74 year old French Hotel tycoon, Paul Dubrule, made quite a stir in both his home country and abroad, when he announced that, "although I have never met the Dalai Lama, I would like to tell him that a country should protect the religious belief of its people but religions should not be a tool for people to turn against their country."
He is referring, of course, to the current state of affairs in Tibet. As was covered this week in our readings, "the post 1911 Chinese nation was nominally a Republic of 5 Nationalities encompassing the Han, Manchu, Mongolian, Tibetan, and Hui peoples." In an attempt to form a more unified Chinese national identity Chiang kei-shek reinforced the Han majority. Since that time period, essentially, all other minorities have been forced into accepting the Han majority way of life. Once the Communist Party took over China, the new goal that was forced upon all people, ethnic minorities included, was 'universal progress' towards Socialism.
Dubrule, who grew up in France, was under the impression, as he claims must Westerners are, that people living in Tibet, "are under the repression of the central government." So, he decided that he would visit, explore, Tibet first hand. He made a 15,000 kilometer bicycle trip from Fontainebleau to Siem Reap, Cambodia through Tibet. On his journey he encountered many local Tibetans and spoke with them about their current state of affairs. He was shocked by their response. Many of them were eager for more 'modernization.' They enjoyed the roads, the hospitals, the schools, and airports. They didn't want to simply maintain their "old lifestyles simply for tourists."
I found this article so interesting because I never really looked at it from this perspective before. I, too, always assumed that the people of Tibet were under the 'repression of the central government.' I never really thought of all the positive benefits that come along with economic development and all the Tibetans that may actually be in favor of it. Something to think about!
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2 comments:
Cassie,
This is an interesting article and perspective. It stands to reason that the people of Tibet want to embrace the reforms and better their lives. Domestic improvements such as roads can change a nation and move the country forward.
Tom
Excellent post! Could you imagine biking 15,000 kms? And in that terrain! He must have power lungs! I must say that if I could physically and financially and opportunitially do it, I would -- it would be an incredible experience to see the view and talk to the people first hand. But he must have had help transporting supplies -- even just paper for notes. I found a version of the article you reference here, but there are so many details omitted that I'd like to know more about.
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