22. May 2009
Report blames cadres for Tibetan protests
(SMH; Telegraph) The unrest in Tibet that began in March 2008 was caused by two decades of failed development policies that marginalised Tibetans and created a "new aristocracy" of corrupt and abusive government officials, according to a Chinese report based on fieldwork in Lhasa and Gansu in July 2008 The report, released by the Open Constitution Initiative (Chin: Gongmeng), a NGO run by prominent lawyers and intellectuals in Beijing, describes how Beijing's efforts to pour money into Tibet since 1989 to ensure 'stability' have been counter-productive. It says private-sector jobs have gone to Chinese individuals from other provinces, and public money flowed into the pockets of a new elite that has portrayed community discontent as 'separatism'. "They use every opportunity to play the separatism card", says Phuntshog Wangyal, one of Tibet's earliest and most famous Communist, quoted in the report. "And they will try hard to apportion responsibility on 'overseas hostile forces' because this is the way to consolidate their interests and status and eventually bring them more power and resources". Xu Zhiyong, a human rights lawyer who helped prepare the report, said he hoped it would be picked up by the domestic media, but doubted it would influence government officials.