MIM Notes 166 July 15, 1998 MIM & RAIL bring dose of reality to Tibet festival by a comrade Tens of thousands of young people, mostly Amerikans, streamed into RFK stadium Washington, D.C. June 13-14, to hear a giant concert featuring top pop bands like R.E.M. and Pearl Jam. They were also supporting the movement led by Hollywood liberals, ignorant pacifists and hard-core anti-communists -- the movement to "free Tibet" -- and the Tibetan Freedom Festival. MIM and RAIL were there to pass out hundreds of flyers informing young people about the history of Tibet, and talk about Chinese socialism from 1949 to 1976 and the current fascistic capitalist government. In response, our activists were approached by an Amerikan student and five Tibetans seeking to save our souls -- and keep their followers in the dark. Groups like Students for a Free Tibet, actors like Richard Gere and feudal actors like the Dalai Lama have cooked up an appealing story: that for centuries Tibet was a free and independent county, filled with peace- loving Buddhists who worked and worshipped together under the loving leadership of the religious Dalai Lama. That all came crashing down suddenly, the story goes, when Chinese communists invaded the country, crushing religion, freedom, culture, and life itself for millions of Tibetans. The misery and oppression have continued unabated, they say, to the present day. The real history is complicated, as real life is -- not easily reduced to a 30-second Oscar-eve infomercial. Most people attending the concert didn't know anything about China or Tibet. MIM and RAIL's flyer was intended to provide some information, and at least let people know some basics. The flyer read in part: "Oppose the Slaveholding Theocratic Monarchy of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese state-capitalist regime; Even state capitalism is better than feudalism.... "The Dalai Lama -- whose family owned 4,000 slaves before Chinese liberation -- stands for slavery, feudalism, poverty, patriarchal oppression of women. Do you support undemocratic religious monarchies in other countries? Why in Tibet? The feudal rulers of Tibet want their slaves back! "A Tibet free from Chinese state-capitalism and the Dalai Lama would be progress -- but bringing the Dalai Lama back to power is not about freedom for the Tibetan former-serfs, the majority of Tibetans. "The 'Free Tibet' movement has long-standing ties to the CIA. Why take your political leadership from the CIA and Richard Gere? Learn about the history of socialism in China, from 1949 to 1976, which ended thousands of years of oppressive feudalism before being overthrown by the current state capitalist oppressors of the Chinese and Tibetan people. "The real struggle for freedom begins with opposing U.$. imperialism -- including the police-state crackdown in U.$. cities, the imprisonment of 1.7 million people, and imprisonment rates for Black men that are higher than they were under apartheid in South Africa." Many people gratefully took the flyer, acknowledging that they didn't know anything about Tibet or China. Some "free-Tibet" activists, however, were upset. One Amerikan womyn member of Students for a Free Tibet, apparently not satisfied with hours of international TV coverage, universally favorable bourgeois news reporting, and backing by some of the biggest names in parasitic entertainment, approached to complain. In the ensuing argument, her ignorance and paternalism emerged. Asked whether or not Tibet was a feudal society before the revolution, she replied, "You really have to consider feudalism in the Asian context." Was it the case that serfs worked land owned by someone else, and were forced to pay rent and taxes out of their produce before they could keep anything for themselves? She agreed this was the case. And asked whether she agreed that the Dalai Lama's family had thousands of slaves, she dodged: "Define slavery," she said. What about people forced to work against their will, and without pay? Well, yes, but, "everyone had a choice in Tibet." Finally, asked to explain the doubling of life expectancy under Chinese socialism, she had the gall to say, "but what kind of life is it?" As if living to an average of 36 years was just fine with Tibetans! She should ask Tibetans now if they would agree to go back to 36-year life expectancies in order to enjoy the fruits of feudalism again! Finally, however, she brought five Tibetans out to argue with the Maoist activists. To their credit, these die- hard reactionaries were mostly very polite and honestly argued. However, one of them did stand next to someone handing out our flyers, calling out "This person is an agent of the Chinese government!" as people took the flyers. In fact, our flyer clearly said, "The Chinese government from 1949 to 1976, led by Mao Zedong, was socialist. Many improvements were made for people in all parts of the country. In Tibet, for example, new roads were built, many illiterate peasants were offered education, and for the first time people were paid wages for their work. In all of China, thousands of years of brutal oppression of women was turned around. "However, in 1976 the socialist government of Mao Zedong was overthrown in a coup by the state capitalist forces led by Deng Xiaoping and the current leaders of China. With the restoration of capitalism, there were big losses for the people throughout China. Now Tibet is treated as a colony. Resources are extracted, and millions of Han (the main Chinese ethnic group) settlers are being sent to Tibet. "There have also been reports of genocide being committed against Tibetans. These include the rounding up of pregnant Tibetan women to forcibly impose abortion." This is hardly the line of today's reactionary Chinese government. Pressed to acknowledge the difference between China under Mao and under the revisionists, one of the Tibetans finally said, "Well, things were a little better under Deng Xiaoping...." They were also confused when we expressed sympathy for one of the younger Tibetans, who said he was confined to a labor camp for many years starting in 1978. The Tibetans and their student advocate insisted that they speak for Tibet, while we could not. When they looked at our sources (1), they said nothing published in China was acceptable. They argued that Amerika was a great country -- and of course Amerikan publications are a fine source of information. The flyer also said: "Prior to liberation in 1950, Tibet had a serf economy. Serf-owners were 5% of the people and owned most land and livestock. Serfs worked on their owners' land for free, and when they had time to work on their own land, they were robbed of 70% of the harvests. Serfs were burdened by exorbitant taxes, including a birth tax, a death tax, a yearly tax for living (for children) and a poll tax for all adults.(2) There were taxes for cats, donkeys and chickens, for bells worn by animals, or for owning a flower pot.(3) Non-payment of taxes was punishable by beating, flogging, or death. A former serf who ran away said: "'I think I was not much different from a yak or any other draft animal for I could not read or write a word and knew nothing at all. For generations my family belonged to a big serf-owner who had five hundred families of serfs ... I was always hungry.' To maintain their power, the feudal and religious leaders resorted to brutal torture and imprisonment -- like any oppressive hierarchical society. This is the society that the Dalai Lama wants to restore under the cynical banner of 'freedom of religion.'" Confronted with the words of a former serf, one of the Tibetans agreed that "some people had a little more, some people had a little less," but insisted that no one had ever been executed in feudal Tibet. The "free Tibet" movement is a very escapist one for Amerikans to get involved in. At best, North American anti-imperialist movements challenge U.$. actions here and abroad, and work to undermine the system that brings death and misery to billions. However, the "free Tibet" movement seeks a kind word from President Clinton in China, and the restoration of an ancient religious order, allowing Tibet to "peacefully" enter the world capitalist system.(2) MIM and RAIL told the Tibetans to respond in writing to our flyer and other publications, promising to print a response at our expense. Two weeks later, there has been no response yet. We urge other readers to respond as well, especially people who are considering what kind of activism can do the most to end oppression today. Notes: 1. The sources for the flyer were Great Changes in Tibet, Foreign Languages Press: Peking 1972; Peking Review, July 4, 1975; Anna Louise Strong, When Serfs Stood Up in Tibet, New World Press: Peking, 1960, p. 227; and Anna Louise Strong, Tibetan Interviews, New World Press, Peking 1959. For a longer article by MIM, order MIM Theory 9 for $5. 2. In China, Clinton said he "urged President Jiang to assume a dialogue with the Dalai Lama in return for the recognition that Tibet is a part of China and in recognition of the unique cultural and religious heritage of that region" (Associated Press 27June98). So the "free Tibet" movement won a symbolic victory as Clinton pandered to their interests.