Security clampdown in Kardze following 151st self-immolation
December 4, 2017
Radio Free Asia, November 29, 2017 – A Tibetan monk set himself ablaze and died on Sunday in western China’s Sichuan province in a challenge to Chinese rule in Tibetan areas, Tibetan sources said.
The protest brings to 151 the number of self-immolations by Tibetans living in China since the wave of burnings began in 2009.
Tenga, aged 63 and a monk at a monastery in Sichuan’s Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) county, set himself alight on Sunday, Nov. 26, and died of his burns, a Tibetan living in exile in South India told RFA’s Tibetan Service, citing sources in Kardze.
While burning, Tenga called out for freedom for Tibet, a second source said, speaking on condition of anonymity from inside Tibet.
“Security officers and armed police quickly arrived at the scene and took his body away,” the source said.
“Afterward, there was a heavy security clampdown in the area, with family members in Dando village placed under watch by Chinese police.”
“With police now stationed around his house, and phone calls not getting through, it is difficult to assess the current situation,” he said.
“Police have not returned [Tenga’s] body to his family yet,” a third source said, also speaking on condition he not be named.
Communications clampdown
News of Tenga’s fiery protest on Sunday was briefly delayed in reaching outside media contacts due to communications clampdowns imposed by Chinese authorities in the Kardze area.
Telephone and online social media connections are now blocked in the area where the incident occurred, RFA’s source in South India said, adding that a phone call he had made to Kardze seeking information ended abruptly when the phone line was cut.
“But what we know for sure is that he burned himself for the Tibetan cause, and that he demanded freedom for Tibet,” he said.
The second of four siblings in his family, Tenga had worked as a volunteer teacher before joining the Kardze monastery, another local source said.
“He was very popular in several villages in his hometown, where he was respectfully called ‘Teacher’ by the villagers,” the source said.
A total of 151 people have now set themselves ablaze in Tibet and Tibetan-populated counties in western China. Their protests have featured demands for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from India, where he has lived since escaping Tibet during a failed national uprising in 1959.
Reported by Lhuboom, Pema Ngodup, Dawa Dolma, and Lobsang Choephel for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.

ELDERLY MONK CARRIES OUT SELF-IMMOLATION PROTEST IN EASTERN TIBET (Video)
https://www.freetibet.org/news-media/pr/video-elderly-monk-carries-out-self-immolation-protest-eastern-tibet
Free Tibet press release, for immediate use
Wednesday, 29 November 2017
A 63-year-old monk named Tenga set himself on fire on 26 November in Kardze County, eastern Tibet (1).
A one-minute video (2) of Tenga’s protest shows him lying on a path in flames in front of a crowd of onlookers, some of whom are quietly reciting prayers. A group of security officials then rush to the scene and attempt to smother the flames before one uses a fire extinguisher to put them out. At this point the camera cuts.
According to a friend of Tenga who was at the scene of the protest (3), Tenga shouted “We want freedom in Tibet” as he set himself on fire.
After security personnel arrived on the scene they took Tenga’s body away. It is not clear at this point whether or not Tenga survived his protest. Free Tibet’s research partner, Tibet Watch, is currently working to confirm these details.
Authorities responded to the protest by immediately putting the region under heavy security by deploying significant numbers of police and People’s Armed Police to the area. Tenga’s home village, Dhadho, has also been put under police watch.
Tenga formerly lived and practiced in Kardze Monastery before health problems forced him to leave. Since then he has been living at his home in Dhadho Village, where he conducted prayer teachings for local Tibetans, who gave him the honorary title Gen Tenga (4). Tenga was said to have followed global and Tibetan affairs with keen interest.
Kardze County has been one of the main centres of Tibetan resistance to the Chinese military occupation, with a number of demonstrations and self-immolation protests taking place there in recent years. In April this year, Wangchuk Tseten, another resident of Kardze, carried out a fatal self-immolation protest (5).
Tenga is the fifth Tibetan known to have carried out a self-immolation protest in Tibet this year, an increase on last year. Among those to have set themselves on fire this year is Chakdor Kyab, a 16-year-old Tibetan student and one of the youngest Tibetans to have carried out a self-immolation protest (6). Two Tibetans have also set themselves on fire in India this year (7).
Since 2009 over 150 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest against the occupation (8), which has been in force since 1950, as well as human rights abuses and restrictions on Tibet’s religion and culture carried out under Chinese rule. The majority of these protests have been fatal.
Free Tibet’s Campaigns and Communications Manager, John Jones, said:
“The images and video of Tenga’s protest are shocking. Some might want to look away, others may wonder how anybody could be driven to carry out such a drastic act. But we must not ignore what is happening here. It is a sobering thought that the majority of Tibetans, whether they are 16 years old like Chakdor Kyab, or 63 years old like Tenga, have only known life under occupation. Their country was snatched away from them by the Chinese army before they were born and they have grown up in a world of daily injustices and human rights abuses. It is these injustices and abuses that motivate self-immolation protests. Tenga’s cry as he set himself on fire: “We want freedom in Tibet”, was clear and decisive. We owe it to Tenga, and his fellow Tibetans, to heed his cry and understand why he carried out his protest. Governments around the world must use all of their diplomatic weight to push Beijing to change course, and allow the Tibetan people to live in freedom.”
-ends-

Taiwan Parliament Passes Bill to Dissolve Mongolia Tibet Affairs Commission
November 28, 2017
Dharamshala: According to a report filed by the Office of Tibet, Taiwan, the Taiwan Legislative Yuan has today approved a bill to dissolve the Mongolian Tibet Affairs Commission (MTAC).
Ruling Democratic Progressive Party legislator Lee Chun-yi, also a member of the committee for dissolving the commission, said, “As things change with time, our concerns for issues regarding Mongolia and Tibet should have changed course much earlier. What we should do is protect the Mongolian and Tibetan community in Taiwan, and guarantee that Mongolian and Tibetan culture will continue to be respected in Taiwan. Here we ask to disband the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission. The remaining 46 members of the commission will be transferred to the culture ministry and the Mainland Affairs Council, so we can officially dissolve the commission. Let us respect the people of Mongolia and Tibet and their culture. This is what we should do.”
Member of Taiwanese Parliament Kolas Yotaka, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) who was among the legislators to table the bill attended the Five-Fifty Forum organised by Department of Information and International Relations in October this year. Speaking at the concluding session, MP Kolas reassured the audience that the bill to dissolve the Mongolia Tibetan Affairs Commission will be passed in less than two months time.
Welcoming the historic move, President of Central Tibetan Administration Dr. Lobsang Sangay said, “MTAC has been a sore point and source of misunderstanding between Tibetans and Taiwanese. Personally, I have opposed MTAC since my college days and I am glad to see it shut down.”
Members of the Taiwanese Parliament who tabled the bill are Tsai Yi-Yu, Chen Chi-Mai, Xu Guoyong, Kolas Yotaka and Lai Jui-lung. The bill won with a majority of 65 votes against 30.
On 14 August, the Taiwan Executive Yuan announced that the MTAC would be dissolved by the end of the year. It was also disclosed that no budget would be allocated to the MTAC for 2018.
Originally set up as a bureau under the interior ministry of Taiwan, the commission was renamed to MTAC in 1929 in accordance with the Nationalist Government Organizational Law. The founding of the MTAC can be traced back to the Qing dynasty in 1636, when it was founded as the Mongolian Bureau.

China bets on mega projects in Tibet
November 27, 2017
By Atul Aneja
The Hindu, November 26, 2017 – China’s well-tested mantra that has powered its economic rise – build quality infrastructure and the rest will follow – is in full play in Tibet. The Qinghai-Tibet railway, the 1,956-km track passing over bridges and through tunnels, has already made history. An offshoot of that railway, also called Lari railway, is now being stretched from Lhasa to the extremities of Tibet. Trains have already reached Xigaze, the terminus of this line. That is not far from Tibet’s border with Nepal. Another track from Xigaze will head towards Yadong, a Chumbi valley town made famous by the 1904 Tibet expedition led by Francis Younghusband, a colonel in the British Indian Army. Yadong is on the doorstep of Sikkim. The Nathu La, the point of entry in Sikkim, is only 34 km away, approachable by a road from Yadong.
Apart from railways and roads, Chinese planners are also focussing on hydropower plants. Tibet is well-known as the water tower of the world. Several major rivers — the Yangtze, the Yellow river, the Lancang (better known as the Mekong), the Nu river and the Yarlung Zangpo, which becomes the Brahmaputra once it enters India — originate in Tibet. Chinese plans for massive hydro projects have triggered much concern among environmentalists, who are worried about the possible damage that this may cause to a fragile ecosystem in this natural wonderland.
Those inclined to view change purely within the spectrum of geopolitics are also nervous about Beijing’s plans. They fear that water can become a weapon for exercising China’s influence over countries that share these rivers. The Yarlung Zangpo flows into Bangladesh and India. The Lancang is the lifeline of much of Southeast Asia. The Nu flows into the Andaman Sea through Myanmar.
In tune with its plans, China has announced the construction of the Suwalong hydropower station on the Jinsha river, which forms the upper reaches of the Yangtze. The Suwalong project is located in Southwest China — on the border of Tibet’s Mangkam county and Batang county of the neighbouring Sichuan province.
Colourful history
Incidentally, Mangkam county, especially its Yanjing valley, has a colourful history. It is known for its traditional salt wells and over a 100 hot springs, of much therapeutic value. The area also hosted part of the famous trans-Himalayan Tea-Horse trade route that wound its way from China’s Yunnan province en route Tibet to India. With trade, came culture and religion. Earlier this year, Chinese archeologists unearthed eight Buddhist statues in Mangkam county.
Once completed, the Suwalong project would generate 2,000 MW of power, which would be channelled into the country’s well-off eastern region. The Suwalong project’s design capacity is double that of the Zangmu hydropower plant, established on the Yarlung Zangpo river. State media is signalling that right now, the Nu and Lancang could be the immediate focus of hydro projects in Tibet, rather than the Yarlung Zangpo (Brahmaputra) — the bone of contention between China and India.
Nu and Lancang rivers converge in the Mangkam county, which could well become one of Tibet’s energy production hubs. According to other official media reports, China’s ongoing 13th five-year plan is concentrating on hydropower development along the Jinsha, Nu and Lancang rivers, in view of lower electric transmission costs to high demand zones in neighbouring provinces.
In tune with its infrastructure plans for Tibet, China has announced the construction of the Suwalong hydropower station on the Jinsha river, which could generate 2,000 MW of power.

Citing fatigue, Dalai Lama appoints personal emissaries
November 20, 2017
Voice of America, November 16, 2017 – The Dalai Lama says he has appointed emissaries to attend international engagements or speak on his behalf indefinitely.
Citing increasing physical fatigue, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader made the comments while meeting with a group of international youth leaders brought to Dharmsala, India, by the Washington-based Institute of Peace.
“I’m 82 years old, and since last year [my] feeling of tiredness has been much increased,” he told the group during video-recorded meetings last week.
Because he may not be able to maintain a regular international travel schedule, he said, the president of Tibet’s current government-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, along with prominent Buddhist scholar and former prime minister in exile, Samdong Rinpoche, would act as his official emissaries.
These “trusted friends, they know my thinking,” he said. “Our work, continuously, should be more active [and internationally engaged], so in these two persons,” he said, pointing to Lobsang and Samdong, “I have full trust.”
Looking to the dialogue moderator, USIP President Nancy Lindborg, the Dalai Lama said: “If your side … or your government’s side” has concerns, “then these two persons, either one, can participate as my representative or my personal emissary.”
Penpa Tsering, representative for the Office of Tibet in Washington, which represents the Tibetan government-in-exile, downplayed the significance of the Dalai Lama’s statement.
“I think this was more of a general statement,” he told VOA. “His Holiness is sometimes too tired to travel, and his April visit to the United States has been suspended indefinitely, but he will continue to travel in India, and Europe is only a seven hour flight.”
Adding that Lobsang’s presidential term is limited to five years, and the fact that Samdong has long served as a kind of unofficial deputy to the Dalai Lama, he said the November 6 comments do not represent a major diversion or change in Dharmsala’s official representation on the world stage.
However, Carole McGranahan, a University of Colorado anthropologist and historian of Tibet, says although prioritizing the Dalai Lama’s health requires a reduction in his international travel schedule, his physical absence from global engagements cannot be substituted via proxy.
“So much of the goodwill and attention Tibet receives in the world is due to His Holiness, and specifically due to his personal interactions with world leaders and with the large audiences he draws around the world. His deep wisdom, his humor and charisma, his serious attention to pressing world issues, and, of course, his model of compassion and leadership, make a deep impression on people,” she told VOA’s Tibetan Service via email.
“For so much of the world, the Dalai Lama is the symbol of Tibet. Will his trusted emissaries be able to achieve the same effects? Of course not, as no one can truly stand in for the Dalai Lama,” she wrote. “They will be able to represent him, but no one can embody the message of Tibet as he does. His holiness’s stepping back from international travel will signal a new era of Tibetan diplomacy in the world.”
Robert Barnett, director of the Modern Tibet Studies Program at Columbia University, says the decision may be a signal to Beijing.
“Of course, there’s always the possibility that this move is intended as a post-19th Party Congress signal to Beijing of increased openness to a resumption of talks, or possibly even a response to a request from there,” he said. “It certainly should make Zhang Yijiong happier,” he added, referring to Communist Party’s Tibet working group chief, who told reporters on the sidelines of a party congress that there could be no excuses to meeting the Dalai Lama.
“Except that it seems unlikely that warhorses of that type can ever be appeased,” Barnett said.
In the United States, a California-based Tibetan monk named Tenzin Dhonden, who chairs the non-profit Friends of the Dalai Lama and was secretary of the Dalai Lama Trust, a charitable organization chaired by the Dalai Lama, has acted as a gatekeeper between the Dalai Lama and American philanthropists, scholars, celebrities and donors.
Late last month, Dhonden, who falsely named himself Personal Emissary of Peace for the Dalai Lama in 2005, was suspended from the trust over corruption allegations.

This story originated in VOA’s Tibetan Service. Pete Cobus contributed original reporting.

Opinion: After five years of Xi Jinping, Tibet remains a giant open-air prison
November 20, 2017
By John Jones
Hong Kong Free Press, November 18, 2017 – This week marks Xi Jinping’s fifth year in power. Head of the Communist Party and the nation’s armed forces, Xi has made the journey from unassuming CCP member to arguably the most powerful leader in China’s recent history.
His political ideology has been incorporated into the CCP’s party constitution, the upper echelons of the party have been filled with his allies and his political opponents have been rooted out by a nationwide anti-corruption campaign. The emperor reigns supreme.
Outside of the party, Xi and the CCP hold on to power through a mix of old and new methods of intimidation. Over the past five years, the regime has maintained its dismal record on freedom of speech and its harassment of human rights defenders, along with the unfair trials and harsh prison sentences meted out by a judiciary that few would even bother to pretend is independent.
These abuses have been compounded by new methods introduced under Xi, such as laws to restrict the activities of foreign non-governmental organisations. The objective is to maintain a rigid stability across China, where dissent is eradicated and any change takes place strictly on the terms of the party.
At the CCP’s 19th National Party Congress in late October, an emboldened Xi used his opening speech to threaten those who would dare to upend this stability, including those who do not recognise the CCP or Xi as their rulers: “We will never allow anyone, any organisation, or any political party, at any time or in any form, to separate any part of Chinese territory from China.”
Tibetans will be wearily familiar with these words. They have been among those worst affected by Beijing’s desire to hold the People’s Republic of China together by force. Yet they steadfastly refuse to give in to CCP rule, remaining resolute not only through five years of Xi but also nearly 70 years of military occupation.
The CCP’s response has been to transform Tibet into one of the most repressive places on earth, a giant open-air prison.
The country remains under de-facto marshal law with police and security forces ever present. Protesters are beaten and Tibetans who fly their flag or display pictures of their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, risk being snatched from the street or their home, and made to disappear inside a vast network of detention centres and prisons where beatings and torture are routine.
Under Xi the policy has been to suffocate Tibet by massively ramping up security and surveillance while cutting it off from the wider world.
Hundreds of police stations have been established in urban areas to segment towns and cities into grid systems, allowing police and security services to monitor residents. Over 20,000 security personnel have been deployed across the country to track the daily lives of Tibet’s village population.
These measures, along with tight control of the internet and the spread of CCTV, even into monasteries, are designed to root out any would-be “splittists” or “saboteurs”, the enemies of Xi’s prized stability. The results have been stark: in Xi’s first two years in power Human Rights Watch recorded 479 cases of individuals being detained or tried for political expression or criticism of government policy.
The size and scope of these security measures were on show during the CCP National Congress in late October. For the duration of the event, the entire Tibet Autonomous Region was closed to visitors while Chinese security forces were deployed in even greater numbers. Further restrictions were imposed on the internet and social media.
The one thing Tibetans could do during this period was watch Xi’s three-hour opening speech. In fact, the authorities insisted. According to local sources, students, including children in kindergarten, hospital patients and prisoners were all required to watch the speech.
Xi’s iron rule in China and Tibet has been accompanied by a more assertive foreign policy, visible in Beijing’s attempts to scare foreign governments and businesses into silence over human rights in Tibet. The fear of losing access to Chinese markets has forced governments and businesses to avoid any behaviour that could antagonise Beijing.
In September The Financial Times revealed that German publishing group Springer Nature – which is expanding its China-based operations – had “blocked access to at least 1,000 academic articles in China that mention subjects deemed sensitive by Beijing, including Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong.”
Beijing’s attempts to cut Tibet off from the world and shut down talk of human rights have been accompanied by risible claims of record levels of happiness among Tibet’s people. Independent journalists, human rights organisations and other experts keen to check these claims are barred from Tibet, but how Tibetans really feel about the occupation can be seen in the fact that since 2009, almost 150 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest against the occupation.
Typically, the Xi regime has attempted to stamp such protests out by threatening would-be protesters rather than listening to their grievances. But despite new regulations to punish the families and communities of self-immolation protesters, at least four Tibetans carried out such protests this year, each shouting for freedom as they set themselves alight.
Other Tibetans continue to challenge the authorities and protest in defence of their environment, their culture and their freedom, showing remarkable bravery in the face of overwhelming pressure.
My organisation, Free Tibet, was formed almost exactly 30 years ago in response to a series of large uprisings in Lhasa and the brutal police crackdown that followed. Ever since, we have played a key role in bringing footage and testimonies of CCP crimes and Tibetan resistance to the world’s attention, defying Beijing’s information blackout.
Those of us who live in freedom and who hear these stories from Tibet cannot afford to be silent.
As Xi Jinping looks forward to another five years in power, five more years of police crackdowns in Tibet and attempts to silence potential critics abroad, it is vital that people around the world, especially governments and world leaders, find their voice and speak out in support of Tibetans with courage and conviction.
Tibetans living under the shadow of Xi and his police state refuse to be intimidated. So must we.
John Jones is the Campaigns and Communications Manager at Free Tibet.

China’s planning a 1,000km tunnel to divert water away from one of India’s largest rivers

https://qz.com/1114843/chinas-grand-plan-for-the-brahmaputra-a-1000km-tunnel-to-divert-water-away-from-tibet/
China is working on an incredibly ambitious water diversion project involving the Brahmaputra, one of India’s largest rivers, which may become another point of tension between the two Asian neighbours. Chinese engineers are testing techniques that could be used to build a 1,000-kilometre (km) tunnel—the world’s longest—to carry water from Tibet to Xinjiang, a barren region in northwest China, according to a report in the South China Morning Post (SCMP). The project would divert water from the Yarlung Tsangpo River in southern Tibet, which turns into the Brahmaputra once it enters India, to the Taklamakan desert in Xinjiang.
“The proposed tunnel, which would drop down from the world’s highest plateau in multiple sections connected by waterfalls, would ‘turn Xinjiang into California’,” the SCMP reported, quoting an anonymous geotechnical engineer. Xinjiang, China’s largest administrative division, comprises vast swathes of uninhabitable deserts and dry grasslands. The feasibility of the proposed Tibet-Xinjiang project is being tested along a 600km tunnel in China’s Yunnan region. “The water diversion project in central Yunnan is a demonstration project,” Zhang Chuanqing, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, told the SCMP. Chuanqing, according to the newspaper, has played a key role in many major Chinese water tunnel projects. “It is to show we have the brains, muscle, and tools to build super-long tunnels in hazardous terrains, and the cost does not break the bank,” he said. The Yunnan project comprises over 60 sections, all of which are wide enough to fit in two high-speed trains, that will pass through high-altitude mountains. “Fault zones are our biggest headache,” Zhang explained. “If we can secure a solution, it will help us get rid of the main engineering obstacles to getting water from Tibet to Xinjiang.”
Over the years, China has developed exceptional infrastructure-building capabilities, some of which have been implemented in the Tibet region. “Nobody thought that there could be a railway line in Tibet, but the Chinese government has done so. So, there shouldn’t be any doubts about China building the tunnel,” Lobsang Yangtso, a research associate at the non-profit coalition, International Tibet Network, told Quartz. But Yangtso warned that the Tibet Plateau has been witnessing climate change, with water crises in many parts of the Himalayan region. “The region is also earthquake-prone and it could lead to a huge natural disaster,” she added. Moreover, any project that diverts water from upstream Brahmaputra is likely to rile up both New Delhi and Dhaka, as the river is a major water resource for both northeastern India and Bangladesh. India has, in the past, raised objections to Chinese dams being built on the Yarlung Tsangpo. “There are currently no water treaties between India, China, and Bangladesh,” said Yangtso, whose research has focused on Chinese environmental policies in Tibet. “India will certainly have to take a strong stand as far as this project goes, as it can be disastrous for India and Bangladesh.”

Tibetans inside Tibet are torchbearers of Tibetan movement, says the Dalai Lama
November 13, 2017
Central Tibetan Administration, November 9, 2017 – His Holiness the Dalai Lama today addressed a gathering of Tibetan devotees from various parts of India, including scholars of the Institute of Buddhist Dialectic and non-Tibetan devotees from Mon, Bhutan and Britain.
Following a brief photo session with each group at Tsuglagkhang courtyard, His Holiness the Dalai Lama spoke for over an hour, emphasing his lifelong commitments towards a better humanity, preservation of Tibetan Buddhist tradition and meaningful resolution of the Tibet issue.
“I always keep saying that the Tibetans inside Tibet are the real masters of the Tibetan destiny. Even when faced with dangers to their lives, they have, in every respect, shown great valour and courage in preserving the indomitable Tibetan spirit, while upholding their rights and dignity as a people,” he told the gathering.
“The principal asset for credibility of Tibetan cause on the world stage is the dedication of the Tibetans inside Tibet to the common cause and their unrelenting courage. It is because of these that the truth of our position stands proven,” His Holiness said, urging them to uphold the spirit.
“Tibetans are a unique people, spiritually blessed by the Chenresig, Avalokiteshvara and in reality, blessed with the rich culture, heritage and language.”
Reasserting his position on seeking genuine autonomy, His Holiness said, “Tibet was materially backward but spiritually highly developed. There is mutual benefit.”
He also expressed hope for positive changes to take place within China. “The present situation inside Tibet is indeed sad and unfortunate, but I am hopeful that in time, changes will take place within China.”
On the cultural aspect, he said, Tibetans should pride themselves of its thousand millennium old cultural heritage, rooted in the profound Nalanda teachings.
“The tradition handed down to us from Nalanda includes profound philosophy and logic, as well as a rich understanding of the workings of the mind and emotions. We have kept this alive for more than 1000 years and now are in a position to make positive contribution to the well-being of humanity through our own culture. It is a meaningful aspiration to have.”
The 82-year-old Tibetan leader urged youth to pay serious attention on learning Tibetan language and take heed of his advice.
“The most profound teachings of Buddha and the Nalanda masters are in Tibetan and therefore, the best medium to receive these teachings is through the Tibetan language.
Also in attendance were graduates of the Tibetan Medical and Astro Institute and scholars of the Institute of Buddhist Dialectic. His Holiness spoke of the unique aspects of the Tibetan medicine and how it serves as an advanced preventive medication.
He also commended the members of the LHA institute for their dedicated public service, particularly in field of education. He said, “Making efforts in the field of education is highly important and indispensable for sustaining the Tibetan Buddhist culture and ethnicity in these most difficult circumstances in Tibet’s history.”

Opinion: China’s hijacking of religions nearly complete
November 13, 2017
By Song Jieja
Eurasia Review, November 13, 2017 – In recent years, the Chinese communist government has not only been suppressing religions, but has also increasing manipulation of them to serve its political aim of “Unity of Religion and State.”
Of course, its purpose is not to show how open its religious policy is, but to hijack religions to serve a political agenda of legitimatizing, embellishing and varnishing its regime. In other words, the Chinese government wants religions to become their accomplices.
In Tibet, there has been a trend to turn monasteries and Buddhist academies into “Party schools.” Some researchers believe the situation will become more severe after last month’s 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party of China.
After an enforced demolition and eviction, the Serthar Buddhist Institute was divided into Serthar Wuming Buddhist College and Larong Monastery. Students were evicted from the world’s largest Tibetan Buddhist school. The committee organization department of Ganzi County also issued a public notice on Aug. 20 regarding the appointment of key officials. They were Serthar Wuming Buddhist College’s party secretary, principal, deputy party secretary, deputy principal as well as Larong Monastery Managing Committee’s party secretary, director and deputy director.
All are members of the Chinese Communist Party.
The Chinese government is currently applying the same policy to the Asian Youth Buddhist Academy, located not far from Serthar Buddist Institute, by demolishing its premises and evicting its students.
Many Tibetans believe the Chinese government will use the Sethar Institute “model” on the Asian Youth Buddhist Academy as well. They also worry the policy will be implemented at all monasteries and Buddhist academies across Tibet.
In recent years, the Chinese government has been expanding its party organizations to control all fields, including Tibetan monasteries, Buddhist academies and even foreign companies in China.
The activities of the Communist Party as well as the daily life of monasteries and Buddhist academies are two entirely different things.
According to the Chinese government, the Party committee in an agency has the highest authority. Therefore, the Party committee established in a monastery or a Buddhist academy would mean it takes full control of the monastery.
Monks and students would not be allowed to share control, even if it relates to the education system and daily religious activities. This would have a serious impact on the learning, study and spiritual practice of Tibetan Buddhism.
No other religion would accept a communist organization being established in their convents, mosques or seminaries. It would be the greatest act of disrespect and tarnish their faith.
This is especially so, given that many religious leaders, clergy and followers from different faiths were murdered by the Chinese Communist Party in the past.
Such historical trauma has not been healed, and now the Chinese government is once again rubbing salt into the wounds of believers. It is a situation that is absolutely unacceptable to Tibetan Buddhists and all religious believers.
Now the Chinese government has announced the newly-amended “Regulations on Religious Affairs” which will be implemented on Feb. 1 next year. It marks the further hijacking of religions by the Chinese government after the Party’s 19th Congress.
The clergy and religious academics have strongly voiced their criticism about the regulations, but the harsh religious policy has already been implemented in Tibet for a long time.
In addition to the “Regulations on the Administration of Sites for Religious Activities” released by the State Council on Jan. 31, 1994 and “Regulations on Religious Affairs” implemented on Mar. 1, 2005, the Chinese government also issued specific regulations for Tibetan Buddhism.
For example, so-called “Rules Governing the Reincarnation of Tibetan Living Buddhas” were implemented on Sept. 1, 2007 and “Measures for the Administration of Tibetan Buddhism Temples” were implemented on Nov. 1, 2010.
These regulations strictly control clerics and the temples of Tibetan Buddhists.
Simultaneously, the government set up public security stations and management committees for monasteries. Government officials are stationed at monasteries to restrict cleric’s freedom of movement, preaching, practices and the study of Buddhism.
Therefore, implementation of the new regulations will worsen the situation for Tibetan Buddhists.
Tibetans believe, the integration of these so-called core values of socialism into religion reveals the Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to legitimize its rule and control people and organizations at all levels of society.
But is religion still religion if it is under the Communist Party’s total control?
“No matter what kind of religion you believe in, there is only one norm: they must obey the command of the Party and acknowledge the Communist Party’s superior position over all churches,” one Chinese blogger recently wrote.
“If you believe Christianity, the Communist Party is the God of your God; if you believe in Buddhism, the Communist Party is Buddha of your Buddha; for Muslims, the communist party is Allah of your Allah; for the living Buddha, only the Communist Party can approve who will be the living Buddha,” the blogger continued.
“The Party wants you to say what she wants you to say; do what she wants you to do. Believers of different religions should uphold their faith to follow the Party’s will. If you are not doing so, you will be suppressed by the dictatorship.”
Song Jieja is a Tibetan writer, commentator and former Chinese spokesman of the exiled Tibetan government. He is currently studying in Spain.

Canadian Foreign Minister speaks out about Tibetan political prisoners
November 13, 2017
Canada Tibet Committee, November 13, 2017 – In a response to questions about Canadian government action in defense of Tibetan political prisoners, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Chrystia Freeland, says that Canada is “closely monitoring the cases of Tibetan human rights defenders who have been detained. This includes seeking trial attendance where possible.”
Minister Freeland added that Canada has requested specific information from China about Tibet’s Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who was taken by Chinese authorities in 1995 at age 6. He has not been seen or heard from since.
The Minister’s statements came in response to written questions submitted in June 2017 by Parliamentary Friends of Tibet Vice-Chair Randall Garrison (NDP), requesting details about how the Government has applied its “Guidelines on Supporting Human Rights Defenders” in the case Tibet. Garrison also asked what progress had been made by the Canadian Embassy in Beijing in efforts to obtain permission for a Canadian diplomatic delegation to visit Gedhun Choekyi Nyima to ascertain his well-being.
In her response, Minister Freeland reiterated that the Government of Canada has called on China to allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief to visit Gedhun Choekyi Nyima in detention.
Minister Freeland also alluded to difficulties faced by Canadian Embassy officials when seeking access to Tibet, adding that Canada will “continue to seek greater access to Tibet for our diplomats, parliamentarians, NGOs, and visiting delegations”.
Members of the Canadian parliament most recently visited Tibet in August 2017, when a delegation of MPs and Senators representing the Canada-China Legislative Association toured Tibetan areas in Qinghai and Sichuan to discuss trade, tourism, and cultural exchange with local officials. It is not known if the parliamentarians raised concerns about political prisoners during their visit, or if there has been other diplomatic exchanges since.
Minister Freeland concluded her remarks by affirming that the “Government of Canada will continue to urge the Government of China to respect the rights of ethnic Tibetans and to take steps to improve the human rights situation in Tibetan areas” and that “Canada has also consistently advocated for substantive and meaningful dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama or his representatives to work toward a resolution of issues acceptable to both sides.”
Note: The Minister’s remarks are found in her response to order paper questions Q-1070 and Q-1076 at https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/house/sitting-200/hansard