Dharamsala 31 August – With more and more students worldwide actively supporting Tibet, the Tibetan struggle has touched people of several nationalities who study at the various colleges and universities across the globe. A student of law at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, Emilie Hunter is one of them. One of the founding members of the SFT, UK chapter, she had organised and taken part in numerous activities like seminars, film shows and discussions on Tibet. She had arranged the 10-day tour to England of Gu-Chu-Sum movement, an association of ex-Tibetan political prisoners. TibetNet caught up with her as she was in Dharamsala recently. Excerpts..
TN – How did you first know about Tibet and what drew you towards the Tibet-cause.
Emilie- Like so many people, as a child, I remember seeing video clips of His Holiness, and wondering how a monk could be so full of joy, and then as I grew older I started going through the scraps of information issued by various campaign groups. My sense of moral indignation at what the Chinese government had carried out in Tibet was coupled with frustration at the limited information from the campaign postcards. I also recognise a sense of shared culpability due to the impact that British trade interests played in contributing towards the difficulties that Tibet faced as she encountered modern politics.
TN – What kind of activities do you organise and participate in to promote Tibetan awareness?
Emilie- Since the SFT UK network was established last march, a lot of what I have done has been mundane forms of administration and then networking to establish the connection amongst students and campaigners that is so necessary to be effective. Many students and myself are eager to encourage Tibetan leadership in the furtherance of Tibetan issues, so much of our work is in trying to provide foundations for Tibetans to raise the issues as they see them, rather than modified by western interests. This is why we have come to Dharamsala for the second summer. Apart from coordinating between the UK university groups and other organisations, I helped to establish a new university group at SOAS where I was studying for my Masters degree and these students are now hosting the only seminar on the Younghusband Centenary, with academics and research students from across Europe participating. Last year Gu Chu Sum came on the first tour of the UK and were able to speak about their experiences in Tibet and vision for the future Tibet to several university groups. As well as organising several smaller protests and vigils, I have been part of a team of students organising discussion meetings, lectures and film screenings around the UK to help inform people on Tibetan issues. SFT UK now has a ‘board’ of 8 students and recent graduates who have each taken on several responsibilities that will help SFT UK grow and therefore promote broader forms of activities.
TN – What is your opinion on the two varying stands for the future of Tibet- autonomy and independence?
Emilie- I am actually writing my dissertation on the concepts of autonomy in international law, and Chinese and Tibetan frames of reference, so would give a very lengthy and convoluted answer to this question. As a student of law, neither path of autonomy or independence looks an easy route to take, and there are problems and benefits of each. Without articulate and critical engagement from the TGIE and exilic community towards current autonomy laws and practises in Tibet (Region and Prefectures) then autonomy looks like an impractical solution, but similarly independence requires the kind of internal mobilisation and coordination that the PRC have been able to suppress, and that doesn’t as yet seem forthcoming. Within a genuinely autonomous Tibet, Tibetans would be assisted by their inclusion within the supposed tiger economy and should receive wider international support, but an independent Tibet would run less risk of insidious manipulation from the one party China, and should be internationally supported should it form the outcome of the self-determination right. My opinion is that the more Tibetans can engage with the issues of each position critically and thoughtfully, the more likely it is for a solution to be reached, that is acceptable to both parties, and that diversity in opinion is a healthy part of a functioning democracy.
TN – Who would you want to be born as if you were given the chance to be born a Tibetan?
Emilie- Probably a kyang or crane so that I could migrate regularly. I have many Tibetan role models, but if I were reborn as any one of them, I doubt that I would be able to provide similar levels of inspiration, so I’d rather start off earlier along the cycle! If I had to be a human Tibetan, then as long as I was about the same age, I wouldn’t mind at all.
TN -With the Central Tibetan Administration striving to build up its ties with China and work out dialogues for repatriation, how do you view the prospects of the efforts yielding a positive result?
Emilie- I understand that when two feuding partners meet after some time, that it can be difficult to establish mutual ground and a suitable language so as not to inflame one another. I do not see the Chinese government as having a coherent and friendly attitude at the moment to the ‘dialogues’ and there remain a number of conceptual difficulties to overcome before the talks can be seen as a genuine political will. Firstly, after the last visits by His Holiness’s representatives, most officials that they met in Beijing were moved sideways from their positions, meaning that whenever the next visits take place, the envoys will need to establish a new rapport with everyone that they meet. This isn’t the type of gesture of a willing participant, but of an effort to sidetrack and waste time. This sort of attitude can unfortunately be reconciled with official Chinese media reports gleefully awaiting the fate of His Holiness, and with the recent White Paper on Autonomy, where the barricades towards negotiations are reinforced even more heavily. It is difficult to see these hurdles as ordinary obstacles towards progress for the Sino-Tibetan conflict, but there are some China-watchers who feel that this outspokenness against the need to negotiate is more of nervousness than a categorical refusal. It would be great to read more analysis of these things from Tibetans, who need to assess this for themselves and act accordingly.
TN -Many Tibetans leave for western countries to earn livelihood, and the number of Tibetans here is gradually reducing. Would this in any way affect the ongoing struggle for Tibet?
Emilie- Tibetan migration has and does continue to affect the dynamics of the Tibetan struggle. Yosey Wangdi’s article in the August Tibetan Review raised the idea that Tibetans in India, particularly those closest to Dharamsala are somehow perceived as ‘more’ Tibetan. The pressure on Tibetans who have migrated to the west is to maintain their ‘Tibetaness’ amidst the different pressures of the country they settle in. I suppose that the fear is that having a multitude of these kinds of inclusion pressures is that the Tibetaness and their patriotism will be diminished. Sometimes I think that this creates an unnecessary division between Tibetan communities and families; their western-based members send funds home and provide some prestige to their families and yet are apparently considered as less-Tibetan. This obscures the problems that many western-based Tibetan communities face particularly over language skills, and in relation to the struggle, this division does not help the strength and support to one another that Tibetans need to maintain. For example, the greater exposure of Tibetans to different systems of democracy can only help to support the growth of democratic practice and understanding within the Tibetan community in India. There is a strength also in that the Tibetan ‘voice’ can be heard from these communities direct to its governing institutions, with less need for western involvement. Perhaps one of the greater problems is that the ability to achieve high powered positions in western societies is limited by an employment attitude that continue to label Tibetans as refugees in a derogatory sense, particularly in receiving work permits and visa’s.
TN – Central Tibetan Administration has not come out with its response to the Chinese White Paper issued in May. Was it a right decision that the Central Tibetan Administration has taken?
Emilie- I don’t have the political acumen to say whether this was the right decision or not. Unfortunately though, the refusal to give a response has meant that western governments have had to look to Tibetan NGO’s or Tibet Support Groups for their critical response to the paper, rather than receiving a detailed analysis from the political unit who are requesting the genuine autonomy that the paper attempts to defend. Whilst I understand that the TGIE want to maintain good relations with the Chinese Government, they also need to demonstrate a strong and internationally alert leadership, as this too will provide political incentive to the PRC to deal with them and to do so with respect.
