Editorial Opinion
By: Andrea Paras
[Toronto Star]
As one of China’s top trade partners, Canada has a stake in ending Beijing’s abuses in Tibet.
One morning last spring, Jamphel Yeshi left his apartment in the outskirts of New Delhi to attend a demonstration in protest of then Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to India. Upon arrival at Jantar Mantar, the site of the protest, he doused himself in gasoline, lit a match, and ran down the street in view of the crowd. Instantly captured on mobile phones and cameras, Jamphel’s horrific protest was unique in the sense that it was one of the few to occur outside the heavy scrutiny of Chinese authorities.
Since March 2011, at least 99 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest of China’s policies in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), with 28 of those incidents taking place in November 2012 alone. Local Chinese authorities prevent families from carrying out traditional burials of their loved ones, as well as punish the family members of those who have protested. Recently, Chinese authorities have systematically confiscated satellites and broadcasting equipment from Tibetans to prevent them from accessing foreign radio and TV programs.
All these developments have been clandestinely reported through Tibetan exile networks largely located in India, as foreign media are barred from the region. The last foreign journalist to provide a comprehensive picture of conditions in the region was Steven McDonell in October 2012, who travelled undercover in a jeep to capture footage of the heavy military presence in Sichuan province. He managed to capture a few interviews with some brave individuals before the authorities caught up with him and escorted him swiftly out of the region.
In November 2012, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, urged the Chinese government to facilitate the access of independent monitors to the region, as well as to lift restrictions from the press. Other political leaders have also called on China to address the underlying grievances of Tibetans, including U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
In December, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird joined the chorus and issued a statement urging that China lift restrictions on access to the TAR for journalists, diplomats, and other observers. He also urged the Chinese government to respect Tibetans’ rights to cultural and religious freedom. These are all steps in the right direction, but if real progress is to be made, international pressure on China to improve its relations with Tibetans must be more systematic and consistent.
Fortunately, there may be some momentum growing around these issues. Last Wednesday, thousands of Tibetans joined together in New Delhi for a four-day demonstration in solidarity with their homeland compatriots. Along with mass rallies, there have been be prayer meetings, interfaith dialogues, meetings with Indian policy-makers and hunger fasts. Closer to home, on Tuesday the vice-president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, Dhondup Lhadhar, testified before the Canadian parliamentary subcommittee on international human rights. The invitation letter to Lhadhar indicated that the subcommittee would be commencing a study of the deteriorating situation in Tibet in early 2013, and wanted to hear recommendations about how Canada could help to reduce or end the recent wave of self-immolations.
A good start would be for Canada to more actively urge China to open up the Tibet Autonomous Region to foreign journalists and human rights monitors. Canada should also make every effort to help to restart the stalled negotiations between China and the Tibetan exile government. Last summer, the two senior envoys of the Dalai Lama, who had been involved in nine rounds of negotiations, resigned in protest over the “deteriorating situation inside Tibet” and the lack of meaningful progress. Negotiations have not resumed, and so far the new Chinese administration has not indicated that a new round is high on its agenda.
Finally, the Canadian government should restrict Canadian mining companies from operating in the TAR, since they are indirectly funding the policies of the PRC in the region, as well as undermining the ecosystem of the fragile Tibetan plateau.
As long as human rights abuses continue in Tibet, the legitimacy of China as a global power and trading partner remains in question. As such, if only for strategic reasons, it is in China’s interest to move toward a more durable political solution. As one of China’s top trade partners, it is also in Canada’s interest to help contribute a solution to these problems as well. If Canada remains silent on this issue, any continuation of self-immolations will be as much about China’s abuses as our complicity with them.
Andrea Paras is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Guelph.