Written by Oiwan Lam
Since 2009, there have been at least 17 Tibetan self-immolation incidents in China. The latest case was reported [1] [zh] on January 15, 2012. The public discussion about the protests of Tibetans has been manipulated and monopolized by state controlled media outlets who blame the Dalai Lama [2] and western media for inciting to violence and terror [3] [zh].
The reaction among Chinese public intellectuals and netizens is practically indifferent when compared to other self-immolation incidents, such as the Yihuang demolition [5] case. Some netizens wonder, where have all the public intellectuals gone?
Tibetan poet Woser (@degewa [6]) is always among the first people on Twitter to bridge Tibetan news to Chinese communities. On January 15, after she read news of the self-immolation of a Tibetan monk near Ge’erdeng Temple in Aba, Sichuan, she wrote [7] [zh]:
今晚,我们都在å“泣。。。先是我,与一ä½å–‡å˜›è¯´èµ·åŒèƒžè‡ªç„šï¼Œä¸ç¦è½æ³ªï¼Œä»–ä¹Ÿå“½å’½ã€‚ã€‚ã€‚è¿™ä¹ˆæ™šäº†ï¼Œä½ æ¬²è¨€åˆæ¢ï¼Œç»ˆäºŽå“出了声。。。
Is it because of sadness that people don’t talk about it? Twitter user, @lotusseedsD, who lives outside China wondered, where have all the Chinese netizens gone [8]? And why don’t Han Chinese help bridging out [9] [zh] the information? Han Chinese [10]are the biggest ethnic group in China.
ä¸å›½æ±‰äººä¸ºè‡ªç„šçš„è—人åšäº†ä»€ä¹ˆï¼Ÿ@wh_z @old_wine 相较国外的呼å和翻墙出æ¥çš„少数声音,除了会骂人傻逼互相æŽæž¶äº’相瞧ä¸èµ·ï¼Œä¸å›½ç½‘民对è—äººè‡ªç„šçš„å†·æ¼ è®©äººèƒŒè„Šå‘凉,让人ä¸å±‘,让人引为齿。
è—人频ç¹è‡ªç„šï¼Œè¯·é—®ä¸å›½æ°‘间舆论åšäº†ä»€ä¹ˆï¼Ÿ @wh_z @old_wine 我的æ„æ€æ˜¯ï¼Œä¸å›½ç½‘民有没有åƒä¹ŒåŽåŠ¨è½¦è¿½å°¾æ ¡è½¦äº‹æ•…512地震ç‰å„ç§äº‹ä»¶å‘å¸–ï¼Œè¢«åˆ äº†åˆå‘,å„个论å›åˆ 之ä¸åŠåˆ¶é€ 舆论压力?ä¸å›½æ±‰äººä¸ºè‡ªç„šçš„è—人åšäº†ä»€ä¹ˆï¼Ÿï¼Ÿï¼Ÿï¼Ÿ
She challenged Chinese netizens to look beyond their nationalistic feelings [12] [zh] and reach out to help a group of human beings [13] [zh] who are in pain.
æ¢ä¸ªæ–¹å¼ï¼šæŠŠ “è—汉”二个å—从民æ—情结里去掉。17个生命用一ç§æƒŠå¤©åŠ¨åœ°çš„ï¼Œåœ¨ä½ å±…ä½çš„土地上以自焚方å¼æ±‚æ•‘å‘喊想让人们å¬åˆ°ä»–们的声音。您和您土地上的人,能为这17个å®è´µçš„生命åšäº›ä»€ä¹ˆï¼Ÿç»§ç»è¦å¬ä¸è§å‘¢è¿˜æ˜¯ç”¨æ‚¨å¾®å°åŠ›é‡æŠŠä»–ä»¬çš„æ±‚åŠ©å£°ä¼ æ’出去?
关注自焚ä¸æ˜¯æ¸²æŸ“鼓励。åŒæ˜¯ç”Ÿæ´»åœ¨ä¸€ç‰‡åœŸåœ°ä¸Šçš„äººï¼Œéƒ½è¢«æ¬ºåŽ‹ã€‚ä½ æ±‰äººæˆ–æ— æ³•å¯¹è—人伸出æ´æ‰‹ï¼Œç„¶è€ŒäºŽäººç±»æœ€æœ¬èƒ½çš„感情上,是ä¸æ˜¯åº”该åšåˆ°æœ€èµ·ç 的关心,让他们知é“ä½ ä»¬å¬åˆ°ä»–们的求助å‘喊痛苦?
Also on January 15, @cecilcoe pointed out [14] [zh] that the online public sphere is highly manipulated by the web censors:
我å¯ä»¥ä½œè¯ï¼šè‡ªç„šè€…ç…§ç‰‡åœ¨æ–°æµªä¸Šä¸€è´´å°±åˆ ï¼Œ å¿«å¾—æ— æ³•å½¢å®¹ã€‚ åŽæ¥æˆ‘改æˆè´´å°æ¹¾è‡ªç„šè€…照片, 在文å—ä¸æ到西è—自焚, 就比较慢。 在哪çŸçŸæ—¶é—´é‡Œæœ‰12个评论。当然,总人数没乌åŽå¤šï¼Œ 但说汉人ä¸å…³å¿ƒï¼Œ 也ä¸å°½ç„¶ã€‚
Human rights activist @tengbiao concurred [15] [zh] that public intellectuals are playing dumb regarding the repression in Tibet:
è—人自焚这件事上,除了æžå°‘æ•°å‡ ä¸ªä¾‹å¤–ï¼Œä¸å›½å…¬å…±çŸ¥è¯†åˆ†å们集体哑ç«ã€è£…è‹ä½œå“‘ã€‚æˆ¿é—´é‡Œçš„å¤§è±¡ï¼Œæ²‰é»˜çš„å…±è°‹ã€‚ä»–ä»¬å’Œè¡Œå‡¶è€…ä¸€æ ·æ— è€»ã€‚
Prominent blogger @yanghengjun agreed [16] [zh] with Tengbiao:
他们点燃自己,照亮黑暗。怎奈我们在黑暗ä¸å¤ªä¹…,甚至å˜æˆäº†é»‘暗的一部分。
@yanghengjun [16]: They [the Tibetans] burned themselves to give light to the darkness. However, we have lived in the darkness for too long and turned into part of the darkness.The above discussion does receive some proactive responses, dissident @zhaoyang8964 also spoke out [17] on Twitter [zh]:
è—人自焚是æºäºŽå¯¹ä¸å…±æš´æ”¿çš„愤怒和ç»æœ›ï¼Œä¹Ÿæ˜¯ä»¥æ»æ˜Žå¿—çš„å抗ï¼æˆ‘èº«ä¸ºæ±‰äººè€Œä¸ºè¿™ä¸ªæ— è€»çš„æ”¿æƒæ„Ÿåˆ°ç¾žæ„§ã€‚所谓“西è—自å¤ä»¥æ¥å°±æ˜¯ä¸å›½çš„领土”纯粹扯淡ï¼å°Šè€…一å‘表明愿留在ä¸å›½ç‰ˆå›¾å†…但希望获得真æ£çš„è‡ªæ²»ï¼Œè€Œæ— èµ–æ”¿åºœæ ¹æœ¬ä¸å°Šé‡å°Šè€…,也从æ¥ä¸æŠŠè—人的诉求当回事。
@zhaoyang8964 [17]: Tibetans self-immolated to express their anger and despair against the Chinese Communist government’s tyranny. They protested with their lives. As a Han Chinese, I feel ashamed for such a shameless government. It is totally bullshit to say that “Tibet has always been (since the ancient times) a part of China.” His Holiness has been expressing his willingness to be a part of the China territories, all he is asking for is genuine self-autonomy. But the brutal government does not respect His Holiness nor the Tibetans’ demands.Upon reading @degwa’s tweets, Crazy Crab drew a cartoon [18] to mock the Chinese government:
However, political statements could not help challenge the official discourse about the immolation incidents. So far Wang Lixiong is the only Chinese intellectual who has offered [19] [zh] an elaborate and counter-official view of the Tibetan immolation incident. Below is a partial translation of his article written on January 12 on Tibetan immolation:
施暴于自我,除了是出于ç»æœ›çš„抗议或对尊严å¤æ³¨ä¸€æŽ·çš„æå«ï¼Œè‹¥æœ‰å¯¹å®žæ•ˆçš„ä¼æœ›ï¼Œå°±å¦‚甘地所说:“通过我们所å—çš„æ·±é‡è‹¦éš¾ï¼Œå¯ä»¥å½±å“政府”;或马丷路德·é‡‘所说:“我们将以自己å¿å—苦难的能力,æ¥è¾ƒé‡ä½ ä»¬åˆ¶é€ è‹¦éš¾çš„èƒ½åŠ›…è€—å°½ä½ ä»¬çš„ä»‡æ¨…å”¤é†’ä½ ä»¬çš„è‰¯çŸ¥”。
è¿™ç§ä¼æœ›çš„实现,å‰æ是需è¦å˜åœ¨è‰¯çŸ¥ã€‚专制政æƒçš„机器åªæœ‰åˆšæ€§ç»“æž„ã€å†·é…·é€»è¾‘,以åŠå®˜åƒšåˆ©ç›Šã€‚å½“å¹´å‡ åƒå©å在天安门广场濒临æ»äº¡åœ°ç»é£Ÿï¼Œæœ‰è°çœ‹åˆ°è¿‡å®ƒçš„良知?
以往éžæš´åŠ›æŠ—争的局é™å°±åœ¨æ¤——结局ä¸æ˜¯å–决抗争一方,而是政æƒã€‚抗争方åªèƒ½èµ·åŽ‹åŠ›ä½œç”¨ï¼ŒæƒåŠ›ä¸è®©æ¥å°±ä¸ä¼šæœ‰è¿›å±•ï¼Œå› æ¤ç›®å‰çš„西è—è½å…¥å›°å¢ƒæ˜¯å¿…然。
走出困境,方å‘在哪里?我觉得是目å‰é¦–è¦å›žç”的。没有方å‘å°±åªèƒ½ç›²ç›®ã€‚哪怕是自焚的壮烈献身,也让人感觉更多是ç»æœ›ã€‚而å„æ–¹é¢å¯¹è‡ªç„šï¼Œé™¤äº†æƒ…绪动è¡ï¼Œä¹Ÿæ˜¯å°±äº‹è®ºäº‹çš„茫然。
说自焚者有勇气没有智慧,是ä¸å…¬å¹³ã€‚智慧ä¸æ˜¯è‹Ÿä¸”å·ç”Ÿçš„技巧,是能够带领西è—走出困境的高瞻远瞩。那ä¸æ˜¯æ™®é€šæ°‘众应该和能够承担的。而把已退出政治的达赖喇嘛当作一切智慧的æ¥æºï¼Œåˆ™æ˜¯ä¸è´Ÿè´£ã€‚达赖喇嘛确定了éžæš´åŠ›åŽŸåˆ™å’Œä¸é—´è·¯çº¿ï¼Œå¦‚何实现应该是政治家们的智慧。
ç›®å‰è¿˜çœ‹ä¸åˆ°è¿™ç§æ™ºæ…§ã€‚ä¸å›½æ–¹é¢åªæœ‰ä¸€æ‰‹é’žç¥¨ä¸€æ‰‹å± 刀;西è—方颗—å‡å¦‚æµäº¡æ”¿åºœæ˜¯ä»£è¡¨çš„è¯ï¼Œä¹Ÿçœ‹ä¸å‡ºé™¤äº†å‘表声明,还知é“该åšä»€ä¹ˆã€‚
请告诉勇敢的è—人,他们å¯ä»¥åšä»€ä¹ˆã€‚知é“了应该和能够åšä»€ä¹ˆï¼Œä»–们就会活下去,而ä¸æ˜¯ç”¨æƒ¨çƒˆè‡ªç„šä»…æ¢æ¥åª’体的çŸæš‚一瞥。
To exercise violence upon oneself, apart from being a desperate protest and defense of one’s dignity – their expectation, if any, is similar to Gandhi’s teaching: “Change the government through our sufferings” or Martin Luther King’s saying: “We will wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day… we will appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process.”
The premise of such an expectation is the existence of a conscience. The machinery of the authoritarian government has only an iron structure, cold logic and bureaucratic interests. Many years ago, thousands of young people were on hunger strike in Tiananmen Square. Who saw any conscience then?
The limitation of non-violent struggle is that its end depends on the state power, not the protesters. The protest will only create pressure, it doesn’t go anywhere if the power does not compromise. That’s why Tibet is trapped in the current situation.
How to step out from this dead end? This is the most important question we have to address. Without direction it will result in nihilism. The self-immolation will bring more desperation. Apart from triggering emotions, it offers no solution.
It is unfair to say that the self-immolating are not wise. To live without dignity is not wise. The true wisdom is to bring Tibet out of the dead end with a vision. Ordinary people cannot lead the way out. However, it is also irresponsible to rely on the Dalai Lama who is slowly stepping out from the political scene. Dalai Lama has put forward the non-violent principle and a middle way, but it depends on the politicians’ wisdom to actualize it.
We can’t see such wisdom at the moment. What the Chinese government has is a pile of paper money and a butcher knife; As for Tibet, if the exile government is the representative one, so far it doesn’t know what to do apart from issuing statements.
Please tell the courageous Tibetans what they can do. If they know what they should/can do, they will live rather than use their own lives in exchange for a blink of media attention.
Article printed from Global Voices: http://globalvoicesonline.org
URL to article: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/01/24/china-tibet-burns-but-where-are-the-chinese-public-intellectuals/
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