The Chinese government said it provides a holistic environment for learning Tibetan culture, religion, and language for Tibetan children. It is seen as a cover-up and counterweight narrative to the criticism towards the colonial-style residential boarding schools where over a million Tibetan children are forcibly held.
[Posted on T.T Tibet site 25 May 2023 ] On May 23rd, the State Council Information Office and the People’s Government of the Tibet Autonomous Region held the ‘2023 Forum for the Development of Xizang’ (Tibet). This marked the 72nd anniversary of the controversial 17-point agreement between Tibet and China, which was signed under duress. The forum boasted the Chinese government’s efforts that led to a flourishing environment to learn the Tibetan language, culture, and religion, a narrative contrary to recent reports by the United Nations and the United States that reported deteriorating situations inside Tibet.
In his congratulatory letter to the forum, Chinese President Xi Jinping stated that people’s happiness is the ultimate human right. At the same time, development holds the key to delivering better lives to the general people. He also said that since Tibet’s “liberation,” it has achieved high development while granting human rights. He added that the extreme poverty that had plagued the region for centuries had been resolved.
According to reports in Chinese state media, a delegation from 250 nations participated in the forum themed “New Era, New Xizang, New Journey: New Chapter in Xizang’s High-Quality Development and Human Rights Protection.” This group seeks to provide the region with human rights and a higher degree of infrastructure development. It further claimed that civil servants and lay people alike have great love and respect for the government for initiatives such as the residential boarding schools across the Tibetan Autonomous Region. These government initiatives provide a holistic environment for learning Tibetan culture, religion, and language for Tibetan children.
However, on March 1st, the US State Department’s 2022 report on International Religious Freedom stated that China continues to implement its repressive policies to restrict human rights, including religious freedom in Tibet. Tibetans are denied access to temples, monasteries, and religious sites on religiously significant days while enforcing forced disappearances, arrests, physical abuse, and prolonged detentions without fair trials for monks, nuns, and other persons due to their religious practices.
The Tibet Action Institute, in its 2022 report, revealed that the Chinese government had forced over 70 percent of Tibetan children into colonial-style residential boarding schools across Tibet. This is approximately 3 out of 4 Tibetan children. Tibetan children aged 6-18 and those aged 4-5 years are separated from their parents and families in schools designed to strip them of their identity. The estimated total number of children is between 800,000 and 900,000. In 2022, the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China wrote to the United Nations to investigate the Chinese government’s policy of forcibly separating Tibetan children from their parents and that the policy undermines fundamental human rights while recognizing it as an apparent attempt to destroy Tibetan culture and identity.
The Chinese government’s state media, including China Daily, Global Times, and China.org.cn, have published over six reports on the forum where Tibet is referred to by the name “Xizang.” The term “Xizang” instead of “Tibet” is concerning as it only includes the Tibetan Autonomous Region, not regions encompassing other parts of Tibet such as the Kham and Amdo regions.
A bill introduced in the US Congress in 2020 sought to recognize only Tibet’s Autonomous Region as a separate, independent country from China while omitting other regions of Tibet. The Central Tibetan Administration and non-governmental organizations urged the US government to rectify the mistake and include the whole of Tibet to be recognized as a separate country.
