Despite high-profile activism by politicians and human rights advocates, “the reality of Tibetian life is quite different than the popular image,” according to Tenzin N. Tethong.
Such high-profile activism has included rock concerts, mainstream Hollywood movies and congressional appeals.
Tethong, an exiled Tibetian, spoke on the current status of the troubled nation Thursday afternoon to a thin crowd at the Hinckley Institute of Politics. Tethong has been a long-time worker among exiled Tibetian refugees in the United States and India.
Tibet, a small nation in Central Asia, has been controlled by the Chinese government since the early 1960s, and despite efforts by organizations such as Students for a Free Tibet and Tethong’s own foundations, “there has been no real movement at all” in Chinese relations with the nation, according to Tethong, chairman of the Committee of 100 for Tibet and founder of the Tibet Fund.
Tethong said in his introduction that he is not an expert in any field, but when he speaks, he tries to convey the experiences of Tibetians in exile, such as himself.
With a current population of roughly 6 million, 1.2 million Tibetians have died “unnatural deaths directly resulting from Chinese policies,” in the 40 years of Chinese control, Tethong said.
U.S. relations with China are the best way to improve China’s policies towards Tibet, he continued.
“Ideas and beliefs about freedom have manifested in constructive ways from time to time in the United States,” Tethong said.
With China’s entry into the World Trade Organization last year, however, Tethong expressed doubt about an end to Chinese control of Tibet.
“A great deal of U.S. information [about Tibet] is trade-driven and greed-driven, and there seems to be greedy members on both sides,” he said.
China’s entry into the WTO led President Bush to grant the nation permanent trade status, a move that has worsened relations between China and Tibet.
“A lot of discussion among different groups in the last few years has been that human rights should be separate from trade status?this has killed the focus on human rights in Tibet. It’s just not gaining the level of attention it had a few years ago,” Tethong said.
With approximately 150,000 Tibetians in exile, it is the native Tibetians who “are bearing the brunt of survival,” according to Tethong.
Though groups such as Students for a Free Tibet have been actively involved in ending Chinese control in Tibet, “there has been no real positive improvement at all with Chinese relations and a change in the status of Tibet,” Tethong said.
Tethong, who has lived in both the United States and India, travelled to Tibet as part of a delegation in 1980.
At the time he was in the country, nearly all of the Tibetian monasteries and temples were completely destroyed by the Chinese government, information Tethong gathered as part of the delegation.
Much of the Tibetian population lives on the country’s large plateau, which currently is home to as many as 7 million Chinese.
“If the expansion in Chinese population in Tibet continues, there will be no real future for Tibetians, and it’s conceivable that the culture and people of Tibet may die out if this continues,” Tethong said.
Among his efforts, Tethong has worked on two major motion pictures that have focused on Tibet.
Serving as a consultant and adviser on “Seven Years in Tibet,” Tethong helped to make the Tibetian dialogue in that film more realistic. His 12 year-old son was also cast as the young Dalai Lama in “Kundun.”