Dalai Lama greets Queen Elizabeth on her birthday
April 25, 2016
IANS, April 22, 2016 – The Dalai Lama greeted Queen Elizabeth II of Britain on the occasion of her 90th birthday on April 23, a statement said on Friday.
In a letter, the globetrotting Tibetan spiritual leader wrote: “Her Majesty is someone I have admired since I was a small boy in Tibet.”
“I remember reading about her and seeing newsreels of various members of the royal family visiting and comforting people in war-torn London. I understand that befitting celebrations of her status as Britain’s longest serving monarch are taking place while many tributes are being paid to her from across the world,” he said.
“I would like to add my own congratulations and wish Her Majesty a happy birthday,” the Nobel Peace laureate said.
Describing Queen Elizabeth as “a steadfast source of inspiration to many, a model of strength and dedication”, he said: “On this auspicious occasion I offer my prayers for the happiness, prosperity and long life of Her Majesty and the peoples of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.”
The Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing his homeland Tibet in 1959. The Tibetan administration-in-exile is based here.

Dalai Lama, Archbishop Tutu sign interfaith climate statement
April 18, 2016
By Megan Darby
Leaders from all the world’s major religions are set to declare their backing for ambitious climate action at an event in New York on Monday.
Climate Change News, April 18, 2016 – The Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Pakistani grand imam Maulana Khabir Azad are among 270 signatories of an interfaith statement.
Emphasising each person’s “moral responsibility” to care for our shared Earth, the statement will be handed over to the UN’s Mogens Lykketoft in a ceremony at 11:00 Eastern Time.
It comes ahead of a gathering of national leaders on Friday to sign the landmark climate pact agreed in Paris – a necessary step towards its entry into force.
“Humanity is at a crucial turning point,” according to the statement. “We as faith communities recognize that we must begin a transition away from polluting fossil fuels and towards clean renewable energy sources.
“It is clear that for many people significant lifestyle changes will have to be made. We must strive for alternatives to the culture of consumerism that is so destructive to ourselves and to our planet.”
It calls for rapid action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, with global levels peaking in 2020 to keep the possibility of a 1.5C warming limit within reach.
People of faith are encouraged to reduce their own carbon footprints, divest from fossil fuels and invest in cleaner sources of energy.
Radhanath Swami of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness is one of the speakers at Monday’s event, to be held in the Church Center for the UN.
“The environmental crisis is ultimately a crisis of the heart,” he said ahead of the service. “The more we are disconnected from one another and from God, the more we are disconnected from Mother Earth. We must therefore strive to re-establish our relationship with the earth.” WTN – Canada

Tibetan blogger asserts his innocence in eloquent letter from prison
April 11, 2016
International Campaign for Tibet, April 4, 2016 – The popular Tibetan blogger and intellectual Druklo, more widely known by his pen name Shokjang, has written an eloquent and remarkable letter from detention appealing against his three-year prison sentence. The letter, which is translated in full below into English after it was circulated on Chinese social media, was handwritten in Tibetan and addressed to the Qinghai Higher People’s Court.
There was widespread dismay when Shokjang was detained by security police on March 19, 2015, and sentenced to three years in prison, with numerous netizens expressing their sadness, and Shokjang’s innocence. An intellectual, blogger and writer, Shokjang is known for his reflective and thought-provoking articles on issues of contemporary concern such as ethnic policy and settlement of nomads.
His letter to the authorities is dated February 24 (2016), although it has only just reached Tibetan exiles, including the former Tibetan political prisoner Golog Jigme, who now lives in Switzerland, and who knew Shokjang in Tibet. According to sources, Shokjang is still being held in detention in Rebkong (Chinese: Tongren), Qinghai, where he was first arrested, and has not yet been transferred to a prison.
The precisely-worded text of Shokjang’s letter both conveys the absurdity of the charges against him and reveals a fellow feeling with Chinese and other Tibetans who experience similar ordeals. He writes: “China is a vast country with 56 different nationalities, and Tibetans are one of the largest minorities. I am a Chinese citizen, and as a Tibetan intellectual, I have to be concerned for the precious lives of my own kin. If doing so is called ‘instigating separatism’, nothing is more laughable. I might joyfully and voluntarily serve my sentence, but I never want to be a person without regard for the lives of his brothers and sisters. Come to that, I would do the same for our Chinese brothers and sisters.”
Shokjang’s open letter details for the first time the elements of the case against him, which he says the Malho (Chinese: Huangnan) People’s Court (in Qinghai) describe as ‘inciting the splitting of the nation’. In his letter Shokjang gives a nuanced and sophisticated analysis against characterizing his writings as ‘separatist’, focusing on the use of the word ‘instigating’ or ‘inciting’ ‘separatism’ : “If one talks about instigating separatism, I have not written even a word of separatism, much less instigated it. If I write about an incident in which I suffered harm, and that becomes an unfounded accusation against me, and I write an appeal to the court about the incident, that does not make me a separatist. Helplessly subject to a punishment that makes your flesh creep the more you think about it, I appeal to the Higher People’s Court to look for the objective truth.”
In his precise and reasoned argument, Shokjang points out that his right to written expression is enshrined in, and protected by, the Chinese Constitution, and writes that if he is a ‘splittist’, then so, potentially, are Chinese and Tibetan tourists who post observations about their experiences in Tibet on social media: “If such situations in the cultural sphere turn into serious political issues, issues of national separatism, does that make visitors from both nationalities who post photos and other observations on the situation at Kumbum monastery on the internet into perpetrators of separatism? By this logic, only a minority of the general public would not be considered as separatists or instigators of separatism.”
Shokjang also conveys the peaceful approach of Tibetans to their situation, underlining that the reason he reproduced a section from a book about the 2008 protests by another Tibetan writer, Tagyal (pen name: Shokdung), was because: “I do not want to see any more of such tragic bloodshed. I will never fight to secure my own happiness through shedding the blood of others.”
Tightening oppression in Tibet and an emphasis on uprooting ‘separatism’ has created a more dangerous political environment for Tibetans in expressing their views. As a result a new generation of Tibetans is paying a high price with their lives for peaceful expression of views in a political climate in which almost any expression of Tibetan identity or culture not directly sanctioned by the state, no matter how mild, can be characterized by the authorities as “splittist” and therefore “criminal.”
An English translation of Shokjang’s appeal from prison is available at: http://www.savetibet.org/popular-tibetan-blogger-asserts-his-innocence-in-letter-from-prison/

China charges Tibetan education advocate with inciting separatism
April 4, 2016
By Edward Wong
New York Times, March 30, 2016 – A detained Tibetan entrepreneur who advocates bilingual education in schools across Tibetan regions of China has been charged with inciting spearatism, according to an official police document.
The entrepreneur, Tashi Wangchuk, 30, is being held at the main detention center in Yushu, the town in Qinghai Province in western China, where he lives with his elderly parents. Mr. Tashi could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.
Mr. Tashi was detained on January 27 and held in secret for weeks. His relatives said they were not told of his detention until March 24, though Chinese law requires that a detainee’s family be notified within 24 hours. A document stating the charge against Mr. Tashi, which a police officer gave the family, and a photograph of which was seen by The New York Times, was dated March 4.
Before his detention, Mr. Tashi had written on his microblog that Tibetans needed to protect their culture and that Chinese officials should aid them in doing so. He has argued for greater Tibetan autonomy within China, but none of his known writings have called for Tibetan independence, which he has said he opposes.
The family said it had not been able to find a local lawyer to represent Mr. Tashi. Officials have not yet announced a trial date.
Mr. Tashi’s case has attracted international attention. Officials at the State Department are aware of his detention, and a representative of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression said the group was starting a petition to call for his release. President Obama may raise human rights issues with his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, when Mr. Xi visits Washington this week for a summit meeting on nuclear issues.
As an advocate for Tibetan culture, Mr. Tashi has been most vocal about language education, saying that schools should adopt a true system of bilingual education so that Tibetan children can become fluent in their mother language.
Mr. Tashi has said that the dearth of effective Tibetan language education, and the fact that the language is not used in government offices, violates the Chinese Constitution, which guarantees cultural autonomy for Tibetan and other ethnic regions.
Mr. Tashi runs a shop in Yushu and sells goods from the region to buyers across China on Taobao, an online platform run by Alibaba, the e-commerce giant. In 2014, Alibaba chose Mr. Tashi to be featured in a video for the company’s investor roadshow before a high-profile initial public offering.
Late last year, Mr. Tashi was quoted in two articles in The New York Times on Tibetan language and culture. He was also the main subject of a documentary video by The Times about his attempts to use the legal system to compel officials to improve Tibetan language education.

China detains three for social media discussion of Tibetan exile election
April 4, 2016
Radio Free Asia, April 1, 2016 – Authorities in northwestern China’s Qinghai province have detained three Tibetans for allegedly discussing on social media the recent elections for the Tibetan government in exile, RFA’s Tibetan service has learned.
The three were taken into custody in Chugo Desar village in Matoe (in Chinese, Maduo) county in Golog (in Chinese, Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture by four local Chinese police officers on March 30 at around 10 a.m.
Samdrup, a prominent 40-year-old from Chugo Desar village; Lhadon, whose family name is Namgyal; and Rongsher, a 29-year-old, are being held at the People’s Court in Matoe county, sources told RFA.
“Three locals, including Samdrup, a local leader, Rongsher, and Lhadon were forcibly detained without explanation by four Chinese policemen,” an anonymous source from inside Tibet told RFA.
According to the source, “they were detained for taking part in a group chat on social media,” likely on the popular WeChat platform.
All three are alleged to have participated in a group discussion about the recent 2016 election of the Tibetan political leader-in-exile known as the Sikyong that took place at 85 locations around the world.
“They are being detained in the People’s Court in Matoe county, and until now their family members have not been allowed to meet or contact them,” the source said.
Samdrup has acted for many years as a leader of the sixth camp of the Chugo Desar settlement, and is a deputy head of 150 households in the village’s first, third, and fifth camps.
Lhadon, family name Namgyal, is the mother of one son, Tsegyalmo, and one daughter, Darkar, aged 8 and 11.
Rongsher, a 29 year old is married without children.
On March 20, Tibetans elected a Sikyong responsible for political and diplomatic decisions for the Dharamsala, India-based government-in-exile known as the Central Tibetan Administration.
The Tibet Sun and Phayul.com have reported that incumbent Lobsang Sangay has a substantial lead over parliamentary speaker Penpa Tsering in the race for Sikyong, or the top leader of the government-in-exile. The official election results are scheduled to be released on April 27.
Exiled Tibetans see the CTA as their legitimate government, despite the Chinese government’s attempt to marginalize it. It is based in Dharamsala, India, where a community of Tibetans lives with their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
Reported by Sonam Wangdu for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Rigdhen Dolma. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.

Chinese Authorities Slap New Constraints on Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries
2016-03-29
Chinese authorities in Tibet have imposed new restrictions on monasteries in a county in northwestern China’s Qinghai province, intensifying an existing ban on displaying photos of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, Tibetan sources in the region and in exile said.
The restrictions pertain to Rongwo and other monasteries in Rebgong (in Chinese, Tongren) county, Malho (Huangnan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in northwestern China’s Qinghai province, a native of Rebgong who lives in exile in Europe said.
“During the month of March this year, the Chinese authorities imposed unprecedented restrictions on the display of the Dalai Lama’s photo in Rebgong’s Rongwo monastery and in other monasteries,” he told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
Authorities issued four restrictions to be implemented at Rongwo monastery, which was founded in the 14th century and is located 124 kilometers (77 miles) from the provincial capital Xining, and other Tibetan Buddhist institutions in the county, he said.
The first mandate requires monasteries to strictly follow the leadership of local management committees in implementing rules and regulations, he said.
Chinese authorities set up the management committees in early 2012 in most Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, placing them under the direct control of government officials who are permanently installed in the lamaseries.
The policy was enacted to ensure that monks and nuns do not participate in activities calling for an independent Tibet or disturb the social order through protests or self-immolations.
“The permanent posting of government or party officials inside monasteries is unprecedented in Tibet, let alone at such a senior level,” Human Rights Watch said in a March 2012 statement after the policy was established.
Under a previous policy, Tibetan monasteries had been administered by so-called democratic management committees whose members were nominated and selected by government and local Communist Party officials, although the body itself was comprised of monks elected by their own communities.
Other directives
The second requirement specifies that the custodians of shrines and temples should sign off on the management committee instructions to hold them responsible for the policy, the source said.
The third directive mandates that monks in charge of temples and shrines should oversee the safety of all statues and other property and prevent their fellow monks from participating in any activities that could bring disgrace to the monasteries, he said. Such activities include putting up posters against Chinese policy in Tibet and being involved in self-immolation protests.
There have been 144 self-immolations by Tibetans living in China since a wave of fiery protests began in 2009. Most protests feature demands for Tibetan freedom and the return of the 14th Dalai Lama, although a handful of self-immolation protests have occurred over local land or property disputes.
The last directive requires that all statues and photos of the Dalai Lama be removed from shrines and temples, the source said. If anyone is discovered violating this rule, he will be expelled from the monastery and could be handed over to authorities for prosecution.
“Shrines and temples that refuse to follow the instructions could be closed,” he said. “All these restrictions were imposed just this year, but they were planned more than a year ago.”
In monasteries in Rebgong, a local government staff member is assigned to one to two monks to educate them on official rules and policy on regular basis as detailed in a government-issued instruction booklet, he said.
The officials are held responsible for the activities of the monks they instruct in the event that they commit an offense against Chinese rule and policy, a source from inside Tibet said.
The 80-year-old Dalai Lama, whose photos are banned by Chinese authorities in Tibetan areas, fled Tibet into exile in India in 1959 and is reviled by Chinese leaders as a dangerous separatist who seeks to split the formerly self-governing region from Beijing’s rule.
The Dalai Lama, however, says he seeks only “meaningful autonomy” for Tibet as a part of China with protections for the region’s language, religion, and culture.
Reported by Sonam Wangdu and Dorjee Tso for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Tibetans in Chinese Provinces Blocked From Travel to Lhasa in March
2016-03-24
Tibetan residents of western Chinese provinces are being blocked from travel to Tibet’s regional capital Lhasa for the duration of March, a month of politically sensitive anniversaries, Tibetan sources say.
Restrictions include bans on travel both by rail and by air, a Tibetan living in Australia told RFA’s Tibetan Service, citing contacts in the region.
“China is profiling Tibetans and denying them rail tickets from Xining and Lanzhou,” RFA’s source named Shelge said, referring to the capitals of Qinghai and Gansu provinces respectively.
“Besides, no plane tickets are being sold to Tibetans traveling from Sichuan’s capital Chengdu to Lhasa until the end of April,” Shelge said.
Tibetans hoping recently to travel by train from Lanzhou to Lhasa had been blocked by authorities, Shelge said.
”They were asked by ticket officials to show their IDs, and after being identified as Tibetans they were told that no tickets would be sold to them.”
Tickets were freely sold to members of other ethnic nationality groups, though, Shelge said.
Sonam, a Tibetan now living in Switzerland, told RFA that Tibetans in Qinghai wishing to travel by rail to Lhasa had been told to wait for a week to purchase tickets to go by rail.
“But then they were told that no tickets would be sold to Tibetans for the rest of the month,” Sonam said, citing local sources.
“They all had to go back to their hometowns,” Sonam said.
Sensitive anniversaries

China now regularly blocks travel to Lhasa by Tibetans living in western Chinese provinces each March, a month of politically sensitive anniversaries.
On March 10, 1959, Tibetans in Lhasa rose up in protest of Beijing’s tightening political and military control of the formerly self-governing Tibetan region, sparking a rebellion in which thousands were killed.
And in March 2008, a riot in Lhasa followed the suppression by Chinese police of four days of peaceful Tibetan protests and led to the destruction of Han Chinese shops in the city and deadly attacks on Han Chinese residents.
The riot then sparked a wave of mostly peaceful protests against Chinese rule that spread across Tibet and into Tibetan-populated regions of western Chinese provinces.
Hundreds of Tibetans were detained, beaten, or shot as Chinese security forces quelled the protests, sources said in earlier reports.
Reported by Sonam Wangdue for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Officials discuss extension of Tibet railway into India and Nepal
March 21, 2016
By Ananth Krishnan
India Today, March 21, 2016 – In a development that experts say has significant ramifications for India, the Prime Ministers of Nepal and China on Monday for the first time discussed a cross border railway project, involving extending China’s Tibet railway into Nepal.
Chinese officials told India Today in Beijing that the project was raised by Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli during talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in the Chinese capital on Monday morning.
China responded “positively”, the officials said, and that the two sides had agreed to take forward a feasibility study “at an early date”.
“Prime Minister Oli raised proposals of two kinds of railways,” Hou Yanqi, Deputy Director General in the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Asia Department, told India Today. “The first is projects [within the territory] of Nepal connecting cities in Nepal, and the second is a cross border railway,” she said.
Hou said the Nepal PM had “raised the issue of building a cross border railway between China and Nepal” and that the proposal “has got a positive response from the Chinese side and the two sides have agreed to conduct feasibility study at an early date.”
Hou said China was already in the process of extending a line to the Nepal border, to Gyirong in Tibet, from Xigaze. The line from Lhasa to Xigaze was completed in 2014.
“As for the cross border railway, China is already building a railway to Gyirong so this could be further extended,” Hou said.
On Monday, both sides also signed a landmark transit transport agreement. This will end Nepal’s dependence on India for access to ports, a key requirement for the landlocked country.
The transit agreement was among 10 deals signed on Monday, including Chinese support for developing Nepal’s oil and gas resources through conducting surveys, solar power projects, a joint feasibility study for a first Free Trade Agreement and concessional loans.
Nepal officials say they are seeking greater support from China especially in the energy sector, with the blockade on the India border leading to dire energy shortages.

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

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