China, Tibet: Interview with a Qinghai Tibetan youth

From RFA Mandarin service reporter Ding Xiao in Hong Kong. Translated by Chen Ping.

After the Tibet riots, the communications of Tibetans living in China are under surveillance, and they don’t dare to express their views for fear of retribution for the authorities, as talking to foreign media might get them punished. However, a Tibetan youth who lives in the Mgo Log (in Chinese, Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in the northwestern province of Qinghai, told us some of his thoughts on the recent unrest:

Tibetan: Recently the tensions have been subsided pretty much, and we can cross into neighboring province. For example, we can travel to Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province with an ID of any kind. However, soldiers are currently going around temples, several in a group, always.

RFA: Any reduction of security forces?

Tibetan: No, it is still the same. Probably they will withdraw after September. We inevitably feel oppressed as troops are everywhere and we cannot go out easily.

RFA: Do you Tibetans discuss the current situation?

Tibetan: Normally we don’t talk about it. There was never any freedom of speech in China in the first place.

RFA: There are a lot Chinese TV reports on the riots; and the authorities publicized details of the criminal cases, what is your opinion on those TV reports?

Tibetan: We don’t know the story behind them, but many of us don’t believe in the TV reports either.

RFA: Is there any particular place that you don’t believe?

Tibetan: The parts when they badmouthed the Dalai Lama. They say the Dalai Lama is harboring evil mind so and so, I doubt about that. I once watched a disk of the Dalai Lama interview by an [overseas Han] Chinese reporter and listened to the Dalai Lama’s words. So I don’t believe in what have said about the Dalai Lama. But we don’t know the truth either.

RFA: According to a TV report from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, the Dalai Lama clique distributed video disks in China calling for general uprising of Tibetans against Chinese rule, have you ever heard of this?

Tibetan: No. The reason I watch disks showing the Dalai Lama is because he is the one we revere most, but there is no way for us to see him in person. Thus we like anything related to the Dalai Lama, be it disk, picture, etc. We watched many the Dalai Lama interviews by foreign media.

RFA: Do you watch these disks and things in secrecy?

Tibetan: It is of course. Only one person or two friends together. You cannot involve many people on this.

RFA: Is there anyone [official or police] searching for things related to the Dalai Lama?

Tibetan: No. In our area, the mood was very relaxed up until this current event. It is different from Lhasa. We can hang the Dalai Lama’s picture in our home.

RFA: After the current riots, was there any government banning or searches for such pictures?

Tibetan: No searches [or banning]. But most people don’t dare to hang it anyway.

RFA: Do you wish foreign media to come?

Tibetan: We certainly want them to come. Above all, we wish people all around the world to know the truth. Chinese journalists cannot report many facts due to government banning. Only foreign reporters can reveal the real truth.

RFA: Which one do you believe in, the number of deaths reported by the Tibetan government-in-exile or those reported by the Chinese authorities?

Tibetan: Of course we believe in the foreign one. The Chinese authorities said 13 people died in Lhasa, but what I heard is more than that. The Chinese media reduced both number of rioter deaths and the number of innocent [Chinese deaths].

RFA: According to you, is the Dalai Lama agitating the Tibetan independence movement?

Tibetan: I don’t think the Dalai Lama is calling for Tibetan independence. I once saw a disk in which the Dalai Lama was interviewed by an overseas Chinese. He said that more and more Tibetans phoned him urging for independence, but he declined. There are many overseas brethren working for Tibetans: every time they get together there might be an argument on independence versus real autonomy. The Dalai Lama’s view is different from those who call for independence.

If the Dalai Lama wanted independence, that would imply that he called for looting, smashing and plunder, and caused so many deaths. [That is absolutely impossible], as he is a Nobel laureate, and Nobel Prize wouldn’t be awarded to such a figure. Furthermore, the Dalai Lama is a Tibetan Buddhist leader, so he will not allow slaughter.

It is my own opinion that you might want independence, or self-rule; you might demonstrate or express your ideas, but that doesn’t justify looting or arson. That is not necessary.

RFA: Why did some Tibetan herdsmen or lamas commit, according to the Chinese authorities, looting and arsons?

Tibetan: In the beginning there might be some people from the Dalai Lama (coming to Tibet), but we don’t know.

They wanted to demonstrate. Afterwards, the simple-minded herdsmen who know nothing got agitated. They revere the Dalai Lama so deeply, and so they believe in [the rumor] that the Dalai Lama wants them to do this. Some say other Tibetans threw stones so they threw, too. In fact many of the herdsmen are doing this without any clear thought whatsoever.

RFA: You mean the herdsmen heard, including the official reports, that the Dalai Lama was calling for this, so they were galvanized?

Tibetan: I think so. I think among the rioters there must be someone from the Dalai Lama or overseas Tibetan independence groups crossing into Tibet to agitate riots. As a result, people gathered more and more, and riots started. When troops and police went to control there were clashes, beginning smashing and looting, etc. After the first day (March 14) riot, Qinghai and Gansu heard the news that there were riots in Tibet. I think they felt that if we don’t act too, some people feel we might lose face. In fact many people were thinking there was smashing over there (in Lhasa), so we should smash, too, and then some began to move on. Why did they do this? I don’t think they clearly thought about their actions. After the violence, they got arrested, and regretted it. But it was too late.

RFA: As a Tibetan living in China, what do you wish for your life? Do you hope for any changes?

Tibetan: I only speak for myself. Um, it is hard for me to make comments on independence. I hope for a genuine autonomy. Only this. Only if we have genuine autonomy, minority culture [Tibetan culture] could be well developed. For example, like the case of Inner Mongolia, [where the Mongolian language is respected and well-used]. I wish all employees in my town could understand the Tibetan language, that it was compulsory to learn Tibetan. If the current situation continues, there will be fewer and fewer students who want to study Tibetan because it is not widely used.

RFA: The international community is currently calling for dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama. Do you think this would be helpful for the solution of the present crisis?

Tibetan: I think dialogue probably would not yield many results. Riots are riots; some Tibetans got jailed and some got compensation [from the government]. After the Olympic Games, things will be back to the way they were, I think.