A Tibetan singer in the Chinese military has appealed to stop discrimination done upon her race while speaking at China’s top political meeting on Tuesday. The military soprano called for the end to treating all Tibetans like separatists by recounting her own bitter experiences despite holding a high military post.
“Speaking during a panel session at the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Guowa Jiamaoji, who was born in a Tibetan area of northwest China’s Qinghai province, said the discrimination shown by the authorities against people from her ethnic group was “detrimental to national unity”.” said the report in the SCMP.
According to the singer, the incidents of prejudice against Tibetans grew intense after the incidents of riots in Lhasa in March 2008. She recalled her experiences of being denied entry to hotels in Beijing despite producing her CPPCC membership ID and military ID, numerous examples of prejudice against Tibetan cadres, especially in Han-dominated areas.
Guowa raised that despite Beijing’s proclaimed propaganda of treating all ethnic groups equally, there are many situations where the local authorities discriminate against minorities, presenting the very example of uneven provision of telecommunications.
“The mainland has a 4G network already, but in many parts of Tibet and Xinjiang [a restive western region that is home to the ethnic Uygur people], the network is still only 2G,” the singer added at the meeting. “Of course, it might be deliberate that the networks there are not so strong.”
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