From: pcalvert@nyx.cs.du.edu (P. Calvert)
Subject: Bringing Down The Great Wall (part II)
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix @ U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 92 21:29:15 GMT



BRINGING DOWN THE GREAT WALL (part II)
----------------------------
     by Thubten Samphel
 
(Reprinted, with permission, from "Snow Lion Newsletter & Catalog,
 1992 Summer Supplement")

In a history of relations marred by mutual animosity, the meeting between
Tibetans and Chinese at Columbia University constitutes a landmark in the
un-official Tibetan-Chinese dialogue.  In the early 1950's Tibetan refugees
streamed into central Tibet, bringing with them stories of Chinese
communist atrocities in east and north-east Tibet.  Those Tibetans in
central Tibet who had never seen a Chinese communist before thought that
the fleeing refugees were talking about monsters.  The derogative Tibetan
term for the Chinese, "gyami la-lo" -- Chinese barbarians -- originated
since Tibet's first contacts with China, but the term has acquired greater
meaning since China's occupation of Tibet.  In fact, through the centuries,
peoples on both side of the Great Wall have been accusing the other of
being barbarians.  To go beyond the mutual stereotype image and face each
other across the table is a measure of how far Tibetan exiles and
pro-democracy Chinese, victims of a common foe, have come in recent years
to undo their tragic fate.
 
"Although what the Chinese students said at the conference might not be
representative of the views of most Chinese students, their presence at the
conference indicates that more Chinese students, especially the
intellectuals, are beginning to understand the Tibetan issue.  This is
exciting and significant, said Tseten Wangchuk, editor of the New
York-based Chinese-language journal "Tibet Forum."  Tseten Wangchuk was
formerly a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.
He graduated from Columbia University this May and is presently a research
assistant in the University's East Asian Department.
 
Michael van Walt said the fact that the conference took place at all was a
quantum leap for Tibetans.  The views expressed at the meeting were
representative of a growing number of Chinese intellectuals. "It's not a
large number, but still, it's growing.  "And the significant thing," Walt
stressed, "is that these views are expressed by the most important leaders,
important in moral leadership.
 
One of the important moral leaders van Walt was referring to is Fang Lizhi,
China's Sakharov.  Fang Lizhi gave the keynote address at the Columbia
meeting.  He said, "The Tibetan people should have the right to choose
their own destiny."
 
This was music to Tibetan ears which till then have been blasted by chilly,
razor-sharp rhetoric of official China.
 
And Chinese human rights leaders look to Tibetan exiles for the creation of
a more effective movement.  While they more than make up for their
organizational weakness by their sheer presence in the world, they have a
lot to learn from Tibetan exiles on organizational effectiveness and
cohesion.
 
Xiao Qiang, executive director of the New York-based Human Rights in China,
said the frequent dialogue between Tibetans and Chinese dissidents,
scholars and students would give them an opportunity to learn how to make
their own organizations cohesive.
 
On their part, Tibetan scholars consider Chinese students of great
importance.  "There Has always been the tradition intellectuals being
agents of social and political change in China," said Ngapo Jigme, China
specialist at the International Campaign for Tibet, a human rights
organization based in Washington, D.C.
 
"Zhuo En-lai, Deng Xiaoping and others had studied in the West.  Even Li
Peng studied in the Soviet Union. Most of the top ranks of the Chinese
leadership are people who had studied abroad," Ngapo Jigme said.  One way
or the other, the present Chinese scholars in the West will direct the
course China takes in the future, Ngapo Jigme said.
 
There are about 80,000 Chinese students abroad.  More than 50,000 are
studying in the United States.  Their numbers make them a formidable
intellectual force.
 
Whatever course the interaction between Tibetans exiles and China's
80,000-strong scholars and students takes in the future, Haipei Zue, the
human rights activist, has high hopes and few illusions. "Honestly, I see
no problems from now to the time when we can discuss matters across the
table.  But from the next stage, I see problems, problems emerging out of
different visions, different aims.  But I must say that we have laid a good
foundation, and we need to work out a formal relationship.  If we can chalk
out a good working relationship now, we will suffer less in the future,"
Haipei Xue said.
 
One area where the two sides are working together is the "toycott" campaign
organized by a coalition of Tibetan exiles, Chinese dissidents and the
AFL-CIO, the American labor movement.
 
The "toycotters" are campaigning for the boycott of toys made in China
because of China's human rights abuses and its continuing occupation of
Tibet.
 
"The toycott is an excellent means for individual citizens to support
democracy and human rights in China and Tibet," said Fang Lizhi.
 
Shen Tong, a key leader of the 1989 Chinese democracy movement and one of
Newsweek's Persons of the Year, was more blistering.  He said, "As a
citizen of China, I ask a simple question of the citizens of this country:
do you wish to buy toys from a government that shoots its children?"
--END--