China’s Ongoing Mission to Erase Tibetan Identity

CHINA PLANS TO REBUILD THE TIBETAN TOWN OF KYEGU AS A TOURIST CITY, complete with new “temporary” Chinese name, Phayul.com reported last week.

Last April, a 6.9 earthquake devastated Kyegu in Yushu (also called Jyekundo or Kyegudo), an area that is majority Tibetan. Nearly 3,000 died and 100,000 were left homeless. Now, instead of including Tibetans in the reconstruction, Chinese authorities are using the aftermath of this tragedy to further their plans to reshape Tibet, and effectively eliminate any Tibetan identity left in the area.

The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) also reported how Chinese authorities plan to rename the area Sanjiangyuan [The Three River Sources] as part of an “urbanization drive.”

This is nothing less than cultural genocide, and business as usual for the Chinese. Last week’s Hu-Obama summit featured lots of lip service to human rights and a call for “improving dialogue” between China and Tibet. But this development hardly registers in the media, and hope for any progress to give Tibetans a voice in their own future dims.

In the meantime China continues its unceasing measures to impose its culture on Tibet and the Tibetan people.

Learn more and take action:

Tibet Justice Center
Students for a Free Tibet

Image: Tibet Post International