China rejects reports about the Xizang region

teleSUR English

*Govt. Tim Walz was a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China *Chinese govt. opposed the commission's reports regarding the Xizang region *Xizang’s Peaceful Liberation brought 628,000 people out of absolutely poverty *U.S. entity “Human Right Watch” has also criticized China’s policies in Xizang *“Human Right Watch” claims govt. restricts religious freedom despite policies in support of Tibetan Buddhism *Jokhang temple in Lhasa is currently under state protection

Transcript

00:00In the Chinese autonomous region of Shizang, previously known as Tibet,

00:04amid U.S. accusations, the population positively evaluates

00:08the government policies aimed at barring their access to basic infrastructure

00:13and services and preserving the region's cultural and religious values.

00:17From Shizang, Telesur collaborator Mauro Ramos offers more details on the matter.

00:23The Democratic Party has chosen Kamala Harris as running mate,

00:26Minnesota government Tim Walz. The Democrat was a congressman for six terms since 2006

00:32and is also known for his interest in China. Walz was a member of the Congressional Executive

00:37Commission on China, a body that claims to monitor human rights in the Asian country.

00:42The Chinese government has repeatedly expressed strong dissatisfaction and opposition to the

00:46reports released by the commission. China also has just taken countermeasures on congressman

00:51Jim McGovern, a member of the commission and a very close ally of Tim Walz.

00:56Because of his actions meddling in China's internal affairs,

00:58McGovern will be banned from doing business or traveling to China.

01:02In recent years, Walz and McGovern have focused on reporting alleged human rights abuses in Shizang,

01:07known as Tibet in the West. We were invited to be part of a delegation to visit Shizang firsthand.

01:13We spoke with peasants, teachers and monks from different cities in the autonomous region.

01:18As a Tibetan, I can mention two significant actions that the Communist Party of China took

01:24in Xi'an. Politically, the party freed millions of serfs, granting them freedom, economically.

01:29By 2019, all 74 impoverished counties in Tibet had been lifted out of poverty.

01:35Now, we are entering a phase of rural revitalization.

01:38May marked 73 years since the peaceful liberation of Shizang. At that time,

01:43aristocrats, local officials and high-ranking lamas in monasteries who represented only about

01:485% of the Tibetan population owned almost all of the region's wealth. The other 95%

01:54were feudal serfs and enslaved people. By 2019, 628,000 people had been lifted

02:00out of absolute poverty in the 74 counties mentioned by Yang Zong.

02:05Part of the policies focused on relocating families from places that are difficult to access

02:10and without base infrastructure or services.

02:13Zi Wang Pin Tuo, a resident of Sige village was one of the relocated Tibetans.

02:19We come from a small village in Medij county, Nyingke. It used to take 5 or 6 days to walk

02:25from our village to the county town. Sometimes when we went to Bom county to buy things,

02:31we had to carry everything, whether big or small, on our backs. In our hometown,

02:36the most common means of transportation to cross the Yarlung Zangbo river was the iron rope.

02:42So, it was obviously difficult to send children to school and for the elderly to see the doctor.

02:47It is fair to say that our quality of life was low.

02:50With the help of the country and the government, we moved to our current home in 2003.

02:55In addition to the different commissions in the U.S. Congress,

02:58Human Rights Watch is another U.S. entity that negatively evaluates these policies in Shizang.

03:04In different reports, the organization claims that the relocations were forced

03:08and that the Tibetan language and culture have been repressed,

03:11although the Shizang Autonomous Region has a bilingual education system in Mandarin and Tibetan.

03:17Wang Dui is a primary school teacher. He talks about the education offered in schools in the region.

03:24We are committed to preserving and transmitting our culture.

03:28In our classes, each teacher incorporates this tradition into their classes,

03:32sharing knowledge with everyone. Whether it is about passing on tradition or learning about it,

03:39our goal is to pass this content on to our students so they can better preserve it in the future.

03:44Wang Dui has been teaching Tibetan for 24 years. He states that in addition to the language,

03:49the teaching of Tibetan calligraphy in schools is being increasingly prioritized.

03:55In the past, we did not have convenient transportation like today.

03:59The road we used to use to go to school was difficult to walk on.

04:03In the past, we needed ink and paper to practice Tibetan calligraphy, but we didn't have it,

04:08so we had to follow tradition and write on wooden tablets.

04:11But now students have good quality paper and ink. They are very lucky.

04:17Human Rights Watch also accuses China of restricting religious freedom in Shizang.

04:21Buddhism is one of the main religions practiced in China, along with Taoism,

04:25Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism. Although the state is secular,

04:29there are policies to support monasteries and monks due to the cultural and historical value

04:34of Tibetan Buddhism, which is the second largest branch of this religion in the country.

04:38Dong Zhu, guide at the Changzhu Temple, explains these policies.

04:43The government takes care of our monks in various aspects, such as medical care and social security.

04:50For example, all temples in Xi'an, including Changyu Temple,

04:55offer a free annual medical check-up for monks.

04:59The check-up results are kept in the monks' personal records.

05:02Our temple's main source of income comes from our small tea shop and the sale of items such

05:08as butter lamps, barley lamps, and cottas, all made by the temple itself.

05:13These sources of income are usually enough to support each monk.

05:18Barkhor Street and Jokhan Temple are in the center of the old city of Lhasa,

05:22the capital of Shizang. The temple is under state protection

05:25and became a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 2000.

05:29More than 90% of the population of Shizang is Tibetan Buddhist.

05:32The Jokhan Temple was built over 1,300 years ago,

05:36and the temple receives up to 80,000 people a day on special dates for Tibetan Buddhism.

05:42With the country's strong support, transportation and economy here are relatively developed

05:50compared to before, and there are many more tourists and worshippers than before.

05:56As the internal staff of Jokhan Temple, we monks, must maintain and protect this

06:02world cultural heritage, make our own efforts to pass it on to the next generation,

06:07and strengthen our research on religious knowledge.

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