Ajit Karn
Lhasa: Voices Against Autocracy (VAA) reported that China has rejected claims by UN Special Rapporteurs that it separated one million Tibetan children from their families and forcibly placed them in boarding schools as part of an effort to assimilate them religiously, culturally, and linguistically into the dominant Han Chinese culture.
The Han Chinese or Han people are an ethnic group indigenous to China and located in East Asia.
Last week, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning stated during a routine press briefing: “This is undoubtedly false and appears to be yet another claim intended to mislead the public about China and tarnish its reputation. As is typical throughout the globe, Chinese provinces and regions have boarding schools to satisfy the requirements of local students.”
“These institutions offer housing, meals, and other residential services. They are neither secured nor administered in a military fashion “he said.
China has been heavily criticised by United Nations experts for allegedly attempting to assimilate the Tibetan identity into Han culture. VAA reports that China is having a difficult time disputing human rights violations against Uyghurs, Muslim ethnic groups residing in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.
A press release issued by the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UN) on February 6 in Geneva revealed that the Chinese government operates a network of residential schools where approximately one million Tibetan children are brainwashed into adopting Chinese Han culture and their Tibetan cultural identity is eradicated.
In a joint statement, the three experts Fernand de Varennes, Farida Shaheed, and Alexandra Xanthaki said, “We are extremely disturbed that, contrary to international human rights standards, the residential school system for Tibetan children appears to function as a mandatory, large-scale assimilation programme.”
In response, the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson of China stated: “In the instance of Tibet in China, this is a region of high altitude and widespread population dispersion. Particularly, children from pastoral families must travel great distances to reach school. If schools were constructed in every location where pupils reside, it would be extremely difficult to ensure that each school has sufficient teachers and a high standard of education.”
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According to VAA, UN experts stated that there is more to a situation than meets the eye: the study material for Tibetan children and the environment are based on Han culture; lessons are conducted exclusively in Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua) with scant reference to Tibetan history, religion, and “absolutely not exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.”
