Sinicization of Tibet

The sinicization of Tibet, cultural genocide in Tibet, or Chinazation of Tibet, is the change of Tibetan society to Chinese standards, by means of cultural assimilation, migration, and political (communist) reform. Sinicization on the one hand is the consequence of the presence of a majority of Han Chinese in Tibet and on the other hand an active policy of the central government of the People's Republic of China. The active policy intends to make Tibet an integral part of the Chinese republic and to control Tibetan ambitions of independence.

Change of power

In the decades preceding 1950 Tibet was a fully independent nation, with own people, language, culture, and religions (Tibetan Buddhism and Bön). They also printed there own currency and postage, and conducted international relations with foreign countries. It had three provinces Amdo, Kham, and Ü-Tsang. Since the invasion in 1950, China reorganized the area entirely, by joining several Tibetan prefectures to the Chinese provinces Yunnan and Gansu and dividing the rest of the area into the regions: Sichuan, Tibet Autonomous Region, and Qinghai.

China calls the invasion a peaceful liberation; Tibetans call it colonization. In view of the fact that no Tibetan asked for the change of power, most historians consider it an occupation.. Many socialists also have noted that the Chinese have followed the pattern of an imperial power.

Failed crops

The economy of Tibet is dominated by subsistence agriculture, that is agriculture with a destination to provide for one's family proper only. For this reason the entrance of 35.000 Chinese troops in the 1950s weighted heavily on the food supplies in Tibet. At Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama's visit to Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1954, Mao informed that he would migrate 40.000 Chinese farmers to Tibet.

In the 1960s Chinese authorities forced Tibetan farmers to cultivate corn, in stead of barley which originally is the crop of the Himalaya region, resulting in the first famine in Tibetan history. The harvests failed as the farmers had predicted and thousands of Tibetans starved from hunger.

Cultural Revolution

The Cultural Revolution was a revolution staged by the central government between 1966 and 1976 of students and laborers of the Chinese communist party, intending to preserve Maoism as the leading ideology of China. Next to that it was a means to eliminate the political opposition against Mao.

The Cultural Revolution took place in entire China and as a result Tibet suffered great excesses as well. National guards attacked civilians that were seen as traitors of communism. Thousands monasteries were looted and destroyed. Monks and nuns were forced to leave their monasteries to live a normal life and anyone who resisted it was imprisoned. The prisoners were forced to hard labor, were maltreated, tortured, and even executed. Prisoners were raped, beaten with sticks, and were treated with electric shocks. In this sphere of chaos and paranoia thousands met their death.

Migration of Han-Chinese

The central government of the People's Republic of China issues an active migration policy of Chinese to Tibet, being lured with attractive bonuses and favorable living conditions. Since the end of the 1990s there are more Chinese than Tibetans in Tibet. 2003 the population consists of an estimate 6 million ethnic Tibetans and 7,5 non-Tibetans. This statistic regarded the whole of Qinghai province as part of Tibet. But the province has long been a mixed ethnic area. The capital city Xining was build during the Song Dynasty about a thousand years ago. Many nomads, including Mongols and Kazakhs also have lived there for many centuries.

Anno 2008 in the capital Lhasa live 400,000 people, mainly Chinese. In 1959 only 20,000 inhabitants were living there.

Further viewing

Not an incident, but structural: without scruple a Tibetan nun is shot and killed, whilst Chinese authorities only care for covering it up until proof is given irrefragably by foreign video footage
Although Chinese propaganda says that exiles don't really speak for Tibetans, these heroic Tibetans risk fearsome repercussions by telling the truth from inside