The Soul of Tibet

There is a gold more precious than gold

2012-01-01T13:34:00.000-08:00

This beautiful song asks Tibetans to preserve Tibetan language, protect Tibet's environment and for Tibetans to maintain unity.

The lyrics are below: Translated by TheLhasay

There is a gold more precious than gold
Vowels and 30 consonants are more important than gold
Tibetans who wish to obtain gold
Learn the spoken and written Tibetan language
Learn the spoken and written Tibetan language

There is a silver more precious than the white silver
Tibet`s environment is more precious than the silver
Tibetans who wish to obtain silver wealth,
Preserve and protect the roof of the world
Preserve and protect the roof of the world.

There is a jewellery more precious than the jewellery
Tibetan people are more precious than the jewellery
Tibetans who wish to obtain jewellery wealth,
Work for and maintain the unity among ourselves
Work for and maintain the unity among ourselves.

Link to video below:

Songs from Tibet

2011-12-26T18:06:00.000-08:00

It is deeply inspiring to hear the soulful songs from the new generation of young seeds of Tibet. Their songs express the importance of the preservation of Tibetan language, religion and culture as Tibetans face the threat of extinction with the mass population transfer of Chinese into Tibet. It takes deep knowledge and awareness to be able to compose the songs that they have presented. Furthermore, the courage it takes to openly sing these songs in a Chinese occupied Tibet and to instill the Tibetan values that we share in common is a manifestation of the human spirit that can not be defeated by the use of force.

We are thankful indeed to these brave warriors of Tibet who through their music have touched the hearts of the entire Tibetan diaspora. As i see young Tibetans in exile share these songs in their blogs, facebook and tweets with deep admiration, it becomes apparent that Tibetans inside and outside Tibet share a deep connection through these music. These songs have struck a chord in us that reminds us of what it is to be a Tibetan and to be united as a nation in spirit.

Obama kowtows to China

2009-11-20T17:01:00.000-08:00

In President Obama's recent trip to Asia, he failed all those who fight for freedom, human rights and justice. President Obama stated in China that "We did note that while we recognize that Tibet is part of the People's Republic of China, the United States supports the early resumption of dialogue between the Chinese government and representatives of the Dalai Lama to resolve any concerns and differences that the two sides may have."

President Obama did not need to say that Tibet is a part of China to mention that he supports the dialogue. The President making this statement shows a few things: firstly, that China has dictated the terms for his visit through this statement; second, that China's illegal occupation of Tibet is ever more evident; and third,it shows that the President has not only weakened the US position against China, he has led the rest of nations that hold US in esteem to do the same.

Tibet has never been a part of China. Tibet is an illegally occupied country and the Tibetan people have deeply held grievances against China's illegal occupation and colonization of Tibet.

President Obama's statement cannot change what is the historical truth. The US has failed the Tibetan people once again and we hope that it can stand up to the true ideals of freedom, liberty and justice that the US stands for.

To learn more about the outcome of President Obama's recent trip to China, read the articles below:

OBAMA's CHINA KOWTOW By Mercatornet.com

Could there be anything worse than being the leader of a nation in decline meeting the leaders of the nation that will soon displace your country as the world’s pre-eminent power? That must be the sense with which US President Barack Obama met with his counterpart Hu Jintao and other political leaders in China this week. It explains why, in large part, the leader of the free world chose to tread softly on key issues on which he should have taken a much firmer stand.

"Indeed, President Obama lost more than just face by not raising a number of key issues, or not raising them loudly enough, during his visit. He squandered an opportunity to speak truth to power -– as John F. Kennedy and other presidents have done."

TIBET THROWN UNDER THE BUS By Washington Times

Buried in a very long joint statement by President Obama and President Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China is the following declaration by the American president:

"We did note that while we recognize that Tibet is part of the People's Republic of China, the United States supports the early resumption of dialogue between the Chinese government and representatives of the Dalai Lama to resolve any concerns and differences that the two sides may have."

The magic words are "we recognize that Tibet is part of the People's Republic of China." Although the State Department has stated these words or similar ones for decades, so far as anyone can discover, this is the first time an American president has ever made such a statement in public, before the television cameras of the world's press. Beijing is trumpeting the Obama declaration with lead articles in People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party newspaper.

Mr. Obama was probably not a volunteer on this subject. On Nov. 6, the South China Morning Post reported that having the American president say these words in public was the No. 1 priority of the Chinese side for the Obama-Hu meetings. They got what they wanted. The comforting words about resuming dialogue with his holiness the Dalai Lama was a small price to pay since Beijing controls the dialogue. Read Full Aritcle

Tibet News Update

2009-05-29T02:36:00.000-07:00

Dalai Lama Named Honorary Citizen of Warsaw, by AFP
WARSAW (AFP) — Poland's capital Warsaw risked the ire of China Thursday as local councillors voted to make the Dalai Lama an honorary citizen of the city.

Spokesman Slawomir Paszkiet told AFP that the councillors had voted unanimously to grant the symbolic status to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

"As municipal councillors in a city which has gone through so many trials in its history, we have the moral right and the duty to honour a man who seeks for his compatriots and his country the freedom and sovereignty that we have ourselves enjoyed for the past 20 years," the councillors said in a joint declaration, referring to Warsaw's destruction during the World War II Nazi German occupation and the 1989 fall of Poland's communist regime. Read Full Article

6 Women Protesters Hurt by Gunfire, by Tibet.net
The Tibetan government-in-exile says at least six Tibetan women suffered gunshot wounds when Chinese security forces opened fire on a group of protesters in western Sichuan province bordering Tibet.

Witnesses say the protesters gathered Sunday to demonstrate against forced relocation from their homes, prompted by the construction of a major hydroelectric dam. They say security forces converged on the protesters and opened fire. Read Full Article

Article: Launching the Endgame, by Times of India
Mention of Tibetan Buddhism conjures up images of ochre-robed monks in remote monasteries chanting 'Om mane padme Om'. The reality is different.
Just beneath the surface, Tibetan Buddhism's religious hierarchy is riven with rivalry with different sects vying for dominance. The claim to seniority of Ughen Thinley Dorje, one of the claimants to the XVIIth Gyalwa Karmapa of the Kagyu sect, assumes importance in this context. The rivalry is intensifying as they jostle to position themselves for the post-XIVth Dalai Lama phase. Read Full Article

Pelosi Talks Tibet with China's leaders, by Sify News
Beijing, May 28 (ANI): US House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a bipartisan CODEL met with China's President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao, and Wu Bangguo, the chairman of the National People's Congress - and talked about North Korea and human rights abuses in Tibet.

Pelosi, a longtime critic of China's record in Tibet, was greeted by pro-democracy protesters bearing a banner reading "Welcome Pelosi... SOS." Read Full Article

CNN's Fareed Zakaria sits down with the Dalai Lama

2009-05-27T22:25:00.000-07:00

CNN's Fareed Zakaria sits down with the Dalai Lama about Chinese-Tibetan relations, Osama Bin Laden and reincarnation.

Symposium on Tibet - New York 2007

2009-05-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

Symposium was held on March 11, 2007 and organised by Regional Tibetan Youth Congress of New York & New Jersey and audio webcasted live by phayul.com. There were three speakers:

Tenzin Tsundue
Kalsang Phuntsok
Gyalo Dhondup

Listen to audio of the Symposium on TIbet - New York

Listen to all - MP3 Audio

6 Tibetans Seriously Wounded in Protests Against China's Hydroelectric Dam Project

2009-05-25T23:15:00.000-07:00

www.tibet.net, Dharamshala, 26 May 2009

At least 6 Tibetan women have sustained serious gunshot wounds after Chinese security forces opened fire at a group of Tibetans in Tawu County, who were venting their anger against China's forceful relocation of tens of thousands of local Tibetans, sources reported Monday.

The Public Security Bureau officials and People's Armed Police indiscriminately fired at Tibetan residents of Tawu and Nyagchu County in Karze Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, at around 11 a.m. (local time) on Sunday, 24 May.

The sources attributed the incident to China's construction of a major hydroelectric dam between Nyagchu and Tawu County, which is resulting in a large-scale displacement of local Tibetans. The government coerced local residents of Tawu County to sign a document as it begin to plan the construction work in early 2008.

This year the Chinese authorities again reinforce their relocation plan, which was vehemently opposed by the Tibetans who refused to leave their ancestral lands and houses.

Subsequently, on 5 May 2009, the Chinese government dispatched a large number of armed police to the region and destroyed homes of some families, including those of Ati Gyatso Tsang and Chego Pezi Tsang.

Earlier, the authorities convened a meeting and erected a stone pillar in their plan to relocate the residents of Wara Mato town to another place. Expressing strong opposition to the forced relocation policy, the angry residents led by an old woman named Lhamo, who is believed to be aged above 70, refused to move saying they are owner of the land and destroyed the pillar.

Consequently, as residents from Tawu and Nyagchu districts gathered in the region to protest the arrival of large number of troops on the morning of 24 May, the army fired shots leaving six Tibetan women seriously wounded.

Those wounded have been identified as Tsering Lhamo, Rigzin Lhamo, Dolma, Kelsang, Dolkar and Khaying.

But sources could not tell whether those injured are dead or alive as they were forcibly taken away after the firing incident.

Standoff at Tibet Gold Mine

2009-05-25T00:40:00.000-07:00

By Radio Free Asia, May 24th, 2009

Tibetan Buddhists regard it as a sacred site. Gold deposits make Ser Ngol Lo valuable in other ways too, and tensions are rising.

HONG KONG—Hundreds of villagers in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of western China are facing off against armed security forces at the site of a planned gold mine on what the Tibetans consider a sacred mountain, witnesses say.

“The Tibetan protesters are worried,” said one local man, who said he was one of eight organizers of the protest.

“The police, the soldiers, and the miners are threatening to move ahead with the mine...They have said they will force their way through and go to the site.”

Tibetans have historically worshiped the site, conducting rituals there in the event of drought, residents say. Now a Chinese mining and lumbering firm, Zhongkai Co., has been authorized to excavate the area, and locals are protesting.

Another Tibetan man said hundreds of protesters had gathered peacefully at Ser Ngol Lo [“Year of Gold and Silver” in Tibetan] in the Tsangshul subdistrict of Lhara village, Markham county, Chamdo prefecture. Click here

(In my opinion, the local Tibetans resistance to the mining demonstrates that Tibetans are against the continued exploitation of Tibet's natural resources by the Chinese government. Their wishes should be respected and the mining should not be allowed to continue. Tibetans are the ones who should have the say but unfortunately that is not the case. The Chinese government officials will now implicate the Tibetans protesting there and arrest them on fabricated charges.)

Tibet News Update

2009-04-01T04:45:00.000-07:00

No reason cited for suspecting Tibetan in Sichuan soldier’s stabbing

(TibetanReview.net, Apr 01, 2009) — A Chinese soldier was stabbed in the back outside his barracks in Leshan county of Sichuan province on Mar 26. But even before the launch of any investigation, a senior police official in Leshan has said, on condition of anonymity, and without giving any reason, that the attack might be connected to Tibetan separatists, according to China’s official China Daily newspaper Mar 30.

The Leshan attack occurred just a week after another soldier was shot dead in neighbouring Chongqing city, with the assailant making off with his machine gun. The previous attack too was, without any evidence, suspected to have been carried out by alleged Tibetan separatists, although a massive door-to-door was launched and yielded nothing.

"The terrorists' purpose is to attract international attention as some Westerners still think the PLA entered Tibet to suppress, not to liberate," the Leshan senior police source was quoted as saying. He had said the attack involved just one assailant and occurred around 3am.

Chinese police beat Tibetan monk to death, try to put it down as suicide
The murdered monk was handing out flyers denouncing Chinese persecution, reminding readers about those killed in last year’s protests. After he was killed police threw his body into a ravine. In the meantime beatings and arbitrary arrests continue elsewhere. Conversely the authorities continue to heap praise on China for the region’s prosperity, a land where Tibetans now live in happiness and safety. AsiaNews.it

Big loan by state-owned Bank for mining in Tibet

2009-03-26T04:16:00.000-07:00

(TibetanReview.net, Mar 25, 2009) — The state-owned Bank of China (BOC) has loaned 650 million yuan (US $95.17 million) to the Lhasa-based Huatailong mining company for exploiting multi-metal mines at Gyama village in Maldrogungkar county of the city, reported China’s Xinhua news agency Mar 23. It said the loan was by far the largest in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) this year.

Huatailong a subsidiary under the China National Gold Group Corporation, a large scale state-owned enterprise and the sole Chinese member of the World Gold Council.

The report said the BOC branch in the TAR had issued more than 4 billion yuan of loans since last year to support projects such as the Xining and Golmud section of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, and a mineral water enterprise, the Tibet Glacier Mineral Water.

China's Brutality in Tibet

2009-03-26T03:58:00.000-07:00

A Tibetan writer-photographer arrested in Gansu Province

2009-03-25T23:39:00.000-07:00

tchrd.org
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) learnt that a Tibetan monk was arrested by the Chinese authorities from Labrang Monastery on alleged charges for writing political essays on Tibet to a website named as "Jottings" (Tib: Zin-dris), in Gansu Province.

According to multiple sources, Kunga Tsayang, age (unconfirmed), a monk from Amdo Labrang Tashi Kyil Monastery was arrested by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) personnel on 17 March 2009 from his living room during a midnight raid in Labrang Monastery, in Sangchu County, Gannan "Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture" ("TAP"), Gansu Province.

Kunga Tsayang was a passionate writer, essayist, chronicler and an amateur photographer who wrote under a pen name "sun of snowland" (Tib: Gang-Nyi). He hailed from Chigdril County, Golog "Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture" ("TAP"), Qinghai Province. He was an avid traveler who had previously traveled in various parts of Tibet and China. His travelogues dealt on the special characteristic features of Tibetan topographical landscapes, culture, customs, habits and religious heritage.

A well educated, knowledgeable monk who always take great pride for being a Tibetan as well as his ancestral roots. He was known to be a serious writer and a photographer who always dream of becoming a full fledged photographer.

Although Tsayang had been under the close watch of the Chinese authorities in Sangchu County, Gansu Province for some time now, he hardly stays at his Labrang Monastery except during important prayer ritual and ceremonies as he travels to different places of Tibet and China for his photo journalism work. Unfortunately, on the fateful day of 17 March 2009, he was arrested by the Chinese security forces during a midnight raid at his living room.

As of now, TCHRD has no further information about his current well being and whereabouts. It is believed that he is being detained in an undisclosed location in Gansu Province.

TCHRD expresses serious concern for his well being and safety.

YouTube Censored in China, Google Confirms

2009-03-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

Tibet.net
Dharamshala: The video-sharing site “YouTube” has been block in China since Monday, apparently to block the footages appearing on the site showing brutal beatings of Tibetan protesters by Chinese police officers in Tibet.

Google confirmed on Tuesday that its YouTube video-sharing Web site had been blocked in China.

“We don’t know the reason for the block,” a Google spokesman, Scott Rubin, was quoted as saying by HeraldTribune.com. “Our government relations people are trying to resolve it.”

Mr. Rubin said that the company first noticed traffic from China had decreased sharply late Monday. By early Tuesday, he said, it had dropped to nearly zero.

China routinely filters Internet content and blocks material that is critical of its policies. It also frequently blocks individual videos on YouTube. YouTube was not blocked Tuesday or Wednesday in Hong Kong, the largely autonomous region of China. Beijing has not interfered with Internet sites there.

“The instant speculation is that YouTube is being blocked because the Tibetan government in exile released a particular video,” said Xiao Qiang, adjunct professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and editor of China Digital Times, a news Web site that chronicles political and economic changes in China.

Mr. Xiao said that the blocking of YouTube fit with what appeared to be an effort by China to step up its censorship of the Internet in recent months. Mr. Xiao said he was not surprised that YouTube was a target. It also hosts videos about the Tiananmen Square protests and many other subjects that Chinese authorities find objectionable.

Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa, His Holiness the Dalai Lama's representative in Geneva, said the footage showed "police beating protesters".

"The footage clearly shows the beating of Tibetan captives even after they are handcuffed and tied, a violation of international norms," BBC quoted Mr Chhoekyapa as saying.

The rare footages of Chinese police brutality was acquired by the Central Tibetan Administration based in Dharamshala, which released it on 20 March 2009.

The footages featured a Tibetan called Tendar, Tendar, a staff in the China Mobile company who was brutally beaten and later suffered inhumane treatment at the hands of Chinese authorities on 14 March 2008.

He was fired at, burned with cigarettes butts, pierced with a nail in his right foot, and severely beaten with an electric baton. The wounds and the bruise marks visible on his body is a testimony of the brutality he was subjected to by the Chinese authorities.

He died due to his injuries on June 19, 2008. When his corpse was offered to the vultures according to the tradition, a nail was found in his right foot.

South Africa Bars Dalai Lama From a Peace Conference

2009-03-24T00:32:00.000-07:00

Quote of the Day
“We are shamelessly succumbing to Chinese pressure,” Mr. Tutu told a South African newspaper, The Sunday Tribune, a statement his office confirmed on Monday. “I feel deeply distressed and ashamed.”

By CELIA W. DUGGER
Published: March 23, 2009

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa has barred the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, from attending a peace conference here this week that is supposed to promote the 2010 World Cup and the potential of sport to unite people across races and nations.

The government said Monday that the Dalai Lama’s presence at the conference would have distracted the world’s attention from South Africa’s hosting of the World Cup and drawn it instead into the fraught relations between the Dalai Lama and China, one of the country’s most important trading partners. Thabo Masebe, a government spokesman, said the Tibetan leader’s presence “would not be in South Africa’s best interests.” Read full Article

My opinion, its truly a shame that a nation that shed off the chains of apartheid and oppression now as a free nation succumbs to Chinese pressure.

Free Tibet Rally in Taipei, Taiwan

2009-03-23T22:57:00.000-07:00

I saw this on CNN iReport. Click on the link below to watch the video.

Free Tibet Rally in Taipei, Taiwan by Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Taiwan and Tibet support groups

Candle Light Vigil in support of Tibetans Inside Tibet.

2009-03-23T22:44:00.000-07:00

Dharamshala, 23 March 2009 - Regional Tibetan Youth Congress of Dharamshala yesterday held a candle light vigil to express their solidarity with the Tibetans inside Tibet who protested in the aftermath of the suicide of Tashi Sangpo in Machu River. 95 Tibetans have been arrested in connection with the protests inside Tibet. Ragya monastery remains under severe restrictions and Tibet at large presently remains under undeclared Martial Law.

Lets tell the G20 leaders, "DIGNITY BEFORE DOLLARS"

2009-03-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

As the G20 summit nears, Tibetans and Tibet supporters everywhere especially in Europe must not fail in telling the leaders that arrive in London this April that they cannot allow the Tibet issue to be shoved under the rug as they have done before.

Get on the bus, go to London and tell the leaders "DIGNITY BEFORE DOLLARS", International intervention and pressure is necessary. Lets not allow China to violate international standards of law inside Tibet any more. If China wants to become a global power, they can start by respecting the human rights of the Tibetan people.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to the justice everywhere" Martin Luther King

Tibet News Update

2009-03-23T22:25:00.000-07:00

China detains 95 Tibetans who protested in the aftermath of Tashi Sangpo’s suicide in Machu River –23 March 2009

The official Chinese state media, Xinhua News Agency was quoted as saying that the Chinese authorities arrested 95 Tibetans who protested against the Chinese government, in the aftermath of a Tibetan monk who committed suicide by drowning himself into Machu River (Yellow River) on 21 March 2009.

Three more Tibetans arrested in connection with Farming Boycott Movement –23 March 2009

Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) received confirmed information from multiple sources that three more Tibetans from Kardze region were again arrested by Chinese authorities on 21 March 2009, under the on-going farming boycott movement in the Tibetan region of Kardze in Sichuan Province.

China's Brutality in Tibet exposed

2009-03-21T01:35:00.000-07:00

By Malcolm Moore, Shanghai Correspondent
Last Updated: 7:31PM GMT 20 Mar 2009

New video of torture exposes Chinese brutality in Tibet

The Tibetan government-in-exile, led by the Dalai Lama, has released a video that appears to show Tibetan monks being tortured by Chinese security forces.

Click here to watch the video.

SPECIAL MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA FOR TIBETANS IN AND OUTSIDE TIBET.

2008-11-14T21:05:00.000-08:00

Posted on Central Tibetan Administration website on www.tibet.net

While sending my greetings to all Tibetans in and outside Tibet, there are a few important issues I would like to present to you.

Since I was very young, I realized that the transformation of our governance into a democratic system was of utmost importance for Tibet's immediate and long-term interest. Therefore, after taking responsibility as the spiritual and political leader of Tibet, I worked hard to establish such a democratic set-up in Tibet. Unfortunately, we were unable to achieve it under the harsh repression of the People's Republic of China. However, immediately after coming into exile, judicious reforms were introduced in the structure of our governance and a newly-elected parliament was constituted. Despite being in exile, the process of the democratization of the Tibetan community has made good headway. Today, the Tibetan community in exile has completely transformed into a modern democracy in the true sense of the word, having an administration with its own charter and a leadership elected by popular vote. We can be proud at this moment when the Tibetan people themselves are ready and able to take responsibility for Tibet.

The reason I have persisted in encouraging the establishment of a democratic system is based entirely on the need to secure a solid and sustainable future system of governance for Tibet. This is not because I was reluctant or wanted to shirk my responsibility. It is extremely important that we take stock of history and our past experience, as well as learn from the present world situation in order to keep up our struggle. All Tibetans should uphold and strengthen the institution of the Central Tibetan Administration, by means of which we will be able to preserve the Tibetan cultural heritage in exile until the issue of Tibet is resolved.

Since coming into exile, we have exercised the essential functions of a democratic system by inviting our people to express their opinions about important political decisions on the future of Tibet. The current, mutually beneficial Middle-Way Approach was formulated in the early 1970s as a result of much deliberation and discussion with leaders who represented the Tibetan people such as the Speaker of the House. Moreover, I have specifically stated in the Strasbourg Proposal that the Tibetan people will make the final decision.

After the break in contacts with the PRC in 1993, we conducted an opinion poll of the Tibetans in exile and collected suggestions from Tibet wherever possible on the proposed referendum, by which the Tibetan people were to determine the future course of our freedom struggle to their full satisfaction. Based on the outcome of this poll and suggestions from Tibet, our parliament in exile, passed a resolution empowering me to continue to use my discretion on the matter without seeking recourse to a referendum. Therefore, until now we have followed the Middle-Way Approach and eight rounds of talks have taken place since contact with the PRC was restored in 2002. Despite this approach receiving widespread appreciation from the international community, as well as the support of many Chinese intellectuals, there have been no positive signs or changes in Tibet. Indeed, PRC policies towards Tibet and the Tibetans have remained unchanged.

After the sixth round of talks in 2007 with officials of the PRC, there were no plans to hold further talks in the immediate future. But, because of the urgency of the situation in Tibet after the events of March this year, we held informal discussions in the beginning of May, followed by the seventh and eighth rounds of talks in July and at the beginning of November, so as not to leave any stone unturned. Nevertheless, no real progress was made.

In March this year, Tibetans from the whole of Tibet known as Cholka-Sum (U-Tsang, Kham and Amdo), regardless of whether they were young or old, male or female, monastic or lay-people, believers or non-believers, including students, risked their lives by courageously expressing their long-felt dissatisfaction with PRC policies in a peaceful and lawful way. At that time I was hopeful that the PRC government would find a solution based on the reality on the ground. However, on the contrary, the Chinese government has completely ignored and rejected Tibetan feelings and aspirations by brutally cracking down on them, using the accusation that they were 'splittists' and 'reactionaries' as an excuse. During those testing times, out of profound concern and a deep sense of responsibility, I exercised whatever influence I have with the international community and with China, including writing personally to President Hu Jintao. But my efforts hardly made any difference.

Since everyone was preoccupied with the issue of the Beijing Olympics, it did not seem appropriate to consult the general public at that time. Now, since the time is more appropriate, in accordance with clause 59 of the Charter for Tibetans-in-exile I have on 11th September, requested our elected leadership to convene a Special Meeting soon. It is my hope that participants will be able to gather the opinions of their respective communities and be able to present them on this occasion.

Taking into account the inspiring courage being shown by people all over Tibet this year, the current world situation, and the present intransigent stance of the government of the PRC, all the participants, as Tibetan citizens should discuss in a spirit of equality, cooperation and collective responsibility the best possible future course of action to advance the Tibetan cause. This meeting should take place in an atmosphere of openness, putting aside partisan debate. Rather, it should focus on the aspirations and views of the Tibetan people. I appeal to everyone concerned to work together to contribute as best as they can.

This Special Meeting is being convened with the express purpose of providing a forum to understand the real opinions and views of the Tibetan people through free and frank discussions. It must be clear to all that this special meeting does not have any agenda for reaching a particular predetermined outcome.

The Dalai Lama

14 November 2008

N.B Translated from the Tibetan.

Following is the message of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Chinese:

达赖喇嘛对境内外全体藏人的特别讲话

十四世达赖喇嘛向所有境内外的藏人表示问候！同时想对你们讲几个重要的情况：我自年轻时就感到，为藏人的长远和根本利益，西藏的政治制度要进行民主化的重要性，故自担负政教职责以来作了很多努力，但是，在中华人民共和国的压制下未能取得成果。流亡之始，我们立即改组政府组织，并产生由人民选举的议会以来，藏人的民主进展相对于流亡者来讲有很大的进步。如今，流亡社会已经形成具备现代全部民主理念，并具有依法而治的政府，议会和最高行政首脑由人民直接选举产生，藏民族的责任能够由藏人担负的局面。这是值得高兴和自豪的。

我对健全民主制度进行不懈努力的目的,只是为了藏人的政治能够巩固和永续，根本不是自己不想担负责任或者推卸责任。根据过去的历史经验，以及从国际形势中吸取教训，在西藏问题没有得到解决之前，为能持续藏人的斗争，西藏的宗教和文化能够得到继承，流亡藏人的组织由流亡藏人有效管理尤为重要。

自流亡以来，我们实行真正的民主制度，在解决西藏的许多重要政治问题上为能够广泛采纳藏人的意见而进行了不懈的努力。现今我们正在实行的互利中间道路不仅是七十年代初与议会议长等代表民意的领导进行多次协商研究后决定的，而且在斯特拉斯堡的讲话中也清楚地写着最后的决定权在人民手中。

1993年和1994年藏中联系渠道中断后，关于藏人的政治走向能够再次与西藏境内外的藏人协商决定而开始进行了全民公投。但是,最后决定，不需经过正式表决,议会根据预选时大多数民众的意见,全票通过决议要我审势决定。因此,到现在为止我一直坚持中间道路的政策。自2002 年藏中开始恢复接触以来,共进行了八次接触商谈,因而西藏问题在国际上引起了新的关注而获得了各方大力支持,同样,汉族知识分子的支持也持续增长。但是,西藏境内的情况没有得到任何改善,而且,中华人民共和国的对藏政策也没有丝毫变化。

第六次接触商谈后,虽然暂时没有继续接触的计划，但是由于今年西藏境内发生的紧急情况,我们竭尽所能,于五月初进行了一次非正式对话，七月初进行了第七次接触商谈，这个月进行了第八次接触商谈，可是并没有获得实质性的成果。

自今年三月份以来,整个西藏境内不分男女老少、僧俗群众、有无宗教信仰,包括学生在内的西藏三区藏人不顾生命危险，通过合法、和平途径勇敢地表达了长期累积于心中的愤满情绪。当时，我对中国政府根据实际情况，采取相应的解决办法抱有很大的希望。但是恰恰相反，他们抹煞西藏人民的真实意愿，冠以分裂、反动等罪名直接进行了残酷无情的镇压。那时，我不堪忍受，包括给胡锦涛写信等在国际和国内各方面想尽了一切办法,但成效甚微。当时由于大家忙于北京奥运会的举办，不便进行与西藏民众协商讨论的工作，但我认为现在是协商讨论的适当时机，因此，根据<<流亡藏人宪章>>第五十九条之规定，我于今年九月十一日指示噶厦和议会召开特别会议。现在大会即将召开，我希望所有与会人员，反映出自己所代表的民众的所有意见。

大会要将今年西藏境内发生的伟大运动，以及与此相关的国际局势，中国政府的行为等实际情况作为基础，对未来如何解决西藏问题的方方面面要进行全面深入的思考。所有与会人员视自己为同等的西藏公民，在平等的条件下，大家和衷共济、共担责任，对解决西藏问题的利弊得失进行广泛深入的讨论。这种讨论不应该像当今各政党那样坚守自己的观点而进行激烈争论，而应该是能够把民众的真实意见在大会上如实地表达出来。对这一点，我敦请大家共同努力。

大家必须要明白的是，此次特别会议的目的只是通过充分协商讨论的途径，来了解基层民众的真实意见，而根本不是一种政治策略或彼此诿过，更不是企图达到某种隐藏之目的。

达赖喇嘛于2008年11月14日

Video: Australian PM delivers Olympics message - 09 April 08 AlJazeeraEnglish

2008-04-10T15:11:00.001-07:00

Monks Disrupt Media Tour in China

2008-04-09T22:37:00.000-07:00

BEIJING — China suffered another unexpected public relations setback on Wednesday when Buddhist monks interrupted a government-managed news media tour in western China by waving a Tibetan flag and protesting that the authorities were depriving them of their human rights.

The disruption, in Xiahe, a city in Gansu Province, was the second in which monks had upstaged government efforts to control tours of Tibetan areas for foreign journalists.

Last month, several monks in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, risked official punishment when they made an emotional appeal to foreign journalists inside the Jokhang Monastery, one of the city’s holiest shrines.

The outburst on Wednesday occurred as authorities guided reporters through the Labrang Monastery. The tour was the first officially approved visit to Xiahe by foreign reporters since monks and other Tibetans in the city clashed with the police last month. During the tour, about 15 monks rushed out, waving a Tibetan flag, and approached a group of about 20 Chinese and foreign reporters. Full Article Link

Brown will not attend Games' opening ceremony; Olympic torch route cut in half in San Francisco

2008-04-09T22:08:00.000-07:00

LONDON: Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain will skip the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

He became the second major world leader after the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, to stay away from the opening ceremonies, although Brown's office insisted Wednesday that he was not boycotting the Olympics and would attend the closing ceremony.

Asked whether President George W. Bush would go to the opening portion of the Olympics, the White House press secretary Dana Perino demurred, citing the fluid nature of a foreign trip.

"It is extremely premature for me to say what the president's schedule is going to be" in August, she said. Full Article Link

US Congress passes new Tibet legislation, condemns China's crackdown in Tibet

2008-04-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

On April 8, as the arrival of the Olympic torch was met by Tibetans and Tibet activists in San Francisco, the U.S. House of Representatives debated House Resolution 1077 calling on China to end its crackdown in Tibet and for the Beijing government to enter into a results-based dialogue with the Dalai Lama. On the morning of April 9, H.R. 1077 passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 413 to 1. H.R. 1077 was introduced by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others, including the nine members who made up a delegation that visited the Dalai Lama in Dharmsala in March as the crackdown in Tibet began to unfold. The full text of H.R. 1077 follows.

"We're particularly pleased in this resolution to see the attention paid to the Tibet Policy Act and the U.S. Congress call for a US Consulate in Lhasa. Full Article Link

Video: The passing of the torch

2008-04-09T22:01:00.000-07:00

Olympic torch protest draws international icons to San Francisco

2008-04-09T08:21:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) — Internationally renowned figures including Hollywood icon Richard Gere and Archbishop Desmond Tutu gathered in San Francisco Tuesday as the city geared up for its leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay.

A myriad of rights groups and activists have descended on this famously liberal California city for Wednesday's event, after anti-China protests marred previous legs of the flame's global odyssey earlier this week.

"This really is an epic moment," Gere, chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet, told a candlelight vigil attended by some 2,000 people in downtown San Francisco late Tuesday.

"The harmonious society (Chinese president) Hu Jintao talks about is a fraud. There can be no harmony without freedom of religion and culture." Full Article Link

PARIS OLYMPIC PROTESTS

2008-04-07T07:07:00.000-07:00

Francesca Martinez Explains Her Olympic Torch Protest

2008-04-07T07:01:00.000-07:00

Protesters Attempt to Extinguish Olympic Torch in London

2008-04-07T06:56:00.000-07:00

Olympics and Tibet

2008-04-07T06:36:00.000-07:00

The Capital Times
An editorial — 4/07/2008 7:15 am

The Olympics are appropriately referred to as "games."

What is happening in Tibet is no game.

The Chinese government, which is preparing to host the Olympics this summer in Beijing, is brutally attacking the people of Tibet in order to put down a legitimate struggle for basic human rights.

The pressure that the world can place on China to stop the killing and what can only be described as cultural genocide begins with a message that the games of the Olympics are not as important as the real-life struggles of the Tibetan people.

That message is beginning to be sent.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has become the most powerful world leader to refuse to attend the Olympics opening ceremonies in Beijing. Full Article Link

Majority want Rudd to intervene in Tibet

2008-04-07T06:31:00.000-07:00

April 7, 2008 - 9:39PM
Theage.com.au

Almost three quarters of Australians want Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to take a lead in bringing a lasting solution to the conflict over Tibet, a new poll shows.

A Galaxy poll conducted for progressive lobby group GetUp shows 71 per cent of the 1,100 people surveyed want Mr Rudd to use "his standing with the Chinese government to attempt to broker a lasting solution to the Tibet conflict".

GetUp executive director Brett Solomon called on Mr Rudd to pay careful attention to the poll result.

"The prime minister should be in no doubt as he heads into his meetings with the Chinese leaders of the deep resonance of this issue within the broader community," Mr Solomon said in a statement.

"He clearly has the backing of his domestic constituency."

Mr Solomon said Mr Rudd's background as a China expert put him in a rare position to take a leading role in negotiations.

"Mr Rudd is the best placed world leader to stand up for Tibet and the Australian community are rising to meet that opportunity by sending him to Beijing with an unflinching mandate to boldly do so."

IOC chief concerned over torch relay protests

2008-04-07T06:29:00.000-07:00

NDTV Correspondent
Monday, April 7, 2008 (Paris)
The Olympics Committee chief Jacques Rogge has said he is very concerned about the protests disrupting the Olympic torch as it makes its way around the world.

For the first time he has called for a rapid and peaceful resolution to the unrest in Tibet.

''I am very concerned with the international situation and what's happening in Tibet. The torch relay has been targeted. Violence for whatever reason is not compatible with the values of the torch relay or the Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee calls for a rapid peaceful resolution in Tibet,'' Rogge said.

His remarks came a day after the security for the Olympic torch relay was breached several times in London on Sunday.

The security was breached despite a heavy presence of police. Full Article Link

Video: Olympic torch relay meets with protest in London - 06 Apr 08

2008-04-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

Ethnic Unrest Continues in China

2008-04-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

By HOWARD W. FRENCH in NYT
Published: April 5, 2008

SHANGHAI — Fresh ethnic violence has erupted in a Tibetan region of southwestern China, with disputed reports of eight people shot dead by the police, and the Chinese government on Friday vowed swift and severe punishment of Tibetans accused of rioting and taking part in last month’s antigovernment protests.

Police officers on Thursday evening fired on a crowd of protesters outside government offices in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, along the Tibet border. A Tibet activist group said the shooting killed eight protesters, but other unconfirmed reports put the death toll as high as 15.

Signs of ethnic unrest in another area, in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, have also begun to emerge in recent days, with details of protests and rumored plotting by Muslim separatists in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and of police crackdowns. Full Article Link

Olympic torch must throw light on human rights in China, says Amnesty

2008-04-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

Posted: 03 April 2008

As the Olympic torch relay arrives in London, Amnesty International is urging participants and spectators alike to find out what is really happening in China and join its campaign to improve human rights for people in China.

Earlier this week Amnesty issued a new report showing a human rights situation that is getting worse, not better, in the run-up to the Olympics. The organisation called on Gordon Brown and other world leaders to speak out publicly about human rights in China and urged the International Olympics Committee to put pressure on the Chinese authorities to make urgent reforms.

Amnesty International UK Campaigns Director Tim Hancock said:

'We hope the Olympic torch will throw some light on human rights in China and expose what is happening right now to people from Beijing to Tibet. Full Article Link

UK: Olympic Torch Illuminates Lack of China Rights Policy

2008-04-05T06:59:00.000-07:00

“No Strategy” to Address Tibet, Olympic-Related Rights Crises

(London, April 4, 2008) – In welcoming the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay outside 10 Downing Street, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is sending the Chinese government exactly the wrong message on its ongoing crackdown in Tibet and on human rights advocates in China, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Olympic torch, which was lit in Beijing on March 31, is expected to be a flashpoint for human rights-related protests as it travels through 20 countries. The torch will pass through London on Sunday, April 6.

“The Prime Minister should use this occasion to speak publicly about China’s Olympian abuses,” said Tom Porteous, Human Rights Watch’s London Director. “The main thing the Olympic Torch Relay illuminates in Britain is the government’s apparent lack of a public strategy to address Olympic-related human rights issues in China in advance of the Beijing Games.” Full Article Link

China: International Olympic Committee Operating in Moral Void

2008-04-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

(Geneva, April 1, 2008) – The Ethics Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) should articulate human rights standards for host countries to end the moral void in which it operates, Human Rights Watch said in a letter released today. The IOC, which is scheduled to hold meetings in Beijing from April 1 to April 12, has refused to publicly articulate concerns about the human rights situation in China.

The refusal of the IOC to dissociate itself from the abuses directly linked to the preparation of the Beijing Games is undermining human rights in China and flouting the spirit and the letter of the Olympic Charter, Human Rights Watch said.

“The question isn’t whether the IOC is a human rights organization,” said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director of Human Rights Watch. “It’s whether the Olympic movement respects human rights. If it does, remaining silent as China’s crackdown intensifies isn’t acceptable.” Full Article Link

The Real China and the Olympics

2008-04-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

By Hu Jia and Teng Biao
Saturday, April 5, 2008; Page A15

On July 13th 2001, when Beijing won the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games, the Chinese government promised the world it would improve China's human rights record. In June 2004, Beijing announced its Olympic Games slogan, "One World, One Dream." From their inception in 1896, the modern Olympic Games have always had as their mission the promotion of human dignity and world peace. China and the world expected to see the Olympic Games bring political progress to the country. Is Beijing keeping its promises? Is China improving its human rights record?

When you come to the Olympic Games in Beijing, you will see skyscrapers, spacious streets, modern stadiums and enthusiastic people. You will see the truth, but not the whole truth, just as you see only the tip of an iceberg. You may not know that the flowers, smiles, harmony and prosperity are built on a base of grievances, tears, imprisonment, torture and blood.

We are going to tell you the truth about China. We believe that for anyone who wishes to avoid a disgraceful Olympics, knowing the truth is the first step... Full Article Link

China to step up 're-education' of Tibetans

2008-04-05T06:45:00.000-07:00

BEIJING (AFP) — China warned on Saturday it would step up a controversial "re-education" campaign for Tibetans after a fresh protest showed a huge security crackdown had failed to extinguish nearly one month of unrest.

The statement in the state-run Tibet Daily newspaper called for Buddhist monks to become Chinese patriots, but activist groups said the heavy-handed techniques already employed in the campaign were inflaming tensions.

Efforts by authorities to "re-educate" monks at a monastery in Sichuan province in southwest China led to protests there on Thursday in which at least eight Tibetans were killed, the activist groups said. Full Article Link

Remember Tibet?

2008-04-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

Samdhong Rinpoche is often overshadowed by the Dalai Lama, but the Tibetan prime-minister-in-exile is working behind the scenes to secure a future for his people.

The efforts of Tibet’s government-in-exile—led by Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche and Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama—will be remembered as a persistent thorn in the side of Communist China. When the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959, after eight years of harsh Chinese occupation and a failed uprising, there wasn’t much to distinguish his people from the countless other ethnic groups whose national aspirations have been steamrolled into oblivion. But today, the Free Tibet movement is a visible cause célèbre—and has been for a decade. Having won a Nobel Peace Prize and a Congressional Gold Medal—the highest civilian honor in the United States—the Dalai Lama is one of the West’s most beloved (and bestselling) spiritual advisers.

This is little comfort to the 6 million Tibetan Buddhists still living under the repressive regime of the People’s Republic of China. Since taking control of Tibet in 1951, the PRC has killed hundreds of thousands of Tibetan Buddhists (in a conservative estimate), destroyed thousands of temples and monasteries, and continued to punish open support of the Dalai Lama with imprisonment and torture. Each year, thousands more Tibetans join their fellow exiles in Dharamsala, a town in the hills of northern India where the Tibetan government-in-exile provides education, social services, and a home for its more than 20,000 refugees.

After decades of working alongside the Dalai Lama, Rinpoche, a 69-year-old scholar and monk, was elected prime minister of the Kashag (the Tibetan parliament) in 2001. He has helped parlay the international community’s sympathy into active negotiations with China for a partially autonomous Tibet. Faced with the possibility that the PRC is only humoring Tibetan demands while waiting for the Dalai Lama to die, Rinpoche has also laid the groundwork for a permanent government in exile, where future Dalai Lamas would be ceremonial monarchs and political power would reside with elected officials. In our conversation a few months before the Beijing Olympics, Rinpoche discussed how he keeps the idea of Tibetan independence alive in a China-friendly world: compromise, nonviolence, and above all, patience. Full Interview Link

Eight Tibetans killed in Kardze: new phase in protests in Tibet

2008-04-04T19:18:00.001-07:00

At least eight Tibetans were killed yesterday in eastern Tibet after armed police fired on a crowd of several hundred monks and laypeople after an incident in which monks were detained after they objected to an intensified 'patriotic education' campaign, including photographs of the Dalai Lama being thrown to the ground, according to reliable sources. State media confirmed the incident took place, characterizing it as a "riot" but did not mention any deaths (Xinhua, April 4). According to various sources, the authorities have strengthened 'patriotic education' campaigns in various monasteries following the protests in recent weeks, leading to increasing resentment. A new phase in protests across the Tibetan plateau appears to have developed in the form of responses to political campaigns requiring denunciations of the Dalai Lama. Full Article Link

Latest News from Inside Tibet

2008-04-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

Chinese Police Fire on Tibetan Protesters, Death Toll Unknown KATHMANDU — Paramilitary police in China’s southwestern Sichuan province fired on a crowd of Tibetan protesters demanding the release of two detained monks, killing and wounding an unknown number of people, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports. Full Article Link

New Violence Reported in Tibetan Area
BEIJING - New violence has broken out in a volatile Tibetan region of western China, leaving eight people dead, an overseas Tibet activist group said Friday. China's official Xinhua News Agency said a government official was seriously injured.

The London-based Free Tibet Campaign said police opened fire on hundreds of Buddhist monks and lay people who had marched on local government offices to demand the release of two monks detained for possessing photographs of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader. Full Article Link

Two monks commit suicide in Amdo Ngaba
According to confirm information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), two monks committed suicide in Amdo Ngaba (Ch: Aba) as a direct result of relentless oppression by the Chinese security forces after the series of peaceful protests. Full Article Link

Speaker Pelosi introduces resolution on Tibet

2008-04-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

Speaker Pelosi, with the members of a bipartisan congressional delegation that met on March 21 in Dharamsala with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, introduced House Resolution 1077 on April 3 evening which calls on China to cease the crackdown, release protestors, provide unfettered access to journalists and independent international monitors to Tibet, and engage in a results-based dialogue with the Dalai Lama. The resolution also cites the Tibetan Policy Act which calls for an official US government presence in Lhasa. The Speaker's introduction and full text of the resolution is attached... Full Article Link

His Holiness appeals to the International Community

2008-04-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

Friday, 4 April 2008, 11:21 a.m., tibet.net

Dharamshala:His Holiness the Dalai Lama has expressed his appreciation and gratitude to the world leaders, Parliamentarians, NGOs and members of the public who have expressed their concern over the recent deeply saddening and tragic events in Tibet.

"I am also grateful for their efforts to persuade the Chinese authorities to exercise restraint in dealing with the peaceful protesters, while at the same time calling for meaningful dialogue to resolve the issue," His Holiness stated on 2 April.

His Holiness said, "I believe the recent demonstrations and protests are a manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment not only of the Tibetan people in the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), but also in the outlying traditional Tibetan areas now incorporated into Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, where there exist substantial communities of ethnic Tibetans."

According to reliable sources, the Chinese authorities have deployed large contingents of troops in these traditional Tibetan regions and have not only started to crack down heavily on the Tibetans allegedly involved in the unrest, but also sealed off the areas where protests have taken place.

His Holiness said, "I therefore appeal for your continued support in calling for an immediate end to the current crackdown, the release of all those who have been arrested and detained, and the provision of proper medical treatment to the injured. We are particularly concerned about the lack of adequate medical facilities, as there are reports of many injured Tibetans being afraid to go to Chinese-run hospitals and clinics."

"I would also request you to encourage the sending of an independent international body, to investigate the unrest and its underlying causes, as well as allowing the media and international medical teams to visit the affected areas. Their presence will not only instill a sense of reassurance in the Tibetan people, but will also exercise a restraining influence on the Chinese authorities," His Holiness said.

China jails rights activist outspoken on Tibet

2008-04-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

By Chris Buckley

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Buddhist Chinese dissident outspoken on Tibet and other sensitive topics was jailed for three-and-a-half years on Thursday, a conviction likely to become a focus of rights campaigns ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

Hu Jia, 34, was found guilty of "inciting subversion of state power" for criticizing the ruling Communist Party, a verdict that drew quick condemnation from the United States, Britain and the United Nations.

"There is no doubt that this is a decision that is deeply disturbing to us and we are communicating that to the Chinese authorities," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a news conference at a NATO summit in Bucharest. Full Article Link

Urgent Press Release: Dharamsala Refutes Charges of Being Involved in Lhasa Protests

2008-04-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

March 31,2008
Dharamsala

Contacts:
Mr Thubten Samphel
Mr Sonam N Dagpo
Department of Information
and International Relations
Central Tibetan Administration
Ph: 01892-222510, 224957, 224662

The state-controlled mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China, Xinhua News Agency, ran a story yesterday March 30 on the "involvement of the Tibetan Government in exile and the Dalai Lama in the recent demonstrations in Lhasa and other parts of Tibet." The article, which was purportedly written by Yedor (Ch: Yi duo), accused His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Department of Security of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) for stirring up violence and disturbance in Tibet.

The Central Tibetan Administration strongly refutes the charges. These charges are concocted and premeditated with no inkling of a truth in it. China has since the beginning of the incident in Lhasa on March 10 started to blame it on His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the CTA, without any conclusive proof, and this article is the same. Therefore, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration has from the very beginning urged for an immediate and independent inquiry into the Tibetan demonstrations from an international organization. Central Tibetan Administration repeats its request for an independent inquiry to ascertain the truth.

This is not the first time that China has blamed His Holiness the Dalai Lama or the Tibetan exiles for the troubles in Tibet that stems from China's own flawed policies and repressive political rule.
(www.tibet.net is the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration.)

Video: Tibet: China's ''cultural genocide''

2008-04-01T17:10:00.001-07:00

Video: Tibetan exiles protest at White House

2008-04-01T17:07:00.001-07:00

Bhaichung pulls out of Torch relay

2008-03-31T16:56:00.000-07:00

Dhiman Sarkar , Hindustan Times
When the Olympic Torch’s worldwide relay reaches New Delhi next month, Bhaichung Bhutia will not be there. That’s because the India football captain is teaming with those who think China’s isn’t handling the Tibet issue right.

Bhutia didn’t tell the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) as much. Replying to a faxed invitation sent by president Suresh Kalmadi ‘in the first week of March’, Bhutia told the IOA on Monday that he is pulling out of the run from Red Fort to India Gate due to “personal reasons.”

But when HT asked him to elaborate, Bhutia did. “Being invited by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is an honour but at the moment I sympathise with the Tibetan cause,” he said. Full Article Link

Tibetans appeal Aamir to boycott Olympics march

2008-03-31T13:29:00.000-07:00

Bollywood Mantra Staff on 27th March 2008
There has been lots of protest going on all over for boycotting Olympics in Beijing. Olympics flame will reach India in April. In India, Aamir Khan has been declared as the official Beijing Olympics torchbearer. Tibetans and the Chinese government are in truce and Tibetans are making all effort to boycott Olympics all over. Tibetans living in exile in India appealed Aamir Khan not to carry the Olympic torch. Full Article link

China fears protests may spill over to other groups

2008-03-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

Times of India, March 31st, 2008
BEIJING: Fearing the agitation by Tibetans might spill over to other dissident groups if the Olympic torch rally is disrupted during its five-month journey before the Beijing Games, China has begun to carry out pre-emptory arrests and increased surveillance on a range of dissident groups including agitating farmers, rebel religious sects and separatists in Xingjian province, sources said.

"This is the biggest political challenge for the government in two decades of economic reforms. The stakes are very high. Any disruption of the torch rally will be seen as a sign of weakness and encourage dissident groups to create trouble. I don't think the government will allow any of the underground groups to cause problems at this time," Hu Shisheng, director of South Asian studies at China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, the state-run think-tank, said. Full Article Link

Fernandes again raises China bogey

2008-03-31T13:04:00.000-07:00

Economic Times

NEW DELHI : Calling China “potential threat number one”, former defence minister George Fernandes has criticised the UPA government for being ``bullied’’ by China and said that this was evident from the way India’s ambassador Nirupama Rao was summoned at 2 am by the Chinese foreign ministry...

Mr Fernandes, who has viewed China with suspicion, further alleged that ``India had sold out to China.’’ The former defence minister illustrated his point with the recent episode involving India’s ambassador to China Nirupama Rao who was summoned by the Chinese Foreign Ministry at 2 am over a security breach at the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. Fernandes said that the government should have advised its envoy to wait till the next day and said that the episode showed how New Delhi ``surrendered” over the issue. “Well, our government allowed it. It has no shame,” he said. He claimed that any other country would have asked the envoy to wait till the next day. On a question to whether India was being “bullied” by China, Fernandes said “absolutely, and it accepts it” Full Article Link

Paul Lewis: Tibetan protest just latest in hijackings

2008-03-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

5:00AM Sunday March 30, 2008
nzherald.co.nz
It's a crock, as is much of the non-sport, window-dressing of the Olympics; things like opening and closing ceremonies. Mightily impressive was the one opening ceremony I have attended, at LA in 1984. At one stage, out of the entire side of the LA Coliseum, dozens of pianists suddenly appeared, each on a little balcony which shot out of the side of the stadium - black guys in white tuxes, playing white baby grands and white guys in black tuxes, playing black baby grands. All symbolic, beautifully engineered, timed and executed - a triumph of the American art of staging a classy event...

But that's the great downside of the Olympics - pure sport has an awful lot of soapbox shinola to break through. Think back - to the 1976 Montreal Olympics and the boycott by the African nations aimed at New Zealand's support of South Africa's apartheid regime. The 1980 boycott of the Soviet Olympics in Moscow was motivated by the Western world making a political point...

You can go even further back to find the first political manipulation - 1936, to be precise, when that Hitler bloke tried to use the Olympics to shine a light on his Aryan nation.

That exercise in prolonged and boring grandeur - the torch relay - didn't stem from the Corinthian ideals of ancient Greece; bloody old Adolf invented it for the 1936 Berlin Olympics...

Our politicians could lead the way - but wait... There's this landmark free trade agreement between China and New Zealand hanging in the balance. This means China could probably drop nuclear weapons on gay whales driving electric cars and could cut the top off Mt Everest to make a trans-continental highway and the most our government would likely say would be: "Tax cuts, anyone?"

No, the dollar rules in the Olympics as much as it does anywhere else. Expecting our athletes to fight the good fight is not only passing the buck, it's like asking the horses to ride the cowboys.

If we genuinely want to punish China for Tibet, Darfur and other issues, we need to do it as a nation - not neatly slip off the noose of responsibility by passing it round the necks of our athletes. Full Article Link

EU foreign ministers' statement on Tibet

2008-03-29T18:06:00.000-07:00

(Refiles for include missing word "religion" in line 20)
March 29 (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers approved the following statement on Saturday on the situation in Tibet:
"The 27 ministers for foreign affairs of the EU and the (European) Commission discussed the situation in Tibet.
"They reiterated their strong concern over the events in the autonomous Chinese region of Tibet. The EU condemns all violence and pays its respect to the victims.
"It calls for an end to the violence and asks that arrested persons be treated in conformity with international standards.
"It wishes to uphold the transparency of information and hence free access by the press to Tibet.
"The EU notes the Dalai Lama's recent public commitment to non-violence and to the autonomy, not independence of Tibet. It calls for substantive and constructive dialogue which addresses core issues like preservation of the Tibetan language, culture, religion and traditions.
The European Union will continue to pay close attention to the human rights situation in China."

Video: Divisions over Olympic boycott

2008-03-29T17:18:00.001-07:00

AP Report: Protests at Tibet monasteries

2008-03-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

AP[Saturday, March 29, 2008 22:07]
By SCOTT McDONALD Associated Press Writer

BEIJING — New protests broke out Saturday at two monasteries in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, activists and the region's government-in-exile said, as China tried to blunt criticism of its crackdown.

One protest was at Lhasa's Ramoche monastery, where the March 14 demonstrations that led the crackdown began, said Kate Saunders of the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet.

Citing witnesses in the city, Saunders said there were "some reports of fighting," but she had no other information.

People also protested at the Jokhang Temple, a major Buddhist site in Lhasa, the government-in-exile of the Tibetan Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, said on its Web site. The India-based government gave no other details. Full Article Link

EU urges China to hold dialogue on Tibet

2008-03-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

Reuters[Saturday, March 29, 2008 21:22]
By Marcin Grajewski and Marja Novak

BRDO, Slovenia, March 29: The European Union called on Saturday for an end to repression in Tibet and urged China to hold a dialogue on Tibetan cultural and religious rights, ministers said.

Emerging from the meeting, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the 27-member bloc wanted Beijing to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, after his denouncement of violence. Full Article Link

Video: Tibetan monks embarrass China

2008-03-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

- 27 Mar 08 AlJazeeraEnglish

A Lie Repeated : Whats really going on in Tibet

2008-03-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

by Joshua Michael Schrei
Thursday Mar 20th, 2008 1:17 PM

As a lifelong activist who has worked on human rights issues around the globe, I hold the view that the best representatives of a culture are its people; that people create their own history, and in the case of the colonized or the oppressed that history is often rewritten by the oppressor. I do not assume that simply because a country is communist or socialist or capitalist that its practices toward its own people or its foreign policies are more or less honorable; beyond all the rhetoric, the reality of a situation can always be measured by the affected people themselves.

"A lie repeated a hundred times becomes the truth."
-Chairman Mao

The Tibet issue is one that the left has found to be somewhat of a conundrum, for the simple reason that most other popular human rights struggles can be easily linked to a larger struggle against U.S. or European imperialism. Therefore these struggles - be it in Palestine, or East Timor, or Colombia, fit nicely into the larger - and often rather myopic - worldview of the leftist.

However, Tibet is a case in which the struggle for basic rights and nationhood is being carried out against a communist government, so it has brought with it a host of questions for the leftist, who naturally leans towards socialism or communism as an ideological example of a system that stands in contrast to the 'imperialist west'.

China, the country that invaded Tibet in 1950, has stood as one such example- though the Chinese government's practices over the last 53 years and its current bent towards totalitarian capitalism would tend to defy any labeling as a positive example. Nonetheless, China's history of socialism and revolution remains as something of an inspiration for the Western left, and therefore certain historians- predominantly scholars with some form of Marxist or Maoist agenda- have seen the current popularity of the movement for Tibetan statehood and have taken it upon themselves to give a glimpse into the grim reality of 'old Tibet.'

The most recent historian to embrace this view of 'old Tibet' is Dr. Michael Parenti, a Yale scholar who, in the course of his career, has written on a variety of populist causes. To be fair, Parenti stops short -barely- of condoning the Chinese occupation. He does however, cast a decidedly unflattering view of life in pre-1950 Tibet...

In Parenti's words, old Tibet was "a social order that was little more than a despotic retrograde theocracy of serfdom and poverty, so damaging to the human spirit, where vast wealth was accumulated by a favored few who lived high and mighty off the blood, sweat, and tears of the many. For most of the Tibetan aristocrats in exile, that is the world to which they fervently desire to return. It is a long way from Shangri-La."

I have chosen to dissect this thesis because it houses many of the common arguments presented by Chinese government propagandists on Tibet, as well as many of the arguments that modern day Marxists and Maoists regularly hurl at Tibet activists on internet chat rooms and at protests. As we will see, the flawed premise of this thesis illuminates how the far left has gone woefully off the mark in its efforts to undermine the legitimate struggle for Tibetan rights and statehood. Full Article Link

Bush confronts China on Tibet crackdown

2008-03-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

AP[Thursday, March 27, 2008 06:16]
By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON - President Bush sharply confronted China's President Hu Jintao on Wednesday about Beijing's harsh crackdown in Tibet, joining an international chorus of alarm just months before the U.S. and the rest of the world parade to China for the Olympics.

In a telephone call with Hu, Bush "pushed very hard" about violence in Tibet, a necessity for restraint and a need for China to consult with representatives of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, the White House said.

After days of silence by Bush as other world leaders raised their voices, it marked a rare, direct protest from one president to another. As if to underscore how pointed Bush was, the White House said he used the call to "speak very clearly and frankly." Full Article Link

China Needs the Dalai Lama

2008-03-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Washington Post[Wednesday, March 26, 2008 21:04]
By Robert Thurman

We are at a moment of great significance for humanity, at the beginning of this new century, which could be either a horrendous time of natural and man-made mega-disasters or the greatest century yet of environmental restoration and peaceful global community. Of all world leaders at this time, the Dalai Lama most convincingly provides spiritual, intellectual, and ethical leadership, exemplifying and elucidating the most reasonable path to peace and happiness. This is the secret of his worldwide popularity. His person and teaching really do matter, to the Tibetans, to the Chinese, and to all of us and our future generations.

If there ever was a social and political movement based on faith, on spirituality, it is the 50-year campaign of the Dalai Lama for the freedom of his people, and the present spontaneous uprising of the Tibetan people who want to be free to restore their spiritual life, in the closer presence of their spiritual and political leader. These acts of truth—the Dalai Lama’s long insistence on nonviolence and dialogue in responding to the genocidal acts of one of the world’s largest military powers, and the Tibetan people’s resistance in the face of overwhelming odds—may yet produce miraculous results, as one of the world’s greatest “lost causes” becomes a possible success.

The promise of the present moment has been precipitated first by the innovative leaders of China, gingerly stepping out into the glare of world publicity and opinion by hosting the Olympic Games and second, just now, by the brave people of Tibet stepping out on their own past the plans of their leader and, against great odds, standing up for the truth of their existence as Tibetans. Risking their very lives, they protest the total destruction of their culture, environment, and way of life. They have done this in the spirit of nonviolent resistance, although decades of bitterness and the extremity of their present situation did cause some of them to lose sight of this foundational principle of their struggle and commit some acts of violence. They stood up to the firing of armed Chinese troops, they raised their flag of freedom, and they remain standing in spite of the massive loss of life and liberty they knew would come.

The Dalai Lama didn’t ask them to sacrifice themselves in this way. He tells them he will resign if they commit more violent acts, even exceptionally, and he agonizes over the vengeance the hard-line authorities can be expected to exact. At the same time, he and the rest of the world stands in awe of the extraordinary depth of faith being exhibited by his brave people, an echo of similar courageous acts witnessed in the last century during the Civil Rights struggles in the U.S. and South Africa.

The opportunity the Chinese leaders now have is nothing less than earth-shaking. For sixty years they have sought to dominate and control, in the futile effort to transform Tibet and its Tibetans into China and Chinese, a project the Dalai Lama has called cultural genocide. They have clearly failed. The “Dalai Lama clique” they blame and vow to destroy turns out to be all Tibetans. They now have the chance to look carefully at the facts, seek the truth, and accept that failure by trying something new. They have unnecessarily been trying to make an enemy of their best friend in all the world, the Dalai Lama, not only believed by Buddhists to be the incarnation of the god of compassion but beloved by people of all religions and humanisms as an inspiring thinker, teacher, and spiritual example – the Nobel Laureate, the living Gandhi, and the apostle of nonviolence, intelligent dialogue, and unbending hope. He has all along continued to offer them the open hand of friendship, aiming to find a solution that will be satisfying for China as well as for Tibet. It’s time, now, for President Hu Jintao to reach out and welcome his help.

Robert Thurman is professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University and President of Tibet House US. His upcoming book, "Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet and the World" (Atria Books/Beyond Words) will be out in June.

China pressed at U.N. rights body to re-open Tibet

2008-03-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

By Laura MacInnis

GENEVA, March 25 (Reuters) - China came under pressure at the United Nations' top human rights forum on Tuesday to permit foreigners to re-enter Tibet and assess the consequences of Beijing's crackdown on recent protests and riots.

The European Union, in a speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council, urged Chinese authorities to refrain from force against a wave of Tibetan demonstrations that began on March 10 -- the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Washington issued a firm statement against China's closure of Tibet to foreign journalists, diplomats and international observers, a move U.S. Ambassador Warren Tichenor said has made objective assessments of conditions there impossible.

"Restrictions on the access of foreign media to Tibetan areas of China run counter to China's Olympic bid commitments. We are concerned about official Chinese rhetoric and the blocking of independent reporting on the events," he said. Full Article Link

"In restoring order, the Chinese authorities have resorted to measures which violate international human rights law and standards," it said.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, told the Canadian broadcaster CBC last week that Beijing needed to account fully and credibly for what is happening in Tibet.

"China is ready to open its door to 30,000 foreign journalists in August. Why can't it open its door to one or two foreign journalists in Tibet now, when the world is equally interested in what is happening in Tibet as it will be in what will be happening in the Olympics?" she said. (editing by Sami Aboudi)

Latest Updates on Tibet Demonstrations

2008-03-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 25 March 2008, 4:25 p.m.
Ramoche monk dies from starvation as tight restrictions continue in Monasteries

Since the start of the Demonstrations in Tibet on March 10, there has been an increasingly strong military and police presence in and around the premises of all the monasteries (that have had some involvement in the recent demonstrations in Tibet).

Military and People's Armed Police (PAP) have blocked off water, electricity, food and health facilities in monasteries (including Sera, Drepung and Gaden) that have had active involvement in the recent demonstrations in Tibet.

Since March 14, in Ramoche Monastery (Lhasa) Chinese military presence has been a regular scene, as they have completely surrounded the monastery premises and blocked of all exit and entry points. As a result of these tight restrictions, getting regular food and water supplies has been a huge problem for the monastery and on March 24, Thokmey (a monk from Ramoche) died from starvation as confirmed from a reliable source. From time to time, the military have been firing tear gas inside the Monastery premises. Full Report Link

Former Advisor to Party General Secretary Claims Regime Staged Lhasa Incident

2008-03-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

The Epoch Times, March 24th, 2008
By Wang Qian and Chang Qing
Sound of Hope

The violent riots that the Chinese state-run media have reported as having taken place in Lhasa are not what they seem to be, according to a former highly placed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official.

Mr. Ruan Ming claims the CCP carefully staged the incidents in Tibet in order to force the Dalai Lama to resign and to justify future repression of the Tibetans. Full Article Link

"The Dalai Lama has always proposed a peaceful solution to Tibet issues and has won the world's recognition. With all that in mind, the CCP has framed the Dalai Lama for having 'carefully planned and stirred up the event.'

"This is exactly like how the CCP framed Zhao Ziyang for the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989 and accused Zhao of 'splitting the Party and supporting unrest.'

"The Dalai Lama had already said he would resign if the unrest continued. The Dalai Lama is influential globally and if he really retired, the CCP could gradually push and label the Tibetans as terrorists like the Xinjiang independence movement.

"This will give the CCP an excuse to ignore Tibetans appeals and to further repress them."

Tibetan protests mar Olympic torch lighting ceremony

2008-03-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

Watch Video

Times of India
BEIJING: The traditional Olympic torch lighting ceremony in Greece was on Monday marred by mounting protests against Chinese rule in Tibet as Beijing vowed to carry the flame to the world's highest peak, Mount Everest as planned.

Tibet activist groups have called for stopping the Olympic torch relay from passing through the restive Himalayan region swamped by the Chinese military to crush the most volatile protests against its rule since 1989.

The ruling Communist leadership has promised the international community that it would ensure a smooth run-up to the 2008 Summer Olympics. Beijing is keen that successful games will bolster its international image. Full Article Link

Over 400 Tibetan protestors arrested in Nepal

2008-03-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

Phayul[Monday, March 24, 2008 22:06]
Amnesty International members among the arrested

Kathmandu, March 24: In three separate incidents, Nepal Police today arrested over 400 peaceful Tibetan protestors from Bouda, Pulchowk and Maitighar in Kathmandu.

Heavy security forces have been deployed in Bouda, Swayambhu and Jwalakhel, areas where bulk of Tibetan refugees, since early morning.

Nepali police arbitrarily arrested and detained around 70 Tibetans from the streets of Boudha earlier this morning; some of them arrested while traveling in public buses.

241 Tibetans were arrested from Pulchowk when they demonstrated and tried to go to the UN House at around 10.00 AM. Although Tibetans pleaded with Police that it was a peaceful demonstration and asked for right to express their views, as usual Police started taking them away forcefully and put them in Police vehicles and drove away. Many even sustained injuries after being baton-charged kicked and punched by police. Police even pulled away Tibetan activists, who resisted arrest, by hair. Full Article Link

Polish PM declares boycott of Beijing Olympics Opening

2008-03-24T13:16:00.000-07:00

Polish Prime Minister Mr. Donald Tusk declared he would not go for the Opening of the Beijing Olympics, saying he was the first head of state "to declare not to go to the Olympics Opening”. Instead, Mr Donald said he would meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama if he visits Poland on invitation from Speaker of Senate Borusewicz, saying it would be a “great honour" for him. Full Article Link

Speak Out on Tibet

2008-03-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

New York Times Editorial Published: March 24, 2008

China has cracked down on Tibet and neighboring provinces. It sent more troops into restive regions and made scores of arrests in Lhasa. It acknowledged firing on demonstrators in Sichuan. Yet, the response of the international community — and of the International Olympic Committee — has been tepid. Beijing must be called to account, especially since it will host the 2008 Games.

We are just learning details of what happened. China has blocked most news coverage despite a pledge to give freer access to journalists in the run-up to the Olympics. Tibetan exile groups say about 100 people died in violence that followed a week of peaceful protests. Beijing puts the toll at about 20. In any case, the violence is neither acceptable nor particularly surprising.

The State Department says Tibet — taken by force by China in 1951 — is “one of China’s poorest regions.” Authorities have increased controls over the practice of Buddhism and committed serious human rights abuses.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, has shown remarkable restraint against what he calls “cultural genocide.” Despite the bloodshed, he reaffirmed a commitment to nonviolence and greater autonomy — rather than independence — for Tibet. In return, Beijing called him a “devil.”

But China’s authoritarianism is backfiring, fueling resentment that exploded in Lhasa and radicalizing Tibetans, who increasingly demand independence.

The United States and other major countries must go beyond anemic statements urging Chinese restraint. They must make it clear that such repression violates the promise Beijing made to improve its human rights record when it won the Olympics bid. It mocks the Olympic Charter, which extols “human dignity.” It mocks the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes “equal and inalienable rights of all.”

The West should keep pressing Beijing to begin serious talks with the Dalai Lama and instruct the United Nations Human Rights Council, which has investigated reported abuses by Israel, Sudan and Myanmar, to begin a similar probe in Tibet. The White House says President Bush is trying privately to influence Beijing. So far, we see no positive results.

Inexcusably, the International Olympic Committee has done little to defend its values and has stuck with plans to have the Olympic torch pass through Lhasa.

Boycotting the Olympic Games does not work; we know that from experience. But the idea of Bernard Kouchner, France’s foreign minister, about not attending the opening ceremony is worth considering. What message does it send if Mr. Bush and other dignitaries lend their prestige to China’s coming out party as if nothing happened in Tibet?

Latest updates: Lhasa - Chinese Military duping the world by dressing up as monks

2008-03-21T15:58:00.000-07:00

According to a very reliable source (from within the Peoples Security Bureau), since 19th March, Chinese military personnel deployed in Lhasa have been dressing up as monks for two main purposes. Firstly, military dressed up as monks are roaming the streets of Lhasa to give of the false image that stability has been restored in Lhasa (even though a Martial Law situation is still prevalent in Lhasa). Secondly, the military dressed as monks are also being used for surveillance purposes to crackdown on the protestors. For example, the military dressed as monks have been interacting with the local Tibetans to collect information, which they have been passing on to their authorities.

We can confirm that personnel from at least four of the military units (listed below) are involved in this duping tactic of falsely dressing up as monks:

1) Border Security (PLA) 2) Coordination Unit (PLA) 3) Military intelligence (PLA) 4) Peoples Liberation Army- 52 Division (formerly deployed in Gey-chik township, Nyingtri Prefecture)

For more updates click here: Tibet.net

Repression in Tibet: The World Must Speak Up

2008-03-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

Response Letters to the editor for “China Terrorizes Tibet” (editorial, March 18)in New York Times:

Why isn’t the International Olympic Committee making clear that building stadiums and cleaning up the air — not maltreating people — are the way to prepare for the Olympics?

The Games in China have become a pretext for the arrest and detention of democracy advocates; the intimidation of human rights lawyers; the shunting away from the capital of petitioners from the rural areas; the cracking down on Falun Gong followers; the forcible return of North Korean refugees; and now the terrorizing of Tibet.

While it is true that the Olympics also offer an opportunity to those who would embarrass China, its politicization of an international sports event should be deemed unacceptable.

No government should be allowed to make repression of its population part of its preparations for the Olympics.

Roberta Cohen
Washington, March 18, 2008

•

To the Editor:

Re “Tibetans in India Enraged by Details of Crackdown” (news article, March 18):

The physical and cultural violence that the Chinese government has directed toward the Tibetan people for the past half century is threatening to undermine the nonviolent and compassionate traditions that have been such a vital part of Tibetan Buddhism, and also a rare gift to a world that is so lacking in its practice of these qualities.

But as China retains its unyielding attitude and raises the level of persecution, it pushes some of the young people of Tibet toward a more radical position that could eventually include greater violence. The Dalai Lama’s nonviolent “middle way” offered hope for a workable solution, but that hope seems to be fading.

It is hard to imagine a light at the end of the tunnel for the Tibetan people without a much stronger response from the rest of the world.

Tibet can seem like a remote place, but freedom from fear, and freedom to practice one’s religion, are fundamental human rights that know no borders or geographical distances.

John N. Corbin
Pleasantville, N.Y., March 18, 2008

•

To the Editor:

Re “Tibetans Clash With Chinese Police in Second City” (news article, March 16):

According to the president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, boycotting the Olympics would be “penalizing innocent athletes.” Really? What about innocent Tibetans?

I’ve lived in Lhasa, Tibet, and mainland China, and I know what life is like under a brutally repressive regime.

I remember a teenager who spent three years in a Lhasa prison because, in an angry impulse, he posted a letter denouncing the Communist Party. And a teacher who was arrested for telling his pupils traditional Tibetan stories. I remember constant fear and anxiety.

Politicians claim that economic development is pushing China toward greater freedom and justice. As far as I know, Tibetans have not benefited from China’s economic boom; the Chinese justice system serves the powerful and rich; corruption is rampant, and whoever speaks up is silenced.

Yes, some middle-class Chinese now have the illusion of freedom because they wear Nike sneakers and chat on China’s strictly censored Internet.

The Beijing Olympics aren’t an international celebration of brotherhood and athletics; they are the Communist Party thumbing its nose at anyone who cares about human rights.

If we don’t speak up, we are cowards and accomplices.

Judith Hertog
Hanover, N.H., March 18, 2008

Tibetan protesters storm Chinese Embassy

2008-03-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

The Hindu, March 21st, 2008

New Delhi (PTI): Tibetan protesters on Friday stormed the Chinese Embassy here, taking the security personnel by surprise and scaling the walls of the high-security complex.

The protesters, most of them students, scaled the walls of the embassy complex in the high-security Chanakyapuri area, waving the Tibetan flag and draped in banners carrying anti-China messages such as "Boycott Beijing Olympics".

While the Tibetan Youth Congress said around 20 protesters, including some women, had entered the embassy premises, the police said around five of them had managed to scale the walls.

Police said they arrested 33 Tibetans. Full Article Link

NDTV VIDEO LINK

Interview: The Dalai Lama on Tibet

2008-03-21T06:45:00.000-07:00

Fears and Tears

In an exclusive interview, the Dalai Lama talks to NEWSWEEK about the violence in Tibet, his vision of the future—and how he manages to sleep in spite of his distress over the killings.

As news spread of massive Chinese troop movements into Tibet, and of hundreds of arrests, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told British Prime Minister Gordon Brown he was willing to talk with the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama if he renounced violence and gave up the idea of an independent Tibet—conditions the Dalai Lama has met with past statements. During an exclusive, wide-ranging 45-minute interview with NEWSWEEK's Melinda Liu and Sudip Mazumdar at the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India, the Dalai Lama talked about his willingness to negotiate with Beijing, his fears for the future, and how some government officials in China have sent him private messages of sympathy. Full Interview Link

Pelosi Denounces China's Tibet Crackdown

2008-03-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 21, 2008

DHARMSALA, India (AP) -- House speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the world Friday to denounce China's crackdown of anti-government protests in Tibet, calling the crisis ''a challenge to the conscience of the world.''

Pelosi, one of the fiercest Congressional critics of China, was greeted by cheering Tibetans as she arrived to meet the Dalai Lama. She is the first major official to visit the leader of Tibet's exile community since peaceful protests turned violent last week in the Chinese-ruled region.

''If freedom loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China and the Chinese in Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak out on human rights,'' Pelosi said before a crowd of thousands of Tibetans, including monks and schoolchildren.

''The situation in Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world,'' she said. Full Article Link

'Beijing orchestrating Tibet riots'

2008-03-21T04:06:00.000-07:00

Canada Free Press[Friday, March 21, 2008 10:20]
Brit spies confirm Dalai Lama's report of staged violence

By Gordon Thomas

London, March 20 - Britain’s GCHQ, the government communications agency that electronically monitors half the world from space, has confirmed the claim by the Dalai Lama that agents of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the PLA, posing as monks, triggered the riots that have left hundreds of Tibetans dead or injured.

GCHQ analysts believe the decision was deliberately calculated by the Beijing leadership to provide an excuse to stamp out the simmering unrest in the region, which is already attracting unwelcome world attention in the run-up to the Olympic Games this summer.

For weeks there has been growing resentment in Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, against minor actions taken by the Chinese authorities.

Increasingly, monks have led acts of civil disobedience, demanding the right to perform traditional incense burning rituals. With their demands go cries for the return of the Dalai Lama, the 14th to hold the high spiritual office. Full Article Link

China Expels Last 2 Foreign Reporters From Tibet

2008-03-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

AP[Friday, March 21, 2008 02:43]
NEW YORK | China forced the last remaining foreign journalists out of Tibet today, and stepped up restrictions on Internet and radio reports from people within the country, a media watchdog said.

Georg Blume, a correspondent for German newspapers Die Zeit and taz, and Kristin Kupfer of the German EPD news agency, left today after being confronted by an official who threatened to cancel their Chinese visas, Reporters Without Borders said.

Earlier this week, Economist correspondent James Miles and a group of 15 Hong Kong reporters also were forced out.

“If they don’t have anything to hide, then why are they making foreign journalists leave? It’s clear that they don’t want any witnesses,” said Vincent Brossel, who heads Reporters Without Borders’ Asia desk. Full Article Link

NewZealand Condemn China Crackdown on Peaceful Tibet Protest

2008-03-20T18:36:00.001-07:00

CNN Video: Dramatic picutres from Tibet

2008-03-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Click here for the link: CNN VIDEO

Tibet: Australia seeks access for its diplomats

2008-03-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

Michelle Grattan, March 21, 2008

AUSTRALIA has stepped up pressure on China by asking for its diplomats to be allowed to travel to embattled Tibet.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australia was seeking permission for its diplomats to go into Tibet to ensure the safety and welfare of the remaining few Australians there, and to look out for the welfare of Tibetans.

The move came as China yesterday expelled the remaining foreign journalists from Tibet, and launched a massive military build-up in the capital, Lhasa, in reaction to the recent spread of violent protests against its rule.

One of the last journalists expelled from Lhasa, German Georg Blume, described a convoy about two kilometres long, with 200 trucks. "Each had 30 soldiers on board, so that's about 6000 military personnel in one convoy," he said. Witnesses described security forces moving from door to door. Full Article Link

China mum on evidence for Tibet conspiracy claims

2008-03-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

By Lindsay Beck

BEIJING: China refused on Thursday to detail evidence against the Dalai Lama or the nature of his "clique", which it says masterminded the most violent anti-government protests in its ethnic Tibetan areas in 20 years.

China says a group it calls the "Dalai clique" organized protests that turned into a riot in Tibet's capital Lhasa last week that killed at least 13 people and which spilled over into parts of its western provinces.

But during an hour-long news conference, its Foreign Ministry spokesman declined to elaborate on who that group includes or how such a plot went undetected by China's intelligence organs in a region that the Communist government tightly controls.

"As the investigation unfolds, relevant authorities of China will release evidence in due course," Qin Gang said.

Qin did not say how China could be certain the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism who has lived in exile since a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule, was behind the unrest if the investigation has not yet concluded. Full Article Link

Germany Suspends Aid Talks with China Over Tibet Violence

2008-03-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

DW[Thursday, March 20, 2008 18:55]

In a fresh blow to Berlin-Beijing relations, Germany has said it is freezing aid talks with the Chinese government as a result of China's crackdown on demonstrations in Tibet.

Germany said it was suspending intergovernmental aid talks with China if the country did not end a bloody clampdown on Tibetan protestors, raising the stakes in a highly charged international conundrum over how to deal with Beijing's rights violations months before the city hosts the Olympic Games.

German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said on Wednesday, March 19, that her ministry would suspend negotiations with the Chinese government which mainly involve grants to reduce air pollution by Chinese power plants."Violence can never be a solution," Wieczorek-Zeul said. "The two sides can only arrive at a solution through dialogue. Under such conditions, it is hardly conceivable to be conducting intergovernmental negotiations," she said. Full Article Link

'Concern' At Brown Meeting Dalai Lama

2008-03-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

Sky News, Wednesday March 19, 2008

A diplomatic row is brewing after the Chinese government said it was "seriously concerned" that Gordon Brown intends to meet the Dalai Lama in May.

The Prime Minister told MPs that he would meet the Tibetan spiritual leader, after speaking to the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Mr Brown said he had pressed his counterpart to end violence in Tibet, which has triggered a swift clampdown by Chinese authorities. "I made it absolutely clear that there had to be an end to violence in Tibet," Brown said in the House of Commons."I also called for restraint, and I called for an end to the violence by dialogue between the different parties."

The Prime Minister said Wen Jiabao indicated he was prepared to talk to Tibet's spiritual leader, provided certain conditions are met."The premier told me that, subject to two things that the Dalai Lama has already said - that he does not support the total independence of Tibet, and that he renounces violence - that he would be prepared to enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama." Full Article Link

Tibet keeps alive true Spirit of the Games

2008-03-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

Sify.com[Wednesday, March 19, 2008 16:19]
by Claude Arpi

The most important in life is not the triumph but the struggle’. - Pierre de Coubertin, Founder of the modern Olympic Games.

You may be under the impression that money can buy everything, but it is not entirely correct.

Yes, the US State Department agreed to remove China from the list of human rights violators because the US is doing good business with China.

Yes, in July 2001 when Beijing was awarded the hosting of the Games, the highest human ideals enunciated by the Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Modern Games at the end of the 19th century, had long been forgotten.

Now, money reigns supreme over the organisation of this world event. You may regret that the Games which were meant to manifest mankind’s highest values has turned into a purely commercial venture only, but what can you do about it?

But over the past few days, thousands of Tibetans have shown the world that the ‘human spirit’ still has meaning and strength in this world of money and power. The peace-loving David has taken on the most powerful economic Goliath of the planet; and this just with the power of their aspiration for freedom. Full Article Link

Why India Must Stand Up to China

2008-03-19T04:18:00.000-07:00

By Sumit Ganguly | Newsweek Web Exclusive

India's response to the harsh Chinese crackdown on legitimate Tibetan protests in Lhasa and elsewhere has been dispiriting. In parliament the seasoned politician and foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee could only express distress at the plight of the hapless Tibetans...

India does itself a disservice by not standing up to China over its treatment of Tibet. If India wishes to be considered a great power, it needs to display a greater degree of independence and not kowtow to Beijing. With rapid economic growth, a substantial military establishment and robust political institutions, India should stop behaving in a subservient fashion and forthrightly stand up and defend certain inalienable rights of the Tibetan minority in its midst—rights that should obtain in any humane and democratic state. Full Article Link

Calls Mount for Olympic Ceremony Boycott

2008-03-19T04:12:00.000-07:00

By JOHN LEICESTER

PARIS (AP) - Moves to punish China over its handling of violence in Tibet gained momentum Tuesday, with a novel suggestion for a mini-boycott of the Beijing Olympics by VIPs at the opening ceremony.

Such a protest by world leaders would be a huge slap in the face for China's Communist leadership. Full Article Link

China's accusations against His Holiness the Dalai Lama "absolutely baseless"

2008-03-19T04:06:00.000-07:00

Dharamshala: Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpoche, Chairman of the Kashag, expressed outright rejection of the Chinese Premier Wen Jai Bao's claim that "the Dalai clique" organised the unrest in Tibet, as "absolutely baseless allegations"...

"If they have any evidence, than they should let the world to know the evidence."

Kalon Tripa: Tibetans stand open to dialogue

The peaceful demonstrations in Tibet are natural response by Tibetan people in trying to express their aspiration in a lawful and democratic manner, because of deep-seated unhappiness and frustration against Chinas policies, said Kalon Tripa.

Kalon Tripa said: "We sympathies with them and understand their feelings," adding that "the demonstrations might continue, until some kind of justice being achieved by Tibetan people."

He reiterated that His Holiness the Dalai Lamas commitment to the Middle-Way policy would remain unchanged and His Holiness is open to dialogue with Peoples Republic of China, if they are willing to resolve the issue of Tibet. Full Article Link

CNN World : Tibet : Chinas media blackout

2008-03-19T04:00:00.000-07:00

Chinese Police Open Fire on Tibet Protestors

2008-03-19T03:53:00.001-07:00

Lastest News China lies - Beijing killed Tibet Protest

2008-03-19T03:46:00.000-07:00

Tibet puts human rights in spotlight

2008-03-17T17:50:00.001-07:00

China's tough line in Tibet is seen to have brought only resentment

2008-03-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

By Jim Yardley
Published: March 17, 2008

BEIJING: Champa Phuntsok, the taciturn chairman of Tibet's government, left no doubt Monday morning on whose shoulders the Communist Party places blame for the violent Tibetan protests that have become a domestic political crisis and an Olympic-year public relations nightmare: the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, and "splittist" forces colluding to splinter China.

Speaking at a hurriedly organized news conference, Phuntsok described the violence that erupted Friday in Lhasa and is still spreading to other Tibetan regions as if it were a meticulously orchestrated surprise attack.

But to many Tibetans and their sympathizers, the unleashed fury is sad and shocking yet not a complete surprise. Tibetan anger has simmered over Chinese policies on the environment, tightening religious restrictions and a harder political line from Beijing. Ethnic tensions and economic anxiety have also sharpened as Chinese migrants have poured into Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

"Why did the unrest take off?" asked Liu Junning, a liberal political scientist in Beijing. "I think it has something to do with the long-term policy failure of the central authorities. They failed to earn the respect of the people there."

For now, Beijing's hard line on Tibet is only likely to get harder. Full Article Link

Pro-Tibet vigil held in Beijing

2008-03-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

Reuters[Tuesday, March 18, 2008 01:25]
By Ian Ransom and Chris Buckley

Beijing Tibetan students held vigil in the campus. (Photo: Phayul.com)
BEIJING, March 17 - Ethnic Tibetan students staged a candle-lit vigil in Beijing on Monday, saying it was to pray for the dead, after warning anti-Chinese rioters in the Tibetan capital to surrender.

Police kept reporters well away from the peaceful protest by dozens of apparently ethnic Tibetan students gathered inside the Central University for Nationalities.

It was a small, rare show of defiance in the host city of this year's Olympic Games, where Communist Party authorities are especially eager to prevent public shows of dissent.

Watch Video:
Dharamshala keeps an eye on Tibet

Other Articles:

U.N. council keeps silent on Tibet protests
Central Tibetan Administration sends "Urgent Appeal" to international community
Hundreds of Tibetan devotees protest in Amdo Golog
More Protests Reported from Ngaba
Nepal Police fire tear gas injuring many peaceful Tibetan demonstrators
Tibetan students demonstrate in Tsoe City

Foreign journalists in China demand access to Tibet

2008-03-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

Agence France-Presse
First Posted 21:22:00 03/17/2008

BEIJING -- Foreign journalists in China on Monday demanded that the government allow access to report on the events in Tibet where deadly anti-China protests have erupted over Beijing's rule of the region.

"The Foreign Correspondents Club of China urges the Chinese government to immediately allow correspondents into Tibetan areas for news coverage," the club said in a statement.

Two dozen reporters have been turned away from or forced to leave Tibetan areas since social unrest erupted last week, including from Lhasa, Tibet's regional capital, and Xiahe in Gansu province, it said.

Interfering in press coverage and denying foreign correspondents access to Tibet violated the spirit of regulations issued last year that gave overseas journalist the right to interview all consenting organizations and individuals without government approval, it said.

The temporary regulations were implemented only for the period up to and during the Beijing Olympics and have been cited as part of greater media freedoms in China ahead of the Games.

"Reporting interference is not in the interest of the Chinese government, which is trying to show a more open, transparent and accountable image to the world," club president Melinda Liu said.

"The interference in reporting activities is not in keeping with the temporary Olympic period reporting regulations, and is especially not in keeping with the international community's expectations of an Olympic host nation."

China faced mounting global pressure over Tibet on Monday amid claims from Tibetan exiles that hundreds of people may have died in a crackdown on the protests, even though Beijing denied using deadly force.

World should remind China of rights violations

2008-03-17T09:39:00.000-07:00

It is appalling to witness the world leaders mild comments on the Chinese governments use of brute force on Tibetan protesters inside Tibet. I am deeply angered that the United Nations General Secretary has been silent as Tibet faces a crisis and China continues its rule of terror.

I am angered at the comment by IOC president Jacque Rouge who said that "boycotting is.. penalizing the atheletes" however he has failed or is deliberately expressing his indifference to the suffering and rights violation inside Tibet by rewarding China to host the Olympics even after the cultural genocide taking place right now in Tibet..

It is time for the world leaders to act more responsibly and condemn China before it is too late. Please shed your pragmatic principles because they have led the free world that values freedom to impotency and inaction.

Tibetans crave for genuine and lasting freedom, they crave for freedom of religion, speech, assembly, they crave for freedom from political serfdom and above all they crave for Independence for Tibet.

I urge the readers out there to please appeal to your governments to condemn China's brutal use of force on innocent Tibetan protesters who simply refused to submit to further Chinese oppression which in the past 6 decades has led to discrimination, exploitation, culutural genocide and massive population transfer of Han Chinese migrants into Tibet making Tibetans a minority in their own country..

DEMAND FOR A FACT FINDING MISSION TO BE ALLOWED INSIDE TIBET IMMEDIATELY. DEMAND CHINA TO USE GOOD WISDOM.

ACT NOW.

URGENT APPEAL

2008-03-17T06:36:00.001-07:00

Since 10th March 2008 there has been successive peaceful demonstrations in various parts of Tibet (inside and outside TAR), which were brutally suppressed.

The current situation in Tibet is extremely serious. The Chinese government's ultimatum is due to expire at mid-night today. Therefore, we are extremely concerned that there is every possibility of a huge massacre of Tibetans taking place after the ultimatum.

The Central Tibetan Administration urgently appeal to the international community including the United Nations, governments, parliaments, Human Rights groups and Tibet Support groups to effectively urge the Chinese leadership to immediately stop repression and to release all those who have been detained, and to provide immediate medical care to all those who have been injured.

We particularly urge the United Nations Human Rights Council to immediately send a fact-finding delegation to all the affected areas in Tibet to prevent further deteriorations of the critical situation.

KASHAG

17th March 2008
Dharamsala

Latest Update on Tibet Protests

2008-03-17T06:33:00.000-07:00

March 17th 2008: Today, thousands of protestors led by monks of Pangsa and other monasteries of Medro Gongkar County (above 70 KMs from Lhasa) held a massive protest. Seven Peoples Armed Police (PAP) trucks full of police personnel which arrived at the scene was not able to suppress the protest and more PAPs continue to be arrive at the scene. All schools, shops and offices in the area were shut down.

March 17th 2008: Tsang Monastery, Yulgan County (Malho, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province) a protest by over 500 monks was held around 10AM this morning. Monks put up the Tibetan flag on the monastery rooftop and also carried the portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama while protesting peacefully. The Peoples Armed Police (PAP) has arrived to suppress the protestors however the protest continues.

March 17th 2008: Machu County (Kanlho, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu province) a protest was held by a massive number of student protesters. All of the students present were arrested.

March 17th 2008: The protests at Gaden Chokor monastery, Phenpo Lhundrup County (near Lhasa) continue from yesterday.

March 17th 2008: In Serthar County (Karze TAP, Sichuan Province) protests continue.

March 17th 2008: In Driru County (Nagchu Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region) at Harthang monastery, Pelo Trulku (reincarnated lama) was suppose to give a spiritual teaching towards the end of February 2008. However, local Chinese "work teams" did not allow the teachings to take place, as a result, there was a scuffle between the local Tibetans and the Chinese "work teams". On 3rd March 2008, additional Chinese "work teams" were brought in and all Tibetans between the ages of 18-30 were forced to undergo "patriotic re-education." On March 14th the road connecting Nagchu to Lhasa was completely blocked off. Non-residents of Nagchu were forced to leave. From each household in Ngachu the names of each male individual was collected. FUll INFO LINK

An Oregonian's Eyewitness View of Tibet Crisis

2008-03-16T22:30:00.000-07:00

As the protests in Tibet intensified and turned violent this past week, an Oregonian was caught up in the Chinese crackdown.

Spence Palermo, a Eugene sound technician and filmmaker, was on location at a monastery in Tibet working on a television program for National Geographic; he sent this email to friends (posted here with Palermo's blessing) from China, where the crew is finishing production. Full Story Link

Tragedy in Tibet

2008-03-16T22:24:00.000-07:00

By ROBERT BARNETT
March 17, 2008

The charred bodies and pulped faces of Chinese migrants murdered during Friday's riots in Lhasa are likely to become a new and terrible image of Tibet. Just as those Tibetans who have died in ethnic violence or at the hands of the security forces, those killed over the weekend in the struggle over Tibet's future died what should have been unnecessary deaths. The situation would be hugely exacerbated if reports of random shooting by troops are confirmed.

The desperation of Tibetans living on the Tibetan plateau has been documented for several decades by scholars and journalists, as well as in repeated appeals by exiles and their leader, the Dalai Lama. Major grievances include elaborate restrictions on religion, an undisguised encouragement of Chinese migration to Tibetan towns, the ban on criticism of most Communist Party policies, the imposition of ethnic Chinese leaders to run the region, the forced settlement of 100,000 nomads without prospect of future livelihood, and the obligatory moving of 250,000 farmers in 2006 from their villages to new houses along major roads, often largely at their own expense. Underpinning all of this is the deeper issue of Tibetans' continuing recollection of themselves as a separate nation that has been forcibly annexed. Full Article Link

Prominent Uyghur Democratic Leader Rebiya Kadeer expresses full support and solidarity to the Tibetan people

2008-03-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

Washington, D.C. --- The President of the Uyghur American Association and Nobel Prize Nominee, Rebiya Kadeer, today expressed the full support and solidarity of the Uyghur people with the Tibetans in light of the brutal crackdown on Tibetan monks and nuns. As the family of nations is preparing to gather in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games, the slaughter of scores of Tibetans has tainted the Beijing Olympics with the blood of innocent people. Full Article Link

Our struggle will go on, despite the crackdown

2008-03-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

The Independent[Monday, March 17, 2008 07:44]
Tsering Topgyal
The riots can be seen in the light of a quiet child finally fighting back against the playground bully

In the biggest protests since 1989, Tibetans are rising up. Lhasa is tense but quiet under virtual martial law. However, protests and riots have spread to Labrang and Machu, Repkong and Ngapa in the Tibetan province of Amdo (Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan respectively), Lithang in Kham province (Sichuan) and Phenpo in TAR. Some protests turned violent and the death toll varies, but it is rising as the protests spread.

In one sense, it is not sudden. Even in the heavily censored blogs and other popular media from Tibet, there has been a sense that something angry was brewing. The Dalai Lama's exile, the future of the Tibetan nation and identity in the face of perceived Chinese political and cultural imperialism are lamented in various media at great risk. Tibetans have dealt with political hopelessness and cultural depression by escaping into exile, alcoholism and, in the case of the young poet-scholar, Dhondup Gyal, suicide.

Since 1989, China has implemented a hard-line set of policies towards Tibetans inside Tibet and towards the Dalai Lama. The hard-line faction within Chinese officialdom pressed for ruthless suppression of dissent and unbridled economic development, ostensibly to buy Tibetan loyalty. It is waiting for the Tibetan issue to die with the septuagenarian Dalai Lama and has sidelined the moderate faction that argued for engagement with him. These protests show that the hard-line policy has managed neither to intimidate Tibetans nor to win their loyalty...

The protests do not, however, entirely negate the Dalai Lama's approach. Just as the Burmese monks pressured the military junta to negotiate with Aung San Suu Kyi, the Tibetan protests strengthen the Dalai Lama's negotiating position. Full Article Link

Video: Dalai Lama: We want Autonomy

2008-03-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

Links to video on NDTV.

Dalai Lama: We want Autonomy Interview of Samdhong Rinpochen, Prime Minister of Tibetan Government in Exile and Dhondup Dorjee, Vice-PResident of Tibetan Youth Congress

Press Conference in Dharamshala: We want Genuine Autonomy: Dalai Lama