Mysterious Tibet

This is an apolitical blog entry. It does not intend to accuse anyone. It does not intend to free anyone from responsibility of their actions. The intention is just to add perspectives to current events.

There have been riots in Lhasa (ལྷ་ས་) the last few days. No one can deny that. For most of us Tibet is very far away. To many of us, all of China is very far away. It is populated by people we may not know, and it is ruled by a government that is very different from all Western governments.

A team of neuroscientists at Harvard have recently discovered that we use the same brain region (the ventral medial prefrontal cortex or vMPFC) when we think about people we consider similar to ourselves, as we do when we think about ourselves. When we think about people we do not consider similar, however, we do not use that brain region.

It is reasonable to assume that most of us Westerners do not use the vMPFC when we think about the Chinese. It is also very possible that a lot of Chinese do not use it when they think about Tibetans, and that a lot of Tibetans, especially Tibetans in exile, do not use it when they think about Han Chinese. ("Han" is a word for people who speak some variant of Chinese as first language - not Tibetan or other non-Chinese languages.)

It is much easier for us Westerners to condemn the Chinese government than our own ones. It is very far away, and we do not need the vMPFC to think about it. The pure fact that people get killed in Lhasa may trigger people to condemn the Chinese government. Well, killing is not good, so that must be reason enough to condemn the government, must it not?

It can be. It often is. This may be a case when it is. But let's anyhow apply some perspective.

Last year there were riots in Villiers-le-Bel in France over a mortal car accident where a police car was involved. 130 policemen were injured. 70 cars were burned. One library, two schools, one police station and several shops burned down. Did you blame the French government?

Last year in Nørrebro in Denmark, 750 people were arrested in riots over the closure of a youth centre. Did you blame the Danish government?

In 2001 in Genova, Italy, 329 persons were arrested, 400 rioters and 100 security men were injured and 1 person was shot dead in riots around the Group of Eight Summit. Did you decry the Italian government?

In 1992 in Los Angeles, USA, 53 people died in riots over a questionable court verdict. Did you condemn the American government? Would you boycott American products because of this?

We still do not know exactly what triggered the events in Lhasa - something that perhaps is not that surprising, as the Chinese government considers it has the right to block news when it thinks it is needed. However, the cause for the riots is very likely to have something to do with some Tibetans' desire for independence from the People's Republic.

We do not even know if they planned to start riots for their goals, or if the riots just happened, as some tense situations got worse.

There are, however, reports that the violence has been aimed at Han Chinese. A Swiss tourist, Claude Balsiger, said everything that looked Chinese had been attacked or beaten up. The Economist talks about an orgy of anti-Chinese rioting and at least one Han Chinese stabbed to death by the rioters.

Still, it is very difficult to judge if the rioters had cause for their violence, and it is not known how violent the authorities' answer has been. People have died on both sides, but the exact circumstances are not known to the outside world.

The Tibetans may fight for what they perceive as the freedom of their country, like the IRA in the United Kingdom and the ETA in Spain. Have you blamed the Spanish governments for the 800 casualties in the fight with ETA, and did you want your country to cut all ties with the British government for the 1800 casualties when fighting the IRA?

And if you did so, did you use your vMPFC when you did it?

Hopefully, this blog entry has not changed your opinions on Tibet or China. Regardless of your opinions, that was not the blog's intent. But hopefully some of you now feel you have a better foundation for whatever opinions you have - and hopefully your vMPFC plays a part in it.