Top Chinese official in Tibet wants Buddhist temples to spread propaganda
By Ishaan Tharoor April 3
China’s top-ranking official in Tibet wants monks in the restive far western region to “revere” science and embrace the “warmth” of Chinese Communist Party ideology.
An article, cited by Reuters, written in a prominent fortnightly party magazine by Chen Quanguo, Tibet’s Communist Party boss, urged Tibet’s nearly 50,000 monks to see Beijing officialdom as “friends.”
That’s a bit of a tricky sell, given China’s long history of repression in Tibet, its demonizing of the exiled Dalai Lama and the recurring gruesome tactic of self-immolation practiced by Tibetan monks protesting the Chinese state.
But Chen espouses the longstanding party line, arguing that, since its annexation by China in 1950, Tibetans have benefited from throwing off the shackles of their thralldom to Tibet’s powerful lamas. In his article, Chen indicates that Tibet’s hundreds of temples should recognize Beijing’s vision of modernity.
“Let the monks and nuns in the temples and monasteries have a personal feeling of the party and government’s care and warmth; let them feel the party’s benevolence, listen to the party’s words and follow the party’s path,” Chen writes in party journal Qiushi, which means “seeking truth.”
He adds: “Monks and nuns should not have to go out of their temples or monasteries to understand the party and government’s policies and social progress, or Tibet’s peace, stability and good fortune, so as to be guided to follow a path of revering scientific culture.”
This may sound benign, but there is an edge to the message. Stability and vigilance against any inkling of separatism are mantras of Beijing’s one-party authoritarian state. Religion — particularly the Buddhism of Tibetans and the Islam of Uighurs in the neighboring restive region of Xinjiang — have long posed an implicit threat to Communist party ideology.
Chen’s insistence on reverence for “scientific culture” is Beijing’s way of saying minority religious practices need to be better controlled. Last year, in remarks addressing counterterrorism measures, Chinese President Xi Jinping insisted “patriotic clergy” in Xinjiang should help their co-religionists “adapt to a socialist society.”
In the months since, Chinese authorities in the region have embarked on a widespread crackdown on Islamic and Uighur cultural practices, including the wearing of burqas and bans even on the growing of lengthy beards. According to my colleagues, they have even embarked on an Orwellian scheme where families in parts of Xinjiang sign “de-radicalization pledges” and encourage locals to report on each other.
This wasn’t the first time Chen made a strong statement regarding religion in Tibet. Two years ago, also in Qiushi, he insisted that China must instruct people in Tibet “to be grateful to the Party, listen to the Party and follow the Party.”
A spokesman from the toothless Tibetan-government-in-exile, based in India, offered this retort: “Ironically, [Chen] is expressing the kind of imperialist mentality that the Communist Party criticizes and claims to fight against.”
Ishaan Tharoor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. He previously was a senior editor at TIME, based first in Hong Kong and later in New York.

The Golden Urn
March 21, 2015 3:05 pm
20150321_CND000_0The Economists, 21 March 2015
Even China accepts that only the Dalai Lama can legitimise its rule in Tibet
WHEN the 13th Dalai Lama died in 1933, the body of Tibet’s spiritual leader was placed in state on a throne at the Norbulingka, his summer palace in the capital, Lhasa. It faced south. Twice, however, overnight, its head had turned to the east. Also pointing east, a star-shaped fungus mysteriously sprouted on a pillar in the room. In the trances to which they were prone, state oracles tossed khatak, ceremonial scarves, to the east. Taking the hints, parties searching for the reincarnation of the dead lama headed in that direction, looking, in accordance with tradition, for an infant born at around the time of his death. They eventually identified the young Tenzin Gyatso as the 14th Dalai Lama.
That incarnation will turn 80 this year and, though in good health, he is given to musing about his own death and reincarnation. It would be “logical”, he has suggested, for the reincarnation to be like him, in exile from Tibet, which he has not been able to visit since fleeing from the Chinese suppression of an uprising in 1959. Perhaps the 15th Dalai Lama might be female. Or perhaps the institution of the Dalai Lama, being man-made, might end, if the Tibetan people feel they do not need it.
The theology of Tibetan Buddhism seems an improbable area of expertise for the Chinese Communist Party. But the Dalai Lama’s latest suggestion that he may be the last in the line has provoked fury from Chinese spokesmen and the official press. Padma Choling, the (ethnic-Tibetan) governor of the “Special Autonomous Region” of Tibet, accused the Dalai Lama of “profaning religion and Tibetan Buddhism”. A party paper, the splenetic Global Times, far from finding it presumptuous to criticise the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, who is also its leading theologian, accused him of “spouting nonsense”.
In part this is an argument over history and China’s “inalienable sovereignty” over Tibet. Mr Padma Choling argued that the 14th Dalai Lama had only been able to assume his role because the “central government” (ie, China) approved. This is nonsense. The search that began with the signs pointing eastward was complicated. It involved visions appearing in a holy lake; the advice of the Panchen Lama, another revered monk, who had identified three interesting boys near Kumbum monastery, in what is now Qinghai province in China; the boys being asked to recognise some of the previous incarnation’s belongings; the auspicious intervention of the first cuckoo of spring; and a long negotiation to extricate the boy from Chinese control and bring him to Lhasa. While he was on his way, the Tibetan government and national assembly declared him to be the 14th Dalai Lama. China’s government at the time—of the Kuomintang, or Nationalist party—sent a representative to the enthronement. As China sees it, the recognition of the incarnation requires the drawing of lots from a golden urn, overseen, traditionally, by the envoy of the Chinese emperor. In this case, China claims implausibly, its man gave permission for that procedure to be waived.
So the party, unembarrassed about assuming the alleged role of the emperor, is intent on meddling in every reincarnation—and it is not just the most senior lamas who are reincarnated. Those who have achieved enlightenment can opt to be reborn, to help those less blessed. In 2007 the Chinese government tried to formalise its control over the process. In “Order Number Five” of the State Administration of Religious Affairs it listed “management measures for the reincarnation of living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism”. To be a living Buddha in China these days, you need a “living Buddha permit” from the government.
After all, from China’s point of view, reincarnation has gone badly wrong in the past. After the death of the tenth Panchen Lama in 1989, two rival candidates were named as the reincarnation. One boy, recognised by the Dalai Lama, was taken from his home in 1995, aged six, and has not been seen since; he is probably under close watch by Chinese officials. Another candidate, recognised by China, lacks credibility among Tibetans—although this month he tried to garner support by speaking out on the need for more monks. Just as bad is the fate of the 17th Karmapa Lama, another figure of great religious significance. In 1992 Ogyen Trinley Dorje was recognised by both China and the Dalai Lama as the Karmapa. Feted and nurtured by China to help bolster its rule in Tibet, the young monk rejected it in the most dramatic way, fleeing to India in 1999 when he was 14.
Given this history, you might expect China to heave a sigh of relief should the 14th Dalai Lama decide to be the last. It is a sign of the bankruptcy of its Tibet policies that, on the contrary, it seems to have decided that only the Dalai Lama can give it the legitimacy it seeks among ordinary Tibetans. Mercifully, the number of Tibetans burning themselves to death to protest against Chinese rule and to call for the Dalai Lama’s return from exile has fallen sharply. But this month a 47-year-old woman became the 137th known case since 2009. Since riots and protests in 2008, repression has been heavy, and it is always heavier in March, around the anniversary of the crushed uprising in 1959.
Come in, number 14
The great mystery about China’s policy is why it seems to have decided that its best hope lies with the next Dalai Lama, not this one. Unlike many Tibetans, he has accepted Chinese sovereignty. He has used his enormous prestige to urge Tibetans to refrain from violent resistance. China faces a far more serious threat from the mainly Muslim ethnic Uighurs in the neighbouring region of Xinjiang. To safeguard its internal security, placate its disgruntled Tibetan citizens and improve its international reputation, common sense suggests China should start talking seriously to the 14th Dalai Lama. As its spokesmen pose preposterously as arbiters of the arcana of reincarnation, they just could be providing cover for such an about-face. That may be an optimistic interpretation, but others are almost too depressing to contemplate.

Parliament amends charter for one new seat in Parliament for Austro-Asia and Asia
March 28, 2015 1:09 pm
DHARAMSHALA: The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile unanimously passed a resolution yesterday to amend the Tibetan Charter to allow one new parliamentary seat for Tibetans in Austro-Asia and Asia, which includes Australia, New Zealand and Asia (excluding India, Nepal and Bhutan).
Twenty-nine members of the Tibetan Parliament voted in favour of the creation of the new seat, after which the Charter was duly amended. An amendment to the charter requires the support of two-thirds of the total membership of the House.
The amendment came according to Article 37 of the Tibetan Charter, which states that, “the Tibetan Parliament may increase the number of its regional members as and when required.”
The current membership of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile is 44, comprising of 10 representatives each from the three traditional provinces of Tibet, 2 each from the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon religion, and 2 each from Europe and North America.

Dalai Lama’s Former Envoy, Experts Talk Tibet’s Dialogue Process with Chinese Leadership
March 26, 2015 8:43 am
By Tsewang Rigzin, Emory University
Emory kicked off the 15th annual Tibet Week with a live Mandala art painting exhibition by the monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery at the Michael C. Carlos Museum on Monday.
On Monday evening, panel titled: The China-Tibet Dialogue and its Implication for International Conflict Resolution: A Conversation with Lodi Gyari Rinpoche and Dr. Paul Zwier. Gyari Rinpoche was the former principle envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama who conducted nine rounds of high level talks with Chinese Leadership (2002-2010) and led an extensive behind the scene diplomatic effort to sustain the process, expand the Channels of communication, build trust with Chinese leadership and maintain broad international interest in the dialogue process. He resigned from the post of lead negotiator on May 2012. Dr. Paul Zwier is professor of Law at Emory Law School. He is one of the leading experts on International conflict resolution and advocacy.
As a representative of future generation of China and Tibet, the Panel also comprised of Emory Chinese student Richard Sui, the Co-chair and Co-founder of Student association called China-Tibet Initiative at Emory University and Tsewang Rigzin, a Tibetan Fulbright Scholar and a graduate student of Development Practice.
On the panel, the two hosts, in addition to two Emory student speakers, discussed about the complexity of China-Tibet conflict and the past, present, and future of ongoing negotiation between Tibetan representatives and Chinese leaders.
Despite fallouts in negotiations between China and Tibet, Gyari Rinpoche said he believed that ultimately, “there will certainly be a major breakthrough.” However, the issue, he added, is not about the Dalai Lama’s relationship with China, but rather about the Tibetan people’s relationship with China.
“The Tibet struggle is much more than slogans,” the keynote speaker Lodi Gyari Rinpoche said. “[It’s about the] preservation of the distinctive cultural heritage of Tibetan people, that actually defines us as Tibetan.”
Professor Paul proposed finding commonality between the concerns of Chinese Government and Tibetan people to re initiate the stalemate dialogue process before addressing the differences on part of execution of institutional process.
The two student speakers — Richard Sui, a College senior and the co-founder of the China-Tibet Initiative at Emory and Tsewang Rigzin, an Emory graduate student of Development Practice discussed their personal perspectives to the China-Tibet conflict and its dialogue process.
Sui, a Chinese student studying at Emory, said he initially learned about hostility between Tibet and China while he lived in China. He said that he was subject to the ubiquitous idea that Tibetans are unfriendly. There has been a lot of tension between China and Tibet as the Chinese claim rule over this region while Tibetans believe in the right to autonomy.
Sui described a hesitant dinner he shared with some Tibetan monks studying at Emory. He said the meal, which a friend took him to, transformed his outlook on China-Tibetan relations. There was a huge difference, he said, between what he learned in China, and what the monks were like.
Sui said he saw that Tibetans were normal everyday people who even watched Netflix. Not long after this dinner in 2011, he created the China-Tibet Initiative, through which, he said, “we [Chinese students] can find [an importance in Tibet] greater than politics.”
Rigzin, the other student speaker —said “as a student of International law and International conflict resolution, I believe that the failure on part of international community to give due attention on peaceful conflict resolution set a very negative example and very soon people might very well cite an example of Tibet by saying look at Tibet, they tried to resolve their conflict in peaceful means through dialogue process for over fifty years and got nothing out of that. It also implicitly encourages parties involved in any conflict to be more violent to garner more international attention”
Rigzin also described how Middle Way Policy, formulated by the Dalai Lama to resolve China-Tibet conflict, could be a win-win proposal for both China and Tibet. In-spite of this great compromised proposal, Rigzin said, Chinese side failed to appreciate this idea and that saddens him as a Tibetan.
Rigzin also described how this conflict affects him at personal level, as he is not able to see his family for many years since he left Tibet in 1992.
“…However there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” Rigzin said. Eventually, he added, he is optimistic that the Dalai Lama will be able to return to Tibet, and all these separated families will be reunited and Tibet will soon see this new light of freedom.
Yucheng Lu, a College freshman who attended the talk, said that the talk was “very enlightening.” “It was great to see experts in the field [and] to be able to ask questions,” Lu said.
For the Mandala painting Monday afternoon, the Drepung Loseling Monastery monks drew designs with chalk and white pencil and filled them with colored sand across a table to create Mandala paintings. The monks memorized and repeated the steps of creating the mandala through the construction of geometric objects and shapes within the design, according to Geshe Phende, one of the monks. The technique used in the creation of the mandala is known as “circling,” and the category is known as a “Mandala of compassion,” Geshi Phende said.
Geshi Phende added that the painting closely resembled the Palace of Mandala, a Buddhist palace occupied by Gods and Buddhas. Geshi Phende further said that everything had to be correctly aligned geometrically, because “if you miss one area [of the painting] then it will mess up all [of] the map.”
College freshman Julia Mulliez said the painting was an awe-inspiring experience.
“[It] sounded like a lot of patience and concentration,” she said. “When I tried doing it myself, it was hard to control the sand’s movement and required an immense amount of focus.”
Emory held the first Tibet Week in 2001 to improve the relationship between the University and Tibet.
The Emory-Tibet Partnership, which was established in 1998, stemmed from the formal academic affiliation between Emory University and the Drepung Loseling Monastery, according to Jim Wynn, the Emory-Tibet Partnership’s project coordinator. Geshi Lobsang Tenzin Negi is the director of Emory-Tibet Partnership since its inception.
“The Emory-Tibet Partnership has grown tremendously,” Wynn wrote in an email to the Wheel. The events throughout the week include a discussion titled “A Legacy of Compassion: Why Tibetan Monastics Matter in the 21st Century” on Tuesday, a forum called “The Healing Power of Compassion: Insights for Patients, Caregivers and Healthcare Practitioners” on Wednesday, a talk titled “The Dalai Lama’s Vision for Secular Ethics — Cultivating an Education of Heart and Mind” on Thursday along with daily guided Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) meditations from 5 to 6 p.m.

Foreign reporters ‘welcome’ to visit Tibet soon, China says
March 16, 2015
LA Times, March 9, 2015 – After years of promises to open access to Tibet, Chinese officials suggested Monday that overseas reporters might be allowed to visit the highly restricted region as authorities plan events to mark the 50th anniversary of the Tibet Autonomous Region this year.
Two years after Communists won control of China in 1949, Mao Tse-tung’s troops marched into Tibet. Since then, Beijing has firmly controlled the area — despite designating it as an autonomous region in 1965 – and has spent billions of dollars trying to integrate the sparsely populated expanse, which accounts for more than a quarter of China’s landmass.
For decades, the region has witnessed a cycle of uprisings and crackdowns, including serious riots in 2008. Some in China claimed that foreign media outlets were biased in their coverage of the riots; protests were held outside several offices of U.S. media organizations, including the office of CNN in Los Angeles.
Chinese authorities barred foreign journalists from visiting the region after that March 2008 violence. Since then, firsthand coverage of Tibet in the Western media has become extremely rare, though Western tourists are allowed to visit. Western reporters based in China have found that visiting Tibet can be as difficult as trying to enter North Korea.
“Large parts of Chinese territory remain officially or effectively out of bounds for foreign correspondents,” the Foreign Correspondents Club of China said in a report this year. “The 2008 rules prevent foreign reporters from visiting the Tibet Autonomous Region without prior permission from the regional government. Such permission has only rarely been granted in recent years.”
But speaking Monday on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress in Beijing, a senior official from Tibet claimed that there was no ban on foreign journalists traveling to the region.
“To be honest, we don’t have a policy in Tibet that dictates those who can come and those who cannot come,” Padma Choling, chairman of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region, said during a question-and-answer session with the media after his panel held an open group meeting.
“Especially, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region,” he said. “We will hold major events to demonstrate the results of development and growth of the area since then. We welcome all of you to come.”
Ethnic Tibetans living in the Tibet Autonomous Region and neighboring areas of Sichuan and Gansu provinces have engaged in self-immolation as a form of protest against Chinese rule in recent years. According to figures compiled by the Tibetan activist and writer Woeser, 135 Tibetans have attempted to set themselves on fire between February 2009 and December 2014, and 119 of them have died.
The advocacy group Free Tibet reported that a woman in her 40s set herself on fire in eastern Tibet and died Friday; no independent confirmation was possible.
The riots and self-immolations have apparently contributed to authorities’ reluctance to allow foreign reporters to visit Tibet and interview locals. Last year, an L.A. Times correspondent submitted an application to visit the region, and it took the local propaganda office in Tibet more than a month to respond, declining the request without specific reasons.
The autonomous region’s 50th anniversary will be marked in September, and Choling said China has much to be proud of.
“The economic development and the safety of ordinary people in Tibet has never been better in history,” he said. “The sense of happiness and safety among Tibetans is at its best.”
Tommy Yang in the Times’ Beijing bureau contributed to this report.

Chinese Police Shoot Tibetan Youth Who Refused Traffic Stop
2015-03-10
Chinese authorities shot and wounded a Tibetan youth Tuesday who refused to yield to police for a traffic stop while making his way to attend a prayer ritual, according to a source inside Tibet.
A source who spoke with RFA’s Tibetan Service said a young Tibetan named Tamdin from the Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous prefecture in southwestern China’s Sichuan province was traveling with two friends by motorbike when police attempted to pull them over.
“On March 10, three Tibetan youths of Dronru village, in Draggo (Luhuo) county’s Dhado town … were travelling on their motorcycles with prayer flags flying on the back,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The police tried to stop them, but the Tibetan youths refused to stop. They claimed that they were clearly going to an incense burning rituals to fly prayer flags, adding that it was their right to do so as all other Tibetans hang prayer flags and pray,” he said.
“When they continued on their motorbikes, the police fired at them and … Tamdin, the son of the Dronru Dak Kar family, was hit [in the leg] and injured in the shooting.”
According to the source, the other two youths managed to escape into a nearby field, leaving Tamdin behind on the road.
The source did not say whether Tamdin had been taken into police custody or was allowed to return to his family.
“After this incident, the Chinese authorities clamped down tightly on Draggo county,” he said.
On Jan. 23, 2012 police in Draggo county fired on Tibetan protesters calling for Tibetan freedom, killing two and injuring at least 30.
The protest began when Chinese authorities insisted that local Tibetans celebrate the Lunar New Year against the wishes of residents saddened by earlier protest deaths, according to sources.
Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijing’s rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since 2008, with 137 Tibetans to date self-immolating to protest Beijing’s rule and call for the return of the Dalai Lama.
Reported by Yangdon Demo for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

Statement on 56th Tibetan National Uprising Day
by Tibetan National Congress (TNC)
March 10, 2015, marks the 56th anniversary of the Tibetan people’s uprising against the Chinese occupation army in Tibet. Women and men, laity and clergy, and citizens from all classes and regions united to form a human wall around the Norbulingka Summer Palace to protect His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They had one unified message: Tibet belongs to Tibetans.
The Tibetan people in March 1959 knew that the Chinese Communists could not be trusted. The Tibetan people knew that His Holiness was not just being “invited” to a “musical performance” at the Chinese military encampment without bodyguards. The Tibetan people rose up to say: “Enough ! We are Tibetans and this is Tibet, not China!” Their courage and moral clarity resonates to this very day.
The Chinese military responded with ferocious violence, resulting in the slaughter of tens of thousands in the streets of Lhasa and the Tibetan countryside. It was a defining moment in Tibetan history when the people united to assert their right to a free and independent country. It also led to the subsequent escape of His Holiness and tens of thousands of Tibetans to freedom in exile in India.
Besides the continuing protests and uprisings that have taken place in Tibet since 1959, in the last few years 143 Tibetans have self-immolated to demand a free Tibet and the return of His Holiness. This is a clear indication of China’s failure to dominate the Tibetan spirit and to reduce us to just another Chinese “minority”. Those of us in exile must continue to be guided by what our sisters and brothers inside Tibet are saying.
On the international front, China continues its aggressive infringement of the sovereignty of its neighbors such as India, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, and others. But the tide is turning. Tibetan exiles and supporters have had successes in challenging China’s attempts to spread its anti-democratic values to the free world. Recently, the Confucius Institute, China’s flagship propaganda program to influence and control Western educational institutions, was a dealt a major blow when the Canadian Association of University Teachers called for an end to Confucius Institutes in Canada, declaring it in direct contravention of academic freedom. A similar decision not to renew partnership with the Confucius Institute was implemented by the University of Chicago.
China was also dealt a major international embarrassment when their pressure on the government of South Africa to deny His Holiness a visa to attend a conference of Nobel Peace Laureates in that country backfired. Instead, the whole conference was relocated to Rome. This campaign to relocate the conference — led by a number of Nobel Laureates, the Tibetan National Congress ( TNC ), and supporters worldwide — is a clear demonstration that China’s campaign to undermine human freedom can be successfully resisted. Indeed, as Buddhists, we believe that the Chinese empire is impermanent, and Tibet will be free.
​TNC is committed to the struggle for the restoration of Tibet’s independence, and the right of all Tibetan people to live in a free and democratic nation. TNC pays homage to the patriots who were willing to sacrifice everything for their nation. On this sacred day, with reverence for and remembrance of all those brave Tibetans who made the greatest sacrifice for our country, we pledge to continue the struggle until Tibet is once more free and independent.
Bod Gyalo!
Long Live His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet.

Statement of Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay on the 56th Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day
March 10, 2015 8:56 am
Lobsang-Sangay, at-Tsulakhang,
We are gathered here to remember the brave men and women who gave their lives for the cause of Tibet fifty-six years ago. We are also gathered here to remind ourselves to carry forward the non-violent struggle of the Tibetan people with great determination, courage and resolve.
My fellow Tibetans, I report to you that the situation in Tibet remains grim but the enduring spirit of Tibetan people is strong and getting stronger. Ever since the 2008 peaceful protests erupted, and the ongoing self-immolation protests throughout the plateau, Tibet is under virtual lockdown. Restrictions on movements of Tibetans have greatly intensified. At multiple checkpoints in major urban centers under constant surveillance cameras, Tibetans must swipe their identity cards that are embedded with sophisticated second generation chips. As one Tibetan has described this indignity: “Your identity card is like your shadow. Without it you cannot move.” The situation of increased restrictions is so excessive that even Chinese tourists have been moved to comment that the present conditions in Tibet are like a ‘war zone’.
Of particular concern to Tibetans is the China State Council’s announcement in 2014 to upgrade the status of the towns of Shigatse and Chamdo to that of cities. Though Tibetans welcome economic development in the form of modernization, their experience in the face of urbanization is one of economic marginalization, social exclusion and environmental destruction. Lhasa is a prime example. The city has seen an exponential urban expansion that has attracted migrant Chinese workers from all over China. This population shift has transformed the heart of Tibetan culture into another “Chinatown”, where Tibetans live in small ghettos surrounded by an expanding urban China. We fear the same negative transformation will happen to Shigatse and Chamdo, immeasurably reducing the ability of the Tibetan people to preserve their culture and identity. At the same time, Tibetans equally fear that Chinese settlers will overwhelm and swamp rural and nomadic Tibet.
These are some of the many challenges we confront in Tibet. Yet I believe that we have the determination, resolve and the collective will to surmount them. Tibetans in Tibet have survived one state-sponsored disaster after another. Disasters like the Great Leap Forward in the 1950s and the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s have not shaken the enduring spirit of the Tibetan people. From the martial law imposed in Lhasa in 1989, to the “strike hard campaigns” to stifle dissent, and campaigns like the Western China Development programme have not diminished the courage of the Tibetan people. From the 1959 uprising, which we honor today, through the decades of peaceful protests, including the 2008 pan-Tibet demonstrations and more than one hundred self-immolations, the Tibetan will to live as one cohesive people and fight for justice remains firm.
In Tibet, artists sing, paint and write, all with an emboldened spirit and a heightened sense of responsibility to the Tibetan cause. Within Tibet, a new spiritual, cultural and intellectual renaissance reinforces Tibetan pride and unity. From the humble gatherers of dbyar rtswa dgun ‘bu (caterpillar fungus) to the tireless truck drivers, farmers and nomads, to monks and nuns, Tibetans talk the night away in common aspiration to live in dignity and with a common identity. These pockets of ideas and oases of Tibet’s common aspirations will merge into a bright future for all people of Tibet.
The rhetoric coming out of China today is that Tibetans have become their own masters. To make this rhetoric a reality, we urge the Chinese leadership to let Tibetans govern Tibet. As China plans to observe the 50th anniversary of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), hardliners in Beijing should heed that repression will only generate resentment. We have noted President Xi Jinping’s comments that Tibetan culture and language should be preserved yet, the local authority’s 20-point internal directives in Amdo undermines both.
On the part of the Kashag, we remain fully committed to the Middle Way Approach of not seeking separation from China but genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people. In order to realize genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people, the Task Force, an advisory body to the Kashag, held a conclave in the first week of January to undertake an in-depth discussion on the political developments in Tibet, on issues relating to the future of dialogue with the Chinese leadership and on developments in the larger international political landscape. The Tibetan leadership strongly believes that the only way to resolve the issue of Tibet is through dialogue between the Envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the representatives of the Chinese leadership. The Envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama are ready to engage in dialogue with their Chinese counterpart any time and any place.
In this regard, we remain deeply appreciative of the recent U.S. State Department’s statement that encourages dialogue between the representatives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Chinese leadership: “We believe that all people in the PRC would benefit from the fruits of dialogue and urge the Chinese Government to seize the opportunity to further engage with the Dalai Lama.”
We also welcome President Barack Obama’s comments at the annual breakfast prayer in Washington D.C, describing His Holiness the Dalai Lama as a “good friend” and “a powerful example of what it means to practice compassion” and a person who “inspires us to speak up for the freedom and dignity of all human beings.”
I am glad to report that within India, we see increasing awareness of the importance of Tibet and more platforms provided for the discussion of the issue of Tibet. There is also the realization that the Central Tibetan Administration is both a genuinely democratic political entity and an effective one. The pride of our democracy is its public participation and we continue to encourage the Tibetan public’s deeper engagement in the democratic process.
This year, the Tibetan people and our friends throughout the world will celebrate His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday. On this landmark occasion, we pray for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s long life and continued good health. The hallmark of the Tibetan people is non-violence, and the values embraced by our elder generation: humility, integrity and resilience which should be embraced by younger generations. This is our political capital as well as political resource.
Above all, the first priority of the Kashag is education. In this effort the Kashag encourages Tibetans from all walks of life to be deeply involved in their children’s education.
I take this opportunity to thank all our Tibet support groups from Berlin to Brussels and Canberra to Cape Town and from Tokyo to Taipei, in their noble efforts and for supporting justice and freedom for Tibetans. Amid extremism and violent conflicts around the world, Tibet is a model of moderation and non-violence which is worthy of your continued support. We also express our profound gratitude to the people and Government of India for their generosity and hospitality.
My fellow Tibetans, once again, and with profound hope and gratitude, on behalf of six million Tibetan people, I offer my sincere prayers for the long life of His Holiness the Great 14th Dalai Lama. Today, we honor and pay our deepest respects to the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Tibet. With enduring spirit, may all Tibetans remain steadfast to the cause our forefathers and mothers, our sisters and brothers, and to all those who have devoted their lives to end the suffering of Tibetans and restore freedom for Tibet.
Long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Bod Gyalo.
Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay
March 10, 2015

Tibetans in Yunnan Give Up Wearing Animal Skins, Burn Valuable Furs
March 6, 2015 11:57 am
[Radio Free Asia]
Tibetan villagers living in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan have marked the beginning of the Lunar New Year by vowing to give up the wearing of animal furs and by burning those already in their possession, sources said.
The Feb. 27 action by residents of Drangsung village in Yunnan’s Dechen (in Chinese, Deqin) county was aimed at complying with the wishes of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama that Tibetans abandon the use of animal skins for clothes, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
“The Tibetans had kept animal-skin clothes as rare and valuable family possessions,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“However, they became aware of the objections of the Dalai Lama and of local Tibetan Buddhist leaders who advised them not to use them.”
“So the Tibetans in Drangsung village came together and set their fox-fur caps and dresses decorated with wild animal skins on fire,” he said.
The Dalai Lama first appealed in January 2006 to Tibetans living in China to protect endangered animals in Tibet and to stop using animal skins on their clothes, and many Tibetans heard his instructions via Tibetan radio broadcasts from overseas.
Chinese police frequently investigate and arrest Tibetans deemed to have responded to the wishes and policy directives of the India-based Dalai Lama, whom Beijing considers a dangerous separatist bent on “splitting” Tibet from Chinese control.
“The Tibetans were fully aware of the possible consequences of their actions, and knew they might be detained and beaten by the authorities,” RFA’s source said.
“To support their campaign, a father and son living in Atoe village in Dechen also took a hat made of fox fur along with a Tibetan dress lined with leopard and otter skin and publicly set them on fire.”
Tibetan followers of Shugden, a controversial deity whose worship has been deemed divisive by the Dalai Lama, have increased their use of clothing dressed with animal furs, however, he said.

Tibetan Woman Burns Self to Death, Self-Immolation Protest Reaches 136
March 9, 2015 11:39 am
DHARAMSHALA: A Tibetan woman burned herself to death on the night of Thursday, 5 March, following the celebration of Chotrul Monlam, the 15th day of the Tibetan lunar calendar, according to information received from Kirti monastery in India.
Norchuk, 47, set herself on fire in her village of Trotsuk, Ngaba County (incorporated into China’s Sichuan Province). She was the fifth Tibetan woman to set herself ablaze from Ngaba County, where most of the Tibetan self-immolation protests against the Chinese government had taken place.
Norchuk is survived by her parents Tsedak and Youdon, her husband Palzel and their three children. Norchuk had also taken a vow recently to become a lifelong vegetarian for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Norchuk’s body was cremated the next day early in the morning to avert the Chinese authorities from seizing her body.
Her self-immolation took the total self-immolation protest inside Tibet since 2009 to 136. Out of which 117 died while the rest were critically injured or their whereabouts remain unknown to this day