Tibetan University Graduates Stage Public Protest, Allege Job Discrimination

Hundreds of Tibetan university graduates staged a week-long protest in Lhasa city, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), in late October against what they claimed are TAR government hiring practices that discriminate against Tibetans, according to a November 8 Radio Free Asia (RFA) report. The protest took place after the TAR government conducted a civil service examination on September 30 of 1,000 applicants to fill 100 employment positions. The report did not provide information about the number of Tibetan and Han Chinese applicants who took the examination, or whether an offer of employment depended solely on examination scores. Officials subsequently offered jobs to 98 Han Chinese and 2 Tibetan applicants, according to a source cited in the article.

The Tibetan graduates organized themselves into groups of about 200 protestors in front of TAR government offices including the education department during the last week of October, according to another source cited in the RFA article. The report did not describe the methods the graduates used to protest. Authorities did not detain any of the protestors and no violent incidents took place, according to multiple sources. On one occasion, authorities "very politely" asked some protestors to enter one of the buildings, according to the source. Once the protestors were inside, "[T]he authorities threatened that if there were any government employees in the protest, they would lose their jobs, the students wouldn’t be given jobs, and community members would be arrested," the source said.

In a possible concession to the protestors, authorities later announced an increase to 140 in the total number of employment positions available, and a plan to offer 71 more positions to the Tibetan graduates. Authorities had not offered any additional jobs to Tibetans when RFA published the report. The Tibetans graduated from universities throughout China and had been assured that they would gain employment after completing their courses, according to an RFA source. The report did not describe the source of the assurance.

A similar incident took place in July 2005 in Xining city, the capital of Qinghai province, according to a July 14 RFA report. About 70 Tibetans, including recent college graduates, claimed that local authorities favored ethnic Han and Salar job applicants. Public security officials reportedly detained and beat the alleged protest leader, Dukar Kyab, and eight others. Additional information about the detainees, any charges against them, and if they remain detained is not available.

The Chinese government is implementing policies that could reduce local employment opportunities for Tibetan graduates by encouraging an increased flow of graduates from China's eastern provinces to seek jobs in less developed western provinces. For example, the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced on September 14, 2006, that graduates from universities run by the central government and who borrowed from the government to finance their educations may have their loan repayments waived if they agree to work in China's "western or remote areas," according to a September 15 China Daily report. The MOE official responsible for the loan program acknowledged that encouraging graduates to seek employment in China's western area would "help adjust the existing [im]balance in the job market" and avoid the "fierce competition" for jobs in China's eastern cities.

The policies could also increase pressure on ethnic Uighur graduates in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, where civil service hiring practices have also favored Han Chinese, according to a Commission analysis. Articles 22 and 23 of the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law call for extra measures to promote the hiring of ethnic minorities. In addition, Article 21 of the Law on Civil Servants (in Chinese) provides that the government shall give proper consideration to ethnic minority candidates when recruiting in ethnic minority autonomous areas.

See "Culture, Development, and Demography" in Section VIII, Tibet, of the CECC 2006 Annual Report, and "Special Focus for 2005: China's Minorities and Government Implementation of the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law," in Section III, Monitoring Compliance With Human Rights, of the CECC 2005 Annual Report for more information.