Reactions to the media, and propaganda

Reactions to the media message vary greatly from region to region, and even in a single family there can be many views on the Tibet-China conflict and the Dalai Lama. Generally, the sympathy lies with Tibet in the Western world, especially in the U.S., likely helped by the somewhat anti-China attitude of the governments. Several pro-Tibet campaigns have been formed, such as International Campaign for Tibet, Students for a Free Tibet, and most prominently, a UK based organization with over 20,000 supporters simply named Free Tibet.

Tibet critics also exist, mostly expressing themselves through the Internet. Many blogs denouncing the Dalai Lama have appeared; some offer genuine points and arguments, while others spew media rhetoric and common Internet insults like “Da-Lie Lama”. There is broad support on both ends and on all aspects of the Tibet debate, despite the efforts of ultra-extreme proponents on both sides to muffle the voice of the opposition. However, even some who have spent all their lives in the PRC and/or strongly oppose Tibetan independence note the more frequently blatant one-sidedness of the Chinese media.

"Rescued Tibet from a slave-owning serfdom"

The most common defensible argument of the PRC, rather than clear propaganda, is that China rescued Tibetans from a slave-owning serfdom. This is a legitimate point; before the 20^thcentury, almost 90% of all Tibetans lived in some sort of bondage to one of less than 300 lama houses, which are similar to the estates of the Middle Ages in Europe. The PRC claims its invasion in the 1950s was additionally justified by the human rights violations of the “feudal serfdom” (a common term used by the PRC to describe pre-1950s Tibet) under the Dalai Lama and other high lamas. Human rights abuses undeniably occurred in Tibet before China’s invasion; serfs were treated in a way comparable to the African slaves of American history, and sometimes worse. Because Buddhism disallows killing, officials in the 13^th century instead implemented punishments involving extreme mutilation, like the cutting of a leg or the pulling out of eyeballs for theft. As late as in the early 20^th century, these punishments were still legal in many districts of Tibet. Seeing as by the late 20^th century these punishments became much less common, China claims that her invasion ultimately saved Tibetans from the cruelties of the “feudal serfdom”.

Pro-Tibet advocates generally do not dispute the suffering of serfs under the lama houses, but they do question China’s role in ending it. They point to the progress having already been made by the 13^th Dalai Lama, long before the PRC’s invasion. Though it still quietly continued in regions far from Lhasa,, the 13^th Dalai Lama officially outlawed mutilation (as well as capital punishment, one of the first countries to do so) in 1913, after several years of condemning it. The 13^th Dalai Lama then spent much of the first half of the 20^th century implementing other policies that were aimed towards gradually reforming the Tibetan social system. Tibet advocates also point out that China did not attempt to abolish the serf system until 1959, and even then their efforts were built upon those made by the 13^th and 14^th Dalai Lamas.

A shot of the Qingzang-Tibet train, one of many economic developments in Tibet.

Source: Jan Reurink at Wikimedia