Anti-Tibetan sentiment

Anti-Tibetan sentiment refers to fear, dislike, hostility, discrimination, and racism towards Tibetan people or anything related to Tibetan culture in general. Anti-Tibetan sentiment has been present in various regions of Bhutan, China, India, and Nepal at various points in time. Anti-Tibetan sentiment in South Asia is due to the presence of Tibetan immigrants in those countries. Anti-Tibetan sentiment in China has been fueled by Tibet's historical annexation by China on multiple occasions throughout the centuries. This annexation led to ongoing tensions between Tibetans and Han Chinese, with Tibet currently being under the administration of the People's Republic of China.

Bhutan

The government of Bhutan agreed to take in 4000 Tibetan refugees. Ordinary Bhutanese became increasingly resentful of the Tibetan refugees because of their refusal to assimilate into Bhutanese culture.^[1]

China

Ever since its inception, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole legal ruling political party of the PRC (including Tibet), has been distributing historical documents which portray Tibetan culture as barbaric in order to justify Chinese control of the territory of Tibet.^[2] As such, many members of Chinese society have a negative view of Tibet which can be interpreted as racism.^[3][4] The CCP's view is that Tibet was historically a feudal society which practiced serfdom/slavery and that this only changed due to the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China.^[5]: 8

The CCP classifies Tibetan independence activists as one of the Five Poisons.^[6][7]

India

In Arunachal Pradesh, a region bordering Tibet and is claimed by China as being South Tibet, there was a xenophobic campaign and a motion by the state government to expel around 12,000 Tibetans that received much support from the local population, but the Indian government was "angered" by the state government's initiatives.^[8]

The Monpas, a people who are ethnically and culturally related to Tibetans, are opposed to Tibetan refugees in their state. Nevertheless all Tibetans are currently peacefully settled.^[9]

Nepal

Tibetans and Himalayan ethnic groups of Tibetan origin such as the Sherpa and Tamang are at times derogatorily called "bhotey", which is the Nepali word for someone from Tibet, but is used as a slur.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. Roemer, Stephanie (2008). The Tibetan Government-in-Exile: Politics at Large. Psychology Press. pp. 74–76. ISBN 9780415451710.
2. Tuttle, Gray (2015-04-20). "China's Race Problem". Foreign Affairs. Vol. 94, no. 3. ISSN 0015-7120. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
3. Law, Ian (2016-01-14). "Racial Sinicisation: Han Power and Racial and Ethnic Domination in China". Red Racisms: Racism in Communist and Post-Communist Contexts. Springer. pp. 97–131. doi:10.1057/9781137030849_4. ISBN 978-1-137-03084-9.
4. Roche, Gerald (January 2021). "Lexical necropolitics: The raciolinguistics of language oppression on the Tibetan margins of Chineseness". Language & Communication. 76: 111–120. doi:10.1016/j.langcom.2020.10.002. S2CID 229405601.
5. Powers, John (2004-10-28). History As Propaganda: Tibetan Exiles versus the People's Republic of China (1 ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/0195174267.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-517426-7.
6. Callick, Rowan (March 11, 2007). "China's great firewall". The Australian. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
7. Hoffman, Samantha; Mattis, Peter (18 July 2016). "Managing the Power Within: China's State Security Commission". War on the Rocks. Archived from the original on 19 July 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
8. "India: Possible mistreatment of Tibetan refugees in Darjeeling by ethnic Nepali nationalist groups such as Ghorka National Liberation Front and Ghorka Student Union". United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. 5 January 2000. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
9. Prakash, Ved (2008). Terrorism in India's North-east: A Gathering Storm, Volume 1. Kalpaz Publications. pp. 538–539. ISBN 9788178356617.