Tibetan Man Detained For Sharing Photos, Relatives Fear Torture
2019-11-13
A Tibetan man detained in March for sharing photos on social media ahead of a sensitive political anniversary has been held incommunicado ever since, with his relatives fearing he may have been tortured in custody, an India-based Tibetan advocacy group said this week.
Pema Samdup, 26, was detained by police in Tibet’s regional capital Lhasa on March 9, one day before the 60th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) said in a Nov. 12 press release.
“Samdup had been detained due to ‘political reasons’ and for ‘sharing photos on his WeChat account,’” the rights group said, citing anonymous sources and adding that family members were never formally notified of his arrest.
News of detentions of Tibetans or of Tibetan protests against Chinese rule is frequently delayed in reaching outside contacts owing to strict communications clampdowns imposed by Chinese authorities in Tibetan areas.
Chinese authorities meanwhile typically block the sharing among Tibetans of photos of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama or of Tibetan protests.
Relatives now worry that Samdup, a college graduate and former resident of Chamdo prefecture’s Tengchen (in Chinese, Dengqen) county, may have been abused or harmed in detention, TCHRD said.
“[The detention officers] in Chamdo are notorious for using brutal torture methods on political detainees,” one source, a close relative living in exile, told the rights group.
“I now fear for his life,” Samdup’s relative said.
The detention and suspected torture of Pema Samdup are “flagrant violations of his human rights and fundamental freedoms,” TCHRD said, calling on China to grant Samdup “immediate and unhindered” access to his family members, along with any medical treatment he may require.
Language rights advocate held
Meanwhile, a Tibetan monk who vanished in Chinese custody in September after posting criticisms of China’s restrictions on the use of the Tibetan language has been located in Sichuan’s Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) county, TCHRD said in a separate statement.
Sonam Palden, 22 and a monk at Ngaba’s Kirti monastery, “is currently being held in the Ngaba County Public Security Bureau detention centre. His family members have not been able to contact him,” TCHRD said.
“TCHRD fears that the prolonged incommunicado detention of Sonam Palden will gravely endanger his life given the fact that the worst torture happens during pretrial detention and in the secrecy of Chinese detention facilities,” the rights group said.
“TCHRD calls on the Chinese authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally and also provide him proper medical treatment without delay.”
Tibetans say Chinese authorities regularly restrict their political activities and peaceful expression of ethnic and religious identity in the Tibetan region, and subject them to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.
Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with informally organized language courses typically deemed “illegal associations” and teachers subject to detention and arrest, sources say.
Reported by RFA’s Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Four Tibetan Monks are Detained After Calling for Tibet’s Independence
2019-11-19
Authorities in western China’s Sichuan province arrested four Tibetan monks on Nov. 7 for scattering leaflets calling for Tibetan independence in the courtyard of a Chinese government office in Sershul county, RFA’s Tibetan Service has learned.
Identified as Kunsal, 20, Tsultrim, 18, Tamey, 18, and Soeta, 18, the four were seized in their rooms at Dza Wonpo Ganden Shedrub monastery in the Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Jampa Yonten—a monk at India’s Sera monastery—told RFA, citing sources in the region.
The group had allegedly scattered hundreds of leaflets in the courtyard of the Chinese administrative office in the Dza Wonpo village of Dza Mey township in Sershul, Yonten said.
“Besides calling for freedom for Tibet, the leaflets called for human rights in Tibet, and especially for respect for the rights of local Tibetans,” Yonten said, adding, “They also called for an end to the illegal acts of local officials and for an end to the stage-managed political campaigns that were disrupting the lives of the local people.”
Police later detained the monks’ religious instructor, Shergyam Yang, a teacher at Dza Wonpo Ganden Shedrub monastery in Sichuan’s Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, but released him after holding him for 11 days, Yonten said.
Another monk, still unidentified, was taken into custody on Nov. 18 after posting online expressions of support for those still held.
Propaganda exercises
The monks’ protest is believed to have been prompted by propaganda performances imposed by local authorities on nomads who were moved off their grazing land and forced into resettlement towns, Yonten said.
“There, without their livestock, the nomads’ livelihoods have gone from bad to worse, and without other sources of income, they have to depend solely on government subsidies for their survival,” he said.
During tours to the area by Chinese officials, the resettled nomads are forced to put up pictures of Chinese national leaders and praise China’s ruling Communist Party in public speeches which are then filmed and distributed to Chinese mass media, Yonten said.
“But many nomads have also refused to participate  in these government propaganda exercises, saying they will not take part, even at the cost of their lives, and this has caused tensions between the Tibetans who take part and those who refuse,” he said.
“In this way, the Chinese have created divisions among Tibetans in the local community,” he said.
Police scrutiny
Already tightly restricted following widespread protests in Tibetan regions in 2008, Dza Wonpo monastery drew increased police scrutiny in 2012 when monks refused to hoist Chinese national flags on the monastery’s roofs,  and an ensuing crackdown led to scores of arbitrary detentions, arrests, and searches of Tibetan homes, sources told RFA in earlier reports.
Tibetans say Chinese authorities regularly restrict their political activities and peaceful expression of ethnic and religious identity in the Tibetan region, and subject them to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.
Reported by Pema Ngodup and Guru Choegyi for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Eighth International Conference of Tibet Support Groups Dharamshala, 3-5 November 2019
The 8th International Conference of Tibet Support Groups was convened in Dharamshala from 3 to 5 November 2019 by the Core Group for Tibetan Cause at a time of major political changes in the world, just as when the first such conference met in Dharamshala, in March 1990. To meet the opportunities and challenges of such a time of change, the reinvigoration of the Tibet movement is not only called for, but is already evidenced by the participation of 180 delegates from Tibet support groups and other supporters from 42 countries in all regions of the world, as well as by their determination to intensify their efforts for the freedom of Tibet and its people.
The participants met for an extended time with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and were greatly encouraged by his explanation of his four commitments—promotion of human values, promotion of religious harmony; preservation of Tibetan language, culture and Nalanda Buddhist heritage, as well as the protection of Tibet’s natural environment; and revival of ancient Indian knowledge—which reflect his altruistic vision for the future.
Participants fully endorse his conviction regarding the profoundly important contribution the Tibetan people and culture can make to human development,  and are therefore persuaded that  support for the Tibetan cause is support for humanity as a whole.
The conference was addressed by the Sikyong (President) of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, which is called the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), and the Speaker of the Tibetan  Parliament in Exile. The conference heard speakers from Tibet, Hong Kong, East Turkestan, Southern Mongolia and Taiwan, as well as from India, South Africa, the U.K, Australia, China,  and the US, all of whom shared a sense of optimism and actively participated in the  proceedings of the conference.
We, the participants in the Conference express deep concern that, whereas the situation in occupied Tibet has gone from bad to worse, there are still no signs that the government of the   People’s Republic of China (PRC) is ready to engage in negotiations with representatives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama or the CTA to resolve the conflict caused by the PRC’s illegal invasion of Tibet almost 70 years ago and by its occupation of the country and repression of the Tibetan people ever since. We call on the Chinese government to resume the dialogue, which occurred on the basis of the Middle Way Approach, and engage in earnest negotiations without delay, and we urge the UN and members of the international community to persuade the Chinese government to do so. At the same time, we commend His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration for their continued commitment to non-violence and to seeking a mutually beneficial negotiated solution. We are deeply moved by the courage of the Tibetan people in Tibet in their non-violent resistance to Chinese repression and in their efforts to protect their national identity.
We deplore the fear displayed by many governments to stand up to the PRC in the face of decades of its gross and systematic violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms in
Tibet and in East Turkestan (Ch. Xinjiang) as well as in Southern Mongolia (Inner Mongolia),  and currently, in the face of sustained protests, also in Hong Kong. Instead of firmly acting on  the side of truth and justice, those governments and a number of corporate actors betray our  core values of democracy, rule of law, self-determination and human rights in pursuit of  commercial gain. Similarly, they fail to challenge the PRC’s attacks on those very values and the institutions that embody them in our own countries. We are determined to expose such betrayal  of and attacks on our values and will forge powerful coalitions and alliances to do so.
Given the critical role of the Tibetan Plateau, as the Third Pole, in global climate change, we  commit to insert Tibet, which is at the frontline of the climate crisis, into the debate of this most urgent issue of our time.
Conscient of the immense contribution of Tibetan Buddhism to the understanding of the mind and of human behavior, including the generation of love and compassion and other qualities  essential to human happiness, and therefore the value of scholarly works in which this vast knowledge is contained, it is imperative to protect the Tibetan language and culture that  provides access to it.
Supporting the decision of the 3rd Special General Meeting of the Tibetans in Dharamshala in October, we insist that all decisions regarding the reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama are the exclusive responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his Gaden Phodrang Trust. Any interference in this process by the PRC authorities and any attempt at selecting or appointing a  Dalai Lama by the Chinese government will have no legitimacy and should be condemned and subjected to sanctions by the international community.
The struggle for Tibetan freedom is a struggle for justice, truth, and freedom. We are committed to continuing the work until the conflict is resolved to the satisfaction of the Tibetan people. As long as the Tibetan people remains under alien occupation, subjugation and exploitation, and is therefore denied the exercise of its right to self-determination, the Tibetan struggle for freedom and justice is everyone’s struggle for freedom and justice. And so, just as we call for solidarity with the people of Tibet, so too we express solidarity with all who suffer under the PRC’s  repressive policies, indeed, all other peoples deprived of their freedom, for no one can be truly free so long as others are oppressed.
 
Dharamshala 5 November 2019

Dalai Lama’s Successor Will be Chosen by Tibetans, not by China: US Envoy
2019-10-28
A successor to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will be chosen by the Tibetan people themselves and not by Beijing, which claims authority over the process of recognition, a senior U.S. diplomat said in India on Monday.
Speaking at a conference hosted by the Tibetan Institute for Performing Arts held in Dharamsala—seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile—U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback hit out at what he called China’s “persecution of the Tibetan people’s faith.”
The Tibetan people have the right to choose their own religious leaders, Brownback said.
“The role of picking a successor to the Dalai Lama belongs to the Tibetan Buddhist system, the Dalai Lama, and other Tibetan leaders. It does not belong to anybody else, not any government or any entity,” Brownback said.
Concerns over the health of the 84-year-old Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India following a failed 1959 Tibetan revolt against Chinese rule, have renewed uncertainties over his possible successor after he dies.
China claims control over the selection, saying that the process must comply with Chinese law, while the Dalai Lama himself says that if he returns, his successor will be born in a country outside of Chinese control.
Tibetan tradition holds that senior Buddhist monks and other high-ranking religious teachers are reincarnated in the body of a child after they die.
Beijing has sought in recent years to control the identification of other Tibetan religious leaders, including Tibet’s Panchen Lama, who was taken into custody at the age of six with his family in 1995, with Chinese officials then installing another boy of their own choosing in his place.
“We call on the [People’s Republic of China] government to release immediately the Tibetan-recognized Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima or share the truth about his fate with the world,” Brownback said in India.
“We stand with the people of Tibet as they seek to preserve their time-honored traditions including the right to venerate religious leaders of their choosing,” Brownback said.
“Decisions regarding the selection of Tibetan Buddhist leaders rest with the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhist leaders, and the people of Tibet. Period!”
U.S. Congress takes action
Meanwhile, in a bipartisan show of U.S. support for Tibet, a new bill introduced in Congress threatens sanctions against Chinese officials interfering with the selection of a new Dalai Lama, with proposed penalties including the freezing of assets and denial of entry to the United States.
The Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019 was introduced in the House on Sept. 13 by Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.), chairman of the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and will be introduced in the Senate by Commission co-chair Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
The bill will then be submitted for review by the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on the Judiciary, and put forward for debate and passage into law at a later date.
Chinese authorities meanwhile maintain a tight grip on the Tibetan region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of ethnic and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.
Reported by Lobsang Gelek for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Tibetan Man Not Heard From Since Detention Last Month by Chinese Police
2019-11-06
A Tibetan man detained by Chinese police in early October on unknown charges has not been heard from since his arrest and has now vanished in detention, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Wednesday.
Lhadar, 36, was taken into custody in Tibet’s Nagchu (in Chinese, Naqu) county after being warned by police not to leave the area, and was a resident of the Geso Tsalhi village in Nagchu’s Tarchen township, RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“It is assumed he was arrested for ‘leaking state secrets,’” the source said, citing a charge often used to stop the spread of news of protests against Beijing’s rule in Tibetan areas or other information considered politically sensitive by authorities.
“Lhadar is strongly opposed to China’s repressive policies in Tibet, including its political re-education programs and its imposition of restrictions on Tibetans,” the source said.
“He has always been outspoken on issues concerning the reunion of Tibetan people inside Tibet and in exile, and has great hope for the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet. Therefore, he was on the ‘watch list’ of the Chinese police,” he said.
Lhadar had earlier clashed with authorities during protests in Nagchu against Chinese “patriotic education” campaigns, and had been arrested and beaten along with other Tibetans, RFA’s source said.
“He was eventually released, but after that his movements were restricted,” he said.
A formerly independent nation, Tibet was taken over and incorporated into China by force nearly 70 years ago, following which Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers fled into exile in India.
Chinese authorities now maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of ethnic and religious identities, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.
Reported by Dawa Dolma for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.

China Launches New Push Against Dalai Lama Photos in Ngaba
2019-09-18
Police in western China’s Sichuan province have launched a new drive to find and destroy photos of the Dalai Lama, raiding Tibetan homes at random in a search for images of the exiled spiritual leader, who is widely reviled by Chinese authorities as a dangerous separatist.
The raids, which were held to enforce restrictions already in place, were recently conducted in several areas of Dzamthang county in Sichuan’s Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, one local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service this week.
“No photos were discovered during the raids, however, so no arrests were made at that time,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “China has warned that anyone not complying with government orders against possession of the photos will face severe consequences,” he added.
Authorities in Sichuan’s Kardze (Ganzi) prefecture had earlier also launched a push against possession of photos of the Dalai Lama, traveling to remote areas that had previously escaped police attention, Tibetan sources told RFA in July.
The campaign, which began at the end of April, targeted Serthar county in Kardze but was also being enforced in other areas of the eastern Tibetan region historically known as Kham, one source, a Tibetan living in Switzerland, said.
The Dalai Lama, 84, fled Tibet into exile in India in the midst of a failed 1959 national uprising against Chinese rule, and displays by Tibetans of the Dalai Lama’s photo or public celebrations of his birthday have been harshly punished in the past.
Chinese officials have meanwhile toured Tibetan villages and towns in neighboring Qinghai province to promote a campaign against organized crime and other activities considered threatening to Beijing’s control over Tibetan areas of China, RFA’s source said.
“During their tour, the Chinese officials explain the purposes of the campaign, speaking in both Tibetan and Chinese,” the source said, adding that the online activities of local Tibetans are monitored especially closely by internet censors and police.
Authorities in Tibetan areas of China frequently monitor discussions on social media and search mobile phones for what they consider politically sensitive content, and foreign news broadcasts are heavily restricted.
‘Evil forces’
Also speaking to RFA, a Tibetan living in exile confirmed the crackdown in Qinghai against criminal gangs and other “evil forces,” saying the campaign has now widened to include a broader suppression of political activity by Tibetans.
“Many Tibetans living in Qinghai and in some parts of Gansu province are facing severe restrictions amid the crackdown,” RFA’s source said, citing contacts in the region.
“In this atmosphere of ‘Big Brother watching,’ Chinese spies are now placed everywhere in Tibetan society, leaving Tibetans in a state of constant fear,” he said.
“Chinese authorities are doing everything they can to block outside political news and information from reaching Tibetans, and also to prevent any local news from leaking out.”
Though China’s campaign to crack down on ‘evil forces’ was aimed at first at criminal gangs, gambling, rape, and other social ills, “the enforcers have departed from their initial goals,” the source said.
“Now, the campaign has become a tool to crack down on any expression of Tibetan culture and identity and political dissent.”
The campaign demands absolute loyalty to the ruling Chinese Communist Party, and local officials are required to report to higher authorities on the success of the campaign’s implementation in Tibetan areas, the source said.
Reported by Kunsang Tenzin for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Yachen Gar Demolition Has Displaced As Many as 6,000 Monks and Nuns
2019-10-01
China’s ongoing demolition at the Yachen Gar Tibetan Buddhist center in Sichuan province has removed “five to six thousand homes” and led to the eviction of a similar number of monks and nuns, a source in the region told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Tuesday.
The source told RFA that so far almost six thousand monks and nuns have been evicted from their homes in Yachen Gar. Most were from the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), to the west of Sichuan.
“Yachen Gar once had about 13,000 dormitories that housed Tibetan monks and nuns, but now almost five to six thousand dormitories have been demolished,” said the source, who requested anonymity.
“Many of those monks and nuns who still dwell in Yachen Gar come from the Palyul (in Chinese, Baidu) and Ba area, with a few from Dzachu,” said the source.
“The evictees who were from Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) have much less hope of getting back into any monastic institutions to practice Buddhism,” added the source.
The latest account from the region, which is remote and under heavy Chinese security, follows a report issued Monday by the advocacy group Free Tibet which carried satellite images it said “verify that large-scale demolitions have leveled almost half” of the complex.
“The demolitions took place in August and are part of a long-term effort by Chinese Communist Party authorities to cut the number of residents at the site,” said Free Tibet.
“Satellite images from before and after the most recent demolitions show a clear contrast on the west bank of the river running through Yachen Gar, with a densely-populated area of the community now removed and bare ground where it once stood,” it said.
Free Tibet noted the difficulty of getting information about the complex and the demolition.
“Foreign visitors are currently barred from the area and Chinese authorities have increased levels of surveillance inside Yachen Gar, with around 600 military personnel now deployed there to monitor the inhabitants,” it said.
The Free Tibet report traced similar developments as an Aug. 28 RFA report that found that nearly half of the sprawling complex had been turned into a vast patch of grass.
Demolition of the nuns’ dwellings the sprawling center began on July 19 and moved ahead quickly, a Tibetan living in the area told RFA at the time.
The destruction followed the forced removal beginning in May of over 7,000 residents of Yachen Gar, which once housed around 10,000 monks and nuns devoted to scriptural study and meditation.
Restrictions on Yachen Gar and the better-known Larung Gar complex in Sichuan’s Serthar (Seda) county are part of “an unfolding political strategy” aimed at controlling the influence and growth of these important centers for Tibetan Buddhist study and practice, a Tibetan advocacy group said in a March 2017 report.
“[Both centers] have drawn thousands of Chinese practitioners to study Buddhist ethics and receive spiritual teaching since their establishment, and have bridged Tibetan and Chinese communities,” the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said.
During 2017 and 2018, at least 4,820 Tibetan and Han Chinese monks and nuns were removed from Larung Gar, with over 7,000 dwellings and other structures torn down beginning in 2001, according to sources in the region.
Reported by RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Paul Eckert.

National Day Arrests, Forced Singing of China’s Praises Rankle Tibetans
2019-10-03
China arrested Tibetans for sending money and forced elderly Tibetans to sing patriotic “red” songs praising the country in the run up to Oct. 1 National Day celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, a Tibetan-American recent visitor to the region told RFA on Thursday.
“The arrests began in July leading up to Oct 1st National Day. Those arrested include Tibetan retirees on charge of corruption,” said Lhundup Dorje, who returned the U.S. after a recent visit to Lhasa, the Tibetan regional capital.
“Even several Tibetan youths who sent money to their siblings in India via red envelop through WeChat are among the arrested,” he said, referring to the money transfer service of the popular Chinese communications app.
“One Tibetan youth who sent money via red envelop was arrested and beaten because his money contribution was a prayer offering to the private office of the Dalai Lama for a deceased person,” said Dorje.
Dorje’s account matched a report issued last month by a Tibetan advocacy group, which said Chinese authorities had tightened controls in Tibet ahead of Oct. 1, hoisting Chinese flags on monastery roofs and forcing monks to sing songs praising the ruling Communist Party.
In the run-up to the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Tibetans are also being coerced to attend events promoting government policies and are hanging scrolls with pictures of senior Chinese Communist Party leaders on the walls of private homes, London-based Free Tibet said in its report.
Dorje told RFA’s Tibetan Service that “all Tibetan retirees were ordered to practice singing patriotic songs [called red song] praising the motherland.”
“And all along the roads in Lhasa, and everywhere Chinese flags were flown high” he said.
“All Tibetan government officials, retirees and school students refrained from going to the Jokhang Temple in central Lhasa during the lead up to the anniversary for fear of offending the communist government.”
“The Chinese government even warned Tibetan parents, that their kids will be removed from schools, and government would stop giving subsidies to those Tibetan find worshipping and visiting the Jokhang Temple during the 70th anniversary,” said Dorje.
Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled Tibet into exile in India following a failed 1959 national uprising against rule by China, which marched into the formerly independent Himalayan region nine years earlier.
Chinese authorities have maintained a tight grip on Tibet and on Tibetan-populated prefectures of Chinese provinces ever since, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of ethnic and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.
Reported by Yangdon Demo for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Paul Eckert.

Ahead of Modi-Xi meet, Tibetan govt-in-exile passes resolution on reincarnation of the Dalai Lama
October 7, 2019
By Geeta Mohan, India Today, 5 October 2019, Read the original article here.
Speaking exclusively to India Today TV after the session, Lobsang Sangay, president of the Tibetan-government-in-exile, said that China has no locus standi on the issue of “reincarnation” and therefore the Communist Party should not interfere in the matters of religion.
Days ahead of the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Tibetan government-in-exile held a three-day special general meeting of Tibetans in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh. It was attended by 345 representatives or Tibetan religious leaders from 24 countries.
On Saturday, four resolutions were passed unanimously, the most important being on the question of reincarnation of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.
Speaking exclusively to India Today TV after the session, Lobsang Sangay, the Sikyong or the president of the Tibetan-government-in-exile, said that China has no locus standi on the issue of “reincarnation” and therefore the Communist Party should not interfere in the matters of religion.
“On reincarnation, the resolution we had was that document number five issued by the Chinese government in 2007 on reincarnation is unacceptable and China has no credibility in interfering in the reincarnation process because document number five said that the Communist Party will decide the recognition of reincarnation at district level, state level and the national level according to the hierarchy and their categories. The Communist Party should not interfere in the religious matter… As far as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is concerned, only he and him alone will decide on reincarnation and no one else”, he said.
The discussions revolved around two themes – the 550 vision of Central Tibetan Administration and the relationship between the lineage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people.
Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament, Pema Jungney unanimously passed a resolution to adopt the suggestions in the group discussion, along with the Deputy Speaker.
The first resolution was on long and healthy life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and gratitude to His Holiness the Dalai Lama by the Tibetan people. The second resolution states that the reincarnation process will continue until the Tibetans exist in this world.
The third resolution is that the authority of the Dalai Lama will remain with him and Gaden Phodrang (the office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama). The fourth resolution is that the members unanimously rejected the Chinese government 2007 resolution order number 5.
China has been insisting that the next Dalai Lama reincarnation would be in Tibet. But, Tibetans abroad insist that the reincarnate could be from anywhere since they fear that Beijing would put up a puppet leader.
President Sangay added, “His Holiness has made it very clear that the reincarnate would be born in a free country where the Dalai Lama has religious freedom. We feel His Holiness will not be born in China where Buddhism is discouraged and monasteries are destroyed.”
To a question on the timing of the meet since it comes just days ahead of President Xi Jinping’s visit to India, the leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile insisted that it was a mere “coincidence”.
“It is pure coincidence that President Xi Jinping’s visit is happening right after the special general body meeting of Tibet. We decided to have this meeting in February. Our message is very clear that the Chinese government should not interfere in religious matters, it should be left to the religious leaders, including the Dalai Lama”, said President Sangay.
He said, “We would like to see a resolution of the issue of Tibet. Based on the middle-way approach what we seek is a genuine autonomy within the framework of the Chinese Constitution. This is a win-win solution for both, the Chinese government and for the people. This is a moderate stand and the Chinese government should consider it for a peaceful resolution of the Tibet question.”

Press Release: 70th Founding Anniversary of People’s Republic of China Marks 60 years of Occupation of Tibet
October 1, 2019
Published By Bureau Reporter
Press Release
70th Founding Anniversary of People’s Republic of China Marks 60 years of Occupation of Tibet
On 1 October 2019, the People’s Republic of China is celebrating its 70th founding anniversary with great pomp and fanfare, the main highlight being an unprecedented military parade in a brute show of force to demonstrate country’s emergence as a global superpower. Its message is very clear: “China has the capability to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity and any country that attempts to provoke China and threaten China’s territorial sovereignty and integrity should think twice,” China’s state tabloid Global Times reported earlier.
As Beijing gears up for huge national celebrations, because of the ongoing unrest in Hong Kong as well as the gross violation of human rights in Tibet and East Turkestan, the PRC’s founding anniversary has been dubbed by some as a “Day of Grief”.
As far as Tibet is concerned, to put in the words of the late X Panchen Lama, “Tibet has lost more than gained under Chinese rule.” China’s military conquest of what was once a peaceful, independent country was followed by decades of gory death and destruction. Over 1.2 million Tibetans have perished within three decades following China’s invasion of Tibet in 1949/50. Nearly 6,000 monasteries were ransacked and destroyed. China’s so-called development projects in Tibet have induced a massive influx of Chinese population along with a wanton destruction of its pristine ecology. In what many view as a form of cultural genocide, China’s policy of Sinicization has resulted in a wholesale assault on all vestiges of Tibetan national identity, most notably their language, religion and culture.
Severe restrictions of basic human freedoms, arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detentions and torture and unnatural deaths have all become the hallmarks of Chinese rule in Tibet. The grim human rights situation inside Tibet is nowhere more starkly evident than the fact that since 2009 over 153 Tibetans have committed self-immolation in a desperate act of protest against the repressive policies of Chinese government. No wonder Freedom House has ranked Tibet as the second least free region after Syria consistently for four consecutive years.
If recent developments inside Tibet are any indications, China’s repression has only scaled new heights, including the ongoing destruction in Larung Gar and Yarchen Gar religious complexes; forced eviction of monks and nuns from their monasteries and nunneries; and indoctrination and intimidation of monks and nuns. China’s atheist Communist Party is not just controlling the daily life inside the monasteries, but also willfully meddling and manipulating the centuries old Tibetan Buddhist tradition of reincarnation for their own political gains. Worst of all, the so-called grid management system of surveillance has turned entire Tibet into an Orwellian police state.
Despite the seemingly insurmountable odds stacked against the Tibetan people, China has thus far failed to stifle their indomitable spirit and resilience. The past 60 years of Chinese occupation of Tibet is in a way also a story of 60 years of Tibetan people’s peaceful resistance against what has been one of the most brutal regimes on this planet.
Tanks and guns will not silence the voices of brave Tibetans. Force and might will not suppress the spirit and truth of Tibet. As Shri Jayaprakash Narayan rightly said, “Tibet will never die, because there is no death for the human spirit. Communism will not succeed because man will not be a slave for ever…”
Tsewang Gyalpo Arya (Mr.)
Secretary (Information)
Department of Information and International Relations