In light of the tragic events currently taking place in Tibet, scholars holding institutional academic positions and working all over the world in the field of Tibetan Studies wish to express their concern through this petition, which is currently still being circulated among concerned colleagues.
http://www.petitions24.net/an_appeal_to_president_xi_jinping_from_the_tibetologist_community
An Appeal to Vice-President Xi Jinping from the International Tibetan Studies Community
Dear Mr Vice-President,
As you will be assuming your new role as President of the People’s Republic of China in March 2013, the scientific community of Tibetologists would like to express to you its deep concern about the state of the Tibetan language in the Tibet Autonomous Region and in the Tibetan autonomous prefectures in neighboring provinces.
We know that many schools have been established in Tibetan areas over the last several decades, and we are delighted at that development. We also appreciate the benefits that schoolchildren can have from being educated in their own language.
However, over the last several years, the authorities have been trying to institute new measures that eliminate or severely restrict the use of Tibetan as the language of instruction in Tibetan-speaking areas, such as the replacement of Tibetan by Chinese as the medium of education (announced in Qinghai in 2010) and the replacement of textbooks written in Tibetan by Chinese textbooks —as was seen in Rebkong (Chin: Tongren) in March 2012. These developments have taken place despite the fact that worldwide research on this topic as well as official Chinese statistics have shown that students perform better when they are studying scientific subjects in their own language.
This policy has already been active in the Tibet Autonomous Region for several years and has led to well-known results: students destined for senior positions in the public or private sectors now have only a superficial knowledge of their own language and civilization.
The Tibetan people of Qinghai have repeatedly, through peaceful demonstrations by citizens, and through petitions and letters, expressed their opposition to the new language policy, which is officially designated the ''Qinghai Province Mid- and Long-Term Plan for Educational Reform and Development (2010-2020)." They have made known their strong desire to preserve their language as the medium of instruction and communication in their schools, which does not mean in any sense that they are not willing to learn Chinese. They generally acknowledge the economic and cultural significance of the Chinese language. Such requests are consistent with the Chinese Constitution which specifies in Article 4 that all nationalities have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages and to preserve or reform their own folkways and customs. Moreover, according to the decree of 2002, in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the Tibetan language has the status of an official language in China, though that status does not always seem to be reflected in practice.
Dozens of Tibetans of all ages, men and women, religious and lay, have committed acts of self-immolation over the last few years. Several of them have shouted slogans demanding respect for the language and culture of Tibet.
As specialists in the areas of Tibetan language, culture and religion, we would like to share with you, through this letter, our own concerns about the various measures that jeopardize the continuing viability of this civilization, a civilization that is one of the treasures of humanity and for which the Chinese government has clearly stated its responsibility. We would like to remind you that in China the Tibetan language is, after Chinese, one of oldest continually-used languages, and has also contributed to the understanding and reconstruction of the ancient Sino-Tibetan family, a family that, like Indo-European, contains many hundreds of languages.
Our work has led us to pursue our professional and intellectual lives within the structures of universities and institution of higher education. We know the value of Tibet’s civilization and we regret that the Tibetan language, which is its fundamental support, is seemingly marginalized and devalued in the TAR and in various other Tibetan autonomous administrative units at the same time that it is increasingly being taught and studied in universities around the world. The responses of the authorities to the demands of Tibetans who are naturally worried about the disappearance of their culture have not assuaged their deep concerns about the situation.
This is why, at the time when new leadership is taking control of the country, we address you collectively with the hope that you will be sympathetic to the aspirations of Tibetan citizens of China; that you will work with them to find peaceful solutions to this crisis that will allow for the promotion and development of Tibet’s language and culture. There is no reason why the Tibetan language and culture cannot coexist peacefully with the Chinese language and culture through the application of the principles expressed in the successive constitutions of the People’s Republic of China, which is constituted as a multicultural state.
1. Katia Buffetrille
EPHE, France
2. Elliot Sperling Indiana University, USA
3. Françoise Robin Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, France
4. Jean-Luc Achard CNRS, France
5. Gedun Rabsal Indiana University, USA
6. Amy Heller SOAS, U.K. ; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France
7. Mireille Helffer CNRS, France
8. Nicolas Tournadre Aix-Marseille University, France
9. Mona Schrempf Humboldt University, Germany
10. Thierry Dodin Bonn University, Germany
11. Carole McGranahan University of Colorado, USA
12. Pascale Dollfus CNRS, France
13. Anne-Marie Blondeau EPHE, France
14. Daniel Berounsky Charles University, Czeck Republic
15. Cameron Warner Aarhus University, Denmark
16. Nicolas Sihlé CNRS, France
17. Philippe Cornu Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium; Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, France
18. Gray Tuttle Columbia University, USA
19. Francoise Pommaret CNRS, France
20. Georges Dreyfus Williams College, USA
21. Gareth Sparham University of Walnut Creek, USA
22. Klaus-Dieter Mathes University of Vienna, Austria
23. Roberto Vitali Independent Scholar
24. Helmut Tauscher University of Vienna, Austria
25. Fiona McConnell University of Cambridge, UK
26. Robert Barnett Columbia University, USA
27. Sonam Dugdak SOAS, UK
28. Martin Mills University of Aberdeen, UK
29. Dominique Townsend Columbia University, UK
30. Mary Prude University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, USA
31. Sienna Craig Dartmouth College, USA
32. Charlene Makley Reed College, USA
33. Gillian Tan Deakin University, Australia
34. Yangdon Dhondup SOAS, UK
35. Heather Stoddard Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, France; Oriental Institute, UK
36. George FitzHerbert Oxford University, UK
37. Agata Bareja-Starzynska University of Warsaw, Poland
38. Tsering Shakya University of British Columbia, Canada
39. Tashi Tsering University of British Columbia, Canada
40. Markus Viehbeck Heidelberg University, Germany
41. Emily Yeh University of Colorado, USA
42. Samten Karmay CNRS, France
43. Robert Mayer Oxford University, UK
44. Isabelle Henrion-Dourcy University of Laval, Canada
45. Tibor Porcio University of Szeged, Hungary
46. Cathy Cantwell University of Oxford, UK
47. Alex McKay London University (retired), UK
48. Benjamin Bogin Georgetown University, USA
49. Petra Maurer Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Germany
50. Michela Clemente Cambridge, UK
51. Bruno Lainé Wien University, Austria
52. Per Kvaerne Oslo University, Norway
53. Maho Iuchi Harvard, USA; Kobe City University, Japan
54. Elena De Rossi Università di Roma, Italy
55. Geza Bethlenfalvy Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary
56. Mara Matta Università degli Studi di Napoli 'L'Orientale' and Università di Roma 'La Sapienza', Italy
57. Giuliana Martini Dharma Drum Buddhist College, Taiwan
58. Fernand Meyer EPHE, France
59. Wim van Spengen Amsterdam University, The Netherlands
60. Janet Gyatso Harvard University, USA
61. Nawang Thokmey University of Virginia, USA
62. Tashi Nyima University of Oslo, Norway
63. Jann Ronis University of California, Berkeley, USA
64. Jose Cabezon University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
65. Frank Korom Boston University, USA
66. Christian Wedemeyer University of Chicago, USA
67. Jay Garfield Smith College, USA
68. Gregory Hillis University of California, Santa Barbara
69. Guy Newland Central Michigan University, USA
70. Francoise Wang CNRS, France
71. Douglas Duckworth East Tennessee State University, USA
72. Kevin Vose College of William and Mary Richmond, USA
73. Peter Verhagen Leiden University, The Netherlands
74. Derek Maher East Carolina University, USA
75. Jacob Dalton University of California, USA
76. Karma Lekshe Tsomo San Diego University, USA
77. Lara Braitstein McGill University, Canada
78. Christian Luczanits USA
79. Jim Blumenthal Oregon State University, USA
80. Paul Nietupski John Carrol University, USA