China celebrates its “peaceful liberation” of Tibet.
But what China is *actually* doing in Tibet
is definitely not liberation.
Welcome to China Uncensored. I’m Chris Chappell.
This month, the Chinese Communist Party celebrated the 70th anniversary of
what state-run media calls the “peaceful liberation” of Tibet.
Yes, nothing says “peaceful liberation” like the flag of your invader
being waved in front of your most sacred landmark.
I mean, you could say the Communist Party’s initial takeover of Tibet was “mostly peaceful.”
In the sense that they defeated the Tibetan army quickly
and then forced the Tibetan government to agree to be annexed by China.
China offered an alternative: A longer, bloodier invasion—which the small Tibetan
army would have lost anyway. So Tibet chose the less violent route of submission.
Not that the peace agreement was all that peaceful. The Tibetan government-in-exile
says that since taking over Tibet, the Chinese Communist Party has killed 1.2 million Tibetans.
So calling it a peaceful liberation is like saying...well,
it’s like saying Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, is the happiest city in China.
Which Chinese state-run media have repeatedly said,
based on a poll conducted by...Chinese state-run media.
And would they lie about that?
What the Chinese regime is actually celebrating
this month is the 70th anniversary of what’s called the 17-point agreement.
That’s the agreement the Communist Party forced the Tibetan government
to sign as part of their “peaceful liberation.”
It included promises like “the central authorities
will not alter the existing political system in Tibet.”
Sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it, Hong Kong?
And just like in Hong Kong, the Chinese Communist Party broke all of their promises
to Tibet. I have to say, the Communist Party is at least consistent about lying to people.
The Communist Party broke their agreement with Tibet almost immediately.
And just eight years after the 17-point agreement,
the Dalai Lama fled to India after a failed uprising against the Party.
And now, 70 years later, the Chinese Communist Party has a message for Tibet:
embrace communist rule.
Of course, in Tibet, communist rule includes jailing and beating monks and nuns, subjecting
villages to political education sessions, jailing people who promote local languages,
mass surveillance, restrictions on daily life and education, and labor programs.
And don’t forget, the Chinese Communist Party routinely uses rape as a form of torture.
Hard to see why Tibetans haven’t embraced communist rule.
Besides just the surveillance and the torture, the Communist Party is also
implementing an ethnic assimilation campaign to make Tibetans more like communist Chinese.
Sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it, Xinjiang?
Major parts of the assimilation campaign in Tibet include not letting schools teach the
Tibetan language, and Communist Party indoctrination for Tibetan Buddhists.
Tibetan monasteries must install surveillance cameras
and large portraits of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The Party’s assimilation plan includes “introducing flag-raising ceremonies
and educating religious followers on socialism...and Xi Jinping Thought.”
The Chinese Communist Party even launched a campaign against Tibetan prayer flags.
Here are Chinese police literally ripping them down.
Soon the only place where you’ll see Tibetan prayer flags is
outside rich white people’s houses.
It’s all part of the Communist Party’s plan to turn Tibetans to a “modern,
socialist system of Buddhism”.
Of course, my favorite state-run media, the Global Times,
has a very positive take on communist rule in Tibet.
They say that communist rule has brought Tibet to “a historic leap of
thousands of years…from poverty and backwardness to civilization and progress.”
Well it’s hard to argue with that. Especially since Lhasa just got its first ever McDonalds!
Sure, your culture and religion are being destroyed and replaced with a hollow shell
based on worshipping the Chinese Communist Party, but now you can have a Big Mac!
Not worth it. The Communist Party should have at least given them an In-N-Out.
And now it’s time for me to answer a question from one of you,
a support on the crowdfunding website Patreon.
Bitter Comments asks: "After America’s Afghanistan debacle,
do you think the CCP will speed up its plans to take Taiwan by force if they don’t submit?"
Good question, Bitter Comments.
Chinese state-run media has definitely had a field day with this.
They want Taiwan’s ruling party to see the US’s abandonment of Afghanistan,
and learn the lesson that the US would not come to Taiwan’s aid when China invades.
The article asks, “Is this some kind of omen of Taiwan’s future fate?”
But this kind of propaganda is not necessarily going to work.
Taiwan and Afghanistan are fundamentally different situations. Taiwan is a democratic country,
and America has an increasingly good relationship with that government.
Besides, if the US doesn’t come to Taiwan’s aid, China will get control of the Pacific.
I think there’s a pretty strong chance the US will aid Taiwan if the Chinese regime invades.
And so to get back to your question, I don’t know if Afghanistan will make
the Chinese Communist Party speed up its plans to take Taiwan by force.
It’s possible, but China’s military still has some catching up to do first.
Ultimately the Communist Party would prefer to demoralize Taiwan and
force them to just submit in a “mostly peaceful” way. You know, sign some kind
of 17-point agreement where the CCP promises to let Taiwan keep its system of government.
The Party itself pretty much blatantly makes comparisons between Tibet and Taiwan.
Chinese official Wang Yang called the “peaceful liberation” of Tibet
“a major victory in the cause of liberation of the Chinese people and China’s reunification.”
But according to the Party, China’s reunification won’t be complete until they take over Taiwan.
So come on Taiwan, join the Party! Nothing bad will happen.
But after what happened to Tibet, and more recently Hong Kong and Xinjiang,
I don’t think the people of Taiwan will fall for it.
Thanks for your question, Bitter Comments.
And thank you for watching. If you haven’t already, please consider
supporting China Uncensored on Patreon by contributing a dollar or more per episode.
Go to Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored to learn more. The link is below.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell. Thanks for watching China Uncensored.