Twelve Suggestions to Dealing with Situations in Tibet

Twelve Suggestions to Dealing with Situations in Tibet

1. The current unilateral propaganda adopted by the Chinese official media has the effect of inciting ethnic hatred and intensifying tensions, these are extremely harmful to the long term goal of safeguarding national unity. We urge this propaganda be stopped.

2. We support the Dalai Lama's appeal for peace, we hope the ethnic disputes will be properly handled following good faith, peace, and non-violent principle; we condemn any acts of violence against innocent civilians; we strongly urge that the Chinese government to stop violent repression, and that the Tibetan people not to resort to violence.

3. The Chinese government claimed it “has enough evidence to prove this [the March 14 incident] to be organized, premeditated, carefully planned by the Dalai clique”, we hope the government would produce the evidence, and we suggest the government to invite the UN Human Rights Council to conduct an independent investigation of the evidence, of what really happened, and of the casualties figure so as to change the opposite view and distrust of the international community.

4. We believe that remarks from Communist leaders in Tibet that echoed expressions during the Cultural Revolution like “Dalai is a wolf dressed in Kasaya, a demon with a human face” would not help calm the situation, and are not conducive to the Chinese government's image. We believe that the Chinese government should, in its commitment to integration into the international community, display a ruling style that is in line with modern civilization.

5. We have noticed that on the same day as violence broke out in Lhasa, the head of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) declared to “have enough evidence to prove this to be organized, premeditated, carefully planned by the Dalai clique.” This indicated that TAR authority knew about the impending riot in advance, and yet didn't do anything to effectively prevent it from happening or escalating. A serious probe and punishment for dereliction of duty, if any, would be necessary.

6. If in the end this cannot be proved as organized, premeditated, carefully planned [by the Dalai clique], but only as a provoked “popular revolt”, then those responsible for the provocation and the fabrication of intelligence for deception of the central government and the populace should be held accountable. To avoid future mistakes, serious reflection on lessons from this is needed.

7. We strongly demand that the authorities do not force the Tibetan people to show allegiance or make them confess ; do not punish them in retaliation afterward; and that trials of those arrested must follow an open, fair and transparent judicial procedures so that all parties would be satisfied with the results.

8. We urge the Chinese government to allow credible domestic and foreign media to go into Tibet and cover the news there independently. We believe that the current news blockade can not gain the trust of citizens and the international community, it is also detrimental to the integrity of the Chinese government. If the government has the truth, then it should not be afraid of picking. Only when an open attitude is taken can the international community's distrust of our government be turned.

9. We appeal to our nationals and Chinese people overseas to remain calm, tolerant, and to think deep. Posture of aggressive nationalism will only invite antipathy from the international community and harm China's international image.

10. Unrest in Tibet during 1980s was limited to Lhasa only, this time it has spread all across the region, this deterioration of the situation indicates serious mistakes on work in Tibet, relevant government departments must reflect and fundamentally change the failed ethnic policy.

11.To prevent similar incidents from happening in future, the government must observe, as stipulated in China’s constitution, the rights of freedom of religion and of expression; allow the Tibetan people to fully express their discontent and aspirations, so that citizens of all ethnic groups can freely voice their criticism of the government's ethnic policies and make suggestions.

12.We hope that the understanding between the Chinese and the Tibetan people can be eliminated, that the two peoples engage in dialog, and achieve unity; government departments, civic organizations, or religious figures should all contribute to these. We must eliminate ethnic hatred, bring about ethnic reconciliation, and not continue to widen the rift between peoples. To avoid territorial disintegration, a country must first avoid splitting peoples.

The undersigned,

Wang Lixiong (Beijing, writer)
Liu Xiaobo (Beijing, freelance writer)
Zhang Zuhua (Beijing, constitution scholar)
Sha Yexin (Shanghai, writer, ethnicity: Hui)
Yu Haocheng (Beijing, jurist)
Ding Zilin (Beijing, professor)
Jiang Peikun (Beijing, professor)
Sun Wenguang (Shandong, professor)
Yu Jie (Beijing, writer)
Ran Yunfei (Sichuan, editor, ethnicity: Tujia)
Pu Zhiqiang (Beijing, lawyer)
Teng Biao (Beijing, lawyer and scholar)
Liao Yiwu (Sichuan, writer)
Jiang Qisheng (Beijing, scholar)
Zhang Ling (Beijing, engineer)
Xu Jue (Beijing, researcher)
Li Jun (Gansu, photographer)
Gao Yu (Beijing, journalist)
Wang Debang (Beijing, freelance writer)
Zhao Dagong (Shenzhen, freelance writer)
Jiang Danwen (Shanghai, writer)
Liu Yi (Gansu, painter)
Xu Hui (Beijing, writer)
Wang Tiancheng (Beijing, scholar)
Wen kejian (Hangzhou, freelancer)
Li Hai (Beijing, freelance writer)
Tian Yongde (Inner Mongolia, civil rights activist)
Zan Aizong (Hangzhou, journalist)
Liu Yiming (Hubei, freelance writer)
Liu Di (Beijing, freelancer)

March 22, 2008

As at March 24, 2008, 186 intellectuals inside China and abroad had signed.