Absurdity, Allegory and China

I would never make the claim that I view everything being written about the current problems in the Tibetan cultural region of China, but I try my best to read as much as I can, given the constraints imposed by my current location. Information is, at best, second and third hand, since each (all) side(s) in the ongoing conflict have fundamental point-of-views that are at great odds with the other(s).

Danwei is reporting that China has just made what I am sure the Chinese see as a magnanimous gesture:

The Chinese government has invited between seven and nine foreign journalists to Lhasa to check out the situation themselves. The problem has been caused by the invitation list: AP is on, but Reuters is not. The Wall Street Journal and USA Today are also confirmed to be on the list.

To be one of the selected is a dubious honor, and the excursion will not be much more than a field trip to prop up the government’s agenda. I feel quite sure that it will have all the freedom of movement as a trip to Pyongyang. But given an invitation I would not refuse to go, since all information, especially the official spin, always reveals other info in-between the speeches. But the reality is that as long as international journalists are denied free access to troubled areas, any story coming out of the region is open to all manner of speculation.

One story that is not being reported, though it is one with a great deal of tooth, is that Tibetan boarding schools – from middle schools to universities – have been under lockdown for the last two weeks. (For those unfamiliar with the Chinese education system, an overwhelming majority of students in the countryside are boarding students, given the distances they must travel to attend school. Do not confuse this with the western notion of a boarding school. These boarding situations are unpleasant, overcrowded and not places most of us would like our children to be in.) Tibetan students are not allowed outside the gates of their schools, and their families are not allowed in to see them. Parents who visit the school must stay outside the iron-barred gate, and their interactions are monitored. In at least one school students are not allowed to be alone in a classroom without a teacher present from 6 AM to 9:30 PM, and the campus dorms are patrolled by teachers throughout the night. That there are plainclothes police around the perimeter is understood.

The argument from the official side might be that they are concerned for the Tibetans safety, though the Tibetans, no doubt see it differently. What we can take away from this form of sequestering is that there is a real fear of losing control. If the officials are doing it to protect Tibetans, it says that they cannot guarantee their safety. If they are doing it to keep the Tibetan youth under control, then there is another word for this. Either way, it points to the lack of stability which is this government’s main fear, not only in the Tibetan regions, but throughout the entire country. And in this long and contentious lead-up to the Olympics they fear it even more.

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