🧵 So #FreeTibet is a thing again? Let's talk about it. Support for Tibetan independence means support for imperialism & feudalism. For 70 years the US and its allies have nurtured a pro-independence movement in Tibet in order to dismember, weaken and encircle socialist China...
Tibet's only period of (nominal) independence in modern history is from 1937 to 1950, during which time it was essentially a British colony. California and Texas have an infinitely more legitimate claim to independence than Tibet does...
The CIA trained Tibetan fighters in Nepal and northern India, and supplied arms and equipment for the 1959 Lhasa revolt. The US continued to be the main supporter of the armed independence movement until well into the 1970s, financing training camps in Colorado and Nepal...
What was Tibet like under lama rule? It was deeply feudal, comparable to Europe 1000 years ago, with an enormous population of homeless people, people living in hovels or tiny tents. Malnutrition was endemic. The poor were denied the right to education, hence 95% illiteracy...
Brutal punishments were exacted by local authorities under the Dalai Lama for any transgressions against the ruling elite. Serves and slaves had their hands or feet chopped off, or even eyes gouged out, for petty offences and defiance of feudal customs...
After the Chinese Revolution and the overthrow of feudalism, land was distributed to the peasantry. Schools and hospitals were built. Railways were built. Illiteracy was eradicated. People were taught to read and write - in both Tibetan and Chinese...
Tibet today is transformed. No serfdom, no slave-owning elite. People have access to what are considered globally as key human rights: land, food, education, healthcare, modern energy, clean water, housing, clothing. Their culture is protected and celebrated...
All schoolchildren in Tibet learn both Tibetan and Mandarin Chinese. Thousands of books and newspapers are printed in Tibetan. Tibet is increasingly a key hub for renewable energy and is experiencing rapid development. Tibet's first electric high-speed railway opened this year...
In summary, the campaign to 'Free Tibet' is profoundly reactionary. It celebrates a brutal feudalism that was hell on Earth for the vast majority of its people, and it supports an ongoing 72-year-old imperialist strategy to weaken China and roll back its revolution. Just say no!
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