01. Aug 2010
Beijing to spend more on bilingual education
(Xinhua) The Chinese government has announced a drive to advance bilingual teaching by opening Chinese language classes in every school and "popularise the national common language and writing system” under its national education plan for ethnic minority groups over the next decade. It claimed that the minority groups' right to be educated in their native languages will also be respected and ensured. The national plan - 'Outline of China's National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020) - involves schools in minority-inhabited areas obtaining help from their counterparts in other parts of the country under a "pairing-assistance" programme.
01. Aug 2010
Four Tibetans sentenced to varying prison terms in Serthar and Jomda
Chinese authorities in Serthar (Chin: Seda) county, Kardze (Chin: Ganzi) TAP, Sichuan province have sentenced two Tibetans to two and half years' imprisonment, according to the Voice of Tibet (VOT) radio service. Kalden and Sonam Topden were arrested on 16 May 2010, as they were allegedly pasting leaflets containing demands for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama. The pair had thrown hundreds of leaflets into the air before being arrested. Two other Tibetans, Galug and Wangchuk, from Jomda county in Dege were sentenced to varying prison terms, allegedly for defying Chinese government orders to till their land, and belonging to the 'Farming Boycott Movement'.
01. Aug 2010
Tibetan sets world calligraphy record
Jamyang Dorjee Chakrishar, Tibetan master calligrapher and resident of Sikkim, India, has created a 163.2-metre long calligraphy scroll - setting the world record for the Longest Calligraphy Scroll. The scroll contains 65,000 Tibetan characters of long life prayers composed for the Dalai Lama by 32 Tibetan Buddhist masters.
03. Aug 2010
TAR steps up web controls
(RFA) The authorities in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) have ordered internet cafes to finish installing a real-name registration system by the end of August 2010, according to industry sources and local media. The cultural department of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) government has dispatched engineers throughout the region to install the new system in individual internet cafes, and to train business owners and technical staff in its operation. Under the nation-wide scheme, which took effect 01 August, second-generation identity cards belonging to the person using the internet must be swiped to allow online access. Viewed content can then be traced back to that identity, using the surveillance system.
03. Aug 2010
Tibetans reject quake plan
(RFA) Tibetans in earthquake-ridden Gyegu, Yushu Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai province, have set up tents and are camping out on the rubbles of their homes in protest at a government clean up and resettlement programme. Attempts to begin clearing the rubble and ruined homes from the areas have been stalled by the Tibetans' sit-in. RFA reports that the local mood is tense and expectant, with rumours that the government would begin clearing collapsed homes in August. The proposed levels of compensation have already been approved by Beijing but have not been released to the public, allegedly for fear of creating unrest among Tibetan inhabitants. Villagers claim that compensation is being offered at 10% of their land's pre-quake value.
05. Aug 2010
China orders charities to surrender their Yushu donations
(Xinhua) Beijing has ordered all charities outside Qinghai Province to transfer all the donations they had raised for the Yushu earthquake victims to government authorities, which it said would use the funds collectively. A circular on the management and use of relief funds for the Yushu earthquake, jointly released by five central government departments, including the Ministry of Civil Affairs, requires 15 national philanthropic organisations to turn over the quake-relief funds they had collected to Qinghai civil affairs department, Red Cross Society of China or China Charities Federation in Qinghai. The report cited China's National Audit Office as saying quake-relief money and materials for Yushu from China and other countries was worth about 10.66 billion yuan (UK£1bn; US$1.57bn; EUR€1.23bn).
06. Aug 2010
Shogdung's case delayed
(RFA) Authorities in Qinghai province appear to be delaying the prosecution of Tibetan writer Shogdung (aka Tagyal), his relatives said. "The police told us that his case is quite special because it has to do with different ethnicities", Yeshi Tsomo, his daughter said in an interview with RFA. He was one of eight intellectuals who signed on 17 April 2010 an open letter related to the earthquake disaster of April 2010, and urged wariness of Chinese government relief efforts. He was first detained on 23 April, and was later formally arrested for "instigating to split the motherland".
08. Aug 2010
Chinese fighter jets train over Tibet
(Xinhua) J-11 fighter aircraft, the most modern Chinese combat planes, said to be copies of Russia's Su-27, have been shown for the first time in training over the Tibetan Plateau. Chinese state media published a picture of some of these planes in flight with a caption referring to the training exercise, but adding that China had no combat aircraft stationed in Tibet. It said that given the alertness required of aircraft maintenance personnel, and pilots preparing for flights, plus the logistical problems, the Chinese air force had declared Tibet fit to visit, but not to base aircraft units in. However, because the Chinese air force may one day have to fight in the air space over Tibet, training there was necessary.
08. Aug 2010
Gansu landslide
(AP; BBC) A landslide in Drugchu (Chin: Zhouqu) Kanlho (Chin: Gannan) TAP, in Gansu province, has, according to various reports, taken over 1,100 lives. At least 45,000 people out of a population of 134,000 have evacuated their homes, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported the delivery of 30,000 tents to the area, with thousands more on the way. Hydro-electric power plants; mining; and deforestation have been quoted by Tibetan and other critics as the causes of the disaster.
13. Aug 2010
Confirmation of life sentence for Dorje Tashi
(AFP; TCHRD) The India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) told AFP it has obtained confirmation that the Chinese authorities have sentenced wealthy Tibetan businessman Dorje Tashi to life in prison for allegedly funding exile groups. The sentence was handed on 26 June 2010. Urgen Tenzin, director of TCHRD, said, "There has been no official announcement from the Chinese side which is unusual. We are trying to get more information". Dorje Tashi is the operator of the Yak Hotel, one of the most famous hotel in Lhasa. He met Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao in 2005, two years after joining the ruling Communist Party. He was arrested in 2008.
