Tibet Open Letter

A Statement by Concerned Tibetan Studies Scholars on the Current Crisis in Tibet

President Hu Jintao

People’s Republic of China

Zhongnanhai, Xichengqu, Beijing City

People’s Republic of China

Dear Mr. President,

Over the course of the last two weeks the world has witnessed an outbreak of protests across the Tibetan plateau, followed in most instances by a harsh, violent repression. In the majority of cases these protests have been peaceful. The result has been an unknown number of arrests and the loss of numerous lives, which have been overwhelmingly Tibetan. This has understandably triggered widespread concern and anguish across the globe. As scholars engaged in Tibetan Studies, we are especially disturbed by what has been happening. The civilization we study is not simply a subject of academic enquiry: it is the heritage and fabric of a living people and one of the world’s great cultural legacies. We express our deep sorrow at the horrible deaths of the innocent, including Chinese as well as Tibetans. Life has been altered for the worse in places with which we are well acquainted; tragedy has entered the lives of a people we know well. At the time this statement is being written, continued arrests and shootings are being reported even of those involved in peaceful protest, the accused are being subjected to summary justice without due process and basic rights, and countless others are being forced to repeat political slogans and denunciations of their religious leader.

Silence in the face of what is happening in Tibet is no longer an option. At this moment the suppression of political dissent appears to be the primary goal of authorities across all the Tibetan areas within China, which have been isolated from the rest of China and the outside world. But such actions will not eliminate the underlying sense of grievance to which Tibetans are giving voice. As scholars we have a vested interest in freedom of expression. The violation of that basic freedom and the criminalization of those sentiments that the Chinese government finds difficult to hear are counterproductive. They will contribute to instability and tension, not lessen them.

It cannot be that the problem lies in the refusal of Tibetans to live within restrictions on speech and expression that none of us would accept in our own lives. It is not a question of what Tibetans are saying: it is a question of how they are being heard and answered. The attribution of the current unrest to the Dalai Lama represents a reluctance on the part of the Chinese government to acknowledge and engage with policy failures that are surely the true cause of popular discontent. The government’s continuing demonization of the Dalai Lama, which falls far below any standard of discourse accepted by the international community, serves only to fuel Tibetan anger and alienation. A situation has been created which can only meet with the strongest protest from those of us who have dedicated our professional lives to understanding Tibet’s past and its present; its culture and its society. Indeed, the situation has generated widespread shock among peoples inside and outside China as well, and we write in full sympathy with the twelve-point petition submitted by a group of Chinese writers and intellectuals on 22 March.

Therefore, we call for an immediate end to the use of force against Tibetans within China. We call for an end to the suppression of Tibetan opinion, whatever form that suppression takes. And we call for the clear recognition that Tibetans, together with all citizens of China, are entitled to the full rights to free speech and expression guaranteed by international agreements and accepted human rights norms.

Jean-Luc Achard Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique, Paris

Agata Bareja-Starzy?ska Warsaw University

Robert Barnett Columbia University

Christopher Beckwith Indiana University

Yael Bentor Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Henk Blezer Leiden University

Anne-Marie Blondeau École pratique des Hautes Études, Paris

Benjamin Bogin Georgetown University

Jens Braarvig University of Oslo

Katia Buffetrille École pratique des Hautes Études, Paris

José Ignacio Cabezón University of California, Santa Barbara

Cathy Cantwell University of Oxford

Bryan J. Cuevas Florida State University

Jacob Dalton Yale University

Ronald Davidson Fairfield University

Karl Debreczeny Independent Scholar

Andreas Doctor Kathmandu University

Thierry Dodin Bonn University

Brandon Dotson School of Oriental and African Studies, London

Georges Dreyfus Williams College

Douglas S. Duckworth University of North Carolina

John Dunne Emory University

Johan Elverskog Southern Methodist University

Elena De Rossi Filibeck University of Rome

Carla Gianotti Independent Scholar

Maria Gruber University of Applied Arts, Vienna

Janet Gyatso Harvard University

Paul Harrison Stanford University

Lauran Hartley Columbia University

Mireille Helffer Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique, Paris

Isabelle Henrion-Dourcy Université Laval, Québec

Toni Huber Humboldt University , Berlin

Ishihama Yumiko Waseda University

David Jackson Rubin Museum of Art, New York

Sarah Jacoby Columbia University

Marc des Jardins Concordia University

Matthew T. Kapstein University of Chicago; École pratique des Hautes Études, Paris

György Kara Indiana University

Samten Karmay Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique, Paris

P. Christiaan Klieger Oakland Museum, California

Deborah Klimburg-Salter University of Vienna

Leonard van der Kuijp Harvard University

Per Kvaerne University of Oslo

Erberto Lo Bue University of Bologna

Donald Lopez University of Michigan

Christian Luczanits University of Vienna

Sara McClintock Emory University

Carole McGranahan University of Colorado

Ariane Macdonald-Spanien École pratique des Hautes Études, Paris

William Magee Dharma Drum Buddhist College, Taiwan

Lara Maconi Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Paris

Dan Martin Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Rob Mayer University of Oxford

Fernand Meyer École pratique des Hautes Études, Paris

Eric D. Mortensen Guilford College

Paul Nietupski John Carroll University

Giacomella Orofino Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale

Ulrich Pagel School of Oriental and African Studies, London

Andrew Quintman Princeton University

Charles Ramble University of Oxford

Françoise Robin Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Paris

Ulrike Roesler University of Freiburg

Geoffrey Samuel Cardiff University

Kurtis Schaeffer University of Virginia

Cristina Scherrer-Schaub University of Lausanne

Peter Schwieger Bonn University

Tsering Shakya University of British Columbia

Nicolas Sihle University of Virginia

Elliot Sperling Indiana University

Heather Stoddard Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Paris

Robert Thurman Columbia University

Takeuchi Tsuguhito Kobe City University of Foreign Studies

Gray Tuttle Columbia University

Emily Yeh University of Colorado

Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim University College, London

Tibet is a plateau region north of the Himalayas.  Though it was an independent country for many centuries, today the Chinese government controls most of  Tibet after it was invaded in 1950.   The Tibetan  government in exile  is nominally headed by the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959.

About Tibet, culture, history, relations with China