Thousands of Students in Chabcha Township Protest

The 2010 Tibetan language protest was a series of protests in

Tongren County Tongren (; ), known to Tibetans as Rebgong () in the historic region of Amdo, is the capital and second smallest administrative subdivision by area within Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai, China. The city has an area of 3465 squar ...

Gonghe County Gonghe County (; ), also known as Kungho, is a county of Qinghai Province, China under the administration of Hainan Prefecture. The seat of Gonghe County is in the town of Qabqa. Demographics In 2006, 55% of the population were Tibetans, with ...

and

Maqên County Maqên or Maqin County is a county of Qinghai Province, China. It is under the administration of Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Name The county is named for Anyê Maqên, the Tibetan name for a revered local mountain. Administrative div ...

, in

Qinghai Province Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest pop ...

;

Minzu University of China Minzu University of China (MUC, ) is a national public university in Haidian District, Beijing, China designated for ethnic minorities in China. MUC was selected as one of national key universities to directly receive funding from Double First ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

; and

Xiahe County Xiahe (; ) is a county in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu province, the People's Republic of China, bordering Qinghai province to the west. It is home to the famed Labrang Tibetan Buddhist monastery, one of the largest Tibetan Buddhis ...

Gansu Province Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibeta ...

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

ethnic Tibetan The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live ...

students over the period of October 20 through October 27, 2010.South China Morning Post.
SCMP
" ''Students protest to save Tibetan.'' Retrieved on 2010-23-10.

Causes

* The local government in Qinghai pushed for a "bilingual" education in a then newly drafted educational policy, that is, only Tibetan language and English courses are to be taught in

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

, courses other than Tibetan and English were to be taught in Standard Mandarin. * The July 25, 2010 mass assembly, which took place in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

Guangdong Province Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

in protest against the perceived encroachment of

Standard Mandarin Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standar ...

Cantonese language Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

may have provided inspiration and encouragement for Tibetan people to voice their dissatisfaction.

Protests

A range of reports from hundreds to 9000 people were alleged to have been involved in the protest. According to a local Tibetan blogger, the head of the county's education department drove out and assured the protesters that "their grievances would be addressed by senior officials".Thestar.com.
Thestar.com
" ''Tibetan students protest in China over language instruction.'' Retrieved on 2010-23-10. A series of apparently related protests inspired by this took place in

on October 20; in

in the neighboring Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on October 21; in

on October 25. 400 Tibetan students also staged a supportive demonstration on October 22 on the campus of

in Beijing.

Official response

On Oct. 29, the Government of Qinghai said these incidents reflect some misunderstandings of the bilingual education policy by

Tibetan people The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live ...

and reiterated that "The guiding ideology and the basic principles of strengthening and improving the bilingual education is completely correct" and that "as the state is promoting the use of

and

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

, the right of using the local minority languages by minority peoples should be sufficiently respected and protected".

References

{{Portal bar, China, Asia, Society Tibetan Language Protest, 2010 Protests in China History of Qinghai History of Tibet

Tibetan language Tibetan language may refer to: * Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard * Lhasa Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dialect * Any of the other Tibetic languages See also *Old Tibetan, the language ...

Education in Tibet Linguistic discrimination Language policy in Tibet