Another westerner in China admits the west is full of lies on Xizang and that the people there and their culture, language, etc are flourishing.
Here are some bits I found personally a bit interesting:
They call me a liar because I was with the government and only saw what the government wanted me to see. But the government didn't stop me looking out the bus window, nor did they stop me going for long walks into downtown Lhasa, or downtown Linzhi. They didn't stop me interacting, and even dancing, with thousands of people in a village fair in Maizhokunggar.
Oppression exists in many places, I've seen it, and I even helped deliver it as a police officer in the UK, fighting miners who wanted a better life, fighting colored migrants who wanted equality, fighting white supremacists who want their country back. I was one of Margaret Thatcher's thin blue line, keeping "ordinary" people safe from those that in today's world would labeled extremists.
I know what oppression looks like and here's the thing, after extensive travel in China, I've never seen it anywhere. I didn't see it in Xinjiang and I certainly didn't see it in Xizang.
I saw kids who speak, read and write their local language. I saw adults dressed in their local styles. I saw ordinary people shopping, visiting temples and serving food in the streets and in restaurants.
White people before they visit Tibet: "Oh, the government requires we have a guide with us? Ohoho, is that to stop us from seeing things we shouldn't see? Is that to stop Tibetans from seeing how glorious and enlightened we are as we prance about with our unfettered freedom?"
White people coming back from Tibet: "It's a good thing we had a guide with us. They don't warn you about how thin the air is! [they do] We didn't think we'd need any help with breathing [because we assume we're better than everyone else]. Some of us would have literally died if our guide didn't arrange for oxygen tanks for our hotel rooms."
I've heard this a couple of times from travel vloggers who went to Tibet actually. A lot of them end up saying that they feel the policy is discriminatory and they think Chinese tourists should be required to have a guide too.
But what they don't get is that a) most Chinese people already know that Tibet can be dangerous for people with health issues, and b) they speak the language so in case of problems they can ask for help. It's not a Chinese conspiracy to discriminate against foreigners, it's not China's fault Westerners are ignorant to the point of endangering their own lives.