas with a large ethnic minority population.

Chinese official media’s English-language versions have been replacing “Tibet” with “Xizang” since 2019. People’s Daily, the party’s official mouthpiece, and Global Times, a nationalist tabloid, are two good examples. The state-run Xinhua news agency and CGTN’s English-language reporting in China have also started using the moniker “Xizang” in their coverage.

Ever since the People’s Liberation Army occupied the region in 1950, Tibet has been a source of international controversy and political conflict between China and the rest of the world. Beijing and Tibetan equivalents have disagreed for a long time over the Dalai Lama’s exile to India and his demand for greater autonomy for Tibet.

The word “Xizang” has gained popularity among pro-CCP media, although it has not yet been adopted by any major worldwide state media source in substitution of the term “Tibet.” Statements issued by the foreign ministry still often refer to the region as “Tibet.” This change in language, say critics, is more evidence of China’s attempts to control the story being told about Tibet. East Turkestan is often referred to as Xinjang by the world community; China has used this strategy in other occupied territories as well to fit their narrative.

On Sunday, a three-person delegation from the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (TPiE) met with civil society representatives in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, and made accusations that China was committing cultural genocide in Tibet. They went looking for help from regular people to fight back against it.

Youdon Aukatsang, a member of the unicameral, the highest legislative organ of the Central Tibetan Administration of the government-in-exile of Tibet, addressed civil society members at the Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD) here on Sunday evening, explaining the current situation in Tibet and asserting that Tibet also mattered for India, which was having border problems with the China.

Youdon Aukatsang, who maintains Tibet was never a part of China, made the following statement: “Chinese are behaving aggressively in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, and other border areas of India to put pressure on New Delhi so that it refrains from supporting the Tibetan cause.”

Together with Geshi Monlam Tharchin and Tashi Dhondup, Aukatsang has been working to draw attention to the deteriorating conditions in Tibet as a result of the Chinese government.

The Tibetan administration was autonomous from 1930 to 1950,” Aukatsang said. However, following the Chinese invasion, we no longer stand on our own two feet, and our fundamental identity is in jeopardy. Young Tibetans are being kidnapped by the Chinese government and brainwashed there. The Chinese government is making concerted efforts to eradicate Tibetan society, religion, and culture.

She lobbied Sujit Kumar, a member of the Rajya Sabha and the parliamentary forum’s convenor, to raise the matter there. That India “should try to assert itself,” she remarked.

Aukatsang, after thanking India, remarked, “After India, it’s Japan which has supported the Tibetan cause.”

Sujit Kumar, a member of the Rajya Sabha, recently said, “Everyone knows that Tibet was never a part of China.” However, several mistakes in the past have led to Tibet being treated as if it were a province of China. The United States and the rest of the world were mute while Chinese aggression occurred.

Sujit Kumar said, “The community has never been in conflict with the locals.” Chandragiri is a Tibetan settlement in the Gajapati district of Odisha. The population of the town is close to 3,200 people.

The 45-person Tibetan Parliament in Exile (TPiE) is headquartered in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, and speaks for roughly 60 lakh Tibetans.

As part of their lobbying mission, the team will be meeting with students, intellectuals, and the governor of Odisha.

China has ruled over the whole Tibetan Plateau since it annexed the region in 1951. In 1959, the administration of Tibet, headed by the 14th Dalai Lama, was exiled to India.

The delegation is advocating for demilitarization of Tibet and full autonomy for the region.

Also, they spoke out against Chinese meddling in the Dalai Lama’s succession.

On Saturday, a three-person delegation from the Tibetan parliament in exile said that the situation in Tibet is dire because of the Chinese government.

The delegation asked the Indian government to urge the Chinese government to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama without preconditions in an effort to end the Tibet-China conflict, citing the Freedom House’s Freedom Index report as evidence.

It has reached the point of cultural genocide and complete eradication of Tibetan identity in Tibet, Youdon Aukatsang remarked.

She is joined on her mission to bring attention to the Tibetan cause by Geshi Monlam Tharchin and Tashi Dhondup in the Indian states of West Bengal, Sikkim, and Odisha.

We want real autonomy for Tibet, in which the Tibetan people control all aspects of their own society, including cultural practices, economic growth, and environmental protection. We want a complete absence of weapons,” she said.

Human rights experts at the United Nations, according to the delegation members, have voiced grave alarm about the prevalence of colonial boarding schools in Tibet.

They alleged that thousands of Tibetan youngsters were being sent to boarding schools in an effort to eradicate Tibetan culture and language.

As Tharchin put it, “while we are flourishing here, our Tibetan brothers and sisters are suffering there.” Tibetans in India are tremendously thankful to the government and people of India for allowing them to live in the nation. She remarked, “We have been very resilient and hopeful; we have been in exile for over 64 years but our struggle is going on.” She went on to say that the Tibetan liberation movement has a bright future.

The Department of Political Science in the Faculty of Arts at MS University and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Policy Research and International Studies hosted a lecture and discussion titled “Tibet’s Past and Future” on Friday.

According to Tsering Lhamo, a member of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, the people of Tibet have been “denied basic rights like education, Tibetan language, culture, and history” as a result of “changing policies by China.”

According to a press statement from the government, Lhamo also claimed that Tibetans, who are traditionally nomadic, are being confined to urban ghettos.

On Wednesday, former Army commander General Manoj Mukund Naravane (retd) emphasized Tibet’s fight for independence from China by saying that Tibetans everywhere have a right to visit the homeland of their ancestors and learn about Tibetan culture firsthand.

He was addressing the crowd at the India International Centre (IIC) in Delhi at the 6th International Rangzen (Independence) Conference. Geshe Lharampa Bawa Lobsang Pende, a member of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, and Umit Hamit, a prominent Uyghur freedom fighter, were among those there.

General Naravane claims that 1,40,000 Tibetans live in exile, with a majority (1,000,000) residing in India. “This is an extraordinary pool of dormant power that needs to be tapped into,” he stated.

As he continued, he said, “It is indeed a historical fact that Tibet has been and is, the rightful neighbor of India and that the common border was open and peaceful, allowing not only free movement of trade and people, but also the flow of the finest thoughts of human civilisation.”

A former Army commander has said that India’s ambiguous posture toward the Chinese occupation of Tibet is a direct outcome of the 1954 Panchsheel Agreement, a pact based on five principles of cohabitation between India and China. The Tibetan identity and culture have been drastically altered as a result of China’s decades-long occupation of Tibet and related administrative reforms.

General Naravane continued by saying that China’s recent white paper is “incorrect and an attempt to rewrite history” since it asserts that Tibet has been a part of China from antiquity (7th century AD and later).

Vertical integration and horizontal stretch are the two strategies he proposed for furthering the Tibetan cause. He elaborated on the’vertical integration’ strategy, saying it would include bringing these challenges to the attention of the international community via channels such as the United Nations and the participation of influential individuals and institutions.

According to him, keeping the movement’s momentum going requires bringing people together all across the globe. To keep the Rangzen movement alive and effective, “this strategy should focus on creating a collective voice across borders.”

He repeatedly criticized China during the presentation, drawing parallels between the Chinese and Indian approaches. However, he warned that China’s increased might is not without its risks. When it comes to leadership, China uses force and fear, whereas India relies on collaboration and trust.

In addition, he said, Tibet, Taiwan, Xinjiang, and even Mongolia have all been targets of Chinese irredentism. China uses selective historical reference, cartographic manipulation, and lawfare by exploiting its cyber and information domain capabilities, all of which fall inside the “Grey Zone” and should be taken into account.

July saw the highest monthly passenger flow in the history of civil aviation in the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region, which began in 1965. However, others are worried that the region’s rich cultural history might suffer as a result of the increase in tourists.

The Tibet office of the Civil Aviation Administration of China informed the Chinese official media Xinhua that seven civil airports in Tibet served 770,000 passengers in July, an increase of 31.6% over the same month previous year. A record number of 5,936 flights were successfully operated by the civil aviation industry in the same month, representing a slight 2.4% increase over the previous year.

The beauty of Tibet’s landscapes, the grandeur of its mountains, and the diversity of its ethnic and religious communities all contribute to the region’s appeal as a tourist destination. After China adjusted its reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak, the tourist business in the area saw a renaissance. However, as the number of tourists increases, issues of commercialization and distortion of Tibetan culture have come to the fore.