Racial Discrimination in Tibet (2000)
Discrimination in Housing
Erasing Tibetan Culture in the name of "Beautification"
The official justification given for this widespread
eviction, demolition and reconstruction in urban centres
such as Lhasa, is generally given to be a desire to make
the city "beautiful" - to comply with the stated goals
of building a "modern socialist city" that is "rich,
civilized and clean". The "transformation" - or rather,
organized eradication - of the old Tibetan municipal area
forms the "main objective" of this beautification process,
and has resulted in the gross violation of basic human
rights, in particular the right to housing. Indeed, it is a
tactic recognised and condemned by the UN Sub-Commission
on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities:
"Governments often seek to disguise the violence that may
be associated with forced evictions by using such terms
as 'cleaning the urban environment', 'urban renewal',
'overcrowding' and 'progress and development'."
Chinese housing authorities have continually cited these
terms in White Papers and official statements, and where
such arguments have perhaps been insufficient, they have
called in the "safety" of the buildings in question to
ensure the attainment of their goals, as revealed in the
testimonies above. Chinese interpretations of "beauty"
are however, inextricably linked to socialist ideologies,
and thus prioritize uniformity and function well above
aesthetic appearance. As such, cities like Lhasa are today
characterless collections of concrete, culturally sterile
and barren.
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