No reason to deny Tibet reforms and rule of law--

No reason to deny Tibet reforms and rule of law(2)

2008-05-13 16:21:01 [ Big Normal Small ] 　Comment

Tibet practiced serfdom in the theocratic era, when the bkav-shag government and landowners could punish insubordinate officials and serfs in such barbarous fashion as skinned them alive or having their eyes cut out. In sharp contrast, the autonomous government handled the perpetrators of the March 14 riot in Lhasa strictly according to relevant law while protecting their legitimate rights, which of course never existed even in one's wildest dreams in the old days.

Since the democratic reform started the younger generations of Tibetans have enjoyed compulsory education. We visited some kindergartens and institutions of secondary and higher learning during our trip to Tibet and saw Tibetan youths receive compulsory education like their peers elsewhere in China. The State has provided considerable resources in order to insure the future generations' right to acquire knowledge necessary for their future livelihood. Many provinces, cities and enterprises outside Tibet have offered the autonomous region financial, material and personnel support in a joint effort to help nurture the future of Tibet with no discriminations made on ethnicity.

It should be noted that Tibetan youths are educated in a Tibetan-Han bilingual format. There is no such thing as what the Dalai group has alleged as "oppression" of the Tibetan culture. Any one not blinded by prejudice will see the motherland has never failed to care for the frontiers region even though it is hard to reach.

On the other hand, Tibetans are Chinese citizens, too. They are obliged to learn the official language just as every other member of the Chinese nation is, considering the fact it is their right and responsibility as Chinese citizens to do so. The younger generations of Tibetans also want to learn foreign languages so as to understand the outside world better. The central government has made sure such demands are met at their schools and colleges.

When the rest of the country has entered the era of people's democracy since the birth of new China, there is no reason whatsoever for Tibet to remain behind. In the past 60 years or so our country has gone through profound changes as it grew from a backward agrarian nation into one in the early stage of prosperity, powered by both industrial and agricultural growth.

Since the beginning of reforms in the late 1970s the modernization drive of our nation has been advancing fast. The achievements we have made in social development and material modernization should be shared with the whole nation, including Tibet. It is the central government's responsibility to make this happen for all Chinese people, including the Tibetans.

China's modernization also includes the popularization of the Constitution. Our citizens have the constitutional right to freedom of belief, but no one should be allowed to interfere with national politics and individual lives, using religion as an excuse.

(Source: China Daily)

By Shen Dingli, the author is a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai

| First | | Prev |

xinhuanet