Opinion
Chinese Nationalism and the Tibet Issue
by Messenger
In this charged up atmosphere where elemental urge for freedom runs high amongst Tibetan people it could be incongruent for anybody, especially a Tibetan, to make a stab at highlighting the significance of Chinese nationalism in the context of the Sino-Tibet dialogue. However, to gloss over subject as nationalism in China, which of course Tibetan people find it difficult to be associated with due to different historical backgrounds, would be nothing less than suicidal for our goal of a negotiated settlement with the Chinese counterparts.
Nationalism in China can be classified into two categories; popular nationalism and official nationalism which in official lexicon is “patriotism”. The opening up of China in late 70s not only provided Chinese markets to explore new possibilities in terms of business but it also enabled many Chinese intellectuals to study western cultures and their perception of China. Although, many intellectuals were entranced by the western concepts of democracy and liberalization, they were in a very awkward position for many of the concepts, such as ‘democratic peace theory’, which asserts that democratic countries don’t go to war against each other, tend to take China a virtual threat to the democratic West. In addition to that, there was a “China threat” trend in early 90s in the West, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as West wasn’t prepared to accommodate another communist country with all the trappings of former Soviet Union. This led many Chinese intellectuals to conclude West as unfriendly at best and hostile at worst to China’s national interest and thus sought to revive Chinese nationalism to counter western challenges with series of “Say No” books, such as ‘The China That Can Say No’, ‘The China That Still Can Say No’, ‘How China Can Say No’, ‘Behind The Scene Of Demonizing China’ and so on, and all these books went on to become best-sellers in China. Although the communist regime was receptive to the new wave of nationalism, which was sweeping the nation as it was in desperate need to replenish the void left after the decline of Chinese people’s faith in Marxism-Maoism in order to remain in power. But at the same time, was very cautious as firstly, China is a multi-national country and; secondly, it knows that excessive nationalism can ruin its modernization dream. The Chinese government thus promoted the term “patriotism” in lieu of nationalism, which is aligned with party’s strategy to cement its position as it calls for ‘loyalty to the socialist system under the leadership of the Communist Party which promises an economically and militarily strong China. This stand, in effect, doesn’t mean that the Chinese government is against nationalism but it rather means that the government is exploiting nationalism to its political advantage coining a new term for it.
The popular nationalist sentiments has its roots in Chinese people’s attitude toward past which sees China being exploited and humiliated by western imperialism and its perception of west and its “China threat” theories as hostile to China’s national dream to emerge as a superpower in the future to redeem its old prestige as one of the greatest civilizations. These nationalistic outlooks make Chinese people very sensitive and vulnerable as they continue to cling to victim status and thus hold on to the government, which misuses these sentiments to its political advantage. Thus, the series of unfounded and uncalled for accusations which the Chinese government regularly makes against His Holiness the Dalai Lama, especially in the wake of the protests that begin in March and spread throughout Tibet resulting in hundreds of death and thousands of Tibetans being tortured and imprisoned without a fair trial, alleging his alliance with ‘western forces’ which are intent on undermining China’s national interest. These may sound absurd to Tibetans in and outside Tibet and the West but are proving quite expedient politically in canvassing Chinese people’s opinion in its favor as far as dealing with the issue of Tibet is concerned. For the Chinese government knows that as long as it succeeds in dishing out canard with nationalistic/patriotic flavor it has a ready Chinese clientele to lap it up, even though it reeks of Chinese government’s double-standard policies.
Nationalism occurs among people with shared history and common culture and Tibetans neither share common history nor culture with Chinese and so, Tibetans have never been part of the mainstream nationalism, which is on the ascendancy in China. The “patriotic education” introduced to the Tibetan people in early nineties by the Chinese government and which became very intense later on forcing Tibetans to denounce His Holiness the Dalai Lama to prove loyalty to China has nothing to do with the kind of patriotism which Chinese masses expect from the Tibetan people as “patriotism” in Tibet is used as a political tool to suppress voices of dissent than winning hearts of the Tibetan people by allowing them to enjoy equal rights vis-à-vis Han Chinese. Moreover, the Chinese people get easily deceived by misinterpretation of Tibetan people’s call for more political and religious freedom as impinging upon their dream of a great China which the present regime presents itself to be catering to in order to justify its existence. It is this nationalistic sentiment that Tibetans are disloyal to the country that many Chinese people tacitly approve of all the suppression and brutalities being meted out to the Tibetan people for defying Chinese government’s policies which seek to draw loyalty through force as a strong and unified China is in the core of Chinese nationalism, as evidenced by the huge public support during the 1995-96 Taiwan strait crisis and the anti-secession law passed unanimously by the National People Congress on 14 March 2005. The Olympic games in Beijing slated for this August thus carry so much importance both to the Chinese people, as it would provide them an opportunity to mark the emergence of a China with a power to be reckon with in the international arena, and the Chinese government, which believes Olympic pageantry and extravaganza would feed its people’s nationalistic sentiments and serve to legitimize the Party/State system. His Holiness the Dalai Lama understands how strongly are the Chinese people’s wish to get over defeat and humiliation they suffered in the past and how much this Olympic means to them in that respect. Thus, His Holiness supported Beijing Olympics from the very beginning, despite virulent allegations against him from the Chinese government.
The protests which started in Lhasa this March and spread all across Tibet, including Kham and Amdo which are now incorporated into Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Yunan, Gansu and Qinghai, unfortunately resulted in the accidental death of few Chinese during the initial stage, while few protesters were setting ablaze shops unaware of some of the Chinese being hiding in them. Instead of redressing the grievances of the Tibetan people and rectifying its own flawed policies, which caused such a massive and widespread protests, the Chinese government employed its mouthpiece to drive wedge between the Chinese and the Tibetan people. This led to erroneous conclusion that Tibetans are against China’s development without realizing the kind of patriotism being enforced upon Tibetan people is nothing but a step to extirpate everything that is Tibetan. Chinese people must realize that both China and Tibet have different histories and it would be irrational to foist their dreams on the Tibetan people under the guise of nationalism or patriotism. Both sides should learn to respect each other’s history and future goals in order to create a harmonious society.
Following the protests in Tibet the BBC interviewed some Chinese in Beijing about their reaction to the protests and some of the revelations were shocking and particularly disturbing as one Chinese went on to support killing of the Tibetan people. This shows the gravity of the situation and the destructive nature of misperception and distorted information which Chinese people are plied with. On the other hand, the Chinese people are so preoccupied to win respect, but is denied because a spark is enough to flare up nationalistic sentiments against anything perceived as anti-China, such as popular protest against a right-wing Japanese group, which erected a lighthouse on the Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands over which China claims sovereignty in 1996; large-scale student protests in front of the U.S. embassy in China against NATO’s accidental bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999; anti-Japanese protests in March 2005; and most recently, anti-France protests in April 2008 over the disruption of the Olympic torch relay, coupled with comments by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that he might boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and so on.
The protests during the Olympic torch relay in Europe, for instance, engendered undesirable sentiments amongst Chinese against the Tibetan people, as the expression of resentment against the Chinese government’s killing and repression of the Tibetan people and protesters in Tibet is misconstrued as anti-China or Chinese. Though Chinese sentiment toward Tibetan is not akin to the ones mentioned above for Tibetans were neither the cause of China’s past humiliation, nor they have any “China threat” theories. It nevertheless points to the potential for possible nationality animosity between the two people if steps are not taken in this regard. Therefore, in the light of above reasons, the Central Tibetan Administration urged its people to show restraint during the torch relay because our goal is to resolve the issue of Tibet and not to embroil ourselves in nationality strife which is not in the interest of both sides.
It is important for the Tibetans to make it clear that Tibetan struggle is neither anti-China nor Tibetan people’s wish to humiliate Chinese in front of the world, but, it is rather a struggle between the Tibetan people and the Chinese government which is denying them the right to live with freedom and dignity as provided for in its own constitution. On the other hand, Chinese people must understand that as long as the issue of Tibet continues to pose serious challenge to the conscience of the world, their dreams of not only strong but a respected China in the international arena would remain a pipe-dream, for guns may win land but it cannot win hearts and the spirit in them.
(The author writes under pseudonym – messenger. The views expressed here are solely those of the author and they do not reflect or endorsed by those of the Central Tibetan Administration)