[CPProt.net] The Plunder of Tibet's Treasures

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

The Plunder of Tibet's Treasures  
  
Washington, DC       August 12 2005  
  
2005.08.01

WASHINGTON-The ancient Himalayan culture of Tibet-already subject to strict
controls from Beijing-is suffering irreparable cultural losses amid
increasing burglaries, looting and illegal trade in treasures from its
tombs, monasteries and temples, scholars and local residents say.

The growing trade in stolen Tibetan artifacts has in part been fueled by a
rising tide of commercialism which seeks to exploit the region's cultural
relics, often with the help of corrupt local officials, a recent
investigative report by RFA's Mandarin service has found.

"The chief of the local precinct started digging in the very beginning,"
said one resident of the Tibetan-inhabited county of Dulan in China's
northwestern Qinghai province, which is home to a large, and frequently
robbed, complex of Tibetan tombs.

"They arrested and sentenced many people at that time. However, up until
now, the tomb robbery situation has not improved. They captured over 200
non-Tibetan farmers last year. Most of them belonged to the Hui [Muslim]
nationality, but there were Hans as well," the Tibetan man said.

Rampant tomb robbery

The tombs in question are in the Haixi Mongolian-Tibetan Nationalities
Autonomous Prefecture, an ancient Silk Road town, and the birthplace of
Nuomuhong culture. Excavations have revealed gold coins from the eastern
Roman empire, silver Persian coins and many Tibetan cultural relics.

The State Cultural Relics Bureau of China listed them as one of the top 10
archeological discoveries of 1996. But that status has done little to
protect them or their contents.

Migrant workers from elsewhere in the region often pursued tomb robbery as a
lucrative sideline to their jobs as construction workers, and the armed
guards stationed at some of the tombs could not prevent them all, the Dulan
county resident said.

"They started implementing some anti-theft measures a few years ago," he
told RFA's Investigative Report. "Nevertheless, these measures are not
effective because the tombs are scattered relatively far apart along the
slopes and most of them have been robbed empty."

An officer at the Dulan county police station said police were committed to
tackling the issue. "They have a specialized relic police precinct," the
officer said. "They will definitely arrest any tomb robber."

But local relics specialists lack resources to manage the treasures, which
are rapidly slipping away under their very eyes.

Lack of funds for enforcement

"They cannot do anything," Haixi Prefecture Nationality Museum official Daba
told RFA. "The road is rugged. It is about money, financial problems. Let's
say you were the public security. You learn that someone is burgling the
tomb and you go there but cannot find anybody. What can you do?"

"For us, it is mainly a financial problem. We do not have money to manage
the relics," he said.

But the problem isn't only caused by criminal organizations. Government
departments, academic institutions and private individuals both within China
and overseas have contributed to the plunder over the past few decades,
Tibetan scholars and Buddhist leaders told RFA.

Beijing-based Han Chinese scholar Wang Lixiong, who has written several
works on Tibetan issues, including the Sky Burial: The Fate of Tibet, says
that the large-scale losses to Tibetan culture began with the
state-sponsored destruction of the Cultural Revolution.

"During the Mao era, they considered the artifacts dross and destroyed them.
Now, they see them as merchandise and sell them. Speaking overall, either
way, it is an abuse," Wang said.

Many overseas scholars worry that Tibetan culture is gradually becoming
extinct.

Insiders help thieves

Pema Wangyal, Professor of Tibetan Buddhism at Western University in Los
Angeles, said there was widespread theft of and trafficking in Tibetan
artifacts from Buddhist temples and monasteries, in which government
officials frequently colluded with the traders and thieves.

"The theft of artifacts is very common among large Tibetan temples but the
government has not done much to investigate or report the issue," Pema
Wangyal said. "For instance, seven precious gold bowls that served as the
sacrificial lamps for the Buddha at the Taer Temple were stolen in the
1980s. I believe they were artifacts from the Ming Dynasty." 

"The matter was shelved in the end. This situation happens to temples in
many places," he said.

Pema Wangyal said there was also a huge collection of precious Tibetan
artifacts in the United States, in Washington D.C., in some U.S. museums, in
schools of East Asian Study at many U.S. universities, and in some personal
collections. 

"The Asian Museum in Los Angeles has many valuable exhibits," Pema Wangyal
added. "Some are from personal collections while others are obtained through
unknown means. They have some priceless items, even from the Ming and Yuan
Dynasties." 

He cited the case of an auction held in New York recently at which someone
bought a rice steamer from the Tang Dynasty and a statue of a guardian
warrior of the Buddha made of stonewood from the Ming Dynasty. 

"I saw the statue myself. It cost U.S.$3.8 million," he told RFA reporter
Bai Fan.

Treasures appear overseas

Living Buddha Arjia Rinpoche, the original Abbot of the Taer Temple in
Qinghai Region, now manages the Tibetan Center for Compassion and Wisdom in
California. 

He said the problem had grown worse during the 1980s and 1990s. "A serious
case happened to the Taer Temple while I was the Abbot there. I think it was
on August 25, 1987," Arjia Rinpoche said. 

"The famous Wudan lamps made of pure gold were stolen...After that, the
artifacts of the temple were burglarized one after another. During my term
as Abbot, I went out on business one time and eight invaluable artifacts in
our museum, including an ivory ball, were also stolen," he said.

Taer Temple monk Monk Qirap, who works in the temple security office, said
there were established networks for the illegal trade in Tibetan treasures.

"The trafficking of stolen artifacts does exist," Qirap said. "Usually, they
are transported to China by vehicle and shipped overseas through Guangzhou
and Guangdong."

More thefts in recent years

Qirap confirmed an increase in the illegal art trade in recent years.

"They mainly steal items such as statues of Buddha; ancient items that are
valuable now. For example, statues of Buddha made of sulphonium and jade,"
he told RFA.

Other observers point to the politics at work in Tibet, which was occupied
by Chinese troops from 1949-1951, and has seen a major influx of ethnic Han
Chinese who reap most of the benefits of the recent economic growth of
recent years.

Rinchin Tashi, a U.S.-based Tibetan scholar, believes that the Chinese
government only wants control of Tibet, but does not treat the requests of
the Tibetans for the return of their relics and personal properties
seriously.

"Even the higher levels of government seem not to care too much once you
talk about personal property, human rights, and personal rights," Rinchin
Tashi said.

"Laws and policies are required for the better protection of Tibetan
property. You can see that there isn't in fact much autonomy in the Tibetan
Autonomous Region."

"If they give the Tibetans a certain degree of autonomy and establish the
rule of law across the country, then China will become a democratic country
under the rule of law. Then, all the people living in the People's Republic
of China, whether they are Tibetans or Hans, will be able to protect their
personal property," he told RFA.

Original reporting in Mandarin by Bai Fan. RFA Mandarin service director:
Jennifer Chou. Produced for the Web in English by Luisetta Mudie.  
  
Sarah Jackson-Han (jacksonhans at rfa.org)
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