Tsewang Dorji, Research Fellow, Tibet Policy Institute, Dharamsala speaks with Col Anil Bhat (retd.) on recent developments in Tibet | SAM Conversation
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00:00Welcome to SAM Conversation, a program of South Asia Monitor.
00:15Our guest today is Mr. Sevang Dorji, a research fellow from the Tibet Institute, Tibet Political
00:26Institute, Dharamsala.
00:31We will be discussing China's latest moves against Tibet, against Tibetan interests,
00:41against Tibetan people.
00:50The first thing that we need to remember is, we often refer to the over 4000 km long line
00:59of actual control as the Sino-Indian border.
01:03That is not so.
01:06It is the India-Tibet border, because all of Tibet was taken over, assimilated by China,
01:17communist China, from 1950 onwards.
01:25And all kinds of atrocities and harassment and an attempt to obliterate Tibetan culture,
01:46history have been attempted by the Chinese Communist Party for decades now.
02:00Mr. Dorji, I request you to give us briefly some of the latest issues that have come up.
02:15Good evening, sir.
02:20Thank you very much for inviting me for this show.
02:25So it has been more than 70 years since China's occupation of Tibet, as you rightly said that.
02:32When it comes to the latest Chinese development in terms of infrastructure, the military development
02:41and the strategic logistic and development of so and so in Tibet, the first one is that
02:47right now China has given so much control and surveillance inside Tibet.
02:54The latest example in terms of China's development policy towards the India-Tibet border, the
03:03reason is that China has deployed the military, medical military logistic to reinforce.
03:13So I think that is a very serious implication in terms of strategy and security.
03:20And another thing is that recently Xi Jinping has signed and revised the military audit
03:28regulation, and that is actually the second time revision.
03:33So it shows that there's a huge, actually, the corruption, the huge informality is taking
03:39place among the CCP in terms of the military paradise.
03:45So I think that is also the latest development in terms of the military changes inside China.
03:54Obviously, the human rights situation inside Tibet is not really good at all.
03:59And there's, you know, the connection between inside and outside Tibet has totally is cut.
04:08And there is no religious freedom, obviously, and the denial of language inside Tibet is
04:16omnipresent across Tibet.
04:19But more precisely, when it comes to the Indo-Tibet border situation, the present situation in
04:26the Himalayas is that China has already built more than 624 border villages across the Indo-Tibet
04:36border from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.
04:39So I used to call these different border villages as the PLA's ears and eyes towards
04:48India.
04:49So it has huge strategy implication towards India, and India has to pay a huge price for
04:56that, because this is another term of the Chinese expansionist policy towards South
05:05Asia, particularly in India and Bhutan and Nepal.
05:09So I think this is the latest development that is taking place across the Indo-Tibet
05:17border from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.
05:23We recently had Major General Mrinal Suman retired, who visited Tibet.
05:34And what he conveyed was that there has been a lot of construction work which has been
05:48done by the Chinese.
05:50They have tried to induct there a lot of Han Chinese, and that's one aspect.
06:01The other is that the Chinese Buddhist group, they're trying to use to assimilate and transform
06:13Tibetan Buddhism.
06:17Will you throw some light on this?
06:22So when it comes to infrastructure development inside the Tibet, there is actually huge
06:29massive infrastructure development taking place.
06:32But the question is, who gets the benefit?
06:37So obviously, there is a lot of research on that regard, that the benefit goes to the
06:46People's Republic of China, and especially why China is building so much and huge infrastructure
06:54development where there is no man, where there is no house.
07:00In fact, China is building a very good infrastructure where there is no man's land.
07:07So that means that these infrastructure developments are mostly for the military.
07:13It's a dual purpose.
07:14It's a strategic reason.
07:16It's the military reasons to deploy the military towards the Indo-Tibetan border.
07:22The military towards the Himalayan regions to develop China's military logistics towards
07:28the Himalayan regions.
07:30That clearly shows that China has a strategic thinking to expand their expansionist policy
07:40in the Southeast Asian countries.
07:45Therefore, China is building very good infrastructure in Tibet.
07:50So that is one thing.
07:51The second thing is that, and as I mentioned before, that China has occupied Tibet for
07:58more than 75 years, 73 years, since 1950.
08:04But so far, China controlled Tibet, but China could not control the Tibetan spirit, Tibetan
08:10mind, Tibetan way of thinking.
08:13Therefore, China realized that in order to conquer Tibet in terms of mind, body, spirit,
08:19everything, China tried to destroy the Tibetan Buddhism.
08:23That is centuries ago in history.
08:27So in order to destroy the Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet, China has measured, China has implemented
08:37numerous policies.
08:39The one example is that the Chinese authorities are not allowed to enroll the monks which
08:48are below 18 years old.
08:51So that is completely against the Tibetan traditional way of monastic education.
08:58Second thing is that, and if you are enrolled into the monastery, first thing is that you
09:05have to deny His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
09:08So actually that case is actually completely nonsense.
09:14And being a Buddhist, to revert or to respect the Dalai Lama is a universal logic.
09:21It's a kind of understanding that we had since centuries ago.
09:27Therefore, China has implemented so many policies to destroy the Tibetan Buddhism, and then
09:34China tried to reduce the enrollment into the monastery, and then China tried to synthesize
09:40the Tibetan Buddhism in China's characteristic.
09:43That is a serious implication, actually, because China thought that Buddhism is the
09:50sole power of Tibet.
09:52China thought that Buddhism is the sole power to rejuvenate the Tibetan nationalism.
09:59Therefore, China tried to control, China tried to destroy, China tried to genocide the Tibetan
10:06Buddhist culture in Tibet.
10:08And in order to destroy the Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet, the loss is not only for the Tibetans
10:14inside Tibet, and it has also the huge implication to the Himalayan communities.
10:19It has huge implication to the South Asian communities, and it has huge implication for
10:24the global Buddhist society.
10:27Therefore, to losing Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet is not only loss for the Tibetans, it loss
10:34for the humanity, it loss for the very rich culture in this world.
10:38I think, therefore, it is a very serious implication, and it is a very serious situation right now
10:45is happening inside Tibet.
10:46What is the latest Tibetan establishment in Dharamsala?
11:07Is there anything they have been able to achieve?
11:11The latest establishment or achievement in Dharamsala is that, as you know, that there
11:22are numerous bills passed in the U.S. Congress right now, and also the Tibet support bill
11:31is also passing in the Canadian Parliament, and also the Central Tibetan Administration
11:38has awarded as, you know, the campaign of the democracy.
11:42So, the President Sekoung is right now, he is in USA to receiving that award.
11:48So, all this symbolizes that our freedom struggle is based on the non-violence and the democracy,
11:57and we tend to opt and choose as non-violence as the ultimate act to achieve our freedom.
12:07In order to do that, we have to preserve here the Tibetan community, Tibetan tradition, Tibetan
12:13language, Tibetan way of thinking.
12:16That is also right now, that is also signifies as a part of India also.
12:23Therefore, the destroying Tibetan culture, destroying the Tibetan way of life in Tibet,
12:28but right now here in India, because of the government of India and the generosity
12:35giving from the Indian people, we could preserve the Tibetan identity, Tibetan culture, Tibetan
12:41language, and the Tibetan monastic education in India.
12:44So, that is, right now, I'm speaking from the Central Tibetan Administration areas where I'm
12:52living here.
12:54We have actually the well-maintained everything, and we are ready to face, or we are ready to
13:02do anything based on the non-violence act to achieve.
13:05So, that is the ultimate power or ultimate self-power.
13:12So, therefore, China, you can see is that China has everything, actually.
13:19China has military power, China has economic power, China has population power, China has
13:27all the power that China has.
13:28But the one thing that is lacking in China in the international stage is the moral power,
13:34or the moral responsibility.
13:36So, that is lacking in China that we have.
13:40Therefore, China always tries to upgrade the Tibetan establishment here because we don't
13:46have anything to compete with China in terms of the might, in terms of the military, but
13:52we have the soft power.
13:53So, that is the non-violence.
13:55So, this is our achievement since the Central Tibetan Administration has established in
14:03India.
14:08Thank you, Mr. Dorji.
14:11Thank you for putting a lot of, you know, doubts.
14:19You see, there's such a dearth of information about Tibet and in the Chinese system, nothing
14:30is shared.
14:32Everything is only for the, by and for the Chinese Communist Party.
14:41So, thank you very much, Mr. Sehwag Dorji.
14:48Thank you very much for inviting me once again, sir.
14:51See you soon, sir.
14:52Thank you very much.