China sidelining Tibetan culture in order to advance Beijing's strategic goals: Report

A new report by International Forum For Rights And Security (IFFRAS) reveals that Tibetians are being displaced as China is demolishing their homes and coercing poor Tibetans to accept new village dwellings. The report also says that the goal of China is to marginalise the minority community and serve Beijing's strategic objectives. China has a lengthy history of moving people living near the border in order to strengthen weak border areas. IFFRAS said that in contrast to the border territories of Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, or Xinjiang, the Tibetan border areas are incredibly difficult to cultivate or live in.

The Tibetian border areas are located at more than 15,000 feet above sea level, and the environment has peculiar features that only those who are acclimated to such heights can deal with. The report also suggests that only Tibetans who are accustomed to living at such altitudes can live peacefully there. The relocation process starts after demolishing Tibetians' current dwellings and persuading the poor Tibetans to accept new village homes. According to ANI, IFFRAS suggests that these are indications that the relocations of Tibetian are more than just about the Chinese interest in infrastructure development.

China's border security plan is based on work of Korean professor

IFFRAS also stated that China's border security plan is based on the work of a Korean professor who investigated Chinese populations living along the Sino-Korean border, according to ANI. Noticing an urgent need to counter the population outflow from border villages, which had gradually resulted in the hollowing out of these villages, the Chinese began establishing more and more villages near India, Nepal, and Bhutan.

According to IFFRAS, the Chinese have begun to refocus their Tibetan policy toward repopulating border communities in order to bolster their own national security. However, Tibetans claim that they are being robbed of their dignity in their own country because of the overwhelming Chinese immigration to the point of becoming a minority.

Chinese government insists that its policies have helped Tibet

IFFRAS also claims that attempts are being undertaken to impose Chinese history and culture on the Tibetan people, according to ANI. Despite abundant evidence to the contrary, the Chinese government insists that its policies have helped Tibet and that cultural and social changes are a result of modernity.

(Inputs from ANI)

(Image: Unsplash/@peterburdon, AP)