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<div class="gmail-node-published" datetime="2018-02-08T17:08:50+08:00">PUBLISHED : Thursday, 08 February, 2018, 5:08pm</div><div class="gmail-node-updated"><span class="gmail-node-updated-date gmail-node-updated-date-hl">UPDATED : Thursday, 08 February, 2018, 10:32pm</span></div> </div>
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<img alt="" title="A pupil recites an article in the Tibetan language at a junior school in Xiahe county of Gansu province, in northwest China, home of the great Labrang monastery. The school holds classes in both Tibetan and Han languages for its more than 600 students. Photo: Xinhua" class="gmail-lazyload-processed gmail-loaded" src="https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2018/02/08/519cc7f2-0c8e-11e8-a09e-8861893b1b1a_1280x720_170848.JPG?itok=vFgJuXEs" width="980" height="551"> <div class="gmail-swiper-slide-overlay"></div>
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<p class="gmail-v2-processed">In November 2015, Tashi Wangchuk, a
young shopkeeper and businessman from Yushu in Qinghai travelled to
Beijing, hoping to bring to the attention of China’s higher authorities
the troubling state of the Tibetan language in the school curriculum of
his home area, a majority Tibetan region.</p><div class="gmail-scmp-inline-newsletter-subscription" style="height:126px"><form class="gmail-scmp-newsletter-subscription-form element-processed-processed gmail-newsletter-324679 gmail-ajax-form-processed" action="https://www.scmp.com/api/rest/public/v2/newsletter/subscribe.json" method="POST" id="gmail-scmp-newsletter-subscription-form-324679">
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<p class="gmail-v2-processed">In so doing, he believed himself to be
acting in accord with his rights under China’s constitution, which
states that “all nationalities have the freedom to use and develop their
own spoken and written languages.”</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">However, Tashi Wangchuk was arrested
and, after two years in detention, he was finally tried: on January 4
this year he was indicted with “inciting separatism,” a charge he
rejected. The decision of the court is expected as we are writing this
open letter. If judged guilty, Tashi Wangchuk could be sentenced to up
to 15 years in prison.</p><div class="gmail-teads-inread gmail-xs-screen" style="margin:auto auto 20px;max-width:450px;height:274px"><div style="margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px"><div class="gmail-teads-ui-components-label" style="display:block">Advertisement</div><div class="gmail-teads-player" id="gmail-teads0"></div></div></div><p></p>
<div class="gmail-blockquote-quote gmail-v2-processed">China has played an important role in extending the use of Tibetan in digital media</div>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Ironically, scholars and writers using
the Tibetan language are quite active in China and Tibetan publication
there is thriving. In addition, China has played an important role in
extending the use of Tibetan in digital media.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Nevertheless, implementation of Tibetan
language policy on a local level, whether in education, administration,
or public affairs, has been uneven, which explains the emergence of
people active in language issues, like Tashi Wangchuk.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">So far as we can determine, his crime
in the eyes of China’s authorities is less his concern to preserve and
develop his mother tongue, than is the fact that <em>The</em> <em>New York Times</em> released a nine-minute video showing him engaged in that endeavour.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">We, the undersigned, academic
specialists in the field of Tibetan Studies, call upon the concerned
legal and political authorities in China to drop all charges against
Tashi Wangchuk. If his contact with foreign media has been considered
indiscrete, it must be stressed that he nowhere is recorded as having
advocated Tibetan separatism and in fact expressed his intention to act
as a Chinese citizen within the strictures of China’s constitution.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Clemency in his case will send the right message to other Tibetans and to the world.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed"><em><span class="gmail-letter_writer gmail-text-only">A
group of 15 internationally known scholars and professors on Tibet,
from France, the UK, US, Czech Republic, Canada and Australia</span></em></p>
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<div class="gmail-print-head-label">This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: <span class="gmail-print-head-title">Clemency from China would send out the right message on advancing Tibetan language</span></div> </div>
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<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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