Thirty Tibetans Sentenced for March Protests
It's been well-over a month since the fateful March 10 protests in Tibet, but the events in Tibet continue to cast their shadow over media coverage of China. Today, thirty Tibetans, including six monks, received sentencing for their involvement.
The sentences varied in severity; three men received life sentences, and others had shorter sentences of 15 or 20 years. None received the death penalty, which might be in response to Western pressure on this trial.
Although the trial was open to the public, and more than 200 people attended, there's no information as to whether or not the defendants received adequate legal representation. Some Chinese lawyers told The Washington Post that most lawyers would not take this type of case, because it's too politically sensitive, but Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said that the trials were handled in a just manner.
While this is the first sentencing, many similar trials are expected in the next several weeks. The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy has a provisional list of 324 Tibetans who were arrested, though it believes the number actually arrested to be closer to 2300. The number hasn't been verified elsewhere, so it could be artificially inflated, or not high enough.
It's always hard to know the accurate facts when it comes to China and Tibet. According to Chinese authorities, 22 people were killed in the March protests, but the Tibetan-government-in-exile says this number is closer to 203.
Chinese authorities say that Tibet is part of China, and that Tibet's living standard has risen dramatically since China and Tibet signed the Seventeen Point Agreement in 1951, which affirmed China's sovereignty over Tibet. Many Chinese see the Tibetan unrest as a slap in the face, and the Western media's coverage as completely biased. For many Chinese worldwide, the Dalai Lama and his followers are full of lies, and want to divide China.
Of course, many Tibetans and human rights activists don't quite see things in these terms. For them, human rights and basic freedoms are not enjoyed in Tibet, and the situation is getting worse.
One group, the Indian-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, of which is the Dalai Lama is a patron, has an all-Tibetan staff, and a strong network of Tibetan refugees. Their annual reports paint a grim picture of human rights in Tibet, describing a system with "no civil and political rights" and "severely curtailed" freedom of expression.
The Chinese government's perspective of Tibet and media coverage of it, as you can see from Xinhua's official Tibetan page, doesn't quite match up with these perceptions.
China has closed the doors of Tibet to foreign journalists, which many Chinese probably feel is just as well, since much of the coverage hasn't been the most flattering. On the other hand, the global media does provide an additional perspective, and has valuable insights into these complex issues.
Right now, the only news about Tibet we really have access to is either from the state-controlled Chinese media, or Tibetans who have fled the country.
With so much conflicting information, how can we really know the truth?