China asserts that both Xinjiang and Tibet have been under China dominion and should be subject to the Han way of life. Additionally, ethnic Han Chinese hold the overwhelming majority of top party, government, police, and military positions. Both Uyghurs and Tibetans are experiencing oppression, Han migration to their lands and cultural genocide. 

 

China’s policies in Tibet are repressive but the Tibetans are not experiencing the same abuses as the Uyghurs in Xinjiang currently. The CCP’s objective in both Xinjiang and Tibet is assimilation but the implementation is different. Historically, there has been internal debate within the CCP on whether fast social change or more of a gradual approach to assimilation makes the most sense. One criteria for deciding the approach has been whether the groups are following indigenous religions such as Buddhism or non-indigenous religions such as Islam, with the latter being viewed as less civilized. In Tibet there have been a few executions but in Xinjiang, many more. Also, there have been some people detained in Tibet but not on the scale as in Xinjiang. Similarly, while there is some labor training, they are not the same as the massive labor camps in Xinjiang. In 2020, scholar Adrian Zenz released a study that discussed labor camps in Tibet. However, Tibetan scholar Robert Barnett said some media sources misrepresented the study as forced labor camps in Tibet and fueled the rhetoric. According to Barnett, the camps are not “the same as genocide or annihilation: Tibet is not Xinjiang.”  On the other hand, Tenzin Dorjee, a researcher and strategist at the Tibet Action Institute thinks we need to be careful about “downplaying the severity of China’s repression” and normalizing repression in Tibet. Tibetans are deprived of freedom of religion and expression to name a few issues. There are restrictions on religious life in Tibet and the language of instruction in schools is Mandarin Chinese instead of Tibetan. The passing down of language and culture is being hindered and ethnic identities are being transformed for the purpose of assimilation. While not on the same mass scale as in Xinjiang, Tibet is experiencing indoctrination and surveillance that has the objective of altering identity. 

 

The idea that religion is dictating differences in how ethnic minorities are treated is a critical issue that needs to be addressed. We see that Islamophobia and counter-terrorism has grown since 9/11 and continues to wield influence. People should fundamentally not be persecuted for their religious beliefs and there is a slippery slope when it comes to repression. We should make sure that we are not becoming desensitized to repression because it is very extreme in some places like in Xinjiang.  We must work to advocate against it in any form or degree everywhere including in Tibet.