Language protests spread among Tibetan students

[October 22, 2010]  BEIJING (AP) -- Demonstrations have spread among Tibetan students angered by reports that Beijing plans to make Chinese the only language of instruction in schools, an activist group said Friday.

The protest marches, which began earlier this week in the town of Tongren, have spread to nearby areas in the western province of Qinghai, which is home to numerous minority ethnic groups, including Tibetans and Mongolians, who retain their own languages.

The London-based group Free Tibet said hundreds, possibly thousands, of students joined the demonstrations. No arrests or violence were reported. There were also unconfirmed reports of a similar protest on the campus of a Beijing university.

Qiang Wei, Qinghai province's Communist Party chief, was quoted last month by the party newspaper as praising the use of a "common language" in schools. Students fear that means that the current bilingual system will be scrapped in favor of the use of Chinese alone, except in language classes.

A report on Qinghai's plans for educational reform over the next decade was even more explicit, saying "the nation's common language must become the language of instruction."

The use of the Tibetan language is tied up with the region's political struggles. Many Tibetans argue they have traditionally been self-governing and that Chinese policies are wrecking their traditional Buddhist culture. But the issue is complicated because while many Tibetans feel threatened by development and the migration of China's Han majority, some hope also that their children master Chinese in order to obtain better jobs.

Beijing defends its policies, saying they spur economic growth in the largely poor areas, but has used a heavy hand to enforce its rule. Traditionally Tibetan areas such as Tongren that lie outside the official Tibetan Autonomous Region have been under intense security following widespread anti-government rioting in the spring of 2008. They remain among China's most restive regions, with a heavy security presence keeping a close eye on residents.

A student at the Beijing campus of Minzu University of China, a leading institution for ethnic minority students, said 500 Tibetan students protested for language rights there Friday morning.

School officials, including the university's chancellor and Communist Party secretary, met with the students and asked them to submit their concerns on paper, which they then promised to forward to higher authorities, said a Tibetan graduate student, who declined to give his name for fear of retaliation by authorities.

He said the rally broke up peacefully after about two hours. Word of the rally was also sent out by Tibetan activists overseas and posted to websites.

Calls to university administration offices rang unanswered Friday afternoon.

On Tuesday, students, joined in some cases by Buddhist monks, went from school to school in Tongren carrying signs and chanting slogans calling for equality among ethnic groups and the right to learn in Tibetan.

Teachers at area schools confirmed the protests and said classes resumed soon afterward.

However, calls Friday to more than a dozen government offices, police stations and schools in Tongren and surrounding towns were answered by people who either refused to discuss the matter or claimed the marches didn't happen -- a likely sign that the local government has ordered a news blackout.

Free Tibet said the local governor and education department visited a teacher's college in Tongren on Wednesday and threatened to expel students who organize additional marches.

[Associated Press; By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN]

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