Sinocize

Tibet is part of China. Regardless of whether you think that's right or fair, it's true and it's not changing anytime soon. We can be outraged at the way China treats the area, and we can be outraged by the way it came into China's possession, but in the end its as unrealistic to protest to free Tibet as it is to protest to free the Seminoles - its a little late and its not going to change anything. Instead I think we're better off learning about the topic, something I found is strangely easier to do in China than I thought.

The first thing everyone needs to understand in America is that we've all been brainwashed. It's true. We like to think that with our free speech and open information we all have the ability to hold unbiased opinions, and while I agree we are more disposed to holding unbiased opinions, we far too often don't. As much as I hate to admit it, when it comes to China there is a western media bias. Now it certainly isn't as bad as the Chinese media's bias, and most of the terrible things they report about China are true, but there is also a distinct lack of respect given to any positive strides China takes which in my book is the equivalent of Fox's 1990's 'it bleeds it leads' approach. Its possible for us to breakthrough this mindset, but only if we're aware of it.

We also need to examine what state Tibet was in before the Chinese invaded. Tibet was a strict religious state with controlling systems similar to that of feudal Europe. In short; lots of people were slaves. I didn't know this until I came to China, but it's true. The US seems to loath religious states (except for Israel), so our love affair with this one certainly seems odd and out of place. The fact that slaves did exist in Tibet in 1950 is not only shocking, but justifies how China can look at itself as a liberator of the region.

Nor has China idly been sitting by, letting Tibet rot. The Chinese have built airports, train lines, roads (although if you saw the road running to the Nepalese boarder, you might think they need to step up their efforts). They've built tunnels and bridges and provided much of the region with electricity. I have no doubt without Chinese help Tibet wouldn't be anywhere near as advanced as it is today.

But this is not to say that China is some sort of savior in Tibet. The Cultural Revolution was especially hard on Tibet, as countless statues and artifacts were destroyed in an attempt to smash the religious fascination that grips the region. More recently, these influx of developments have been seen as an affront to Tibetan culture, with hydroelectric dams being built on the most holy lakes and sweeping boulevards laid down through the center of old cities. The Chinese even built a giant square with a horrendously ugly monument to the people directly across from the Potala Palace, stamping an unmistakable 'this is China' claim in the neighborhood.

The advances of business have largely been profitable to mainland Chinese, transplants from other provinces, creating a class like division among the people. Instead of benefiting the local Tibetans, most of the new business and development has been targeted at boosting the economic standing of the migrant Chinese to the region. Understandably there is disgust between the two populations of Tibet, and neither side is innocent. Many of the Chinese immigrants were poor laborers from other parts of the country looking for a better life, but that doesn't stop Tibetans from occasionally violently causing damage to property and lives, aggression which is naturally confronted with brute (and often excessive) force from the Chinese government.

Walking the streets of the old town of Tibet, patrols of soldiers armed with riot gear and automatic weapons pass like clockwork every 3 minutes. It seems an inordinate amount of 'peace keepers' with an inordinate supply of weaponry for an area not at war. If you look at the bottom left of this picture, you'll see the gentlemen I'm referring to. The soldiers look young, no older than 20 years old, standing among hoards of unarmed civilians while they tote machine guns and riot batons. It feels uncomfortably wrong.

China isn't going to leave Tibet. Hoping otherwise seems to be a silly expectation. What we can hope for is that China can treat Tibet, and the Tibetan Culture with the respect it deserves. That means developing Tibetan businesses, not desecrating holy sites and removing soldiers from the streets. Oh, and being able to take a little criticism and protests without going postal on us might help.