How do Chinese and Western media view China-Tibet relation?

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The modern relationship between Tibet and China started from 1949. In 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China and planned to liberate Tibet. Two years later, Tibetan leaders signed a treaty dictated by China under pressure. The treaty, known as the "Seventeen Point Agreement", professes to guarantee Tibetan autonomy and to respect the Buddhist religion, but also officially admits Chinese sovereignty over Tibet. In 1959 March, uprising broke out in Lhasa. The Dalai Lama fled to northern India, to be followed by some 80,000 other Tibetans. The Cultural Revolution reached Tibet in 1966 and resulted in the destruction of a large number of monasteries and cultural artifacts. The 1980s saw China introduce "Open Door" reforms and boosts investment while resisting the substantial move towards greater autonomy for Tibet. In 2008 March, five months before Beijing hosts the Olympic Games, anti-China protests escalate into the worst violence Tibet has seen in 20 years. Pro-Tibet activists in several countries focus world attention on the region by disrupting progress of the Olympic torch relay.


A survey of both Chinese and Western media resources shows that Chinese and Western media differ substantially in their narratives of the historical and contemporary relationship between Tibet and China. First, as for Chinese-Tibetan relations before the 1959 Tibet uprising, although both medias tell the truth to some degree, Chinese media tends to darken the serfdom society in order to legitimize its rule over Tibet, while Western media tend to present Tibetans as living a spiritual life in harmony with nature before the invasion of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1950. Second, when mentioning the uprising of March 1959, the Chinese media regards it as “democratic reform” while the Western media marks it as the beginning of the modern fight for a “free Tibet”. Third, regarding changes in Tibet over the course of the past 50 years, Chinese media gives much more emphasis to economic growth and improvements in living standards, claiming that the CCP’s policies receive full support from the Tibetan people. On the other hand, Western media points out that widespread protests exists both inside and outside of Tibet and argues that the Tibetan people have been denied both religious and political freedom. Finally, the Tibetan riot in March 2008 serves as a good example of how ideology and stereotypes have biased both media's accounts.