On Sept. 22, the Jamestown Foundation reported that the Chinese government is running large-scale “training centers” in Tibet. These camps, extremely similar to the secret camps currently used to detain China’s Uyghur population in Xinjiang province, have processed over half a million Tibetans since January.
Tibet is an autonomous region of China with just over 3 million inhabitants who largely work in agriculture. The number of people processed in these camps is staggering, with 543,000 rural surplus laborers having completed the training program in seven months—around 18% of Tibet’s current population.
In the report, researcher Adrian Zenz details China’s efforts to systematically train Tibetan farmers and transfer them to other regions of Tibet and across China. In the government’s efforts to eradicate poverty, Tibetan farmers are offered vocational training and wage increases in exchange for handing over their land and herds.
Farmers in Tibet. Antoine Taveneaux. CC BY-SA 3.0.
With this structure, jobs are created prior to training, and laborers are conditioned to fit the country’s employment needs. Companies benefit from creating jobs for trained laborers; the largest state-owned food company in China, the COFCO Group, is a major transfer location in Tibet.
While the Chinese government maintains that participation in these labor camps is voluntary, the report details that “the systemic presence of clear indicators of coercion and indoctrination, coupled with profound and potentially permanent changes in modes of livelihood, is highly problematic.”
The forced cultural assimilation in these camps is a severe threat to Tibetan culture and history. “In the context of Beijing’s increasingly assimilatory ethnic minority policy, it is likely that these policies will promote a long-term loss of linguistic, cultural and spiritual heritage,” Zenz writes.
While these camps are not identical to the Uyghur detainment camps in northwest China, they bear a striking resemblance. Both programs target the same group—rural surplus laborers—and modify traditional livelihoods through the militarization of education and training. With the removal of religious influence, these camps also “emphasize the need to ‘transform’ laborers’ thinking and identity.”
Ultimately, Tibetan identity is being directly targeted by the Chinese government as it forces Tibetan farmers into the formal Chinese economy. In the effort to eradicate poverty in the region, the Chinese government also seems determined to destroy traditional Tibetan culture.
Sarah Leidich
is currently an English and Film major at Barnard College of Columbia University. Sarah is inspired by global art in every form, and hopes to explore the intersection of activism, art, and storytelling through her writing.