Tibet: Problems, Prospects, and U.S. Policy

By Kerry Dumbaugh on June 30, 2008

On March 10, 2008, a series of demonstrations began in Lhasa and other Tibetan regions of China to mark the 49th anniversary of an unsuccessful Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. The demonstrations appeared to begin peacefully with small groups that were then contained by security forces. Both the protests and the response of the PRC authorities escalated in the ensuing days, spreading from the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) into parts of Sichuan, Gansu, and Qinghai Provinces with Tibetan populations. By March 14, 2008, mobs of angry people were burning and looting establishments in downtown Lhasa. Authorities of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) responded by sealing off Tibet and moving in large-scale security forces. Beijing has defended its actions as appropriate and necessary to restore civil order and prevent further violence. Still, China’s response has resulted in renewed calls for boycotts of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony on August 8, 2008, and for China to hold talks with the Dalai Lama. This report explains the current turmoil in Tibet and analyzes possible impacts on U.S. policy toward Tibet.

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Peony Lui
Topics: 
Economy
Politics
Religion
Society
Keywords: 
Tibet
Protests
Dalai Lama
U.S.-China Relations
Organization: 
Congressional Research Service

Casting a Lifeline

By Francine Prose on June 26, 2008

Sixty pages or so into Ma Jian’s novel Beijing Coma, the hero, Dai Wei, is troubled by the memory of a harrowing anatomy lecture that he attended as a university student. Taught by “a celebrated cardiovascular specialist,” the class observed the dissection of the fresh corpse of a criminal whom the government had just executed (in celebration of National Day) and whose organs had been speedily harvested for transplant.

Sentimental Education in Shanghai

By Pankaj Mishra on June 12, 2008

1.

In April 1924 Rabindranath Tagore arrived in Shanghai for a lecture tour of China. Soon after receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, Tagore had become an international literary celebrity, lecturing to packed audiences from Japan to Argentina. His message—that modern civilization, built upon the cult of money and power, was inherently destructive, and needed to be tempered by the spiritual wisdom of the East—had a receptive audience among many people in the West who had been forced by World War I to question their faith in science and progress.

Tibet Autonomous Region: Access Denied

on June 1, 2008

This report, written in the aftermath of the widespread Tibetan unrest in Tibet and Tibetan regions of China in the spring of 2008, addresses the Chinese government with immediate demands. In cracking down on unrest, the Chinese government sealed off Tibet and neighboring Tibetan regions to foreign tourists, reporters, and independent observers. The authors fear that widespread human rights violations are taking place in the blacked out area. This report very strongly recommends that the affected regions be reopened to foreign observers to safeguard the Tibetan population against human rights violations.

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Topics: 
Politics
Religion
Society
Keywords: 
Human Rights
Tibet
Organization: 
Amnesty International

Why Are Saving Rates of Urban Households in China Rising?

By Marcos Chamon and Eswar Prasad on June 1, 2008

From 1995 to 2005, the average urban household saving rate in China rose by 7 percentage points, to ¼ of disposable income. The authors use household-level data to explain the postponing of consumption despite rapid income growth. Saving rates have increased across all demographic groups, although the age-profile of savings has an unusual U-shaped pattern, with saving rates being the highest among the youngest and oldest households in recent years. These patterns are best explained by the rising private burden of expenditures on housing, education, and health care.

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Topics: 
Economy
Keywords: 
Consumption
Expenditure
Savings
Organization: 
International Monetary Fund (IMF)