China promotes mixed marriages in Tibet

as way to achieve unity

Erja, center, and Baima, left, celebrate with guests during their traditional Tibetan wedding near anba,
!ichuan "rovince #an$ %&, %'(%$ China has turned to promoting interracial marriage in an apparent attempt to
assimilate Tibetans and stamp out rebellious impulses$ )Carlos Barria * +euters*+E,TE+!-
By .illiam .an and /u 0angjingjing 1ugust (&
BEIJING During their controversial six-decade-rule of Tibet, Chinas Co!!unist
"art# leaders have been accused b# hu!an rights grou$s of tr#ing to ta!e the restive
region b# i!$risoning Tibetan $olitical $risoners, %ee$ing in exile their leader the
Dalai &a!a and re$ressing Tibetan religion and culture'
No(, China has turned to interracial !arriage in an a$$arent atte!$t to assi!ilate
Tibetans and sta!$ out rebellious i!$ulses'
In recent (ee%s, Chinese officials in charge of the Tibetan )utono!ous *egion have
ordered a run of stories in local ne(s$a$ers $ro!oting !ixed !arriages' )nd
according to ne(l# $ublished govern!ent re$orts, the govern!ent has ado$ted a
series of $olicies in recent #ears favorable to
interracial cou$les'
+rging officials to $ush !ixed !arriages harder,
Chinas highest official in the Tibetan region, Chen
,uanguo, recentl# staged a $hoto o$ (ith -. !ixed
fa!ilies'
)s the sa#ing goes, /blood is thic%er than (ater, (e
should !a%e our ethnic relationshi$ li%e that,0 Chen
said at the !eeting in June, according to the state-
run Tibetan Dail#' The govern!ent !ust 1activel#
$ro!ote inter!arriages'0
2o far, the govern!ent $ush has seen so!e success'
In a re$ort $ublished this !onth celebrating such
$olicies, the Co!!unist "art#s research office in
Tibet said !ixed !arriages have increased annuall#
b# double-digit $ercentages for the $ast five #ears,
fro! 333 cou$les in 4556 to 7,8.9 cou$les in 45-:'
;hile avoiding s$ecifics, the re$ort attributed the
gro(th to favorable $olicies in areas such as social
securit#, re$roductive rights, vacations, $ri<es and
s$ecial treat!ent for children born fro! such
!arriage, including education, e!$lo#!ent and
Co!!unist "art# !e!bershi$'
The govern!ent has focused on Tibetans !arr#ing
=an Chinese'
Tibets $o$ulation is roughl# .5 $ercent Tibetan and
6 $ercent =an Chinese' De!ogra$hics for China as a (hole is the reverse at .4 $ercent
=an Chinese and less than - $ercent Tibetan'
The govern!ent has sold the effort in state-run !edia as a (a# to achieve ethnic unit#,
but critics argue that its true ai! is to further (ea%en Tibetan culture'
In a $hone intervie(, Tibetan $oet Tsering ;oeser, an activist (ho has fre>uentl#
clashed (ith authorities, li%ened the $ro!otion of inter!arriage to the (orst $ractices
of coloni<ation'
Theres nothing ob?ectionable about cou$les fro!
different bac%grounds co!ing together naturall#, she
said' ;oeser herself is !arried to a =an Chinese,
dissident (riter ;ang &ixiong' But (hen the authorities use it as a tool and create
$olicies to encourage it, she said, it feels (rong'
2he co!$ared it to Ja$anese $olice being encouraged to !arr# local (o!en during
Ja$ans occu$ation of Tai(an'
@or (ee%s, govern!ent-run ne(s$a$ers in Tibet have featured ha$$# !ixed cou$les in
(hich the children love both cultures and e>uall# s$ea% Tibetan and Aandarin'
But a!ong Tibetans, there is great fear about losing their culture and traditions'
Govern!ent $olic# re>uires !ixed cou$les to choose earl# on (hat ethnicit# to
designate their children in official docu!ents' Aan# choose to na!e their children as
=an rather than Tibetan, believing that it gives their children a chance at a better life,
said a 46-#ear-old Tibetan (o!an (ho (or%s at a local govern!ent de$art!ent' 2he
s$o%e on the condition of anon#!it# for fear of losing her ?ob'
Aan# also send their children to stud# in the better schools of !ainland China rather
than in Tibet, she said'
;hile the $ercentage of Tibetans (ho !arr# =an !a# be increasing there, the total
Ethnic Tibetan women attend a traditional
wedding near Danba, Sichuan Province January
26, 2012 !" #arlo$ %arria & 'euter$(
nu!ber re!ains s!all, she noted'
)t Chens !eeting (ith !ixed fa!ilies on June -6, the $art# secretar# of Tibet $raised
inter!arriage, calling it recognition of the great !otherland, Chinese as a $eo$le,
Chinese culture, and the $ath of socialis! (ith Chinese characteristics, according to
state !edia'
Chen called for govern!ent de$art!ents to use ever#thing in their $o(er and
designate %e# officials to steer $ublic o$inion' "art# and govern!ent officials should
act as !atch!a%ers, he said'
Nation(ide, China has long offered ethnic !inorit# grou$s favorable treat!ent as a
(a# to tr# to integrate the! into societ#, a $olic# that is often critici<ed b# =an and
ethnic !inorities ali%e'
;hen one or both s$ouses are of ethnic !inorit#, a cou$le can generall# have u$ to
three children, des$ite Chinas one-child $olic#' Ethnic students are given extra scores
for their !inorit# status in college entrance exa!s' Inter!arried fa!ilies are also
often a(arded honors for being 1!odels of ethnic unit#0 and are so!eti!es favored
for govern!ent $ositions'
)nd Chinese histor# is dotted (ith exa!$les of interracial !arriage as a strateg# to
!aintain $eace' Bne of the !ost fa!ous stories is the !arriage bet(een Chinese
"rincess ;encheng of the Tang D#nast# and 2ongtsan Ga!bo, then %ing of Tibet,
(hich sealed a $eace treat#'
The stor# (as turned into an outdoor !usical last )ugust, $ro!oted b# the
govern!ent, and is sho(ing in Tibet'
.illiam .an is The "osts China correspondent based in Beijing$
2e served previously as a religion reporter and diplomatic
correspondent$
"osted b# Thava!