Via BBC. According to the Human Rights Watch, 2 million Tibetans, including nomadic herders, are being resettled by the government and forced to reside in the so-called “socialist villages". The Chinese government denied the charge of forced evictions, but images from Google Earth showed that villages were demolished and reconstructed into rows of uniform housings.
The Human Rights Watch further claimed that new teams of Party officials are currently living in the villages to monitor the villagers’ activities. It is said that these officials would eat and work with the villagers and make note of the villagers’ political loyalty. If the claim is true, then these people are basically living in a concentration-camp-like environment, constantly being watched: it is not very different from psychological torture.
Since no foreign media can go to Tibet to verify the claim, I’m inclined to believe that it is at least partially true. I find it disturbing that there is no reporting on this from the Hong Kong media.
Disturbing, yes, but not surprising. Just another evidence that there’s self-censorship in media in HK, over 120 Tibetans self-immolated in protest of the Chinese rule, have you seen any report on that in mainstream media in HK?
Yes, many are still demanding an open investigation on the death of Li Wangyang, but they don’t come out to say a word about the oppression upon Tibet. How could they claim that democracy and liberty are for everybody when their very actions demonstrate Han preferences?