Asia Sentinel
Written by Our Correspondent   
Friday, 06 November 2009

Beijing forces the cancellation of a Tibetan photo exhibit in Dhaka

Chinese government pressure last weekend forced the closure in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka of a photo exhibit depicting the plight of Tibetans in the wake of the 1949 invasion of the isolated kingdom by the Chinese.

The photo exhibit, "Into Exile—Tibet 1949-2009" was organized by Students for a Free Tibet Bangladesh in partnership with the prominent Drik Gallery in Dhaka. It was supposed to open Nov 1. Bangladesh police in riot gear, however, showed up an hour before the opening of the exhibit and prevented the public from entering.

The Dalai Lama, of course, remains a singular Chinese enemy. Beijing justifies its occupation of the mountain kingdom as having always been a part of China, and that the development money it has poured into Tibet has saved the remaining Tibetans from a life of serfdom and religious superstition.

China has a growing amount of clout in Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries, with annual per capita gross domestic product estimated at only $1,500, ranking it 196th in the world. China, with its vast powerhouse of export resources, in 2006 became Bangladesh's biggest trading partner, particularly in textiles and garments, which Bangladeshi factories re-export to western countries. By contrast, Bangladesh forms a minuscule portion of China's trade, meaning China could pull the plug on Bangladesh with relative impunity if it wished.

Bangladesh exports, becoming a mainstay of the economy, grew by 10 percent in the most recent year recorded, with knitwear exports growing by 16 percent and woven garments by 14.5 percent. The Bangladeshi garment trade is expected to hit US$12 billion in 2009.

China, according to Xinhua, offers duty-free access for 84 types of products from Bangladesh as part of the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement which effect on January 1, 2006. A list of 75 additional products is currently under the consideration by the Ministry of Commerce.

Shahidul Alam, the managing director of the Drik gallery, told reporters that Bangladesh Special Branch police, citing a government order, asked him to stop the exhibition. Police, he said, also demanded to know the names of the organizers. Although the police officers refused to produce the order, they threatened to shut down the show by force if the organizers did not do so willingly.

In a blog posted in Dhaka, Alam said he had been visited by Qian Kaifu, cultural councilor of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Bangladesh, as well as Cao Yanhua, the embassy's cultural attaché, who presented with him a silk tie, a 2010 calendar and a container of tea.

Qian, Alam wrote, "got straight to the point. 'We would like you to cancel the Tibet exhibition,' he said. Reminding me that Tibet was a part of China, he went on to explain how the Bangladesh China relationship would be affected if the show went on. He also spoke of the many things we could do together, the exhibitions we could bring."

Alam said he reminded Qian that the gallery was independent and not connected with the Bangladesh government and asked him "how he felt he had the right to tell us what we could show."

That evening, Alam wrote, a high-ranking official of the Bangladesh Ministry of Culture called to caution him against showing pictures of the Dalai Lama. "'China was a friend, you mustn't show pictures of Dalai Lama" the high ranking official went on. "No, no, we are not talking of censorship, but…" When he refused to cancel the show, officials showed up from Special Branch, demanding to know the names and details of the people who had organized the show.

"I was familiar with this language, but decided to hold my ground," Alam wrote. " A few calls to 'higher ups' followed, made more for me to hear than anyone else. "He is not being cooperative… Yes he is here… I have explained the gravity of the situation… We have done nothing else yet…" went the conversation."

Additional visits did not dissuade the Drik gallery operator from going ahead with the show, with the ultimate result that the police showed up to shut the gates when the exhibition was due to open. As a crowd gathered, the organizers of the show said they would put it on in the streets if the gallery was closed.

"If the Chinese government spouts one line consistently it is that other states should not interfere in its internal affairs," wrote Rob Godden with the independent watchdog site Rights Exposure Project, which seeks to protect the rights of bloggers across the globe. "However, this obviously is a case of 'do as I say, not as I do'".

It was the second time in a year, Godden wrote, that the Chinese government had sought to stop the showing of an art show. The first was in Australia, when Chinese hackers staged a massive attack on Chinese hackers have attacked the website of the Melbourne International Film Festival, the country's biggest, over the festival's decision to screen a documentary about the exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer. Hackers replaced program information with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans as well as sending spam emails in an attempt to crash the site, the Australian press reports said.