Thursday, June 5, 2014

Week Ending June 6, 2014

International Tibet Network News Digest & Analysis: 6 June 2014

Self-Immolations, Protests, Releases and Restrictions in Tibet
Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen released from prison - Filming for Tibet
4 June | In a phone call to Gyaljong Tsetrin, a very emotional Dhondup Wangchen said: “At this moment, I feel that everything inside me is in a sea of tears. I hope to recover my health soon. I would like to express my feeling of deepest gratitude for all the support I received while in prison and I want to be reunited with my family.”

Tibetan Monastery Leaders Told to 'Take Joy' in Chinese Rule - RFA
3 June | Officials demanded that the senior religious instructors and monastery heads take “joy” in the leadership of the ruling Chinese Communist Party during the meetings last week in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture’s Dartsedo county.

News
Tibetan exiled gov’t reaffirms dialogue commitment - Washington Post
5 June | The Tibetan government-in-exile reaffirmed its commitment to the “Middle Way” approach of engaging China through dialogue to achieve a meaningful autonomy for Tibetans within the country. Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay said that a peaceful solution to the Tibetan issue would bring stability to China and create a win-win situation.

Angry scene at China UK embassy on Tiananmen anniversary - BBC
4 June | Members of staff at the Chinese embassy in London reacted angrily on Wednesday when people arrived to lay flowers to mark the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Two women were shoved, and their flowers thrown away.

Tiananmen crackdown, the 25th anniversary: Link roundup - Shanghaiist
4 June | A resource post from a variety of sources (including former protest leaders) featuring editorials, personal remembrances, timelines, photo essays, interviews, and multimedia features on the 25th anniversary of Tiananmen Square.

Opinion and Analysis
Tibetans, Uyghurs Remember Own Crackdowns on Tiananmen Anniversary - RFA
4 June | Exile Tibetan and Uyghur groups marked the 25th anniversary of the Chinese government’s massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators at Tiananmen Square by pointing to what they described as Beijing’s use of deadly force to suppress their own struggles for greater freedom and rights.

“A Netizen on Twitter Describes her Experience of Visiting Lhasa” By Woeser - High Peaks Pure Earth
3 June | In this post that was written when she was spending time in Lhasa, Woeser continues to focus on the transformation of Lhasa but this time mainly quotes from a Chinese tourist’s Twitter feed. It is ironic that Chinese tourists to Tibet using microblogs are able to report more on what they see than locals are.

The Artist vs The Dictator - Huffington Post
30 May | Tendor examines the works and meanings created by several contemporary Chinese artists, drawing out ethical and existential questions that can help motivate the Tibet movement “If someone were to spend his entire life being invisible and silent, walking with his head down through the lies and injustices thrown at him, would he be any different from a ghost? What proof will the world have of his existence even if he lived for a hundred years?”

Week Ending May 30, 2014

International Tibet Network News Digest & Analysis: 30 May 2014

Self-Immolations, Protests, and Restrictions in Tibet
Tibetans Forced to Participate in Anti-Self-Immolation Campaign - RFA
29 May | Chinese authorities in a protest-hit Tibetan county in Sichuan are forcing area residents to participate in training designed to counter self-immolations and other protests challenging Beijing’s rule in Tibetan areas, according to local sources.

China Arrests Popular Tibetan Singer After Packed Concert - VOA
27 May | A Tibetan singer has been arrested following a concert with performers from other Tibetan regions of China. Gepe was arrested Saturday by security forces after a concert that thousands of fans and music enthusiasts attended.

News
Tibetan monk escapes after criticizing Beijing - Washington Post
28 May | Golog Jigme, 44, who had been arrested in China a few times since the documentary and alleges he was beaten severely during detention, said he was most recently detained in the Labrang monastery area in China’s Gansu province in 2012 for what he said was spreading pamphlets about Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama.

Plight of Tibetan ‘substitute teachers’ in Rebkong County - TCHRD
26 May | In regards to rural Tibetan regions, substitute teachers have played a fundamental role in increasing the availability of education. However, despite playing a crucial role in providing education to some of the most disadvantaged regions in Tibet, they have never been granted the same degree of benefits as their public teacher counterparts.

Opinion and Analysis
China: Persecution of Tiananmen activists exposes President Xi’s reform lies - Amnesty International
27 May | The widespread persecution of activists in the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown exposes the lie behind President Xi Jinping’s claims to be delivering greater openness and reform.

A Tale of Two Tibetan Songs - Tibetan Review
9 May | Kalsang Wangdu writes “While folks in Tibet before 1959 were spontaneous and pithy in their street-song ridicule of the aristocratic high and mighty without any fear of reprisal, Tibetans today are locked in a grim battle of wits, not knowing what degree of self-censorship might suffice to hold back the occupying China’s brutal machinery of suppression from knocking at their doors.”

Week Ending May 23, 2014

International Tibet Network News Digest & Analysis: 23 May 2014

Self-Immolations, Protests, and Restrictions in Tibet
China Threatens Closure of Tibetan Nomad Childrens School- RFA
22 May | Authorities are threatening to close a school catering to Tibetan nomad children, saying that its operation has interfered with government plans to move the nomads off their pastoral lands. The authorities issued a “second warning” this week to local officials in Tsokyareng town in Golog prefecture’s Matoe county demanding that the school be closed.

Authorities Concerned Over Popular Tibetan Language, Religious Classes- RFA
21 May | Taught by monks and nuns led by senior religious teachers of Kardze monastery who had returned to the area after studying in India, “the program has become very popular in the community, and on special auspicious days the lay students have participated in religious debates,” a source said.

Uncle of Tibetan Who Jumped to Death in Mining Protest is Detained - RFA
21 May | Jampa Choephel was taken into custody on May 12 by police in Chamdo prefecture of the TAR, five days after his nephew committed suicide to highlight opposition to a gold mining project threatening the local environment, a Tibetan resident of the area said.

News
Golog Jigme Gyatso Arrives in Dharamsala - VOA
23 May | Golog Jigme Gyatso, who was imprisoned by Chinese authorities for his role in making a film in 2008 and has been on the run since his release two years ago, arrived in Dharamsala, India on May 18th. Jigme is being congratulated and welcomed for his safe passage by the Associations and NGOs in the exile Tibetan capital.

Danish parliamentarians support non-violent struggle for Tibet - The Tibet Post
22 May | During their meeting with the Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, a group of Danish parliamentarians unanimously expressed their support for the Tibetan people in their just and non-violent struggle for genuine self-rule.

4 Years After Quake, Some See a Resurrected Chinese City, Others Dashed Dreams - NY Times
21 May | After a 2010 earthquake that left more than 100,000 people homeless in Yushu, the capital of Qinghai, Chinese efforts to rebuild the city have been incomplete and, many say, inequitable. [video]

Tibet Jacket leads to arrest of American and Canadian citizens - Phayul
21 May | Ngodup Tsering, a Tibetan American resident of Minnesota, and his friend were visiting the Swayambhunath temple on March 19, 2014 when 15 Nepalese police armed with guns stopped them.

Opinion and Analysis
“The Impact of the So-Called Ten Virtues” by Jamyang Kyi - High Peaks, Pure Earth
22 May | High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Jamyang Kyi that is a piece of critical social commentary about the new “Ten Virtues”, a set of new Buddhist virtues that whole villages and towns, influenced by their local lamas, are committing to.

Should China Declare a War on Terror? - Foreign Policy
22 May | Beijing's war on terror may be better served through liberalizing in Xinjiang, rather than the repression and violence that characterizes its current strategy. Responding to this latest attack, Xi called for serious punishments for the perpetrators and an all out-effort to maintain stability in the region -- language similiar to Beijing's response to previous attacks.

Week Ending May 16, 2014

International Tibet Network News Digest & Analysis: 16 May 2014

Self-Immolations, Protests, and Restrictions in Tibet
Monk disappears after emailing protest writings to Chinese cadres’ phones - TCHRD
15 May | Choeying Kalden, 20, a monk at Tsenden Monastery was detained on 16 March 2014. The monk had shared his writings among his friends as well as Chinese ‘work team’ members through emails. [Includes information of other disappearances in Sog County and translations of writings]

Crackdown Launched in Another Tibetan County Over Anti-Mining Protests - RFA
13 May | Chinese authorities have cracked down on villagers opposed to mining projects in Tibet’s Chamdo county, deploying hundreds of armed police and detaining those who had petitioned higher levels of authority for a halt to the extraction activity.

Dalai Lama Urges Outside Inquiry Into Spate of Self-Immolations Among Tibetans - New York Times
10 May | If compassion is the reason driving those who immolate themselves, the Dalai Lama said, they should be viewed differently from those motivated by anger. The religious issues surrounding the self-immolations, he said, “are very, very complicated.”

News
Tibetan Protester Freed From Jail After Serving Half of a 12-Year Term - RFA
15 May | Sonam Yarphel, 34, a Tibetan jailed for his role in protests challenging Beijing’s rule that rocked Tibetan areas of China in March 2008, has been released after serving six years of his 12-year term in prison, receiving a hero’s welcome in his hometown.

Chinese Officials Head to Countryside to Try to Win Over Locals - Wall Street Journal
15 May | Some 200,000 officials in Xinjiang, the western region of China that has seen a rising tide of unrest, will be sent to live in rural areas over the next three years...The program is aimed at winning the hearts and minds of local people, particularly Uighurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic group that has a fraught relationship with Chinese authorities.

New Grassroots Database Tracks China’s Political Prisoners - The Epoch Times
6 May | Chinese human rights advocacy group has established a database of political prisoners in Mainland China. China Political Prisoner Concern (CPPC), run by volunteers, set up a Chinese-language website recently to collect, verify, and publish the status of political prisoners in China.

Opinion and Analysis
Tibetan Sisters Declare Zero Tolerance for Violence Against Girls and Women - Merab Sarpa
15 May | Members of ACHA-Himalayan Sisterhood across the United States are deeply disturbed by the news of a Tibetan cook in a TCV school accused of raping two Tibetan minors on two separate occasions. ACHA declares zero tolerance for violence against girls and women and strongly condemns all forms of gender-based violence perpetrated against Tibetan girls and women.

What does Beijing import from Tibet? A War-Zone Police State. - ICT
15 May | As governments decide to give the Dalai Lama the cold shoulder it’s worth noting not just the values they’re failing to endorse- compassion, non-violence, and tolerance- but also the values they do endorse by siding with Beijing- repression, violence, and Xi Jinping’s revitalized police state.
http://weblog.savetibet.org/2014/05/15/what-does-beijing-import-from-tibet-a-war-zone-police-state/