A Tibet Rights Organization has condemned the Chinese government’s move to launch the “Tibet International Communication Center” in Lhasa. An aim to strengthen its control over global narratives about Tibet. This move is part of China’s broader strategy to influence public opinion in the region.
The International Campaign for Tibet, on its part, has termed the development as a flagrant move by China aimed at adding strength to its propaganda tools. According to the report, the establishment of such centers aims at upgrading China’s narrative about Tibet. The report says that China will use this initiative to further escalate efforts to dominate global views on the issue with its version.
Earlier this year, ICT released a report titled ‘China’s External Propaganda on Tibet: Erasing Tibet to Tell a Good Chinese Story‘. The analysis looked at ways China has attempted to control the narrative on Tibet’s since its 1959 invasion and occupation. The ICT report says that the Chinese government knows the political problems in Tibet. But chooses to lie about them instead of addressing the truth. The government uses this and many other means to control. And manipulate the rest of the world in its perception of Tibet to alter international discourse.
The last propaganda center was set up after the “Roundtable Meeting on Building an Effective International Communication System for Tibet.” The meeting, initiated by the Propaganda Department of the Autonomous Region Party Committee. And the China Foreign Language Bureau, has become the reason for the establishment of the center. The report links the establishment of the center directly to a group study session held by the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee in May 2021.
The ICT points out that what the CCP wants for the time being is the replacement of the internationally known name “Tibet”. With the sinicized term “Xizang” in the international discourse. This renaming policy began quietly in the last quarter of 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. And forms part of the vision of General Secretary Xi Jinping more than a decade ago to “tell a good Chinese story” on the international level.
The ICT further predicts that in the coming months. China’s state-controlled media sites will increase to amplify its own narrative. This is further silencing the Tibetan voices, covering up their continued oppression, as perceived by the ICT.
The report points out that grave concern exists regarding the current sheer extent of exploitation of modern technology. And media systems that China undertakes to build information on Tibet. China frames narratives and then controls their flow. Thereby, veiling the actual truth related to the case of Tibet to further a sanitized version that they want the world to understand.
The ICT concludes by condemning this new propaganda center. While still fostering undealt tensions and concerns about China’s dominance over global narratives on Tibet. The ICT warns that steps taken to enhance the management of international perceptions by China will continue to sideline Tibetan voices. And make the actual state of things in the region less accessible.
ANI
