This March 10th 2014 marks 55 years since the Tibetan National Uprising of 1959, when hundreds of thousands of Tibetans arose and united in their demand for an end to communist China’s illegal invasion and occupation of their country. The rest of the world was still busy with it’s own rebuilding after a devastating WWII and did not come to Tibet’s call for help against the onslaught by the Chinese Communist Army resulting in bloodshed, killings, tortures, disappearances and arbitrary imprisonment of Tibetans.
When Xi Jinping took office a year ago as communist China’s President, the hope was high that with a new President, whose own father had been a victim of the Maoist’s brutal bloodbath, the willingness to reopen a dialogue with HH the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration-in-exile on how to make life for Tibetans inside Tibet better, would be high on the agenda.
The greater global community could not have fathomed the far-reaching strategic implications of the loss of Tibet’s independence. China has increased its hold on Tibet and Tibetans, diverting water away from downstream states without water sharing treaties, rampant and illicit exploitation of Tibets’ rich natural resources, environmental devastation with worldwide effects. Perhaps most troubling is the apparent lack of concern of the gross human rights violations against the Tibetan people and all Humanity.
Reports coming from inside Tibet reveal renewed clampdowns, including mass detentions, violent military responses to peaceful protests, increased use of torture and fear of torture, disguised as “patriotic re-education campaigns, and the criminalization of family members of those who have protested by setting fire to their own bodies. Several relatives of those who self-immolated have received severe prison sentences, and at least one Tibetan, Dolma Kyab, has been sentenced to death for the “murder” of his wife, who is believed to have self-immolated.
The situation inside of Tibet is extreme, and we now know the horrifying result of the world not having addressed this when communist China invaded Tibet in 1950. The world did nothing, and we now know what global implications that has cost. It is not too late to turn the tide on what the future brings if we continue to do nothing.
We call on World Governments and Leaders to Unite for Tibet. By working in unison, governments can apply stronger pressure to communist China, to bring an end to its dangerously provocative politics in Tibet, and send the signal that communist China’s bullying of individual nations that support Tibet is unacceptable.