China urges diplomats and U.N. to boycott Canada-US sponsored event with Dalai Lama
March 14, 2016
By Stephanie Nebehay
Reuters, March 10, 2016 – China has written to diplomats and U.N. officials urging them not to attend a Geneva event on Friday where the Dalai Lama will speak, reasserting that it opposes his appearance at all venues due to his “separatist activities”.
Reuters reported in October that China is waging a campaign of intimidation, obstruction and harassment that Western diplomats and activists say is aimed at silencing criticism of its human rights record at the United Nations.
The Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, fled to India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Communist rule. China views him as a separatist, but Tibet’s spiritual leader says he only wants genuine autonomy for his homeland.
In a letter seen by Reuters on Thursday, China’s diplomatic mission in Geneva raised objections about the presence of Tibet’s spiritual leader on the panel of Nobel laureates, being held at the Geneva Graduate Institute.
“Inviting the 14th Dalai Lama to the aforementioned event violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China, in contravention of the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter. China resolutely opposes the 14th Dalai Lama’s separatist activities in whatever capacity and in whatever name in any country, organization or event,” it said.
The letter was dated March 8, the day that the event – being sponsored by the United States and Canada – was announced.
“The Permanent Mission of China kindly requests the Permanent Missions of all Member States, U.N. agencies and relevant International Organizations not to attend the above-mentioned event, nor meet the 14th Dalai Lama and his clique.”
U.N. spokesman in Geneva Ahmad Fawzi confirmed that U.N. agencies and offices in the Swiss city had received China’s letter. “We take note but of course we are not bound by instructions from member states,” he said.
A U.S. spokesman declined to comment on the letter saying: “I refer you to Chinese authorities for their views. We do not comment on the substance of our diplomatic exchanges.”
Philippe Burrin, director of the Geneva institute, said that “pressures are being applied from various sides” but the event would not be canceled.
“This is a question of freedom of expression and academic freedom to organize an event,” he told Reuters.
“It is not an event on Tibet, it is not on a politically sensitive subject, i.e. territorial issues, but on the role of civil society in promoting human rights,” he said.
At the U.N. Human Rights Council’s main annual four-week session no delegation is expected to make a formal complaint about China but there has been criticism recently of its mass arrests of lawyers, including from the United States.
A rare joint statement criticizing that crackdown, sponsored by a dozen countries, was read out by U.S. ambassador Keith Harper to the forum on Thursday.
China’s envoy strongly rejected the censure and said the United States was hypocritical and guilty of crimes including the rape and murder of civilians.
Friday’s event, also featuring Nobel laureates from Iran and Yemen, will take place on the sidelines of the U.N. session.
U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kate Gilmore, the panel’s moderator, is believed to be one of the first senior U.N. officials to meet the Dalai Lama.
Thursday is the fifty-seventh anniversary of the beginning of the Tibetan people’s peaceful uprising against China’s invasion and occupation of Tibet.
(Editing by Louise Ireland) WTN – Canada

Unprecedented UNHRC Joint Statement Condemns China’s Problematic Violations
The United States and Western countries have criticized “China’s ongoing problematic human rights record,” in an unprecedented joint statement issued Thursday during a United Nations Human Rights Council session in Geneva.
A U.S. State Department official told VOA this joint statement is “the first collective action taken regarding China at the Human Rights Council since its inception in 2007.”
Chinese diplomat Fu Cong vigorously rejected the U.S.-led criticism. He in turn criticized the U.S. for crimes including the “rape and murder” of civilians.
Fu told the Council “the U.S. is notorious for prison abuse at Guantanamo prison; its gun violence is rampant, racism is its deep-rooted malaise.”
State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said on Thursday during the daily briefing that disagreement on human rights issues between two countries will not affect overall cooperation.
“We are by no means perfect,” said Toner, “it [human rights] remains an important part of our foreign policy agenda, and something we were continuing to pursue, not just with China, but with a number of other countries.”
The joint statement called recent cases of unexplained disappearances and apparent coerced returns of Chinese and foreign citizens from outside mainland China “unacceptable” extraterritorial actions, as well as “out of step” with the expectations of the international community and “a challenge to the rules based international order.”
Five Hong Kong booksellers, including owner Gui Minghai, have gone missing since last October. They were thought to have been abducted and taken into Beijing’s custody for selling literature banned in mainland China.
Earlier this month, two of the Causeway Bay bookshop employees were released briefly and allowed to return to Hong Kong. After they requested the police to drop their cases of missing persons, two booksellers were reported going straight back to the mainland.
The joint statement also expressed concern about the “increasing number of individuals whose confessions have been aired on state media” prior to any indictment or judicial process.
In late February, a prominent Chinese rights lawyer Zhang Kai confessed on state television to “disturbing social order.” He has been helping to defend Christians resisting authority’s orders to remove crosses from buildings. Zhang was arrested last year shortly before a planned meeting with the U.S. envoy on religious freedoms.
Following Zhang Kai’s purported confession, the State Department urged China to release Zhang and others “detained for seeking to peacefully uphold the freedom of religion guaranteed in China’s constitution.”
Human Rights Watch’s China director, Sophie Richardson, applauded the joint statement, saying it took an unprecedented and courageous stand condemning China’s relentless crackdown on human rights.
The joint statement was endorsed by the United States, Ireland, the U.K., Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

USA TODAY
U.S. should speak out for Tibet
March 10, 2016
By: Nancy Pelosi and Jim McGovern

Freedom-loving nations must call international attention to mounting Chinese human rights violations.
Last November, we led the first delegation of United States members of Congress the Chinese government has allowed to visit Tibet in more than eight years.
As we mark today’s anniversary of the 1959 uprising in Tibet, the deteriorating human rights situation throughout China is deeply troubling. However, our trip has led us to believe there is a narrow but real opportunity to encourage the Chinese government to re-evaluate its policy toward Tibet.
For decades, China has severely limited foreign officials and journalists’ access to the Tibetan Plateau. Travel to Tibet was further curtailed following the Chinese crackdown on peaceful Tibetan protesters in 2008 — and the Chinese government intensified crackdowns both immediately before and after our visit.
From the moment we landed, it was evident that the Chinese authorities wanted to present a sanitized version of Tibet. In Lhasa, the authorities attempted to control what we could see, to whom we could speak and where we could go.
Nevertheless, our delegation had the rare chance to walk through the streets and visit the historic palace, temple and monastery as representatives of the U.S. government. Despite the efforts of our handlers, we were able to see beyond the façade.
China’s harsh policies in Tibet are clearly mired in the prejudices and misconceptions of the past. In our conversations with senior Chinese officials, we were saddened by the disrespect expressed toward Tibet’s unique and precious cultural, linguistic and religious heritage — not to mention the government’s scorn for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
To make progress on the significant issues between China and Tibet, the Chinese government must set aside its outmoded attitudes toward the Tibetan people and explore the possibility of a new dialogue.
Engagement with the Dalai Lama is key for designing a future for Tibet that allows for modernization while protecting and advancing Tibetan culture, language, religion and way of life.
We believe there is an opportunity for a respectful, good faith, high-level dialogue between Chinese officials and the Dalai Lama on resolving outstanding issues regarding Tibetan autonomy and the treatment of Tibetans outside of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
During our visit, many Chinese officials who spoke with us encouraged more Americans to travel to Tibet and to China. Those statements should be honored with actions: lifting restrictions on U.S. diplomats, members of Congress, journalists and others interested in the region. The U.S. should be allowed to establish a consular office in Lhasa, in order to serve these Americans traveling to the Tibetan Plateau.
China should not fear greater openness and engagement in Tibet. The United States must emphasize this idea at the highest levels.
Sadly, the Chinese Government is showing increasing hostility toward all forms of peaceful dissent throughout China by utilizing arbitrary detention, arrest and forced disappearance of hundreds of lawyers, paralegals, law firm staff, human rights defenders and other civil society activists in Beijing.
New restrictions on freedom of expression have been enacted, especially on the Internet, in the media and in universities. The disappearance of several booksellers and publishers from Hong Kong indicates a widening crackdown by Chinese authorities against civil society everywhere.
The Chinese government has succeeded at marginalizing the discussion of grave human rights abuses in too many international forums and interactions. The democracy and human rights activists we met with in China pleaded with us for the United States to be more openly and directly engaged in these issues.
Advancing human rights is fundamental to our national values and our national security. It must be a prominent part of our conversations with the Chinese government at every level.
Our country has a responsibility to speak out in support of human rights in Tibet and elsewhere in China. If freedom-loving people do not speak out for human rights in China because of our commercial interests, then we lose our moral authority to talk about it any other place in the world.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is minority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives and a former Speaker of the House. Rep. Jim McGovern is a Massachusetts’ Democrat.

Joint Statement by Members of Parliament and Tibetan supporters of the Baltic states on Sino-Tibetan dialogue
We, the undersigned Members of Parliament of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – together with Tibetan supporters from the three Baltic States are deeply concerned and distraught over the long-lasting wave of self-immolation protests in- and outside Tibet. Since 2009, at least 143 Tibetans have resorted to self-immolation to express their grievances under the repressive policies of the Chinese government.
Such desperate and frequent protests indicate clearly that there is an inhuman pressure on the Tibetan nation and that their human, cultural and religious rights are under unbearable assault.
We were shocked by the recent Tibetan self-immolation protests which resulted in the deaths of Kalsang Wangdue and a 16-year-old student Dorjee Tsering on February 29, 2016 and the death of the Tibetan artist Dubey on February 27, 2016 after they had set themselves ablaze.
According to a number of independent reports over the past 57 years there has been no real improvement in the human rights situation in Tibet under the Chinese rule.
Therefore, we are calling upon the Chinese government to begin an immediate and meaningful dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration, both of whom embrace meaningful autonomy for Tibet within the People’s Republic of China.
As the Sikyong (elected political leader of the Tibetan people) has said in his Statement of March 10th this year: “We the Kashag of the Central Tibetan Administration firmly believe that the longstanding issue of Tibet can be resolved through dialogue between the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and representatives of the Chinese government. We remain fully committed to the Middle Way Approach, which clearly seeks genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people within China. It is hoped the leaders in Beijing will see reason with the Middle Way Approach, instead of distorting it, and step forward to engage in dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s envoys”.
We, the undersigned Members of Parliament and Baltic Tibetan supporters, are available and willing to assist resumption of a meaningful dialogue between the Chinese government and Tibetan leadership in-exile to help find a peaceful and sustainable solution for the Chinese and Tibetan nations in Tibet.
Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians share a similar history and fate with Tibetans, regarding their cultural, social and political struggle. We have the motivation and experience to facilitate the Chinese-Tibetan dialogue.
We are also calling upon the international community, in particular, the Governments and Parliaments of the Member States of the European Union as well as The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to take all possible peaceful steps to encourage dialogue and seek for a feasible solution for Tibetan nation within China.
We strongly condemn the repressive policies of the Chinese government in Tibet and urge the Chinese leadership to investigate the causes of Tibetan grievances.
At same time, we are calling on all Tibetans to stop self-immolations as a form of protest and to refrain from such drastic actions for the sake of their freedom, national interests and for promoting Tibetan cause. Tibetan brothers and sisters, we have seen your desperate sorrow and pain. You are visible enough in our hearts and eyes without any further flames.
10 March 2016
Tallinn
Riga
Vilnius
Roy Strider,
Writer, Human Rights Defender
Yoko Alender,
Member of the Parliament of Estonia,
Chairman of The Estonian Parliamentary Support Group of Tibet
Artur Talvik,
Member of the Parliament of Estonia
Andres Ammas,
Member of the Parliament of Estonia
Andres Herkel,
Member of the Parliament of Estonia
Monika Haukanõmm,
Member of the Parliament of Estonia
Lauri Luik,
Member of the Parliament of Estonia
Eerik-Niiles Kross,
Member of the Parliament of Estonia
Mart Nutt,
Member of the Parliament of Estonia
Ken-Marti Vaher,
Member of the Parliament of Estonia
Märt Läänemets,
Head, Senior Researcher, Centre for Oriental Studies University of Tartu,
President, Estonian Oriental Society
Laur Järv,
Scientist, Founder of Friends of Tibet, Estonia
Mārtiņš Šics,
Member of the Parliament of Latvia,
Chairman of the Group for parliamentary support for Tibet
Inese Laizāne,
Member of the Parliament of Latvia,
Deputy Chairperson of the Group for parliamentary support for Tibet,
Chairperson of the Human Rights and Public Affairs Committee
Ingūna Rībena,
Member of the Parliament of Latvia,
Andris Buiķis,
Member of the Parliament of Latvia
Nellija Kleinberga,
Member of the Parliament of Latvia
Kārlis Krēsliņš,
Member of the Parliament of Latvia
Janīna Kursīte-Pakule,
Member of the Parliament of Latvia
Imants Parādnieks,
Member of the Parliament of Latvia
Jānis Ruks,
Member of the Parliament of Latvia
Juris Viļums,
Member of the Parliament of Latvia
Hosams Abu Meri,
Member of the Parliament of Latvia
Artuss Kaimiņš,
Member of the Parliament of Latvia
Jānis Mārtiņš Skuja
Head of Society “Latvia for Tibet”
Agnese Bišofa,
Ganden, Buddhist Mediation Center (FPMT), Latvia
Jānis Dambītis
Ganden, Buddhist Mediation Center (FPMT), Latvia
Vadim Lazar
Riga Drikung Ngaden Choling Buddhist Center, Latvia
Margarita Putniņa,
Buddhist Nun, Latvia
Dalia Kuodytė,
Member of the Parliament of Lithuania,
Head of The Lithuanian Parliamentary Support Group of Tibet
Robertas Mažeika,
Lithuanian Tibet Support Group
Vytis Vidūnas,
Director, House of Tibet, Vilnius

Tibet closed to foreigners ahead of sensitive anniversary
February 29, 2016
CNN, February 26, 2016 – China has closed Tibet to overseas travelers from Thursday until the end of March, three travel agents told CNN, but with or without foreigners, tourism to the isolated mountain region is booming.
The closure has been an annual occurrence since 2008 when the Tibetan capital Lhasa was rocked by riots linked to the anniversary of an uprising against Beijing rule.
Authorities have also stopped issuing travel permits to foreign travelers at short notice during periodic unrest.
But tour operators and hotels say this matters little to their business, with domestic Chinese tourists eager to see the region’s yak-filled grasslands and snow-capped peaks. And authorities are equally keen to woo travelers less likely to pass on reports of protests or violence.
Chen Jianliang, a student from Shenzhen in southern China, spent 28 days cycling to Lhasa from the neighboring province of Yunnan in 2012 and loved it.
“Most people are tired of the cityscape; they go to Tibet for its serenity,” he said.
Robert Zhao, from Beijing, said he started practicing Buddhism after making a trip to Tibet.
According to the Tibet Autonomous Region Tourism Development Committee, some 17.5 million tourists visited Tibet in the first nine months of 2015, 36% more than the same period last year. It didn’t break down the number of foreign and domestic tourists.
‘Holy grail’
All foreign tourists need specific permits to enter Tibet, said Chloe Xin, an employee of Tibet Vista, which usually schedules trips for 160 foreign clients a month.
She confirmed the five-week closure but said she wasn’t clear why it was imposed.
She cited the cold weather and Tibetan new year, which falls in February and is when many drivers and tour guides take extended time off.
Another travel agency employee in the city of Chengdu who didn’t want to give their name said it was for “political reasons.”
Mei Zhang, the founder of travel agency Wild China, said the bans were initially disruptive but her company now routinely declines to take bookings for Tibet trips in March.
Most of her clients are from overseas but she says Tibet has become a “holy grail” for young Chinese travelers.
“It’s the spirituality, the exotic culture and also the stunning landscape.”
Who benefits?
Robbie Barnett, a Tibet scholar at Columbia University, says China has poured in huge sums of money to make the high-altitude region accessible for mass tourism.
“Many of the tourists travel in highly organized tour groups, which are several hundred strong and have no contact with any local person,” he says.
“But others, usually from wealthier backgrounds, are interested in Tibetan Buddhism, and see it as filling a spiritual vacuum in their lives.”
But he adds that Tibetans tend to benefit more from foreign tourists “since they want to be guided by Tibetans, want their money to go to Tibetans, and tend to prefer low-impact, sustainable forms of tourism.”
“Chinese businesses appear to benefit most from mass tourism, which mainly involves Chinese tourists,” he says.
China announced plans this week to build a ski resort in Tibet.
Wider trend
The travel situation in Tibet encapsulates a wider trend — albeit for different reasons.
From Thai beaches to the Antarctic, Chinese travelers are discovering the globe in their tens of millions.
Outbound travel soared last year, with Chinese making 120 million trips overseas last year, 13 million or 12% more than in 2014.
But foreign tourist arrivals to China have been flat or falling for several years.
Some 8.2 million foreign tourists visited China in 2015, down 680,000 or 7.6% from 2014, according to government figures.
Travelers are put off by a variety of reasons, says Zhang including smog, escalating costs and China’s reputation abroad.
“China is no longer a bargain destination and people ask me all the time about the air quality,” says Zhang.
“For older clients in their seventies, they may completely abandon their dream of a China trip.”
But smog is no problem in sparsely populated Tibet, another reason why it’s become so popular with domestic tourists from China’s polluted cities.
Chen relished the blue skies and clean air during his trek.
“The bike ride made me realize how much I could endure — both physically and mentally,” he says. “The experience has kept my mind open since.”
CNN’s Shen Lu in Beijing and Maggie Wong in Hong Kong contributed to this report

Tibetan Foreign Minister announces resignation
February 29, 2016
By Lobsang Wangyal
Tibet Sun, February 28, 2016 – Minister for the Department of Information and International Relations for the Central Tibetan Administration, Dicki Chhoyang, has resigned from her post, a few months before her term ends.
She wrote in her press statement at CTA headquarters in Dharamshala: “With a sad heart, I resigned today as Kalon for the Department of Information and International Relations for the Central Tibetan Administration.”
“My decision was made with careful deliberation, bearing in mind our collective interest and the significant challenges that lie ahead. It has been a tremendous honour to serve the Tibetan people as Kalon.”
She refused to take any questions from the journalists, but said more details will come in due course of time.
Her resignation fuelled much speculation at a time when the Tibetan election for Sikyong (Prime Minster) 2016, in three weeks on 20 March, is already rife with controversies.
Incumbent Sikyong Lobsang Sangay and his contender Penpa Tsering are the two candidates in competition for the coveted post.

New report documents systemic abuse of human rights in Tibet in 2015
February 22, 2016
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, February 19, 2016 – The TCHRD has released its 2015 Annual Report on human rights situation in Tibet. The report is available in Tibetan, English and Chinese.
In 2015, the human rights situation in Tibet did not improve and China continued to violate international law. At the same time, more and more issues involving Tibet have become issues of international concern. Ranging from the environment to the right to privacy to the treatment of Tibetans abroad, it is increasingly difficult for China to dismiss international attention and consideration. As China continues to violate human rights, it is also working to increase the legal justifications for repression.
In 2015, policies were implemented and laws passed to increase mass surveillance. Religious figures were targeted for disappearance, detention, and, sometimes, death. Local Chinese police also detained monks and laypeople, and in many cases, they used pretence to detain community leaders, who are frequently religious leaders.
Despite the global attention in Paris to reducing climate change, China has prioritized rhetoric over substance and failed to implement policies to actually protect and preserve the unique and fragile ecosystem in Tibet.
China passed laws on national security and counterterrorism that appear to do little but provide China with a convenient pretext to continue violating human rights. Also in 2015, China launched one of the largest crackdowns on human rights lawyers in recent history.
The trend of abusing human rights to silence dissent was frequently used in Tibet where solo protesters were quickly arrested and artists, poets, and intellectuals targeted for arrest.
Internationally, the rule of law prevailed despite attempts by States to please the Chinese by crushing dissent. In the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Australia, Tibetans exercising their right to peacefully protest were detained. In all three cases, pro-Tibet activists were released and not charged with crimes. However, it remains discouraging that the activists were detained in the first place.

To download the report, http://www.tchrd.org/annual-report-2015/

How Tibet’s epidemic of self-immolation threatens the Chinese government
February 8, 2016
By Tsering Woeser
The New Republic, February 5, 2016 – February 27, 2009, was the third day of Losar, the Tibetan New Year. It was also the day that self-immolation came to Tibet. The authorities had just cancelled a Great Prayer Festival (Monlam) to commemorate the victims of the government crackdown in 2008. A monk by the name of Tapey stepped out of the Kirti Monastery and set his body alight on the streets of Ngawa, in the region known in Tibetan as Amdo, a place of great religious reverence and relevance, now designated as part of China’s Sichuan Province. Losar is usually a celebratory festival, but it was marked by the majority of Tibetans in 2009 in silent mourning—a mourning that continues to this day. On account of the unrelenting government suppression that followed in the wake of protests across Tibet the year before, a slogan has spread secretly among the people of Tibet: “No Losar.” Tibetans had decided not to celebrate Losar, as a means of resisting Chinese rule. And continuing this resistance, Tapey’s final act would become the beginning of a series of self-immolations that have spread across Tibet and beyond in recent years.
Signal
These protestors undergo the ultimate pain of burning each and every cell of their bodies, without harming other living beings, simply to make their voices and grievances heard. Since that day in February 2009 when the flames of protest were first lit in Tibet, I have documented every act of self-immolation and shared this information on my blog. I have provided daily updates, just as I first chronicled the protest movement of 2008.
Back in February of 2009, as I read about Tapey’s final act, I never could have imagined that so many Tibetans would sacrifice their bodies and lives to these flames, in a series of protests unlike any that the world had ever seen. And I certainly never could have predicted that my blogging would barely be able to keep pace with the lives sacrificed for this cause. In Ngawa alone, thirty-nine more people have followed in Tapey’s footsteps. At least ten Tibetans have given themselves to the flames on the same street where Tapey self-immolated; it is now known among Tibetans as “Heroes’ Lane.” As of July 9, 2015, 146 Tibetans have chosen the path of self-immolation. This is unprecedented in human history.
The residents of Amchock are known for their devoutness and their unyielding struggles against Chinese rule. In the 1950s, almost all of the nomadic tribes of Amchok engaged in a lengthy uprising against the CCP’s army—a struggle that ended in state suppression that drove them nearly to the point of extinction. One of the few texts to explore this history is Tenzin Palbar’s unforgettable memoir The Tragic History of My Fatherland. In no uncertain terms, its author describes a “cruel and inhuman massacre” in which courageous local resistance fighters against CCP rule faced a well-armed opponent with no qualms about using the harshest means to crush rebels and punish the populace.
Amchok is located within the larger Amdo region, and any discussion of history or the contemporary situation here must begin with the year 1958. It was in 1958 that the Chinese army and government perpetrated a human tragedy that affected nearly every family across Tibet, but especially here. This history is engraved deeply in the hearts and minds of the Tibetan people, so that some refer to the Cultural Revolution simply as “1958,” despite the fact that the Cultural Revolution did not begin until 1966. The year 1958 has become a shorthand for tragedy—a symbolic gathering point for all of the misfortunes that befell us after “liberation.”
Since 2009, twenty-one people in the Kanlho (Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture have self-immolated. Other than one middle school student and another youth working in Lhasa, all of the self-immolators were nomads. In Amchok alone, there have been four cases of nomads committing self-immolation, while at least sixteen out of Kanlho’s twenty-one self-immolations have been carried out by members of the traditional nomadic tribes of Amchok—survivors or descendants of the “rebel bandits” slaughtered in the 1950s.
On January 12, 2013, a twenty-two-year-old nomad from Amchok, Tsering Tashi, followed the path of self-immolation. That morning, he had put on a clean set of traditional Tibetan clothes and let out his livestock to graze. Around noon, he wrapped his body in wire and then walked into town. His family had no idea of where he was going or what he was about to do.
Its roads not even paved, Amchok township is the type of simple and nondescript small town that you will find in many Tibetan areas. No one saw Tsering Tashi pouring the gasoline onto his body, but we do know that the iron wire wrapped around him made his clothing, soaked in gasoline, burn even more intensely. There, on the dirt road in Amchok, Tsering Tashi set his body alight, as he repeatedly called out a Tibetan term of respect and endearment for the Dalai Lama: “Oh Gyalwa Tenzin Gyatso, oh Gyalwa Tenzin Gyatso . . .”
Soon he fell to the ground. The military police arrived and tried to take his body away, but the people surrounding him kept them away, reciting prayers as the flames continued to consume his charred corpse, then lifting up his body and walking past the heavily armed military police to bring him home. Neighbors, family members, and monks brought khatas and conducted a final heartfelt prayer ceremony for him. But officials and public security arrived soon thereafter, demanding that Tsering Tashi’s grieving family cremate him immediately. One official, beating his fist on the family’s table, declared: “Your family has ties to the ‘splittist Dalai Lama clique.’”
More police soon arrived to seal off the entrance to the village, in order to block people from nearby villages coming to pay their final respects. Concerned for the safety of his family and his entire village, Tsering Tashi’s father agreed to have his son’s body creamated that night. Unable to cope with all that was happening around her, his mother passed out and had to be taken to the hospital. In the middle of that cold, dark night, under official monitoring that felt even colder, Tsering Tashi was yet again engulfed in flames, completing his final sacrifice.
In late 2012, my husband Wang Lixiong, a Chinese scholar engaged in the research on Tibet, analyzed the twenty-six final statements from self-immolators available at that time. Wang’s approach was based in his belief that interpreting protestors’ final statements was essential to understanding these acts: even if some statements were only a few words long, he felt certain that classifying them into categories and analyzing their most common themes could provide a clearer picture of the aspirations behind these acts of protest.
Today, more than three years later, we have access to a significantly larger sample of forty-nine final statements. They include written statements, recordings, and comments made to friends and family. Of the forty-nine cases of self-immolation represented by these statements, forty-four self-immolators are deceased, while two recovered and are living in exile, and the fate of three others remains unknown.
Facing unimaginable pain in order to voice support for all suffering Tibetans, while at the same time maintaining one’s sense of dignity within a dehumanizing political environment, self-immolation enacts an extreme form of self-sublimation. “They think we are scared of their weapons and their repression, but they are wrong,” wrote Tenzin Phuntsok in a leaflet he distributed before his self-immolation at the age of forty-six. “My head held high, I step forward and set my body alight . . . for the dignity of Nangdrol, and for the Tibetan people, to whom I owe unending gratitude” wrote Nangdrol, an eighteen-year-old who self-immolated in Ngawa in 2012. “I am willing to take on this pain for the multitudes of living beings who are suffering,” wrote Rechok, a mother of three who set her body alight and died outside a monastery in Ngawa’s Barma Township in 2012. “I am willing to sacrifice my body and my blood to show my support and respect,” wrote Golok Tulku Sobha Rinpoche, the most senior monastic figure to have self-immolated.
These protestors undergo the ultimate pain of burning each and every cell of their bodies, without harming other living beings, simply to make their voices and grievances heard. Yet the Chinese government has labeled them “terrorists.” The Chinese government has declared self-immolation a crime, thus making those who commit this act “criminals.” And the state has furthermore unveiled an ambitious “campaign against self-immolation” that extends throughout Tibetan areas of the country. One aspect of this campaign has been collective punishment of the Tibetan community, including the arrest and sentencing of relatives, friends, and neighbors of self-immolators. Another has been a resolute blockade on any and all information related to instances of self-immolation. In this environment, news of such incidents only manages to find its way out of Tibet days, weeks, or even months after the fact. And because of this information blockade, the real number of self-immolations may be considerably higher than is currently known.
Can self-immolation really resolve the issues facing Tibet? No one knows for sure. But as Tenzin Phuntsok wrote in his final statement, these protestors are “unable to go on just waiting for the rest of their lives.” As heartbreaking as this may seem, this statement merits careful consideration by anyone who hopes to understand the origins and motivations of this wave of self-immolations: the need to take action, and to make one’s voice heard in an environment in which there is no other means of doing so.
Readers should not that there is not the slightest trace of violence in any of these statements: the action they refer to is of a different type. The Tibetan people’s religious beliefs, combined with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s unwavering stance on nonviolence, place strong restraints upon our people. These teachings are embodied in the act of self-immolation: the self can be annihilated, but no one else may be harmed. Choepak Kyap and Sonam, two young men in their twenties who self-immolated together in Ngawa’s Barma Township in 2012, left a final statement in which they explicitly stated: “We do not want anyone else to be harmed.”
The final statements of nine self-immolators clearly articulated protests against the Chinese government, or demands directed at it. Furthermore, a number of protestors have shouted protest slogans at the moment of immolation, such as “Allow His Holiness the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet!” “Free Tibet!” and “Release the Panchen Lama!” Finally, even in those cases where no final statement was left and no slogans were shouted, self-immolation in itself is clearly a deeply symbolic act of protest and demand for change in Tibet.
Tsering Woeser is a Beijing-based writer and blogger. This article is excerpted from her book, Tibet on Fire: Self-Immolation Against Chinese Rule.

High ranking monks detained for holding prayer ceremony for the Dalai Lama
February 15, 2016
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, February 8, 2016 – Chinese authorities have arbitrarily detained two high-ranking monks of Chogri Monastery in connection with a mass prayer ceremony held recently for the good health and well-being of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Drango (Ch: Luhuo) County in Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham.
According to reliable information received by TCHRD, the abbot named Pagah and Geshe Orgyen of Chogri Monastery were recently detained after a mass prayer ceremony was organized on 25 January by both the monastic and lay community in Tehor Township in Drango County.
The prayer ceremony was held following the news of the Dalai Lama’s medical treatment at the Mayo Clinic in the United States. In and out of Tibet, the news of the mass prayer ceremony at Chogri Monastery spread widely on social media platforms. Despite this, no immediate detention or arrests were made by the local authorities in Tehor.
However, on 31 January, local authorities issued an order banning the display of the Dalai Lama’s photos in shops and places where crowds gather. The order signed by four different local offices including the Drango County Cultural Tourism Bureau, Drango County Public Security Bureau and County Religious Affairs Bureau, further announced that display of the Dalai Lama’s photos sends the wrong message to the masses and called for mandatory submission of all photos of Dalai Lama by 2 February. Those defying the order would be dealt with severely, according to the order.
Abbot Pagah and Geshe Orgyen were most likely detained in the first week of this month, although TCHRD source is unable to confirm the exact date. Pagah is almost 40 years old and hails from Tsogo Township in Drango County. Geshe Orgyen is about 50 years old and was born in Tehor Township. Both had completed their religious education in south India before returning to Tibet: Pagah from Drepung Monastery in Mungod and Orgyen from Sera Monastery in Bylakuppe in the Indian state of Karnataka.
Following the detention of the abbot and the senior monk of Chogri Monastery, local authorities have deployed a large number of Chinese security forces to monitor and control both the monastic and lay community in Tehor.

Tibetan Man Who Refused to Fly Chinese Flag Dies in Prison
2016-02-08
A Tibetan man has died from injuries sustained under torture by Chinese authorities while serving a 13-year prison sentence for refusing to fly a Chinese flag, sources tell RFA’s Tibetan service.
The body of the man known as Trigyal was recently turned over to family members, said Driru Samdrub, a Tibetan resident living in Europe with close contacts in the region.
“He died due to severe torture under Chinese detention,” Samdrub said.
Trigyal was one of three men from Mukhyim village in Tibet’s restive Driru (in Chinese, Biru) county who received stiff sentences for refusing to fly the Chinese national flag in 2014. County residents were being required to fly the flag from their houses in a government campaign to force them to show loyalty to Beijing. Some of the more than 1,000 residents protesting the order threw the flags in a nearby river.
While Trigyal was given a 13 year sentence in 2014, the two other men, Ngangdrak and Rigsal, were handed 10-year terms, sources told RFA in earlier reports.
Driru is one of three neighboring counties in the Tibet Autonomous Region’s Nagchu (Naqu) prefecture that Beijing considers “politically unstable.” Chinese authorities fear that political unrest there may spread unchecked to other parts of the region.
Loyalty campaign
About 1,000 Driru-area Tibetans were detained when authorities launched a crackdown in September 2014 designed to enforce the loyalty campaign, sources say.
The campaign intensified in early October 2014 when villagers refused to fly Chinese national flags, throwing them instead into a river and prompting a deadly security crackdown in which Chinese police fired into unarmed crowds.
Chinese security forces were accused of killing four Tibetan villagers and wounding 50 others in 2013 during Driru-area opposing the government campaign forcing displays of loyalty to the Chinese state.
Bachen Gyalwa, the leader of Ushung village in Driru county’s Gyashoe Yangshok township was killed on Nov. 21, 2014 “on the orders of the local [ruling Chinese] Communist Party authorities,” the India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) said in a statement at the time.
Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijing’s rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008.
Reported by Sonam Wangdue for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.