|
Media reports must acknowledge Tibetans affected by Chinese earthquake |
|
|
|
[15 April] Tibet Society is calling on all media outlets to report the Qinghai earthquake as affecting a Tibetan region and Tibetan people within the People's Republic of China.
Philippa Carrick, Chief Executive of Tibet Society, urged for greater accuracy in the reporting of this heartrending disaster, saying, “This is a tragedy for Tibetan people, not generic Chinese. Being in the historical Tibetan area of Kham, the population of the region where the epicentre of the earthquake struck is 97 per cent Tibetan. Tibet and its people has already lost so much over the last 50 years, therefore I call on the media to give due acknowledgment to the Tibetan people who have suffered such loss and are now facing real hardship in the aftermath of the earthquake, and not add to the hurt caused by burying their ethnicity under a rubble of thoughtless reporting. If there was a similar disaster in Wales, the media would not be reporting that it was British people who were affected, but would respect the inherent nationality of those who are suffering.”
The epicentre of the earthquake struck near Jyeku (Chinese: Jiegu) town in the region known in Tibetan as Kyegundo, which is predominantly populated by Tibetans. Jyeku town is in the Chinese county of Yushu, part of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai province. Though the region currently falls under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China, Kyegundo is an area part of the traditional province of Kham, one of three provinces that make up traditional Tibet. China assimilated the region into Qinghai province following the invasion and occupation of Tibet in 1950.
The population of Qinghai province as a whole is made up of 51% Han Chinese and 21% Tibetans. However, the majority of Han Chinese live in Xining, the capital of Qinghai, which is 800km north-east of the epicentre. Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture has a population of over 310,000 and, as of the last Chinese census in 2000, comprises 97% Tibetans.
The British charity, Tibet Relief Fund, has launched an emergency appeal for victims of the earthquake; donations can be made online through http://tinyurl.com/AppealforYushu or http://www.justgiving.com/Yushu-earthquake-appeal or direct to their office on 020 7272 1414. The Disasters Emergency Committee have issued a statement that says the Chinese government have not made an early call for international assistance, but there is a co-ordinated emergency response underway to deal with the immediate aftermath. In view of this, any funds raised through Tibet Relief Fund’s appeal will be channelled towards sustainable development projects for the region, one of the poorest in the People’s Republic of China, that will help give victims a positive future.
[ends]
For background / further information contact:
Philippa Carrick, Tibet Society: 07941 105 485. Email:
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Notes:
Figures taken from the Qinghai Statistical Yearbook of 2008 and the "Tabulation on Nationalities of 2000 Population Census of China" by the Department of Population, Social, Science and Technology Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China and Department of Economic Development of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of China. Census figures can be viewed at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibet_since_1950#Population_issues
|
