Home / Politics / Letter to Beijing

(1/6/1999)

To the Chairman of the People's Republic of China

Dear Sir,

I am writing to protest about the treatment of the Tibetan People at the hands of government officials of the People's Republic of China, and to appeal for a radical review of the status of Tibet.

I call for Tibetans to be left to conduct their own religious affairs as they see fit.

I regard over-population as the single most serious problem the world will face in the 21st century - especially in rapidly developing countries such as China, India and Brazil - and I applaud the fact that China has acted to address the problem with the 'one child' birth control policy. However, to apply that policy in the occupied teritory of Tibet, where there has never been a problem of over-poplation, and at the same time to encourage the movement of large numbers of Chinese people into Tibet leaves China open to the charge of genocide. Not only does this action lower the regard in which China is held in the world, but it also brings the 'one child' policy into disrepute - making it appear to be an instrument of repression.

As a citizen of the UK, which is involved in the NATO war against Serbia, I should like to apologise for NATO's bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. I am opposed to the NATO bombing in general. I believe it is an inappropriate response to the situation in Kosovo. I understand that China disapproves of the NATO military action - but China's voice would carry more weight in the world if China was not still occupying a country it had attacked and invaded in 1950. By continuing to occupy Tibet, the present Chinese government signals that it approves of that invasion, and by extension, that it is legitimate for large powerful nations to attack and occupy smaller, less powerful ones.

Yours faithfully,

Paul Mackilligin