05. Dec 2011
Poachers who killed wildlife guard in 1994 surrender
(Xinhua) Six men suspected of shooting dead a well-known wildlife protection activist in 1994 in the nature reserve of Hoh Xil, Qinghai Province, have surrendered themselves to police. Suonandajie (Tib: Sonam Dorje), killed in a gun battle with poachers, was a government official from Dritoe (Chin: Zhiduo) county and a member of a volunteer anti-poaching patrol in Hoh Xil dedicated to protecting endangered Tibet antelope. Suonandajie and his four colleagues caught 20 poachers and confiscated seven pickup trucks loaded with more than 1,800 antelope hides on 18 January 1994. But he was later ambushed by 18 poachers and was shot dead. Six suspects turned themselves in recently, though another three remain in hiding.
05. Dec 2011
Pretoria admits China pressure
(IOL) South Africa's trade and diplomatic ties with China weighed heavily when the government considered the Dalai Lama's request for a visa to visit the country in early October 2011, the Home Affairs department has conceded in a court document. The Home Affairs director general Mkuseli Apleni said in an answering affidavit to an application brought by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and Congress of the People party (Cope) that Pretoria's One China policy, South Africa's BRICS membership, and Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe's recent visit to China were all taken into account. "The backlash that was experienced by France and Australia after they had allowed the Dalai Lama to visit their territories provided some learning to the government of the sensitivities that were attendant upon allowing the Dalai Lama entry into the country", Apleni said in the submission to the Cape High Court. Cope and the IFP had filed papers arguing the Home Affairs department had disregarded Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu's right to freedom of association.
08. Dec 2011
Imprisoned Labrang Monk in Critical Health Condition
(TCHRD) Thapkay Gyatso, a Tibetan monk from Labrang monastery, serving a 15-year sentence in a Chinese prison in Gansu province, is reportedly in critical condition. According to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), Thapkay is imprisoned in Dianxin, 100km from Lanzhou city. He is reportedly half-paralysed and is suffering from weak eyesight. Thapkay was arrested at Labrang monastery on the evening of 18 March 2008 by the People's Armed Police (PAP) and Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials. Thapkay was then ''missing'' with his family and monastery unable to obtain any information about his health and whereabouts until his hearing on 19 May 2009. Kanlho Prefecture People's Intermediate Court charged him with ''causing harm to national security'' and sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment.
08. Dec 2011
Tenzin Phuntsog dead
(RFA) A former monk from Karma monastery died in hospital from burns sustained after setting himself alight in protest, according to RFA sources. Tenzin Phuntsog had set himself ablaze near a field in Karma township in Chamdo in the TAR on 01 December 2011. Chinese police extinguished the fire and took him to a hospital with severe burns. Phuntsog's wife Dolma has been missing since that day. The couple have two sons and a daughter. An RFA source said: "When his wife Dolma heard about the incident, she rushed to the scene and the police detained her. No one knows where she is now being held".
09. Dec 2011
Tibetan Youth Sentenced
(RFA) Chinese authorities in the TAR have sentenced a young Tibetan to jail for his role in a protest in 2010, a source in exile told RFA. Namgyal was handed a three-year term by the Pashoe (Chin: Basu) County People's Court in the TAR's Chamdo prefecture on 13 October 2011, RFA reports. "He was arrested because in 2010, someone pulled a Chinese flag down on the campus of the Drongsar town school and put it under a rock", the RFA source said. He was arrested on 17 June 2011. "In Pashoe county he was held for about four months and was severely beaten and tortured by police", the source said. "His prison mates have told locals that Sonam's health is very poor and that his hearing has been damaged due to torture in prison".
09. Dec 2011
Nepal-China to sign pact on construction of four dry ports
(Republica) Nepal and China are to sign an agreement on the construction and management of dry ports at four customs points in a bid to facilitate bilateral trade over the Tibetan border. A source at Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) told Republica, Kathmandu, that a draft agreement to this effect - an 'Agreement on Management of Ports along the China-Nepal Border' - was proposed by China. The two sides are scheduled to sign the agreement in January, the source told Republica. In the draft pact received by Nepal, China has proposed to develop dry ports and cargo terminals on both sides of the Yari-Pulam, Rasuwa-Jilong (Kyirong), Kodari (Tatopani)-Zangmu (Khasha) and Olangchug Gola-Riwu customs points.
10. Dec 2011
12 killed in twin bus accidents
(PTI) Twelve people were killed and five others were missing after a bus carrying 19 people fell into a river in Chamdo in the TAR. Two people, including the bus driver, were slightly injured, according to the emergency response office under the government of Chamdo prefecture, in northeastern Tibet.
12. Dec 2011
China confirms bird flu outbreak in Tibet
(Xinhua) China's Ministry of Agriculture confirmed an outbreak of bird flu at a village near Lhasa. Xinhua reports that laboratory tests showed that the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu killed 290 fowls raised by farmers in the Sangda village, Toelung Dechen (Chin: Doilungdeqen) county. The epidemic is under control and no abnormal physical conditions were reported in people who had close contact with the dead birds, said a ministry official. Authorities have sealed off and sterilised the infected area where 1,575 fowls were culled in order to prevent the disease spreading.
12. Dec 2011
MEPs critiqued
(theparliament.com) A senior Chinese cadre has launched an attack on MEPs following a recent appearance before the European parliament's foreign affairs committee of Lobsang Sangay, the head of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). Zhu Weiqun, who bears responsibilities for Tibet at the United Front Work Department and also leads the Sino-Tibetan dialogue for the Chinese side, criticised the "stubborn" decision to invite the Tibetan leader to parliament, adding, "This was highly irresponsible". He said: "I understand that the views of some MEPs do not represent the EU's position on Tibet but it is important that there are some restraints".
13. Dec 2011
Police detained 11 Christians
(Reuters): Chinese police detained 11 Christians in the Tibet Autonomous Region in October 2011, the first recorded case of persecution against Christians in the area, a US advocacy group has reported. The ChinaAid group said the 11 Christians were taken into custody by police in Lhasa in the days before and after 01 October. They were later freed, but it was not clear when. ChinaAid released what it said was an account by Song Xinkuan, a Christian from China's central Henan province, who was told by police officers on 07 October in Lhasa, that he was being criminally detained "on suspicion of [being part of a] cult group".
14. Dec 2011
Chinese and Tibetan students clash
(Invisible Tibet; RFA) Tibetan and Han Chinese students from an engineering school in Sichuan province have clashed, resulting in an unknown number of injuries, allegedly over preferential treatment given to minority groups. Woeser told RFA: "The Han students feel that their complaints are justified. But the minority students feel that they are entitled [to preferential treatment]". Riot police and a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit were summoned to break up the fight at the Chengdu Railway Engineering School in Pi County in Sichuan's capital Chengdu. The fight erupted after Han students, who outnumbered Tibetans 3,000 to 300 at the school, questioned Beijing's policy of providing preferential treatment to ethnic minorities, according to RFA. Woeser republished a Chinese blog which described how the fighting lasted all night and a Tibetan dormitory was destroyed. According to the unidentified blogger, "the Tibetan classrooms were also ruined. A bunch of Tibetan students were beaten badly enough to be sent to the hospital".
16. Dec 2011
Chinese police beat Tibetan to death
(Phayul) Chinese police have beaten to death a young Tibetan man called Chonjor in Labrang (Chin: Xiahe), Gansu province. Chinese police detained Chonjor on 09 December while he was on his way to Labrang Tashikyil monastery. He was handed over to the PAP who took him into custody, according to Phayul. When his family realised he had gone missing, they went to the police station, to be told that he was dead. Reasons for his arrest and death are not known. A substantial sum of money, reportedly one million yuan (UK£100,938; US$156,867; EUR€120,342), has been released to the deceased's family members after Tibetans from Chonjor's home village and senior monks of the Labrang monastery protested against the police actions. The compensation, which is perhaps the largest known amount paid to a Tibetan family, is seen by many as an attempt by the Chinese authorities to avoid an outburst of public anger.
16. Dec 2011
Direct non-stop Beijing-Lhasa flights
(Xinhua) A new non-stop flight between Beijing and Lhasa, which is expected to boost tourism in the TAR, went into operation. Previously, services on this route had to stop for refuelling in Chengdu, Sichuan province. Air China's new flight shaves two hours off the travel time, with the journey now taking approximately four hours.
