Foreward

Beijing's release of the White Paper entitled, “Regional Ethnic Autonomy in Tibet” in May last year, is but another propaganda gimmick in line with the numerous communist rhetoric, that has out rightly failed to sweep the world in its vicious sway. Since the release of the first White Paper in 1991, China's propaganda machinery; State Council Information Office has, so far, issued forty-three such shams including six exclusives on Tibet. The release of four consecutive ‘White Papers' early this year, further affirms China's growing desperation and angst over the futility of its relentless campaign to portray ‘truth'. Yet the fact remains that truth is sought from facts- facts that are not falsified or illusory.  

The present ‘White Paper' is another futile attempt to throw history and reality into the dustbin and let the woven myth take over, as always. China's dismal failure to lobby support against Tibet despite half a century of earnest campaigns has been the greatest pointer to the eventual triumph of the truth. Ross Terrill revealed in his latest book: A New Chinese Empire, “Chinese history books are a concoction of tales and norms, regularly distorted for power purposes. The Chinese polity has a tumultuous history, now an operating force, now a kingdom of the imagination. China's centrality and unity was at times, a post hoc rationalization for the grabbing of other peoples' territory. Effectively, the CCP has essentialized a rich, ambiguous historical legacy to fuel its neo-imperial project”. That the Chinese documents and statistics are capricious in nature is therefore, a secret to none but themselves.  

At the outset, the Paper strives to project a Shangri-La like new Tibet under their rule, with impressive and enchanting statistics recording developments, prosperity and freedom, as never before. But the fudged figures utterly fail to match even the official concocted figures, revealing the gross discrepancy and the underlying faux pas. Besides so far, it has only been the Chinese Government and their protagonists in the west who claim that the Tibetans are happy in Tibet. The continuous fleeing of Tibetans from Tibet in search of freedom and happiness and their testimonies coupled with the reports of the world bodies, simply look truth in the face. Despite its wild claims, China remains the most repressive regime in the modern world, maintaining the coveted notoriety for the prevalence of genocide and inhuman atrocities akin to the holocaust era. Confirming this, popular Chinese dissident, Harry Wu said, “Human life has no value here (China), I thought bitterly. It has no importance than a cigarette ash flicked in the wind. But if a person's life has no value, then the society that shapes that life has no value either”.  

China's delirious claims of Tibet being a part of China and the existence of a meaningful autonomy and human rights is absolutely baseless, that in reality needs no refutation. Apart from the recognition of Tibet being an independent nation by numerous international bodies, Edgar Snow in his book, “ Red Star over China” noted that China's dictator Mao Zedong himself, when passing through the border regions of Tibet during the Long March, after being given food and shelter by local Tibetans, remarked, "This is our only foreign debt, and some day we must pay the Mantzu and the Tibetans for the provisions we were obliged to take from them”.  Ironically China's very own historical monument, The Great Wall of China stands as a testimony of time demarcating the authentic frontiers of China being outside Tibet.  

Referring to the British concept of Suzerainty, Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of British India, which shared a significant history with independent Tibet explained: “Chinese suzerainty over Tibet is a constitutional fiction -a political affectation which has only been maintained because of its convenience to both parties ... As a matter of fact, the two Chinese (i.e. Manchu) Ambans at Lhasa are there not as Viceroys, but as Ambassadors.”  

In international law, the right of entering into treaty, international engagement and maintenance of diplomatic relations, are attributes of state sovereignty. History of Asia and the contemporary world has it recorded in its annals the numerous independent treaties and agreements, be it trade or diplomatic that Tibet had entered into as a sovereign nation. Tibet stamped its authority on nearly a score of such international treaties, diplomatic relations and cultural exchanges maintained with an illustrious list of superpowers such as the Khans of Mongolia, Emperors of Manchuria, China, Bhutan, the Kings of Sikkim, the erstwhile British Empire, the superpower United States, the ancient civilization of India and the Gorkhas of Nepal.  While Tibet entertained British trade representatives in Tibet, nations like China and Nepal not only concluded peace treaties with Tibet but also maintained Ambassadors in Lhasa.  As a further proof of Tibet's independence, Nepal formally stated to the United Nations in 1949, as part of its application for UN membership, as an evidence of its sovereignty that it had maintained independent diplomatic relations with Tibet as it had done with several other countries.  

This response titled, “Tibet: The Gap between Fact and Fabrication” to China's four White Papers is by no means an unscrupulous attempt to inflict unwarranted damage to the Chinese image or to aggress upon the ancient history of China. Rather, this is a systematic assortment of time tested facts and internationally recognized research findings and conclusions.   

I believe that this response shall serve as a pristine mirror for the world community and especially for those 1.3 billion Chinese suffering under China's communist rule, to look reality into the eyes and judge for oneself - the truth from the facts.   

I am sure that through this response, the Chinese communist leaders will realize the futility of revolving around the hinges of propagandist fabrications and accept the fact that today's world revolves around the fabric of justice, truth and respect of human ethics.

Free Tibet

Kalsang Phuntsok Godrukpa

President

Tibetan Youth Congress

Central Executive Committee


23 May 2005