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The Challenge of Child Labour in International Law Child labour remains a widespread problem around the world. Over 200 million children can be regarded as child labourers, and about 10 million children are involved in producing either agricultural or manufactured products for export. Franziska Humbert explores the status of child labour in international law. Offering a wide-ranging analysis of the problem, she examines the various UN and ILO instruments and reveals the weaknesses of the current frameworks installed by these bodies to protect children from economic exploitation. After assessing to what extent trade measures such as conditionalities, labelling and trade restrictions, and promotional activities can reduce child labour, she suggests an alternative legal framework which takes into account the needs of children. f r a n z i s k a h u m b e r t is a policy adviser on labour standards with Oxfam Germany and a research fellow in the Swiss academic research NCCR project on trade regulation in the field of trade and human rights at the University of Zurich.

CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW

Established in 1946, this series produces high quality scholarship in the fields of public and private international law and comparative law. Although these are distinct legal sub-disciplines, developments since 1946 confirm their interrelation. Comparative law is increasingly used as a tool in the making of law at national, regional and international levels. Private international law is now often affected by international conventions, and the issues faced by classical conflicts rules are frequently dealt with by substantive harmonisation of law under international auspices. Mixed international arbitrations, especially those involving state economic activity, raise mixed questions of public and private international law, while in many fields (such as the protection of human rights and democratic standards, investment guarantees and international criminal law) international and national systems interact. National constitutional arrangements relating to ‘foreign affairs’, and to the implementation of international norms, are a focus of attention. The Board welcomes works of a theoretical or interdisciplinary character, and those focusing on the new approaches to international or comparative law or conflicts of law. Studies of particular institutions or problems are equally welcome, as are translations of the best work published in other languages. General Editors

James Crawford SC FBA Whewell Professor of International Law, Faculty of Law, and Director, Lauterpacht Research Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge John S. Bell FBA Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge

Editorial Board

Professor Hilary Charlesworth Australian National University Professor Lori Damrosch Columbia University Law School Professor John Dugard Universiteit Leiden Professor Mary-Ann Glendon Harvard Law School Professor Christopher Greenwood London School of Economics Professor David Johnston University of Edinburgh Professor Hein Ko ¨tz Max-Planck-Institut, Hamburg Professor Donald McRae University of Ottawa Professor Onuma Yasuaki University of Tokyo Professor Reinhard Zimmermann Universita¨t Regensburg

Advisory Committee

Professor D. W. Bowett QC Judge Rosalyn Higgins QC Professor J. A. Jolowicz QC Professor Sir Elihu Lauterpacht CBE QC Judge Stephen Schwebel

A list of books in the series can be found at the end of this volume.

The Challenge of Child Labour in International Law Franziska Humbert

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521764902 © Franziska Humbert 2009 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2009 ISBN-13

978-0-511-64134-3

eBook (NetLibrary)

ISBN-13

978-0-521-76490-2

Hardback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Contents

List of abbreviations Foreword Acknowledgements

page xii xv xvii

Introduction A. Trade measures on child labour I. The problem of child labour and the international community II. The trade and labour linkage B. Contents C. Some definitions I. Trade sanctions and trade measures II. Effectiveness

1.

1 1 1 2 11 12 12 13

The problem of child labour A. Introduction B. Defining child labour I. Introduction II. Historical and cultural perspectives of childhood III. The concept of child labour C. Forms of child labour I. Hazardous working conditions II. Domestic service III. Street children IV. The informal economy V. The unconditional worst forms of child labour

14 14 14 14 15 17 19 19 20 21 21 21 vii

viii

2.

contents

D. Statistics: Distribution of child labour E. Causes of child labour I. Supply-side factors II. Demand-side factors F. Economic consequences of child labour G. Strategies for combating child labour I. Introduction II. Action against child labour H. Conclusion of Chapter 1

22 25 25 29 31 31 31 31 33

The prohibition of child labour in international law A. Introduction B. UN conventions and protocols and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights I. The Slavery Convention II. The Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery III. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Art. 4 IV. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Art. 8 V. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Art. 24 (1) VI. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – Art. 10 (3) VII. The Convention on the Rights of the Child – Art. 32 VIII. The Convention on the Rights of the Child – Art. 34 IX. The Convention on the Rights of the Child – Art. 35 X. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography XI. The Convention on the Rights of the Child – Art. 38 XII. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts XIII. The scope of the prohibition of exploitative child labour under UN conventions, protocols and the UDHR C. ILO conventions and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work

35 35 35 35

38 45 53 61 62 67 75 77

78 78

79 80 82

contents

Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour No. 29 II. Convention concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour No. 105 III. Conventions concerning conditions of work and employment IV. Minimum Age Convention No. 138 and Recommendation No. 146 V. Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour No. 182 VI. The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work VII. The scope of the prohibition of child labour under ILO conventions, recommendations and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work D. The protection from exploitative child labour as customary law E. The protection from exploitative child labour as a general principle of law F. The protection from exploitative child labour as ius cogens G. Conclusion of Chapter 2

ix

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3.

UN and ILO implementation mechanisms for the prohibition of child labour A. Introduction B. The UN human rights implementation mechanism I. Introduction II. The treaty-based system III. Extra-conventional UN procedures IV. Conclusion C. The ILO Implementation System I. Introduction II. The supervisory bodies III. The regular supervisory system IV. The Follow-up under the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work V. The special procedures VI. Promotional activities

82 86 87 88 95 103

107 110 110 114 119

122 122 123 123 124 145 153 154 154 155 155 167 172 178

x

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5.

contents

VII. Case study – Myanmar VIII. Evaluation of the ILO implementation system D. Conclusion of Chapter 3

183 192 194

Trade measures on child labour A. Introduction B. Social clauses in regional and bilateral trade agreements I. Introduction II. US Free Trade Agreements III. EU Economic Agreements IV. Conclusion C. Social clauses in Generalized Systems of Preferences I. Introduction II. The US GSP III. The EU GSP IV. Conclusion D. Unilateral and other national trade measures on child labour I. Introduction II. Section 307 of the US Tariff Act of 1930 III. The Massachusetts Act on Burma (Myanmar) IV. The Belgian Social Label Law V. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme VI. Conclusion E. Corporate social responsibility I. Introduction II. Codes of conduct III. Social labelling IV. Socially responsible investment V. Global reporting VI. Other employer/TNC initiatives VII. Evaluation F. Conclusion of Chapter 4

195 195

Recommendations for an ILO–WTO enforcement regime A. Introduction B. Addressing the fear of protectionism

376 376 377

195 195 197 253 279 284 284 285 300 315 318 318 318 322 323 329 331 332 332 336 360 366 367 368 371 373

contents

C.

Basic I. II. III. IV. V. VI.

principles Trade-related or country-related standards? Institutional structure Cooperative activities Public communications Consultations Dispute settlement

xi

379 379 380 381 382 383 383

Concluding summary A. Summary of results B. Epilogue

386 386 388

Bibliography Index

390 418

Abbreviations

ACP ACTA AFL–CIO AGOA ASEAN BGMEA BSCI CAFTA CARIFORUM CCC CIR CRC DSU EBA EC ECE ECHR ECJ ECOSOC EPA EPZ ETI ETUC EU FIFA xii

African Caribbean Pacific Alien Tort Claims Act The American Federation of Labour–Congress of Industrial Organizations African Growth and Opportunity Act Association of South East Asian Nations Bangladeshi Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association Business Social Compliance Initiative Central American Free Trade Agreement Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States Clean Clothes Campaign Christliche Initiative Romero Convention on the Rights of the Child Dispute Settlement Understanding Everything but Arms European Community Evaluation Committee of Experts European Commission of Human Rights European Court of Justice Economic and Social Council Economic Partnership Agreement Export Processing Zone Ethical Trading Initiative European Trade Union Confederation European Union Fe´de´ration Internationale de Football Association

list of abbreviations

FLA FLSA FTA FTAA GAO GATT GB GRI GSP HRC ICC ICCPR ICESCR ICFTU ICJ IFWEA ILC ILRF ILO IOE IPEC IRRC ISO ITUC IUF

LAC LDC MERCOSUR MFA NAALC NAFTA NGO

xiii



xiv

list of abbreviations

OECD OHCHR OJ ORSE Oxfam ppm SACCS SAI SIMPOC SRI TBP TNC TPSC Tralac UDHR UN UNAIDS UNCTAD UNDP UNESCO UNICEF USAID USTR VCLT WFSGI WRAP WTO



Foreword

Around the world, millions of children under the age of fifteen are engaged in the work force, often lacking proper education and schooling. Child labour has remained one of the great dilemmas of our time in particular, but not exclusively, in developing countries. Families still depend upon income generated by children who in turn miss out on education, and fail to make progress and build prosperity for coming generations in a world that is increasingly shaped by knowledge and information. Child labour causes social, educational and economic problems, primarily in the domestic realm of each country and society. It is a core issue of domestic educational and economic policies. It cannot be ignored in development cooperation. As a problem of human rights protection with implications for the conditions of competition in international trade, it also features prominently in public international law. This is the topic of the present book. Franziska Humbert offers a rich and detailed account of the causes, instruments and problems relating to the monitoring and implementation of what essentially amounts to a ban of child labour in international law. The book expounds the distressing facts and context of exploiting child labour and its various forms at different levels of social and economic development in great detail. The exploration of the legal framework amounts to a careful analysis of the various instruments. The author starts with the impact of the human rights instruments of the United Nations and the numerous instruments of the International Labour Organization. She focuses on implementation and enforcement and the different avenues available, ranging from moral suasion (name and shame) to support measures in terms of development aid. The work then turns to focus on trade-related measures and inquires to what extent trade measures, ranging from conditionalities, labelling and xv

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foreword

trade restrictions, and promotional activities can be lawfully employed to the benefit of reducing child labour around the world. She extensively deals with options for unilateral measures in the field. The book concludes by proposing a multilateral enforcement mechanism by the World Trade Organization and International Labour Organization. The timely book offers an important source of information and argument in the field. Child labour still ranges among the many unsettled issues of trade and human rights, and the book offers insights and foundations as to how a better equilibrium could be found to balance the two fields within an agenda of sustainable development. The proper shaping of core labour standards and social clauses under WTO law is impending and awaits solutions. While international law offers ample foundations for action, the tools to do so are far from satisfactory at this point in time. Franizska Humbert makes a remarkable contribution to this effect. She undertook her research at the World Trade Institute with enthusiasm and perseverance, working within a research group in trade and human rights within the Swiss National Centre of Competence on Research (NCCR) Trade Regulation, hosted at the World Trade Institute. The book is based upon her PhD admitted by the Faculty of Law, University of Bern, in 2007. She was able to combine her work with practical experience working with Oxfam. It was truly enriching to work with her. Thomas Cottier Bern, February 2009

Acknowledgements

This book is based on the inaugural dissertation ‘The Challenge of Child Labour in International Law: Instruments, Implementation and the Effectiveness of Trade-Related Measures’ to obtain the degree of a Doctor in Law by the Faculty of Law of the University of Berne. The Faculty has approved this thesis as a dissertation on basis of the application of the two examiners Prof. Thomas Cottier and Prof. Christine Kaufmann without giving a judgement on the opinion expressed in the thesis. I am particularly thankful to Thomas Cottier and Christine Kaufmann for their support and useful comments. I have greatly benefited from discussions with Katja Gehne, Elisabeth Tuerk, Andreas Bluethner, Lisa Buergi, Christian Tietje, Lorand Bartels, Jonell Goco, Martin Michaelis, Simon Walker, Steven Oates, Caroline Dommen and Gabrielle Marceau. I am also grateful to my parents for their support. Franziska Humbert May 2009

xvii

Introduction

A. TRADE MEASURES ON CHILD LABOUR This study examines whether the prohibition of child labour in international law should be imposed through trade measures. It explores the status of child labour in international law and asks whether the existing legal framework should be complemented by trade measures.1 It seeks to define an appropriate framework in international law.

I. The problem of child labour and the international community The problem of child labour has existed for a long time. Whilst it was prevalent in Europe during the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century, it still exists on a large scale in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. From the end of the 1980s, the international community has increasingly recognised the need for action. Starting with the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989, followed by the World Summit for Children in 1990,2 the adoption of various soft law instruments such as the Programme of Action for the Elimination of the Exploitation of Child Labour3 and the United Nations (UN) Special Session of the General Assembly in 2002,4 1 2

3

4

The case law, as well as scholarly writing up to 30 September 2008, is considered. Cf. UN General Assembly, Progress on Implementation of the World Declaration and Plan of Action from the World Summit for Children, Report of the Secretary General, 22 July 1998 A/53/186. UN Commission on Human Rights, Programme of Action for the Elimination of the Exploitation of Child Labour, forty-ninth session, 10 March 1993, E/CN.4/1993/79. Cf. UN General Assembly, A World Fit for Children, Preparatory Committee for the Special Session of the General Assembly on Children, third substantive session, 7 June 2001, A/AC.256/CRP/Rev.3 (Part I).

1

2

introduction

the UN undertook various efforts to promote the rights of children, including addressing the problem of child labour. Likewise, in 1998, in an effort to take up the challenges of globalisation, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work,5 which referred inter alia to the effective abolition of child labour, and, in 1999, the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. In addition, the ILO considerably increased its International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC).6 As well as efforts undertaken by ILO and UN bodies, various trade measures have increasingly been introduced since the 1990s to solve the problem of child labour. Examples are the proposed US Harkin Bill banning goods made with child labour7 or private sector action such as the adoption of codes of conduct by transnational corporations in response to criticism by civil society and exposure in the media.8 Also, at an international level, there have been efforts to link trade and labour standards. The linkage of trade and child labour is thus worth exploring.

II. The trade and labour linkage The trade and labour debate is not new. Already during the Industrial Revolution in Europe in the nineteenth century, there were concerns that trade pressures would hinder the adoption of domestic laws for the elimination of child labour.9 Most importantly, the ILO Constitution as established by the Treaty of Versailles states in its Preamble:

5

6

7

8

9

ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, International Labour Conference, eighty-sixth session (Geneva: International Labour Office, 1998). As of 2005, IPEC was operating in eighty-six countries, ILO, The End of Child Labour: Within Reach, Global Report under the Follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (Geneva: International Labour Office, 2006), para. 118. The Child Labour Deterrence Act was introduced various times, for the first time in 1992 by Senator Harkin, see Harkin, Child Labour Deterrence Act of 1999, Senate 1551–106th Congress. UNCTAD, World Investment Report 1999, Foreign Direct Investment and the Challenge of Development (Geneva: United Nations, 1999), p. 363; The apparel industry especially has received much criticism for substandard working conditions in Asian supplier factories, e.g. Nike, adidas or Puma, cf. Clean Clothes Campaign, S. Poos, Sialkot, Pakistan, The Football Industry From Child Labour to Workers’ Rights, November 1999, www.cleanclothes.org/ publications/child_labour.htm, p. 1. V. A. Leary, ‘Workers’ Rights and International Trade: The Social Clause (GATT, ILO, NAFTA, US Laws)’ in J. N. Bhagwati and R. Hudec (eds.), Fair Trade and Harmonization, Prerequisites for Free Trade?, (Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 1996), vol. 2, pp. 177–229, p. 183.

trade measures on child labour

3

. . . Whereas also the failure of any nation to adopt humane conditions of labour is an obstacle in the way of other nations which desire to improve the conditions in their own countries; . . .10

While unfair competitive advantages resulting from low labour standards were apparently in the minds of the drafters, human dignity was the underlying principle.11 The Declaration of Philadelphia of 1944 reaffirmed the fundamental principles of the ILO and broadened its mandate stating inter alia that labour is not a commodity, that poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere, and that the ILO will address the social implications of economic and financial policies and fully cooperate with international bodies promoting a high and steady volume of international trade.12 It thus foresaw the necessity of linking economic and financial policies and measures with the fundamental objective of social justice.13 Another example of the trade and labour link is the 1948 Havana Charter providing for the establishment of the International Trade Organization, which did not enter into force. One of the purposes of the Charter was: (6) To facilitate, through consultation and cooperation, the solution of problems relating to international trade, employment, economic development, commercial policy, business practices, and commodity policy.

Art. 7 of Chapter II on Employment and Economic Activity reads: 1.

10

11

12

13

The Members recognize that measures relating to employment must take fully into account the rights of workers under intergovernmental declarations, conventions and agreements. They recognize that all countries have a common interest in the achievement and maintenance of fair labour standards related to productivity, and thus in the

ILO, Part XIII (Labour) of the Treaty of Versailles of 28 June 1919, Section I (Geneva: International Labour Office). T. Cottier, A. Caplazi, ‘Labour Standards and World Trade Law: Interfacing Legitimate Concerns’ in T. Geiser, H. Schmid, E. Walter-Busch (eds.), Arbeit in der Schweiz des 20. Jahrhunderts (Berne/Stuttgart: Verlag Paul Haupt, 1998), pp. 469–507, p. 474; E. Lee, ‘Globalization and Labour Standards: A Review of Issues’, International Labour Review, 136 (2) (1997), 173–89, 174. ILO, Declaration adopted by the Conference, Appendix XIII, Record of Proceedings, International Labour Conference, twenty-sixth session, Philadelphia, Montreal, 1944, p. 621 et seq.; E. Lee, ‘The Declaration of Philadelphia: Retrospect and Prospect’, International Labour Review, 133 (4) (1994), 467–84, 478. M. Hansenne, ‘The Declaration of Philadelphia’, Labour Law Journal, 45 (8) (1994), 454–60, 458.

4

introduction improvement of wages and working conditions as productivity may permit. The Members recognize that unfair labour conditions, particularly in production for export, create difficulties in international trade, and, accordingly, each Member shall take whatever action may be appropriate and feasible to eliminate such conditions within its territory. 2. Members which are also members of the International Labour Organization shall cooperate with that organization in giving effect to this undertaking. 3. In all matters relating to labour standards that may be referred to the Organization in accordance with Articles 94 or 95, it shall consult and cooperate with the International Labour Organization.14

Thus, the drafters of the Havana Charter also recognised the interaction between trade and labour. The main concern was however not humane conditions but that low labour standards could be an obstacle to international trade. As indicated above, there are also more recent examples of the trade and labour linkage.

1. The current state of affairs Recent examples are so-called ‘social clauses’ in trade incentive regimes and in an increasing number of regional and bilateral trade agreements. For the purpose of this work, the term ‘social clause’ is broadly defined and refers to any linkage of trade rules and rules relating to labour standards in one international agreement.15 However, on the global level, efforts to link trade and labour so far have failed. When the trade and labour debate restarted in the mid 1990s in the context of the Copenhagen Social Summit, the issue of a trade and labour linkage was firmly rejected and led to the creation of the Working Party of the Social Dimensions of the Liberalization of International Trade.16 An agreement was also reached that the ILO supervisory 14

15

16

Article 7 of the Havana Charter, Final Act and Related Documents, UNCTAD, Interim Commission for the International Trade Organization, Havana, 1948, E/Conf.2/78. See also G. van Liemt, ‘Minimum Labour Standards and International Trade: Would a Social Clause Work?’, International Labour Review, 128 (4) (1989), 433–48, 434 who defines a social clause as a clause that ‘aims at improving labour conditions in exporting countries by allowing sanctions to be taken against exporters who fail to observe minimum standards. A typical social clause in an international trade agreement makes it possible to restrict or halt the importation or preferential importation of products originating in countries, industries or firms where labour conditions are inferior to certain minimum standards.’ Cf. M. Hansenne, Globalization, Liberalization and Social Justice: Challenges for the International Community, 28 October 1998, http://ilo.law.cornell.edu/public/english/bureau/dgo/

trade measures on child labour

5

system needed to be strengthened but that no fundamental reform or overhaul by the introduction of trade sanctions was required.17 Likewise, the introduction of an explicit multilateral social clause into the World Trade Organization (WTO) was rejected at the first Ministerial Conference of the WTO held in Singapore. Proposed by Michael Hansenne, former Director-General of the ILO, in the conference and strongly supported by the US, it was opposed by a substantial number of developing countries and the UK.18 On the general issue of linkage between trade and labour standards, a compromise was reached in the final Ministerial Declaration: We renew our commitment to the observance of internationally recognized labour standards. The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the competent body to set and deal with these standards, and we affirm our support for its work in promoting them. We believe that economic growth and development fostered by increased trade and further trade liberalization contribute to the promotion of these standards. We reject the use of labour standards for protectionist purposes, and agree that the comparative advantage of countries, particularly low-wage developing countries, must in no way be put in question. In this regard, we note that the WTO and ILO secretariat will continue their existing collaboration.19

Whilst it is noteworthy that labour standards are mentioned in an official WTO document, there was no further progress, for example by establishing a WTO Committee on trade and labour.20 This might be due to the strong opposition of developing countries to an explicit social clause and further initiatives in that direction.21 The main reason for this reluctance is the fear of disguised protectionism: a social clause only aims to take away the comparative advantages of developing countries and to weaken their competitiveness.22 The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work from 1998 reiterated that labour standards should not be used for

17 18

19 20

21 22

speeches/hansenne/1998/wash.htm; see also H. Bartolomei de la Cruz, G. von Potobosky, L. Swepston, The International Labour Organization, The International Standards System and Basic Human Rights (Oxford: Westview Press, 1996), p. 123. Bartolomei de la Cruz, von Potobosky, Swepston, The International Labour Organization, p. 123. V. A. Leary, ‘The WTO and the Social Clause: Post-Singapore’, European Journal of International Law, 8 (1) (1997), 118–22, 119; See also statements in favour and contra the incorporation of core labour rights into the WTO at the Third Ministerial Conference in Seattle, GG.277/WP/SDL/2(Add.1). WTO, Singapore, Ministerial Declaration, 13 December 1996, WT/MIN(96)/DEC/W, para. 4. Leary, ‘Post-Singapore’, 119; Cottier, Caplazi, ‘Labour Standards and World Trade Law’, p. 480. Lee, ‘Globalization and Labour Standards’, 177. Cottier, Caplazi, ‘Labour Standards and World Trade Law’, p. 487.

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introduction

protectionist purposes.23 However, the recent ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization adopted in June 2008 constitutes a shift in the debate, stating that the violation of fundamental principles and rights at work cannot be invoked or otherwise used as a legitimate comparative advantage and that labour standards should not be used for protectionist trade purposes.24

Thus, increasing national economic growth should not take primacy over achieving the fulfilment of fundamental rights at work. Most importantly, the Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization highlights that the ILO has a key role to play in placing decent work at the centre of economic policies and invites other international organisations in related fields to contribute to the promotion of decent work.25 Hence, it is timely to explore the question of a trade and child labour linkage at the international level.

2. Different rationales for the linkage Although the most obvious reason why trade and labour should be linked in international law is that labour is the main component of production, there is an extensive debate in academia as to whether such linkage is indeed recommendable. One can distinguish four main approaches to the trade and labour debate.26 The following section will briefly outline the state of the debate, putting the rationale chosen in this work into context. a) The fair trade/free trade debate The first group of arguments focuses on the fair trade/free trade debate. As indicated above, the Preamble of the ILO Constitution and the Havana Charter suggest that the prevailing rationale for the adoption of social clauses to date has been fair competition.27 In a similar vein, advocates of a trade and labour linkage argue that ‘fair trade is free trade’s destiny’, 23 24

25

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Para. 5 of the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. ILO, Provisional Record 13 A/B, International Labour Conference, ninety-seventh session (Geneva: International Labour Office, 2008). Preamble, section I A and section II C of the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization. ¨ thner, Welthandel und For a detailed overview of the trade and labour debate see A. Blu Menschenrechte in der Arbeit, The Compatibility of Human Rights at Work with the WTO-System (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang GmbH/Europa ¨ischer Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2004), p. 32 et seq.; see also Cottier, Caplazi, ‘Labour Standards and World Trade Law’, p. 486 et seq. Whether this holds true for the more recent social clauses in regional and bilateral trade agreements will be examined during the course of this work.

trade measures on child labour

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and that there is no way for trade policy to be insulated from the political issues at stake including labour relations.28 It is held that the absence of a social clause is an unfair trade advantage.29 Brown, Deardoff and Stern, who argue that the case for the harmonisation of international labour standards is rather weak, exempt child labour, stating that, in this case, there are current allocations that are highly inadequate.30 Trade could therefore be considered to be ‘unfair’.31 Likewise, Bhagwati, who usually argues against social clauses, maintains that exploitative child labour should be prohibited on a global scale, although such a prohibition contained in a trade agreement would not be very effective.32 Many countries – mostly developing – often argue that divergent labour standards are just another comparative advantage.33 In their view, it would contradict the rationale of the WTO to make high labour standards a legal condition. They reject the incorporation of labour standards into trade agreements as disguised protectionism.34 Whether fair competition indeed requires the inclusion of labour standards into a trade agreement from an economic point of view is however subject to much debate.35 While it is obvious that labour standards have an impact on the competitiveness of economic players, the precise effect of labour standards on terms of trade is not clear in economic theory.

28

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31 32 33

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B. A. Langille, ‘General Reflections on the Relationship of Trade and Labour (Or: Fair Trade is Free Trade’s Destiny)’ in J. Bhagwati, R. Hudec (eds.), Fair Trade and Harmonization, Prerequisites for Free Trade?, 2 vols. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996), vol. II, pp. 231–66, p. 236; see also Lee, ‘Globalization and Labour Standards’, 180. P. Waer, ‘Social Clauses in International Trade, The Debate in the European Union’, Journal of World Trade, 30 (1996), 25–42, 39; Leary, ‘Workers’ Rights and International Trade’, 178; D. Ehrenberg, ‘The Labour Link: Applying the International Trading System to Enforce Violations of Forced and Child Labour’, Yale Journal of International Law, 20 (1995), 361–416, 379; see also S. Charnovitz, ‘The World Trade and Social Issues’, Journal of World Trade, 28 (5) (1994), 17–33, 32–3. D. K. Brown, A. V. Deardoff, R. M. Stern, ‘International Labour Standards and Trade: A Theoretical Analysis’ in J. N. Bhagwati, R. Hudec (eds.), Fair Trade and Harmonization, Prerequisites for Free Trade?, vol. 1 (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996), pp. 227–79, p. 270. Ibid. Interview with J. N. Bhagwati in Die Zeit, 23 November 2006. See for example statements of ministers made at the Third Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Seattle, GB.277/WP/SDL/2(Add.1). Singapore Ministerial Declaration, WT/MIN (96) /DEC, adopted on 13 December 1996; see also references in E. de Wet, ‘Labour Standards in the Globalized Economy: The Inclusion of a Social Clause in the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade/World Trade Organization’, Human Rights Quarterly, 17 (1995), 443–62, 449. For an overview of the debate see Lee, ‘Globalization and Labour Standards’, 176 et seq.

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introduction

The well-known Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study on the interaction of trade and labour found: The view which argues that low-standards’ countries will enjoy gains in export market shares to the detriment of high standards’ countries appears to lack solid empirical support.36

It also found: Moreover on average, the price of US imports of textile products does not appear to be associated with the degree of enforcement of child labour standards in exporting countries.37

On the other hand, according to estimates from 2001, manufacturing costs per worker could be reduced by US $6000 per year in economies where both freedom of association and child labour are not well protected.38 b) The race to the bottom Another line of reasoning invokes a ‘race to the bottom’ scenario.39 Advocates of a social clause hold that the globalisation of production and the growing mobility of capital will reduce standards in higherstandard countries.40 Governments indeed often choose to suspend or modify labour laws inside so-called export processing zones (EPZs) in order to attract investment and to raise export competitiveness.41 36

37 38

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40

41

OECD, Trade, Employment and Labour Standards: A Study of Core Workers’ Rights and International Trade (Paris: OECD, 1996), p. 105; C. Pearson, ‘Labour Standards’ in P. F. J. Marcory, A. E. Appleton, M. G. Plummer (eds.), The World Trade Organization, Legal, Economic and Political Analysis, (New York, NY: Springer, 2005), vol. 2, pp. 171–88, p. 181 with further references. OECD, Trade, Employment and Labour Standards, pp. 12–13. Economic Strategy Institute, P. Morici, E. Schulz, Labour Standards in the Global Trading System (Washington DC: Economic Strategy Institute, 2001), p. 7. See for example Economic Strategy Institute, Morici, Schulz, Labour Standards in the Global Trading System, p. 6 et seq.; ICFTU, Building Workers’ Human Rights into the Global Trading System, 1999, http://www.icftu.org/www/english/els/escl99BWRGTS.pdf, p. 47; for a critical analysis of this argument see also Pearson, ‘Labour Standards’, p. 181 et seq.; Langille, ‘General Reflections on the Relationship of Trade and Labour’, p. 254 et seq. Economic Strategy Institute, Morici, Schulz, Labour Standards in the Global Trading System, p. 6 et seq.; Without explicitly mentioning the term ‘race to the bottom’, Hansenne, ‘The Declaration of Philadelphia’, 458 underlines the need to improve labour standards worldwide because of the increasing globalisation; see also Langille, ‘General Reflections on the Relationship of Trade and Labour’, p. 254. K. E. Maskus, ‘Should Labour Standards Be Imposed Through International Trade Policy’, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, 1997, 10; ICFTU, S. Perman, Behind the Brand Names, Working Conditions and Labour Rights in Export Processing Zones, 2004, www.icftu.org/ www/PDF/EPZreportE.pdf, p. 5 et seq.

trade measures on child labour

9

The chronic unemployment in Germany is often deemed to be caused by the relocation of German companies to places like China where wages are lower. A multilateral social clause is therefore needed to provide a ‘level playing field’.42 It is argued that markets cannot decide on their own on the regulatory optimum and that social clauses are justified if based on minimum standards and multilateral negotiations.43 The ILO addressed the problem of a ‘beggar-thy-neighbour’ policy in its 1998 report on child labour, recommending a joint solution by all countries involved.44 On the other hand, it is held that the likelihood that inadequate labour standards in developing countries place downward pressure on wages in developed countries is small.45 Arguably technological change is a much larger factor than third-world competition in the growth of low-wage work in the US.46 In particular, in relation to child labour, it has been estimated that changes of trade flows after child labour has been eliminated or reduced by 50 per cent are so marginal that effects on relative wages are too small to be observable.47 Finally, while multinational enterprises in labour-intensive sectors may invest inter alia on the basis of low wages, there is little systematic evidence that these incentives are markedly enhanced by poor labour standards.48

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

S. Charnovitz, ‘The Influence of International Labour Standards on the World Trading Regime, A Historical Overview’, International Labour Review, 126 (5) (1987), 565–84, 581. C. Scherrer, ‘The Pros and Cons of International Labour Standards’ in N. Malanowski ¨ nster: (ed.), Social and Environmental Standards in International Trade Agreements (Mu Westfa ¨lisches Dampfboot, 1997), pp. 32–44, p. 41. ILO, Child Labour, Targeting the Intolerable, Report VI (1), International Labour Conference, eighty-sixth session (Geneva: International Labour Office, 1998), p. 19 et seq. Maskus, ‘Should Labour Standards Be Imposed Through International Trade Policy’, 49. For a rejection of the ‘race to the bottom’ argument see also B. A. Langille, ‘Eight Ways to Think about International Labour Standards’, Journal of World Trade, 31 (4), 27–53, 38. T. N. Srinivasan, ‘International Trade and Labour Standards from an Economic Perspective’ in P. van Dijck, G. Faber (eds.), Challenges to the New World Trade Organization (The Hague/London/Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1996), pp. 219–43, p. 239. A. Flasbarth, M. Lips, Effects of a Humanitarian WTO Social Clause on Welfare and North–South Trade Flows, Discussion paper no. 2003–03 (University of St. Gallen, 2003), p. 25. Maskus, ‘Should Labour Standards Be Imposed Through International Trade Policy’, 46. It should however be noted that this might be different in the case of child labour since child labour has a direct bearing on wages.

10

introduction

c) Human rights arguments/Coherence in international law A third rationale for linking trade with labour standards is based on human rights arguments.49 As mentioned above, the ILO already recognised human dignity as the underlying rationale for linking trade and labour. Human rights arguments may well be a solution for advocates of a social clause faced with a growing amount of counter-arguments raised by trade economists. It is argued: . . . the most obvious and compelling normative basis for insisting on compliance with minimum welfare may have little relation to economic welfare; this is particularly true in the case of universal human rights . . . Human rights are frequently and increasingly regarded as inalienable rights . . .50

It has been pointed out that WTO law has to be applied in accordance with the international law on child labour, suggesting that the most exploitative examples form part of ius cogens.51 The human rights argument is thus closely connected with the issue of coherence in international law. These arguments highlight the link of trade and labour to the trade and human rights debate, which has increasingly been at the centre of academic debate on public international law.52 d) Effectiveness arguments/Trade measures for human rights Finally, another main approach to the trade and labour debate is based on the idea that the current human rights system is inadequate to prevent human rights violations and that therefore an economics based system is needed to achieve effective enforcement.53 Some scientists have calculated that a tariff increase of 50 per cent would yield sufficient 49

50

51 52

53

Langille, ‘Eight Ways to Think about International Labour Standards’, 34 et seq.; J. Diller, D. Levy, ‘Child Labour, Trade and Investment: Toward the Harmonization of International Law’, The American Journal of International Law, 91 (1997), 663–96, 677 et seq.; see also Lee, ‘Globalization and Labour Standards’, 186 who argues that there is a strong moral case for observing human rights, which cannot be overridden by economic considerations. R. Howse, M. J. Trebilcock, ‘The Fair Trade/Free Trade Debate: Trade, Labour, and the Environment’, International Review of Law and Economics, 16 (1996), 65. Diller, Levy, ‘Child Labour, Trade and Investment’, 664 and 678 et seq. See for example the articles by various legal scholars in T. Cottier, J. Pauwelyn, ¨ rgi, (eds.), Human Rights and International Trade (Oxford University Press, 2005); and E. Bu F. Abbott, C. Breining-Kaufmann, T. Cottier (eds.), International Trade and Human Rights, Foundations and Conceptual Issues (Ann Arbor: University Press of Michigan, 2006); G. Marceau, ‘WTO Dispute Settlement and Human Rights’, European Journal of International Law, 13 (2000), 753–814. Ehrenberg, ‘The Labour Link’, 377; similarly de Wet, ‘Labour Standards in the Globalized Economy’, 455.

contents

11

incentives for a significant number of violating countries to improve enforcement of core labour standards substantially.54

3. Trade measures on child labour This work explores the human rights and effectiveness approach, asking whether the problem of child labour may be helped by taking recourse to trade measures. Arguments relating to coherence in international law will also be taken up. The question is whether and how trade measures should complement the existing international system for the protection of children from economic exploitation. The broader question would be whether and to what extent trade rules should be employed for the promotion and protection of human rights. The work thus attempts to make a contribution to both the trade and labour discussion and the perhaps broader debate on trade and human rights.

B. CONTENTS The work is divided into five chapters. The first chapter will explore the problem of child labour, presenting the facts of child labour and strategies for combating it. The second chapter examines the content and scope of international child labour law, including whether the prohibition of child labour in international law forms part of customary law and ius cogens. The third chapter undertakes a stocktake of the UN and ILO implementation systems. It asks how UN and ILO norms regarding child labour are enforced with a view to whether they should be complemented by a new legal framework providing for the imposition of trade measures. The fourth chapter examines the effectiveness of existing trade measures, including social clauses in trade agreements, trade incentive regimes and unilateral legislation providing for trade measures as well as private sector action aimed at the eradication of child labour. The part on private sector action also refers to voluntary international standards. The analysis focuses on whether a trade and labour linkage is recommendable and what lessons can be learned for future social clauses. Chapter V concludes by making recommendations for a future multilateral social clause at a global level de lege ferenda. 54

Flasbarth, Lips, Effects of a Humanitarian WTO Social Clause on Welfare and North–South Trade Flows, p. 25.

12

introduction

C. SOME DEFINITIONS I.

Trade sanctions and trade measures

Since the concept of trade sanctions and trade measures is central to this study, some characteristics of both concepts ought to be highlighted at this point. The term ‘trade sanctions’ is often used interchangeably with the term ‘trade measures’. Since the term ‘trade sanctions’ is not defined by positive law, each author is in principle free to give the definition of his or her choice.55 However, trade sanctions are commonly understood as being possible consequences or reactions by states in response to violations of rules of public international law.56 More specifically, they are referred to as measures taken in response to a violation of public international law resulting in a less favourable position for the violating state in order to coerce this state into putting an end to the continuing situation resulting from its initial action.57 Trade sanctions thus have a more restricted scope than trade measures, which also refer to acts by private parties. It should also be pointed out that, according to this definition, trade sanctions target specific states while the broader term of trade measures encompasses all types of measures against all types of bodies. In addition, there seems to be a prevailing view among legal scholars that sanctions only refer to reactions put into practice by international organisations against one of their members.58 Economic sanctions under Art. 41 of the UN Charter are a typical example.59 Unilateral reactions by states however come within the definition of countermeasures.60 The term ‘trade measures’ encompasses both unilateral state measures as well as reactions put into practice by international organisations. For the purpose of this work, the term ‘trade sanctions’ will be used in its narrow sense. 55

56

57 58 59

60

J. Combacau, ‘Sanctions’ in Rudolf Bernhardt (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Public International Law (Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B. V., 2000), vol. IV, pp. 311–15. Cf. for example ibid. 311; J. A. Frowein, ‘Reactions by Not Directly Affected States to Breaches of Public International Law’, Recueil des Cours, 248 (30) (1994), 349–437, 416 et seq.; M. Schro ¨der, ‘Sanktionen’ in W. Graf Vitzhum (ed.), Vo¨lkerrecht, third edition (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2004), pp. 582–8, para. 103. Combacau, ‘Sanctions’, pp. 313–14, Schro ¨der, ‘Sanktionen’, para. 103. Combacau, ‘Sanctions’, p. 314 with further references; Schro ¨der, ‘Sanktionen’, para. 103. Cf. Combacau, ‘Sanctions’, p. 314; M. Kulessa, ‘Sanctions’ in H. Volger (ed.), A Concise Encyclopaedia of the United Nations (The Hague/London/Boston: Kluwer Law International, 2002), pp. 476–81, p. 477. Combacau, ‘Sanctions’, p. 315.

some definitions

13

II. Effectiveness Since the question of what measures under what regime are effective in combating child labour is central to this study, the term ‘effective’ shall be briefly defined here. The Longman Dictionary defines ‘effective’ as producing a decided, decisive or desired effect.61

Relating to synonyms, it reads: . . . effectual, efficient, efficacious, all mean ‘capable of producing result’ . . . effective stresses the ability to produce an effect or its actual production .62

Accordingly, trade or non-trade measures are effective if they are capable of contributing to the eradication of child labour. In light of the importance of the eradication of child labour, for the purpose of this work ‘capable of producing result’ shall mean capable of producing measurable outcomes within a reasonable period. In accordance with timeframes for revision of international trade regimes such as the Generalized Systems of Preferences (GSP) or the Cotonou Agreement, which are revised every four or five years,63 a reasonable period to determine effectiveness is approximately four or five years. Having said that, because of the problem of impact assessment, when analysing whether trade or non-trade regimes are ‘capable of producing results’, the focus should be on the characteristics and function of these systems.64 61

62 63 64

Longman Dictionary of the English Language, second edition (Haslow: Longman Group, 1991). Ibid. See below, p. 301 and p. 196. See below, p. 122.

1

The problem of child labour

A. INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the main facts about child labour. It starts by defining child labour, outlines its current forms, explores the statistics on child labourers worldwide and examines the causes of child labour. It concludes by developing possible strategies for combating child labour, taking into account the factors causing child labour.

B. DEFINING CHILD LABOUR I.

Introduction

It is part of the problem of child labour that to treat all work done by children as equally unacceptable means to confuse and trivialise the issue. Children do a variety of work in widely divergent conditions. But age limits differ from activity to activity and from country to country. Many societies, especially poor rural ones, do not necessarily view child work as ‘bad’, even at an age of eight or nine years.1 This is partly due to the fact that, in many societies, an apprentice of eight or nine years is not considered as a child.2 As Veerman puts it, ideas concerning the rights of children are dependent on the prevailing image of childhood, and when that image changes, the ideas about the rights of the child also change.3

1

2 3

C. Grootaert, R. Kanbur, ‘Child Labour, An Economic Perspective’, International Labour Review, 134 (1995), 188–203, 189; E. Ochaita, M. A. A. Espinosa, E. Calvo, ‘Child Work and Labour in Spain: A First Approach’, International Journal of Children’s Rights, 8 (2000), 15–33, 19. Grootaert, Kanbur, ‘Child Labour, An Economic Perspective’, 189. P. E. Veerman, ‘To What Extent did the Image of Childhood Change?’ in P. E. Veerman, The Rights of the Child and the Changing Image of Childhood (Dordrecht/Boston/London: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1992), pp. 3–12, p. 10.

14

defining child l abour

15

Therefore, to understand the problem of combating child labour one has to become aware of the relativity of the notions of ‘childhood’ and ‘child labour’, although the complete analysis of the complex relationships between the social and cultural context and children’s rights in different backgrounds is beyond the scope of this work.

II. Historical and cultural perspectives of childhood 1. Changing historical attitudes The first main author to consider the different images of childhood, Arie`s maintained that, in medieval times, the idea of childhood did not exist.4 Arie`s based his work mainly on the study of paintings from the Middle Ages and the fact that only in the sixteenth and seventeenth century did some moralists5 recognise the importance of schooling and education of children.6 Agreeing with Arie`s, many authors had and still have a linear view of the evolution of childhood from children regarded as ‘mini-adults’ to today’s perception of children as right-holders.7 The famous sentence of DeMause was: The history of childhood is a nightmare from which we have only recently begun to awaken. . . .8

There is a strong consensus that the social concept of childhood has changed greatly in recent years. Recognising the difference in the social status of the child, the twentieth century is generally called the ‘Century of the Child’ after the novel by Ellen Key with the same title.9

4

5

6 7

8 9

P. Arie`s, Geschichte der Kindheit (Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag, 1975), p. 92 et seq. and p. 209. ¨ ber die Erziehung der Kinder’ in Arthur Franz (ed.), See for example M. de Montaigne, ‘U Montaigne, Die Essais (Leipzig: Dieterich’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Erstes Buch, 1953), ´ducation des Filles’ pp. 82–105, p. 82 et seq.; F. de Salignac de la Mothe Fe´nelon, ‘De l’E in J. Le Brun (ed.), Fe´nelon, Œuvres (Paris: Gallimard, 1983), pp. 91–171. Arie`s, Geschichte der Kindheit, p. 92 et seq. E. Verhellen, Convention on the Rights of the Child: Background, Motivation, Strategies, Main Themes, second edition (Leuven, Apeldoorn: E. Verhallen and Garant Publishers N.V., 1997), p. 12; D. Richter, Das fremde Kind, Zur Entstehung der Kindheitsbilder des bu ¨rgerlichen Zeitalters (Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag, 1987), p. 20; L. DeMause, ‘The Evolution of Childhood’ in L. DeMause (ed.), The History of Childhood, The Untold Story of Child Abuse (London: Bellew Publishing, 1996), pp. 1–74; P. Alston, ‘Children, International Protection’ in R. Bernhardt (ed.) Encyclopaedia of Public International Law, (Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B. V., 1986), vol. I, pp. 573–4, p. 574. L. DeMause, ‘The Evolution of Childhood’, p. 1. L. Dasberg, ‘What is a Child and What are its Rights?’ in E. Verhellen, F. Spiesschaert (eds.), Ombudswork for Children, A Way of Improving the Position of Children in Society

16

the problem of child l abour

The new social concept of childhood as a period of life devoted to education and growth and not to work appeared as a formal definition as early as 1919 in ILO Convention No. 5 – Minimum Age (Industry).10 This social position of children has manifested itself within the framework of the new international legislation concerning children. The principle of special protection of the child is enshrined in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1959. The new concept of the child is best expressed in Art. 3 of the Convention: In all actions concerning children, . . . the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. . . .

Thus, the child is now considered as a subject rather than an object of rights and duties.

2. Diverging cultural attitudes However, the concept of childhood contained in the CRC is still not truly universal. The Preamble of the Convention acknowledges that due account should be taken of the importance of traditions and cultural values. By linking the international definition of childhood to the national law on majority, the CRC attempts to accommodate the existing cultural and religious diversities reflected in different national age limits. In contrast to the common approach of the ‘Western world’ and the international legal instruments, in many African communities childhood is not perceived and conceptualised in terms of age but in terms of intergenerational obligations of support and reciprocity to parents and elders.11 However, childhood in its narrower sense of maturity can be separated from adulthood. The attainment of adulthood is conceived as a gradual process often marked by initiation ceremonies and culminating in marriages.12 Another constant feature that distinguishes childhood

10 11

12

(Leuven: Amersfoort, Acco, 1989), pp. 35–46, p. 39; Verhellen, Convention on the Rights of the Child, p. 15. Art. 2 of ILO Convention No. 5. W. Ncube, ‘The African Cultural Fingerprint? The Changing Concept of Childhood’ in W. Ncube (ed.), Law, Culture, Tradition and Children’s Rights in Eastern and Southern Africa (Aldershot/Brookfield: Dartmouth/Ashgate Publishing Company Ltd. 1998), pp. 11–27, p. 18. Ibid., p. 20; cf. also P. Letuka, ‘The Best Interests of the Child and Child Labour in Lesotho’ in W. Ncube (ed.), Law, Culture, Tradition and Children’s Rights in Eastern and Southern Africa

defining child l abour

17

from adulthood is perceived incompetence.13 Hence, different but equally fundamental considerations apply to the end of childhood. Since there is no truly universal definition of childhood, there is no consensus on which rights are to be attached to the status of childhood and what forms of child labour should be abolished.14 As will be examined below, these cultural diversities concerning the concept of childhood contribute to the widespread acceptance of child labour.

III. The concept of child labour The concept of labour is equally problematic to apply to the many activities done by children. There is a growing consensus that not all those activities are equally intolerable. Black’s Law Dictionary15 defines labour as follows: Work; toil; service; mental or physical exertion. Term normally refers to work for wages as opposed to profits; though the word is sometimes construed to mean service rendered or part played in production of wealth . . .

The Longman Dictionary says that ‘to labour’ means: to exert one’s powers of body or mind, esp. with painful or strenuous effort; work; strive; to move with great effort . . .16

This definition implies that labour cannot be equated with every type of work. The terms ‘toil’, ‘exertion’ and ‘painful and strenuous effort’ demonstrate that the term ‘labour’ refers usually to hard or even harmful work. The term ‘child labour’, which was coined in Britain during the nineteenth century, referred to child work that should be abolished.17 In this sense, the relevant international organisations such as the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)18 and the ILO19 as well as most of the legal

13

14

15

16 17 18

19

(Aldershot/Brookfield: Dartmouth/Ashgate Publishing Company Ltd., 1998), pp. 203–23, pp. 207–8. G. van Bueren, The International Law of the Rights of the Child (Dordrecht/Boston/London: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1995), p. 38; Ncube, ‘The African Cultural Fingerprint?’, p. 16. W. E. Myers, ‘The Right Rights? Child Labour in a Globalizing World’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 575 (2001), 38–55, 41. H. C. Black, Black’s Law Dictionary with Pronunciations, fifth edition (St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company, 1979). Longman Dictionary of the English Language. UNICEF, End Child Exploitation, Child Labour Today (UK: UNICEF, 2005), p. 7. UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 1997, Report of the Executive Director (Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 24. ILO, Child Labour, Targeting the Intolerable, p. 4.

18

the problem of child l abour

writers20 speak of a continuum that embraces at one end work that is beneficial, promoting or enhancing a child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development without interfering with schooling, recreation and rest. At the other end, the work is exploitative including as most obvious examples child prostitution and bonded child labour. Between the two poles, much child labour falls into a grey area. Thus, the question is what elements constitute universally intolerable child labour. In order to have a more or less precise and workable definition, UNICEF classifies child labour as intolerable and exploitative in contrast to beneficial work if it involves the following characteristics: It is carried out full-time at too early an age; too many hours are spent on working; it exerts undue physical, social or psychological stress; it includes work and life on the streets in bad conditions; inadequate pay; too much responsibility; it hampers access to education; it undermines children’s dignity and self-esteem, such as slavery or bonded labour and sexual exploitation; it is detrimental to full social and psychological development.21

According to the ILO,22 which classifies all intolerable child work as child labour, child labour is a form of denial of the right to education and of the opportunity to reach full physical and psychological development. Hence, the key factor for both organisations in determining child labour – or exploitative child labour according to UNICEF – is the impact on the child’s development. Child labour may endanger the child’s development physically – including overall health, coordination, strength, vision and hearing; in its cognitive context – including literacy, numeracy and the acquisition of knowledge necessary to normal life; and emotionally – including self-esteem, family attachment and feelings of love and acceptance. According to the Global Report under the Follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the ILO furthermore distinguishes between the following categories of child labour:
Labour that is performed by a child who is under the minimum age specified for that kind of work (as defined by national legislation, in accordance with accepted international standards), and that is thus likely to impede the child’s education and full development; 20

21 22

D. M. Smolin, ‘Conflict and Ideology in the International Campaign against Child Labour’, Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal, 16 (1999), 383–451, 394 et seq.; M. Bonnet, ‘Child Labour in Africa’, International Labour Review, 132 (3) (1993), 371–89, 376; Ochaita, Espinosa, Calvo, ‘Child Work and Labour in Spain’, 19. UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 1997, p. 24. ILO, Child Labour, Targeting the Intolerable, p. 8.

forms of child labour

19


Labour that jeopardizes the physical, mental or moral well-being of a child, either because of its nature or because of the conditions in which it is carried out, known as hazardous work; and
Unconditional worst forms of child labour, which are internationally defined as slavery, trafficking, debt bondage and other forms of forced labour, forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict, prostitution and pornography, and illicit action.23

These forms of child work are different from cases where children are engaged in any type of economic activity such as light work or work for a short period of time.24 For the purpose of this work, the term ‘exploitative child labour’ or ‘child labour’ shall be employed interchangeably for intolerable forms of child work. In contrast, the term ‘child work’ includes any type of economic activity. The ILO defines light work as work that is not hazardous in nature and that does not exceed fourteen hours per week.25

C. FORMS OF CHILD LABOUR According to the ILO/UNICEF,26 there are today eight main types of exploitative child labour: hazardous working conditions, domestic service, street children, child labour in the informal economy, child slavery, trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, children in armed conflicts and illicit activities. The last four of these are considered by the ILO to be the unconditional worst forms of child labour.

I.

Hazardous working conditions

The effects of hazardous working conditions on children’s health and development can be immense. For example in small-scale mining, the health of the child is endangered by deep and poorly reinforced pits, poor ventilation, excessive noise, vibrations from machines, excessive heat or cold, awkward positions and extremely arduous work.27 23

24 25

26

27

ILO, A Future without Child Labour, Global Report under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (Geneva: International Labour Office, 2002), p. 9. Ibid., p. 16. ILO/IPEC/SIMPOC, Every Child Counts, New Global Estimates on Child Labour (Geneva: International Labour Office, 2002), p. 32. ILO, Targeting the Intolerable: A New International Convention to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labour, Leaflet (Geneva: International Labour Office, 1999); ILO, Child Labour, Targeting the Intolerable, p. 9 et seq.; ILO, A Future without Child Labour, p. 22 et seq.; UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 1997, p. 32; UNICEF, End Child Exploitation, p. 25 et seq. ILO, Targeting the Intolerable, Children in Mines and Quarries.

20

the problem of child l abour

Children are involved in manufacturing for export such as carpetweaving, soccer ball stitching and clothing production.28 Production processes such as leather tanning and brassware production are extremely hazardous because of the toxic products used.29 Incense stick production in India and Pakistan causes upper respiratory tract problems.30 Children are also engaged in construction-related activities and industries such as cement-mixing, fixing of windows and pipes, painting, electrification and, in particular, brick-making.31 The work is extremely hazardous because conditions are usually unsafe and unsanitary. Mining sometimes involves debt bondage (e.g. gold mining in Peru).32 Also in Peru, many young mineworkers show mercury contamination in their blood and hair.33 Occupational health and safety experts consider agriculture to be among the most dangerous of occupations.34 Children not only face work that is too heavy for young bodies and cuts from sharpened tools but also hazards from the use of toxic chemicals and motorised equipment without safety precautions.35 In the US, the highest number of occupational fatalities for youth under eighteen occur in agriculture, accounting for 42.7 per cent of all fatalities in that age range.36 In the hotel, catering and tourism industry, children might be pulled into prostitution.37 In Kenya, for example, children’s work in tourism includes selling crafts, food and other items, entertainment, beach work and prostitution.38

II. Domestic service Children in domestic service are among the most exploited of all. Many of them work in almost total isolation for up to fifteen hours per day, frequently unpaid.39 They are often subjected to physical, emotional and sexual abuse. 28 29 30 31 32 33

34 35 36 37 38 39

ILO, A Future without Child Labour, p. 28. Ibid. Ibid. ILO, Targeting the Intolerable, Child Labour in Construction and Brick-making. Ibid. ILO/IPEC, Eliminating Child Labour in Mining and Quarrying, Background Document, World Day Against Child Labour 2005 (Geneva: International Labour Office, 2005), p. 11. ILO, Targeting the Intolerable, Child Labour in Agriculture. Ibid. ILO, A Future without Child Labour, p. 26. Ibid., p. 29. Ibid. ILO, Targeting the Intolerable, Domestic Service.

forms of child labour

21

III. Street children Children living and working on the street are typically involved in the following activities: vending food and small consumer goods, shining shoes, washing windscreens, repairing tyres, scavenging and ragpicking, begging and portering.40 The hazards of their work stem from both the work itself and more importantly from the environment, such as traffic, exhaust fumes, exposure to the elements, insecurity, harassment and violence.

IV. The informal economy Children working in the informal economy are not recognised or protected under the legal and regulatory frameworks.41 The informal economy is often closely linked to formal sector production. For example in manufacturing, the factory of a multinational or a national enterprise may contract out some production to small-scale family firms.42 Since most child labour occurs in this sector and is beyond the reach of most formal institutions, it represents one of the principal challenges of the effective abolition of child labour.

V. The unconditional worst forms of child labour According to the ILO, the unconditional worst forms of child labour include the following types of child labour:
forms of child labour such as sale and trafficking, debt bondage, serfdom and forced and compulsory labour;
forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;
commercial sexual exploitation of children;
children in illicit activities.43

1. Child slavery Slavery is a status, labour an activity. A practice similar to slavery, explicitly mentioned in the Supplementary Convention on Abolition of Slavery of 1956, is bonded labour in industries such as agriculture, carpet and textiles, quarrying and brick-making.44 One of the most common forms of bondage is family bondage where children work to 40 41 42 43 44

ILO, A Future without Child Labour, p. 27. Ibid., p. 22. Ibid. Ibid., p. 31 et seq. ILO, Targeting the Intolerable, Child Slavery.

22

the problem of child l abour

help pay off a loan incurred by his or her family.45 Usually the situation is manipulated in such a way by the creditor that it is impossible to pay back the loan. Bonded child labour also exists in domestic service.46 Debt bondage is increasingly associated with the trafficking of children for labour exploitation.47

2. Trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation Children are trafficked for prostitution, for begging and for soliciting, and for other types of child labour such as work on construction sites, in small shops, in factories and in domestic service.48 Child victims of commercial sexual exploitation suffer extreme physical, psychological and emotional abuse, which has life-threatening consequences.49

3. Children in armed conflicts Children are also used in armed conflicts and participate in rebel and guerrilla actions.50 The number of children under the age of eighteen who have been coerced or induced, either by state or by non-state military groups, to become child soldiers or to serve as porters, messengers, cooks and sex slaves is generally thought to be in the range of 300,000, with 120,000 of those in Africa alone in 2000.51

4. Children in illicit activities Children are involved in illicit activities such as producing and trafficking drugs, especially in countries with problems with the drug trade such as Colombia and Cambodia.52

D. STATISTICS: DISTRIBUTION OF CHILD LABOUR In 2000, 211 million children between five and fourteen years of age were estimated to be engaged in some form of economic activity, out of which 186 million were engaged in child labour to be abolished (including in its worst forms).53 Around 141 million children aged 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53

ILO, A Future without Child Labour, p. 32. Ibid. Ibid. ILO, Targeting the Intolerable, The Sale and Trafficking of Children. ILO, Child Labour, Targeting the Intolerable, p. 17. ILO, Targeting the Intolerable, Child Soldiers and the Use of Children in Armed Conflicts. ILO, A Future without Child Labour, p. 34; UNICEF, End Child Exploitation, p. 28. ILO, A Future without Child Labour, p. 36. Ibid., p. 16.

statistics: distribution of child labour

23

between fifteen and seventeen years were estimated to be engaged in economic activity, of which 59 million were engaged in child labour to be abolished (including in its worst forms). About 8.4 million children were involved in the unconditional worst forms of labour; most of them in forms of forced and bonded labour. In total, approximately 350 million children aged from five to seventeen were economically active and 245.5 million children were child labourers. On average, one child in every six between five and seventeen years old was a child labourer.54 The new estimates from 2004 suggest that 191 million children aged between five and fourteen years were engaged in some form of economic activity, out of which 166 million were child labourers and 74 million children were engaged in hazardous work.55 In the larger group of children aged five to seventeen, 317 million children were economically active.56 In this group, 218 million can be regarded as child labourers and 126 million children were engaged in hazardous work.57 Thus, there has been an overall decrease in child labour. The number of child labourers in both age groups (five to fourteen and five to seventeen) fell by 11 per cent.58 In the category of hazardous work, the decline amounts to 26 per cent for the group aged between five and seventeen and 33 per cent for those aged between five and fourteen. Taking into account the population rate, the numbers of child labourers have fallen from 16 per cent of the whole child population in 2000 to 13.9 per cent in 2004.59 According to the estimates made in 2000, at a regional level, in absolute terms, Asia had approximately 60 per cent of the world’s economically active children aged between five and fourteen, sub-Saharan Africa 23 per cent, the Middle East and North Africa 6 per cent, Latin America and the Caribbean 8 per cent, the transition economies 1 per cent and developed countries 1 per cent.60 Although there might have been a small change in numbers due to the decline of economically active children in Latin America and the Caribbean, the overall distribution of child labour with the highest number of child labourers in Asia remained the same.61 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61

Ibid., p. 20. ILO, The End of Child Labour: Within Reach, p. 6. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. ILO, A Future without Child Labour, p. 19. ILO, The End of Child Labour: Within Reach, p. 7; ILO/IPEC, IPEC Action against Child Labour 2004–2005: Progress and Future Priorities (Geneva: International Labour Office, 2006), p. 30.

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In 2000, taking account of the population rate, sub-Saharan Africa had the highest economic activity participation rate of 29 per cent of children aged five to fourteen.62 The corresponding rate in Asia was 19 per cent, in Latin America and the Caribbean 16 per cent, in developed countries 2 per cent and in transition economies 4 per cent.63 These numbers fell slightly in Asia to 18.8 per cent of the whole child population in this region being economically active in 2004 and to 26.4 per cent of children being economically active in sub-Saharan Africa.64 There was however a rapid decline to 5.1 per cent of the whole child population in Latin America and the Caribbean being economically active in 2004.65 Thus, although the different growth in child population might cause different activity rates, there is some reason to assume that the global reduction of child labour is mostly due to the decrease in child labour in Latin America and the Caribbean. As will be seen later, much of the decline occurred in the garment industry in Central America.66 As to the types of work done by children, 69 per cent of economically active children are assumed to work in agriculture.67 According to estimates made by UNICEF in 2005, only approximately 5 per cent of all child workers aged between five and fourteen are employed in export-sector industries.68 However, this still means that 9.55 million children are economically active in the export industry.69 Reliable data are however hard to find since children may still be employed in the informal economy and produce soccer balls at home or in factories set up for the World Cup 2006 for example.70 In India, it is estimated that approximately 100,000 children work in small carpet workshops, mostly in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.71 Child labour occurs in the cocoa-growing areas of West Africa for the global market,

62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69

70

71

ILO, A Future without Child Labour, p. 19. Ibid. ILO, The End of Child Labour: Within Reach, p. 8. Ibid., p. 7. See below, p. 350. ILO, The End of Child Labour: Within Reach, p. 8. UNICEF, End Child Exploitation, p. 24. This number is based on the estimate of 191 million economically active children aged between five and fourteen in 2004. K. Nickoleit, ‘Die anderen Fußballprofis’, Welt & Arbeit, Fu ¨r Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, special edition 1 (2006), 1. B. Manier, ‘India: Economic Boom Masks Widespread Child Labour’, Trade Union World, Briefing, 6 (2004), 1–3, 2.

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ˆte d’Ivoire.72 According to some recent especially in Ghana and Co estimates, there are still 300,000 children labouring in the cocoa industry of West Africa, of which 12,000 are caught up in bonded labour.73 The phenomenon of child labour in the export sector will be of importance when discussing the effectiveness of trade-related policy measures. Taking into account the size of the difference between the estimates of 2000 and 2004, there seems to have been a reduction, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. Therefore, in the following sections of the work, existing tools for combating child labour will be analysed in order to find out whether they are appropriate and sufficient or call for a new legal framework.

E. CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR In order to devise strategies for solving the problem of child labour, the roots of child labour have to be analysed. Explanations for the presence of child labour can be broadly grouped into supply-side and demand-side factors.

I. Supply-side factors 1. Slow demographic transition Slow demographic transition in some parts of the world contributes to a continued supply of children available for the labour market.74 In 1999, in the least developed countries, 49 per cent of the population were children. HIV/AIDS worsens the situation since it affects the most productive age groups of men and women the hardest.75 This creates pressure on these age groups so that children have to enter the workforce.

2. Migration Migration caused by natural disasters or armed conflicts increases children’s vulnerability and thereby makes it more probable that they will become victims of child labour.76 In addition, migration from the 72 73

74 75 76

Coffee and Cocoa International, ‘New Twists in Child Labour Dispute’, 4 (2005), 48–9. EarthLink e. V., Wo Kinder weltweit arbeiten’, Welt & Arbeit, Fu ¨r Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, special edition 1 (2006), 2. ILO, A Future without Child Labour, p. 51. Ibid. Ibid.

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poorer rural areas to the more prosperous rural or urban areas draws children into the labour market.77

3. Poverty Poverty is the main contributor to child labour.78 Poor households need the money that their children are able to earn. Since poor households spend the major part of their income on food, the income provided by working children is critical to their survival. Child labourers often have the role of risk management in the household.79 However, evidence shows that not all poor households have recourse to child labour.80 Most importantly, poverty does not necessarily cause child labour. For example Kerala in India, which is a poor state, has virtually abolished all child labour.81

4. The role of social protection Poverty is closely related to the role of social protection. In many societies, large parts of the population are involved in the informal economy and not covered by the public provision of social security.82 In this situation, children serve as social insurance for periods when sickness and ageing affect the older generations in the family.

5. Education The overall condition of the education system contributes to the supply of child labour.83 There are often discrepancies between the minimum age for employment and the end of compulsory schooling in national legislation.84 If the minimum age for employment is lower than the end of compulsory education, this leads to incredibility in government policies to achieve education for all. In most developing countries, education is underfunded. In Bangladesh, there is a severe deficiency 77

78

79 80 81 82 83 84

ILO/IPEC, S. Khair, Child Labour in Bangladesh, A Forward Looking Policy Study (Geneva: International Labour Office, 2005), p. 10. ILO, Child Labour, Targeting the Intolerable, p. 17; UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 1997, p. 27; M. Swaminathan, ‘Economic Growth and the Persistence of Child Labour: Evidence from an Indian City’, World Development, 20 (1998), 1513–28, 1513; UNICEF, End Child Exploitation, p. 12. Grootaert, Kanbur, ‘Child Labour, An Economic Perspective’, 191. ILO, A Future without Child Labour, p. 50. ILO, Child Labour, Targeting the Intolerable, p. 17. ILO, A Future without Child Labour, p. 52. UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 1997, p. 29; UNICEF, End Child Exploitation, p. 17. ILO, A Future without Child Labour, p. 56.

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in proper schooling facilities.85 Thirty per cent of children in developing countries who enrol in primary school do not complete it.86 In India, between 73 per cent of boys and 80 per cent of girls drop out of primary and middle school education because of scarce and inaccessible schooling facilities.87

6. Attitudes and poor law enforcement Another key determinant of child labour is parental, societal and governmental attitudes towards child labour resulting in poor enforcement of laws.88 As mentioned above, the specific rights attached to the status of childhood change according to the cultural background. In the Industrial Revolution in Europe, child labour was perceived as legal and morally acceptable.89 The percentages for ten to fourteen year old children in employment in the third quarter of the nineteenth century are comparable to those in many parts of the developing world today.90 In Britain, the ending of child labour was accompanied by a new evaluation of childhood.91 Likewise, in African culture, there exists the cultural belief that even if the work is too hard for the child, there is nothing to worry about because hard work will make the child a tougher adult.92 In India, it is an entrenched social pattern rather than a cultural belief that in certain areas children of certain families will be engaged in hazardous occupations such as leather tanning.93 Many members of the middle class believe that there is a distinction between the children of the poor and 85 86 87 88

89

90

91 92 93

ILO/IPEC, Khair, Child Labour in Bangladesh, p. 11. UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 1997, p. 29. P. Jaiswal, Child Labour, A Sociological Study (Delhi: Shipra Publications, 2000), p. 51. Cf. M. Weiner, The Child and the State in India: Child Labour and Education Policy in Comparative Perspective (Princeton University Press, 1991), p. 5 et seq.; Cf. M. Weiner, ‘Child Labour in Developing Countries: The Indian Case. Art. 28 a, 32 and 36 of the UN Convention on the Rights on the Child’, International Journal of Children’s Rights, 2 (1994), 121–8, 121; Cf. UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 1997, p. 29. G. Arpioni, J. R. Himes, ‘Foreword’ in UNICEF, International Child Development Centre, H. Cunningham, P. P. Viazzo (eds.), Child Labour in Historical Perspective, 1800–1985, Case Studies from Europe, Japan and Colombia (Florence: UNICEF, 1996); UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 1997, p. 29; Weiner, The Child and the State in India, p. 115. H. Cunningham, ‘Combating Child Labour: The British Experience’ in UNICEF, International Child Development Centre, H. Cunningham, P. P. Viazzo (eds.), Child Labour in Historical Perspective, 1800–1985, Case Studies from Europe, Japan and Colombia (Florence: UNICEF, 1996), pp. 41–55, p. 42. Ibid., p. 52. Letuka, ‘The Best Interests of the Child and Child Labour in Lesotho’, p. 209. ILO, Child Labour, Targeting the Intolerable, p. 18.

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their own children: children born to work with their bodies and children born to work with their minds.94 In rural areas in Bangladesh, people are sceptical about the utility of education.95 Apathy, caste and class bias, obstruction of enforcement efforts, corruption and disregard for the problem of child bondage among members of the Indian Government are reasons for the failure of the enforcement of the Child Labour Act and the Bonded Labour Act of 1986.96 In general, a huge amount of work remains to be done in sensitising officials and community leaders to the problem of child labour.97 Departments with scarce human and financial resources will seldom have child labour at the top of their agenda.98 In most parts of the world, girls are discouraged from staying at school beyond puberty because they must either work or marry.99

7. Inadequate laws Inadequate laws also contribute to the prevalence of child labour. In many countries that have ratified international conventions prohibiting child labour, relevant laws are inconsistent and contradictory.100 Often employers find a loophole when being accused of using child labour.101 While almost all countries have enacted laws providing for minimum age legislation, they often exclude sectors such as agriculture, domestic service, family undertakings and the informal sector where many children are engaged.102 For example, in the US Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 or the Indian Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986, major loopholes consist of exceptions for family productions.103

8. Discrimination against minorities Finally, on the supply side, discrimination against minorities plays a role.104 In Latin America, indigenous children tend to start working 94 95 96

97 98 99 100 101 102

103 104

Weiner, ‘The Indian Case’, 124; Weiner, The Child and the State in India, p. 6. ILO/IPEC, Khair, Child Labour in Bangladesh, p. 11. L. Tucker, ‘Child Slaves in Modern India, The Bonded Labour Problem’, Human Rights Quarterly, 19 (1997), 572–629, 624. ILO, The End of Child Labour: Within Reach, para. 152. Ibid. UNICEF, End Child Exploitation, p. 14. Ibid., p. 16. Ibid., p. 17. ILO, M. Jankanish, N. Happels (eds.), Action against Child Labour (Geneva: International Labour Office, 2000), p. 44. For the Indian example, see Jaiswal, Child Labour, p. 84 et seq. and p. 126. UNICEF, End Child Exploitation, p. 14.

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instead of going to school.105 The same holds true for children from Dalit families in South East Asia or Roma families in South East Europe.106

II. Demand-side factors On the demand side, the structure of the labour market and the role of technology have traditionally been perceived as the two main determinants of child labour.107 These factors have been classified as structural or root causes of child labour.108 They include factors such as wages, skills and vulnerability of children and the role of technology.

1. The nimble fingers and lower costs argument The most common explanation of why employers hire child labour is the lower cost and the irreplaceable skills afforded by children (the ‘nimble fingers’ argument).109 As to the ‘nimble fingers’ argument (that only children with small fingers have the ability to make e.g. fine hand-knotted carpets), several ILO and UNICEF studies concluded that this argument was entirely fallacious in a number of hazardous industries, including carpetmaking, glass factories, the mining of slate, limestone and mosaic chips, lock making and gem and diamond polishing.110 Children do not have skills that adults cannot match.111 Thus, child labour is not irreplaceable. However, it is not costless to replace children with adult workers.112 It is indeed true in most cases that child labourers are paid less than adults.113 Yet ILO studies related to costs conducted in India suggest that, as a portion of the final price of carpets or bangles to the consumer, any labour-cost saving realised through the employment of children is unexpectedly small – less than 5 per cent for bangles and between 5 and 10 per cent for carpets.114 It is estimated that very small levies on 105 106 107

108 109 110

111 112

113

114

Ibid. Ibid. Grootaert, Kanbur, ‘Child Labour, An Economic Perspective’, 191; Weiner, The Child and the State in India, p. 113. ILO, A Future without Child Labour, p. 47. ILO, Child Labour, Targeting the Intolerable, p. 18. Ibid.; ILO/IPEC, D. Levison, R. Anker, S. Ashraf and S. Barge, Is Child Labour Really Necessary in India’s Carpet Industry? (Geneva: International Labour Office, 1996), p. 16. UNICEF, End Child Exploitation, p. 16. ILO, Child Labour, Targeting the Intolerable, p. 18; ILO/IPEC, Is Child Labour Really Necessary in India’s Carpet Industry?, p. 16. ILO, Child Labour, Targeting the Intolerable, p. 18; ILO/IPEC, Is Child Labour Really Necessary in India’s Carpet Industry?, p. 16; UNICEF, End Child Exploitation, p. 15. ILO, Child Labour, Targeting the Intolerable, p. 18.

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the consumer price would be sufficient to reduce the incentive to employ child labour; i.e. the increase in carpet purchase prices would be several times smaller than a typical state sales tax of around 7 per cent.115 This implies that children are not necessarily irreplaceable in an economic sense. However, in the Indian example, the Indian carpets made by adults would be at a slight competitive disadvantage to very close substitutes such as Persian-style carpets from countries such as the People’s Republic of China, Pakistan and Iran.116 Therefore, a global strategy is needed in order to avoid ‘beggar-thy-neighbour’ competition.

Wing Commander Academy further increases the number of specific support ships in the Wing Commander universe. This Confederation 'space ambulance' appears briefly in "Word of Honor."

Rooster Teeth will use this movie making feature to create a whole series of movies based on The Sims 2. As The Sims became a cultural phenomenon and brought computer games to the masses, Rooster Teeth movies from The Sims 2 are poised to do the same thing -- bring Machinima to the masses. The short The Sims 2 movies will be available starting today with new movies premiering on a regularly scheduled basis on www.strangerhood.com.

A new release of Flight Commander is coming soon. Among the new features implemented are force feedback joystick support, 3d surround sound, and improved graphics and speed.

Screenshots, details on all the implemented new features, and a pre-release web site are up at flightcommander.solsector.net.

We don't see a shuttle in the original Wing Commander (though there is one in the introduction to Super Wing Commander - which is itself taken from Origin's Bioforge!), but here we get a chance to see what one assigned to the Tiger's Claw looks like. This craft appears twice: once as Admiral Bergstrom's yacht in "Chain of Command" and then as the ship which transports our heroes to shore leave on Oasis in "Recreation."

This is a ship with much the same role as the TCS Tarawa in the Wing Commander novels - moving fighters from one point to another. In "Walking Wounded" the Kilrathi capture the TCS Morgan and turn her fighter complement (Sabres and Broadswords) against the Tiger's Claw. The Morgan's fighter complement consisted of nineteen ships in two launch bays: eight Dralthi, six Sabres and three Broadswords. Defensive armament consists of three dual-mount laser turrets, one single-mount laser turret and a dual-mount missile turret. The design is similar, but notably distinct from, the Achilles-class ship seen in other episodes.

The Sims franchise celebrated its fourth anniversary in February. The game skyrocketed to the top of the charts when it began shipping to stores in February 2000 and quickly became a universal gaming and cultural phenomenon. The Sims PC based product and expansion packs were the best selling PC games of 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003. Translated into 17 different languages, The Sims has inspired seven top selling expansion packs. Combined sales for the franchise have topped 41 million units life-to-date.

In the original Wing Commander we see Drayman-class transports converted as hospital ships (in the Dakota System). In Wing Commander Academy we get to see what a dedicated version looks like: the TCS Pleiku, a crippled hospital ship, is the setting for much of "Walking Wounded." The Hospital Ship is unarmed.

Byrd-class hulls appear as reconaissance ships in "Chain of Command" and as transports in "Recreation." They are armed with one single-mount laser cannon located on their bow.

Hi everybody.

It is with pleasure that I announce the birth of a new project dedicated to Wing Commander: Wing Commander Online.

The project is an online virtual interface based upon the recently released Atmosphere program, by Adobe. The purposes of this project are multiple, since its features include virtual online chat (you can chat looking directly at the person you want to chat with, via a 3D avatar), you can enter in a complete virtual reality featuring a Wing Commander III era ship, called "TCS MEDITERRANEAN SEA," with a bar, a flight deck, a bridge and so on.

As you may understand, the main objective at the time is to give the Wing Commander Community (and of course the CIC) a true ship to be in, to chat with other wingnuts and -somehow- to live together. Imagine to be really in the world of Wing Commander, with the rules of Confederation ships. All the RPG based game could receive a big helping hand by being put in a virtual world-universe like this.

Moreover this is not a mod but a completely new project, based upon a brand new engine. This together with many other features leads the way to let approach new fan at the Wing Commander Universe.

Which means: giving Wing Commander a future

To find more information please head your browsers to: frwebworks.altervista.org or frwebworks.tk projects area.

Thank you all,

Francesco "flap" Rossi

Next up we'll be identifying the ships created specifically for the animated series - from Confederation battleships to Kilrathi stealth fighters to unusual fighters no one has managed to conclusively identify! First up are the nine original ships of the Terran Confederation!

The TCS Manassas, a light cruiser, appears as part of Admiral Bergstrom's battlegroup in "Chain of Command." Unfortunately, we are never given a clear view of the ship -- so its complement and capacities remain largely unknown.

Wing Commander's Fralthi-class cruiser makes a very brief appearance in "Expendable" - and not just any Fralthi... Ralgha nar Hhallas' eventual command, the KIS Ras Nik'hra! Oddly, the ship is referred to as being a destroyer... but you can't win them all! Four dual mount laser cannons are visible during the Fralthi's brief appearance.

• Making of Wing Commander III VHS
• Wing Commander III Behind the Screens CD
• Wing Commander 3 Poster
• VHS tape with three hours of raw WC3 footage
• WC3 Team Shirt
• WC3 Magazine Demo
• The original WC3 release candidate CD-Rs

This week both Sony and Nintendo announced new hardware. The Playstation 2 is getting a compact redesign, and the Game Boy line is evolving with the Nintendo DS. In the first few days of November, the model 70000 PS2 (or two) will go on sale for around $150. It reduces the original PS2 size by about 75%. The network adapter is also integrated as well.

• Birthday Present Mailings: Most Birthday presents shipped out before DragonCon, but we required additional packaging materials for many of the ones that included glasses. I've also gotten one or two packages returned in the mail for one reason or another.
• Customizable Card Game Trades: We have selected and requested various cards from some helpful people and should be trading shortly. No actual mailing should happen yet, just hold on a little bit for some final coordination to make the mailing more efficient.
• Custom Name CIC Polo Shirts: We are still waiting for a second batch of CIC Polos. We have generic ones in stock of various sizes, but our supplier has always been slow to deliver new shirts.
• DragonCon Prophecy Flight Suits: It doesn't look like time will permit creation of additional flight suits in time for Halloween for everyone this year. It might be possible to get a couple done, but we can't take an official call for orders now. Let us know if you want one and would actually use it soon. Sooner or later we should be able to make these generally available for everyone.

This tightly directed military adventure about elite fighter pilots (and one cranky civilian scout) in a 27th-century war for interstellar domination stars Freddie Prinze Jr. (I Know What You Did Last Summer), beautiful Saffron Burrows (Deep Blue Sea, Troy), Matthew Lillard (Thir13en Ghosts, Scooby-Doo) and Jürgen Prochnow (David Lynch's Dune, Das Boot). Shot through with submarine-drama suspense, it's easily one of the best movie adaptations of a hit videogame.

Airs Tuesday, September 21, at 11PM ET/PT

Our next series of Wing Commander Academy Ships of the Day will focus on those which originally appeared in the original 1990 Wing Commander.

The CF-105 Scimitar-class Medium Fighter is the only ship to appear in all thirteen episodes of Academy. The armament of the Scimitar on Academy is remarkably similar to that which appears in the original game: five missiles (two above the cockpit and three in hardpoints below the fuselage) and two forward lasers. There is one odd addition - Academy's Scimitars have a light caliber laser turret in their nose, which appears only in "On Both Your Houses." In true Star Wars fashion, Academy's Scimitars are detailed in five different colors: blue, black, orange, green and purple. You can read more about the Scimitar's history here.

Foam Rubber Creature Hands
- oversized, but fitted inside for any size adult hand.
- 15" long, palm is 6" across
- fake fur and fake claws still in good shape
- originally created for a "Wing Commander" video game development session (for the Hobbes character). Likely only worn a few times by a CG model.

The last Wing Commander 2 ship in our lineup is also the first capital ship: the Kilrathi Kamekh-class Corvette. Kamekh appear in Episodes two (very briefly), six and nine of the series. The corvette has six forward lasers (four in the wings, two under the nose), two missile bays (one below each engine) and an upper dual-mount turret. Privateer features a destroyer-class variant of the Kamekh. Another source features Kamekh around the same time as Wing Commander Academy -- they're in Hunter's list of capital ships encountered at Firekka in Freedom Flight.

Wing Commander II's lightest fighter also shows up throughout the series: the Sartha-class Light Fighter. They first appear in episode two, and then are visible from episode seven through the end of the series. The animated Sartha carries a modest loadout: two laser cannons and two missiles in racks under the fuselage.

Hey all, Raptor here

I know it's been a fair while since you last saw a new HTL chapter, but it couldn't be helped due to a combination of real life and technical issues. We're just coming to the end of the holiday season in the seaside town I work in, and the pharmacy has been very busy. In addition to that, a few E-mail problems after downloading XP Service Pack 2 have been taking up my computer time. It's all sorted now though, and it's back to business as usual.

As you saw in the last few chapters, the fight against the Nephilim fleet coming in from Ymir has just started, but it's already getting bloody. As I'm sure you'll recall though, the human Combined Fleet is fighting off not one but two Nephilim forces, the second being the remains of the fleet that's been battered in the running battle to date. This fleet is coming in from the Loki jump point, and will be met by the Combined Fleet's reserves. We kick off that portion of the battle with part fourteen of the excellent Scraps Of Honour series, written by Nick "Chaeronea" Deane. Please send any and all comments to Nick at babylons@tpg.com.au, not to me.

The story is at: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~theraj/archives/ch190.htm

Best, Raptor

Wing Commander 2's Kilrathi counterpart for the Broadsword serves the same role in Wing Commander Academy. The Grikath-class Heavy Fighter appears in episodes three, six, seven, ten, eleven, twelve and thirteen. Its forward armament consists of three lasers... but where the Broadsword mounted impressive energy weapons, the Grikath has an enviable missile loadout. The fighter carries a grand total of fourteen missiles: four in wing racks, two in fuselage racks and eight in internal wing hardpoints. Two magnetic grapplers (tractor beams) are mounted on the wings.

"Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow" is the first feature film to be shot entirely against a blue screen with backgrounds filled in later using computer imagery. Given recent technological advances, a film done like this was just a matter of time.

"Earth?" you might say, then this must be a scene from the Battle of Earth, and that is correct. In my opinion I find that this is one of the most important fights for human survival, and that gave me the inspiration for the picture.

Besides the Arrow cockpit and Dralthi you should also recognise the dead Hellcat and large piece of hull of a capital ship. In the background a fleet carrier is slugging it out against various Kilrathi fighters and bombers, and even further away you see a carrier in drydock moments from its destruction.

Next up is the Sabre's Kilrathi counterpart, the Jalkehi-class Heavy Fighter. Gharal nar Hhallas leads a flight of Jalkehi appears in Episode 4, "Word of Honor," and they show up on the flight deck of the Agon Ra Sivar in Episode 13, "Glory of Sivar." The Jalkehi is heavily armed in Wing Commander II... but we see very little of this in Academy; all it fires on the show is a single, central laser cannon. Gharal's use of Jalkehi to rescue a downed Dralthi pilot indicates that the fighter serves in an SAR role.

The CF-131/A-17 Broadsword-class Heavy Bomber is one of Wing Commander Academy's signature ships, appearing in seven of the thirteen shows (3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13). The Academy version of the Broadsword is very heavily armed, with a grand total of eight energy guns: two forward plasma guns, a dual-mount rear particle cannon turret and four laser cannons (two single mount turrets above and below and one dual mount chin turret). A central tube holds Dart and Spiculum missiles and a bomb-bay contains a pair of antimatter torpedoes. The Broadsword also has a tractor beam. According to The Confederation Handbook, the Broadsword entered service in 2635, and according to False Colors they have been retired to serving only with Reserve Wings by 2671.

EVE Online is the next generation in massive multiplayer online games. Set in a world of galactic magnitude, governed by a hyper capitalistic economy. Your aim is to establish yourself as a major mover and shaker, trusted by your friends and respected by your enemies. Your main tools to accomplish this, apart from the whole panoply of sophisticated equipment, space ships and corporations will be your business acumen and social skills, Machiavellian thinking and cunning combat strategies.

Wing Commander II's ultimate player ship, the F-57 Sabre-class Heavy Attack Fighter, makes an appearance in three episodes of the series. It appears as Karnes' pirate fighter in Episode 2, "The Last One Left," as part of the Tiger's Claw's complement in Episode 4, "Word of Honor" and finally as a Kilrathi prize in Episode 9, "Walking Wounded." Two different variants of Sabres' appear on the show. Karnes' fighter has three forward lasers and launches one missile, while the Tiger's Claw Sabres have four forward lasers and two dual-mount rear turrets.

It was a close call, but Cinema came in third in our previous poll. This time we're asking what you like best, and I think we have something for everyone among the poll options.

Archived polls are located here. Poll ideas are always welcome.

Copyright © 2011: Library of Tibetan Works and ArchivesALL RIGHTS RESERVEDNo part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical, photo-copying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permissionof the publisher.ISBN: 978-93-80359-47-2Published by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, H.P.176215, and printed at Indraprastha Press (CBT), Nehru House, New Delhi-110002

ContentsIntroductionvChapter 1. Geography and Origin of the Tibetans 1Chapter 2. Antiquity and the Middle Ages 9Chapter 3. Epoch of the Qing Empire 41Chapter 4. Last Years of Independence 83Chapter 5. Religion and Culture 109Chapter 6. State, Society and Economy 129Chapter 7. “Peaceful Liberation” and Its Consequences 157Chapter 8. From the People’s Uprising to the Cultural Revolution 207Chapter 9. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Results of the Mao Period 287Chapter 10. Reconstruction and Modernization 347The Tibetan People’s Struggle, the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Refugees 353Religion 387Autonomy and Demography 409Language, Education and Culture 418Condition of the Natural Environment 424Economy 428Militarization 434Living Standards and Health Care 436Chapter 11. Tibet, an Inseparable Part of China? 441Statehood in International Law and in the Chinese Tradition 441On China and the “Chinese Dynasties” 452Solution to the “Ethnic Problem” in China 470The Status of Tibet: a Historical Retrospective 480Chapter 12. Decline of the Tibetan-Mongolian Civilization? 503References 509

IntroductionTibet is one of the most esoteric places on our planet. People from differentcivilizations have a hard time understanding its history, religions and customs.Some aspects of the history of Tibet are unknown to many – partly because of thecountry’s isolation that lasted for many centuries, and partly due to specifics ofits political system and international relations. Propaganda became another suchobstacle during the more recent decades. If Tibet was always an inherent part ofChina, then why is it not the same as China? What should we make of Tibetans’regular declarations: is it separatism or a national liberation movement?Following the October Revolution, the Soviet Union and Russia has gonethrough several stages in ways of covering the last half century of events in Tibet.The initial response was unconditional praise mounted on everything done thereby the Communist Party of China (CPC) and explanation of all actions of itsopponents as the machinations of imperialists. 1 Then, following the decline ofSoviet–Chinese relations during the Khrushchev era, criticism came into vogue.Attention was directed at Maoists “perverting Marxism”. However, some worksbecame a source of valuable historical information. 2Once the relationships between the USSR and PRC normalised again, apluralism of views was established. Different perspectives started to coexist in Russia,ranging from worshiping Mao Zedong and/or the Chinese reforms to rejecting thelatter altogether from the human rights perspective. Even during the most recenttimes, these trends continue to gather momentum with more impartial takes on thesituation becoming progressively rarer. Publications from the “stagnation” periodalso became scarce. This coincided with PRC’s decision to step up the propagandaregarding Tibet, especially abroad. 3 Specifically selected Tibetans and Tibetologistsfrom PRC were sent out on organised tours, foreign journalists were invited into1 E.g. Gurevich, 1958.2 E.g. Bogoslovsky et al., 1975; Bogoslovsky, 1978.3 Modern Politics of China in Tibet, 2000.

vi Hidden Tibet: History of Independence & OccupationTibet, exhibitions and publications were organised, internet sites were created, etc.Documents that were meant to support the position of the Chinese authoritiesstarted to be published. At the same time documents that have the opposite effectcontinued to be suppressed. The activity of foreign leftist propagandists has alsoincreased. 4Chinese authorities as well as Tibetan emigrants have been producing a lot ofmaterials in foreign languages (e.g. in English and Russian) for the past 50 years. Itis clear that this way they voice those arguments that they themselves consider to bethe strongest. It should be noted that information that comes from both sides maybe verified in a very few cases. Accurate verification would only be possible with thehelp of independent expertise commissions, which at present are not allowed by theChinese authorities.As far as the history of Tibet is concerned, it has been portrayed on manyoccasions, and there are a number of good overviews which analyze publications,documents and research on the topic in great detail. The key writings are listed at theend of this book. There is no sense in repeating these works. It is more interestingto synthesise and juxtapose that information to answer the questions that seembanal: What is Tibet? Was it independent or part of other countries? Where are thefoundations of the modern Chinese stance on the Tibetan issue? To what extentis the inclusion of Tibet into the PRC beyond controversy, and what did Chinesereforms bring to Tibetan people? What do Tibetans themselves think on this issue?This book strives to answer these questions by comparing different and sometimesopposing points of view. Historical facts are given in chapters 1–10, and theiranalysis in context of international relations at different periods in Chapter 11.The aim of this book is not to conduct a detailed analysis of sources that usedChinese and Tibetan languages, but rather to provide a synthesis of research indifferent fields at this current point in time. Therefore, for the most part, overviewpublications were utilised in the creation of this book. These publications containlinks to a multitude of sources that were listed and analysed in great detail. At thesame time, this book contains little known and previously unpublished information.The text also contains footnotes to sources that are listed at the end of the book.For internet sites, references state the dates of their last checking. If a paragraphcontains several phrases belonging to the same source, the footnote is given afterthe first but not last phrase. Quotations are included in commas, omissions withinparagraphs by omission points, omissions of one or several phrases or paragraphs byone sign irrespective of how many phrases or paragraphs were omitted.All work has been done without outside financial support and under the personalinitiative of the author. The author would like to sincerely thank everybody who4 E.g. Parenti, M. Firendly feudalism; Ely, M. The true story...

Introduction viihas helped him in this project by submitting photographs, messages that came tobe included in the book, giving consultations, participating in discussions for thisbook: Archives of the Russian Geographical Society, Jose Ignacio Cabezon, AlexCatanese, Deutsche Bundesarchiv, DIIR Archive of Central Tibetan Administration,L. Chandra, Don Croner, Sonam N. Dagpo, Sergey V. Dmitriev, Irina R. Garri,A.J. Goryainov, Palden Gyatso, Institute of Oriental Studies of Russian Academyof Sciences, Tsering Dolma Khangsertsang, Ray Kreisel, Losell Doll Museum atNorbulingka, Norbulingka Institute Archive, Norzin Dolma, Ngawang Riglam,Nawang Rabgyal Norpa, Tenpa Soepa, Ngawang Tukje, A.I. Roshchin, Charlotte &Jerome Ryan, Savetibet Foundation, Tatiana L. Shaumian, Tashi, Tsering Norzom,Urgen Tenzin (TCHRD), Thuptan Samphel, TibetInfoNet, Tempa Tsering, KelsangTakla, Andrey Terentyev, Sonam Topgyal, Ngawang Woebar, Tsering Woeser, AlisonWright, Julia Zhironkina.I would like to acknowledge and thank Dr. Chok Tenzin Monlam, Head ofResearch and Translation Department at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives,for his meticulous checking of facts, proofreading the English manuscript severaltimes, and for reading it again for publication; I also thank Ms Fiona Halar for themany hours she spent initially editing the English version, and Ms Kerry Wright forthe final editing and proofreading. I would like to thank Tsering Namgyal for hisimportant work with the book layout.This English translation is based on first Russian edition published in 2010. Itis almost identical to that, but contains some minor changes. First, some passages,which seem to be interesting almost exclusively for a Russian audience, have beenshortened: discussions on propaganda in the Russian media and widespread viewsin Russia in regards to the current situation in Tibet; content of some popularbooks with some errors regarding Buddhism and Tibet; analysis of current relationsbetween Russia and China. Second, some misprints and errors occurring in theRussian edition were corrected. And third, some English-language sources werequoted instead of their Russian translations used in the edition of 2010.

CHAPTER 1Geography and Origin of the TibetansThe Tibetan Plateau, located in the centre of Asia, is one of the largest andhighest areas in the world. Its area is 2,200,000 square kilometres. Significantparts of Tibet are at altitudes of 3,000–4,000 meters above sea level while theheight of the mountains reach 5,000–7,000 meters. The peaks of high mountainsare covered with ice and snow. Therefore, Tibet is often called the Land of SnowyMountains (Land of Snow). The highest mountain in the world, Jomo Langma(Everest), the height of which is 8,848 meters, sits on the border of Tibet andNepal. Another high mountain, Kanchenjunga (8,598 meters) is situated on theborder of Tibet, Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim. Many other high mountainsfringe Tibet like a precious necklace: Mount Kailash, Zari, Yarlha Shambo, ChomoKenreg, Gangkar Shama, Nyenchen Thangla, Machen (Amnye Machen). A hugearea is covered by glaciers, 105 thousand square kilometres.The greatest rivers of Asia originate from Tibet, these include: Indus,Brahmaputra, Mekong, Sutlej, Salween, Yangtze, Huang He. The total area of theserivers’ basins reaches 5,477,700 square kilometres, and 30% of China’s fresh watercomes from rivers originating from here. 1 Tibet is surrounded by several mountainridges: Karakoram from the west, Kunlun and Nanshan from the north, theHimalayas to the south, the ridges of the Bayan-Khara-ula and the so-called SichuanAlps. The plateau is crossed in the latitudinal direction by mountains of Kailash andNyenchen Thangla. Approximately two thirds of the Tibetan Plateau is made upby the highlands of Jangthang, most of which are situated at an altitude of fivethousand meters. This is mainly a rocky desert with a harsh climate. The north-eastof Jangthang is adjacent to the Qinghai highland. Together they form the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Northern Tibet is covered with mountain meadows. It is a place ofgood grazing lands, many rivers and lakes. The climate of the region is continentaland harsh. In the south the climate is temperate with greater precipitation. One canfind dense wild forests, cultivated fertile fields and fruit trees there.1 Tibetan Plateau, 2009, p.7.

2 Hidden Tibet: History of Independence & OccupationHistorically, Tibet is divided into several areas. Its central part Bod, (Tibetan:bod, which is pronounced “bö”), extends from the Lake Manasarovar at themountain Kailash along the river Tsangpo (Brahmaputra). Tibetans call theircountry Bod, and themselves Bodpa. The origin and time of the appearance ofthese names are unknown. Some speculate that the “bod” means “homeland” or“place of origin”. The name “Tibet” (“Töböt”) was first found in ancient TurkicOrkhon inscriptions in Mongolia. Apparently, from the ancient peoples who livedin Mongolia, it migrated to other languages: as “Tibet” to Thai, as “Tubbat” toArabic etc. The modern Mongolian language utilises the word “Tuvd”. A possiblesource of this name is a clan Tufa, from which one of the Yarlung Dynasty kings hasemerged (see below). This clan is linked with the old Chinese name of “Tufa”. TheTibetan language itself belongs to the Tibetan Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetanlanguage family (or, as now written in China, the Han-Tibetan). In this family, it isgrouped with the languages of some peoples of Northern India and Southeast Asia,while the Chinese language forms a separate branch. 2 Various Tibetan tribes speakdifferent dialects. After the introduction of written language it became common toall Tibetan tribes and played an important integrative role.The geographical region of Bod is divided into two parts: Ü and Tsang. Tibetansoften combine them into one: Ü-Tsang. It extends from Ngari-Korsum in the westto Sokla Kyawo. 3 Tsang occupies the western part. The major cities of Shigatse andGyantse are located here. Ü is to be found in the east. Lhasa is situated there. Itstands on the river Kyichu, an inflow of Tsangpo. The climate is relatively mild andconducive to farming and raising stock. Barley, which is the favourite agriculturalplant of Tibetans, gives good yields even at high altitudes (up to four thousandmeters), where it is difficult to grow other crops. It is rich in iron which is good forpreventing anaemia, oedema and problems with lungs. All this is important at highaltitudes, where there is both little oxygen and variation of food. Barley is used toprepare the traditional Tibetan dish, tsampa: roasted flour, mixed up with butter andhot water or milk. Here, in the mountains, yaks are bred for meat, milk and wool.They are very hardy, undemanding in feeding as well as tolerant of mountainousconditions and winter frosts. Yaks are also used as pack animals.The eastern part of Tibet is a historical region named Kham, while in the northeastlies the Amdo region. Kham extends from Sokla Kyao up to the turn of theMachu River (in the upper reaches of the River Huang He). The Amdo region liesfrom this turn to the White Stupa (Tibetan: Chöten Karpo). This makes the northeasternborder of Tibet. Both areas abound with grazing lands with agriculturebeing developed in the valleys, while mountain slopes are covered with forests.Ladakh (also known as Little Tibet) is situated to the south-west.2 The Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary...3 Shakabpa, 1988.

Geography and Origin of the Tibetans 3Tibet (by http://perso.wanadoo.fr/tibetmap/tibet21.jpg, amended):1 – the historical borders, 2 – the borders from 1914 to 1950 3 – the modern administrativeborders. Italics denote the modern provinces of ChinaThe modern administrative-territorial division of Tibet

4 Hidden Tibet: History of Independence & OccupationThus, the historic Tibet is not made up purely of high mountains and lifelessplateaus. Its total area is much larger than the area of the Tibetan Plateau: 3,800,000square kilometres. Tibetans say that the best religion is in Ü-Tsang, the best peoplein Kham, the best horses in Amdo. 4 This is because the residents of Ü-Tsang are veryreligious, while inhabitants of Kham and Amdo are good warriors and businessmenrespectively. The three historical regions: Ü-Tsang (including Ngari), Kham andAmdo are also referred to as the Three Provinces (Tibetan: Cholkha Sum) by theTibetans. Yet another name for this area is Greater Tibet (although this term is nottraditionally used by the Tibetans). All of it is included in the PRC, which adoptedadministrative divisions of Tibetan areas as follows: Ü-Tsang was mainly convertedinto the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR); Kham was divided between the TARand Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Qinghai; Amdo was split betweenthe provinces of Qinghai and Gansu. Chinese provinces have Tibetan autonomousunits as follows: Qinghai Province—Mongolian and Tibetan prefecture Haisi(Tibetan: Tsonub), Tibetan prefectures Yushu, Hainan (Tsolho), Haibei (Tsojang),Huangnan (Malho) and Golo (Golok); Gansu Province—Tianzhu Tibetan county(Pari) and the prefecture Gannan (Kanlho); Sichuan Province—Tibetan and Qiangprefecture Aba (Ngawa), Tibetan prefecture Ganzi (Kardze) and the county Muli(Mili); Yunnan Province—Tibetan prefecture Diqing (Dechen).Tibetan legends about their own origin are diverse. Like most people, theyare tracing their origins to ancestors, with the latter concept being understood ina number of ways. 5 The historical texts of the Bon, an ancient Tibetan religion,contain a popular depiction of appearance of the ancient world-container with itsinherent creatures from the egg-space subsistence. 6 Cosmogeny is described as theformation of initial elements, which formed the “primordial eggs” that in turn gavebirth to the world and living beings. According to ancient Tibetan ideas, the worldis divided into the sky (Nam), earth (Sa), or “middle [world]” (Bar), and “bottom”,the underground world (Og). Deities Lha, Lu and Tsen (or Nyen) correspond tothese spheres. 7According to meticulously developed views that are recognized in the Bonreligion, people originated from the clan Nyen. 8 One particular ancient Bon treatiseproclaimed that from the eighteen eggs’ cartilages, eighteen large regions of spaceand its inhabitants have appeared, with one egg-shell alone giving rise to MenpeyMiwo Lumlum, the great progenitor of the people of Tibet and Zhangzhung.Zhangzhung Country was located in Western and Northern Tibet. Its centre4 Shakabpa, 1988.5 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.6 Namkhai Norbu, 2008, p.16–20.7 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.8 Namkhai Norbu, 2008, p.16–27, 104, 109–111.

Geography and Origin of the Tibetans 5is believed to be located at the mountain Tise (Kailash) and the Mapham Lake(Manasarovar). The progenitor was followed by many generations of people whowere then replaced by the four great clans: Don, Dra, Dru and Ga (or five, if weinclude the Go clan), as well as two clans Val and Da. All of these are known as thesix (or seven) human clans. These clans are the ancestors of all Tibetan families.Descendents of the Don and the Sen clans, gradually mixing with each other, haveformed Zhangzhung-Tibetan ethnic group.Another legend traces the origin of the Tibetans to a monkey, therebyimmediately associating them with the theory of Charles Darwin. According tothis legend, ancient Tibet was only inhabited by female and male demons. 9 In orderto populate the country with people and make it a mainstay of the teachings ofthe Buddha, Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (in another version, his disciple) tookthe shape of a monkey and became husband of one of the female demons. Thismarriage gave origin to the Tibetans. All this took place not far from Tsethang, inthe center of Ü-Tsang region. 10 It is possible that this legend is the result of Buddhistre-interpretation of an earlier myth. There is also a legend about the Tibetan kingNyatri Tsenpo which states that he came down from heaven.These legends, when combined with traditional Tibetan views that theircountry is the centre of the world, indicate that the Tibetans are aware of themselvesas the indigenous, and not migrant people of the Tibetan Plateau. Scientific dataconfirm this. Genetic data suggest that the ancestors of the Tibetans have a NorthAsian and Siberian origin; there is also evidence of the traces of human habitationon the Tibetan Plateau as far back as 18,000–22,000 years ago. 11 Human campsdating to Neolithic (New Stone Age) period number in dozens. More ancient siteswere also found, some dated by Palaeolithic times. 12 Some camps were found inthe highlands, more than four thousand meters above sea level. 3,000–5,000 yearsago, the areas of modern cities of Qamdo and Lhasa were populated with highlydeveloped Neolithic cultures, whose level is comparable to some of the Neolithiccultures of China. Ancient people of Tibet by the 1 st century CE learnt to melt iron.Apparently, the peoples of these cultures were the ancestors of the Tibetan people,who originated and developed on the Tibetan Plateau.Some Tibetan scholars believe that their nation has Indian roots. 13 In their view,a king or military chief named Rupati participated in the famous war of the Pandavaswith the Kauravas, as described in the Indian epos “Mahabharata”. He fought onthe side of Kauravas and, after their defeat, fled to Tibet along with his supporters.9 Namkhai Norbu, 2008, p.187–189.10 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.11 Aldenderfer, 2003, p. 542–549.12 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.13 Shakabpa, 1988.

6 Hidden Tibet: History of Independence & OccupationOthers suggest that the Tibetans are descended from the Iranians. Anthropologicaldata refutes this. Tibetans are classified as the East Asian type of Mongoloid race,along with the Mongols, Japanese, Koreans, Hans etc. 14 The divergence (splitting)of Tibetans and Han people away from their common ancestors, according to somereports, happened a very long time (5,000–6,000 years) ago. Some researchersbelieve that the Tibetans have a common genetic basis with the Mongols, althoughit is clear that there were other strong influences. 15 Perhaps, those included Indianones as well.The theory of a very ancient divergence of the Han and the Tibetans issupported by unique adaptation of the latter to high-mountain conditions, wherethe low concentration of oxygen leads to mountain sickness in non-adapted people.These adaptations give Tibetans an advantage over Han people when living in highmountains. Tibetans have higher blood oxygen saturability than, for example,the Han people, with this difference being genetically fixed. 16 Tibetans also avoidmountain sickness by the fact that they have higher breathing frequency, and widerarteries and capillaries that carry oxygen to the organs. 17 The exhaled air of Tibetanscontains a higher concentration of nitric oxide. This is associated with an increasedenzymatic production of this substance in the body. The above is highly beneficialto the person living in the highlands because of extension of pulmonary bloodvessels, increasing blood flow in the lungs, reducing pulmonary hypertension, andincreased oxidation of haemoglobin. 18 All of these contribute to oxygen enrichmentof the organism and improves lung function.A Tibetan tolerates the highland conditions much better than a Han whoacclimatizes there. In the Tibetan highlands, the frequency of electrocardiogramabnormalities is higher in the Han migrants (even those who have migrated thereat a young age) than in the Tibetans. 19 The concentration of haemoglobin greatlyincreases with an increase in height above sea level in Han men relative to Hanwomen, with this trend being absent in the Tibetans. 20 Han newborns are much moreprone to mountain sickness than Tibetan newborns. 21 Accordingly, the mortalityrates differ as well. For respiratory characteristics associated with the highland, theoffspring from mixed Han-Tibetan marriages occupies an intermediate positionbetween the offspring from pure Han and pure Tibetan couples. 22 Consequently,14 Gelek. A Brief Description...15 Jong, L. DNA profiles...16 Beall, 2006, p.18–24.17 Biello, 2007.18 Beall et al., 2001, p. 411–412.19 Halperin et al., 1998, p.237–437.20 Wu et al., 2005, p.598–604.21 Niermeyer et al., 1995, p.1248 – 1252; Wiley, 2004.22 Gantenbein, 1993; Curran et al., 1997, p.2098–2104.

Geography and Origin of the Tibetans 7they are better adapted to these conditions than the Han people, but worse than theTibetans. However, such mixed marriages are quite rare.These peculiarities show the fact that Han people cannot successfully colonizethe highlands of Tibet, while successfully colonizing Tibetan areas at low altitudes.All this does not mean that Tibetans were living in total isolation since ancienttimes. According to archaeological data, ancient migrants to Tibet’s north-east partwere Qiang, the people of the Tibetan Burman group. 23 Other possible ancestorsof the Tibetans are the Mon people (a group of ancient peoples of Indochina), aswell as the tribes of Indo-European origin. 24 A certain influence may also have beenprovided by the Mongoloid tribes that could have been part of the Qiang. TheMon people had been assimilated with the Tibetans as well as the Chinese. Qiangwere known as neighbours of the ancient Chinese Shang-Ying state from at leastthe second millennium BC. Qiang had trade and relations with the Ying people,they also cross married, waged wars etc. Qiang paid war tribute to Ying. The latterused Qiang people (along with others) for ritual sacrifice; further, Shang-Ying hada lot of Qiang slaves. On the other hand, the nobility of the two peoples becamerelated to each other, and Jiang, one of the noble families of ancient China, hadQiang origin.The genetic link between the Qiang and the Tibetans is not clear. Some thinkthe former to be ancestors of Tibetans while others consider the opposite to be thecase. Either way, it was at that time that Chinese written history began to containinformation about of the first contacts of the Tibetan Burman ancestors with theancestors of the Chinese. It is believed that Qiang domesticated yaks about fivethousand years ago, yak becoming their totem animal, and went on to be associatedwith a number of legends and popular beliefs. 25In the first century AD , the Qiang came under the dominion of the nomadicXianbi tribes, who were the likely ancestors of the Mongols. This was near theKokonor Lake 26 (modern Mongolian: Khukh Nuur, Blue Lake; Tibetan: TsoNgonpo; Chinese: Qinghai Hu). This was one of the earliest contacts of the ancestorsof Tibetans and Mongols, who later went on to form a common civilization.Thus, in the ethnical sense, the Tibetans and Chinese separated a very longtime ago. Whatever their relationship was initially, their further development tookplace in different conditions, and their cultural environment was different too. 27From then, Tibet and China developed as two different civilizations, and neither ofthem became part of the other.23 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.24 Smith, 1996.25 Wu, K. and Wu, C., 2004.26 Bichurin, 1833, p.74–123.27 Smith, 1996.

CHAPTER 2Antiquity and the Middle AgesLike many other nations, the Tibetans are an ascending dynasty of their rulersto deities. Heaven is connected with the ancient clan Ja (birds). 1 Its residence,Yumbulakhang Palace, was built on the eastern bank of the Yarlung River. Thisis located to the south-east of Lhasa. According to legends, the ancestor of theTibetans was born here from the marriage of a bodhisattva and a female demon.Once the Ja line was interrupted, King Nyatri Tsenpo came to power in theYarlung. He was considered to be the son of Lha (deity), who came down to earthto rule over the people. He founded the Yarlung royal dynasty (Chinese authorscall it Tubo, Tibetan). It is believed that he was connected with the Ja clan: Jati,the terrestrial ancestor of the dynasty, came from the Jasa area, the area of the Jaclan. According to legend, Nyatri Tsenpo came down the stairs from the sky. Hewas very different from ordinary people: his eye lids looked like those of a bird,his eyebrows were made of turquoise, he had a moustache like a tiger, teeth likewhite shells, membranes between his fingers and toes like a waterfowl. Accordingto another tradition that originated at the same time as Buddhism in Tibet, theancient kings of that country were descended from people who lived in the territoryof the modern Indian State of Bihar. 2It was believed that the king possessed a special charismatic force Chub-si,which was guarded by the servants of the Bon religion. 3 When the king sat on thethrone, he had a Bon priest to the right, while the minister was to his left. Both ofthem participated in running the government. The main task of the king on earthwas to relieve people of strife and external enemies. It was believed that divinepower allowed him to subdue the earth and the world of the dead, to protect themfrom those who were alive. Hence the title of king of Tibet, Tulku Lha Tsenpo, thatis “Incarnate Deity-King”. There are indications that the king’s power was inheritedby his younger son, then by his older son, and that the king had to die when his1 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.2 Shakabpa, 1988.3 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.

10 Hidden Tibet: History of Independence & Occupation1 23Yumbulakhang Palace:1 – from 1938 to 1939. (Bundesarchiv, Bild 135–KB–06–088/Foto: Ernst Krause / License CC-BY-SA 3.0);2 – after its destruction during the Cultural Revolution(DIIR Archive, Central Tibetan Administration);3 – in 2005 (photo: Kyra / Creative CommonsLicense)

Antiquity and the Middle Ages 11eldest son reached maturity. The same should happen in the event of his illness. Thefirst kings died very early. According to legends, the body of the deceased ruler wasplaced in a brass vessel and thrown into the river, where it was supposed to get powerfrom the Lu deity and return him to his roots. Later, this ritual was replaced by acomplex ritual of mummification and subsequent burial (this happened three yearsafter death). In ancient times Tibetan people, like many other nations, killed andburied the king’s horses and people together with the king: firstly closest dignitaries,then guards and slaves. Then, human sacrifices ceased. The slaves and the guardswere to live at the tomb, guarding it and keeping it in order. But they were notallowed contact with other people. They were called “the living dead”.The Yarlung Dynasty ruled presumably from 95 BC to 846 AD on the southeastof the Tibetan Plateau, including areas of Yarlung, Nyangpo, Kongpo andPowo. The dynasty had forty-two kings. 4 Their biographies include a number ofdetails about supernatural events: communication with heaven, supernatural birth,etc. Some of these recorded details overlap with episodes of biographies of medievalMongol khans and princes, probably not just because of mutual borrowing, but alsodue to similarity in mentality of people who later formed the Tibetan-Mongoliancivilization. In Europe, the first mention of the state of the Yarlung Dynasty wasin the “Geography” by Claudius Ptolemy (about 87–165 AD). The country wasdesignated as “Batai” (from Tibetan “Bod”).Early history of the Yarlung Dynasty is largely known from ancient Tibetanfolklore and includes many myths. The scientific community still debates thequestion of who among these kings was real, and who was mythical. But it is clearthat the Yarlung Dynasty, probably dating back to the Bronze and Iron Ages, playeda crucial role in the formation of the Tibetan people. According to Tibetan folklore,Nyatri Tsenpo and the six kings that followed returned to heaven by a “sky rope”after their death, so their graves are unknown. The tomb of the eighth king islocated in Kongpo in Ü-Tsang. According to legend, he accidentally cut the “skyrope” and was unable to climb to heaven. 5 This king was called Digum Tsenpo.Sagan Setsen, Mongolian chronicler, traced the line of great khans of Mongoliato the Yarlung Dynasty. He wrote that the youngest son of the king Jati Tsenpo,following his father’s assassination by a minister, fled to the area of the Bede people,who lived near the Baikal Lake and the Burkhan Khaldun Mountain.A highly developed civilization evolved during the Yarlung Dynasty, with itsmain foundations being agriculture and animal husbandry. 6 The population wasdivided into two main groups: farmers and urban dwellers (tonde), and pastoralistsand semi-nomads (dogde). The territory of the state expanded. Kings Tagri Nyensig4 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.5 Shakabpa, 1988.6 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.

12 Hidden Tibet: History of Independence & Occupationand Namri Songtsen (570–620) fought forthe unification of Tibetans into a single state.The latter, according to legend, had a hundredthousand strong army, which reached northto the territory of the Turki and south intoCentral India. During his reign there weresome revolts. Namri Songtsen moved thecapital from the valley of the Yarlung to theKyichu valley, forming the Rasa settlement.Subsequent rulers built a royal castle on themountain Marpori and the settlement wasrenamed Lhasa (Land of Deities).In the 7 th century AD the Tibetan statecame onto the world scene, briefly becomingone of the main powers operating in Central Songtsen Gampo (Chandra, 1999)Asia. The great king Songtsen Gampo, the sonof Namri Songtsen, was born in year 613 (or 617). He was born shortly before thefounding of the Tang State, which was created in 618 by Emperor Li Yuan (era name:U-de). 7 By this time, the Tibetan state stretched to the Thangla Ridge in the north,to the Himalayas in the south, to Mount Kailash in the west, and to the DrichuRiver (upper Yangtze) in the east. 8 Songtsen Gampo’s goal was the strengtheningof statehood. He supervised development of a system of land tenure and land use,creation of state funds for public lands, oversaw division of the country into sixprovinces that were led by set khonpons (governor-generals), conducted surveyingand distributing of land, developed new legislation, created a new army, etc. (seeChapter 6).Writing was introduced in Tibet during the reign of Songtsen Gampo. Actually,according to the conclusion of J.N. Roerich, there were five attempts to introducewriting in Tibet. 9 But the conventional system was developed by Thönmi Sambhota.In 632, Songtsen Gampo sent him to India, where the Tibetan minister studiedwriting and grammar from the Indian pandits (scholars). Upon his return to Tibet,he reworked the fifty Indian letters into thirty Tibetan consonants and four Tibetanvowels. The basis of the alphabet was formed from the Indian scripts Brahmi andGupta 10 with the framework of the case system being based on the Sanskrit system. 11The previously used Tibetan system of grammar, which arose from the system of7 Shakabpa, 1988.8 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.9 Roerich, 1958, p.109.10 Shakabpa, 1988.11 Namkhai Norbu, 2008, p.170–171.

Antiquity and the Middle Ages 13the Zhangzhung country, contained many awkward parts and forms of sentences.Thönmi greatly reduced their numbers and made grammar much more convenient.He developed a written language that became the same for all Tibetans, regardlessof tribal differences in spoken language.Songtsen Gampo combined the internal strengthening of the state with an activeforeign policy aimed at the integration of the Tibetan and Tibetan Burman tribes,i.e. intending to unite them within natural national boundaries. Military force wasused to induce obedience amongst the Dokpa people (ancestors of modern Goloks)inhabiting the Machu River valley and to the south, the Panaca tribes that livednear the Kokonor Lake (area of Amdo) and in east Tsaidam, and the Horpa peoplethat lived north of the Thangla Ridge. 12 Integration of Qiang, Sumpa, Asha andother Tibetan tribes from the north-east began in the first half of the 7 th century.In 634, the Tibetans attacked the Dangsyan 13 (ancestors of the Tangut) for thefirst time, when the latter were dependent on Tuguhun, a tribal State of Xianbi,who were the probable ancestors of the Mongols. 14 This state occupied part ofthe modern Chinese provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Xinjiang-UighurAutonomous Region. Seven years before that event took place, recently formedChinese Tang State (618) sent ambassadors to Tuguhun in order to secure the Tangborder area from attacks. However, the Khan of Tuguhun did not trust the Chinese.He proposed a contract “he qin” (“for peace and kinship”): to arrange for a Tangprincess to be sent for his son to marry. In the year of attacks on the Dansyan,Tibetans also sent an embassy to the Tang State. The Chinese embassy, headedby Feng Dejia arrived to Lhasa in response. Tibetans, knowing the relationshipsbetween Tuguhun and Tang, also asked for a Tang princess for their monarch.However, the Chinese fought with the Xianbi and the Turkic people, but not withthe Tibetans, thus saw no point to concluding a peace treaty. Hence, the princesseshad been sent to Tuguhun and the Turki, and not to Tibet. According to the “RedAnnals” chronicles, the Tibetan king’s response was a promise to send an army to takethe princess by force, and to capture the Tang State. On the 12th September 638,Tibetan troops invaded a village in the Xuizhou District that was inhabited by theDangsyan (in modern Sichuan). At the same time, a Tibetan ambassador arrived atChang’an (the capital of the Tang State) and threatened to attack the Chinese land.Now a reason for the treaty emerged. In December 640, the Tibetan dignitaryTontsen Yulsung brought five thousand liangs of silver and hundreds of goldobjects to Chang’an. In March of the next year, he went to Lhasa, accompanied12 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.13 The names of many ancient tribes, cities, states, names of people, etc. have only reached us in the Chineseform: from Chinese chronicles. Non-Chinese (i.e. titles and names in original language) of these forms areunknown, because written sources have not been preserved, languages did not have script, and so on.14 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.

14 Hidden Tibet: History of Independence & Occupationby the Chinese princess Wencheng. The journey to Lhasa took several years andWencheng became wife of Songtsen Gampo only in 646. For about five years, theking did not rule the country; instead the ruler was Gungsong Guntsen, the son ofSongtsen Gampo from his Tibetan wife Mongsa Tricham (he had no other sons).According to custom, he ascended the throne after having reached thirteen years ofage. But at eighteen, he died, and Songtsen Gampo was again obliged to take thethrone. It is believed that Songtsen Gampo temporarily lost power in the fight withhis influential adviser, but managed to defeat him in the end.Wencheng brought a statue of the Buddha (Shakyamuni Jowo) with her, aswell as more than ten thousand bales of embroidered brocade, lots of boxes ofChinese classics, various utensils and books on different technologies. She helpedBuddhist monks from Yutian (Hotan) and other places to come to Tibet for theconstruction of Buddhist monasteries and also for the translation of the Canon. 15But the first wife of the king was the Nepalese princess Bhrikuti, and she broughtwith her images of Maitreya, Tara, and a statue of the Buddha at the age of eightyears old. 16Songtsen Gampo congratulated the Tang Emperor Li Shimin (era name: Zhenguan)with a victory in the east of Liaoning Province. Following the etiquette of histime, he pointed out that the emperor had won all sides of the Middle Kingdom,and expressed a desire to help suppress any riots when they arose against him. Thismessage speaks of allied relations between the two monarchs. But some historians usethis to make a strange conclusion: “These facts prove that Songtsen Gampo himselfregarded Tibet as being under the local administration of the Tang Dynasty”. 17The marriage of the Tibetan king to the Chinese and Nepalese princesses wasan important political act. However, most important was the spiritual contributionof the two princesses towards the development of Buddhism in Tibet. In addition,it significantly strengthened the connection of Tibet with the two countries. Thisdoes not mean that Tibet became subordinate to China or Nepal, but rather thanksto China, Tibetans came across paper and ink, perhaps also a millstone, a few othercrafts, and they adopted certain features of the Chinese administrative system.However, it is wrong to link this with the beginning of Tibetan agriculture, as someChinese authors do. 18In those same years, Tibetans won the upper part of Burma, and in 640 Nepal,where they remained for several years. 19 In Nepal, a column was erected, on whichthe inscription tribute to the Tibetan king was engraved. Tibetan migrants settled in15 Briefly on Tibet...16 King Songtsen Gampo...17 Tiang, J. The Administrative System...18 See in: Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.19 Shakabpa, 1988.

Antiquity and the Middle Ages 15Nepal and gave rise to the Nepalese tribes Tsang, Lama, Sherpa and Tamang. In 643,the king of Zhangzhung became the vassal of the king of Tibet. In 645, the Chineseemperor sent a mission to the court of King Harsha in one of the states of NorthIndia. By the time the mission arrived, the king had died, and his minister Arjuna(who was intolerant of Buddhism) took the throne. The Chinese who arrived werekilled on his orders. Only a few people along with the head of the mission managedto survive. They fled to Nepal and asked Songtsen Gampo for help, and in responsehe sent an army of Nepalese and Tibetans into India. The Chinese emperor was sograteful to Songtsen Gampo that he bequeathed to place a statue of the Tibetanking by his grave. That was an honour, but with a trick: usually statues at the tombof the Emperor were those of his high officials and ministers.In 649, Songtsen Gampo died of an infectious disease that caused a fever. 20According to legend, he dissolved into a small wooden statue of the Buddha that wasbrought from Nepal and placed inside the statue of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvarainstalled in Jokhang, the main temple of Tibet in Lhasa.After Songtsen Gampo’s death, the throne passed to his grandson MangsongMangtsen. However, the actual power belonged to Tontsen Yulsung, the memberof an ancient Ghar clan. The clan held onto this power up until 698. In 655,shortly after the death of Songtsen Gampo, Tontsen Yulsun put in a claim to theTuguhun state as an ancient frontier of the land of Tibet. Tuguhun began to askfor help from the Tang emperor, but was turned down. 21 The Tuguhun dignitarynamed Tohegui, who was a relative of the ruling dynasty, fled to the Tibetans, andinformed them about this. Then in 663, the Tibetans took Tuguhun, defeatingthe army of the country. In the years 667–670, the Tibetans began to destroychimi. These counties were vassals, but not part of the Tang state. They werecreated by the Chinese on the lands of the Qiang who became their subordinates.In 670, the Tibetans forged an alliance with the Turkis and invaded the TarimRiver valley. The Chinese response was to send a hundred thousand strong armyunder the command of Xue Zhengui in August 670, which invaded the Kokonorarea. The Tibetan army under the command of Tidin Ghar defeated the Chineseat the Bukhain Gol River.At the same time, the Tibetans developed an offensive in the west. In 656,they captured Wahan and placed Bolor under their control. Before 670, Hotanand Kashgar were recaptured from the Chinese, and by the end of the 670s Tibethad control of almost the entire Tarim basin and the mountains to the south-westof it. The Chinese lost their outposts in East Turkestan. This forced them to movetheir attention to Tibet despite the fact that the Tibetans defeated the Chinese20 Shakabpa, 1988.21 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.

16 Hidden Tibet: History of Independence & Occupationarmy at Kokonor in the summer of 678. After that, the war between Tibet and theTang State temporarily halted in connection with the death of the rulers of bothcountries and subsequent domestic events.In 687, the Tibetans attacked the city of Kucha (in modern Xinjiang). TheChinese sent an army to the aid of their vassals, which was defeated by the Tibetansin the summer of 689. In 692, a new Tang army marched out, led by Wang Xiaoze.Soon the Tibetans left Kashgaria. It is not known, whether it was caused by theChinese victory or the Tibetan king Duisong Mangje who ordered to withdraw. 22The latter could have been useful to him to fight the Ghar clan, which held powerthrough external victories. Now the king blamed Ghar for the defeat in the war. Inthe next two years, Tibetans suffered further defeats from the Chinese at the northeasternand western borders, where the Chinese had allied with the Turkis.However, in 695, the Tibetans struck the Chinese with a serious blow in thedirection of Lanzhou, and then they went on to offer a peace treaty, threateningto cut off the Chinese connection with the Western boundary if not accepted.Knowing about the internal political struggle in Tibet, the Chinese began to dragout the negotiations, hoping for the fall of the Ghar clan that was so successful infighting them. Indeed, in 698 Dusong Mangje attacked the Ghar, captured about2,000 people from their clan, and executed them. Tidin Tsendo Ghar tried to resist,but was defeated and ended up committing suicide, while his brother and his sonsfled to China. However, restoring the power of the real king did not change Tibet’sforeign policy. In the years 700 and 701, Tibetans resumed hostilities in Lanzhouand in the north-east. During the next few years fighting was interspersed withnegotiations. In 703, an uprising against the Tibetans flared up in Nepal and India.Dusong Mangje died during their suppression in 704, soon followed by the TangEmpress Wu Hou, who ruled China for a long time.New negotiations in 706 were completed with a “vow to unite for many yearsunder the era name of Shen-long,” and border demarcation drawn between the twostates, —the Tibetan Kingdom and the Tang Empire. In 707, the Chinese agreed toa treaty “he qin” (“on peace and kinship”), and in 710, Princess Jincheng was sentto Tibet. 23 Tang Emperor personally accompanied her for some part of the way. Themonarch of Tibet had been given the Hesi juqu lands (to the east of the KokonorLake and on both banks of the upper reaches of the Yellow River) as the dowry. In713, Jincheng became the wife of King Tride Tsugten (nicknamed Me Agtsom).In 714, the Tibetans advanced towards Lintao and Lanzhou, and in 716 and717 they moved towards the borders of Tang in the modern provinces of Sichuanand Gansu. In the west they were acting in alliance with the Arab commander22 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.23 Shakabpa, 1988.

Antiquity and the Middle Ages 17Kuteiba ibn Muslim. While introducing Islam in Central Asia, Kuteiba’s warriorsbarbarically destroyed “pagan” cultures. However, the Tibetans did not understandthe threat of the expansion of the Arab Caliphate. The Arabs were considered tobe one of the weaker nations, which could have either been allies or adversaries.Tibetan support did not matter much, and in 715, Tang forces, staffed by WesternTurkic people, defeated the Arabs in Ferghana. Later, in 736–737, Tibetans togetherwith the Turkic people (Turgesh Khanate) fought with their former Arab allies, whosought to capture Tashkent and Ferghana. The Arabs tried to establish contactswith the Chinese, but were unable to come to an agreement.As well as fighting, Tride Tsugten tried to make peace with the Tang Statein 716, 718 and 719. However, these attempts were unsuccessful. In 724, theresumption of the war, which lasted until 729, and the alternation of victories anddefeats led to a situation which the Chinese public figure Zhang Yue determined“as the existence of approximate equality in the number of victories and defeats”. 24Both sides accused their border chiefs of aggressive actions and assured their ownpeaceful intentions. In 730, after 60 years of war between the Tang Empire andTibet, peace was eventually established. An important role in this was played bya Tibetan ambassador, who spoke fluent Chinese, and also by the Chinese wife ofthe Tibetan king. The parties agreed that the border between both countries wouldbe the Chilin Ridge (identified with the mountains of Ulan-Shara-Dava to the eastof Xining, modern Qinghai Province) and the Gansunlin Ridge (Sunpan County,Sichuan Province). It is believed that the border demarcation was not completeddue to the fact that war resumed again after seven years.In 736, the Tibetans attacked Gilgit in Kashmir. In 737, the Chinese attackedthe Tibetans in the Kokonor area. After that, clashes began to expand, and theborder guide-posts on the Chilin ridge were destroyed. Jincheng died in 741.Tibetans resumed their raids on border areas of Tang, seizing bread which wasmade by the Chinese. They captured the Chinese town of Xipa and held it until748. 25 In 747–750, the Chinese sent a large army to the west and were able toknock the Tibetans out of Gilgit, Xipa, the principalities of the Tarim Basin. In751, Arabs defeated the Chinese army at the Talas River. 26 In 751–752, the Tibetansconquered the Nanzhao State in the south-east (modern Yunnan Province). In 750,they entered an agreement with the Thai. The Thai ruler was called the “youngerbrother” of the king of Tibet.Tride Tsugten died soon after, and at the same time, An Lushan’s rebellionbroke out in China. The new Tibetan king Trisong Deutsen used the temporaryweakening of his neighbours and conquered large territories in the modern24 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005, p.52.25 Shakabpa, 1988.26 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.

18 Hidden Tibet: History of Independence & OccupationChinese provinces of Gansu and Sichuan.He also restored the influence of Tibetin the Western region. Together with theUighurs, Tibetans offered Chinese assistancein quelling the rebellion, demanding thetreaty “on peace and kinship” in return. TheChinese agreed to meet the demands of theUighurs, but not the Tibetans. The king ofTibet used this refusal as a pretext for warwith the Tang Empire. Two armies were sentto the Chinese capital. They were under thecommand of generals Shanchim GyeltsegShulteng and Taktra Lukong. There was agreat battle. Tang forces were defeated withthe emperor fleeing. On the 18th NovemberTrisong Deutsen763, Tibetan troops occupied the Tangcapital, city of Chang’an, and the Tibetans put Li Chenhung (grandson of Li Zhi)on the Chinese throne. The Li Chenhung government announced his rule witha new era name, Da-shu. The Tibetan king rewarded both generals in the formof being released from criminal penalties (including death) for any misconduct,except for treason to the king.A stele was erected to commemorate the victory. Amongst other engravings,there was an inscription stating that Trisong Deutsen conquered many Tangfortresses, and the Tang Emperor and his subjects were asked to pay tribute tothe Tibetan king with 50,000 pieces of silk, but the next emperor refused to paytribute, so the Tibetans sent an army, defeated the Chinese Emperor and causedhim to flee from the capital. 27After fifteen days the Tibetan troops left the capital of Tang, but they furtheredtheir military success in subsequent years. By 781, Hami, Dunhuang District,Lanzhou City, Ganzhou, Suzhou were all in Tibetan hands. The Tang Empire hadlost its most important road to the west. In 783, a peace treaty was signed betweenTibet and Tang in Qingshui. This treaty clearly delineated the new boundariesbetween the two countries, with the Chinese having made major territorialconcessions. According to current Chinese estimates, the “Helanshan area northof the Yellow River stood out as a neutral land. The border line was stretched tothe south of the Yellow River along the mountains Liupanshan, in Longyou, alongthe rivers of Minjiang and Daduhe and south to the Moso and all Man’ (moderndistrict of Lijiang, Yunnan Province). Everything to the east of this border line was27 Ngabo, 1988.

Antiquity and the Middle Ages 19owned by Tang, to the west by Tibet”. 28 Thus, the Tang Empire recognized the defacto domination of Tibetans over the area of Helong and the lost control of theWestern region.After signing the treaty, Tibetans helped the Chinese to suppress revolt led bythe dignitary Zhu Zi. For this the Chinese promised to give the Tibetans controlover districts Anxi and Beiting, but they did not keep their promise. In response,the Tibetans attacked the Tang fortress in Ordos, and in 787 they approachedChang'an. In subsequent years, the Tibetans also fought with the Uighurs andArabs, and consequently, in 791, the Tibetans captured a significant part of EastTurkestan.At the end of the 8th and beginning of the 9 th century the Tibetan Kingdomwas at the peak of its power. It is believed that the Shah of Kabul became itsvassal, and the Tibetans controlled part of the Pamirs and Kashmir. 29 In thenorth, the Tibetan army reached the Amu Darya River. 30 It was also during thisperiod that Tibetan documents started to utilise the term of Bod Chenpo (“GreatTibet”). The Tang historical chronicle “Ju Tang shu”, Chapter 196B, reads asfollows: “The Tibetans established their kingdom on our western border manyyears ago; as silkworms, they bit into [the lands] of their barbarian neighbours soas to enlarge their territory. During Gao-zong their territory was ten thousand li,and they competed with us in superiority: in more recent times, there is nobodystronger than them”. 31But by the end of the 8 th century, the power of Tibet began to show cracks. In794, the ruler of the Nanzhao State refused to obey Tibet and became a vassal of theTang Emperor. In the north Tibetans were pressed by Uighur Khanate, whose rulersigned a treaty “on peace and kinship” with the Tang Dynasty.After the death of Trisong Deutsen the throne was taken by his second sonMune Tsenpo. Seeing the inequality between his subjects and the poverty amonghis peasants, Mune Tsenpo decided to eliminate the division between rich and poor,so a decree was issued on equalising land use. After some time the king asked aboutthe results of the reform. He learned that the poor had become poorer and the richricher. Frustrated, he turned for advice to the Buddhist preacher Padmasambhava,who advised him that the king could not forcibly remove the inequality betweenrich and poor. 32 Having reigned for only a year, Mune Tsenpo was poisoned, anddied, thus ending the attempt of egalitarian redistribution, the only one in thehistory of independent Tibet.28 Xizang Jianshi, 1993 — in: Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005, p.56.29 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.30 Shakabpa, 1988.31 In: Van Walt, 1987, p.2.32 Shakabpa, 1988.

20 Hidden Tibet: History of Independence & OccupationPolitical instability pushed the Tibetanking, Tri Ralpachen, to enter into negotiationswith the Tang Empire. The Treaty was signedin 821 in the suburbs of Chang'an and, in822, in the suburbs of Lhasa. The text wasengraved on four columns, which were thenerected in Lhasa, Chang'an and at the borderon both sides. 33 Both monarchs were calledzhu (“sovereign”) in the Chinese text. TheChinese monarch was named as senior (ju,maternal uncle), and the Tibetan junior (sheng,nephew).During this time, both states wereconsidered to be independent and equal: “TheTri Ralpachengreat king of Tibet, the Divine Manifestation,the bTsan-po [Tsenpo], and the great kingof China, the Chinese ruler Hwang Te, Nephew and Uncle, having consultedabout the alliance of their dominions have made the great treaty and ratified theagreement... Both Tibet and China shall keep the country and frontiers of whichthey now are in possession. The whole region to the east of that being the countryof Great China and the whole region to the west being assuredly the countryof Great Tibet, from either side of the frontier there shall be no warfare, nohostile invasions and no seizure of territory... Now that the dominions are alliedand a great treaty of peace has been made in this way, since it is necessary alsoto continue communication of pleasant messages between Nephew and Uncle,envoys setting out of either side shall follow the old established route... Accordingto close and friendly relationship between Nephew and Uncle the customarycourtesy and respect shall be practiced. Between the two countries, no smoke ordust shall appear. Nor even a word of sudden alarm or of enmity shall be spoken,and from those who guard the frontier upwards, all shall live at ease withoutsuspicion or fear, their land being their land and their bed their bed... And inorder that this agreement – establishing a great era when Tibetans shall be happyin Tibet and Chinese shall be happy in China – shall never be changed, the ThreeJewels, the body of saints, the sun and the moon, planets and stars have beeninvoked as witnesses”. 34The website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC summed up theabove as follows: “Both sides of the agreement officially declared their historical33 Shakabpa, 1988.34 In: Van Walt, 1987, p.1–2.

Antiquity and the Middle Ages 21kinship and agreed that in future they will consider themselves as nationals of onecountry”. 35The years following this treaty were marked by the strengthening of Buddhismin Tibet, however it was briefly interrupted by an attempt to eradicate the religionby king Darma (see Chapter 5). After his assassination in 842, the princes NgadakYumden and Ngadak Ösung began to fight for power. Yumden’s stronghold wasin the Yarlung, Ösung’s in Lhasa. Ösung’s great-grandson (great-great-grandsonof Darma) fled to Western Tibet (Purang), where he founded the Ngari Dynasty,which was to rule the Guge Kingdom for many centuries after. Ösung’s secondgrandson strengthened his position in Tsang. Warlords and major officials sidedwith this or that ruler, or declared their independence. In 851, Dunhuang brokeaway from Tibet with a Tibetan governor of Chinese nationality, adopting Tangcitizenship. However, this was merely a formality. In fact, Dunhuang came underthe authority of Beijing only under the Mongols. In 860, a commander of Tibetannationality in Sichuan deserted to Tang. Another Tibetan warlord was captured bythe ruler of closely related people, the Tangut. This ruler was beheaded and his headwas sent to the Tang capital. Remaining Tibetan troops that were stationed outsidefrom Tibet partly assimilated, and partly formed compact enclaves. Thus, at theend of the 10 th century, Tibetans were in control of a large area with its center inLanzhou, whereas in the 11 th century the Tibetan state was in the area of Kokonor,with small enclaves in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. 36Some authors believe that the collapse of the great State of Tibet was facilitatedby Buddhism, which led to internal strife. The dynasty’s charisma was covered byBon, which was partly superseded, but Buddhism had not yet taken its place fully.However, there is no direct evidence of this. Different groups have used one or theother religion for political purposes. A significant contribution towards the collapseof the country was likely the result of the high costs of running the military, and thelack of necessary resources to control a large area.Small enclaves in northern Tibet forged an alliance with the Chinese and foughtwith the Tangut Empire (Chinese: Hsi Hsia), as well as fighting among themselves.Gradually, these Tibetan territories came under Chinese rule, then under theauthority of Tangut. The Tibetans occupied an important place in the TangutEmpire. Their language was the recognized language of Buddhism, they had theirown Buddhist community, and Tibetans themselves were one of the major nationsof the empire, together with the Tangut, Chinese and the Uighur.In the 10 th century, spiritual and public powers of Tibet began to fuse. Politicallife was flowing quietly, and Buddhism was developing and consolidating the35 Briefly on Tibet: a historical sketch...36 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.

22 Hidden Tibet: History of Independence & Occupationcountry. This led to the final formation of the Tibetan nation. Relations withChinese states, that entered the arena of history after the Tang Empire, were weak.There was next to no exchange between the Tibetan and the Chinese governments.During the time of the Five Dynasties (907–960) and during the Song Dynasty(960–1279) relations of Tibet and China were limited to border skirmishes, tradeand formal politeness. This included the sending and receiving of gifts and titles,which has sometimes been incorrectly interpreted as subordination to the centralChinese Government or being part of China.By 1206 Genghis Khan united the Mongol tribes under his rule and led anactive policy of conquest. He forced the Uighurs and the Turkic Karluks, withwhom Tibetans had long-standing relationships, to obey, and so the MongolEmpire expanded rapidly. In 1206 or 1207 the Tibetans sent a mission to GenghisKhan. The mission included secular and religious representatives, who expressedsubmissiveness, and presented him with rich gifts. 37 Like other subjugated people,they began to pay tribute. This saved Tibet from a Mongol invasion. In 1227, theMongols conquered the Tangut Empire, with its khan being executed. GenghisKhan died at the capture of the capital city of Tangut. After that, Tibetans ceased topay tribute, and relations with the Mongols became strained. 38In 1240, Central Tibet was invaded by a thirty-thousand strong Mongol army,under the command of Leje and Dorda Darkhan. The army was sent by PrinceGodan, who was the second son of UgedeiKhan, and the grandson of Genghis Khan.The Mongols ended up reaching Phenyül,north of Lhasa, where a fight broke out andtwo monasteries were burned, killing thepriest-ruler and five hundred monks. 39 TheMongols did not go any further. Godan,however, did not forget about Tibet. He sentan invitation to Kunga Gyaltsen (Mongolian:Gunga Jaltsan), the head of the BuddhistSakya sect, whose great scholarly knowledgeled to him being called Sakya Pandita. Thereare several versions of the reason for thisinvitation. The most plausible and generallyaccepted one states that Godan wanted toadopt the Buddhist religion from a greatSakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen (Chandra,1999)37 Ssanang Ssetsen, 1829.38 Shakabpa, 1988.39 Shakabpa, 1988.

Antiquity and the Middle Ages 23Lama, which he knew about from fighting with countries bordering with Tibet.There were several reasons for choosing this particular religious sect. 40 Mongoliansociety and pre-Buddhist faith were similar to Tibetan, they were attracted to TantricBuddhism, the sect of Sakya followed old Buddhist traditions, and its Lamas wereactively developing contacts with the political rulers. Such were the features of theemerging Tibetan-Mongolian civilization.Godan wrote: 41 “I, the most powerful and prosperous Prince Godan, wish toinform the Sakya Pandita, Kunga Gyaltsen, that we need a lama to advise my ignorantpeople on how to conduct themselves morally and spiritually. I need someone to prayfor the welfare of my deceased parents, to whom I am deeply grateful.I have been pondering this problem for some time, and after much consideration,have decided that you are the only person suitable for the task. As you are the onlylama I have chosen, I will not accept any excuse on account of your age or the rigorsof the journey.The Lord Buddha gave his life for all living beings. Would you not, therefore,be denying your faith if you tried to avoid this duty of yours? It would, of course, beeasy for me to send a large body of troops to bring you here; but in so doing, harmand unhappiness might be brought to many innocent living beings. In the interestof the Buddhist faith and the welfare of all living creatures, I suggest that you cometo us immediately. As a favor to you, I shall be very kind to those monks who arenow living on the west side of the sun.I send you presents of five shoes (ingots), a silken gown set with six thousandand two hundred pearls, vestments and shoes of silk, and twenty silken rolls of fivedifferent colors. They are brought to you by my messengers, Dho Segon and UnJho Kharma.(Dated) The 30th day of the eighth month of the Dragon year (1244)”.Sakya Pandita went to Godan along with his two nephews, Lodö Gyaltsen, whowas ten years old, and Chagna, who was six. They arrived at Godan’s headquartersin 1245, but did not find him there, as the prince was at the grand khuraldai inMongolia. The meeting took place in 1247 near the city of Lanzhou. Godan builtthe Tulpe De monastery (which still exists) for Sakya Pandita. The Lama healedhim from an unknown illness. Godan gifted Sakya Pandita with authority overentire Tibet.However, this did not mean that the Tibetan tribes were attached to theMongol Empire and were now obliged to obey all of its administrative decrees.Being empowered by Godan, Kunga Gyaltsen told the Tibetan rulers that he sawthe spreading of Buddhism outside of Tibet as the main goal, and that this would40 Bira, 1999 — in: Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.41 In: Shakabpa, 1988, p.61–62.

24 Hidden Tibet: History of Independence & Occupationhelp his country. 42 He wrote that the prince was counting on the Tibetans for help inmatters of religion, and that Mongols would help the Tibetans in worldly affairs.Such were the foundations of the relations between the theocratic rulers ofTibet and the Mongol (later Manchu) khans, built on the principle of “spiritualpriest – secular patron” (in Tibetan chos–yon, Chos stands for Dharma, the teachingsof the Buddha; Yon for charity or reward). That is, one teaches Dharma, and theother one responds with rewards of gifts. The origins of this principle (in theform of “Lama—charity donator”) come from ancient India, where communitiesof Buddhist monks lived off charity, and where showing respect and feeding themonks was seen as a way of collecting spiritual merit for the layperson. From themiddle of the 9 th century to the beginning of the 13 th century, this formula was usedin relation to monasteries and the local Tibetan population. 43Godan was a vassal of the Great Khan of the Mongols. Therefore, whenMunke took the throne in 1251, he sent officials into Tibet in order to verifythe census and to approve the property ownership of local secular and religiousrulers. 44 However, neither the imperial administration, nor the troops were eversent to Tibet.Kunga Gyaltsen died in 1251, andGodan also died very soon after. That sameyear, Kublai, grandson of Genghis Khan, led acampaign against Southern China as orderedby Munke, the Mongolian Great Khan. Theolder nephew of Kunga Gyaltsen, PhagpaLama, converted Kublai to Buddhism in1253. The conditions of this conversion weredescribed in different ways. Some reportedthat Phagpa gave Kublai Buddhist initiationson the condition that he would consultwith him on issues of Tibet and wouldnot interfere in the affairs of Mongolia. Inaddition, Kublai had agreed to performritual bows to his Lama during meditations,although not in public. According to othersources, Kublai agreed to sit below Phagpaduring meditation, exercise and taking vows,whereas both would sit on one level whenPhagpa Lama (http://library.conlang.org/web/phagpa.html)42 Shakabpa, 1988.43 Besprozvannykh, 2001, p.57.44 Kychanov and Melnichenko, 2005.

Antiquity and the Middle Ages 25managing public affairs. After this, Kublai Khan and twenty-five members ofhis entourage received Phagpa Lama’s initiation into Hevajra Tantra, the mostimportant tantra of the Sakya sect. 45Kublai had given Phagpa Lama a document to confirm the latter’s supremeauthority over Tibet: 46 “As a true believer in the Great Lord Buddha, the all-mercifuland invincible ruler of the world, whose presence, like the sun, lights up every darkplace, I have always shown special favor to the monks and monasteries in your country.Having faith in the Lord Buddha, I studied the teachings of your uncle, Sakya Pandita,and in the year of the Water-Ox (1253), I received your own teachings.After studying under you, I have been encouraged to continue helping yourmonks and monasteries, and in return for what I have learned from your teachings,I must make you a gift. This letter, then, is my present. It grants you authority overall Tibet, enabling you to protect the religious institutions and faith of your peopleand to propagate Lord Buddha’s teachings.In addition, my respected tutor, I am presenting you with garments, a hat, anda gown, all studded with gold and pearls; a gold chair, umbrella, and cup; a swordwith the hilt embedded with precious stones, four bars of silver and a bar of gold;and a camel and two horses, complete with saddles. In this year of the Tiger, I willalso present you with fifty-six bars of silver, two hundred cases of brick tea, and ahundred and fifty rolls of silk, to enable you to build images of the deities.The monks and people in Tibet should be informed of what I am doing forthem. I hope they will not look for any other leader than you. The person whoholds this letter of credentials should, in no way, exploit his people. Monks shouldrefrain from quarreling among themselves and from indulging in violence. Theyshould live peacefully and happily together. Those who know the teachings of theLord Buddha should endeavor to spread them; those who do not know his teachingsshould try to learn all they can. As I have elected to be your patron, you mustmake it your duty to carry out the teachings of the Lord Buddha. By this letter, Ihave taken upon myself the sponsorship of your religion.(Dated) The ninth day of the middle month of summer of the Wood-Tigeryear (1254)”.With this document, Kublai confirmed his relationship with the highestmembers of Sakya hierarchy to be of the principle of “priest – patron”. In addition,he allowed all other sects to practice Buddhism in accordance with their traditions,and Phagpa Lama did not interfere in them. Sometimes this has been reported inan amusing way: “In the thirteenth century, Emperor Kublai Khan created the firstGrand Lama, who was to preside over all the other lamas as might a pope over his45 The Mongols, 2009, p.17.46 In: Shakabpa, 1988, p.65–66.

26 Hidden Tibet: History of Independence & Occupationbishops”. 47 Or even funnier: “In the 13 th century, Genghis Khan’s grandson KublaiKhan gave one of the prominent Buddhist teachers the title of Emperor’s teacher, orthe Dalai Lama, and instructed him to control the Tibetan land”. 48In 1258, by order of Munke Khan, Kublai headquarters held a disputebetween Buddhists and Taoists, and the latter lost. This strengthened the positionof Buddhism in the Mongol Empire. Munke Khan perished in August 1259. Thethrone of the Great Khan was then claimed by several descendants of Genghis:brothers Hulagu, Kublai and Ariq Böke. Hulagu lived in the Middle East, and wasoccupied with strengthening his authority there. Kublai was in China, which wasnot yet fully conquered. Ariq Böke was elected as the Great Khan of Mongolia.But the real contenders were Kublai and Ariq Böke. Kublai convened a congress ofprinces, who proclaimed him as the Great Khan. He won in the ensuing civil war.Phagpa Lama announced Kublai to be the reincarnation of Manjushri, Bodhisattvaof Wisdom. Kublai Khan was a very gifted man indeed. Even in his youth, hewas called “Setsen” (Mongolian: “Wise Man”). 49 Later, he was titled in this way inMongolian chronicles.In 1265, for the first time after his departure from his homeland, Phagpa Lamaarrived in Tibet. Then in 1267, he received a letter from Kublai Khan with an invitationto return to his court. In Mongolia, he was met by the Khan’s wife and the eldest son,to oversee his travel to the capital. Upon his arrival to the Khan’s capital Khanbalik in1268, Phagpa Lama brought to Kublai’s attention an alphabet developed by him forthe Mongols, which was based on the Tibetan alphabet (so-called square script). Thisscript allowed him to transmit the phonetics of the Mongolian and Chinese languages.Kublai Khan was very pleased as he understood the importance of language in thepreservation of ethnicity. Kublai Khan then gave Phagpa Lama the title of “Prince ofIndian Deities, Miraculous Divine Lord under the Sky and Above the Earth, Creatorof the Script, Messenger of Peace throughout the World, Possessor of the Five HigherSciences, Phagpa, the Imperial Preceptor”. 50In 1271, Kublai Khan followed the Chinese tradition and proclaimed a dynasty,the Yuan, which became his empire’s name. China (Southern Song State) at that timehad not yet been conquered completely. Phagpa Lama bestowed titles of Chakravartin(ideal world ruler that turns the Wheel of Dharma, i.e. helping Buddhism), andDharmaraja (King of Dharma) to Kublai, the title of Universal Monarch to Kublai’sgrandfather, Genghis Khan. Phagpa Lama received the title of Master of the State,a jasper seal of ruler of Tibet and the Buddhist ruler of the empire. Thus, the oldrelationships of “priest – patron” were confirmed. Lama was gifted with of a thousand47 Parenti, M. Friendly feudalism...48 Ovchinnikov, 2007, 2009.49 Dalai Ch., 1977, p.324.50 Shakabpa, 1988, p.68-69.

Antiquity and the Middle Ages 27ingots of silver and fifty-nine thousand bales of silk. In 1274 he decided to return toTibet. Stimulated by deference to