STATEMENT ON TIBET
by the SPUSA International Commission - March 26, 2008

The unfolding events in Tibet are a tragedy. The Chinese government has occupied Tibet for more than fifty years, using every conceivable method to incorporate the occupied territory into an integral part of China. Tibetan cultural and religious sites have been desecrated and Buddhist monks have been forced to sign a pledge of allegiance to China. In its desire to extract the valuable natural resources of Tibet, the Chinese government has ignored essential environmental safeguards.

Recently, thousands of Buddhist monks peacefully protested these policies, and were met with police violence. This brutal repression triggered a widespread popular revolt, which the Chinese government has met with overwhelming force. Dozens of protesters have been killed by Chinese troops, thousands have been arrested, and hundreds have disappeared from sight.

The Socialist Party USA urges the Chinese government to immediately withdraw all of its troops from Tibet so as to permit the people of Tibet to determine for themselves whether they they wish to remain an autonomous zone within China, or a totally independent state. At the same time, the Socialist Party calls upon the Tibetan people to respect the rights of all of its citizens and to cease all forms of violence directed at the people or property of those who, with the encouragement of the Chinese government, have moved from China to Tibet.

The future of  Tibet can not lie in the creation of a theocratic feudal state such as that which existed prior to 1951. The Tibetan government in exile has recognized that a democratic representative government must provide the basis for a new Tibet. Such a democracy would recognize the rights of all of its residents, no matter what their ethnic origin or religious practice, if any, might be.

The ruthless policy of repression implemented by the Chinese government in Tibet mirrors the harsh and pervasive coercion that characterizes all of China. Independent trade unions have been suppressed, dissidents who dare to criticize the one-party state are jailed and mistreated, and peasants who protest the despoliation of the countryside
confront troops who are ordered to shoot to kill. While claiming to be a Communist state, the Chinese government uses its power to crush the working class for the benefit of foreign capitalists, many of them headquartered in the United States. In reality, China is an authoritarian statist capitalist society,one that is firmly integrated into the global market economy.

The Socialist Party stands with all who seek a more democratic China. In particular, the Socialist Party USA supports the Chinese working class as it develops its own independent institutions, including trade unions. Only a mass based social movement that brings together workers and peasants can overthrow the current regime and move China forward toward a genuinely democratic socialist society. A socialist China would
respect the right of the Tibetan people to seek their own path forward.