By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Oct. 13: A rare protest in Beijing against President Xi Jinping and the government’s mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic has been reported by several media outlets on Thursday in the lead up to the 20th Party Congress.
Images showed two banners on Sitong bridge in Haidian district in Beijing that read, “No Covid test, we want to eat. No restrictions, we want freedom. No lies, we want dignity. No Cultural Revolution, we want reform. No leaders, we want votes. By not being slaves, we can be citizens.” The other banner called on the residents to go on strike at school or work to “remove dictator and national traitor Xi Jinping”. Thick smoke can be seen at the site of the protest in the images although the cause of that smoke is unknown at the moment. One man was reportedly heard chanting slogans at the same spot.
Although no reports of arrest have been noted, the protest appeared to have been stopped by the authorities immediately. According to BBC, authorities have tightened restrictions in the city by shutting out travelers, local residents and deliveries. The demonstration comes at a crucial time as anger among the public mounts just days before the week-long Party Congress that is set to begin on Sunday with around 2,300 top officials and party delegates in the capital.
“Red banners marking the congress have popped up around the capital and popular mobile apps have changed their display colours to red. A drama recapping the highlights of the last 10 years of Mr Xi’s rule has begun airing on primetime television, while similarly themed exhibitions are being held around the country,” the BBC reported, suggesting how the frustrations from restrictive measures juxtaposed the celebratory tone with which the government and state-run media are trying to portray the present sentiments of the country.
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The 20th CCP gathering is under way which is said to propel dictator Xi to his third term! He has broken the two term stipulated by Deng. It is therefore likely that if he gets the third time, he is free to remain as long as he likes since he would use the 1.5 million police force and the more than two million PLA to retain his grip on power. There are two reasons for dictator Xi to seek a third term. The first, the CCP is gravely concerned about retaining its strangle hold on the Chinese people. The demonstrations in Hong Kong for freedom and democracy, the success of democracy in Taiwan have given grave concerns about their ability to keep the tight grip they held until now. They have witnessed the demise of the erstwhile Soviet Union and the People’s Velvet Revolution across Eastern Europe which over -threw the communist regimes of the whole of Eastern Europe. In Thailand, the Thai people have been fighting the Thai military’s autocratic rule while in Myanmar, there is a civil war between the dictatorial military junta and the democratic forces of the Burmese people! The quest for freedom is a human nature and to keep denying that freedom goes against the law of nature. The CCP is worried that if there isn’t a person in the helm who has the support of the PLA and the Law enforcement forces, there is danger of public discontent that can boil into open revolt against the regime. Dictator Xi is said to have strong influence among many factions of the PLA by virtue of his father’s legacy as a CCP revolutionary. That’s why, even though many are aghast at Xi’s audacity to challenge Deng’s edict, they are going along with him to save the CCP regime.
The second reason is of course Taiwan. The CCP has long cherished the ambition to occupy Taiwan just as it did Tibet. However, the US has been the stumbling block to realize that goal. They have therefore been working to catch up with the US to gain parity right from the time they came to power in 1949. Over the years, the CCP has built its military with breakneck urgency and built aircraft carriers, stealth bombers and supersonic missiles in preparation for a war against the US in its attempt to occupy Taiwan. However, as of now, there is severe disparity between US and China’s military power and China has no stomach to fight the US. While the Chinese are building their military capability at breakneck speed, the US under Biden is building a formidable military alliance of like minded democracies in the Indo- Pacific region and beyond. The Chinese are very unhappy about this alliance but knowing they can do little about it, Beijing dictators latched up with Russian dictator Putin! The Chinese are supporting Russia in its invasion of Ukraine while it demands respect for the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of China when it comes to Chinese claims over occupied territories like Tibet. No one can miss the utter hypocrisy of the Chinese regime. Much has been written about China’s ability to annex Taiwan. If we take the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a possible scenario, it will be foolhardy for the communist regime to invade Taiwan. Since, Taiwan is strategically located close to Japan and since its also a gateway to the Pacific Ocean, it naturally has severe consequence for the security of Japan and the US. Therefore, they will not sit idle and will either join or will support Taiwan and appeal other democracies of Europe and North America to do the same. In such a scenario, China cannot win in Taiwan just like Russia is not winning in Ukraine. This will diminish the power of Xi and the communist party at large just like Russia is isolated and diminished on the world stage. Such a situation will embolden the anti-Xi and anti-CCP protagonists in China and will attempt to over throw the regime. There will be plenty of disgruntled anti-Xi and anti-CCP forces that could successfully mount a revolution of sorts to over throw the CCP dictatorship. Therefore, invading Taiwan is a high stakes game for the CCP. It’s a path to glory or gory death for itself. It will therefore use enticements and coercion to win the hearts of the pro-China Kumintang forces while blowing blustery warning of impending doom for the independence forces in Taiwan.
Tibetans should not rely on the “grace of the CCP” but must prepare for any eventuality. The US and China are locked in a battle of life and death. Communist China is seen by majority of the world as a malevolent power that is hellbent in expansionism and colonialism. It’s not seen as a force for good but a force for evil. Now is the time to reach to all those who have an axe to grind against the regime to support us by any means possible. There is no virtue in being colonized. The effect of colonization is evident with the words of a Chinese woman in Lhasa who called for the expulsion of all Tibetans from Lhasa and make it an exclusive colony for the Chinese! This alone should sent shivers down the spine of every Tibetan of the impending doom for the people of Tibet! Who would even imagine that a foreign colonizer from distant China would have the temerity to call for the custodians ofTibet to be thrown out of their own city where they have been living for centuries? It goes to show the arrogance of the Chinese and their utter contempt and disregard for the Tibetan people. The CCP has racially vilified the Tibetan people and it has continued to look to Tibet and its people through the prism of its imperialist mindset. It has continued to vilify the Tibetans through its propaganda channels which has created an anti-Tibet outlook among many Chinese population. During the 2008 Pan-Tibet protests against CCP rule in Tibet, the CCP used callous and outrageous narratives like “waging a people’s war” against so called Tibetan separatists. They deliberately depicted Tibetans as violent by showing a supposed Tibetan man wielding a dagger amidst the chaotic protesting Tibetans! It was later exposed by a Thai tourist that it was a Chinese PLA man dressed with Tibetan chuba to masquerade as a Tibetan. They also peddled lies about Tibetans cutting off the ear lob of a Chinaman to slander the Tibetans. All the while propagating the lie that Tibetans are bad people who are against the Chinese. They created strong anti-Tibetan sentiment among the Chinese nation wide. All these have created a rift between the colonizers and the colonized Tibetans. It is also no secret that Tibetans have resented the Chinese the moment they set their foot on Tibetan soil. Today, there is a calm prevailing under the boot-heel of Chinese gestapos but the resentment against the occupier lingers. The words that the woman spoke is like an ember that can set the whole of Lhasa on fire. They are extremely incendiary words! The CCP made her to apologize but not to the Tibetans who are the victims of Chinese racism. It goes to show the insensitivity of the Chinese in not acknowledging the hurt the Tibetans felt but just enough to douse the inflammable anger that has been ruminating in the hearts of every Tibetan. Tibetans must assert the ownership of our nation because the CCP is now denying that Tibet belongs to Tibetans. If we allow the Chinese narrative to be peddled, one day, Tibetans may be expelled from all the cities and towns and huddled in the Changthang region (Northern plains) which is the equivalent of Siberia in Russia while all strategic and fertile lands will be populated by the Chinese!!! In fact this has already happened in Tibet. During the massive earthquake in Nepal in 2015, Dam on the Tibet Nepal border was affected. Using this incident as a pretext, all the Tibetans from the Dam region were first moved as a safety measure to Shigatse but later they were never allowed to return to their ancestral home! The regime instead brought Chinese settlers and built a massive military garrison instead. This region is warm which is suitable for the Chinese colonizers and is rich in flora and fauna. Besides it’s close proximity with neighboring Nepal makes it a perfact place for business ventures. This is how the Chinese are copying the tactics of Josef Stalin who removed the Crimean Tarters from their ancestral home and exiled to extreme remote regions. It was to maintain Soviet dominance and without any consideration for the human cost, Stalin waged a war of extermination against the Tarters. The CCP regime has been waging a war of extermination against the Tibetans since the occupation. Taking cognizance of historical precedence, it is time for Tibetans to fight for total independence and should be prepared to take up arms. The US, Taiwan, India and other like minded democracies will help because they have an axe to grind against communist China.