Nearly a million Tibetan children live in state-run residential schools on the Tibetan plateau. Chinese authorities subject these children to a highly politicized curriculum designed to strip them of their mother tongue, sever their ties to their religion and culture, and methodically replace their Tibetan identity with a Chinese one. Children as young as four have been separated from their parents and enrolled in boarding kindergartens under a recruitment strategy based largely on coercion.

    • Armen12
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      7 months ago

      That’s not even a fraction of what China has been like since 2012. So many horror stories that somehow never make it into CNN or BBC or Reuters or AP, they never feel like reporting on the horrible things that have been going on in China for over a decade. All you can find is people who have relatives in China or know people there sharing videos and stories, but major news networks for some reason never report on the really horrible stuff. In China it’s way worse, they teach children in school from a young age to sacrifice themselves for China and all foreigners are evil chanting terrible Communist slogans from the Mao Zedong days

      Violent crime and sexual assaults are almost never reported unless it’s too big not for people to notice. For the longest time child kidnappings were a serious problem in the country and never reported by the government. They probably still are a serious problem in China as well as many many other problems

      They learned it from Communism and Russia

      • SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca
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        I am not doubting that residential schools in China are bad, but as a Canadian we have a duty as a part of our efforts at reconciliation to correct people who downplay the horrors of residential schools in Canada (and the US). There are mass graves across the country from willfully negligent living conditions leading to large scale death from preventable illness. The physical and material conditions were inhumane. One of the chief medical officers in Canada was so horrified, he wrote a book in 1922 called The Story of a National Crime where he described the malnourishment, lack of basic healthcare, and squalid living conditions. (Think about that next time someone says “disease killed indigenous people in North America, not genocide”.) To say nothing of the beatings and rape.

        It was for a long time illegal for an indigenous person to raise their own children. Can you imagine if you weren’t allowed to raise your own child because of your race? The goal was cultural and linguistic genocide, but once that culture was destroyed, the people coming out of the system were never going to be assimilated and treated equal to whites. The goal of the “education”, as recorded in government documents, was to raise a permanent servant class.

        • Armen12
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          7 months ago

          you’re trying to turn this on Canada for no reason. This is about China, not North America

          It’s a common CCP tactic to always talk about other peoples history rather then own up to their own terrible history

          • SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca
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            7 months ago

            This isn’t whatboutism. Canada is not currently running residential schools and China is. That makes China much worse on this topic.

            But I also think this is a perfectly apt time to bring up the comparison. These residential schools sound exactly like the British colonial residential school system, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if China was copying that. What makes Canada great is precisely that we can talk about these dark times in our history, and admit that they were shitty. Do you think Chinese Internet users are able to do that?

            • Armen12
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              7 months ago

              It’s not “whataboutism”, it’s called “deflection” and it’s something you’re trying to do right now. China is a terrible country. There’s no discussion to be had here

  • Dolphinfucker420@sh.itjust.works
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    “nearly a million tibetan children live in state-run residential schools” - so like every else in the world where public school is normal?

    “highly politized curriculum” = teaches about the society they currently live in

    “Strip them of their mother tongue” = teach them Chinese because they live in china

    “Replace their tibetan identity with a Chinese one” = assimilate them into the culture of the country they are apart of. This complaint is fair and I’d criticize any country that actively suppresses a native culture but the language used here is quite dramatic and misleading.

    • Bonehead@kbin.social
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      “nearly a million tibetan children live in state-run residential schools” - so like every else in the world where public school is normal?

      No, it’s more like the Native residential schools in Canada, who’s goal was to take the Native out of the kid.

    • PrincessZelda@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      “teach them Chinese because they live in china”

      1. Chinese isn’t a language

      2. Oh, let’s just go and force all Indians to speak Hindi, I’m sure the entire south of the country would be okay with giving up their mother tongues for Hindi.

      This “one language, one country” thing is deranged white thought

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        This “one language, one country” thing is deranged white thought

        This is in China dude.

      • steltek
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        Lots of countries have one or more official languages. What’s different is the purpose. Most sane countries define one to facilitate clear communication and transactions. China’s forcing this to extinguish a culture.

        Also “deranged white thought” is a pretty racist take when the flag bearing “white guy” countries of the United States and the UK both do not have an official language while most of the rest of the world generally does.

      • Dolphinfucker420@sh.itjust.works
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        Ok mandarin then. Would you it is not useful to understand the majority language of the country in which you live. That it is not good for the country itself to be more cohesive?

    • Sylveon@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      You’re trivialising a serious issue. If you had actually read the article you’d know that they’re definitely not just like any other public school and they’re not just “teaching them Chinese and about society”. It’s an obvious and disgusting attempt to eradicate Tibetan culture.

      • Dolphinfucker420@sh.itjust.works
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        You know tibetan culture involved slavery before China involved themselves right? You know it was a feudalist society right? You’re aware that they organized their society with a class of religious elite and military living luxuriously in thousand acre estate while the majority of its population would have their eyes gouged out for stealing 2 sheep from a Buddhist monetary because they were starving or have their hands broken if they opposed their Lord’s decision to take their wife right?

        Even white people in the 1800s were appalled by the brutality in which tibetan elite treated it’s public.

        In 1959, Anna Louise Strong visited an exhibition of torture equipment that had been used by the Tibetan overlords. There were handcuffs of all sizes, including small ones for children, and instruments for cutting off noses and ears, gouging out eyes, breaking off hands, and hamstringing legs. There were hot brands, whips, and special implements for disemboweling. The exhibition presented photographs and testimonies of victims who had been blinded or crippled or suffered amputations for thievery.

        • steltek
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          7 months ago

          It’s always fun to read people’s justifications for brutal occupation.

        • Remmock@kbin.social
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          You know the current Chinese economy runs on slavery within their own borders, right? That they were caught red-handed genociding the Uighurs and have barely slowed down? Not just the men, but the women and the children? You’re aware the Chinese have organized their society with a class of political elite and military living luxuriously in thousand acre estates while the majority of its population are brutally oppressed into servitude and conditioned to believe they’re free?

          Even white people today are appalled by the brutality with which the CCP treats its governed.

          In 2021 every former camp detainee Amnesty interviewed in the report recounted cruel and degrading treatment, including torture. Punishment included beatings, electric shocks, and stress positions, according to the report.

          They also included sleep deprivation, being hung from a wall, or being locked in what’s called a “tiger chair,” a steel chair with affixed leg irons and handcuffs that render the body immobile, often in painful positions.

          One former detainee told Amnesty he witnessed the torture of a cellmate who he believed was being punished for pushing a guard, and who was made to sit in a tiger chair in the middle of their cell, restrained and immobilized, for three days.

    • BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social
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      7 months ago

      Something tells me you wouldn’t be so supportive of the Israeli government throwing Palestinian kids in Hebrew schools.

    • Armen12
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      Are you for real? China invaded Tibet and killed so many people there for no reason other then they weren’t Chinese

      • Dolphinfucker420@sh.itjust.works
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        Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in agreement with what was done in tibet and to its culture during the Chinese cultural revolution, it’s horrific, but tibet is rebuilding that culture. It’s actively coming back. Yeah Chinese support for this is limited at best but it’s getting better. This article uses very very heavily politicized language for incredibly normal things to give the impression that things in tibet are way worse than they are or even getting worse with time. This simply is not the case.

        • Armen12
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          “but” Always the same. There was no such thing as a “cultural revolution” because China destroyed all it’s own culture and then destroyed everyone elses for no reason. Taiwan managed to retain as much as it could, but China doesn’t like being reminded that Taiwan is the real China

          • Dolphinfucker420@sh.itjust.works
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            I’m copy and pasting this from another comment I made because I don’t need to retype it twice

            I did some research on the history of tibet because I didn’t know as much about it as I liked. China had very good reason for what they did

            You know tibetan culture involved slavery before China involved themselves right? You know it was a feudalist society right? You’re aware that they organized their society with a class of religious elite and military living luxuriously in thousand acre estate while the majority of its population would have their eyes gouged out for stealing 2 sheep from a Buddhist monetary because they were starving or have their hands broken if they opposed their Lord’s decision to take their wife right?

            Even white people in the 1800s were appalled by the brutality in which tibetan elite treated it’s public.

            In 1959, Anna Louise Strong visited an exhibition of torture equipment that had been used by the Tibetan overlords. There were handcuffs of all sizes, including small ones for children, and instruments for cutting off noses and ears, gouging out eyes, breaking off hands, and hamstringing legs. There were hot brands, whips, and special implements for disemboweling. The exhibition presented photographs and testimonies of victims who had been blinded or crippled or suffered amputations for thievery.

            more info

            If you read through my source it will become very clear that I am not of the belief that China did or is doing everything right. Things are in no way perfect and china fucked up a lot but I’m definitely of the opinion that things would be genuinely much worse if China never stepped in.

            You will also find that this is in no way a pro china source if you read the concluding paragraphs.

            • Armen12
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              7 months ago

              Not even going to read whatever propaganda you’re posting. Taiwan is the real China and Taiwan is a wonderful country

    • YeetPics@mander.xyz
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      Nice try at re-educating the rest of the world. Now my turn;

      China is a shitty haven for cheats and liars, you can verify this by looking at the chinese government and how it operates with disregard for anyone who isn’t chinese.

      Google “tofu dreg” and you’ll see examples of this love for dishonesty in building practices all around their lovely country.

      • SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca
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        7 months ago

        I am all for criticizing the Chinese government and bad Chinese policies, but “China is a shitty haven for cheats and liars” is a broad generalization verging on just straight up bigotry.

        • YeetPics@mander.xyz
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          My bad, I should have said ‘the government of China is a haven for cheats and liars, of which there are many’. The sentiment carries on to people supporting that government socially.

          In all honesty the truth can be said about any government these days. But I don’t read many articles about Sweden carelessly breaking airspace regulations the rest of the planet is in agreement over or subjugating minority races/political dissidents, or brainwashing a generation of students.

          It’s fair to disagree, I want to hear counterpoints if you have some.

          No counterpoint, just a downvote. Classic.

        • Copernican@lemmy.world
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          I mean, I think it’s not an unfair generalization for a country with a single party government. China is a nation state with one party. What else could he be referring to. I see the exact same generalozatons made about America, sometimes by Americans, and don’t think it is bigotry, and also it’s less justifiable a claim In a pluralist democracy. I think it’s really a statement about the state and not a generalization of the people or race.

          • SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca
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            It’s important to say “Chinese government” and not “China”. That’s not a minor point. Saying “country X is a shithole” is the kind of racism we criticize Trump and the rightwing for, and for good reason. I’m surprised by this rhetoric on Lemmy.

            I shouldn’t have to say this, but a non-Chinese person calling China a “shitty haven for cheats and liars” is obviously not comparable to an American criticizing their own country. Likewise, a white person saying a black neighborhood is a shitty haven for cheats and liars is different than that white person criticizing their own neighborhood.

            • Copernican@lemmy.world
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              China is a place and country. Chinese is a ethnicity. As a Chinese American myself, I had no confusion over what the commenter was saying. When we talk bout nations and their governments, it is pretty common to just refer to the country’s name. I don’t necessarily agree with the statement being made, but I did not at all take it as a ethnic or racial criticism.

              • SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca
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                Frankly, I’m not even sure how someone reads the comment that “China is a shitty haven for cheats and liars” as directed mostly at the government, and not about the country, people, and culture in general. The government is a haven? The government is a cheat and liar? These readings are a stretch even at the level of syntax.

                • Copernican@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  A “haven” is a place, not a people. And a haven usually describes a place that has favorable laws, regulations, or attitudes towards certain behaviors. To me that is a government since havens usually have laws to support that. For example, a tax haven is a place where laws and government are organized in a way to be favorable to tax evasion.

          • Dolphinfucker420@sh.itjust.works
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            7 months ago

            Flipping them on their backs is the safest way but it’s very frightening for them and typically non consensual. I find that taking them on a date or two first usually reduces the chances of a lost limb without resorting to sexual assault