Keeping Alive Forbidden Memories Of Chinese Oppression In Tibet

Self-censoring is an essential survival skill under an authoritarian regime. Understandably, the majority of the Chinese people has long been conditioned to not openly discuss or write about certain topics that are “sensitive” to the image and pride of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), such as the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and the three Ts: Taiwan, Tibet, and the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.

The CCP has made sure that anyone who dares to talk about any of these subjects openly is severely punished, unless they repeat only the CCP talking points. Therefore, it is extremely rare to read a book that covers not one, but two coinciding “sensitive” topics – Tibet during the Cultural Revolution – by a Tibetan author, Tsering Woeser, who still lives in China. The title of the book, Forbidden Memory: Tibet during the Cultural Revolution, couldn’t be more fitting.

The CCP version of Tibetan history has three main talking points. First, Tibet has always been part of China since the beginning of time; second, Tibetans lived a miserable life until the People’s Liberation Army “liberated” Tibet in 1950; and third, the CCP has tremendously improved the lives of Tibetans since 1950. The real history of Tibet contradicts these talking points.