A “Great Wall” of Stability

Posted on 15 April 2009.

In early March, Chinese President Hu Jintao called for a "Great Wall of stability" in Tibet. In contrast, the Dalai Lama expressed his concern that, "At any moment there could be an explosion of violence."

The month of March marked the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's flight from Tibet into exile in India. It was also the first anniversary of the violent protests in Lhasa that spread across the Tibetan region.

Matters were probably not helped when the Chinese government decided to designate March 28 as the inaugural "Serfs' Liberation Day" in memory of its 1959 "liberation" of Tibet. Many Tibetans would take a very different view of this event. State-controlled newspapers, television and a museum exhibition all took the opportunity of the new holiday to praise Chinese rule. "I want to sincerely thank the Communist Party for giving me a pair of clear eyes, so I can tell right from wrong," the China-appointed Panchen Lama was quoted as saying. "I can clearly recognize who truly loves and protects the Tibetan people, and who for personal motives unscrupulously wrecks Tibet's tranquillity and stability," he continued in a thinly veiled denunciation of the Dalai Lama.

"It's my understanding that now Tibetan society is extremely stable," said Kang Jinzhong, Communist Party commissar of the Chinese People's Armed Police in Tibet. Nevertheless, extra troops were deployed to the region during March and Tibet was once again closed to foreign tourists. Reports of several new protests did filter out of the area. Amongst other reports, almost 100 monks in Qinghai province were said to have been detained after a riot over the disappearance of a man who had been detained on suspicion of engaging in Tibetan independence activities. Two forestry police vehicles were damaged by homemade explosives in the same province. A Tibetan monk set himself alight in a protest in Sichuan province, where another monk was killed and eight people hurt when Tibetan farmers and soldiers clashed in a dispute over crops. And a case of explosives were discovered in Lhasa's railway station.

"Tibetans today face harsh choices as they fight to hold on to their unique identity without getting left behind in China's headlong rush toward modernity," comments a Reuters correspondent. The main language of instruction in many of the area's schools may be Tibetan, but job and education prospects are limited for those who do not speak good Mandarin Chinese. "Families face a difficult choice about whether to educate their children in Tibetan or get them speaking better Chinese. But our language is our mother. How can you abandon your mother?" comments one Tibetan teacher. Attending high school often necessitates becoming a weekly boarder, where children learn to like Chinese rather than Tibetan food. "Not all are happy with China's rule," the reporter concludes, "but few want to return to the Tibet of their grandparents either." (All quotes taken from Reuters)

Pray for peace in Tibet and for protection from harm for all ethnic groups. May the various groups find a non-violent way forward.

Pray for great wisdom and compassionate understanding for those in government who are making decisions about how best to administer the Tibetan regions.

Pray for ordinary Tibetan people torn between the desire to maintain their traditional ways and the desire for economic improvement.

Pray for the Gospel to reach many more Tibetan people and each one to recognise that the true answer to their search for meaning lies in the Lord Jesus.