Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, and the People’s Republic of China: The Tibetans, Uighurs, and Hmong

1. By Megan Bond, Hanna Kubyshkina, & Carly Laywell Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, and the People’s Republic of China: The Tibetans, Uighurs, and Hmong

2. The Chinese Civilization • Five thousand years of “continuous civilization” • Earliest identified dynasty in the second millennium B.C.E. • The idea of Chinese superiority expanded as the land mass and population of China grew through accession and assimilation. • The People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949.

3. The Han in China • The Han make up 92 percent of China’s 1.3 billion people. • The Han dominate the nation’s politics, government, economy, and culture. • “Chinese” has come to be synonymous with “Han.” • Civilization, Culture, and History are Han.

4. The Minzu: “Minority Ethnic Groups” in China • The PRC counts and classifies 55 separate Minzu within their borders. • The Han are 92 percent of the population • The other 8 percent still constitute over 120 million people. • The Chinese government does not recognize the term “indigenous peoples.” • “In China, there are no indigenous peoples so there are no indigenous issues.” • Minorities are referenced by words that mean “primitive,” “backwards,” or “barbarian.”

5. Qing Dynasty Map

6. Map of the minzu

7. China’s Official Policy on Minzu • To assist minority peoples in preserving their cultural and linguistic heritage. • The founding of “autonomous regions” • Article 4 of China’s constitution states that all nationalities are equal

8. Chinese Explanations • Class struggle is the explanation for ethnic conflict, social disorder, and violence. • Communism is the only social system that could protect minorities because ethnic divisions and hostilities would subside as all were equal. • Undertones of integration into Han culture.

9. Human Rights in China • A concern in the United States and United Nations since the 1989 Tiananmen Square riots. • In terms of indigenous peoples, self-determination is the largest concern. • The major human rights concerns, however, surround the Han majority (i.e. the one-child policy)

10. Tibet 16,000 feet & the highest nation in earth 5 great Asian rivers origination.

11. … • Tibetan's leader His Holiness the 14th the Dalai Lama TenzinGyasto, was 16 y.o. when captured. In 1989 he was Awarded Noble Peace Price.

12. Chinese Invasion of 1949 • As a result of the invasion: • 1.Tibet become sub culture • 2. Arrest of all its leaders • 3. Beliefs, language, religion prohibited • 4. Monasteries and temples were shelled (6000 cultural buildings) and sold 5. campaign of religious practice til `79

13. Human Rights in Tibet • September 1949, 35,000 troops invaded • Violations of the Treaty of 1950 • 1/5 population died since 1959 ( 1,200,000 people died not including those who was froze to death) • Religious practice suppressed til `79 • Affected , Protestants, Muslims, Buddhists • TibetsGreаtPrаyerFestivаl suppressed • 195117-point agreement; TAR • Chinаrenаmed two of Tibets three provinces аs its pаrt (Tibet has never run by Tibetans since after) • No rights for fair Legal trials at all!

14. Examples of Violence • 108 political prisoners-criminals in 1993 (U.S. facts; per China 51 people were in prison) • Charges are unknown mostly • some executed without a trail or upon secret trials • Since 1989 only 27 names were announced • YuluDаwаTsering-prisoner for 10 years for spreаding counter-revolutionаrypropаgаndа (Mаy Tibet be releаsed from the mouth of the wolf) • WаngLаngjie- u/a term in jail for looking for independence in public- national flag violation

15. … • Usage of vаrious torture techniques: electric shocks, аeriаl suspension, sexuаlаssаult, аndаttаcks by ferocious dogs • Result: mental anguish, permanent disablement, death • TenzinChoedon, 28 yo nun- sexuаllyаbused with electric bаtons • SonаmWаngdu -41 yo man, chаined for up to six months, released home, never recover • PаldenGyаtso and many others- staying on blocks of ice for 2-3 days…

16. CAT • October 4th, 1988 the people of China attended the U.N. Convention against torture and other cruel treatment or punishment • After the Convention - 60 deaths while demonstration • 1993, 1996-legal experts ask China to create independent judiciary and to create laws for all types of torture- China refused • To remedy all problems Dalai Lama proposed 5-point plan in 1987 (Tibet only wаntsgreаterаutonomy for minor guarantees)

17. The Uighurs • 8.3 million in China • Fifth largest minority population (yet barely 1/6th of 1 percent of China’s population) • Muslim population that has been living in China for over thirteen hundred years. • Notable for being both Muslim and Turkic.

18. Xinjiang Autonomous Region • Along the ancient Silk Road. • 1/6th of the total land mass of China. • Largest province in China. • Highest per capita GDP for an inland province. • Nominally “autonomous”

19. Islam in Xinjiang • Became the dominant religion in the region in the 1400s. • Islam was and is a central facet of Uighur life. • Practice is circumscribed by the nation-state.

20. Causes for Chinese Concern • The border in Xinjiang is shared with Mongolia, Russia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tibet A.R., Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. • China reopened its borders in 1987 after 40 years of being closed. • Collapse of the USSR.

21. Treatment of the Uighurs of Xinjiang • Language • Education • Economic opportunity (increase in jobs and GDP but rising unemployment and income gap) • Control of resources (oil and gas development)

22. Issues of autonomy

23. The Hmong “Fish swim in the sea, birds fly in the air, Hmong live in the mountains.”

24. “Nan man” peoples

25. Hmong Relationship with the People’s Republic of China • Recognition as an “ethnic minority” but categorized as “miao” • Lack of political participation due to discrimination, documentation, distance • China’s “new policy” towards ethnic minority populations

26. Additional Obstacles to the Hmong Way of Life • Poverty • Lack of education and “the brain drain” • Cultural commercialization