Situation of Tibetans in Nepal after the Recent Earthquake

April 28, 2015 1:21 pm
DHARAMSHALA: According to reports received from the Office of Tibet, Kathmandu, Nepal on 27 April 2015, there has been much damage to property and minimum loss of lives of Tibetans in Nepal as a result of the recent earthquake.
As the telephone and net services are down because of the major earthquake and several aftershocks, the following report is what the Office of Tibet has gathered and gleaned from reports from various settlement offices spread across Nepal.
Solokhumbu/ Walung/ Rasogiri
According to the information sent by the Settlement Officer of these three regions, the wall of the public kitchen in Deling Solokhumbu settlement has cracked; otherwise there are no other major damages to life and property.
In upper Solokhumbu, a house has collapsed. Complete information is still not available.
In Rasogiri, a wall in the school building and house has cracked. No loss of lives has been reported so far.
The Office of Tibet has not been able to contact Tibetans in Walung region, which is at the border of Nepal and Tibet.
Kathmandu/ Swayambhu/ Lo-tserok
According to the information sent by the Settlement Officer and others from these regions, several walls of Tibetan homes in Lo-Tserok settlement have cracked. Cracks in the fields and agricultural lands have also been reported.
In Swayambhu, the red building near the Swayambhu stupa has not sustained any serious damage. However, a building had collapsed in nearby Kimtrol where two Tibetan brothers are staying in a rented room. One of them has died while the other has received severe injuries and is currently admitted in a hospital.
Boudha/ Jorpati
According to the information sent by the Settlement Officer and others in Boudha and Jorpati, a building housing 37 Tibetan families had sustained severe damages and is in danger of collapsing.
A 30-year-old Tibetan named Chime from Boudha has died after walls collapsed on him during the earthquake. Many people from Boudha have also reported damages to their homes and rented houses.
Libing Sendrak Rinpoche’s monastery had also sustained severe damage. Most of the monk’s quarters in the monastery have reported damages. However, there has been no loss of lives or injuries.
Many nunneries in the area have also reported damages. One nun has died in the earthquake while three nuns have sustained severe injuries and three others have reported minor injuries. Fortunately, Snow Lion Foundation’s medical aid team led by Mr. Sonam Tsering was on a visit to the monastery at that time, and doctors are currently treating the injured.
Pokhra
The Office of Tibet has not been able to contact the settlement office in Pokhra. However, private sources have confirmed that there wasn’t any loss of lives or major damages to property.
Jwalakhel Tibetan handicraft settlement
The main office of the Jwalakhel Tibetan handicraft center has sustained damages as a result of the earthquake. Moreover, the boundary walls of the settlement have cracked. However, no loss of lives has been reported.
Frontier Tibetan settlements in Dothang, Manang, Tsum, Nubri

The Office of Tibet has been unable to contact the Tibetan settlements and families residing in frontier regions like Dothang, Manang, Tsum and Nubri.
Office of Tibet, Kathmandu
The old staff quarters have developed major cracks and the pathway to the office is blocked with debris after walls from one side of the road collapsed.
(Almost all Tibetans in Nepal are currently staying in tents outside of their homes in open areas. People are still unable to go back to their homes fearing more aftershocks of the earthquake)

China: Greater Autonomy for Tibet ‘Not Up For Discussion’
VOA News
April 15, 2015 4:54 AM
The Chinese government has announced that a greater degree of autonomy for Tibet is “not up for discussion,” casting renewed doubts on the resumption of dialogue between Beijing and the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
In a harshly worded white paper released Wednesday, China said the Dalai Lama must first abandon what it views as his attempts to provoke violence and create an independent state in Tibet – things the exiled leader vigorously denies supporting.
“Any negotiations will be limited to seeking solutions for the Dalai Lama to completely abandon separatist claims and activities and gain the forgiveness of the central government and the Chinese people, and to working out what he will do with the rest of his life,” said the report.
“As the political status and system of Tibet is stipulated by the Chinese Constitution and laws, the ‘Tibet issue’ and ‘a high degree of autonomy’ are not up for discussion,” it continued.
The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in the 1950s following a Chinese takeover, has for decades insisted he is not pushing for independence in his homeland. The Nobel Peace Prize winner says instead he is seeking greater autonomy and other rights under what is referred to as the “Middle Way Approach.”
In the white paper, Beijing criticized the Middle Way as a deceptive attempt to “create a state within a state.” It also said the recent wave of Tibetan self-immolations was “manipulated and instigated” by the 79-year-old and his supporters.
More than 130 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in Tibetan areas of China since 2009 as part of a desperate protest against China’s rule and repressive policies in Tibet. China says the suicide protests are acts of terrorism.
The Dalai Lama and the Chinese government last held talks in 2010. In recent months, the Dalai Lama has said he is optimistic that Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, who came to power in 2012, could resume the negotiations.
One area of disagreement is over which party would represent Tibet. Beijing prefers to meet with the Dalai Lama and his representatives. The Dalai Lama, who retired from politics in 2011, says Beijing must meet with the Tibetan government-in-exile.
The Chinese government recently has stepped up its verbal attacks on the Dalai Lama. Most recently, it slammed the spiritual leader for suggesting he may not be reincarnated when he dies. Beijing exercises tight control over religious matters in China, and has said it alone can decide whether the Dalai Lama will be reincarnated.

Tibet Chief demands monasteries display Chinese flags
April 13, 2015
By Christopher Bodeen
Associated Press, April 9, 2015 – Tibet’s Communist Party chief has demanded that Buddhist monasteries display the national flag as part of efforts to shore up Chinese control over the restive region.
In an editorial appearing in state newspapers, Chen Quanguo wrote that national flags should be among the key elements found in monasteries.
Demands to display Chinese flags have frequently sparked protests by Tibetans who complain of heavy-handed Chinese rule. Tibetan monks and nuns are among the most active opponents of Chinese rule in the region and face some of the harshest restrictions on their activities.
Chen also called for stepping-up legal and patriotic education in the monasteries — particularly on China’s regulations and restrictions on religious life and institutions — along with activities to select model temples, nuns and monks who display “advanced patriotism and obedience to law.”
“Let the broad masses of monks and nuns be even more conscious of patriotism, obedience to law, and the promotion of religious harmony,” Chen wrote. “Guide them in the adaption of Tibetan Buddhism to socialist society.”
The flag display demand violates Tibetan Buddhist tradition and underscores the extent of China’s determination to control all aspects of the religion, said Bhuchung Tsering, vice president of the London-based advocacy group International Campaign for Tibet.
“While China continues to tell the world that Tibetans enjoy religious freedom and autonomy, its top official in Lhasa is engaged in an ideological campaign to turn Tibetan monasteries into ‘patriotic centers,'” he said in a statement.
Chen also said that newspapers, television, telephones and water and electrical connections should be made available in monasteries. He said measures would be taken to improve health care, stipends and pensions for monks and nuns to permit them to “personally feel the concern and warmth of the party and government.”
Chen’s demand was contained in a lengthy editorial that first appeared Wednesday in the party flagship People’s Daily and was reprinted in other papers on Thursday.
China claims Tibet has been part of its territory for seven centuries, but many Tibetans say they were effectively independent for most of that time. Communist forces occupied the region in 1951 following victory in the Chinese civil war.
Buddhist clergy objects particularly to demands to take part in patriotic education activities to enforce loyalty to the Communist Party, complaining that they waste time and resources from their religious studies.
Those activities and other restrictions were intensified after the 2008 riots in Tibet’s capital Lhasa sparked widespread protests across Tibetan areas. Troops were stationed in monasteries and monks and nuns deemed politically suspect were forced out.

Tibetan nun burns self in Kardze, total self-immolation reaches 137
April 10, 2015 2:58 pm
DHARAMSHALA: Yeshi Khando, a 47-year-old Tibetan nun in Kardze, set herself on fire on 8 April in an apparent protest against the Chinese government, media reports say. She is the 137th Tibetan since 2009 to self-immolate in protest against the Chinese government’s repressive policies in Tibet.
Yeshi Khando is a nun from Chogri Ngangang nunnery in Kardze town, Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (incorporated into China’s Sichuan Province). She burned herself near a local police station in Kardze at around 09:00 am in the morning.
During her self-immolation protest, she raised slogans calling for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and freedom for Tibetans. She also shouted prayers for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and called for unity amongst the Tibetan people.
Chinese security forces arrived shortly after the incident and seized her body. It is currently not clear whether she is alive or dead. However, it is reported that eye witnesses and local people believe she may have expired after her fiery demonstration.
“Chinese authorities have summoned Yeshi Khando’s family to the police station on 9 April to inform them that she has died. However, they refused to hand over her body to the family members. So, it’s quite difficult to ascertain whether she is dead or alive,” a reliable source informed.

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

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

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

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

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

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