Tibet Activists Expose Colonialst Mentality at Olympic Park
Her screams were faint at first, but soon they filled the air. "Free Tibet! Free Tibet!" I looked up and saw a thin, young woman and another slightly older man on the walking bridge adjacent to the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park at the southwest corner of the main Olympic Park. As the two unfurled a bright yellow banner with the words "Free Tibet" in thick black, two security guards started rushing across from the staircases at their respective ends of the bridge. By the time they had reached the activists and started to wrestle the banner from their hands a group of reporters and curious tourists had already gathered along the street below. The guards seemed confused. They were screaming things and tugging at the banner while simultaneously trying to use their walkie-talkies to communicate with their superiors.
Suddenly an even larger commotion erupted right out in front of the entrance to the park. The media clamoring at the base of the walking bridge made a collective dash for the park. Five other activists had appeared at the gate and created a chain of bodies and metal as they locked themselves and their bicycles to the entrance. Their white shirts sported FREE TIBET in big, bold, black hand-fashioned lettering, and two had a banner that read "One World One Dream Free Tibet" while another unfurled the outlawed Tibetan Flag. As they began to chant slogans such as "Free Tibet", and "One World One Dream Free Tibet" the Public Security Guards tried desperately to block the activists from the view of the journalists and tourists who all aimed their lenses at the spectacle. A park guard came flying by and ripped the Tibetan flag from the hands of the rather cooperative activists and slid by the group shouting loudly in Chinese. However, the distraction worked. By the time the two activists were addressed on the bridge, the lock down at the gate was complete.
The Chinese authorities, who have been steadfast in their declarations of allowing "sanctioned" protests and unfettered access to the media during the Olympics had no choice in this instance as the seven activists took them totally by surprise. However, this doesn't mean authorities simply let it happen. While the two actions unfolded I watched a Western man in a pink collared shirt get knocked to the ground just inside an archway serving as an exit. As he scampered to his feet he started to scream at the guards and stood them down. The guards were unimpressed with his declarations of innocence and forcibly removed his shoes. The man, who later turned out to be John Ray- a British journalist for ITN- made a mad dash for the street, but the guards, who were now assisted by uniformed police and plainclothes officers, grabbed at him and dragged him into an adjacent teahouse.
Back on the bridge, officers began cuffing the activists and two others popped open colorful umbrellas to block the telephoto lenses pointing up from the street. In front of the park a Tibetan-Japanese woman tearfully spoke about the motivation for the action to a group of reporters. "We are proud to be Tibetans and we will never give up because we have truth on our side. We are so very lucky to have all of these Western supporters who fight for us because this is a non-violent war. We will continue, and we will be strong. We won't give up!"
I was on the scene to bear witness to the way in which the security forces reacted to non-violent direct actions that challenged China’s occupation of Tibet. I have been in Beijing clandestinely reporting on the Olympics and the existence of protests calling for an end to the Chinese occupation of Tibet, which were not being reported by the Chinese-controlled media. The heavy-handed approach to these protests has been quite indicative of the attitude and mentality of the Chinese administration when it comes to the issue of Tibetan independence. There was no mention of this action on the CCTV news in Beijing today.
As a student and teacher of Asian history, who has witnessed first hand the impact of the continued Chinese occupation of Tibet, I felt it was my duty as a person of conscience to speak out for the six million Tibetans who continue to be silenced. At this critical time the only way I felt I could accomplish this was by coming to Beijing, risking arrest, and reporting back on the realities on the ground. People outside of China need to know what is really happening while the glitzy and ultra-hyped Olympics unfold. It is simply not enough to have conviction. What truly counts is how you put this conviction into action. In March, with their lives hanging in the balance, ordinary Tibetans, monks and nuns began speaking out against the ongoing repression and brutal occupation orchestrated by the current Chinese administration. The least I could do as a free person was join in their chorus.
As I inched closer to the scene at the entrance I was nearly run over by a police van as it screamed up onto the front entrance. I then proceeded to walk directly up to the line of protesters and guards and photographed the scene. By the time I popped off a few shots I was surrounded by guards and within the perimeter of a hastily constructed police limit line of tape. There were several plainclothes Chinese photographing those who were documenting the event, and when one journalist who was right up on the line of protesters was knocked to the ground, I slipped underneath the line and stepped behind the crowd before I could be detained. As I slipped away I saw an Asian man with a camera being chased after by a guard and grabbed from behind. His camera was taken away, and he was physically forced into an unmarked sport utility vehicle several store fronts down from the entrance to the park. His whereabouts and identity are still unknown.
Construction for the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park began in 1992 when Beijing bid for the 2000 Olympics. The original signs in Chinese directing people to the park translated into the English "racist park", but the characters were changed when someone pointed out the negative connotation in the West. However, "racist park" is a fitting description for this deplorable and shocking display of the paternalist and colonialist Chinese attitude toward Tibet. They have created a zoo-like atmosphere and have relegated Tibetan culture to nothing more than a road side attraction.
A key priority for the Chinese government in its Olympics propaganda has been to portray a picture of harmony between Han Chinese and Tibetans, as well as depict Tibetans as one of many Chinese ethnic minority groups who are “happy” under Chinese rule. We have seen this through the direct provocation of running the Olympic Torch's "Journey to Harmony" route directly through occupied territory and up to Tibet's Mt. Everest; through the use of the Tibetan Antelope as one of the five Olympic mascots; and in outlandish and insulting fashion this "Culture Park" has been used as a tool to convince Chinese citizens as well as the rest of the world of the legitimacy of its rule in Tibet. Put simply, the park is an abomination.
While the Chinese are charging Olympic spectators the equivalent of $12 USD to "experience" Tibetan culture inside the official Olympic Park they are simultaneously obliterating its very existence inside the so-called Tibetan Autonomous region. For the six million Tibetans inside the occupied TAR and other provinces of China, daily life is characterized by an atmosphere of extreme fear.
The Chinese government is actively waging an Olympics propaganda campaign to showcase Tibet as legitimately theirs and Tibetans as "happy" under Chinese rule, but the reality is much different. While Tibetan song and dance is on display in Beijing, in Tibet their culture is under siege and Tibetans are being forcibly kept from speaking out about their repression at the hands of the Chinese authorities.
As part of this crackdown, there has been a dramatic increase of troops in sensitive areas in eastern Tibet. Two Tibetan women were shot last Saturday (August 9th) in Ngaba, eastern Tibet (Chinese: Aba, Sichuan). One was injured in the hand and one in the leg. They are currently in the Ngaba County Civil Hospital. Since August 3rd, troops have increased from 2,000 in the town and surrounding area to 10,000 in the town alone. On March 16th, Chinese paramilitary troops fired into a crowd of peaceful protesting Tibetans in Ngaba, killing up to 13 according to eyewitnesses.
While this action was strong and successful I feel a little overwhelmed by the fact that the world wouldn't have paid it much mind if it wasn't for John Ray, the reporter from ITN, being manhandled and briefly detained. Seems someone has to be killed or a Westerner needs to have his or her rights violated to catch the eye of the world. Meanwhile these types of violations happen everyday in Tibet and will continue long after the spotlight of the Olympics fades over Beijing. What will Tibetans do then? If they break rank with their religious precepts of non-violence and follow in the footsteps of history by taking up arms will others come to their aid? It is clear that they cannot climb this mountain alone, but what seems even clearer is that the few world leaders who claim to have China's ear are simply not speaking loud enough. Or perhaps they can't hear them over the roar of the overly jubilant Olympic crowd.
