IGFM  , 12.0 9 .2017

Under the question „Is China a suitable partner for democratic states?“ A press conference was held on 7 September 2017 at the IGFM office. Representatives of various groups, who are persecuted and oppressed by the People’s Republic of China, were invited. Central themes were the destruction of the cultural identity of the individual groups, as well as the dangerous influence of China in the Western world, which is intended to conceal human rights violations with the help of international bodies.
IGFM board spokesman Martin Lessenthin moderated the conversation with the Tibetan Tsewang Norbu, a founding member of the Tibet Initiative Germany; Lei Zhou, the chairman of the German Falun Dafa Association; Dolkun Isa, the General Secretary of the Uyghur World Federation and Temtselt Shobtsuud, chairman of the South Mongolian World Conference.

The destruction of the cultural identity of the Mongols

In the beginning, Temselt Shobtsuud reported on the destruction of Mongolian culture by China. The Mongolian human rights activist complained that the People’s Republic had expropriated large land of Mongols and thus destroyed the basis of nomadic culture. The government in Beijing had planned to ensure that Mongols became a minority in their own country. The number of Han Chinese residents is growing steadily. As a result, the Han Chinese culture pushed the Mongolian back more and more.

Beijing’s interest in the exploitation of Mongolian mineral resources favors immigration from China and the industrialization of the cities. Sheep and horse breeding are replaced by industry and pig breeding. The expulsion of large military training grounds by the People’s Republic is also leading to a loss of land. Shobtsuud speaks of „cultural murder“ on Mongolian culture since the Chinese occupation.

Censorship and suppression of protests

The Tibetan Tsewang Norbu also reported on the exploitation of Tibet’s mineral resources. Thus, the Chinese name for Tibet -Xīzàng means „Western treasure chamber“. In Tibet, too, China is trying to suppress traditional culture. Through legal arbitrariness, unwanted citizens would be arrested as „citizens“. The state mass surveillance leads to self-censorship of the Tibetans. Any protest against the communist one-party dictatorship and the Chinese occupation would be immediately stopped.

Desperate Tibetans saw the only possible form of public protest in self-burning. The number of these cases is high. Norbu also criticized the fact that the People’s Republic of China used its economic power as a political leverage to force silence over human rights violations. Norbu described the Chinese communist government as „the world’s largest terrorist organization.“ It can therefore not be a partner for democratic countries.

Millions of Falun Gong followers in labor camps

The Buddhist meditation school is rooted in Chinese culture and had at least 70 million adherents in China until 1999. Nevertheless, it has been pursued with cruel hardness since 1999. The reason for this is the fear of the communist government not to be able to exercise complete control over the direction of faith. Thousands of people were killed and millions were sent to work camps. Lei Zhou pointed out that this was not just about the suppression of an alternative culture or belief, but also about economic interests, especially the exploitation of labor camps in camps, arbitrary high fines, and trade in organs of detainees.