C:Users arthangDesktopjuly-aug 08 · tibetan ulleti focus cta’ s responses to c hinese government allegations p 4 volume 12, issue 4 july-august 2008 documentation kalon t ripa

TIBETANULLETI

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CTA’S RESPONSES TO CHINESE GOVERNMENT ALLEGATIONS

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july-august 2008Volume 12, Issue 4

DOCUMENTATION

KALON TRIPA’S STATEMENT ON ‘FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR TIBET’p15

STATEMENT BY SPECIAL ENVOY OF HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA

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INTERVIEW

DIIR KALON, KESANG Y. TAKLA

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‘Tibet’s Journey in Exile’ Unveiled

The Tibet Museum, DIIIR 2008Vee Enn Print -O-Pac, New DelhiPages 136, Rs. 250

‘Tibet’s Journey in Exile’, a pictorialbook, compiled by the Tibet Museumof the Department of Information andInternational Relations, showcasesTibet’s ancient cultural heritage andhow its rich culture survives and issustained in exile.

Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpochelaunched the book on the 73rd birthdayof His Holiness the Dalai Lama on 6 July2008.

The book provides account of howTibetan culture flourished on the roofof the world for thousands of years andbecame greatly enriched whenBuddhism was introduced to Tibetstarting from the 7th century.

It vividly chronicles the rehabilitationand reconstruction of cultural, monasticand educational institutions of Tibet inexile, followed by Tibetan people’sefforts in preserving and promotingwhat the Chinese authorities havedestroyed in Tibet.

Establishment of schools, monasteriesand cultural institutions have providedrenewed opportunit ies for newgenerations of Tibetans to studyTibetan medicine and other disciplinesof Tibet’s cultural and spiritual heritage.The rebuilding works followed agradual progress to the inception of acohesive democratic and functioningcommunity that is able to look after allthe needs of the Tibetan refugees,including providing educat ionalopportunities to coming generations ofTibetans.

It highlights the ongoing efforts of HisHoliness the Dalai Lama and the CentralTibetan Administration in finding amutually beneficial solution of Tibetunder the Middle-Way Approach.

The pictorial book on Tibet aims to re-connect young Tibetans to theirhomeland and serve as a basicintroduction to non-Tibetans to theland and people of Tibet.

To order the book contact:Ms Tenzin SangmoTibet MuseumDepar tment of Information andInternational RelationsCTA, Gangchen KyishongDharamshala, IndiaTel: 91 (1892) 222510, 222457

Tibetan Bul le t in i s an off ic ia lbi-monthly journal of the CentralTibetan Administ rat ion of HisHoliness the Dalai Lama.

Signed articles or quotations do notnecessarily reflect the views of theCentral Tibetan Administration.Contributions are welcome and may beaddressed to the editor, TibetanBulletin. However, the publisherregrets its inability to return unusedarticles unless they are accompanied bya self-addressed envelope with adequatepostage.Tibetan Bulletin is distributed free ofcharge. To subscribe please email thecirculation manager or see page 31.

Guest EditorTenzin Dickyi (Dhela)

Layout & DesignDorje Tsering

Circulation ManagerWangyal LamaEmail: [email protected]

Tibetan Bulletin is published by:

Department of Information andInternational Relations, Central TibetanAdministration, Dharamshala- 176 215,H.P., IndiaTel: +91-1892-222510 / 222457

Vol. 12, Issue 4July - August 2008

TIBETANBULLETIN

C O N T E N T Swww.tibet.net/en/tibbul

FOCUS

4 CTA’s response to Chinese government allegations Part-I

7 CTA’s response to Chinese government allegations Part-II

NEWS BRIEF

13 London Metropolitan University Denies Apology to ChineseAuthorities

14 His Holiness Exchanges Views on Tibet with Chinese Scholars

14 UN seeks whereabouts of the Panchen Lama and Tibetan detainees

DOCUMENTATION

15 Kalon Tripa’s Statement on ‘Future Prospects for Tibet’

21 The Kashag’s statement on His Holiness’ 73rd Birthday

23 Statement by Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, KasurLodi Gyaltsen Gyari

24 His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibet Issue

SPECIAL FEATURE: JULY EVENTS IN TIBET

25 Chronological Details of Recent Events in Tibet

Source: Tibetan Solidarity Committee (www.stoptibetcrisis.org)

ENVIRONMENT

31 Climate Change in Tibet and Its Consequences

- Chokyi

INTERVIEW

33 Interview with DIIR Kalon, Kesang Y. Takla

REGULARS

‘Tibet’s Journey in Exile’ Unveiled............................................2

Contacts .......................................................................................35

The Phurbu Dolma (Mrs.) Memorial Scholarship ......................36

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4 TIBETAN BULLETIN JULY - AUGUST 2008

CTA’s Response to Chinese Government Allegations: Part One15 May 2008

by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to ourChinese brothers and sisters are hisattempt to “stir up more unrest inTibet.” The Chinese authorities saidon 9 April that “the Dalai Clique’sstatements also attempted to stir uphostility between ethnic groups inTibet and internationalize the so-calledTibet issue.”

In fact, the war of words is so intensefrom the Chinese side that they havealready published a book called Liesand Truth. The lies are all on theTibetan side and the truth is withBeijing. The book was launched on 4April in Beijing by Sanlian, a unit ofthe China Publishing Group. Thepublishers claim the publication of Liesand Truth is the fastest ever inpublishing history. The book wascommissioned on 27 March andpublished on 3 April. The publisher ofSanlian, Zhang Weimin told China’sCCTV that “We had to frame aresponse to demonstrate our position.We worked to show the true state ofthings to those unaware of the truth,and to rebut the axe-grinding,misleading reports of the westernmedia.”

The book consists of previouslypublished articles. It regurgitates allthe official allegations of Beijing thatthe “Dalai clique” is behind the currentunrest in Tibet. Lies and Truth is anattempt to refute “the distortions” ofthe western media in its reporting ofthe current problems in Tibet. Thebook contains a la rge sectionexplaining the “major achievements ineconomic, cultural and socialdevelopment” in Tibet.

Ultimately Lies and Truth is aimed atthe Chinese people. The sweep of thewestern media and the breadth of itscoverage of China’s Tibet headachehave shaken the Chinese people’s faithin their own government and i ts

handling of the Tibet issue. This hasforced Beijing to make an attempt,however feeble, to explain its actionsand policies to its own people.

The term TIBET here means the wholeof Tibet known as Cholka-Sum (U-Tsang, Kham and Amdo). It includesthe present-day Chineseadministrative areas of the so-calledTibet Autonomous Region, QinghaiProvince, two Tibetan AutonomousPrefectures and one TibetanAutonomous County in SichuanProvince, one Tibetan AutonomousPrefecture and one TibetanAutonomous County in GansuProvince and one TibetanAutonomous Prefecture in YunnanProvince.

Who Is Behind the Unrest in Tibet?

The Chinese government’s ongoingaccusation that His Holiness the DalaiLama organised the recent unrest inTibet is nothing new. Ever since thePeople’s Republic of China wasestablished in 1949, the Chinese leadersdeveloped a rich and well-knowntradition of blaming others for thedisastrous consequences of theirwrong policies. In a democratic society,wrong policies can always be checkedand corrected by the ballot box. InChina, because of the ChineseCommunist Party’s monopoly ofpolitical power, this is not possible. Inorder to maintain a semblance oflegitimacy, the leaders of the day alwaysfind a scapegoat. Not being able to finda scapegoat is to admit your failedpolicies. Lord Action once commentedon the “undying penalty which historyhas the power to inflict on the wrong.”It comes as no surprise that the ChineseCommunist Party believes, as JasperBecker says, “its control over the pastis the key to its future” and on its abilityto cover-up mistakes however big,depends on its survival.

Ever since peaceful protests eruptedin Tibet, starting from 10 March, theChinese government used the fullforce of its state media to fling a seriesof allegations against the “DalaiClique”. These allegations range fromHis Holiness the Dalai Lamamasterminding the recent Tibet protestto His Holiness the Dalai Lama makingattempts to restore feudalism in Tibet.

This is the first in a series of responsesby the Central Tibetan Administration(CTA) to these accusations.

The Chinese translat ion of thisresponse is available at:

www.xizang-zhiye.org

The Tibetan translation is available at:www.tibet.net/tb/

Chinese Government’s Blaming andShaming Game: PART ONE

Since 10 March a series of massivedemonstrations rocked all over Tibet1. Beijing made several allegations.Beijing accused “the Dalai clique ofmasterminding” these demonstrations.Beijing said these demonstrations were“violent” and organised by“terrorists,” and these demonstrationswere aimed at “splitting Tibet from themotherland.” Premier Wen Jiabao toldthe international media on 18 March2008 that his government had “amplefacts and plenty of evidence to provethat the recent riot in Lhasa wasorganised, premeditated, mastermindedand incited by the Dalai Lama clique.”

Chinese officials claims thesedemonstrations prove His Holiness theDalai Lama’s advocacy of non-violenceis just a lip service. China saysDharamsala has become “the epicenterof lies” and “the government-in-exilehas churned out groundlessfabrication since the riot in Lhasa.”

China claims that the appeals issued

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TIBETAN BULLETIN 5JULY - AUGUST 2008

Take the case of the greatest famine in China that took place between 1958and 1961. About 30 million Chinesedied of starvation during this period.At the time, not a word of this man-made disaster was heard in the rest ofthe world. This disaster was broughtabout by Mao’s Three Red Flags, apolicy of transforming the wholeorganisational set-up into a military-like institution that functions with asense of war-like urgency to attainunrealistic industrial and agriculturalgrowth, so that China could marchdirectly from a primarily agricultural-based to a full-fledged Communist andindustria l society. Faced withunprecedented severe criticism fromthe ranks of his own leadership, Maoblamed the weather. He explained awaythe deaths of 30 million human beingsby finger-pointing. The weather inChina was fine but not Mao’s policies.Until recently, the world was no wiser.

In 1962, the 10th Panchen Lamasubmitted a 70,000 character petitionto the top Chinese leaders, includingMao. In this document, the PanchenLama described the real situationprevailing in each and every part ofTibet. The Panchen Lama said that ifthe situation was not improved it wouldlead to the eradication of TibetanBuddhism and culture and to theelimination of the Tibetans as a distinctnationality. Instead of respecting thiscourageous act and listening to thePanchen Lama’s well-intentionedcriticism, Mao condemned him as a“reactionary feudal overlord” and hispetition as “a poisoned arrow shot atthe Party.” The Panchen Lama spent14 years in solitary confinement andunder house arrest.

To regain his leadership role, damagedbadly by his Great Leap Forward andHundred Flowers campaign, Mao in1966 unleashed the horror of theCultural Revolution on the Chinesepeople. By 1976, the top and middleranks of the Chinese leadership weredecimated and the country was inchaos. Who was blamed for this mess?

Not Mao, but the Gang of Four, whichincluded his wife. Jiang Qing, Mao’swife, during her trials, said, “I wasChairman Mao’s dog. Whoever he toldme to bite, I bit.” Mao, as usual, wentunscathed. On the contrary, DengXiaoping, who assumed supremepower after Mao passed away in 1976,said that Mao was 70 percent good and30 percent bad, despite the fact thathe himself was a prime victim of thecampaign and his son was crippledbecause of the violence.

The question is, if the Chinesegovernment is able to hide crimes ofsuch enormity from their own peopleand the world, how much more capablewill they be to cover up their mistakesand the suffering these mistakes causethe people of Tibet?

In 1987, 1988 and 1989, Lhasa wasrocked by a series of demonstrations.These demonstrations were brutallycrushed and martial law was imposedin Lhasa in 1989. Once again theChinese authorities pointed theiraccusing fingers at His Holiness theDalai Lama. Similarly, China blamed the1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement on “a fewreactionaries.” This event was the mostmomentous in modern China’stroubled history. What began as apeaceful memorial demonstrationfollowing the death of the popularreform leader Hu Yaobang turned intoa massive pro-democracy movement.This movement in the heart of Beijingwas supported by an upsurge ofprotests in most Chinese cities. Troopsof the People’s Liberation Army firedupon the crowd and the city cameunder martial law. During the crisis, atearful Zhao Ziyang, premier then, metwith the student leaders to end theirprotest. The students did not have anybad intention towards the ChineseCommunist Party. They wanted an endto corruption and democracy, freedomand human rights. But a divided partyleadership decided to meet theirdemands with violence. This ended thecareer of Zhao Ziyang. He was ousted

from the post of the prime minister andwas kept under tight house arrest. Butthe real victim of the brutal crackdownwas the Chinese people who deserveso much more than their leaders areable to give them in terms of respect,tolerance, human dignity and rights.

China is yet to give convincingaccounts of the great famine from 1958to 1961, nor of the horrors of theCultural Revolution and its brutalsuppression of the student protests in1989. The Chinese people deserve anexplanation for all this brutality.

The same is true of China’s implacableapplication of brute force to endTibet’s current crisis. Neither blamingHis Holiness the Dalai Lama nor usingforce as a means to resolve China’sTibet trouble is the correct way tohandle the crisis. The seeds of thepresent crisis were sown when Chinareversed its relatively liberal policiesimplemented in Tibet.

The Third Tibet Work Forum and theSeeds of the Present Crisis

From July 20 to 23, 1994, Beijing stagedthe Third Forum on work in Tibet,which recommended the totaldestruction of an entire civilizationflourishing on the Tibetan plateau forthousands of years.

The Third Forum on T ibet wasconvened by the top Chineseleadership and was presided over bythe then President Jiang Zemin. Theauthorities have now enshrined thisWork Forum as the most “importantstrategic policy to rejuvenate Tibet”and have hailed its directives as thenew manifesto for party work on theplateau.

The significance of the Third WorkForum lies in the fact that it overturnedthe more liberal policies laid out forTibet’s “development” by the First andSecond Work Forums held in 1980 and1984. The first two work forums wereinitiated by the late Hu Yaobang, thenSecretary General of the ChineseCommunist Party. This liberal leader is

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credited with masterminding a seriesof measures to improve the social,economic and political conditions inTibet. The brief spell of liberalizationmarkedly improved the l ivingconditions of the majority of Tibetansand contributed to a more relaxedintellectual and social climate.

All these were reversed at the ThirdWork Forum. The Third Work Forumpolicy recommendations containedfour key elements. China stepped upthe scale of repression in Tibet.External propaganda work wasescalated. The pace of economicdevelopment in Tibet and its corollaryof encouraging more Chinese settlersand businessmen to take advantage ofthe economic boom on “the roof of theworld” were also increased.

One main target of the current policyof repression is Tibetan Buddhism.Chinese leaders are increasinglyalarmed by the proliferation ofmonasteries and temples which theperiod of liberalization spawnedthroughout Tibet: they are seen as thebastions of Tibetan nationalism. Theauthorities have set up “DemocraticManagement Committees” to controlmonaster ies and nunneries andestablished “Work Inspection Teams”to supervise the “education” of monksand nuns.

What appalls the Tibetan people isChina’s all-out war on Tibetan culture.The leadership revived the o ldaphorisms once served up to theTibetan people to justify their policiesto destroy Tibetan Buddhism duringthe Cultural Revolution. BewilderedTibetans were then told that just asthere cannot be two suns in the sky,so there could not be both Buddhismand socialism in Tibet. InevitablyBuddhism had to give way to socialism.Today Buddhism is once again beingblatantly sublimated to Chinese statepower.

A major thrust is underway to breakthe bond of loyalty between the clergyin Tibet and His Holiness the Dalai

Lama in India. Campaigns like “StrikeHard” and “Patriotic Re-education”unleashed in 1996, are aimed atcrippling the rise of Tibetan Buddhismwhich the authorit ies suspect isweaning the loyalty of the Tibetanpeople away from the communist partyand towards His Holiness the DalaiLama.

One salient feature of the “Strike Hard”campaign is how differently it is

interpreted in China and Tibet. China’s“Strike Hard” campaigns started toweed out crime. Tibet’s version wasused as a political tool to eliminatethose whom the authorities label“splittists”. In Tibet, rather thancombating crime, the authorities turna blind eye to this social disease in thehope that it will erode the traditionalmorality of Tibetans and undermineTibetan Buddhism.

In fact, at a secret meeting held inDecember 1999 in Chengdu, capital ofSichuan province, Chen Kuiyuan, thehardliner Party Secretary of “TAR”recommended to the Central ChineseGovernment that an all-out effort mustbe made to eradicate Tibetan Buddhismand culture from the face of the earthso that no memory of them will be leftin the minds of coming generations ofTibetans- except as museum pieces.

Chen Kuiyuan stated that the maincause of instability is the existence ofthe Dalai Lama and his Government-in-Exile in Dharamsala and these mustbe “uprooted”. He recommended thatTibet, Tibetan people and TibetanBuddhism - in other words, the veryname of Tibet- must be destroyed andthe “Tibet Autonomous Region” bemerged with provinces like Sichuan.

This total assault on Tibetan cultureis heightened by comments made bythe current party secretary in Tibet.Zhang Qingli said, “The communistparty is like parents to the Tibetanpeople and are always considerateabout what the children need. The

party is the real Buddha for theTibetans.” On His Holiness the DalaiLama, Zhang Qingli said, “The Dalai isa devil with a human face but with aheart of a beast... Those who do notlove their country are not qualified tobe human beings.” On the Tibetanstruggle for greater freedoms, ZhangQingli said, “We are currently in anintensely bloody and fiery strugglewith the Dalai clique, a life-and-deathstruggle with the enemy.”

What Tibetans, Chinese and ForeignScholars Think of the Tibet Situation

China’s hard-line policy and theabusive rhetoric accompanying it hasfailed disastrously and was madeamply clear by the recent month-longdemonstrations in Tibet. The topChinese leaders have been informedthat this hard-line policy is wrong byno less a figure than Baba PhuntsokWangyal, the founder of the TibetanCommunist Party, who played a keyrole in cementing Chinese Communistrule in Tibet. In his letter of 29 October2004 addressed to President Hu Jintao,he wrote, “As far as how to solve theTibetan issue is concerned, since thefundamental nature of the question isabsolutely related with domesticmatters, so under the premiseregarding the sovereignty of thenation, it is merely a demand formeaningful autonomy and slightchanges in the administrative divisionpolicy. In addition, as to the essenceand preconditions of this matter, everyone of us can and should reach acommon understanding. With this asa base, and after the CentralGovernment and the Dalai Lama havereached a mutual understanding on thepr inciples regarding nationalsovereignty, appropriate adjustmentsto the domestic administrative divisionpolicy and implementing the right toself-determination, both sides shouldofficial ly declare in a poli ticalstatement that friendly relationsbetween them have been restored.Within such a friendly and harmoniousenvironment, regarding the concreteformations, plans, and schedules for

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unifying the Tibetan autonomousregions- including temporari lyestablishing a transitional consultativedepartment in order to assure theunited autonomy of its fundamentalcontent and destination beingachieved - both s ides should bestrategic, far-sighted and generous,adhering to the brotherlyrelationship.”

Wang Lixiong, a Beijing-based writer,re inforces Phuntsok Wangyal’sargument. On 28 March 2008, his op-ed piece appeared on The Wall StreetJournal. In this piece, he says thatChina’s current anti-splittism struggleis wrong. He says, “Having investedtheir careers in anti-splittism, thesepeople cannot admit the idea ismistaken without losing face, and theyfear losing their own power andposition as well.”

Wang Lixiong says , “The mostefficient route to peace in Tibet isthrough the Dalai Lama, whose returnto Tibet would immediately alleviate anumber of problems. Much of thecurrent ill will, after all, is the directresult of the Chinese government’sverbal attacks on the Dalai Lama, who,for Tibetan monks, has anincomparably lofty status. To demandthat monks denounce him is about aspractical as asking that they vilify theirown parents.”

Wang Lixiong initiated the recent 12-point statement on Tibet by 30 Chineseintellectuals. In fac t, since thestatement was first issued, many moreChinese human rights andenvironmental activists, writers andscholars have signed up. The firstpoint says, “At present, the one-sidedpropaganda of the official Chinesemedia is having the effect of stirringup inter-ethnic animosity andaggravating an already tense situation.This is extremely detrimental to thelong-term goal of safeguardingnational unity. We call for this to bestopped.”

The second point says, “We supportthe Dalai Lama’s appeal for peace andhope that the ethnic conflict can bedealt with according to the principlesof goodwill, peace and non-violence.We condemn any violent act againstinnocent people, strongly urge theChinese government to stop theviolent suppression and appeal to theTibetan people likewise not to engagein violent activities.” The statementurges the Chinese government to holddirect talks with His Holiness the DalaiLama to resolve the issue.

Ruan Ming, a speechwriter for HuYaobang, former CCP GeneralSecretary, has a different take on thetense situation in Tibet. Ruan Ming,who lives in Taiwan told The EpochTimes on 26 March that “The Dalai

Lama has always proposed a peacefulsolution to Tibet issues and won theworld’s recognition. With that in mind,the CCP has framed the Dalai Lama forhaving carefully planned and stirredup the event.” Ruan Ming added, “Thisis exactly how the CCP framed ZhaoZiyang for the Tiananmen Massacrein 1989 and accused Zhao of ‘splittingthe Party and supporting unrest.’”Ruan Ming added, “The Dalai Lamaalready said he would resign if theunrest continued.” The Dalai Lama isinfluential globally and if he reallyretired, the CCP could greatly push andlabel the Tibetans as terrorists like theXinjiang independence movement.This will give the CCP an excuse toignore Tibetan appeals and furtherrepress them.”

On 27 March 2008, more than 70Tibetologists sent an open letter toPresident Hu Jintao. In this letter, thescholars said, “As scholars engagedin Tibetan Studies, we are especiallydisturbed by what has beenhappening. The civilization we studyis not simply a subject of academicenquiry; it is the heritage of a livingpeople and one of the world’s greatcultural legacies...The attribution ofthe current unrest to the Dalai Lamarepresents a reluctance on the part ofthe Chinese government toacknowledge and engage with policyfailures that are surely the true causeof popular discontent.”

CTA’s Response to Chinese Government Allegations: Part Two26 May 2008

Ever since peaceful protests eruptedin Tibet, starting from 10 March, theChinese government used the fullforce of its state media to fling a seriesof allegations against the “DalaiClique”. These allegations range fromHis Holiness the Dalai Lamamasterminding the recent Tibet protestto His Holiness the Dalai Lama makingattempts to restore feudalism in Tibet.

This is the second in a series of

response by the Central TibetanAdminist rat ion (CTA) to theseaccusations.

The Chinese translat ion of thisresponse is available at www.xizang-zhiye.org

The Tibetan translation is available atwww.tibet.net/tb/

Chinese Nationalism, Ethnic Tensionand Olympic Games

Beijing’s and Tibetan Approaches toEthnic Tension

Of deep concern to the Tibetan peopleis the Chinese authorities’ attempt toturn on the anger of the Chinese peopleon the Tibetans. China is playing adangerously irresponsible game byusing the Tibet protests to fuel ethnictension. The struggle of the Tibetanpeople is against the wrong policiesof Beijing. This struggle is not against

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China both as a nation and culture oragainst the Chinese people. TheTibetan people’s struggle is againstthe policies aimed at Tibet’s totalassimilation within the Chinesemajority. The protests that rockedTibet recently and continue to rock areto convince the authorities to withdrawthese policies and implement ones thatgive greater freedoms for the Tibetanpeople.

On 28 March, His Holiness the DalaiLama issued an appeal to the Chinesepeople. In this appeal, His Holinesssaid, “The recent unrest has clearlydemonstrated the gravity of thesituation in Tibet and the urgent needto seek a peaceful and mutuallybeneficial solution through dialogue.Even at this juncture, I have expressedmy will ingness to the Chineseauthorities to work together to bringabout peace and stability... Chinesebrothers and sisters - wherever youmay be - with deep concern, I appealto you to help dispel themisunderstanding between our twocommunities. Moreover, I appeal toyou to help find a peaceful, lastingsolution to the problem of Tibetthrough dialogue in the spir it ofunderstanding and accommodation.”

Biased Chinese Media ReportingCreates Ethnic Tension

However, Beijing is using the fullmight of its propaganda machinery toconvince the Chinese people thatthese protests are anti-Chinese. In asociety where the citizens receive newsand information from government-controlled media, this is stoking thefire of Chinese nationalism. Beijing hasplayed with this fire before. In 1999,after the Belgrade Chinese embassybombing, China whipped up anti-American sentiments. China refused toaccept President Clinton’s initialphone call to President Jiang Zemin toapologise. The Chinese CommunistParty declared immediately after thebombing through the People’s Daily

and other media that the bombing hadbeen intentional, not accidental, andsupplied buses to transportdemonstrators to the U.S. embassyand consulates across China. Anti-Japanese sentiments were whipped upin 2004 and 2005 during the AsianFootball Cup matches in China andover the Japanese textbookcontroversy. The precision with whichthese protests have flared and just assuddenly died down led manyobservers to conclude Beijing’s handin organizing them. Both nearlybackfired when the protestors shrillystarted to criticise the authorities forbeing weak before the Americans andthe Japanese. Fareed Zakaria, editor ofNewsweek International, writes “In thepast, they have stoked anti-Japaneseand anti-American outbursts, only topanic that things were getting out ofcontrol and then reverse course.”

This biased reporting on the unrest inTibet and its negative effect on theChinese public worries Chineseintellectuals. On 22 March, a group ofChinese scholars, writers and humanrights activists wrote a twelve-pointletter. In the first point they said, “Atpresent, the one-sided propaganda ofthe official Chinese media is havingthe effect of stirring up inter-ethnicanimosity and aggravating an alreadytense situation. This is extremelydetrimental to the long-term goal ofsafeguarding national unity. We callfor such propaganda to be stopped.”

The second point says, “We supportthe Dalai Lama’s appeal for peace, andhope that the ethnic conflict can bedealt with according to the principlesof goodwill, peace and non-violence.We condemn any violent act againstinnocent people, strongly urge theChinese government to stop violentrepression and appeal to the Tibetanpeople likewise to not to engage inviolent activities.”

In the case of Tibet, the Chineseauthorities are stoking ethnic tension

in five areas. Agent provocateurs haveinfi l tra ted the ranks of Tibetanprotestors and indulged in violence tocreate deep rifts between Tibetans andChinese. The authorities’ relentlessdemonization of His Holiness the DalaiLama is hurting Tibetan sentiments.China’s brutal crackdown on theTibetans is sowing the seeds ofcomplete distrust in the authorities.The Chinese government’sinflammatory use of the media andbiased reporting is creating moremisunderstanding amongst theChinese people . The Chinesegovernment’s active encouragement ofoverseas Chinese students’association to counter pro-Tibetprotests with protests of their own iscontributing to mutual suspicion.

The responsibility of any governmentis to provide good governance,including ensuring communalharmony. In fact, President Hu Jintao’sstated goal is to create a harmonioussociety in China. Crackdown and shrilldenunciation do not contribute toharmony. China’s hard-line action toresolve the issue of Tibet has createdthe biggest rift between Tibetans andChinese. The crackdown, theenforcement of the “patriotic re-education” and the media focus on theunrest in Tibet are underminingPresident Hu Jintao’s establishment ofa harmonious society.

In their fourth point, the group ofChinese scholars say, “In our opinion,such Cultural Revolution-like languageas ‘the Dalai Lama is a jackal inBuddhist monk’s robes and an evilspirit with a human face and the heartof a beast’ used by the ChineseCommunist Party leadership in theTibet Autonomous Region is of nohelp in easing the situation, nor is itbeneficial to the Chinese government’simage. As the Chinese government iscommitted to integration into theinternational community, we maintainthat it should display a style ofgoverning that conforms to the

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standards of modern civilization.”

Zhang Boshu of the Chinese Academyof Social Sciences wrote a piece onTibet called “The Way to Resolve theTibet Issue.” Its English translation isposted on 9 May onwww.chinadigitaltimes.net. In hisarticle, Zhang Bozhu writes, “HuYaobang especially stressed: “Lookingdown on Tibetan history, language andart is totally wrong... Loving theminority people is not a matter of emptywords. Their social customs and habitsmust be respected. Respect theirlanguage, respect their history, andrespect their culture. If you don’t dothat you are only speaking emptywords. Finally, Tibetan cadres shouldmanage Tibet. Within two years,Tibetans should make up two-thirdsor more of the cadres in Tibet. We havebeen here for thirty years. We havecompleted our historical mission.Today there are 300,000 ethnic Han,including military, in Tibet. How canthat ever do? The above can besummarized in six characters cut taxes,open up, and withdraw personnel”.These were the “emergency measures”energetically promoted by Hu Yaobangto resolve the Tibet issue.’

Why this hard-line Policy in the Faceof Its Clear Rejection by Tibetans

Despite these appeals from some of themost respected citizens of China, whyare the authorities intensifying andreinvigorating the very policies thathave provoked this desperate reactionfrom the Tibetan people?

There are three possible reasons. Oneis to provoke the Tibetans intoviolence to justify the Chinesegovernment’s own violent retaliation.The o ther is that the currentpropaganda blitz is to divert theattention of the Chinese people fromtheir own pressing problems. The thirdis to use the protests in Tibet and thehuge international sympathy

generated for the Tibetan people tostoke Chinese nationalism to bolsterthe legi timacy of the ChineseCommunist Party.

Ever since the 1959 uprising, theTibetan people’s struggle has beenpeaceful. China cannot justify the useof force against a peaceful struggle toits own people or to the internationalcommunity. The demonization of HisHoliness the Dalai Lama, denouncingsome exile Tibetan organizations as“terrorists” outfits and equating themwith Al-Qaeda and the armed strugglein Chechnya and infiltrating the ranksof the Tibetan people and trying toprovoke them into violence are allattempts to justify a violent response.

The Chinese authorities know thattheir hard-line policies have generatedthis desperate reaction from theTibetans. Even then why are they stillpushing ever harder with all theseelements of the harsh policies?Regardless of the Tibetan people’sclear distaste, the “patr iotic re-education” campaign is being pushedharder on the Tibetans. ForcingTibetans to publicly denounce HisHoliness the Dalai Lama, stomping onhis photos, forcing monasteries to flythe Chinese national flag and theofficial vilification campaign againstHis Holiness the Dalai Lama haveforced many lay Tibetans and monksto refuse to part icipate in thecampaign.

Premier Wen Jiabao during his recentvisit to Laos urged His Holiness theDalai Lama to use his influence in Tibetto calm the situation. Why is thismoderate approach and clear officialadmission of His Holiness the DalaiLama’s influence on his people notreflected in the policy implementationin Tibet? And if the Chineseauthorities really wish for His Holinessthe Dalai Lama to calm things down inTibet, why is He not provided theforum and channel to reach out to Hispeople in Tibet?

Baba Phuntsok Wangyal, the founderof the Tibetan Communist Party and asenior figure in the Chinese leadership,has this answer. His answer iscontained in a book called BabaPhuntsok Wangyal: Witness to Tibet’sHistory compiled by Tenzin Losel, JanePerkins, Bhuchung D. Sonam andTenzin Tsundue, published by PaljorPublications, Pvt. Ltd in 2007. Thebook contains a biography of BabaPhuntsok Wangyal and the threeletters he had sent to President HuJintao in 2004, 2005 and 2006. In theseletters, Baba Phuntsok Wangyal saysthat there is a well-entrenched vestedinterest in the Chinese leaderships,who have built their careers on thestruggle against separatism. Theircareers will be blown away when theissue of Tibet is resolved throughdialogue with His Holiness the DalaiLama. Baba Phuntsok Wangyal quotesa popular saying in Tibet that “Thesepeople live on anti-separatism, arepromoted due to anti-separatism andthey hit the jackpot by ant i-separatism.”

In his 2004 letter to President HuJintao, Baba Phuntsok Wangyalwrites, “To summarise the abovesaying: ‘The longer the Dalai Lamakeeps on staying abroad, and thebigger his influence, the more long-lasting the period of high ranks andgreat wealth for those anti-separatistgroups; on the contrary, when the DalaiLama restores relations with theCentral Government, these people willbe terrified, tense and lose their jobs.’The statement above is not at all far-fetched. With regard to the questionof whether or not relations between theCentral Government and the DalaiLama can be restored, this is not onlyrelated to shifts of political partiality,resistance and even open objectionswithin the nation, but also to therelations of such and such people andgroups and the advantages anddisadvantages to them in terms ofeconomic interest.”

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Baba Phuntsok Wangyal’s analysis isechoed by Jing Huang, currently avisiting fellow at the University ofSingapore’s East Asian Institute. Hetold Simon Elegant of Time that thereis “a huge bulwark of entrenchedofficials (in the United Front WorkDepar tment, the Public SecurityBureau, Foreign Affairs, the ReligiousAffairs department, the CommunistParty in Tibet, the Minority Affairsdepartment being the main culprits)who have spent decades shoutingabout ‘splittism’ and not only canimagine any other approach but wouldfeel it was a threat to their iron ricebowls or livelihoods, which of courseit would be. Thus, Huang says, youhave essentially the entire Chineseestablishment that administers Tibetopposed to a compromise solution thatwould inevitably not only have toacknowledge that the policies thatthey have pursued in Tibet for the last20 years are a failure but would likelycost them their jobs.”

Willy Lam, writing for JamestownFoundation, says “As police in variousci ties were issuing warnings toprotestors outside Carrefoursupermarkets last Saturday andSunday, the Hu Jintao Administrationhas intensified efforts to suppress andcontain the ‘splittists’ in Tibet andXinj iang - and using nationalistsentiments to help achieve its goal. Asthe nation is being swept by a tidalwave of ‘patriotism’ if not xenophobia,liberal intellectuals who had earlierimplored Beij ing to considerconciliatory policies toward the twoautonomous regions no longer dareraise their voice for fear of beinglabeled traitors.” Willy Lam, whosepiece is called Beijing Intensifies’People’s War ‘against’ Splittism ‘asNationalism Rears Its Head’, wasposted on Jamestown Foundation’swebsite on 29 April. He quotes aneditor of a Beijing-based magazine whowishes to remain anonymous assaying, “The CCP has used the handyweapon called nationalism to silence

those who question the authorities’handling of Tibet.”

All this leads us to believe that China’sTibet policy has been hijacked by thehardliners in the leadership who wanta Final Solution to the TibetanQuest ion by using al l the mightavailable to them to crush the Tibetanpeople. The hardliners, more than thenational interests of China and theChinese people, are pursuing theirhard-line policy to protect their careersand their private interests.

The present crisis in Tibet has becomeuseful to the Chinese authorities todistract the Chinese people from theirvery pressing problems. The growingsocial unrest in China is stoked byrampant corruption, growinginequality between the rich and poorand rising prices. At the same time,there is a growing aspiration forfreedom and democracy in China.China’s Tibet distraction is being usedto its full advantage by the authoritiesto make the Chinese public forget, evenmomentarily, the daily burden underwhich grind and i ts longing forfreedom.

After the first tidal wave of anti-foreign and anti-Tibetan people passedaway on the Internet, a more soberassessment of the situation in Tibet isre-surfacing among Chinese bloggersand Internet-users. There are manyChinese who are fed up with thegovernment blasting away about Tibetevery day. They say Tibet iseverywhere, on TV, radio and innewspapers. The public cannot escapeand get respite from the government’sonslaught on Tibet even for a minute.Many Chinese wonder what the reasonbehind this is.

China’s Tibet distraction has alsobecome useful for the Chinesecommunist Party to stoke Chinesenationalism and thus bolster theparty’s legitimacy. The need to dothese flows from the paradox that is

China today. Communism has beenswept away from China and yet theChinese Communist Party survivesand flourishes. In his piece, WhyChina’s Burning Mad, posted on 24April 2008, Simon Elegant of Timewrites, “Having effectively abandonedthe Marxist-Leninists ideology thatwas once the bedrock, China’sCommunist Party now draws i tsmandate to govern from two sources -economic growth and nationalistpride.” In his book, China’s NewNationalism, Peter Hays Gries writes,“In 1994, Xiao Gongqing, anoutspoken neo-conservativeintellectual advocated the use ofnationalism derived from Confucianismto fill the ideological void opened bythe collapse of communism.” JayshreeBajoria of the Council on ForeignRelations, writes, “After the collapseof the Soviet Union, the opening ofthe Chinese economy by DengXiaoping and the pro-democracyprotests of 1989, nationalism was onceagain revived by the ChineseCommunist Party (CCP), say experts.”

Gries writes, “Lacking the procedurallegitimacy accorded to democraticallyelected governments and facing thecollapse of communist ideology, theCCP is increasingly dependent on itsnationalist credentials to rule.” In aneditorial in April 2008, the InternationalHerald Tribune notes that “stripped ofMaoism as its guiding light, the CCPhas fallen back on nationalism associetal glue.”

Jayshree Bajoria of the Council onForeign Relations quotes Kenneth G.Lieberthal of the Universi ty ofMichigan as saying, nationalisticprotests are a combination of genuinepopular outrage and governmentmanipulation to let protest grow, whichoften helps the Chinese government’sbargaining position as that incident isnegotiated with the offending party.

In order to shore up public support forits right to rule, the CCP is portraying

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the Tibet protests as anti-China. TheCCP also portrays the internationalsupport and sympathy and theextensive media coverage of the eventsin Tibet as an international anti-Chinaforce. The government’s obsessiveand distorted coverage of the Olympictorch relay and the accompanyingprotests have provoked anti-foreignsentiments in China, including theboycott of French products. Writes WuZhong, China editor ofwww.atimes.com on 23 April, “Amidincreasingly growing nationalism, thefew Chinese - such as CCTV anchorBai Yansong and China Youth Daily’sphoto editor He Yanguang - who werebrave enough to criticize the boycottas ‘irrational’ and harmful to Chineseinterests, have been bombarded withaccusations by angry bloggers.” Mr.B. Raman, a former additional secretaryin the cabinet secretariat of thegovernment of India, writ ing inwww.saag.org on 20 April, says, “It islearnt that the protests inside Chinaas well as abroad are being sponsoredand directed by the Ministry of PublicSecurity, which is China’s internalintelligence and security agency.”

In Tibet, there is a talk of waging a“people’s war” against the Tibetanprotestors. No individual Chinese havestepped forward to lead this war, butthe authorities are coming upon thedetained protesters with violence andferocity unheard since the days of theCultural Revolution. Protesters areshot dead and those who are arrestedare beaten and tortured. Monasterieswhere protests have taken place aresealed off and deprived of food anddrinking water. Bodies of those shotdead are taken away so as to preventlocal Tibetans from knowing the causeof death. Tibet has been turned into awar zone.

Chinese Support for Dialogue andInter-ethnic Harmony

Grace Wang, a s tudent at DukeUniversity in the United States, wrote

an op-ed piece in April in the LosAngeles Times and reprinted in theIndian Express on 21 April. She wasthe one who tried to mediate betweenprotesting Chinese students and Tibetprotesters and was vilified by theChinese side. She writes, “Trying tomediate between Chinese and pro-Tibetan campus protesters, I wascaught in the middle and vilified andthreatened by the Chinese. After theprotest, the intimidation went onlineand I began receiving threateningphone calls. Then it got worse - myparents in China were also threatenedand forced to go into hiding.”

“Back in my dorm room, I logged intothe Duke Chinese Students andScholars Association (DCSSA)Website to see what people weresaying. Qian Fangzhou, an officer ofDCSSA, was gloating, ‘We reallyshowed them our colours!.’”

“I posted a le tter in response,explaining that I don’t support Tibetanindependence, as some accused me of,but that I do support Tibetan freedomas well as Chinese freedom. The nextmorning, a storm was raging online.Photographs of me had been postedon the Internet with the words“Traitor!” printed across my forehead.Then I saw something really alarmingwhere both of my parent’s citizen IDnumbers had been posted. Thisinformation could only have come fromthe Chinese police.”

“I saw detailed directions to myparent’ home in China, accompaniedby calls for people to go there andteach “this shameless dog” a lesson.It was then that I realized how seriousthis had become. My phone rang withcallers making threats against my life.I talked to my mom and she said sheand my dad were going into hidingbecause they were get ting deaththreats, too.”

In their twelve-point letter, the groupof Chinese scholars write, “In order toprevent similar incidents from

happening in future, the governmentmust abide by the freedom of religiousbelief and the freedom of speechexplicitly enshrined in the ChineseConstitution, thereby allowing theTibetan people fully to express theirgrievances and hopes, and permittingcitizens of all nationalities freely tocr iticise and make suggestionsregarding the government’snationality policies.”

The twelfth and last point in their letteris “We hold that we must eliminateanimosity and bring about nationalreconciliation, not continue to increasedivisions between nationalities. Acountry that wishes to avoid thepartition of its territory must first avoiddivisions among its nationalities.Therefore, we appeal to the leaders ofour country to hold direct dialoguewith the Dalai Lama. We hope that theChinese and Tibetan people will doaway with the misunderstandingsbetween them, develop the irinteractions with each other, andachieve unity. Governmentdepartments as much popularorganizations and religious figuresshould make great efforts towards thisgoal.”

Sabotaging or Helping the BeijingOlympic Games

One major and consistent accusationthe Beijing authorities hurl at HisHoliness the Dalai Lama is that he issabotaging the Beij ing SummerOlympics. They cite the outbursts ofthe Tibetan people’s anger in thestreets of towns and vil lagesthroughout Tibet and the protests thathave dogged the torch relay asevidence of His Holiness the DalaiLama’s involvement in this.

Far from sabotaging the Beij ingOlympics, His Holiness the Dalai Lamaeven before China was awarded the2008 Olympics Games supported theright of Beijing to host the Games. HisHoliness the Dalai Lama during hisvisit to Salt Lake City in the United

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States in May 2001 stated that hesupported China’s bid for the Gamesin 2008 if it promoted human rights inthe country. His Holiness said he alsowanted to know what the feelings ofthe Chinese people were on the Games.He also wanted to know what thefeelings of the human rights groupswere. His Holiness said, “I would liketo know their opinion. If they feel thisevent taking place in China would helpto change, then I would support it,”according to the CNN report of 11 May2001.

We believe that His Holiness the DalaiLama’s endorsement of Beijing helpedChina win the bid when the IOC chosethe host city in Moscow on 13 July2001. CNN report of 15 May 2001 says,“The Beijing bid received a major boostlast week when the Dalai Lama, theexiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, saidChina ‘deserves to be the Olympichost.’”

When the 2008 Summer Olympic Gameswere awarded to China, His Holinessthe Dalai Lama publicly welcomed thisdevelopment and said he had alwayssupported Beijing’s bid. His Holinessthe Dalai Lama said that the same timethat it is the right of individuals andorganizations to use the Games topeacefully highlight the gross humanrights violations going on in China inthe hope that these violations wouldbe eliminated.

In his 10 March 2008 statement, HisHoliness explains his position on theOlympic Games in China in detail. HisHoliness said, “This year, the Chinesepeople are proudly and eagerlyawaiting the opening of the OlympicGames. I have, from the verybeginning, supported the idea thatChina should be granted theopportunity to host the OlympicGames. Since such internationalsporting events and especially theOlympics uphold the principles offreedom of speech, freedom ofexpression, equality and friendship,

China should prove herself a goodhost by providing these freedoms.Therefore, besides sending theirathletes, the international communityshould remind the Chinese governmentof these issues. I have come to knowthat many parliaments, individuals andnon-governmental organisationsaround the globe are undertaking anumber of activities in view of theopportunity that exists for China tomake a positive change. I admire theirsincerity. I would like to sta teemphatically that it will be veryimpor tant to observe the periodfollowing the conclusion of the Games.The Olympic Games no doubt willgreatly impact the minds of the Chinesepeople. The world should, therefore,explore ways of investing the ircollective energies in producing acontinuous positive change insideChina even after the Olympics havecome to an end.”

In the aftermath of the largest protestsin Tibet and the brutal crackdown onthe protestors, followed by stridentcalls for the boycott of the BeijingOlympic Games, His Holinesscommented that a boycott was tooradical and said that there should notbe any boycott.

Another accusation hurled by theChinese authorities is that the CentralTibetan Administration plotted tosabotage the Beijing Olympic Gamesat the 5th International Tibet SupportGroup (TSG) Conference held in May2007 in Brussels.

It is a fact that all the TSG conferenceswere organised by the Central TibetanAdministration since the fir stconference in 1990. Particularly fromthe second conference in Bonn in 1996,the Central Tibetan Administration didit in collaboration with the Friedrich-Naumann Foundation. In all theseconferences, both the CTA and theFNF acted as facilitators. The agendafor the conferences were set by theTSGs and the ownership of the

successive action plans andresolutions is with the TSG movement.In fact, at the Prague TSG conferenceconcerns were raised about theappropriateness of the CTA organisingthe TSG conferences. This concernwas put to the vote. The majority ofthe participants wanted the CTA tocontinue to organise subsequent TSGconferences.

Apart from facilitating theseconferences, the role of the CTA is toexplain the CTA’s policies and seek theparticipants’ support for the Middle-Way Approach, which seeks to ensuremeaningful autonomy for all Tibetansunder a single Tibetan administration.This was done by Kalon Tripa,Professor Samdhong Rinpoche, bothat the Prague and Brusse lsconferences. The Special Envoy of HisHoliness the Dalai Lama, Mr. LodiGyari, updated the participants on theprogress of the talks between theChinese and the Tibetan sides.

The Chinese media also said that PaulaDobriansky, the special co-ordinatorfor T ibetan affairs in the Sta teDepar tment, at tended the 5 thInternational Tibet Support GroupConference. She did not attend theconference. This is a clear case of theChinese media spreadingdisinformation.

The proceedings of a ll theseconferences were transparent. Theopening and closing ceremonies ofthese conferences were open to theinternational media, which includedreporters from Xinhua. At the time, theXinhua reporters did not file any reportthat says the “splittists were plottingto sabotage the Beij ing OlympicGames.”

*The third and fourth series ofresponses to the Chinese allegationsare available at www.tibet.net/en/prelease/2008/260708.html andwww.t ibet .net /en /pre lease/2008/170608.html respectively.

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London Metropolitan University Denies Apology to Chinese Authorities

In a letter circulated to the media, theLondon Metropolitan University hasconfirmed that their vice-chancellor didnot say sorry to the Chinese authoritiesfor awarding an honorary doctorate to

His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Thecontroversy came to the surface onTuesday after the China Daily, amouthpiece of the Chinese communistgovernment in a report headlined“London school regrets honoring DalaiLama” said that Mr. Brian Roper, vice-chancellor of the university, had“recently apologized for bestowing anhonorary doctorate to the Dalai Lamaafter the move drew intense criticism froma number of Chinese.”

When the Office of Tibet, London, andmany others drew the attention of theVice-Chancellor and the University to theChina Daily report, which totallycontradicted the warmth with which HisHoliness the Dalai Lama was received bythe LMU teaching faculty, students andguests during the 20th May event thatreceived positive and extensive coveragein the British as well as the world media,they were informed that what the vice-chancellor has said was not accuratelyreported.

What had actually happened is thatrepresentatives of the Chinese Embassyhere had requested for a meeting withthe vice-chancellor and during thatrecent meeting he had “expressed regret”at any unhappiness that had beencaused to the Chinese people by theawarding of the honorary doctorate toHis Holiness. The statement issued tothe media by the London MetropolitanUniversity states:

“The Vice Chancellor of LondonMetropolitan University, Brian Roper,recently met with representatives of theEmbassy of the People’s Republic ofChina in the UK.

During that meeting, he expressed regretat any unhappiness that had beencaused to Chinese people by the recentaward of an honorary doctorate to theDalai Lama. It was not the university’sintention to cause any suchunhappiness.

London Metropolitan University has notand will not be apologising for the awardof an honorary doctorate to His Holinessthe Dalai Lama. Nor will we be retractingthe award.”

Mr. Tsering Tashi, the London-basedRepresentative of His Holiness the DalaiLama said that from the LMU statement itis clear that the vice-chancellor whenapproached by the representatives of theChinese Embassy had expressed “regrets”if the event had caused “unhappiness” tothe “Chinese people” and not expressedany regret for having awarded the honorarydoctorate to His Holiness.

Because of how the authoritarian Chinesegovernment regularly manipulate factsand tries to bring pressure on anythingthat displeases it, the world hasincreasingly come to realise theimportance of differentiating the Chineseregime or government from the Chinesepeople, who themselves do not enjoygenuine human rights and free speech.About the recent honorary doctorateaward, a report in the LondonMetropolitan University websitewww.londonmet.ac.uk states: “LondonMet conferred the Doctorate on HisHoliness in recognition of hisoutstanding achievements in promotingpeace globally as well as for hisinspirational spiritual guidance andleadership.”It may be recalled that in 2004 when theLiverpool John Moores Universityawarded an Honorary Fellowship to HisHoliness the Dalai Lama, the ChineseEmbassy at the time had also tried to puta lot of pressure to have the honorwithdrawn but without much success.

The university had then issued thefollowing statement to the media:

“The University extended an invitationto His Holiness the Dalai Lama to delivera Roscoe Lecture several years ago.

The Roscoe Lecture series provides aforum for distinguished internationalguests to speak on the subject ofcitizenship.

“As is the tradition at JMU, and inrecognition of his Nobel peace prize, HisHoliness will be given an HonoraryFellowship - two years ago JosephRotblatt was honoured in the same wayafter delivering a Roscoe Lecture. Thisis an academic lecture NOT a politicalrally and the University has no intentionof embarrassing the Chinesegovernment.”

“It is one of the stated values of theUniversity to ?question accepted viewsand to defend independence of thought- the Vice Chancellor, Professor MichaelBrown, has reassured the ChineseAmbassador personally that a lecture ofthis nature is part of normal Universitybusiness and contacts between JMU andChinese representatives remain cordial.”

Yesterday, a concerned Tibetologist fromCanada emailed to the Office of Tibet toknow the truth behind the China Dailyreport relating the London MetropolitanUniversity and concluded his email withthe sentence, “I doubted if the Universityhad made apology?”. From the LMUstatement, it is clear the university hadnot.

Whilst it may take some time for thecurrent Chinese regime to have thecourage to face the truth and shun thesuspicion of so-called foreigninterference, it is encouraging to notethat more and more Chinese peoplethrough better awareness andinformation are joining the worldwideshow of respect for His Holiness theDalai Lama and even supporting theTibetan people’s aspiration for genuinehuman rights and freedoms, which, inpractical terms, they too aspire.

Report by Office of Tibet, London

His Holiness the Dalai Lama (C) with the framedHonorary Doctorate certificate flanked by ViceChancellor Brian Roper and Chair of the Board ofGovernors Peter Anwyl (Photo by Ian Cumming/Office of Tibet, London)

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His Holiness Exchanges Views on Tibet with Chinese ScholarsHis Holiness the Dalai Lama exchangedviews with Chinese scholars-based in USon the situation in Tibet and wayforward on finding a mutuallysatisfactory solution for the Tibetanissue within the framework of theconstitution of the People’s Republic ofChina.

His Holiness met with seven Chinesescholars working in universities andother academic institutions-based in USin Aspen Institute, Colorado, on 26 July.The meeting is part of an initiative ofThe Brookings Institute based inWashington, D.C.

Tibetan officials, including Kalon TripaSamdhong Rinpoche, Special EnvoyLodi Gyari Gyaltsen, Chhime R.Chhoekyapa, secretary to His Holinessthe Dalai Lama, Tashi Wangdi,representative of the office of Tibet, NewYork, Lobsang Nyandak, representativedesignate, Tsewang Phuntso, liaisonofficer, and Bhuchung K Tsering,member of task force attended themeeting.

Following the meeting with the Chinesescholars, His Holiness addressed apacked house on “Value-basedleadership and Universal Responsibility”.

Speaking on his belief on the onenessof humanity despite apparentdifferences, His Holiness said we arephysically and mentally same. HisHoliness said: “Many of the problemsin today’s world are man-made and arisedue to too much emphasis on secondaryissues like religion, race, etc.,” “We dothis forgetting the basic humanity in allof us,” he added.

His Holiness said he considered himselfa Marxist as he admired its socio-economic theory, but he was against thetotalitarian thinking. His Holiness furthersaid he identified himself as a liberal anddemocratic socialist.

His Holiness also talked about today’sglobalised world and said the new realityis that the concept of “we” and “they”are no longer valid.

In terms of leadership qualities HisHoliness said honesty, truthfulness,transparency, openness and vision areessential qualities for today’s leaders.

Following his formal remarks, HisHoliness answered some questionsposed in advance by the public.

Responding to a question on the Chinesegovernment’s denunciation campaign,His Holiness said the denouncement ofhim by the Chinese authorities is notreally a problem, adding, that eventhough the Chinese may try to demonisehim, he is still a simple Buddhist monk.However, the Chinese authorities’forcing the Tibetan people to denouncehim was a problem, which His Holinesssaid “a violation of the Tibetan people’shuman rights and their religiousfreedom”.

His Holiness said he was saddened thatthe Chinese people did not have theopportunity to know the true picture andthus they may assume that the DalaiLama is a bad person.

Following the public talk, His Holinesshad a view of the sand Mandala andbutter sculpture that were part of thesymposium on the celebration ofTibetan culture. His Holiness led a briefprayer session in front of the Mandala.In the afternoon, His Holiness attendeda private reception in the residence ofMr. Richard Blum, member of the Boardof Trustees of The Brookings Institutionand thereafter left for the airport to leaveUnited States from Denver.

UN seeks whereabouts of the Panchen Lama and Tibetan detainees

The United Nations’ Committee againstTorture (CAT), an independent body ofexperts has asked China to provide a completelist of all Tibetan detained following the March2008 demonstration in Tibet.

The Committee also sought informationon the whereabouts of Gendun ChoekyiNyima, the six-year-old boy identified byHis Holiness the Dalai Lama as the 11thPanchen Lama, disappeared on 17 May1995. The Chinese government lateradmitted to holding the boy and hisfamily in “protective custody”.

This request also includes informationon their current location, convictions,etc. The independent body of expertsmonitors the implementation of the UN’sConvention against Torture and OtherCruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatmentor Punishment by its State parties.

The experts questioned China about whatthe secret regulations were applied in these

cases and why? It further said “In view ofallegations that lawyers who offered todefend Tibetan protesters were warned thatthey would have their professional licensessuspended if they attempted to do so,please clarify what counsel was providedand whether the defendants were permittedto meet with that counsel in private, inadvance of their trials.”

The experts also questioned why adetainee does not have the right toaccess to an independent doctor duringpretrial detention or after conviction.

They also sought information from Chinaabout the 30 Tibetans who were sentencedbetween three years to life imprisonment.The experts asked China to clarify the basisof the sentences and how many casesinvolved confessions from the defendants.And whether the Tibetans hadopportunities to appeal against the verdictsand if independent review or oversightboard were assigned to these cases.

The UN’s independent body also soughtinformation on any investigations intothose deaths and whether there will be atransparent public inquiry into a numberof deaths in connection with the unrestin the Tibetan Autonomous Region andneighboring prefectures and counties.Concerning administrative detention forre-education through labor, thecommittee sought information on otheradministrative detention centers as wellas on persons detained under the 1997Law on Administrative Penalties.

During the UN Human Right session inNovember 2008, China’s fourth periodicreport is schedule to review by theCommittee. Tibetan NGOs will submit ashadow report on China’s violation ofthe convention’s articles. China as asignatory of the convention is obligedto submit its report to the Committeeevery four year on how the rights arebeing implemented.

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ranges. Whether the Sanskrit word“Bhota” is derived from Tibetan word“Bhod” or vice versa, both has asimilarity of pronunciation. In theBuddha’s teachings Tibet was referredas “land of snow in the north” (Uttara

Himpradesh). Vedic Rishis also calledit “Trivishtab”. Whatever the case,Tibet is situated on a high plateau withclean air and is a source of major riversof Asia. Tibet has a vast land with smallpopulation and remained economicallyself-reliant on the basis of need.

Archeological surveys revealed theevidence of human existence in Tibetsince the primitive age. However,Tibetan civilization received addedstrength in the 6th century and reachedits peak in the 8th century. Tibet alsoemerged as a powerful nation with astrong military in Asia.

Tibetan ethnicity is distinct comparedto other people in the region. Tibetanfeatures resemble a mix of Aryan andMongolian races.

All Tibetans use the same language.Though there are different localdialects, but after the invention of thescript and grammar in the 7th century,all Tibetans use one language that isbased on four vowels and thirtyconsonants. It is a rich language withthe capacity to convey all Sanskritterms accurately. Considering the timeduration and population, the Tibetanlanguage has richest and highestquality of literary output in the worldboth in terms of translation andoriginal composition. A large numberof ancient Ind ian texts are nowavailable only in the Tibetan language.Since the Tibetan script and grammarare invented based on Sanskrit itbelongs to the Indian language family.

After the advent of Buddhism in the7th century, Tibetan culture andcivilisation flourished widely andquickly. These originate from the

Buddhist culture of India of the time.Although Tibet emerged as strong andpowerful nation until the mid-9thcentury, it gradually disintegrated andremained without a common ruler orcentral government for nearly threecenturies. However, there was no majorobstacle in the advancement of religionand culture. By the start of 13thcentury Tibet was invaded by GenghisKhan and remained under Mongolcontrol for more than 50 years.Gradually China also came underMongol rule.

In 1260s Mongol emperor Kublai Khanof the Yuan Dynasty of China offeredthree Cholkas (provinces) to DrogonChoegyal Phagpa, which restoredTibetan sovereignty to the Tibetans.Since then to 1640, though Sakya,Phagdru, Ringpung and Tsangpafought each other to rule Tibet, therewas no foreign invasion. In 1640sMongol tribal leader Gushri Khaninvaded whole of Tibet and offered itto the Great Fifth Dalai Lama to rule in1642. Thus was founded the GadenPhodrang Government of Tibet. Sincethen it has now been 366 years. Lateron the Gaden Phodrang Governmentcould not protect its Eastern borders.As a result China gradually startedencroaching and finally divided it into“inner Tibet” and “outer Tibet”.

Since the commencement of Priest-Patron relationship between China andTibet starting from Choegyal Phagpa,though there were many ups anddowns in the relationship but the outerstructure of the Priest-Patronrelationship remained unchanged.After the founding of the GadenPhodrang Government, the ManchuEmperor invited the Fifth Dalai Lamato China. This enhanced the Priest-Patron relationship between the two.At first, it was purely a religiousrelationship between the Priest, theteacher and the Patron, the student.This relationship was devoid of any

Kalon Tripa’s Statement on ‘Future Prospects for Tibet’

Kalon Tripa Prof. Samdhong Rinpochedelivers a keynote address on the‘Future Prospects for Tibet’ at the IndiaInternational Centre in New Delhi onMonday, 16 June 2008/Photo:PhayulOnline WebsiteDharamsala: Kalon Tripa Prof.Samdhong Rinpoche, head of theKashag of the Central TibetanAdministration delivered a keynoteaddress on the ‘Future Prospects forTibet’ at the India International Centrein New Delhi on 16 June.

The lecture was convened by DalipMehta, the former ambassador of Indiato Bhutan and Trustee of theFoundation for UniversalResponsibility of His Holiness theDalai Lama.

Around thir ty people, includingofficials serving in the Indiangovernment, retired officials andsenior correspondents attended thelecture.

The full text of the statement follows:

Outline of Kalon Tripa Prof.Samdhong Rinpoche’s Talk on Middle-Way Approach to Indian Dignitariesat the India International Centre, NewDelhi 16 June 2008.

Tibet: Its Early History

Tibet, widely known as a “landsurrounded by snow mountains,” issituated on the roof of the worldsurrounded from all directions by snowmountains such as the Himalayan

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political overtones. However, in thepassage of time, this relationship wasmisinterpreted in many different waysin order to achieve political advantage.During the Sixth and Seventh DalaiLamas, due to internal rivalry withinTibetan leaders, coupled with Mongolinterference etc, T ibetans werecompelled to seek help from theManchu Emperors. In particular,during the Gorkha War by the end of17th century Tibetans were forced toseek military help from the Manchus,which gradually paved the way formany unpleasant incidents such asinvolvement of political interference inthe Priest-Patron relationship.

Recent Developments

In the 19th century, British governmenttried several times to reach out to Tibetthrough China under various pretexts.However none of these endeavorswere successful. Finally, in 1904 theBritish army entered Tibet and signeda ceasefire treaty with the Tibetans.Similarly, later Chinese attacks on Tibetwere repulsed by the Tibetans on theirown. At the Shimla Convention and theAgreement of 1913/14 and during thesubsequent events thereafter, theBritish government engaged directlywith Tibet to sign treaty when it servedtheir purpose and they acceptedChinese suzerainty over Tibet whendealing directly with Tibet did notserve their interests. Due to these self-contradictory positions of Britishgovernment, the s tatus of Tibetremained unclear on the internationallevel. However, the demarcation of thepresent Indo-Tibetan border, which isat present followed by the governmentof India, was made between the Britishand Tibetans and there was noChinese participation.

It was the weakness of the Tibetanleadership of not being able to assertTibetan sovereignty and the failure tobe a member of the League of Nationsand subsequently the United Nations.Nevertheless, both the Chinese andBritish had collectively tried to createconfusion at international level. In

order to dispel these doubts, the greatThirteenth Dalai Lama reiterated thestatus of Tibetan independence in 1913.

After Chinese Revolution

Soon after the establishment ofCommunist rule in China in 1949,Chinese army started invading Tibetanterritories. The PRC considered the‘liberation’ of Tibet and Taiwan of theutmost urgency. Within a year Chineseinvasion reached Chamdo. It wastermed as “forceful liberation”. Lateron, Tibet was brought under Chineserule when the Tibetan delegation,consisting of Ngapoi, the Governor ofChamdo who was held as prisoner ofwar together with his aides, and theothers who were sent from Tibet toChina, were forced to sign the 17-PointAgreement on 23 May 1951 under thepretext of negotiations. It was termedas “peaceful liberation”. This is quitesimilar to the occupation of India bythe British as explained by MahatmaGandhi in Hind Swaraj, Chapter 7.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and theTibetan government has sincerely triedto implement the agreement sinceunder the given national andinternational situation there was noother options available at that pointof time. Moreover, His Holiness theDalai Lama returned Lhasa withconfidence trusting the words ofsenior Chinese leaders of Party, Stateand the Army, including Mao, whenhe met them during his visit to Chinain 1954/55. However, unrest startedunfolding in the Eastern Tibetanregions of Kham and Amdo around1956. In addition, after the completionof road connection between Beijing-Lhasa facilitating faster mobilisation ofarmy and military equipments, localChinese officials deliberately violatedthe agreement by making the situationeven more critical. His Holiness theDalai Lama’s appeal to the centralleadership, including Mao, were leftunanswered. Finally there was a threatto the life of His Holiness the DalaiLama and Tibetans in Lhasa werecompelled to carry out peaceful

uprising on 10 March 1959. On thenight of 17 March, His Holiness theDalai Lama disguised as a common manescaped from Norbulingka andeventually sought asylum in India.

On 31 March 1959, after reaching theIndian border, the Government of Indiareceived His Holiness the Dalai Lamaby offering him asylum. On 17 April1959 at Tezpur, during his first meetingwith the international media, HisHoliness the Dalai Lama renounced the17-Point Agreement based on tworeasons. The two reasons were that theagreement was signed under duressand that the Chinese centralgovernment themselves haddeliberately violated all the clauses ofthe agreement. Since then HisHoliness the Dalai Lama declared tostrive for the revival of the Tibetanindependence. This policy wasfollowed till 1979.

Nature of Tibetan Struggle

Since 1959, after seeking asylum inIndia,His Holiness the Dalai Lama hasbeen striving hard to resolve theTibetan issue by implementing wide-ranging programmes. However,different people see the nature ofTibetan struggle differently.

a) Not a political ideological conflict

Some people think Tibetan struggle isa struggle between different politicalideologies and interprets Tibetanuprisings of the early 1950s and 60s asan uprising against Communism. Somepeople extend their support to Tibetbased on this reason. However, this isnot the truth. As long as the Tibetansare happy and contented, ideologiesdo not matter to them. Moreover,certain aspects of Marxism appeal toHis Holiness the Dalai Lama.

b) Not an ethnic conflict

Some identify our struggle as an ethnicconflict between the Tibetans and HanChinese. Many even attempt to makeit into an ethnic conflict. But the

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Tibetans and Chinese have livedtogether as neighbors since timeimmemorial by helping each other likebrothers. Especially after thecommencement of the Priest-Patronrelationship in the 13th century, mostof the Chinese Buddhists becamefollowers of T ibetan lineage ofBuddhism. There were times when thetwo sides fought wars. But these warswere few and scattered and for shortperiods. For most of the time the twosides remained amicably and eventoday there is no hatred between theTibetans and Chinese.

c) Not a power struggle

Some suspect the Tibetan struggle isone of power struggle. The Chineseside has unleashed a massivepropaganda campaign to misinterpretthe Tibetan struggle as an attempt torevive the old system of governance.Nothing is farther from truth. HisHoliness the Dalai Lama and the exileadministration have never thought ofholding power in future Tibet. Noteven in our dreams.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama hasdeclared time and again that He willnot hold any political or institutionalposition the moment Tibetan issue isresolved for once and all. The officialsof the exile administration will also notaspire for political authority in Tibet.They will lead the life of the commonpeople. Therefore, the issue betweenus is how to rule the people and notwho will rule.

d) True nature of Tibetan struggle

Then, what is the true nature of Tibetanissue? It is an issue between truth andfalse, justice and injustice. In otherwords, it is an issue of difference inapproach to fulfill one’s duty. Tibetansare not struggling for their rights butto perform their special duty towardsuniversal responsibility. The preciousBuddhist tradition of all the yanas,including vajra-yana, originated fromthe great land of India is today notavailable in any other part of the world.

Preservation of this tradition, which isof immense value to all living beings,is the true nature of our struggle. If weread carefully the definit ion of“civilisation” as explained in HindSwaraj by Mahatma Gandhi, then onecan exactly identify the true nature ofthe Tibetan struggle.

Community that preserves Buddhisttradition should be a non-violentsociety and there is a need to createnon-violent environment for suchsociety. Therefore the broad vision totransform Tibet into a zone of non-violence was suggested. Need forconsistency between means and endsis not only highlighted in Buddhistphilosophy, but Mahatma Gandhi alsoemphasized on this point. To conformour means and ends we strive to adoptonly non-violent means. As a resultthe Tibetan movement at present isfree from violence.

There are opposite ways of looking toour struggle from the two sides. TheChinese consider us their enemy andour struggle as struggle for victoryand defeat and life and death. But weview the authorities of People’sRepublic of China (PRC) as ourpotential friends and our struggle aswin-win to both sides. We do notstruggle for the victory of oneself anddefeat of the opponent.

Undoubtedly, the Tibet problem is adirect result of a larger scheme ofmodern power struggle among thenations, continents and civilisations.Therefore, it is difficult to keep ourmovement away from the largerconflict. But we are happy that underthe leadership of His Holiness the DalaiLama we are able to protect ourselvesuntil now from becoming tools of thebigger powers.

Etymological Meaning of Middle-Way

The Lord Buddha first used the word“middle-way” in his first sermon. Itrefers to the middle which avoids twoextremes. At first it was used inreference to ethics but later on it was

more commonly used in reference tophilosophy. Going to extremes isdivergence from the truth and there isa need to have middle-way in everyfield.

In this case when we use the word“middle-way” in reference to policy,the two extremes are 1) to seekseparation from China and 2) to remainwithin China under present condition.The essence of the Middle-WayApproach is to seek meaningfulnational regional autonomy status toall Tibetans as provided under theconstitution of PRC by avoiding thesetwo extremes.

Why Middle-Way Approach?

Since Tibet is a country which hasremained independent for a longperiod, what are the reasons forupholding the Middle-Way Approachinstead of restoring independence?

a) Given the realities of the presentglobal scenario, i t i s absolutelynecessary for us to be pragmatic andrealistic in formulating any policy toconform to these realities.

b) Even if Tibet became independentand lived as a neighbour of China, itwill face unavoidable encroachment inthe fields of politics, economy andsocial matters.

c) Since Tibet is land-locked andsituated on a high plateau, it has torely on others to meet its needs.

d) On the positive side if we remainwith the PRC, this will be helpful forour modern material development.

e) Under the present global scenariowhen there is a loosening of the nation-state ideology, there is a trend towardsgreater unions, like the EuropeanUnion.

f) This will make it less inconvenientfor friendly nations like India to extenttheir support.

g) Since the PRC’s constitution

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sufficiently provides national regionalautonomy provisions, this aspirationis legitimate and within the Chineseconstitution and it can be achieved.

i) Many areas of Kham and Amdo weregradually separated from Tibetansovereignty. In 1951 when Tibet lostits independence, Tibetan territory wasalready reduced to the size of thepresent day so-called TibetAutonomous Region (TAR). Even if wemanaged to restore independence, itis unlikely to extent beyond theterritory of the present so-called TAR.Since more than fifty percent ofTibetan population lives outside ofthis area, it is impossible to achievethe unification of all Tibetans. Thereare many other such reasons.

The reason why His Holiness the DalaiLama chose autonomy as the objectiveof the Tibetan struggle is quite similarto Gandhi’s choice of “self-rule;Swaraj’’ instead of “independence”.Gandhi’s article “Independence versusSwaraj” published on 12 January 1928has been the supreme guiding light forus in our path.

Detractors of Middle-Way Approachmay think this as surrendering of theTibetan people’s legitimate right. If welook at Chapter 4 of Gandhi’s HindSwaraj titled “What is Swaraj?” thenone can clearly see our aspiration. Tosafe time I will not quote here.

Formation of Middle-Way Approach

Around 1968, under changing nationaland international situation, it was clearto us that restor ing Tibetanindependence was difficult and themeans to resolve the Tibetan issuethrough autonomy was suggested.Since then series of discussions andconsultations were held. Especiallyafter internal consultations with theKashag, Speaker and Deputy Speakerin mid-1970s, the basis for the Middle-Way Approach was established byformulating a new policy to seekmeaningful autonomy instead of

independence when an opportunity fornegotiation arose.

In China, the turmoil of the Great LeapForward and Cultural Revolution cameto an end. Post - Mao China witnessedmajor poli t ical changes. DengXiaoping informed His Holiness theDalai Lama through his elder brotherMr. Gyalo Thondup, who wasstationed in Hong Kong, to considerreturning home and declared that“except independence” all other issuescan be resolved through negotiation.This has paved the way for new era ofrelationship between the Tibetans andChinese. Since His Holiness the DalaiLama has already formulated a policyof Middle-Way Approach it was easyfor Him to respond immediately.

However, during the course ofcontacts substantial negotiations weredelayed without any concrete result.Similarly there was a shift in the viewsof Chinese leaders. Therefore, in orderto clari fy the background andframework of negotiat ion, HisHoliness the Dalai Lama issued theFive-Point Peace Plan in 1987. In hisStrasbourg Proposal of 1988, HisHoliness the Dalai Lama outlined thedetailed framework for autonomy. Butthe Chinese termed it as semi-independence or independence indisguise. Since China has rejectedthese proposals, there was no furtherdiscussion on this and gradually thedocuments became somewhat likeineffective. Contacts between the twosides broke off in 1994.

Thereafter in 1996 and 1997 HisHoliness the Dalai Lama proposed thatTibetan people should decide on thebest possible way of realizing the causeof Tibet through a referendum.Accordingly, a preliminary opinion pollwas conducted in which more than64% of the Tibetan people expressedthat there was no need to hold areferendum, and that they wouldsupport the Middle-Way Approach, orwhatever decisions His Holiness theDalai Lama takes from time to time, inaccordance with the changing political

situation in China and the world atlarge. To this effect, the Assembly ofTibetan People’s Deputies adopted aunanimous resolution on 18September of 1997 and informed HisHoliness the Dalai Lama. Respondingto this, His Holiness the Dalai Lamasaid in his 10 March Statement of 1998:“. .I continue to believe that my‘Middle-Way Approach’ is the mostrealistic and pragmatic course toresolve the issue of Tibet peacefully.This approach meets the vital needsof the Tibetan people while ensuringthe unity and stability of the People’sRepublic of China. I will, therefore,continue to pursue this course ofapproach with full commitment andmake earnest efforts to reach out tothe Chinese leadership...” Based onHis Holiness the Dala i Lama’sguidance, this policy was, hence,adopted through highest decision-making process of democratic systemby taking into account the opinion ofthe Tibetan people both in exile andinside T ibet and a unanimousresolution passed by the Assembly ofTibetan People’s Deputies.

Renewal of Direct Contacts

Since the renewal of direct contacts in2002, the Chinese side has expresseddeep suspicions and doubtsconcerning the Five-Point Peace Planand Strasbourg Proposal. In order todispel these suspicions i t wasexplained that Five-Point Peace Planis a future vision for the benefit ofentire humanity, including Chinese andTibetans , ir respective of theresolution to the Tibetan issue. ThePreamble and other explanations of theStrasbourg proposal are not a part ofthe discussion agenda. The frameworkfor autonomy that was outlined in thetext is only a proposal and not anultimate decision. To avoid suspicionfrom both sides on the proposal fornegot iat ions, envoys have, in anutshell, explained our aspiration forimplementation of the provision ofnational regional autonomy enshrinedin the PRC constitution in its entiretyin both letter and spirit. His Holiness

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the Dalai Lama has also explained itseveral times. In his address to the 4thWorld Parliamentarians’ Conventionon Tibet, 18 November 2005, HisHoliness the Dalai Lama said,

“Basically, we are not seekingindependence and everybody knowsthat. What we are seeking is genuine,meaningful autonomy within theframework of the constitution of thePeople’s Republic of China.”

Similarly on 10 March Statement of2006, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said,

“I have stated time and again that I donot wish to seek Tibet’s separationfrom China, but that I will seek itsfuture within the framework of theChinese constitution. Anyone whohas heard this statement would realise,unless his or her view of reality isclouded by suspicion, that my demandfor genuine self-rule does not amountto a demand for separation.”

Provisions of Autonomy in the PRCConstitution

Since China is a multi-national state,the reason behind adopting provisionsof national regional autonomy in theconstitution of the PRC is because itwas impossible to achieve equality andunity among nationalities withoutabandoning both Han chauvinism andlocal nationalism. It was said, to ensureequality and unity among nationalitiesthe policy of nat ional regionalautonomy was formulated based onnationality policy of Marxist-Leninismby criticising exploitation of minoritynationals in the past by previousEmperors and the nationalistgovernment, which caused theseparation of nationalities.

Preamble of the PRC constitutionstates,

“The People’s Republic of China is aunitary multi-national State createdjo intly by the people of al l i tsnationalities. Socialist relations ofequality, unity and mutual assistance

have been established among thenationalities and will continue to bestrengthened. In the struggle tosafeguard the unity of thenationalities, it is necessary to combatbig-nation chauvinism, mainly Hanchauvinism, and to combat localnational chauvinism. The State will doits utmost to promote the commonprosperity of all the nationalities.”

Similarly article 4 of the Chapter 1states,

“All nationalities in the People’sRepublic of China are equal. The Stateprotects the lawful rights and interestsof the minority nationalities andupholds and develops a relationshipof equali ty, unity and mutualassistance among all of China’snationalities. Discrimination againstand oppression of any nationality areprohibited; any act which underminesthe unity of the nationalit ies orinstigates division is prohibited.

The State assists areas inhabited byminority nationalities in acceleratingtheir economic and culturaldevelopment according to thecharacteristic and needs of the variousminority nationalities.

Regional autonomy is practiced inareas where people of minoritynationali ties live in concentratedcommunities; in these areas organs ofself-government are established toexercise the power of autonomy. Allnational autonomy areas are integralparts of the People’s Republic of China.

All nationalities have the freedom touse and develop their own spoken andwritten language and to preserve orreform their own folkways andcustoms.”

Article 112 to 122 of Section 6 of theconstitution explains in detail organsof national regional autonomy.

Article 116 empowers local people’scongress of the national regionalautonomy areas to enact regulations

in accordance with the need of theareas.

Article 117 and 118 explains provisionsof autonomy in the field of economyand financial development.

Article 119 provides autonomousprovisions in educational, scientific,cultural, public health and physicalculture affairs.

Article 120 explains provision ofautonomy to organise local publicsecurity forces for the maintenance ofpublic order.

Article 121 explains provision to uselocal language of the area as an officiallanguage. Similarly article 134 ofSection 7 on Judiciary providesprovisions to use local language injudicial proceedings.

Preamble of Nat ional RegionalAutonomy Law (NRA Law) states,

“Regional national autonomy meansthat the minority nationalities, underunified state leadership, practiceregional autonomy in areas where theylive in concentrated communities andset up organs of self-government forthe exercise of power of autonomy.Regional national autonomy embodiesthe state’s full respect for andguarantee of the right of the minoritynationali ties to administer the irinternal affairs and its adherence to thepr inciple of equality, unity andcommon prosperi ty for al l i tsnationalities.”

Article 10 of Chapter 1 on GeneralPrinciples of NRA Law guarantees thefreedom to use and develop one’s ownspoken and written language and topreserve one’s own folkways andcustoms.

Article 11 clearly guarantees freedomof religion.

Similarly ariticle 19 of Chapter 3provides provision to adopt autonomyregulations.

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Article 20 provides rights to not toimplement reso lut ion , deci sion,order or instruction of a state organat a higher level if it does not suitthe conditions of the autonomousareas.

Article 43 provides provision to workout measures for contro l of thetransient population.

Like wise the re ar e suff ic ien tprovisions to ensure self-rule andautonomy in ter ms of c ul tur e ,economy, usage o f na tur a lresources, taxation, trade, health,public security and education.

Mo reove r ar t ic le 31 o f t heconstitution provides provision toes tab l ish specia l administ ra t iveregions when nec essar y. T hisessent ia l ly provides that acceptfo re ign re la t io ns and na t iona ldefence, all other affairs are leftunde r t he doma in of t headministration of regional autonomy.

If these provisions of constitutionand autonomy law are implementedin true spirit it will ensure the welfareof Tibetan people and the protectionof Tibet’s unique culture, religion,tradition and language. It will furtherenable Tibetans to perform theiruniversal responsibility. However, atp resent , unfo r tuna te ly i t i s auniversal fact that none of theseprovisions are implemented in allT ibe tan a utonomous reg io n,prefectures and counties.

All Tibetans lived together on theT ibe tan p la t ea u s ince t imeimmemor ia l , shar ing the sa mereligion, culture, language, customs,ge ograp hica l l oca t ion andlivelihood, and if the PRC trulyaccepts Tibetan nationality as oneof the 55 minority nationalities ofChina as they already claim, onecannot divide them into differentparts or designate them into inner orouter region and smaller or greater.It is essential to implement self-rule

provided under the provisions ofnational regional autonomy to allTibetans.

PRC’s Concerns and Differences inOpinion

Since 2002, six rounds of meetingswere held. Though we have time andaga in c le ar ly exp la ined ourasp i ra t io ns o f Midd le -WayAp pr oa ch, they s t i l l do no tunde rs tand or pr e fe r no t tounderstand. Though there are manydifferences in opinion, it comesdown to two main points. Firstlydifference on history and secondlyregard ing the un if i ca t io n o fTibetans.

The Chinese side insists that HisHoliness the Dalai Lama accept Tibetwas part of China from a historicalpo int of view. Tibetan s ide hasexplained that is not true. Therefore,His Holiness the Dalai Lama is notin a position to accept it. Chineseconcern is that if we do not acceptTibet as a part of China from pasthistory, then liberation of 1951 willbe considered as invasion and thepresent Chinese rule of Tibet will beviewed as illegal occupation. HisHoliness the Dalai Lama sees that nonation today has remained the sameas its past history and this will nevermake the present status illegitimate.T ibe t wi l l na tura l ly beco me alegitimate part of China the momentTibetans have voluntarily decided toremain as a part of the PRC. For sucha thing to happen, His Holiness theDalai Lama has repeatedly agreed towork on this.

Similarly the Chinese side supportstheir position by saying that unitedTibet has never happened in historyand it will be impossible to changethe bound ar i es o f the p re sentprovinces. To this we explained thatsince time immemorial the Tibetanslived together in concentrated andcomp acted gr oup s and no tscattered. For larger period of the

history, Tibetans were ruled by theearly Kings as well as during theea r ly p er iod o f Sakya re ign.Moreover, PRC considers Tibetannationality as one of the 55 minoritynationalities, it is imperative thatTibetans come under one singleadministration. If Tibetan nationalitydoes not come under one singleadminist ra t ion then this wil l betantamount to a policy of ‘’Divideand Rule” as practiced by the pastimperialist regimes. Especially, thisaspiration is not a new aspiration.Dur ing the s igning of 17-Po in tAgreement, the Tibetan delegationraised the unification of the Tibetanna t iona l i ty. T he Chine se s ideresponded by saying that the timewas not yet ripe but the idea ofunification of the Tibetan nationalitywas appropriate. This was againdiscussed during the meeting on theestablishment of the PreparatoryCommittee of the TAR and a specialcommittee to make a detailed plan wasappointed under the leadership ofsenior Communist Par ty cadre ,Sangye Yeshi (Tian Bao). However,due to ultra-leftist policy this couldnot materialize. Similarly there aremany incidents where the boundariesof the provinces are altered accordingto the needs of the time. In the futuretoo boundaries can be altered.

Though Chinese side has unleashedmassive propaganda to project thatHis Holiness the Dala i Lama isdemanding a “greater Tibet” and“high degree autonomy”, but inrea li ty T ibetans are one s inglenationality and it cannot be dividedinto greater or smaller parts. Ourasp ira t ion i s to imp lement thep rovis ions of na tional regiona lautonomy as enshrined in the PRCconstitution. Apart from that we havenever talked about high degree or lowdegree autonomy. We see that thesedifferences can be resolved if PRCleadership possesses political will.

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The Statement of the Kashag on the Occasion of the 73rd Birthday Celebration of His Holiness the Dalai LamaOn this very special occasion of the73rd birthday celebration of HisHoliness the Dalai Lama, the Kashagof the Central Tibetan Administration- on behalf of the Tibetans in andoutside Tibet, as well as all of hisfollowers across the world - makes itsobeisance to His Holiness and praysthat he may live for hundreds of aeonsas the true protector and saviour ofhumanity, plagued with the “FiveDegenerations, or Impurities” of thisSamsaric world.

While remembering the great servicesthat His Holiness has been making tothe people living in this age of “FiveDegenerations”, the Kashag would liketo implore him to continue to showerhis compassion and loving kindnesson all humanity, and particularly on thepeople of his adopted Land of Snows,until they are all led to the path ofenlightenment.

In our previous statement on this veryoccasion, the Kashag emphasised theneed for enhancing the Tibetanpeople’s collective merit andstrengthening the power of non-violent principle. The Kashag alsoemphasised that we cannot afford tolose heart, or be lethargic, in ourstruggle towards the resolution of theissue of Tibet - even if this strugglewere to drag on for hundreds of years.The Kashag, in particular, suggested11-point constructive programmes oractions to be undertaken by theTibetans in general, and the exiledTibetans in part icular. Whilereiterating all these points, the Kashagwould like to emphatically urge allTibetans to not only heed theseimportant requests, but also put theminto real practice.

Since 10 March this year, in all thethree traditional provinces of Tibet,Tibetans have been courageouslyprotesting against the ultra-leftistpolicies of the People’s Republic of

China at great personal risks. Thesehave not only reflected the innerstrength and unity of the Tibetanpeople, but have also demonstratedbefore the international community thefact that the Tibetan struggle willcontinue generation after generation.It is indeed a source of greatencouragement for us Tibetans that allthe justice-and peace-lovinggovernments and peoples across theglobe have been showing the irsupport to, and solidarity with, theTibetan people. Today, while onceagain expressing our sincereappreciation to all the Tibetan peoplein Tibet for making great sacrifices forthe common cause of T ibet , theKashag would like to inform them thattheir sacrifices will never go in vain. Itwill, certainly, achieve a great resultthat will be of universal benefit.

The recent peaceful protests thatrocked the plateau of Tibet werebrutally crushed by the Chinesegovernment, leading to manythousands of Tibetan people beingarbitrarily arrested, incarcerated,beaten, injured and killed. This is notonly a cause of great disappointmentfor us Tibetans, but has also broughtto the fore the ugly face of China’sTibet policy. We are, moreover, greatlyconcerned about what fate will befallon the Tibetan people in the future.Therefore, the Kashag would like toappeal to all the governments andpeoples of the world that they should- while supporting the Tibetans insideTibet as before - continue to urge, orimpress upon, the leaders of thePeople’s Republic of China to exerciseutmost restraint.

In a crisis situation like this, it isimportant for all the exiled Tibetans toinitiate solidarity actions that are bothproper and law-abiding. As such, onthe request of the Kashag, the TibetanSolidarity Committee has been set up

under the leadership of the highestTibetan legislative body - the TibetanParliament-in-Exile. Under its guidance,most of the campaigns or activitiesundertaken by the Tibetan diasporiccommunity were not only effective,but were also carried out in a mannerthat reveals the unity of the Tibetanpeople. Therefore, the Kashag wouldlike to express its appreciation to allthose who are involved in theseactivities. Similarly, as we havereiterated to the Solidarity Committee,these mass movements or activities,aimed at the realisation of the cause ofTibet, must be continued for a long timeto come. And for this, peacefuldemonstrations and sloganeeringalone will not suffice; it is importantfor us to come out with numerousconstructive programmes or actions.The Kashag believes that the time hascome for us to give a serious thoughtover it. The Kashag would like to,however, emphasise that whateveractions the Tibetans in and outsideTibet may initiate, the nature and formof these actions must not go againstthe principle of non-violence as wellas the wishes of His Holiness the DalaiLama. This is to rei terate that ifanybody - be it an organisation or anindividual person - undertakes anyactivities that go against the advice ofHis Holiness the Dalai Lama, theKashag will express its al l-outopposition to it. For, we recognise thatthese activities will not, in any way,help resolve the issue of Tibet.

Even during the most critical times inthe wake of the recent protests inTibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama waskind enough to send a personalcommunication to Hu Jintao, thepresident of the People’s Republic ofChina. To save Tibet from the crisissi tuation i t is facing, he alsodispatched his envoys to Shenzhen (4May 2008) for an informal discussionwith the concerned officials of the

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People’s Republic of China. As agreedduring this informal meeting, theseventh round of the Sino-Tibetandialogue was held in Beijing for twodays from 1 to 2 July 2008.Unfortunately, the seventh round oftalks - as we have suspected from thevery beginning - did not at all go inaccordance with our hopes andexpectations. Moreover, the Chinesegovernment has indulged in a selfishact of spewing one-sided propagandaon Tibet. Greatly disturbed by thesenegat ive developments , we aredoubtful, more than ever before,whether the leaders of the People’sRepublic of China have thedetermination and sincerity to worktowards achieving a reconciliation onthe issue of Tibet.

It is universally known that HisHoliness the Dalai Lama - being anundisputed champion of global peace- would not agree to, or support,violence in any form. It is also auniversal knowledge that he hasalways pursued a mutually beneficialMiddle-Way policy of seeking asolution to the Tibet issue within theconst itutional framework of thePeople’s Republic of China and thathe has consistently supported China’shosting of the Olympic Games.Therefore, to demand that His Holinessshould not support - or rather stopinitiating - activities aimed at separatingTibet from China, creating violence, andsabotaging the Olympic Games is not astatement that a person with soundstate of mind makes. Even a child wouldknow this fact. Therefore, we do notfind it necessary to respond, or offerour explanations, to these statements.His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Middle-Way policy is a transparent policy thatis sti ll being pursued withoutundergoing a slightest changes. Underthis right policy, we will unswervinglypursue these three commitments of notseeking separation, not engaging inviolence, and availing of theopportunities at hand to find a solutionto the issue of Tibet through dialogue.

As far as His Holiness the Dalai Lamaand the Tibetan diasporic communityare concerned, we have made everypossible effort towards thecontinuation of the dialogue processand the creation of conduciveenvironment for it. We have also madegreatest efforts - even during the mostdifficult period of the recent unrest inTibet - to restore stability, and toalleviate the sufferings of the Tibetansliving, there. If the Chinese side issincere about the current process ofengagement, then it must lend us ahelping hand in creating a conduciveenvironment for dialogue between thetwo sides. Therefore, the Kashag wouldlike to urge the leaders of the People’sRepublic of China to do the following,so that stability and harmony could berestored in Tibet:

• Stop immediately all acts ofrepressing, beating, torturing, arrestingand incarcerating Tibetan people forpeacefully expressing their views;

• Conducting excessive, or ratherextreme, political “education” amongthe Tibetan clergy and making undue,or unnecessary, interference in religiousaffairs should be stopped immediately.For, these are the root cause ofinstability in the monasteries andnunneries; and

• Stop immediately all those activities -carried out in the name of progress anddevelopment - which harm the land andenvironment of Tibet. Excessiveexploitation of natural resources,changing forcefully the traditionallifestyles of the Tibetan peasants andnomads, as well as the policy offlooding Tibet with non-Tibetanmigrants, etc., should also be stoppedimmediately.

During the latest, seventh round oftalks, both sides agreed to hold theeighth round of talks before the end ofOctober, this year. During that time - itwas also agreed - both sides willdeliberate on how the provisions of theNational Regional Autonomy asenshrined in the constitution of the

People’s Republic of China are beingimplemented in Tibet. This, we consider,is a positive step in the present momentor circumstances. We will make ourpreparations for the next round of talks,keeping in view not just the statementscoming out from the People’s Republicof China, but also the way they conductthemselves with us.

However, as we have alreadyemphasised many times before, the mainissue of contention between China andTibet is only the welfare of the six millionTibetan people. It is not at all related tothe personal status of His Holiness theDalai Lama; nor is it related to the statusof a few Tibetans who are close to him.We would like to once again make itvery categorical that concerning them,we do not have a single issue to bediscussed with the People’s Republicof China.

In May this year, Sichuan province ofthe People’s Republic of China havebeen hit by earthquake, causingenormous sufferings to millions ofChinese and Tibetans living in that partof the world. With heavy heart, weexpress our deep condolences to all ofthem. As a way of expressing oursolidarity with the quake victims, wethe Tibetan exiles - led by His Holinessthe Dalai Lama - have been able tomake our share of contribution byorganising prayer meetings and makingdonations toward relief activitiesthrough various channels.

Finally, we pray for the long life of HisHoliness the Dalai Lama and for animmediate end to the sufferings ofthose Tibetans who are facing Chinesesuppression and torture. May the truthof the issue of Tibet prevail soon!

The Kashag

6 July 2008

N.B. This is an English translation of theoriginal statement in Tibetan. If there is anydifference between this and the Tibetanversion, plesae treat the latter asauthoritative and final.

DOCUMENTATION


Statement by Special Envoy Kasur Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari

Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen and Iaccompanied by senior aides SonamN. Dagpo, Bhuchung K. Tsering, bothmembers of the Task Force on Sino-Tibetan Negotiations, and JigmeyPassang from the Secretariat of theTibetan Task Force, visited Beijingfrom June 30 to July 3, 2008.

We met with Du Qinglin, Vice Chairmanof the Chinese People’s PoliticalConsultative Conference and Ministerof the Central United Front WorkDepartment, on July 1, 2008. This wasour first meeting with Minister Du whohad taken over the present post afterthe 17th Party Congress. He gave us abrief overview of China’s domestic andinternational situation as well as onChina’s policy on Tibet. We took theopportunity to explain His Holiness theDalai Lama’s basic approach inresolving the issue of Tibet and alsoexpressed our heartfelt condolences tothe victims of the earthquake inSichuan.

We visited the China’s Centre forTibetan Studies and were received byDirector Lhakpa Phuntsok and DeputyDirector Zhu Xiaoming. We had a gooddiscussion with the scholars whobr iefed us about their researchprojects. We appreciated the work ofthe scholars in various fields and hadthe opportunity to emphasize theimportance of scholars engaging in

unbiased and independent research onissues such as the history of Tibet,which will contribute to a betterunderstanding of the differentperceptions.

We had a day-long discussion withExecutive Vice Minister Zhu Weiqunand Vice Minister Sithar on July 2, 2008.

This meeting took place at a crucialtime in our relationship. The recentevents in Tibet clearly demonstratedthe Tibetan people’s genuine anddeep-rooted discontentment with thePeople’s Republic of China’s policies.The urgent need for serious andsincere efforts to address this issuewith courage and vision in the interestof stability, unity and harmony of allnationalities of the PRC is obvious. Inaddition even though His Holiness theDalai Lama is seeking asolution to the issue of Tibet withinthe PRC, it is a fact that it has becomean issue of great international concern.In this context, we had hoped that theChinese leadership would reciprocate

our efforts by taking tangible stepsduring this round. On the contrary, dueto their excessive concern about

legitimacy the Chinese side even failedto agree to our proposal of issuing ajo int statement with the aim ofcommitting both parties to the dialogueprocess.

While the Chinese side finally seemsto have realized that their allegationsagainst His Holiness for instigating therecent events in T ibet and insabotaging the Olympics Games havebecome untenable, they are now urgingHis Holiness not to support violence,terrorism, and sabotaging theOlympics. We stated in the strongestpossible terms that no one needs tourge us on this as His Holiness andthe Tibetan struggle are universallyacknowledged and appreciated forconsistently rejecting and opposingsuch acts. While the Tibetan YouthCongress does not support the MiddleWay Approach of His Holiness theDalai Lama and stands forindependence of T ibet , wecategorically rejected the Chineseattempt to label it as a violent andterrorist organization. His Holinesshas repeatedly and clearly stated

publicly he is not seeking separationand independence of Tibet.

Special Envoy Lodi Gyari (second from left) and Kelsang Gyaltsen (far left) during theremeeting on July 1st with Du Qinglin, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political ConsultativeConference and Minister of the Central United Front Work Department.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Special EnvoyLodi Gyari (R) and Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsenduring a press conference in Dharamsala,Saturday, 5 June 2008 (Photo by Tenzin Dasel/ Phayul)

DOCUMENTATION


His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibet Issue

Throughout our ta lks we havereiterated to our counterparts that theissue at hand is the welfare of theTibetan people and is not about thepersonal status and affairs of HisHoliness the Dalai Lama or that of the

Tibetans in exile. In the course of ourdiscussions we were compelled tocandidly convey to our counterpartsthat in the absence of serious andsincere commitment on their part thecontinuation of the present dialogueprocess would serve no purpose.

The Chinese side expressed the viewthat the dialogue process has beenproductive and that we need to keepin mind that a half-a-century-oldissue of great complexity, cannot beresolved in a matter of years.

Guided by the Tibetan leadership’spolicy of engagement, we agreedwith our counterparts to have thenext round of discussions in Octoberand di scussed some points tha tcould se rve as the basi s of theagenda.

We briefed His Holiness the DalaiLama today. We also briefed SpeakerKarma Chophel and the DeputySpeaker Dolma Gyari this morning.On our arrival in Dharamsala on July4 we briefed Kalon Tripa SamdhongRinpoche.

We thank our host the Central UnitedFront Work Department of the ChineseCommunist Party for its hospitalityand assistance.

Dharamsala,5 July , 2008

His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Envoys LodiGyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen and their teamin discussion with Executive Vice MinisterZhu Weiqun and Vice Minister Sithar withtheir team on July 2, 2008 in Beijing

In the light of recent news reportsquoting Chinese officials that the issueof Tibet is only about the person of HisHoliness the Dalai Lama, we would liketo take this opportunity to clarify onceagain that the issue of Tibet concernsthe future of six million Tibetans in Tibetand not His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

In fact, when the Chinese Governmentmade a five-point proposal in 1981 whichincluded that “the Dalai Lama will enjoythe same political status and livingconditions as he had before 1959”, HisHoliness categorically made it clear tothe Chinese leadership that the issue atstake was the well-being of six millionTibetans, and he personally had nothingto ask of the Central Chinesegovernment.

His Holiness has stated right from 1969onwards that even the continuation ofthe institution of the Dalai Lama is forthe Tibetan people to decide.

In 1992 His Holiness declared that oncewe are able to return to Tibet withmeaningful autonomy, he will not playany role in the future government ofTibet, let alone seek the Dalai Lama’straditional political position in the

government. We would also like to makeit clear, especially to our Chinesebrothers and sisters that Tibetans,including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, donot even dream of restoring the old societythat prevailed in Tibet before 1959. As amatter of fact, democracy was introducedin the exile Tibetan community in 1960through election of representatives to theAssembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies(Parliament in exile).

Since 2001, Tibetans in exile have anelected political leadership and HisHoliness considers himself in semi-retirement. However, he will continuefullfill his life-long commitment topromote human values and religiousharmony.

Following the resumption of talks withthe Chinese government in 2002, HisHoliness’ envoys have also conveyedat every meeting that the issue is aboutthe well-being of the Tibetan people andnot of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Press Release issued by Chhime R.Chhoekyapa, Secretary to His Holinessthe Dalai Lama on 18 July , 2008.

Message by His Holinessthe Dalai Lama on the

Beijing Olympics

I would like to offer my greetings tothe People’s Republic of China,theorganizers and the athletesparticipating in the forthcomingOlympic Games in Beijing.

Right from the time of China’sapplication to hold the Olympicgames,I have supported China’s rightto host the Games. This is a momentof great pride to the 1.3 billionChinese people. These Games shouldcontribute to promoting the Olympicspirit of friendship,openness andpeace.

I send my prayers and good wishesfor the success of this event.

DALAI LAMA

6 August 2008

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Chronological Details of Recent Events in TibetJuly Press Releases of the Tibetan Solidarity Committee, edited by Tenzin Dickyi

According to a confirmed report, monksof Genden Samdup Ling monastery inKhangmar, Karze (Ch: Ganzi) County,prevented a contingent of local countyofficials and security personnel fromraiding the quarters of five other monkswho had been arrested earlier forstaging peaceful protest in Karze.

Three monks from Nubsur Monasteryin Serta (Ch: Seda) County staged apeaceful demonstration on June 28 ataround 2:30 p.m. local time. The monks,Tulku Gendun, Sashi and GyachukWangchuk were immediately arrested bythe security personnel.

A monk named Ngawang Palsang hasreportedly died following a heart attackin prison sometime in May. Reportssuggest that Ngawang Palsang wassubjected to brutal and mistreatment bythe prison officials and more oftenthreatened with torturous treatment thatled to his ultimate heart failure. NgawangPalsang was born in Taktse Countyunder Lhasa municipality, TAR and heused to be monk at Lo Monastery. Hewas earlier imprisoned for six years afterhis arrest in 1993 on charges of politicalactivities. At the time of his re-arrest,he was studying Tibetan medicine atLhasa Mentsee-khang (TibetanMedicine and Astrological Institute inLhasa). After his death, the policereturned his is corpse was returned tohis family.

Similarly, Pasang (alias Tenzin Namgyal),a monk of Phagmo Monastery in Taktse,Lhasa was also arbitrarily arrested inMarch. After sustaining severe tortureand maltreatment in the prison, he wasreleased in an appalling state of health.Tenzin Namgyal is also a former Tibetanpolitical prisoner who was sentencedfor six years in Drapchi prison followinghis arrest in August 1993.

Another former prisoner, who was alsoarrested by the Chinese security

personnel in March, has been releasedrecently. He too was treated inhumanelyin the prison with torture and beatings.A monk of Drepung Monastery, a formerprisoner had earlier served 13 years ofjail term in Drapchi prison. He wasarrested in 1991.

Many other former Tibetan politicalprisoners had to undergo similartreatment of arrest and beatings at thehands of the Chinese authorities in theaftermath of the March incident.

Among the 50 odd nuns of Pang Ri-naNunnery in Karze (Ch: Ganzi) Countywho were earlier arrested following apeaceful protest, four of them have beenreleased, a source has said. Theremaining nuns continue to be detainedin Dar-tsedo (Ch: Kangding) and aresubjected to political indoctrination,said the source.

July 03, 2008

More than 300 Nuns Expelled fromtheir Nunnery

According to a relevant source, morethan three hundred nuns were expelledon 27 June 2008 from SamtenlingNunnery (Ch: Watag Nunnery) in TehorTownship, Drakgo (Ch: Luhuo) County,Karze (Ch: Ganzi) TAP. The expellednuns were arrested and beatenmercilessly by the Chinese armed forcesfor planning a peaceful demonstrationin their support of another fellow nun,Tsering Tso, who was arrested on 8 Junefor her peaceful demonstration.

Urgyen Lhamo and Guru havedisappeared since 8 June demonstration.However, Chinese authorities deny theirdetention.

On 18 June 2008, at around 11 AM,Ngawang Phuntsok, age 32 from Karze(Ch: Ganzi) County, Karze TAPprotested in front of the Karze Police

July 01, 2008

Four monks of Tarmo Monastery in Driru(Ch: Biru) County, Nagchu (Nagu)Prefecture were arrested on their way toLhasa. Arrested monks are NgawangGyaltsen (age 42), the abbot and thePresident of the DemocraticManagement Committee of theMonastery, and his administrativecolleagues, Ngawang Jampa (around40), Ngawang Sangye (38) and KalsangLochok (20).

Earlier in March and April, TarmoMonastery received a contingent ofChinese work team asking the monks todenounce His Holiness the Dalai Lama.Ngawang Gyaltsen had then resistedthe campaign by insisting that, as aBuddhist, it was ethically unjustifiablefor the monks to condemn their rootguru. He also demanded from theauthorities to invite His Holiness theDalai Lama back to Tibet. The abbot wasthen joined by all the monks of themonastery compelling the work team toreturn but with a stern warning that thefate of the monastery would be decidedlater in the month of July when anothercontingent of work team arrive. Thearrest is most probably related to theabove incident.

The authorities alleged that thesemonks had embarked on the journey [toLhasa] in violation of the monastery’sregulation without taking proper leave,but their arrest have already beenplanned due to the above incident andthe reason cited by the authorities arejust an excuse, sources have added. Itis yet not known where these fourmonks are being held.

July 02, 2008

Tibetan prisoner dies of heart attackand monks prevent authorities fromransacking their quarters


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District County. Chinese military beathim with iron and electric rods andthereby arrested.

Yangzom, age 31, Poewang (Pemo), age27 and Lhamo, age 29 from Yae TsegNunnery were beaten mercilessly forprotesting and were arrested.

On 26 June 2008, more than 100 Chinesemilitary with the guns and rifleunexpectedly came to Drakar Nunneryin Trehor Township, Karze County.Drakar nunnery was then surroundedby armed forces and Tsering Wangchukwas arrested.

July 05, 2008

China Continues to Rob Tibetans’Wealth and Possessions

Since March, Chinese government hasraided countless private homes,monasteries, and monks’ localresidence. During the raids, Chinesework teams, militaries and armies havepillaged myriad of personal items thatare both extremely costly and valuable.

On June 11, 2008 in Sey Monastery inNgaba (Ch: Aba) County, Chinesemilitary made a forced entry into eachmonk’s resident hall where a thoroughsearch of each room took place andconfiscated all electronic gadgets.

On April 19 at Minthang Monastery inMinthang Township, Chigdril (Ch:Jiuzhi) County, all valued items andelectronic gadgets were seized.

On April 18, at Rongpo Monastery inRebgong (Ch: Tongren) County,countless Tibetans from the area werearrested. Specifically on April 17,Choenying Gyatso of RongpoMonastery was arrested. From his room,approximately 23, 000 Yuan worth ofpossessions was stolen.

On April 18, Chinese armed police andmilitary, in approximately 40 hugetrucks, unexpectedly arrived at SeraMonastery (North of Lhasa) and raidedeach monk’s room. Countless monkswere arrested and innumerable goods

were stolen from the monks. Similarly,Drepung and Ramoche faced similarrobbery.

Around 4:30 AM on April 16 atTaktsang Ratoe Monastery in NyethangTownship, Chushul (Ch: Chushui)County, Lhasa, Armed police descendedand forced every monk to wait out onthe courtyard while armies along withChinese military raided every room.Phone lines in the Taktsang RatoeMonastery have been cut off.

On April 3 in Tongkor Monastery inZithang County, Karze, Chinese armedpolice raided every room andconfiscated all valuable gadgets.Similarly, on March 28 at Kirti Monastery(the main cathedral) in Ngaba (Ch: Aba)County, 700 monk’s quarters wereraided. Approximately over 1, 200, 000Yuan value of possessions were stolen.

July 07, 2008

Tight Restriction Increases on HisHoliness the Dalai Lama’s Birthday inTibet

According to a reliable source, on HisHoliness the Dalai Lama’s birthday onJuly 6, 2008, Chinese authoritiesincreased their clampdown on the entireTibetan plateau. The enormity ofyesterday’s restriction involvedcountless numbers of militarydeployment; stern scrutiny on everyTibetan; restaurants, stores and guesthouse force to remain closed,particularly in Drakgo (Ch: Luhuo)County, Karze (Ch: Ganzi) Prefecture.Tibetans have been prohibited fromgathering in groups; and the sangsolperformance (the auspicious burningincense ritual) was banned.

Two foreigners who came to DrakgoMonastery yesterday were denied entryinside the Monastery. The twoforeigners were pulled and dragged outof the monastery.

On July 3, 2008, Palden Nyendak, age60, was found dead. Palden Nyendakwas the father of Tsering Tsomo andUrgen Lhamo, two nuns of Wa-tag

Samtenling Nunnery, who are still underChinese detention for their affiliation ina peaceful demonstration. On July 2,Palden Nyendak was called in at DrakgoPolice Station. During his interrogation,he was abashedly chastised by Chinesearmies for the poor up-bringing of histwo daughters.

July 08, 2008

Disparagement of Tibetans andrestriction on Annual Horse Racefestival

Reliable sources have confirmed aboutimposition of unannounced curfew onJuly 5 in Lithang (Ch: Litang) County ofKarze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan AutonomousPrefecture in Sichuan province. The daymarking the eve of His Holiness theDalai Lama’s birthday saw massivedeployment of troops and armed securitypersonnel and clampdown on themovements of the Tibetan people wasimposed that evening around 8 p.m.local time, extending to three days.Those found to defy the orders werewarned of dire consequences includingshoot at sight.

The Tibetans living in the nearbycounties of Nyagchukha (Ch:Yia jiang),Bapa (Ch: Batang) and Nyagrong (Ch:Xing Long) were all barred from enteringLithang County. The government hasalso ordered to cancel the annual horseracing festival that is usually celebratedduring this time of year in LithangCounty. Lithang County has been underheavy military presence since August 1last year, when Rungye Adrak hadstaged an anti-government protest. Thepresence of the security personnel inthe county has relatively increased thisyear and many of them, according tosources, are attired in the local Tibetandresses so as to hide their identities.

In Rebkong (Ch: Tongren) County,Tibetans chose not to celebrate thisyear’s annual picnic as sign of solidaritywith those Tibetans killed and injuredduring the Chinese crackdown in theaftermath of widespread freedomprotests in the region as well as in

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memory of thousands of Chinese killed,injured and deprived of following theMay earthquake in Sichuan province.

July 09, 2008

Govt. oppression claims four Tibetanlives while Serta rise in protest

According to reliable sources, a seniormonk of Kirti Monastery in Ngaba (Ch:Aba) County died on July 6 due toexcessive pressure by the Chineseauthorities. The monk identified asJampel Gyatso, aged 70 had been apatient of high blood pressure andstress, which was exacerbated byimmense pressure the authoritiesexerted upon him following theexpulsion of all the monks below the ageof 18 years old and the launch of“patriotic education” campaign in themonastery. The expulsion of youngermonks had led the monastery almostvacant, which the authorities did notwant for fear of public criticism.Therefore, the authorities ordered thereturn of all the monks by July 5 to themonastery, or otherwise they warned themonks would be arrested from theirhomes. These pressures from theauthorities lead to deterioration of thehealth condition of Jampel Gyatso, andhe passed away days later.

Earlier in Kirti Dongri Monastery underNgaba County, another monk calledLobsang Tsultrim committed suicide onJuly 3 for unable to bear the pressuresof “patriotic education” campaign thatwas launched for the second time in thismonastery. Before his death, LobsangTsultrim had expressed his anguish atthe impending patriotic educationcampaign and complained about itsseverity. His elder brother found hisbody hanging in a wood-store of themonastery just five minutes after he leftthe quarter. Lobsang Tsultrim is fromMeu Ruma Village in Ngaba County. Hisfather’s name is Palkho and he was only16 years old.

In our July 2 release we had reportedabout the arrest of three monks namelyYingchuk (aka Gyachuk Wangchuk, 18),

Gephel (aka Gendun 19) and Sashi (21)from Nubsur Monastery in Serta (Ch:Seda) County. The next day on June 29,at the wee hours (around 4 a.m.)thousands of armed police raided theNubsur Monastery. About half of thearmed police broke into the quarters ofYingchuk and Sashi, pillaging anddestroying whatever came their way. Thequarters were razed to dust. The armedpolice also stormed in Gephel’s quarterand robbed his precious belongings anddestroyed all other articles includingreligious texts. It is estimated thatproperties worth 20 thousand Yuanshave been destroyed during the raid,including the quarters. Even the timbersfrom the rubbles were not spared andtaken to the county headquarters by theauthorities.

A Tibetan youth injured after theChinese security personnel opened fireduring the Lhasa protest had diedaround end of June notwithstanding thetreatments to save him. The youthidentified as Anu (38) was a resident ofPaljor Rabten Khang quarter in Lhasaand his parents were Rabgyal andTsetan (both expired).

Another Tibetan called Namlang, whosustained multiples injuries followinghis arrest and beatings in the prison hasdied in May. Namlang was arrested whileparticipating in the peacefuldemonstration in March in Phenpo andhad been denied initial medicalassistance, which deteriorated hiscondition. He was later treated in thecounty hospital but to no avail. Namlangis from dZong Shol village in PhenpoLhundrup County and was 42 years old.He is survived by his wife, two childrenaged 8 and 15 years respectively andhis grandmother, 82 years old.

Conditions of two other Tibetans fromthe same county, who were injuredduring the above protest are said to becritical with little hope of recuperation.One of them belongs to Loba Toe villagewhile other is from Ding village, both inPhenpo Lhundrup County.

July 10, 2008

Arbitrary Arrest of three monks andexpulsion of a Disciplinarian

According to confirmed information,three monks hailing from Larung GarBuddhist Institute in Serta (Ch: Seda)County, Karze TAP, Sichuan provincewere arrested on July 8 while they werein Chengdu. No reason, whatsoever, hasbeen given for their arrest as of yet.

The monks, Taphun (or Tashi Phuntsok,aged 44), Ngachung (37) and Gudrakwhose age cannot be confirmed, wereall long time students in the Larung GarBuddhist Institute in Serta county. Themonks have also served the Institute atvarious capacities, the source hasadded. Taphun and Ngachung arenephews of the late Khenpo JigmePhuntsok, the founder of the Larung GarBuddhist Institute. Gudrak is the thirdmonk arrested in the group. Theirwhereabouts remain unknown.

In Karze County, authorities havestripped of a senior monk of KarzeMonastery from his post. The reasonfor Ngodup Phuntsok’s expulsion fromhis post is attributed to the fact that theDisciplinarian had been instrumental incollecting donations, conducting prayersessions etc. in solidarity to and forappealing other monks to dedicate theirprayers to the hundreds of Tibetanskilled, thousands injured and arresteddue to Chinese government’scrackdown on the Tibetan people afterwidespread protests in Tibet. He hadalso defied the Chinese authorities tohoist Red flag over the monastery andrejected the authorities’ call to signdenunciation of His Holiness the DalaiLama.

He had told the authorities during theforced signature campaign that there isno one in the monastery who does nothave faith in His Holiness the Dalai Lama.He had then warned the authorities’ thattheir action would cause widespreaddissension and that Tibetans in Karzewould revolt to the last man, if theyforcibly fly the flag or ask the monks todenounce the Dalai Lama.


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July 11, 2008

Tibetan arrested for conveyinggrievances

The State-run Xinhua News Agencytoday cited Tibetan AutonomousRegion (TAR) executive vice-chairmanPema Thinlay as saying that the TARPublic Security Bureau had arrested anddetained 953 people in connection withthe March 14 incident. Among themwere 362 people who surrenderedthemselves to the authorities. Theexecutive vice chairman told that 116people are still being investigated fortheir roles in the incident. The chairmangave these figures as a follow up to the42 Tibetans who have already beensentenced by the court. However,during a press conference on June 20,the executive vice chairman of TAR,Pema Thinlay had told that 1157 peoplewith minor offences were released andanother 116 remained to be prosecuted.There are fundamental contradictions inthese two statements. If there have beenonly 953 people detained following theincident, then how could there be releaseof 1157 and 116 yet to be prosecuted? Ifboth these figures of 953 and 1157 wereto be believed as detained in TAR, thenit should be at least 2110 people arrestedin TAR alone?

According to confirmed report, PaldenChodak and Nyidor, both residents ofNyinmo shang in Palbar (Ch: Bianba)County under Chamdo (Ch: Qamdo)Prefecture, were arrested in the first weekof July for expressing their grievancesof Tibetan people in front of the localofficials. The two had expressed theirresentment over presence of largenumber of ethnic Han Chinese in theregion working as security personneland govt. officials. They had demandedwork for Tibetans.

Two days before, a monk named Choejor(24) of Gyalshoe Bhenkar Monastery andhis elder brother Dorje Tashi (28), bothfrom Nyinmo shang in Palbar Countywere unexpectedly arrested on thecharges of passing information to outsideworld. Their whereabouts remain

unknown as of now.

Earlier on April 16, Chinese securitypeople in Siling (Ch: Xining), QinghaiProvince had surreptitiously arrestedKalsang Tsundu, Konchok Samten,Jimpa Gyatso and Lobsang Tsering, allmonks of Je Kumbum Monastery. Theywere subjected to prolong interrogationcoupled with constant beatings afterthey were taken to Siling city, where theywere detained without any formalcharges or explanation of their crime.After much efforts by the monks, JeKumbum Monastery monks were finallyreleased on May 15 but the authoritiesconfiscated some of their belongings.

There are deep apprehensions about thewhereabouts and fate of around 30monks from Gyalshoe BhenkarMonastery in Bhenkar village, Diru (Ch:Biru) County in Nagchu (Ch: Naqu)Prefecture under TAR. These monks hadbeen temporarily living in DrepungMonastery and pursuing Buddhiststudies there during the March protestin Lhasa. No one knows where thesemonks had been taken to and whetherthey are living or dead.

July 14, 2008

Tibetans in Tibet continue to sufferarrest, torture and killing:

Within these past four months Tibetansin Tibet had to undergo unthinkablesuffering at the hands of Chineseauthorities simply for expressing theiropinion in a peaceful manner that led toviolent crackdown resulting in more thanfive thousand Tibetans arrested,hundreds killed and thousands criticallyinjured. Cases of arrests, killings andtorture still continue. With regard tonumber of peaceful protests so far, theChinese government officially claimedthat more than one hundred and fiftyprotests (both large and small scale) wererecorded in Karze Province (Ch: Ganzi)alone until July 3 2008 which makes anaverage of 1.30 protests a day.

July 16, 2008

On July 12, a team of Chinese security

forces arrived at Togden Monastery inAmdo Ngaba (Ch: Aba) County tointensify the restrictions alreadyimposed earlier. Officials announcedthat those monks who had left themonastery during the patrioticreeducation campaign must return back.It is also reported that on the pretext oflaying new electrical wires, the securityforces have installed surveillancecameras to monitor the activities of themonks in the monastery’s mainassembly hall. In March, Lama Kyab andTrinkho were arrested from thismonastery but the whereabouts stillremain unknown.

In Lhasa, a Tibetan resident calledThupten has been arrested from hishome on July 10 on alleged ground ofinvolvement in political activities.Thupten is forty years old, originallyfrom Karze (Ch: Ganzi) County, nearDhargye Monastery.

A latest report indicated the transfer ofaround 10 monks from a monastery inKarze TAP who had been arrested inearly July to a prison in Sangyip, nearLhasa. Among the arrested were monksTenzin Soepa, Nyima Tashi and Gelek.They are monks of Kathok Monasteryin Karze but no detailed information isyet available.

July 17, 2008

Unfair trial and a suicide of compulsion

According to confirmed information, theNgapa (Ch: Aba) Prefecture People’sMiddle Court, on July 10 awarded asentence ranging from 13 years to lifeimprisonment to three monks. Themonks, Kelba (23), Terzoed (25) andTsekho (27) were sentenced to lifeimprisonment, 15 years and 13 yearsrespectively. All the three monks hailedfrom Ngame Lota Township of NgabaCounty. The court alleged that themonks were found guilty of looting,burning and smashing during March 16demonstrations in Ngaba. Without anyright or opportunity to an independentlawyer to represent them, it is entirely acase of enforced judgment. It is still

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unknown where the monks have beenimprisoned after the court’s ruling.

On June 29, four Tibetans includingTsegyal Palbastsang was arrested inGenang, Jomda (Ch: Jiangda) County inChamdo (Ch: Qamdo) TibetanAutonomous Prefecture of TAR. Thelocal Tibetans therefore initiated acampaign for their release on June 31but the Chinese security arrestedanother 32 Tibetans. Until the last report,except for seven Tibetans, all have beenreleased. The seven Tibetan still incustody are Tsegyal Pelbartsang (74),Jamyang Tsering Momotsang (46),Angyok (41), Palchen (38), Tsering (22),Chokdup (21) and Sonam Dhargyal (39).Due to his old age, the prison officialsin Chamdo refused to accept TsegyalPelbartsang. Similarly, despite his failinghealth condition, Sonam Dhargyal is stillheld in custody. No information isavailable on the whereabouts and wherethe other arrested Tibetans areincarcerated. The reason behind theinitial arrest of four Tibetans is attributedto a protest that the local Tibetans hadplanned to stage after harvesting thecaterpillar fungus (Yartsa Gunbu),which, however, may have leaked.

A monk named Trangma of DrapaYangden Monastery in Minyagtownship in Nyagchu (Ch: Yajiang)County, Karze (Ch: Ganzi) TAPreportedly committed suicide on June18 for not being able to bear the pressureof denouncing His Holiness the DalaiLama. The Chinese authorities hadlaunched a campaign of denunciationof His Holiness the Dalai Lama and hadordered to fly the Red Star over themonastery. The monk had, before hisdeath, opined that it would be spirituallyimproper and defilement of his spiritualvows to denounce His Holiness and haddeclared instead to cut his life short.

July 19, 2008

Chinese authorities shoot at monks ofZogchen Monastery in Derge

Many monks, according to reliablesources, have been injured following a

clash on July 18 between the securityforces and the monks of ZogchenMonastery in Derge (Ch: Dege) Countyunder Karze (Ch: Ganzi) TibetanAutonomous Prefecture, Sichuanprovince.

The large contingents of Chinesemilitary who have been camping in theZogchen Monastery since March 10this year, taking un-due advantage oftheir deployment had been resorting toreckless hunting spree in the nearbyjungles and mountains, which the localTibetan nomads of Beyul Demo Jong(aka Zogchen Rudham Lung) regard assacred and place of holy abode. Thesoldiers even dressed themselves up inTibetan dresses to prevent from beingexposed.

Since these actions are opposed toTibetan customs and ethics and ismoreover, breach of the local laws, alocal Tibetan lama of Rudham Lung whohad been in retreat tried to dissuade thesoldiers from hunting, but was treatedwith severe beatings to the point oflosing his life.

Only July 18 around 3 in the afternoon,monks of Zogchen Monastery went tothe County headquarter to file acomplaint. The monks were threatenedfor complaining and in an ensuingmelee, the Chinese officials opened fireat the crowd of monks hitting numberof monks including Thromtha KhenpoTsering Sangpo, the incumbent Lopon(master/Acharya) of the monastery.Many of the monks have had their legsand arms fractured. It is yet unknownwhether there have been any fatality.The situation remains tense with hugeChinese security presence. ZogchenMonastery has over 800 monks in itstwo branches.

In Karze Tibetan AutonomousPrefecture, where monks and nuns ofTrehor Chokri Monastery, NgangoNunnery and Kharser Nunnery, all inDrakgo (Ch: Luhuo) County, staged aseries of peaceful protests earlier andlater had left their monasteries defyingthe patriotic reeducation campaign.

Earlier on June 26, four monks fromTrewo Pal Ngagyur Khedrup NorsangLing monastery in Migyag, Dadhotownship, Drakgo (Ch: Luhuo) Countystaged a peaceful demonstration inDadho township and distributed leafletsdemanding Tibetan independence,Long Life for His Holiness the DalaiLama etc, and also shouted slogans. Thefour monks are Khepa, Thinlay Dorje,Rinchen Dorje and Gonpo successfullyescaped after their protest and arebelieved to be hiding in the nearbymountains.

July 21, 2008

Two Derge Monastery Monks Killed

At least two monks of Derge Gonchenin Derge (Ch: Dege) County havereportedly been killed on July 12 whenthe Chinese armed police opened firedon unarmed crowd of monks during ascuffle over an annual ritual Cham dancefestival, which the authorities forciblystopped, some sources have reported.Details of the incident are yetunavailable.

An unconfirmed report stated a blast inthe Derge Gonchen monastery leftunknown number of monk dead andsome injured. It could not be howeverconfirmed whether the two incidents, offiring and explosion, occurredsimultaneously or by which incidentsthe two monks were killed. Nonetheless,sources have confirmed the death ofaround forty year’s old monk namedDelok and another monk in his 20’s bythe name of Gyaltsen. Among thoseinjured, a monk named Passang alongwith three others whose conditions aresaid to be critical. Sources have furtherinformed that the blast was a powerfulone. Chinese authorities in the regionhave imposed severe restrictions andhave imposed prohibition on theassembly of more than two persons.

On June 15, in Kanlho (Ch: Gannan)Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture,People’s Middle Court announced itsruling on three Tibetans for theirparticipation in the peaceful protests of


SPECIAL FEATURE

March in Machu (Ch: Maqu) County.They were arrested on April 11. LamaKyab has been sentenced for 15 years,Khechok (30) for 13 years and Konchok(16) for 12 years respectively.

In Karze (Ch: Ganzi) County, the Chinesesecurity forces have arrested twobrothers, Lobsang (20) and Dorjee (30)for staging a peaceful protest on June11 at around 2 .pm. Dorje sustained abullet to his feet.

Similarly, two other Tibetans namedTashi D or j e f ro m Laga ng tengvillage and Thupten Phuntsok fromPhukyul Nang village under Karze(Ch: Ganzi) County were arrested bythe Chinese security people in Juneo n c ha r ges o f s t a g ing ademonstration earlier.

July 22, 2008

China maneuver Tibetan VersusTibetan

In a bizarre case of mounting surveillanceover the monasteries, sources havereported about China’s exploitation ofTibetan officials versus Tibetan monks.The new drive has recently beenlaunched in Drakgo Monastery in Karze(Ch: Ganzi) County which requires theprominent county and township levelofficials to monitor and indoctrinate thehigh ranking lamas and abbots of themonastery while more than 120 low levelTibetan officials have been mobilized tomonitor the activities of the generalmonks as well as to politically educatethem. According to the new edict, if anymonks are found guilty of disobeyingand participating in the protests, theresponsible Tibetan official will have tobear the brunt of expulsion from service.This new drive has thus placed both theofficials and monks under immensepressure of distress and anxiety.

The new drive further decreed that themonastery would face closure, eitherpermanently or temporarily, if more than30% of the monks were foundparticipating in the protests even after it

had been cleansed (of separatist forces).In the event of permanently closingdown the monastery, all the monks wouldhave to leave the monastery, whichwould then be confiscated by the state,the authorities have stated.

With only less than three weeks forthe Summer Olympics to go, Chinahas stepped up restrictions in wholeo f T ibe t wi th pa r t icu la rintensification of restrictions andsurveillance on the Tibetan peopleliving in Beijing and elsewhere inMainland China. Tibetan officialsand students living in the Chinesecapital and adjacent areas are understrict security observation with manyof them ordered to leave the capital.This is a clear case of the innatedistrust that the Chinese leadershave of Tibetan people.

In a daring effort, a young Tibetan monk,whose identity could not be confirmedexcept for his monastery, staged a lonedemonstration in front of the KarzeCounty’s Armed Police office on July 15.The police fired at least three bullets(rubber bullet) rendering the monkunconscious and was thus captured,tossed into a police van and taken away.The monk is said to be a monk of LangnaMonastery of Yarto Rongpatsa villagein Karze (Ch: Ganzi) County.

July 24, 2008

Authorities Destroy Retreat Centre andConfiscate Religious Artifacts

According to a reliable source, Tsezin,a Tibetan Yogi who had spent manyyears retreating in mount Wutai Shan,in China had built around ten newretreat huts wi th the monetarycontribution of one hundred thousandYuan from one of his patrons around adecade ago and was named Pema Gon.These huts were particularly built toal leviate the sufferings of otherretreating monks who faced problemof shelter.

July 26, 2008

Drepung Monastery: Still underCritical Situation

According to a reliable source,monasteries in all over Tibet are understrict control particularly thosemonasteries, which were involved in therecent peaceful demonstration. TheChinese authority still imposes patrioticeducation in those monasteries therebycreating immense misery to the monksand nuns. The Chinese Governmentstates that all monasteries in and aroundLhasa are open to general public but inreality, Drepung Monastery is stillclosed. Nechung Monastery locatedbelow Dreprung Monastery in Lhasa issurrounded by Chinese armies, whichmakes general public difficult to walknearby the monasteries let alone enteringthose. The movements of monks in bothDrepung and Nechung Monasteries areclosely watched and checked that it isimpossible to obtain information aboutthe situation of those monks.

On June 13, 2008, the Chinese policeofficers in Tewo County, Kham Provincehave arrested Tsewang Rigzin, 55, livingin Barzi Shang, Tewo District for hisinvolvement in the recent protest inTewo District.

In recent information, on May 15, 2008,a Tibetan named Sogyal, aged 35 fromGardo Shang in Markham area hasstaged a peaceful demonstration. Asimilar protest was staged in thebeginning of June this year by aTibetan nomad called GyurmeyWangdak living in that same district.Both of them were arrested anddetained in Markham District prisonbut later transferred to Chamdo DistrictPrison.

Source: Tibetan Solidarity Committee.Press Release Archives. July 01 throughJuly 26, 2008. Available atwww.stoptibetcrisis.org.

E N V I R O N M E N T

TIBETAN BULLETIN 31JULY-AUGUST 2007

Climate Change in Tibet and Its ConsequencesBy Chokyi

Tibet is warming at a rate faster than therest of the world. The Tibetan plateauhas already witnessed a dramatic rise in

temperature since the early 1970s, longbefore signs of global warming werewidely recognized.1

According to a new study by the TibetMeteorological Bureau, the annualtemperature in the Tibet AutonomousRegion (TAR) is rising at a rate of 0.3degrees Celsius every ten years, morethan twice the world average.2

Tibet, in recent years, has also beenexperiencing other disturbing weatherphenomena such as snowstorms andwindstorms. In 2007, Ngari prefecture inWestern Tibet experienced nine

continuous days of wind and dusts, a20-year record high. In June of the sameyear, most areas in Ngari reported an

average temperature increase of 1 to 2degree Celsius and average decrease inprecipitation by 20 to 90 percent. Otherabnormal weather phenomena have alsooccurred in Gertse county, where onesnowstorm continued for 20 hours, thelongest snowfall in the past 13 years, and11 cm of snowfall was recorded. 3

Many Tibetan glaciers are also meltingdue to increase in average temperaturesof the region.4 In the past 40 years,Tibet’s glaciers have shrunk by 6,600square kilometers, and are currentlymelting at an estimated rate of 7 percenteach year. As a result, the UN has warned

that Tibet’s glaciers could disappearwithin the next 100 years.5

The glacial melt has resulted in thedestabilization of surrounding hillsidesand landslides have become increasinglyfrequent. In 2005, a massive landslide inthe Ngari Prefecture formed a naturaldam, blocking Pareechu, a tributary ofthe Sutlej River. Fearing flooding fromthis dam even caused major concernsamong those living along the river inHimachal Pradesh, India.6

Five years earlier, on June 10, 2000,Yidwong Tsangpo (Ch:Yigongzangbo), atributary of Yarlung Tsangpo floodedresulting in the deaths of 30 people andthe disappearance of more than 100others. The flood also had disastrouseffects in the five districts of ArunachalPradesh in Eastern India where 50,000people were left homeless and more than20 big bridges and other infrastructurewere damaged. The total economic losswas estimated at more than 1 billionrupees (22.9 million USD). 7

Recently, the collapse of Amnye Machenglaciers has also been reported.8 Onemassive collapse, in particular, occurredin March 2004. Ice, boulders and snowavalanched down the mountain into theChu Ngon River (Ch: Qingshui River),forming a natural dam. In July 2005, thedam broke and the ensuing glacial-lakeoutburst flood dramatically affected theland and the people living downstream.9

The Yellow River (Tib: Machu), on whichsome 300 million people in China depend,is also quickly drying up. It has failed toreach the Yellow Sea many times.10Likewise in 2006, the Yangtze River (Tib:Drichu), that serves approximately 500million people along its course, had thelowest water level in its upper reachessince 1920.11

A study indicates that the permafrostbase area in the source region of theYellow River is moving upwards. The

AMNYE MACHEN GLACIER PHOTO CREDIT: GREEN PEACE, 2004

E N V I R O N M E N T

32 TIBETAN BULLETIN JULY-AUGUST 2007

base of permafrost has climbed up by50-70m as compare to the figures fromthe 1970s and 1990s.12 According toGreenpeace, an environmentalorganization, there are significant carbonstores in permafrost layers, particularlyin the form of methane (CH4), whichcould be released if the permafrost melts,further contributing to global warming.13

Permafrost degeneration is also thoughtto damage grasslands by graduallyreducing moisture content in the soil.

According to the 2007Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange (IPCC) Fourth AssessmentReport, communities whose livelihoodsare highly dependent on naturalresources are among the most vulnerableto climate change. Approximately 80percent of Tibetans, mostly nomads andfarmers, live in rural areas and theirlivelihood depends primarily on thegrasslands where their livestock graze.Tibetans are, therefore, very vulnerableto climate change.

Due to its unique geographical locationand high altitude, Tibet faces rapidchanges in its weather patterns andecosystems unlike the rest of the world.The very survival of millions of peopleand thousands of plant and animalspecies in Tibet and neighboringcountries depend on Tibetan waterresources. The impact of climate changeon the Tibetan headwaters raises realconcerns for millions of downstreamwater users. Lack of communication andtreaties between countries situatedupstream and downstream along thesame rivers has led to flash floodsravaging human settlements in recentyears. It is therefore very important thatinformation on cross-boundary issueslike water be shared among the effectedcountries. Furthermore, it would bebeneficial to both Tibetans and the worldcommunity to make the Tibetan Plateauan exploitation-free internationalobservatory zone like Antarctica toconduct surveys and collect data onchanges in climate and the ecosystem.The data collected thereafter should bedisseminated worldwide in order to take

steps to curb global warming.

*Chokyi is a researcher at theEnvironmental and DevelopmentDesk, DIIR. Further research on thetopic is being conducted and the finalreport will be published later this year.

1 “Roof of the World” TestifiesEarly Global Warming, by WangJiaquan on June 21, 2007

2 Tibet is warming at twice globalaverage, 14:48 24 July 2007,NewScientist.com news service

3 Ngari prefecture in Tibet seesmore abnormal weatherphenomena in 200711 January 2008, Xinhua’s ChinaEconomic Information Service

4 A disaster in the making, China’sshrinking glaciers pose a hugethreat to the country’s stretchedwater supplies. By CliffordCoonan, The Independent,November 18, 2006

5 ibid6 A Country deluged by VK Joshi,

December 3, 20067 Approach to mountain hazards in

Tibet, China, Chengdu Instituteof Mountain Hazards andEnvironment, Chinese Academyof Sciences & Ministry of WaterConservancy, Chengdu 610041,Sichuan, China

8 Yellow River at Risk, AnAssessment of the Impacts ofClimate Change on the YellowRiver Source Region

9 ibid10 China’s Water Shortage Could

Shake World Food Security, byLester R. Brown and Brian Halweil

11 Climate Change and the Right toDevelopment. Himalayan GlacialMelting and the Future ofDevelopment on the TibetanPlateau. By Kishan Khoday,UNDP, May 7 2007

12 Yellow River at Risk, AnAssessment of the Impacts of

A Personal Request byKalon Tripa

Dear Friends,You might have seen the Appealissued by the Tibetan SolidarityCommittee to request all Tibetans,Tibet Support Groups and peace-loving people of the world to observea 12-hour symbolic fasting and prayeron 30th August 2008 for world peaceand, particularly, for the departedsouls of the Tibetan people in recentmonths in Tibet. The appeal also re-commits ourselves to the path of non-violence. The objectives and how toobserve the fasting are mentioned indetail in the appeal. If you have notreceived the appeal as yet, please visitour official website www.tibet.net andwww.stoptibetcrisis.org.

We consider this as extremelyimportant non-violent action taken byTibetans under the leadership of HisHoliness the Dalai Lama in a verycritical period for Tibet, particularlythe post-Olympic period. I personallyrequest you and your organization tokindly participate in this fast andprayer and encourage many otherpeople to join us in this effort toreduce our own defilements and tocreate wisdom and compassion in theminds of the oppressor. I believe youwill cooperate us in this non-violentaction.

With my warm personal greetings,

Your sincerely,

Samdhong RinpocheKALON TRIPA

Climate Change on the YellowRiver Source Region

13 Ibid

I N T E R V I E W


AN INTERVIEW WITH DIIR KALON

In an exclusive interview, DIIR Kalon, Kesang Y. Takla reflects on the widespread protests inside Tibet,talks about the difficulties in getting information from inside Tibet; the general attitude towards the

Tibetan struggle around the world; and where her optimism level stands today...

1. It has been four months since thewide spread protests began on theTibetan plateau. Looking back,what are some of your immediatethoughts?

The widespread protests in Tibet since10th March have drawn the attention andconscience of the world on the difficultplight of the Tibetan people. This hasalso shown the Chinese authorities thatthey need to listen to the grievances ofthe Tibetan people and deal with thisproblem through meaningful negotiationwith His Holiness the Dalai Lama’srepresentatives for genuine autonomyfor Tibetans.

2. What is biggest challenge ingetting information from insideTibet? How widely has theinformation been disseminated?

The biggest challenge in gettinginformation from inside Tibet is theinaccessibility due to tight control fromthe Chinese authorities. In March andearly April, information was availablefrom international media and throughsome eyewitness accounts. However,once the authorities got rid of the touristsand took away every access to theinternational media, it was more difficultto get information. Moreover, thetelephone and mobile lines have all beencontrolled in Tibet. Despite theseextreme controls, some informationkeeps coming through, but it is difficultto get the exact details. Information onthe brutal policies and treatments ofTibetans are still not available to the freeworld in spite of continued urges fromvarious governments, parliaments, andpublic, who are very concerned aboutthe situation in Tibet.

As the result of the events in Tibet,followed by the tremendous amount ofinterests from the international media,the Department of Information andInternational Relations (DIIR) has alsobeen extremely busy dealing withcontinued questions and interviews. Wehave also been very busy disseminatingour official statements. On request, Ihave traveled to seven Europeancountries and Japan to give talks, takeinterviews and answer questions fromgovernments, parliaments and the Tibetsupport groups who are very concernedabout the situation in Tibet. OurMinister for Health also traveled to someof the South Asian countries to respondin the same way as I did. Our othermembers of the Kashag also traveled todifferent parts of India to brief theTibetan public and to urge them aboutthe importance of non-violence and ourMiddle way Approach.

Apart from that, our Department wasalso kept very busy with continuedquestions through the internet andtelephone calls.

3. From your extensive travel abroadin the recent months, what areyour assessments on the generalattitude towards the Tibetanstruggle by various governmentsand respective leaders?

All are very sympathetic and concernedabout the plight of the Tibetans in Tibet.Many continue to urge China to userestraint in their treatment of Tibetansand believe that China should start ameaningful and substantive dialoguewith His Holiness the Dalai Lama’srepresentatives for finding a resolutionto the Tibet problem.

4. The Seventh round of talks in the Sino-Tibetan dialogue was just

held last week and the envoyshave expressed theirdisappointments with theirChinese counterparts. Do youtruly think that China wasgenuine in their attempt for thedialogue? Or was this justanother People’s Republic ofChina’s gimmick to show theworld (just weeks before theOlympics) that they are engagingin “dialogue” with His Holinessthe Dalai Lama’s envoys?

The tone of the Chinese governmentstatements and continuous accusationsagainst His Holiness the Dalai Lama andwhat appears like the increase of brutalstrategies in Tibet make it very difficultto feel very positive about theircommitment to having a meaningfuldialogue. However, since they haveagreed to have the eighth rounds ofdialogues with our envoys in October,we will have to wait and see what theoutcome is. In this respect, the worldgovernments are also waiting to see if,this time, China will show genuinewillingness and commitment to resolvingthe Tibet problem through propernegotiation with His Holiness the DalaiLama’s representatives.

5. Some world leaders such asFrench President, Sarkozy, whohad initially stated that theywould attend the Olympicsceremony if China would improveits handling of the unrest in Tibet.Now recently, Sarkozy stated thathe will be attending the openingceremony of the Olympics.

I N T E R V I E W


Has PRC’s gimmick of “dialogue”worked to win the hearts andminds of some influential worldleaders?

I do not think that the PRC’s gimmick ofdialogue has won the hearts and mindsof the influential world leaders. However,I am aware that many expected more fromthe recent seventh rounds of talks withour envoys, especially, since theChinese authorities publicly stated thatthey are ready to have the seventhrounds of talks. Specifically, China’sPresident Hu Jintao in Japan said that“our attitude toward contacts andconsultation with the Dalai Lama isserious [and] we hope the contact [will]yield positive results.” I believe that it isnow in China’s interest to prove to theworld that they will keep to theircommitment to act responsibly in dealingwith the Tibet issue. Therefore, the worldwill watch China with concern andinterest, and see what the outcome ofthe eighth round of talks with ourenvoys will be.

6. Many parliamentarians aroundthe world have passedresolutions in support of theTibetan cause. However, we havenot witnessed any real progressin dealing with the Tibet crisis.In your opinion, is world trulydoing enough?

The fact that many parliaments aroundthe world passed resolutions insupport of the Tibetan cause indicatestheir great concern about the situationin Tibet. Also, many governmentscontinue to urge China to start ameaningful negotiat ion with HisHoliness the Dala i Lama’srepresentatives to find a solution tothis long-standing problem in Tibet.However, much more effort is stillneeded since China has not yetresponded with a serious commitment.

7. The People’s Republic of China

(PRC) has been engaging inmassive propaganda campaign toblame the His Holiness the DalaiLama for stirring up the unrest inTibet and furthermore, the PRChave attempted to stir up ethnictensions. How has the CentralTibetan Administration (CTA),particularly DIIR, beenresponding to their propagandas?

It is regretful that instead of sincerelyaddressing the problems in Tibet, theChinese government continues to resortto massive propaganda campaigns toblame His Holiness the Dalai Lama.However, they must remember that therest of the world can see and think.Unlike China, the outside world hasfreedom to see, hear and know the truth.These massive propaganda campaignsfrom China will only affect them andfurther shows their insincerity anddishonesty. This only harms China’simage and will not help in their efforts togain more trust and respect from theworld community. In fact, the campaignrhetoric’s from china are often receivedwith the attitude of “the same oldChinese government propagandalanguage”.

8. There is approximately a monthleft until the start of BeijingOlympics. CTA has been fairlyoptimistic that this Olympics willprovide China a platform forpositive changes. However, theirhard-line handling o f theprotests in Tibet has provenexactly the opposite. Where doesyour optimism level stand today?

First of all, I would like to point outthat we have been struggling for thesolution to the Tibet problem for thepast nearly fifty years and much beforethe Beijing Olympics issue was born.This Tibetan struggle will continueuntil a satisfactory resolution is found,whilst the Beijing Olympics game willcome and go. The Beijing Olympics

happens to be scheduled for August2008 and as we all know, that is only asports event and we are not againstthe Beijing Olympic Games. However,many governments and the Olympicsorganizing committee believed thatgranting China the opportunity to hostthe Olympics in Beijing will help Chinaimprove human rights and free accessto press. Unfortunately, that has nothappened. Instead, the world saw thegross violations and brutal policiestaking place in Tibet.

Subsequently, China will host theOlympic Games in Beijing with theknowledge that their success andacknowledgement from the world willdepend on how the Chinesegovernment treats the Tibetan peopleand reponds at the 8th round of talkswith His Holiness’s envoys in October.

Finally to answer your question onwhere my optimism level stands today,first of all I would like to say that it isvital for all to have hope. This isbecause the fact is that the momentone has no hope and optimism, anyopportunity or chance is more difficultto achieve! Hope always providescourage and chance; and therefore,particularly since the Tibet problem isa national issue, it may take more timethan any one of us wish. But it isimportant to be optimistic and keep onour efforts. Just imagine that if we hadgiven up when we came into exile in1959, then what we have achieved inExile would not have been possible!Remember, we came as refugees andstarted with nothing and in a foreignland! Today, many in the worldacknowledge that the Tibetans in Exileare one of the most successful refugeecommunities!

This interview was conducted by TenzinDickyi (Dhela), an intern at the DIIR.

TIBETAN BULLETIN 35NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2007

Contacts for the Central Tibetan Administration

tibetanBulletiNNeeds yoU

AN APPEAL

Tibetan Media

Edited by Tenzin Dickyi (Dhela), printed and published by the Secretary, Department of Information & International Relations,Central Tibetan Administration, Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamshala-176 215, HP, INDIAPrinted at Narthang Press, Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamshala 176 215, HP, INDIA

The Phurbu Dolma (Mrs.) Memorial Scholarship

The Department of Education (DOE) is proud to add “The Phurbu Dolma Memorial Scholarship” to the list

of DOE scholarships in support of destitute Tibetan refugee children’s education.

“The Phurbu Dolma Memorial Scholarship” aims to support 16 Tibetan destitute children to pursue their

studies. The scholarship will be awarded to the needy students as follow:

a) Four destitute children studying in schools under Central Tibetan School Society (CTSS)

b) Ten destitute children studying in schools under Central Tibetan School Administration (CTSA)c) Two destitute children (girl) for Bachelor’s degree for three to four years depending upon the

length of the course under the Songtsen Scholarship Program

Mr. Tashi Dhondup, husband of late Mrs. Phurbu Dolma and their sons, Mr. Tenzing Jigmey and Mr. Tenzing

Dhonden, residing in Nepal instituted this scholarship fund in fond memory of late Mrs. Phurbu Dolma and

her many years of service to the Tibetan Community. She had also served as the Vice President of Regional

Tibetan Women’s Association, Nepal. Owning to an illness, she passed away in May 2007. Mr. Tashi’s family

is the first Tibetan to provide scholarship to study Bachelor’s degree for Tibetan destitute children particularly

girl student.

The Department of Education expresses its profound appreciation to the family members of late Mrs. Phurbu

Dolma for their financial support; and we assure that their funds will be used solely for the purpose it was

provided for.

The Department of Education extends our sincere thanks to all the Donors (Tibetans and Non-Tibetans) for

supporting the education of Tibetan Refugee Children.

Department of Education

Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)

Dharamshala, 176215

H.P., India

Tel: +91-1892-222572, 222721

Fax: +91-1892-223481

E-mail: [email protected]

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