(TibetanReview.net, Jan 12) — As Tibetans opposed to Chinese rule prepare to mark the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day this year, China has countered that it will finalise a “Serf Liberation Day” to mark the start of its occupation rule. By it, China, no doubt, hopes to strengthen its propaganda offensive against those calling for autonomy or freedom for Tibet.
“A date for the commemoration of emancipation of millions of serfs and slaves 50 years ago after the central government foiled an attempted armed rebellion led by the Dalai Lama and his aristocratic supporters” “will be decided on by the 2nd annual session of the 9th Tibet Regional People’s Congress to be held from Jan 14 to Jan 19,” reported China’s official Xinhua news agency Jan 10, quoting Pang Boyong, deputy secretary-general of the regional congress standing committee.
China describes the suppression of the 1959 Tibetan uprising as the start of its “landmark democratic reform” in the Tibet Autonomous Region. “Since then, millions of slaves under the feudal serfdom became masters of their own,” Pang had said. He had accused the Dalai Lama and his supporters of sabotaging what he had called the system of regional autonomy implemented in Tibet of engaging in splittist activities. “They are against the will of the Tibetan people and running against the historical trend of progress in this region.”