22 July 2008
Gorkha hit by TAR border closure
(THT Online) The Chinese government's decision to seal its border with Nepal earlier in 2008 has affected thousands of families in the Chhekapar and Samagaun areas of Gorkha district who traditionally use the Bhuila and Ghyala passes across the Nepal-TAR border en route to the markets of Jonga and Gongdang in Kyirong, in the TAR. Since February, the border has been sealed and is heavily patrolled by Chinese security personnel. Although the Nepali government has taken up the issue with Beijing - to allow Nepali nationals living in the border areas to move freely - nothing has been done so far, locals claim. According to these locals, they are facing severe shortages of various goods, including basic foodstuff.
23 July 2008
Monks killed in monastery blast
(TibetInfoNet; Xinhua) A Tibetan Buddhist temple in Kardze (Chin: Ganzi) TAP, Sichuan province has collapsed, killing two monks, after "a powder used in religious rituals" exploded, Chinese state media said. According to Xinhua, a building in the northern part of Gonchen monastery, exploded at midday on 12 July while six monks were having lunch on the first floor. Three monks escaped, but the others were buried. Two later died of their injuries. Xinhua said the explosion was caused by black powder kept in the monastery, ignited by faulty wiring, and that the temple had broken safety rules in storing 716 kg of black powder. In Tibetan regions, explosives, mainly needed for road construction, are frequently stored in private premises. It is unclear, for which ritual explosive powder was used.
23 July 2008
Woeser sues the Chinese government
After being repeatedly denied a passport for three years, the Tibetan poet Tsering Woeser is suing the Chinese government, demanding to be given the document she needs to travel outside the country. Woeser is one of the most prominent critics of Beijing's policy, her blog postings have a worldwide readership. "I'm not expecting to win. But if you don't take action, there's no chance to let the outside world know the truth", Woeser said. "It's an opportunity to talk about the unfair treatment of Tibetans over the years". "It's hard to say whether she will win or not", said her lawyer, Mo Shaoping, who has made his name defending Chinese dissidents. "Both Woeser and her husband [Wang Lixiong] are sensitive figures (...) but no matter who they are, they should enjoy their basic rights as citizens".
23 July 2008
Black carbon over Tibet
(Nature) An article by Beijing-based Nature writer Jane Qiu reckons that, next to natural dust and carbon dioxide, emissions of black carbon contribute to the greenhouse effect upon the Tibetan Plateau, the 'third Pole', affecting amongst other things the monsoon rains and the melting of glaciers. Black carbon consists of the soot that results from cooking with bio-fuels such as wood, crop waste or dung. Quoting various studies, the article suggests that, given a half-life of 1,520 days for black carbon, compared with the century-scale half-life of carbon dioxide, removing traditional ways of cooking would reduce black carbon emissions by some 4,060%, thus providing a "quick way out" of pollution problems in Asia. The key to the "short term fix", that is "much cheaper and faster" than reducing carbon dioxide, is "to give villagers access to better forms of energy".
24 July 2008
Karmapa denied access to Indian border areas
(IANS) The Indian government has refused to allow the Karmapa, Ugyen Trinley Dorjee, to visit Buddhist regions close to India's borders with the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) ahead of the Beijing Olympics, his aides said. The Karmapa, had sought permission to visit various monasteries in the Lahaul and Spiti areas of Himachal Pradesh, as well as in Ladakh, in Jammu and Kashmir. The Karmapa's security officer Thinlay told IANS that a two-month-long religious tour was cancelled. He said the government had not cited any reason. An aid to the Karmapa added: "The government might be anticipating large-scale protests during the Karmapa’s visit in the forward areas".
24 July 2008
HRW release report on Tibetan demonstrations in Nepal
(HRW) The government of Nepal, under pressure from China, has arbitrarily arrested hundreds of Tibetans and restricted their right to demonstrate against the March 2008 crackdown in Tibet, said Human Rights Watch (HRW). The New York-based group called on Nepal to respect Tibetans' rights to free expression and assembly, and for China to end its pressure campaign against Nepal. The 60-page report: 'Appeasing China: Restricting the Rights of Tibetans in Nepal' documents numerous violations of human rights by the Nepali authorities, particularly the police, against Tibetans involved in peaceful demonstrations in Kathmandu. In preparing the report, HRW directly observed protests and arrests, conditions in detention, and treatment in hospitals. They also interviewed more than 90 Tibetan protesters and conducted interviews with non-Tibetan protest eyewitnesses, Tibetan community and religious leaders, Nepali medical personnel and police officers, and United Nations personnel in Nepal.
26 July 2008
John McCain meets Dalai Lama
(AP) After a 45-minute meeting with the Dalai Lama, Republican US presidential candidate Senator John McCain said the Beijing Olympics provide an opportunity for Beijing to demonstrate it recognises human rights. He also said the Dalai Lama is merely seeking basic rights to preserve Tibetan culture, language and religion. "That's why I'm so disappointed by repeated statements by Chinese officials that ascribe to the Dalai Lama views and actions divorced from what he actually represents. Such rhetoric doesn't serve a cause of peaceful change and reconciliation", McCain said. "I urge the Chinese government to release Tibetan political prisoners, account for Tibetans who have, quote, 'disappeared' since protests in March, and engage in meaningful dialogue on genuine autonomy for Tibet", McCain said. The Dalai Lama praised McCain for his concern, but he emphasised he wasn't endorsing McCain's presidential bid. The Dalai Lama was in Aspen for a symposium sponsored by the Aspen Institute thinktank.
26 July 2008
China complains about Tibetan flag on Czech PM's jacket
(MfD) The Chinese ambassador to the Czech Republic, Huo Yuzhen, has complained to the Czech Foreign Ministry about Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek wearing a Tibetan flag on his lapel as he announced his trip to the Beijing Olympics, the Czech newspaper Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) reports. The Czech ambassador to China, Vitezslav Grepl, was also summoned to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
27 July 2008
Purge of Tibetan monasteries in Kardze
(telegraph.co.uk) An official document posted only in Tibetan on the government's Tibet information website announces a planned purge of Tibetan monasteries, including banning all worship at those deemed to be major centres of subversion, in Kardze TAP, Sichuan province. Monks with "attitude problems", or who refuse to change their thinking in line with official demands, will be dismissed or jailed. Abbots and other leaders who fail to carry out government orders to "re-educate" those in their charge will be replaced by official appointees. The document, signed by Li Changping, the prefecture head, records decisions made by the local Communist Party's executive committee. The targets are "monasteries, monks and nuns who voice or distribute splittist slogans and fliers, fly snow lion flags [Tibetan national flags], and who take part in illegal demonstration to incite splittism". Even monks who committed "minor crimes" will be sent home for "re-education", reads the document. More serious offenders will be jailed until they recant, while those with "serious crime and attitude problem" will be dismissed from their monasteries.
28 July 2008
Nepal stops exiles march to Tibet
(Reuters) Nepali police detained 30 Tibetans, including nuns and monks, marching to the Tibetan border to protest against crackdowns on anti-China demonstrators. The exiles were picked up close to the Friendship Bridge which demarcates the border.
29 July 2008
Drepung reopens to visitors
(AP) Drepung monastery on the outskirts of Lhasa has reopened after being shut by authorities during demonstrations in March 2008, staff members told Associated Press (AP). The monastery, one of the three most important in Tibet, has been under virtual siege for the past five months, with reports of monks going short of food and water. Drepung reopened to visitors and has been "fairly busy" since, said a staff member who gave only his first name, Luobu (likely, Tib: Norbu). He said the monastery will hold ceremonies as part of the forthcoming Shoton religious festival.
29 July 2008
Amnesty "worried about crackdown in China"
(AI) China is using the Beijing Olympics as a pretext to pursue - and in some cases tighten - a crackdown on human rights, notably ridding the capital of "undesirables", Amnesty International said in a new report, 'The Olympics Countdown: Broken Promises'. The report concludes that in most of areas human rights have continued to deteriorate since the previous Amnesty International report 'The Olympics Countdown: Crackdown on Activists Threatens Olympic Legacy', which was published in April 2008. Amnesty urged the International Olympic Committee and political leaders to do far more to challenge China, warning of even more repressive measures once the spotlight on the Games has faded away. "Unless the authorities make a swift change of direction, the legacy of the Beijing Olympics will not be positive for human rights in China", it warned. The report said Beijing's crackdown in Tibet, and restrictions on reporting there, highlighted the authorities' ongoing censorship.
29 July 2008
Rice meets with Chinese Foreign Minister; Bush urged to visit Tibet
(AFP) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with her Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi at her Washington office. They "discussed the president's upcoming trip to China" for the Olympics and a "wide range of issues of bilateral and international importance", including North Korea, Iran, trade and economic issues, human rights and Taiwan, State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper told AFP. There was no mention of Tibet, but US lawmakers have called on President Bush to make a "strong public statement" in Beijing on China's human rights situation and meet with families of jailed "prisoners of conscience". He was also urged to seek to visit Tibet and Xinjiang while in China to attend the Olympics.
29 July 2008
We can't force China to change: IOC
(AFP) International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, Jacques Rogge, told Belgian newspaper De Standaard that the IOC's selection of Beijing to host the 2008 Games had brought about changes to media laws and personal freedoms in China and had shone a spotlight on child labour laws. But he added that there were limits to the Olympic movement's powers to generate change in the country: "The IOC is not authorised and has no means to interfere in sovereign matters. China's relations with Taiwan, the situation in Tibet, those are matters over which the IOC has no authority and must be addressed by other institutions". Rogge said the Olympics brought with it the global media and international scrutiny, which has an enormous influence over a country's position on certain issues.
29 July 2008
Obama expresses US support for Dalai Lama and Tibetan People
(Tibet.net) US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama has regretted "that our respective travel schedules will prevent us from meeting during your visit to the United States this month". "I wanted to take the opportunity to reassure you of my highest respect and support for you, your mission and your people at this critical time", Obama said in a letter dated 24 July. He expressed his hope that the Dalai Lama's meeting with Senator John McCain will make clear that American backing for the people of Tibet is widespread and "transcends the divisions of our political contest in this important election year". He said he was also "heartened" to hear of the continuing dialogue between Dharamsala and Beijing.
30 July 2008
Four Tibetans arrested for protesting against festival to greet Olympics
Four Tibetan youths from Nangchen (Chin:Nangqian) county, Yushu TAP, Qinghai Province, were arrested by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) for disrupting a summer festival planned to coincide with the Olympic Games, according to information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). TCHRD's sources stated that the authorities ordered all the township and villages authorities in the area to participate in a summer festival in Drokshog township. Three days before the festival, four Tibetans from Nangchen county shouted slogans, gave out pamphlets and urged locals to boycott the event. This led to a mass walkout, leaving just government officials on the site, and the eventual cancellation of festival. Asang Bersatsang, Ngoesoe Konkyaptsang, Jamsang and Gadho were arrested by Nangchen county PSB officials and detained. Residents of Drokshog township wrote a letter to the authorities on 28 July calling for their immediate release.
30 July 2008
China seeks "absolute security" in Tibet for Olympics
(Reuters) Chinese security forces in Tibet have been mobilised to ensure "absolute security" there during the Olympics and are looking for stronger international support, according to an official newspaper. The Tibet Daily has announced even tougher policing than has already been experienced, once the Games start. In an effort to ensure "absolute security without a single lapse", police will redouble guards at major buildings, strengthen border controls and seek to expand international efforts to stifle anti-China activists, the report said. It appeared on an official website (www.chinatibetnews.com). "We must further improve anti-terror plans, and take swift measures against all forms of violence and terrorist activities", said the report, citing a meeting of the Tibet public security office. The report suggested Chinese police will be looking for stronger international help, possibly with countries near Tibet.
01 August 2008
China lifts some internet restrictions
NYT) Beijing appears to have lifted some of the restrictions that blocked websites for journalists working at the Olympic Village although other politically sensitive sites, including those on Tibet, remain inaccessible. The IOC also sought to counter statements made by one of its top press officials that suggested that IOC negotiators had quietly acquiesced to the restrictions. Giselle Davies, a spokeswoman for the organising committee, said a misunderstanding had led to the contradictory versions of events, but she stressed that organisers have always been adamant about unfettered internet access for the 20,000 foreign journalists covering the Games. The loosening of restrictions, however limited, came after senior committee officials urged Olympic organisers to reconsider their decision to maintain a ban on politically sensitive sites, which critics said violated previous pledges Beijing had made to provide uncensored internet access to reporters. Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing organising committee, declined to confirm whether there had been a change in policy. "We are fulfilling a promise to provide good working conditions for reporters covering the Olympic Games", he said in a telephone interview. "Internet access is sufficient and convenient".
01 August 2008
Pro-Tibet campaigners to be present in Beijing
(AFP) Lhadon Tethong, executive director of New York-based Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) said "there are people of conscience who are travelling to Beijing, and who are ready to speak out peacefully", she said "It just depends on the security situation as to where and when the protests will take place". Tethong said the group has been urging athletes to make statements of support for Tibetans, including podium protests for those who win medals, and she said some athletes have expressed an interest in making a pro-Tibet statement during the Games. "But I can't say anything about what people may or may not do at this moment", she said.
