Opinion: Undoing of a civilisation - The CCP’s ongoing plan for Tibet
Tibet Day serves as an opportunity to raise awareness about the ongoing issues faced by the Tibetan people, including human rights violations, cultural suppression.
The 2nd of September each year is observed as Tibet Day to commemorate the speech of the 14th (current) Dalai Lama at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France in 1967. This speech highlighted the dire situation in Tibet under Chinese rule and appealed for international support to protect Tibet's unique culture, identity, and autonomy.
Tibet Day serves as an opportunity to raise awareness about the ongoing issues faced by the Tibetan people, including human rights violations, cultural suppression, and the struggle for autonomy. It's a day to remember the challenges Tibetans have faced and continue to face, and to show solidarity with their cause.
It is, however, unfortunate that nearly half a century later, Tibetans continue to struggle to retain their cultural identity, way of life and even religion, as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) implements a comprehensive plan to undo all aspects of this ancient and unique civilisation, while plundering their lands for resources and expansionist agendas.
The CCP’s strategy to erase all aspects of traditional Tibetan identity includes comprehensive re-education, enforced living in standardised non-traditional housing, change of employment patterns, enforcement of Mandarin and suppression of all religious activities.
Concomitantly, the CCP is undertaking massive infrastructure projects in Tibet (including the world's biggest dam which results in unmitigated disasters for millions of people), re-routing of river waters, and establishment of dual-use border villages. Through these efforts, Xi plans to completely transform the Tibetan socio-cultural and economic landscape – ensuring irreversible Sinicization of the region.
In 2023, the United Nations (UN) Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) unequivocally denounced China for its systematic infringement on economic, social, and cultural rights, both within its borders and across the international stage.
The report highlighted the CCP policies of forced assimilation, including a system of residential schools in Tibet, which has seen nearly 1 million Tibetan children separated from their families and communities and a mass relocation program that aims to uproot nomads, herders and the rural population in Tibet.
The UN Committee, while responding to these disturbing practices, emphasized the urgency of halting non-voluntary resettlements and relocations, and advocated for genuine consultations with affected communities, as well as just compensation for expropriations. None of this has been acknowledged or acted upon by Beijing till date.
Intricately linked to this is China's 'Bilingual Educational Policy,' an instrument of assimilation that seeks to subsume minority cultures within the dominant Han identity. Since Xi Jinping assumed office in 2014, CCP officials promote ethnic mingling and pressurise minorities to identify with Han Chinese culture.
In Tibet they have implemented this policy for all ages and sections of society, nearly eliminating use of the Tibetan language in public, and making Mandarin the primary language for all formal activities.
Religious freedom for Buddhists has almost ceased to exist in Tibet. According to a study by Foundation for Non Violent Alternatives (India) in 2022 – “The roots of the Nalanda Buddhist tradition which can be traced back to ancient Indian culture, are in danger of being wiped out in Tibet”.
Religious activities are heavily monitored and restricted by the Party officials, with severe punishments for exceeding ‘established limits’. The guidance of the 14th Dalai Lama has been a beacon of strength for this community till date, but a high degree of uncertainty lurks in future, as His Holiness continues to advance in age.
Lastly, China’s efforts to sow discord in the Tibetan community and more importantly, use those willing to create divisions in the vulnerable Indo-Himalayan border belt has intensified. These individuals have been employed by the CCP for multiple functions, including activities near or across the Indian border (LAC), where Han Chinese are unable to go – because they simply cannot acclimate to the extreme weather conditions. This underscores how Tibet has never been a ‘Chinese’ territory but a land with a distinct race of people!
Compounding these challenges are China's ambitious and opaque water resource management endeavors, driven by its uneven distribution of per capita water resources. Relying heavily on extensive infrastructure, China has reportedly undertaken more than a hundred diversion projects in the last five years – with a large number of these in Tibet. However, one proposal to redirect water from Tibet to northwest China has ignited international concerns.
This move has sparked unease among nations, particularly India and Bangladesh, which are heavily reliant on rivers originating from Tibet. There is a precedent to such actions by China, which justifies such concern. The construction of eleven large dams by China on the upper Mekong has triggered severe ecological impacts, causing droughts downstream – which have resulted in multiple crises across Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
The construction of hydro-power projects on the Yarlung Tsangpo, which is the world deepest canyon, in the middle of an earthquake prone region and very near to the Indian border – is a matter of great concern. As Brahma Chellaney says, this is “the world's riskiest project as it is being built in a seismically active area.
This makes it potentially a ticking water bomb for downstream communities in India and Bangladesh”. Such projects will also irreversibly change the ecological landscape in Tibet, accelerating the desertification of the world’s third pole by drying up multiple water bodies – and making the traditional herder lifestyle of locals impossible.
Lastly, nearly 200 “model well-off border defence villages” are being established in 21 border counties of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) near India, Bhutan and Nepal. President Xi has been urging herding families in Tibet “to put down roots in the border area and become guardians of Chinese territory.
However, multiple China watchers have claimed that most of these villages are being inhabited by non-Tibetan persons. Such dual use infrastructure indicates the CCP’s plan to convert Tibet into a strategic outpost – which serves Beijing’s interests, but has no link to its own glorious traditional identity.
A quote from a 1964 book on Tibet and Communist China seems very relevant to understanding the CCP designs - “He who also holds Tibet, dominates the Himalayan piedmont, threatens the Indian subcontinent, may well have all of South Asia within his reach, and with it all of Asia.” It can also be surmised that Tibet is central to China’s security strategy as a buffer between the Han Mainland and China’s turbulent periphery.
Interestingly though, scholars have also concluded that “the CCP rule in Tibet has no legitimate, historical nor legal basis. The CCP therefore manufactures legitimacy for its rule in Tibet.” The rich tradition and culture of the people who called the ‘roof of the world’ – home - is being erased by Beijing’s Mandarins with their characteristic zeal and efficiency. If they succeed in this mission, the impact will likely be felt well beyond the dry riverbeds of Asia and cold deserts of Tibet.
On the occasion of Tibet Day, it would do well for India, as well as the Global Community, to call out Beijing for such indiscriminate and unethical actions to ‘eliminate all that is Tibetan from Tibet’.
(Views expressed in this opinion piece are that of the author)
