Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-10-Speech-4-185"
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"en.20050310.22.4-185"2
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"Mr President, it is clear that China has been acting in an expansionist manner for decades. It has also been aiming to strengthen its position at the expense of other countries and peoples. I can provide abundant evidence of this. Allow me to recall the annexation of part of Kashmir by China, the war in the Himalayas between China and India and China’s attack on Vietnam in 1979.
The most appalling and shameful action of this type happened earlier and has already been mentioned in the House. I refer to the subjugation of Tibet. Very few events of this kind have taken place over the last 50 years, and they have never gone unpunished. Conquests of this sort have not been allowed to continue. I could remind the House of the case of East Timor or of the cases of Kuwait and Iraq with which we are so very familiar.
Things turned out differently where China and Tibet are concerned. It is a case of more than mere conquest, as China has taken over every aspect of Tibetan life by force. Large numbers of Chinese settlements have been set up in Tibet, and they are of course controlled by the central government. Tibetans cannot find work in their own country, as all new jobs are reserved for the Chinese. The national identity of Tibet is being destroyed, and its great historical legacy eroded.
Obviously, such a course of action meant that Tibet’s great religion was first in the line of fire. This is evident from the treatment meted out to the Dalai Lama, and also from the disappearance of the second most important religious representative, the Panchen Lama, whose fate remains unknown. In addition, wholesale indoctrination of Buddhist monks and nuns has taken place. The brainwashing process always concludes in the same way. Individuals are forced to choose between signing a statement breaking with the Dalai Lama or not returning to their religious communities. The outcome has been that some 12 000 Buddhist monks and nuns have been expelled from their communities. As the House will be well aware, even possession of an image of the Dalai Lama is a punishable offence. The intention is to erase him from the collective memory of the Tibetan people.
This is all alarmingly reminiscent of the steps taken in Russia, when Bukharin, Trotsky and others were airbrushed out of photographs. As to the position that this is an internal Chinese matter and we should not become involved, it brings to mind the arguments adduced by a person being tried for murdering his parents, who pleads with the court for a lenient sentence on the grounds that he is an orphan."@en1
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