A Great Mountain Burned By FireSQ:Layout 1 2/3/09 16:51 Page 1 A GREAT MOUNTAIN BURNED BY FIRE: China’s crackdown in Tibet The International Campaign for Tibet is a non-profit membership organization that monitors and promotes internationally recognized human rights in Tibet. ICT was founded in 1988 and has offices in Washington, DC, Amsterdam, Berlin and Brussels. A GREAT MOUNTAIN BURNED BY FIRE China’s crackdown in Tibet A GREATMOUNTAIN BURNED BY FIRE ©2009 by the International Campaign for Tibet www.savetibet.org China’s crackdown in Tibet ICT-Europe ICT-Deutschland e.V. ICT-Brussels Vijzelstraat 77 Schönhauser Allee 163 11, Rue de la Linière 1825 Jefferson Place, NW 1017HG Amsterdam 10435 Berlin 1060 Brussels Washington, DC 20036 The Netherlands Germany Belgium A report by the International Campaign for Tibet T +1 202 785 1515 T +31 (0)20 3308265 T +49 (0)30 27879086 T +32 (0)2 6094410 F +1 202 785 4343 F +31 (0)20 3308266 F +49 (0)30 27879087 F +32 (0)2 6094432 Washington, DC l Amsterdam l Berlin l Brussels E [email protected] E [email protected] E [email protected] E [email protected] March, 2009 Great Mountain Burned:Layout 1 3/3/09 11:23 Page 1 A GREAT MOUNTAIN BURNED BY FIRE China’s Crackdown in Tibet A report by the International Campaign for Tibet Washington, DC l Amsterdam l Berlin l Brussels www.savetibet.org Great Mountain Burned:Layout 1 3/3/09 11:23 Page 2 “I would like to tell you how it is that a great lake gets dried up by heat and a great mountain burned by fire…” – An analysis of the crisis in Tibet today by Lunpo Nyuktok, in a collection of banned writings from Tibet, the ‘Eastern Snow Mountain’ (Shar Dungri), published for the first time in English in this report. “March 2008 was an extraordinary moment which made the whole world watch wide-eyed.” – by ‘Buddha,’ Sichuan, in the ‘Eastern Snow Mountain’ Cover image: Crackdown in Lhasa, December 2008, Ryan Gauvin (www.ryangauvin.com) Great Mountain Burned:Layout 1 3/3/09 11:23 Page 1 CONTENTS Summary . 4 The crisis in Tibet and the 50th anniversary . 6 ‘A Raging Storm’: a year of dissent and crackdown . 20 Covering up the crackdown – Beijing’s propaganda offensive . 26 Fear and betrayal: the psychological pressures of interrogation – a first person account . 32 The enemy within? Policing thought, culture and speech in Tibet . 38 A raid on Tongkor monastery . 54 Political prisoners in Tibet today . 60 “A sketch of history written in the blood of a generation”: banned writings from Amdo . 70 Bearing witness: the Tibetan blogosphere . 106 Woeser’s writings . 120 Smashing the Dalai clique: China’s leadership and Tibet . 136 ICT Recommendations . 156 1 Great Mountain Burned:Layout 1 3/3/09 11:23 Page 2 A GREAT MOUNTAIN BURNED BY FIRE: CHINA’S CRACKDOWN IN TIBET The 2009 anniversaries On October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was established and Chairman Mao proclaimed in Tiananmen Square, “China has stood up.” On coming to power, the Chinese Communist government made it clear that the last remaining task for the victorious People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was the ‘liberation’ of Tibet; the leadership had already developed strategies for the incorporation of what they regarded as ‘Chinese national minorities’ within the framework of the PRC. Prior to October 1, 1949, Tibet had emerged as a de facto independent state after the Qing, China’s last imperial dynasty, collapsed in 1911. This independence was not recognized by China, nor was it formally and unambiguously acknowledged by Britain, India or any other state, despite repeated efforts to establish relations with foreign powers. Even so, under the government of the Dalai Lama, Tibet did effectively function independently of China, although it was increasingly vulnerable. Attempts during the first half of the 20th century to modernize the army and introduce reforms had been thwarted by the monasteries and conservative officials, who wanted to maintain the status quo. In the years leading up to the invasion, internal division and power struggles within the ruling elite further weakened the government. With the establishment of the PRC 60 years ago, this de facto independence came to an end. The Chinese Communist Party used a combination of persuasion and threat in the early years of their takeover of Tibet; trying to win over the ruling elite while leaving no doubt of China’s military might. In October 1950, China launched a full-scale military invasion, catching the Tibetan army by surprise, and taking Chamdo in the east. But rather than pushing on to Lhasa, the advance was halted, and efforts were focused on negotiating a ‘peaceful settlement.’ A delegation was sent to Beijing in 1951 and the ‘17-point agreement’ was signed. This acknowledged Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, but recognized the rights of Tibetans to regional autonomy and religious freedom. The People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) arrival in Lhasa signaled the beginning of a period of uneasy co-existence. The 17-point agreement only extended to central Tibet. By the end of 1954, the implementation of socialist reforms in Kham and Amdo was fomenting resistance to Chinese rule. Sporadic uprisings erupted as attempts were made to re-distribute land, settle nomads and confiscate personal arms. In 1955 a major revolt broke out in Kham. The Chinese responded with aerial bombardment of towns and monasteries. Thousands of refugees fled the fighting, moving into central Tibet and India. What had started as pockets of resistance in Amdo and Kham coalesced into a national resistance movement as groups of rebels congregated in central Tibet and joined forces under the leadership of Gonbo Tashi and his pan-Khampa guerrilla movement ‘Four Rivers, Six Ranges.’ They were supported by the CIA, which made its first arms drop in 1958. 2 Great Mountain Burned:Layout 1 3/3/09 11:23 Page 3 INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR TIBET In 1956, signs of resistance in the form of posters and leaflets appeared in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. Despite conciliatory efforts to quell dissent by postponing reforms in Lhasa, relations between the Tibetans and Chinese Communists continued to deteriorate. Refugees brought with them news of the Communist reforms and harsh punitive measures in Kham and Amdo and by the beginning of 1959 there was widespread anti- Chinese feeling. At the same time, ‘anti-rightist’ hardliners in China were attacking those Communist leaders who had been in favor of a gradualist approach in Tibet. On March 10, 1959, tensions finally erupted. Thousands of Tibetans gathered outside the Dalai Lama’s summer palace, the Norbulingka, as rumors that the Chinese were planning to abduct him spread throughout Lhasa, which was teeming with pilgrims following the annual Great Prayer Festival (Monlam Chenmo). During the week that followed, demonstrations in support of the Dalai Lama and against Chinese rule escalated into a mass protest throughout the city. On March 17, 1959 the PLA started sporadic shelling of the city, and that evening the Dalai Lama escaped and began his flight into exile. On March 20, 1959 the PLA was ordered to re-take the city. After two days of fighting, the Chinese flag was hoisted above the Potala Palace. Both sides renounced the 17-point agreement. By March 28, 1959, which the Chinese authorities plan to mark this year as ‘Serf Emancipation Day,’ the Tibetan government was dissolved. Thousands of Tibetans had been killed, and thousands more followed the Dalai Lama into exile. Acknowledgments his report was written and compiled by an ICT team in London, Washington, Brussels and Amsterdam (Jan Willem den Besten, Chonpel Jones, Jigme Page, TKate Saunders and Lhamo Svaluto). Due to the political environment in Tibet and the restrictions placed on information-gathering and the expression of views, it is not possible to name many of our sources and advisors. We are indebted to our researchers in the field in India and Nepal for their dedication, determination and provision of information and analysis. We would also like to thank highpeakspureearth.com for tireless work in making public Tibetans’ writings; Andrew Clark, translator of Woeser’s poetry collection, “Tibet’s True Heart” (raggedbanner.com); the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy tchrd.org); the Congressional- Executive Commission on China, for its invaluable prisoner database and analysis (cecc.gov); Ryan Gauvin (ryangauvin.com) for his photographs; Paul Foreman and his production team, and Mary Beth Markey and John Ackerly (ICT, Washington, DC). Most of all, we salute the courage and eloquence of the Tibetan writers whose work is translated into English in this volume, and thank them. 3 Great Mountain Burned:Layout 1 4/3/09 16:36 Page 4 A GREAT MOUNTAIN BURNED BY FIRE: CHINA’S CRACKDOWN IN TIBET SUMMARY arch 10, 2009, marks the 50th anniversary of the National Uprising and the first anniversary of an unprecedented wave of overwhelmingly peaceful Mprotests that swept across the Tibetan plateau, to be met by a brutal crackdown. In the weeks before the anniversary and Tibetan New Year (Losar, February 25), the Chinese government stepped up levels of intimidation and adopted an increasingly harsh and systematic approach to silencing Tibetans and suppressing dissent, with the authorities calling upon officials, security forces and the general public to ‘crush’ any signs of support for the Dalai Lama. State repression and the hardening of the Chinese government’s position on the Dalai Lama have created deepening tension in Tibet, the opposite of the ‘genuine stability’ that President Hu Jintao claims to be seeking.