Tibet: a 50 year struggle for freedom

Taylor Moon

Tibet before the Chinese take over

• Tibet had a rich culture that held Buddhism as its centerpiece

• The Dali Lama controlled the government

• The country was poor, but the Tibetans were happier under this rule

The beginning

• When Mao Zedong came to power in China, he invaded Tibet

• In 1956, the Dali Lama’s oldest brother was an important asset to the CIA’s investigation of communist China

• America made attempts to train Tibetans in guerrilla warfare

Reasons for the rebellion

• Many Tibetans were proud of their pre-China culture; the cultural revolution censored their culture

• China has attempted to kill the Dali Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, outraging many devout Buddhists and sending him into exile

• Tibetans had a very unique way of life that China decided didn’t help the well-being of the country. Many of these people have lived like this for as long as they can remember, and don’t know how to live in an urban city

Recent reasons for rebellion

• During an important holiday, China closed Tibet's borders, keeping families that were scattered across several nations separated

• China has refused to update families on the condition of several hundred protesters that were arrested a year ago

• Many people have been coming to Tibet for jobs and the native people have been being pushed to the edges of the job market

What you can do

• Visit freetibet.org to make donations to the cause and get ideas for how to organize protests here

• Be open about your support of Tibet’s independence. Free Tibet T-shirts bring awareness to the cause. The more that people know about Tibet, the closer it is to being free