07. Jun 2009
Miss Tibet crowned
(TibetInfoNet; Tibetpost) 20-year-old Tenzin Chozom from Dharamshala, was crowned Miss Tibet 2009 in Dharamsala at a beauty pageant held for the seventh consecutive year by Lobsang Wangyal Productions. She was crowned by Dr BK Modi, the Chairman of the Spice India Splendour and won IRs.100,000 (UK£1,260; US$2,080; EUR€1,495). Tenzin is from Dharamsala. There were four contendents.
07. Jun 2009
Report about monk and nun suicides
(TCHRD) The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has submitted a report to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Freedom of Religion or Belief on the factors and circumstances leading to the increase in suicides amongst Tibetan monks and nuns in Tibet. Suicides have been on the rise in Tibet's monastic community since the spring 2008 protests began and there have been 16 suicides and two attempted suicides.
07. Jun 2009
Six held after religious rally in Lhasa
(RFA) Chinese authorities in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, detained six Tibetans after over 100 gathered and marched in what they told police was an exercise of their right to practice Tibetan Buddhism, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports. The rally took place during the Saga Dawa festival. Residents say it was the first large public gathering of Tibetans in Lhasa since protests began in March 2008. "It was not a protest but a sangsol", or a special offering to Buddhist deities, one Tibetan man, a resident of Lhasa, told RFA. Another RFA source said six Tibetans had been taken into custody for questioning. The occasion also coincided with Paris conferring honorary citizenship on the Dalai Lama at a ceremony in the City Hall, which the Chinese government strongly condemned.
07. Jun 2009
Paris honours Dalai Lama
(France-Tibet; TibetInfoNet) The Dalai Lama was made an honorary citizen of Paris. The act met strong opposition from China which has been particularly sensitive about French positions on Tibet since the torch relay in Paris in April 2008 and a meeting between President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama in December of the same year. "I receive this distinction as a human being to defend human values, peace and non-violence", the Dalai Lama said as he accepted the title from Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe. Delanoe clarified "I have never been in favour of an independent Tibet, I am not a Buddhist. My positions are bound to the values which Paris stands for".
08. Jun 2009
Mine standoff resolved
(RFA) Talks have resolved a standoff over a planned gold mine in Markham (Chin: Mangkang) county, Chamdo (Chin: Qamdo) prefecture, TAR, at a site Tibetans consider sacred, but questions remain regarding the disposal of poisonous waste at the site, according to sources in the region. The dispute over operations at the mine built by a Chinese firm, Zhongkai Co. had continued for weeks, with hundreds of Tibetans protesting against the mine's planned expansion and blocking access to the area, according to RFA. Both sides agreed that the mine would now cease operations. "It was agreed in writing that there will be no mining in the area", said a local Tibetan man. "All the Chinese security forces deployed in the area will be withdrawn. The Tibetans who are blocking the road will also return to their respective areas". "Chinese authorities will build concrete barriers to block the poisonous residue of earlier mining in the area so that this will not filter down into the drinking water", he added. All points of agreement were set down in writing in the presence of prefecture and county-level officials, the source said.
10. Jun 2009
Tibetan crippled by police
(Tibet.net) Tibet.net reports that on 14 March 2008, a young man by the name of Phuntsok from Tashi Gang township, Meldrogungkar (Chin: Mozhugongka) county, in the Lhasa municipality, was arrested at his residence in the Karma Kunsang area, located in eastern Lhasa, apparently for no reason. "After the arrest, the PAP [People's Armed Police] beat him fiercely and then locked him - along with other Tibetan detainees - in the storeroom of the Lhasa railway station. He was released after having detained there for 20 days", according to a Tibet.net source. On returning home, the source said, and despite being given medical treatment his condition did not improve. "At the moment, his physical condition is very poor; he has to rely on walking sticks and cannot stand straight due to back injury that he sustained from severe beatings at the hands of the PAP".
10. Jun 2009
US pass new Tibet bill
(VOA) The US House of Representatives passed a bill that further advances US policy on Tibet and authorises its funding for wide-ranging programmes that support Tibetans in Tibet. The bill makes several improvements to an already existing Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 and directs the US government to encourage the Tibetan-Chinese dialogue by coordinating with other governments in multilateral efforts in order to reach a negotiated agreement. The bill further directs the US government to require the National Security Council (NSC) to ensure that US policy on Tibet is coordinated with all executive agencies in contact with the Chinese government. It also authorizes the establishment of a Tibet Section within the US Embassy in Beijing, until such time as a consulate is established in Lhasa. The bill requires the new consulate in Lhasa to "provide services to United States citizens travelling to Tibet and to monitor political, economic, and cultural developments in Tibet, including Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan provinces". The new provisions were included in "H.R. 2410: the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011".
13. Jun 2009
Wang Lixiong in Dharamsala
(TibetInfoNet) Chinese author and husband of Tibetan poet Woeser, Wang Lixiong, arrived in Dharamsala for a two-month visit organised by the Association of Tibetan Writers. The purpose of the visit has not been specified.
17. Jun 2009
Violence increases over farming boycott
(Tibet.net) One Tibetan was shot and three others were seriously wounded in Chamdo (Chin: Qamdo) in the TAR during a drive against the ongoing farming boycott campaign in the area. The report of the incidents by Tibet.net said that during the crackdown at the end of May, a man was shot, and two others were taken away after being beaten and injured by Chinese police with batons. Another Tibetan was also beaten with rifle butts. The incidents took place in Jomda county, Chamdo prefecture. Tibet.net said security forces also arrested protesters, including staff members of Vara and Jobhu monasteries in Jomda county. The report also said several retreat lamas of two other monasteries in the area were also severely beaten by Chinese security forces during night raids. Gyune monastery was under siege, encircled by armed forces, and eight of its resident retreat lamas were beaten during a night raid. Retreat lamas of the Palchen monastery were also beaten.
17. Jun 2009
Chinese writers in Dharamsala
(TibetInfoNet) A group of Chinese writers left Dharamsala after a six-day visit. Three of the writers, Li Jianglin Zhu xuyuan and Eliza Han currently reside in the US, while the others, Li Jian Hua, Zhao Qigiang and Yue Jian Yi are from China. The visit was announced as a fact-finding mission and the writers intended to describe the Tibetan exile institution as independent writers. They had audiences with the Dalai Lama and Karmapa and were received by Samdhong Rinpoche, head of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). They visited major CTA departments as well as local NGOs. The visit was at the invitation of the Association of Tibetan Writers.
