Tibetan leader concerned about China’s development policies in Tibet
November 6, 2017
Assam Tribune, November 4, 2017 – The president of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, on Friday said the international community must ensure that Tibetans have a say on any development project undertaken in the ecologically fragile plateau, which is also known as ‘water tower’ of Asia.
Even as Beijing has refuted reports on building a 1000-km-long tunnel to divert the Brahmaputra, known as Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, to the arid Xinjiang region, Sangay said it is a fact that 12% of China’s population has access to fresh water.
“The prospects of diverting water from the rivers of Tibet looms large as parts of China are facing a water crisis. If this happens, nearly 1.4 billion people, who are dependent on water from rivers originating in Tibet, including the Brahmaputra, will be in great danger,” Sangay said on the concluding day of Balipara Foundation’s Eastern Himalayan Naturenomics Forum, 2017, here on Friday.
He added that diversion of rivers in Tibet is imminent as China is pressed by the need to provide water to parched regions.
“This is not a political statement, rather a serious environmental concern, involving water security issues of a huge section of people in countries who are dependent on the water from Tibetan rivers,” he said.
He added that the Tibetan people, who have been living in harmony with nature because of their religious beliefs and cultural practices, should have a say on development projects in the region.
“In fact, environment is not an issue affecting the Tibetans only. It is a global subject because of the large number of rivers originating from the Himalayan glaciers in the region and sustaining ecosystems in neighbouring countries. The international community must take note of this fact and make China ensure that Tibetans have a say on development projects planned in Tibet,” said Sangay.
He added that even a section of Chinese environment scientists have expressed concern over increasing threats to Tibet’s fragile ecosystem. “There are studies which suggest that Tibet’s 46,000 glaciers are likely to get reduced to 50% by 2100 because of global warming. If this happens, the sources of fresh water will be gone by then,” Sangay said.

Youth leaders from conflict zones in dialogue with the Dalai Lama
November 6, 2017
Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, November 6, 2017 – In a repeat of last year’s fruitful meeting, the United States Institute of Peace has brought 25 youth leaders, mostly from conflict zones, to Dharamsala to interact with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They met today for the first of two sessions at His Holiness’s Office.
In his preliminary remarks His Holiness suggested that all human beings have a responsibility to contribute to the creation of a more peaceful and compassionate world. “When conflict arises due to our over-emphasis on secondary differences of race, nationality, faith or political boundaries between states, who suffers?” he asked, “We do. We need to look deeper and understand how in being human we are the same.”
President of USIP, Nancy Lindborg, invited the Youth Leaders, young women and men from Afghanistan, Burma, Colombia, Iraq, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and the USA to introduce themselves. She then invited His Holiness to open the conversation.
“Usually I get eight or nine hours sound sleep at night, but lately when I wake up I’ve been wondering how many people were killed while I slept; how many children died of starvation? The current situation is very sad, but just feeling despondent is of no help. If we ask ourselves who creates many of the problems we face, the answer is that we human beings do. Therefore, it’s logical that if we make the effort, we can take steps to solve them and avert the suffering involved.
“Scientists have found evidence that basic human nature is compassionate. It’s the common experience of all 7 billion human beings be cared for by their mother with love and affection. And it’s common sense that if we acknowledge our sameness as human beings, we more easily make friends. These are grounds for being optimistic.
“What will really change the world is coming to better understand our emotions and how to manage them on the basis of secular ethics. I believe we can change our emotions by using our intelligence to raise our awareness. Since it’s evident that the use of force provokes further violence, we have to adopt a more human approach—and we can start by recognising each other simply as brothers and sisters. This is how we could make this a more peaceful century.
“We need to adopt a more holistic attitude, looking at problems from a variety of angles. We need to make a demilitarized world one of our goals and look forward to a Global Union in which political boundaries, many of them imposed arbitrarily during colonial times, are less significant. Most important is the need to remain optimistic.”
With Nancy Lindborg’s guidance the Youth Leaders summarized the work they are each doing and put questions to His Holiness in relation to it. In his answers he encouraged the young people to be determined, just as those who engage in violence often are. He emphasized the special strength women can bring to promoting inner values, human values, in the world today. He added that responsibility for change rests with members of the younger generation like them. They must cultivate a vision of a better future and work hard to achieve it. Time and again His Holiness stressed the role of a more holistic education.
Following some discussion of the difficulty of changing entrenched attitudes, for example in relation to the role of women in education and leadership, Professor Samdhong Rinpoche contributed some Gandhian advice. He said it was important to distinguish between an action and its agent. We can oppose an action or prejudice without adopting a negative attitude towards its perpetrator. His Holiness added that a real test of the extent and strength of your compassion is whether you can apply it to those you consider opponents or enemies. He recommended a simple solution to disagreements—meet and talk.
His Holiness suggested that sometimes being practical and realistic is the most sensible course of action. He mentioned that most Tibetans were nomads and in the cold climate of Tibet wore clothes made of sheepskin. When they came to India, they could not cling to their customary ways, they simply had to adapt and dress accordingly.
With regard to the question of religious faith and identity and the trouble they can cause, His Holiness pointed out that in terms of personal conduct and practice it is fine to think of one truth and one faith. However, in relation to the community at large in the wider world, it is necessary to recognise a multitude of faiths and various aspects of the truth.
At several points in the conversation His Holiness expressed his admiration for the Youth Leaders’ work and the spirit they bring to it.

China detains seven Tibetans over self-immolation videos
October 30, 2017
Radio Free Asia, October 23, 2017 – China has detained seven Tibetan men in Yushul (Yushu, in Chinese) prefecture’s Tridu (Chenduo) county on charge of producing and distributing videos about self-immolation protests that took place several years ago, sources in the region told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
“In the past 10 ten days alone, China has detained at least seven Tibetans. They are currently being held in Tridu County,” said a source from Tibet.
“According to the local Tibetans, the reasons for their arrest and detention is due to sharing and dissemination of a new video that these Tibetans made two years ago, highlighting the hardship and agonizing suffering of those Tibetans self-immolators, and it is being shared via WeChat,” the source told RFA.
“Although it was not widely circulated, the newly made video highlights the Tibetan self-immolators’ ordeals that took place several years ago,” added the source.
“Due to the heavy clampdown and scrutiny on internet usage, and on WeChat, it is difficult to further verify the status of those Tibetans held by the Chinese through their families and friends,” said a source.
According to a written list obtained by RFA from another source, the detainees are Tashi Damdul, Kalsang Gyaltso, Tsering Chophel, Tenzin Namgyal, Choephel, and Tsering Norbu from Khanra village in Tridu County. The seventh detainee, Tsegyam, is from Kamyi village in the county.
“Chinese authorities accused those Tibetans of making contact outside Tibet, via the internet, and also charged them with engaging in many unlawful activities,” said the first source.
“Since the Chinese authorities arrested these Tibetans under a secret operation, the exact date of detention, and how it took place could not be ascertained,” added the source.
The detentions came amid the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s 19th Party Congress in Beijing, which opened on Oct. 18 for one week brought a wide crackdown on communications and travel.
During the congress, the source said, “Tibetan WeChat users come under threat, as Chinese spies have infiltrated into many chat groups under fake names for the purpose of keeping an eye on user activities.”
“These restrictions and scrutiny have caused big inconveniences to even simple harmless chats between family members and friends,” said the source.
It was not immediately clear which self-immolation protests featured in the videos.
A total of 150 people have now set themselves ablaze in Tibet and Tibetan-populated counties in western China. Their protests have featured demands for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from India, where he has lived since escaping Tibet during a failed national uprising in 1959.
Reported by Kunsang Tenzin for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Paul Eckert.

China plans 1,000 km tunnel diverting water from Tibet to Xinjiang
October 30, 2017
South China Morning Post, October 30, 2017 – Chinese engineers are testing techniques that could be used to build a 1,000km tunnel – the world’s longest – to carry water from Tibet to Xinjiang, experts involved in the project say.
China’s longest tunnel is the eight-year-old 85km Dahuofang water project in Liaoning province, while the world’s longest tunnel is the 137km main water supply pipe beneath the city of New York.
However, the Chinese government started building a tunnel in the centre of Yunnan province in August that will be more than 600km long, local media reported. Comprising more than 60 sections, each wide enough to accommodate two high-speed trains, it will pass through mountains several thousand metres above sea level in an area plagued by unstable geological conditions.
Researchers said building the Yunnan tunnel would be a “rehearsal” of the new technology, engineering methods and equipment needed for the Tibet-Xinjiang tunnel, which would divert the Yarlung Tsangpo River in southern Tibet to the Taklimakan Desert in Xinjiang. Downstream, in India, the river becomes the Brahmaputra, which joins the Ganges in Bangladesh.
The Tibetan Plateau stops the rain-laden Indian Ocean monsoon from reaching Xinjiang, with the Gobi Desert in the north and the Taklimakan Desert in the south leaving more than 90 per cent of the region unsuitable for human settlement.
However, the Taklimakan sits right at the foot of the Tibetan Plateau, which is known as the water tower of Asia. The more than 400 billion tonnes of water it releases each year – almost enough to fill Lake Erie in the United States – also feeds the source of other major rivers, including the Yellow, Yangtze, Mekong (known in China as the Lancang) and the Ganges.
The earliest proposals to divert water from Tibet to Xinjiang were made by Qing dynasty officials Lin Zexu and Zuo Zongtang in the 19th century. In recent decades, Chinese government branches, including the Ministry of Water Resources, have come up with engineering blueprints involving huge dams, pumps and tunnels.
The project’s enormous cost, engineering challenges, possible environmental impact and the likelihood of protests by neighbouring countries have meant it has never left the drawing board, but Zhang Chuanqing, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics in Wuhan, Hubei province, said China was now taking a quiet, step-by-step approach to bring it to life.
“The water diversion project in central Yunnan is a demonstration project,” said Zhang, who has played a key role in many major Chinese water tunnel projects, including the one in Yunnan. “It is to show we have the brains, muscle and tools to build super-long tunnels in hazardous terrains, and the cost does not break the bank.”
The construction of the tunnel on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the country’s second-highest, would make political leaders more confident about the Tibet-Xinjiang project and more likely to approve it, he said.
The Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in southwest China is, like the Tibetan Plateau, an earthquake-prone zone with many active faults.
“Fault zones are our biggest headache,” Zhang said. “If we can secure a solution, it will help us get rid of the main engineering obstacles to getting water from Tibet to Xinjiang.”
The solution they came up with was inspired by subway trains, whose carriages are connected by elastic joints. In the tunnel, Zhang said, flexible materials that were also waterproof and strong would be used to bind concrete pipes together when they passed through fault zones.
The Yunnan tunnel and support facilities will take eight years to build at an estimated cost of 78 billion yuan (US$11.7 billion). It will carry more than three billion tonnes of water each year from northwestern Yunnan to the province’s dry centre and directly benefit more than 11 million people, according to the provincial government.
The Yunnan Daily said the tunnel would create 3.4 million jobs, more than 30,000 hectares of new farmland and give the local economy a 330 billion yuan boost.
Wang Wei, a researcher who helped draft the latest Tibet-Xinjiang water tunnel proposal, which was submitted to the central government in March, said more than 100 scientists formed different teams for the nationwide research effort.
The team he was part of was led by China’s top tunnelling expert, Wang Mengshu. It suggested the government drain the Yarlung Tsangpo River at Sangri county in southern Tibet, near the disputed border with India.
Sangri county featured a large, relatively flat valley that was ideal for the engineering project. An artificial island would be built in the middle of the river to create rapid turbulence, which could filter out sediment, and direct water to a well. The well could control the amount of water flowing into the tunnel.
Wang, a researcher at the State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering at Sichuan University in Chengdu, said the tunnel would mostly be underground and would be built in many sections. In some places, large boring machines with drill heads around 15 metres wide would be lowered through wells to drill tunnels from opposite directions.
Some of the drops involved would be so steep that the tunnel would be fitted with hydropower turbines to slow the water flow and avoid damage to lower sections.
“No man-made structure can withstand the direct bombardment of water falling from 3,000 to 4,000 metres above,” Wang said.
The researchers estimated the tunnel would be able to carry 10 billion to 15 billion tonnes of water from the Yarlung Tsangpo River to the Taklimakan Desert each year. That’s about a quarter of the annual flow of the Yellow River, the second longest river in China and the cradle of Chinese civilisation.
But the cost would be astronomical. According to Wang’s estimate, each kilometre of tunnel would cost at least one billion yuan due to the difficult terrain and taxing altitude of the Tibetan Plateau.
Wang said the project would also prompt protests from India and Bangladesh, which lay downstream. But compared to other proposals, which would require the construction of massive dams on the river, the underground tunnels would leave Tibet’s natural landscape largely unscathed.
“It won’t leave a mark on the surface for other countries or environmental activists to point their fingers at,” he said.
Zhang said China would definitely go ahead with the project one day.
“In five to 10 years from now, the technology will be ready and the cost affordable, and the temptation of the benefits will be difficult to resist,” he said.
Zhang said the water shortage in Xinjiang was in many ways similar to that in California early in the 20th century. The Central Valley Project, devised in 1933, diverted water from northern California to the San Joaquin Valley, turning it into the world’s most productive agricultural region.
“With new water from Tibet, Xinjiang would boom like California,” he said.
Zhou Shiqiao, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research in Beijing, said the government should study the feasibility and environmental impact of the different proposals extensively before giving the final nod.
“It will change the landscape of an entire region,” Zhou said. “To my knowledge, no environmental evaluation has been carried out. The nature and scale of the impact remains in the dark.”
The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Third Pole, has been battered by climate change, with its glaciers shrinking and permafrost melting. Some studies have warned that Asia’s water tower might run dry if global temperatures continue to rise.

The 7 Men Who Will Run China
What you need to know about the members of the 19th Politburo Standing Committee.
By Bo Zhiyue
October 25, 2017
At its First Plenum on October 25, 2017, the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) elected members of the Politburo Standing Committee. As widely expected, among the seven members of the 18th Politburo Standing Committee, four (Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, and Zhang Gaoli) retired due to their age; and two (Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang) were re-elected. As for the final member, contrary to the speculation that Wang Qishan might stay on, he also stepped down possibly because of his age.
The following is the new line-up of the 19th Politburo Standing Committee members.
No. 1: Xi Jinping
President Xi Jinping, 64, was re-elected as general secretary of the CCP Central Committee and No. 1 ranking member of the 19th Politburo Standing Committee as well as chairman of the Central Military Committee. The core of the CCP and Commander-in-Chief of the People’s Liberation Army, Xi has further consolidated his power over the Party at the 19th Party Congress after his thought, “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” was enshrined in the CCP Constitution as a “long-term guide to action that the Party must adhere to and develop” along with Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents (Jiang Zemin’s contribution), and the Scientific Outlook on Development (Hu Jintao’s).
During the Party Congress, Xi was hailed as a “great leader,” “helmsman,” and the general architect of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era. The CCP under Xi’s leadership has pledged to lead China into a new era of making the country strong again in the next three decades.
No. 2: Li Keqiang

Premier Li Keqiang, 62, was also re-elected as the No. 2 ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee. A political leader with strong ties to the Chinese Communist Youth League, Li has collaborated with Xi very well in the past five years and has been a strong supporter of Xi’s domestic and foreign policy initiatives.
With academic training in both law and economics, Li gained substantial experiences as a provincial leader and a national leader. He is likely to continue as premier of the State Council for another five years.
No. 3: Li Zhanshu
Director of the General Office of the Central Committee of the CCP since September 2012, Li, 67, has earned his seat at the Politburo Standing Committee as Xi’s strongest ally. A native of Hebei, Li worked with Xi as the party secretary of a neighboring county in his home province in the 1980s. Li also worked in Shaanxi Province, Xi’s home province, from 1998 to 2003 in various capacities.
Li worked as governor of Heilongjiang from 2008 to 2010 and as party secretary of Guizhou from 2010 to 2012. Due to the downfall of Ling Jihua, director of the General Office of the Central Committee of the CCP under Hu Jintao, Li was transferred to Beijing as the executive deputy director of the General Office in August 2012.
Li has been working with Xi very closely and has accompanied Xi in all of his domestic inspection tours and foreign visits. He has also visited foreign countries on behalf of Xi.
Li is likely to take over the portfolio of Zhang Dejiang as chairman of the next National People’s Congress Standing Committee in March 2018.
No. 4: Wang Yang
Vice Premier of the State Council since March 2013 and a Politburo member since October 2007, Wang, 62, has finally been elevated to the Politburo Standing Committee. A native of Anhui Province, Wang has been a major contender for a seat on the Politburo Standing Committee since 2012.
With a humble family background, Wang has been rising in Chinese politics mostly because of his capabilities. As mayor of Tongling in Anhui at the age of 33 in 1988, Wang earned his reputation as a reformer with bold reform initiatives in various sectors.
He has accumulated extensive administrative experiences as both a provincial leader and a national leader. He was vice governor of Anhui, party secretary of Chongqing, and party secretary of Guangdong. He also served as deputy secretary general of the State Council and has been vice premier of the State Council.
He is likely to take over the portfolio of Yu Zhengsheng as chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in March 2018.
No. 5: Wang Huning
Director of the Central Policy Research Office since October 2002 and a Politburo member since November 2012, Wang Huning, 62, has also been made a member of the 19th Politburo Standing Committee.
An academic-cum-politician, Wang has been a major contributor to the ideological development of the CCP since the 1980s. The author of “new authoritarianism,” which espoused political centralism for developing countries such as China, Wang has assisted three general secretaries — Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping — in their ideological innovations. He has also accompanied President Jiang Zemin, President Hu Jintao, and President Xi Jinping in their foreign visits since the late 1990s.
He is likely to take over the portfolio of Liu Yunshan as president of the Central Party School and as the Politburo Standing Committee member in charge of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CCP, especially propaganda and personnel issues. Due to the departure of Li Yuanchao, Wang is one of contenders for the position of vice president of the People’s Republic of China when state positions are reshuffled in March 2018.
No. 6: Zhao Leji

Director of the Central Organization Department since 2012, Zhao, 60, was elected as a new member of the Politburo Standing Committee. Although his parents were from Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, Zhao was actually born and grew up Qinghai Province. He joined the CCP in 1975 at the age of 18 and was enrolled in the Department of Philosophy at Peking University in 1977 as a worker-peasant-soldier student.
Zhao climbed the ladder of success very quickly and became the youngest governor in China in 1999 when he was appointed governor of Qinghai at the age of 42. He was also the youngest provincial party in 2003 when he became party secretary of Qinghai at the age of 46.
A politician with no clear factional orientations, Zhao has faithfully worked with Xi and his classmate, Chen Xi, the executive deputy director of the Central Organization Department, to place Xi’s supporters in various strategic positions in the past five years.
Zhao takes over the portfolio of Wang Qishan as head the Central Disciplinary Inspection Commission. He is also likely to serve as the head of a new national supervisory commission that is expected to be established in March 2018.
No. 7: Han Zheng
Party secretary of Shanghai since 2012, Han, 63, has been elevated to be a member of the 19th Politburo Standing Committee. He is the seventh party secretary of Shanghai since 1989 to have entered the Politburo Standing Committee, after Jiang Zemin, Zhu Rongji, Wu Bangguo, Huang Ju, Xi Jinping, and Yu Zhengsheng.
With Cixi, Zhejiang Province as his ancestral home, Han was actually born and grew up in Shanghai. Without formal academic training, Han went through ranks in Shanghai initially through the Chinese Communist Youth League system. He worked directly under Wu Bangguo, Huang Ju, Xu Kuangdi, and Chen Liangyu. He is the only person in the history of Shanghai since 1949 who has served as mayor of Shanghai for 10 years. In his capacity as mayor, he collaborated with Party Bosses Chen Liangyu, Xi Jinping, and Yu Zhengsheng.
Due to his extensive administrative experiences in Shanghai, Han is likely to be appointed as executive vice premier of the State Council in March 2018.
If the CCP follows the “rule of 68” (those aged 68 or over must step down, those aged 67 or younger may stay on) at the 20th Party Congress in 2022, Xi Jinping, Li Zhanshu, and Han Zheng will have to retire but Li Keqiang, Wang Yang, Zhao Leji, and Wang Huning could stay for another five-year term. However, as general secretary, Xi could very well be exempt from this rule. Notably, none of the newly appointed Politburo Standing Committee members are young enough to make them likely successors to Xi at the 20th Party Congress.
Professor Bo Zhiyue, a leading authority on China’s elite politics in the world, is Founder and President of the Bo Zhiyue China Institute, a consulting firm providing services on China to heads of governments and CEOs of multinational corporations. His most recent books include China-US Relations in Global Perspective(edited) (2016) and China’s Political Dynamics under Xi Jinping (2017)
https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/the-7-men-who-will-run-china/

Report – Satellite images show huge scale of damage to Tibetan Buddhist site Larung Gar
October 23, 2017
Free Tibet/Tibet Watch, October 19, 2017 – A new joint report by Free Tibet and Tibet Watch captures the scale of destruction caused to Tibet’s Larung Gar Buddhist Academy. “Destroying Heaven: China’s campaign of destruction at Larung Gar”, is being launched on the one-year anniversary of the International Day of Action for Larung Gar (1), which saw protests around the world against a programme of demolitions and forced evictions that has seen almost 5,000 residents forced out of their homes since July 2016.
Larung Gar Buddhist Institute, also known as Larung Gar Five Sciences Buddhist Academy, is located in Serthar County, in eastern Tibet (2). It is one of the largest and most significant Tibetan Buddhist sites in the world. It is ordinarily home to anywhere between 10,000 and 40,000 people, including monks, nuns and visiting students.
In June 2016, the Chinese authorities issued an order dictating that Larung Gar’s population was to be reduced to 5,000 residents (3). The homes of those evicted from the site would also be demolished. Residents were not consulted about this plan before the order was issued.
The report captures the results of this order and its effects on the residents. It utilises research from contacts inside Tibet, testimonies from residents, photos from inside Larung Gar and satellite imagery from before and after the demolitions were launched in July 2016. The report reveals how at least 4,725 homes have been reduced to rubble in a process that has also resulted in at least 4,800 residents being forced to leave their homes.
The images, acquired from US-based satellite specialists Apollo Mapping (4), reveal how houses were torn down to widen roads, create new pathways or clear space around religious buildings. The pathway of destruction corroborates claims by residents that the demolitions and forced removals have been implemented to facilitate tourist access to Larung Gar.
The report concludes by highlighting the need for strong international pressure on China to halt the damage being caused to Larung Gar. There has already been widespread international condemnation of the demolitions, mainly from international bodies like the United Nations and European Union, MPs and human rights groups, as well as Tibetans (5). However, the report states that this pressure will need to intensify and come from governments themselves if it is to convince Beijing to desist from further harm to Larung Gar and its residents. The report adds that other Buddhist sites, such as Yarchen Gar in eastern Tibet (6), are at risk if governments fail to act.
Free Tibet and Tibet Watch director Eleanor Byrne-Rosengren said:
“In July 2016, Larung Gar was transformed from a place of quiet religious contemplation and study into a scene of devastation. Since then, each person forced from their home, each house torn down has been another scar that its residents have been forced to live with. Beijing’s attempts to reduce this important site to a mere tourist destination make this destruction even more heart-breaking.”
“A site of learning and devotion is being turned to rubble and the lives of its residents are now characterised by violence and instability. This reckless, destructive policy must not go unanswered. Governments around the world must up the pressure on China and make it change course before this site and everything that made it special is scarred beyond all repair.”
The full report can be downloaded at https://www.freetibet.org/files/Larung%20Gar%20report-web.pdf .

Active, aggressive and abusive: China’s attitude toward the United Nations
October 16, 2017
Central Tibetan Administration, October 13, 2017 – The United Nations’ efforts to uphold its principles of promoting and protecting human rights are jolted by repeated interventions from Beijing. The effect of China obtruding at the UN is felt around the world.
At the recently concluded meeting of Office of Tibet representatives held in Dharamshala, India, the EU, UN and Human Rights Desk of the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) described China’s interaction at various levels of UN agencies as ‘active, aggressive, and abusive.’
While leading a discussion on Tibet at the United Nations: Strengthening Human Rights , Ngodup Dorjee, Representative of Office of Tibet, Switzerland, and Kalden Tsomo, head of the EU, UN and Human Rights Desk at DIIR, gave a comprehensive presentation titled ‘Tibet at the UN: Strengthening Advocacy for Human Rights in Tibet‘.
Citing latest cases where the Chinese government pressured UN member states such as the United States and Canada to retract their decision to host His Holiness the Dalai Lama at a side event running parallel to the 31st Human Rights Council session, Ngodup Dorjee remarked that the ultimate goal of the Chinese government’s interactions with the UN is directed towards reducing space and scope for civil societies at the UN. He also expressed concern regarding China’s tactics to bar NGOs critical of the government, particularly by deferring their applications for UN ECOSOC consultative status.
Currently, China is the top third contributing country in the UN regular budget and the second largest contributor in UN Peacekeeping operations. China’s active engagement at the UN, particularly at the Human Rights Council, has vested interests. The Communist government is diligent in assuring that no China-specific resolution is passed; minimal criticism is raised; and also to seize for itself a membership seat at the Council.
Kalden Tsomo further outlined the key issues of the Tibet UN advocacy in the next few years. “In the coming three years, issues at the core of the Tibet-UN advocacy framework will be religious freedom, the enforced disappearance of Tibet’s 11th Panchen Lama, human rights defenders and economic social and cultural rights in Tibet,” she said.
The UN member states will review China’s human rights record in its third cycle of the Universal Period Review next year in November. Pressing the importance of the review, all the representatives of the Offices of Tibet were urged to amplify their lobbying campaigns and to meticulously coordinate with one another to insure a meaningful, thorough and productive review of China.
The session was concluded with the consensus to strengthen Tibet advocacy at all international fora including the UN.

Prince Charles to miss State banquet with Chinese president at Buckingham Palace
October 16, 2017
By Gordon Rayner
The Telegraph, October 14, 2017 – The Prince of Wales will miss next week’s State banquet in honour of the Chinese president in an apparent snub to the country’s Communist leaders.
Buckingham Palace has confirmed that while the Prince will meet President Xi Jinping several times during the course of the State visit, he will be absent from the centrepiece white tie event at Buckingham Palace hosted by the Queen.
The Prince has had a troubled relationship with China for decades, partly because of his support for the disputed territory of Tibet, whose spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, he counts as a personal friend.
The Prince famously described Communist Party leaders as “appalling old waxworks” in a journal circulated to his friends when he attended the Hong Kong handover ceremony in 1997, and has never been to China.
In contrast his son, the Duke of Cambridge, made a highly successful official visit to China earlier this year, and will be at the State banquet along with the Duchess of Cambridge.
It is not the first time the Prince of Wales has snubbed the Chinese. In 1999 he was absent from a banquet held at the Chinese Embassy in London in honour of the Queen, then in 2005 he boycotted the official banquet during the last State visit by a Chinese leader. In 2008 he refused to attend the Olympic Games in Beijing.
However Clarence House was anxious to make clear that the Prince will attend several other events during the State visit, which begins on Tuesday, October 20.
He will greet the Chinese delegation at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London on Tuesday morning and will attend a formal welcome on Horse Guards Parade and a luncheon later that day, as well as entertaining President Xi for tea at Clarence House in the afternoon.
Sources have indicated he will then travel to Scotland, and the Duke of York will attend four engagements with President Xi on Wednesday and Thursday.
President Xi and his wife Madame Peng Liyuan will stay at Buckingham Palace during their visit.
Clarence House declined to provide any explanation for why the Prince will be unable to attend the banquet.
A statement from Clarence House said: “The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall have significant involvement in the State Visit by The President of The People’s Republic of China,” before listing the engagements he will carry out.

ABC Australia: Chinese Government intrusion into Western universities sparks push for collective action

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-15/chinese-intrusion-on-western-universities-sparks-action/9048456?pfmredir=sm
The fear of Chinese Government intrusion into Western universities is sparking a push by Australia’s closest allies for a more coordinated response to Beijing’s aggressive tactics.
Key points:
• Five Eyes partners considering collective response to threat of foreign interference
• Head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade warns Australian universities needed to be resilient
• Australia is taking a leading role in the discussions
Having observed attacks on academic freedoms in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — discussions have begun in diplomatic and security circles about whether the Five Eyes intelligence partners should respond collectively to the threat, so there are no “weak links” which can be exploited.
So far nothing formal has been proposed but senior national security figures have told the ABC Australia is taking a “leading role” in publicly highlighting the situation.
The concerns over China’s activities were brought starkly into focus last week in a rare public speech by the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Frances Adamson, who warned Australian universities needed to be resilient to foreign interference.
“The silencing of anyone in our society from students to lecturers to politicians is an affront to our values,” Ms Adamson told the Confucius Institute at Adelaide University.
Her contribution has been noted by senior government figures and the diplomatic community as a deliberate and important acknowledgement of the gravity of the situation.
Ms Adamson’s intervention is the latest in a series of tougher statements from Australian officials condemning Beijing’s activities, which began with the Prime Minister’s comments on the South China Sea during the Shangri-La dialogue in June.
“Australia is giving China what it wants in terms of education for its students — so it’s time for the Federal Government to insist the Chinese comply with Australia’s values and interests,” a senior foreign diplomatic figure told the ABC.
The Canberra based diplomat concedes any move by Australia to clamp down on Chinese interference would need to be matched by other Five Eyes intelligence partners who compete heavily to attract the same international students to their universities.
One of the most senior national security figures in Australia says there is now a “like mindedness and shared understanding” among Five Eyes allies of how China’s pervasive and subversive influence has penetrated into each nation.
Earlier this year a Four Corners investigation revealed the extent of influence by the Chinese Communist Party on international students studying in Australia.
Last year security concerns were raised over plans to install Chinese-owned technology on a powerful supercomputer used by government agencies and Australian universities.

Top UK soccer team slammed over Tibet water sponsorship deal
October 9, 2017
By Daniel Shane
CNN, October 6, 2017 – Has English soccer team Liverpool scored a goal with a Chinese sponsorship deal?
The high-profile club, which is owned by the same company as the Boston Red Sox, has come under fire this week from human rights campaigners who want it to ax a deal with a company that bottles mineral water from a Tibetan glacial spring.
Activist group Free Tibet slammed Liverpool’s agreement with Hong Kong-based Tibet Water Resources, highlighting allegations of human rights abuses in Tibet.
“While a deal with a company based in Tibet might sound like an attractive and exotic opportunity, the reality for the Tibetan people is very different,” said John Jones, communications manager at Free Tibet. The organization said that more than 20 other advocacy groups were backing the campaign.
Owned by U.S. company Fenway Sports, Liverpool is one of England’s most successful teams, with a history of winning major trophies both at home and in European competition. It also has a big following in Asia.
The club signed the sponsorship deal with Tibet Water in July. As part of the pact, Tibet Water gets social media support and access to Liverpool players, a club statement said. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
Liverpool didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Tibet Water’s website says its bottled water is sourced from mountains in the region that rise 5,100 meters (16,700 feet) above sea level.
Free Tibet said that Tibet has become one of the most repressive places on earth under Chinese rule and that Tibetans have been given no say in how natural resources like water are used. It didn’t directly accuse Tibet Water of any specific wrongdoing.
Liverpool should cut ties with Tibet Water in order to “send a clear signal that Liverpool FC rejects any association with human rights abuses,” Jones said.
Tibet Water declined to comment on Free Tibet’s campaign against its partnership with Liverpool.
The Chinese government took control of Tibet in 1951 following a military invasion the previous year. China says Tibet has been part of its sovereign territory since the 13th century.