Dalai Lama Photo on Open Display at Tibetan Horse-Race Festival
2014-07-29
In open defiance of authorities, Tibetans set up a portrait of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at a traditional horse-racing festival in China’s Sichuan province this week, inviting festival-goers to pray before the photo and make offerings, sources said.
The popular festival, held this year on July 27 in Dziwa village in Bathang (in Chinese, Batang) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, opened with the Dalai Lama portrait’s formal installation, a Tibetan living in exile told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Tuesday.
“Though Chinese authorities imposed restrictions on the festival, the Tibetans brought in a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and placed it on a throne,” Tsultrim Choedar said, citing local sources.
“The organizers also invited Tibetans gathered at the festival to view the photo and offer ceremonial scarves,” he said.
“They prayed for the long life of the Dalai Lama and other prominent religious teachers, and also prayed for a resolution of the question of Tibet.”
The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet into exile in India in 1959, is reviled by Chinese leaders as a dangerous separatist who seeks to split the formerly self-governing region from Beijing’s rule.
In what he calls a Middle Way Approach, though, the Dalai Lama himself says that he seeks only a meaningful autonomy for Tibet as a part of China, with protections for the region’s language, religion, and culture.
A popular tradition
Horse racing festivals date back to the time of the Tibetan emperor Songtsen Gampo in the seventh century, and are still popular in Tibetan rural nomadic areas—especially in the historical southeastern Tibetan region of Kham, which has largely been absorbed into Chinese provinces, Choedar said.
“This time, when the horse race was organized in Dziwa village, the festival began with an invitation to all who came to the festival to participate in the installation of Dalai Lama’s portrait and to receive blessings,” he said.
Most of the horse-racing events are held annually “but in some places the event is organized twice each year.”
Many travel for days to attend the festivals, he said.
In September 2012, Bathang-area Tibetans also defied authorities by parading large portraits of the Dalai Lama during the enthronement of a local religious leader, Tibetan sources told RFA in earlier reports.
Several thousand Tibetans, many on motorbikes, took part in the enthronement ceremony to welcome the young lama, one source said, adding, “Many displayed huge photos of the Dalai Lama on their motorbikes and paraded in the ceremony.”
And in March this year, a 31-year-old nun named Drolma self-immolated near a monastery in Bathang to protest Beijing’s rule, sources in the region and in exile said.
Sporadic demonstrations challenging Chinese rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008, with 131 Tibetans to date setting themselves ablaze to oppose Beijing’s rule and call for the Dalai Lama’s return.
Reported by Pema Ngodup for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Free Tibet: Fake Twitter Accounts Spread Chinese Propaganda
VOA News
A human rights group says it has uncovered at least 100 fake Twitter accounts used to spread Chinese government’s propaganda about Tibet.
The accounts, found by the organization Free Tibet, often used awkwardly constructed Western names and were accompanied by profile pictures that included photographs of American schoolgirls taken by professional photographers. Others used commercial stock images or pictures of dead celebrities.
Free Tibet spokesman Alistair Currie told VOA’s Tibetan service many of the fake accounts trace back to the Chinese capital.
“The accounts that we have identified are completely phony accounts,” he said. “They don’t relate to any individuals. Many of these accounts link to a website which is a Beijing-based website of a company which denies knowledge of the accounts. It says it is responsible for the website, but not the fake accounts.”
The London-based rights group says the accounts posted English-language articles that attacked the Dalai Lama and that portrayed Tibet as a “contented and idyllic Chinese province.”
The New York Times says many of the fake Twitter accounts now appear to be suspended, just hours after the release of the Free Tibet report.
China has gone to great lengths to paint a picture of stability in Tibet, where more than 130 people have set themselves on fire since 2009 to protest Beijing’s rule. It blames the Dalai Lama for inciting the self-immolations, a charge he rejects.
The Chinese government has not responded to the allegations found in the report by Free Tibet, which worked with the Times in its investigation.
Free Tibet did not explicitly accuse the Chinese government of setting up the accounts. But in a letter, it urged Twitter CEO Dick Costolo to ensure that the social media service “cannot be used for deceptive propaganda interests of authoritarian regimes in the future.”
The campaign group said the accounts are “an act of cynical deception designed to manipulate public opinion regarding an occupied and brutally repressed country.”
It is unclear whether the Twitter accounts had any impact on public opinion. But Free Tibet pointed out that one tweet attacking the Dalai Lama had been re-tweeted (shared on Twitter) more than 6,500 times.
By early Tuesday, Twitter had suspended many of the fake accounts found in the report. Free Tibet warned there are likely hundreds more fake accounts that have not been discovered.
Twitter and all other major Western social media are blocked in China, although Beijing’s state-run media outlets do have Twitter accounts that disseminate the government’s stances on domestic and international issues.
This report was produced in collaboration with the VOA Tibetan service.

Dalai Lama Calls for a ‘Realistic’ Approach to Break Tibet Impasse
2014-07-15
Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Tuesday called for a “realistic” approach to resolving the Tibet question, warning that viewing the dispute merely through the prism of history would only aggravate the situation.
Citing the Israeli-Palestinian turmoil as an example, he said the Middle East conflict had been prolonged because both sides had used the historical context to back their territorial claims.
The Dalai Lama said that Beijing and Tibetans should make efforts to bring an end to their dispute through compromise and by considering mutual interests.
“Political changes should be looked at from a realistic angle, not just through the prism of history; doing so would only provoke conflict,” the Dalai Lama told RFA’s Tibetan Service in an interview in the Himalayan town of Choglamsar in Leh, the capital of Ladakh district of India-administered Kashmir.
“For instance, the Palestinians and the Israeli Jews both lay claim to territory from the past. Dealing with the issue based on historical records has only aggravated the Middle East conflict since 1948,” he said.
Example
The Chinese authorities and Tibetans should regard the Middle East crisis as an example to understand the “reality” of the situation, he said.
“On the Tibetan issue too, we need to think of mutual interests of both [Tibet and Beijing] instead of pursuing a ‘I win, you lose’ policy, which is not appropriate, and will not help resolve the situation,” the Dalai Lama said.
The 79-year-old Dalai Lama, who is living in exile in India where he fled to following a failed 1959 Tibet national uprising against Chinese occupation, has been the face and symbol of the Tibetan struggle for freedom for more than five decades.
He has been seeking “genuine” autonomy for Tibet based on his Middle Way approach, which does not seek separation from China.
A dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama’s envoys since 2002 to consider prospects of “genuine” autonomy had ground to a halt in 2010 without any breakthrough after nine formal rounds of discussion and one informal meeting.
Beijing has rebuffed calls for a resumption of the dialogue.
Living up to slogan
The Dalai Lama said Tuesday that Beijing should live up to its “brotherhood of nationalities” slogan by giving equal treatment to all groups in China for mutual benefit.
“From a historical point of view, Tibetans and Chinese have a unique relationship. From that perspective, we should think about mutual benefit,” he said.
“The Chinese government’s official political announcements usually refer to brotherhood of nationalities. If this is true, and the nationalities are truly equal, then China and Tibet can mutually benefit,” said the Dalai Lama, who was in Ladakh to confer Kalachakra, a Buddhist process that empowers his disciples to attain enlightenment.
Asked whether he still wanted to achieve his long held objective of conducting a Kalachakra ceremony in China, he said Buddhism has been growing rapidly in the world’s most populous nation.
Buddhism in China
He then referred to a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to France recently in which Xi said that Buddhism had played a significant role in China’s culture.
“For a leader of the Communist Party of China to say such a thing is a matter of amazement, a new idiom, a new statement,” the Dalai Lama said.
Xi had said in his address at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in March that after Buddhism was introduced into China, the religion went through an extended period of integrated development with the indigenous Confucianism and Taoism and “finally became the Buddhism with Chinese characteristics.”
It made “a deep impact on the religious belief, philosophy, literature, art, etiquette and customs of the Chinese people,” Xi said.
Reported by Kalden Lodoe for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Benpa Topgyal. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.

Tibetan Monk Hangs Himself in Despair at China’s ‘Interference‘
2014-07-17
A young Tibetan enrolled at a large monastery in northwest China’s Gansu province has hanged himself in protest over official restrictions on monastic life, citing hardships in the daily life of Tibetan monks and nuns, sources said.
Thabke, aged about 24 and a monk at the Labrang monastery in Sangchu (in Chinese, Xiahe) county in Gansu’s Kanlho (Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, committed suicide on July 9 “by hanging himself from a tree in front of the monastery,” a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Thursday.
The source said the incident could not be made public earlier due to “communication restrictions” in Sangchu over the last week.
Thabke “had confided to close friends that he wanted to end his life in protest against the imposition of a variety of restrictive regulations and policies,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Restrictions included limits placed on the number of monks and nuns allowed to be enrolled in monasteries in Sangchu, the source said.
“[Chinese] authorities have even interfered in the religious curriculum and have created severe hardships in the monasteries, including Labrang,” he said.
Founded in 1709, Labrang has long been one of the largest and most important monasteries in the historical northeast Tibetan region of Amdo, at times housing thousands of monks.
Thabke, a native of Sangchu county’s Ngakpa village, had protested against China’s policy of limiting enrollment at Labrang to 999, RFA’s source said.
“He also protested against the imposition of restrictions on religious freedom and prohibitions on the display of photos of personal teachers,” he said, adding, “Many monks and nuns who had wanted to pursue the study of Buddhism in the monasteries have had to quit and lead ordinary lives.”
Sporadic demonstrations challenging Chinese rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008, with 131 Tibetans to date setting themselves ablaze to oppose Beijing’s rule and call for the return of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
Reported by Lhu Boom for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Tibetan Monk Detained Following Solo Protest

2014-07-11
Updated at 09:30 a.m. EST on 2014-07-14
A Tibetan monk was taken into custody this week by police in western China’s Sichuan province after launching a protest in which he called for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama, sources said.
Sherkyab, 20, was detained on Wednesday only five minutes after shouting slogans and scattering leaflets in Serthar town in the Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture’s Serthar (Seda) county, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
“A large group of police arrived and hauled him away to the local police station,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“His present condition is not known,” he said.
During his protest, Sherkyab—formerly a monk at the Nubzer monastery about 20 miles away from Serthar town, and more recently a student at the Serthar Buddhist Institute—shouted slogans calling for Tibetan freedom and the return of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, the source said.
“He also threw leaflets into the air, though a witness to the protest could not discover what was written on them,” he said.
‘Failed to report’
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities in June detained a group of Tibetans who had worked to mediate disputes in Kashur village in Sichuan’s Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, a Tibetan living in India told RFA.
“The main reason for their detention was that they had not reported these incidents to Chinese authorities and had tried to resolve them locally within the Tibetan community,” Tulku Jamyang Yonten said, citing contacts in the region.
“I heard that some of them were released, but further details are still unknown because of restrictions on communications to and from the area,” he said.
Authorities had cracked down on the same village last year when residents resisted a Chinese mining project in the area, Yonten said.
“Eight Tibetans were detained, and their condition is still unknown,” he said.
“No trial has been held yet, though it was announced they would be tried.”
Sporadic demonstrations challenging Chinese rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008, with 131 Tibetans to date setting themselves ablaze to oppose Beijing’s rule and call for the Dalai Lama’s return.
Reported by Chakmo Tso and Pema Ngodup for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story mistakenly placed Serthar county in Sichuan’s Ngaba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

Wang Lixiong and Woeser Under House Arrest Again

The text below is translated from Woeser’s Facebook page; per TSG-L security precautions the photo attachment referred to in the 2nd paragraph is not included.
Wang Lixiong and I arrived in Beijing from Inner Mongolia and got to our door at around 6:00 in the evening. At 7:00 State Security arrived. They said they would be taking up their posts for the next two days and that we were forbidden to go out. I asked for the reason and they said that it was confidential. But I know that it’s because the day before yesterday an American Embassy official had called me on my mobile phone and invited me this evening to the embassy residence. Knowing that I was on the road and couldn’t participate, they’d set the date for the next day. I didn’t know whom I’d meet, but regardless of whom I would have met I was already prevented from doing so by State Security.
The photo shows State Security and students whom State Security had sent over from the Public Security University taking up posts at the elevator by our door. Wang Lixiong asked the Public Security University students if they knew that what they were doing was illegal. A student gave a very funny answer: “I have the right to not answer your question.” It was as if he were being questioned at trial.
The news says that U.S. Secretary of State Kerry has come to Beijing. In March of last year, when the U.S. Department of State gave me the “International Woman of Courage Award,” I was unable to go to Washington to accept it because I was confined to my home and had no passport. Afterwards Mr. Kerry especially wrote me a letter. If I were to see him on this occasion I would very much like to reply to his letter and express my thanks. But most regrettably I am at home under house arrest.

The Statement of the Kashag on the Auspicious Occasion of the Seventy-Ninth Birthday of His Holiness the Great Fourteenth Dalai Lama
On this joyous and special occasion of the 79th birthday of His Holiness the Great 14th Dalai Lama, the Kashag would like to express our deepest reverence and respect for His Holiness the Dalai Lama on behalf of all Tibetans in and outside Tibet. We join millions of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s admirers across the globe in wishing him good health and long life. The Kashag would also like to take this great opportunity to convey profound gratitude to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s parents, the late Chokyong Tsering and the late Dekyi Tsering, who blessed us with their precious son, Lhamo Dhondup, born on 6 July 1935 to a peasant family in Taktser village in the Amdo region of Tibet.
The 14th Kashag is observing 2014 as the “Year of the Great 14th Dalai Lama” to express our boundless appreciation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s great accomplishments for the cause of Tibet and the promotion of peace, inter-faith harmony and humane values throughout the world. Under this year-long program, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) will organize 21 major events, which include some 300 smaller activities. Looking further ahead, the Kashag will mark His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday by the Tibetan calendar—the fifth day of the fifth Tibetan month, falling on the 21st of June 2015—with an elaborate long life offering to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has kindly agreed to grace the official 79th birthday celebration with his presence at the time that he confers the 33rd Kalachakra Initiation in Ladakh, a region with which Tibetans share deep religious and cultural ties.
64 years ago in 1950, during the critical period following the Chinese military invasion of Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama was called on to assume spiritual and political powers at the youthful age of sixteen. At the age of 25, during the subsequent Chinese occupation of Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama was forced to flee his country and live in exile. Despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles placed in his path, for nearly 60 years, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has led the Tibetan people with infinite compassion, wisdom and courage.
The fact that the Tibetan people today are united like an iron ball regardless of their regional or religious affiliations and in spite of the Chinese occupation is mainly due to the enlightened leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The power of Tibetan people’s unity today is far greater than the recent past and is comparable to those days when the three Dharma kings reigned over Tibet.
In exile, His Holiness the Dalai Lama envisioned a united Tibetan community firmly rooted in both tradition and modernity. He began by laying a strong foundation for the sustenance of Tibetan people as well as the preservation of the Tibetan identity by establishing Tibetan settlements across India, Nepal and Bhutan. At the same time, to ensure that future generations of Tibetans acquire modern education while remaining rooted in traditional values, from the very beginning, he initiated and established separate Tibetan schools. In fact, the present Tibetan leadership is a product of these institutions that have educated Tibetans in exile for the past fifty years.
By also introducing a series of structural and institutional reforms, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s guidance and wisdom has transformed the nature of exiled Tibetan polity into a genuine democracy. Years of these sustained democratic reforms have in fact transformed the entire exile Tibetan community into a society with deeply rooted democratic values and culture. As a result, even though today exiled Tibetans are scattered across six continents, we have continued to maintain an extremely vibrant, cohesive and organized community. The fact that the exile Tibetan polity and community is today considered a model worthy of emulation is largely because of the visionary leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the diligent perseverance of our senior generation.
Under His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s leadership, all major monasteries that were destroyed in occupied Tibet were rebuilt in exile to preserve and promote Tibetan religion. These monastic centres of teaching and practice, belonging to all four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism as well as Tibet’s native Bon religion, were not only revived, but also thrived in exile. As these monastic scholars and masters have helped spread Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Dharma centres have mushroomed the world over.
Indeed, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has sparked a new awakening among the people of Himalayan regions about their cultural heritage and this has greatly contributed to the revival of local traditions and customs. His Holiness the Dalai Lama remains a fount of guidance and solace for the world’s Buddhists, instrumental in preserving and disseminating the teachings of the Buddha from their repository in Tibet to their origin in India and to 67 other countries across 6 continents.
As a tireless advocate of inter-religious harmony, His Holiness the Dalai Lama interacts with religious leaders of all faiths. He has also pioneered intensive dialogue between leading world scientists and Buddhist monks, and greatly enriched both science and religion. Furthermore, his global efforts to promote secular ethics have earned him the respect and admiration of world citizens regardless of their religious background. These multiple and enduring contributions are evident in over 150 major awards, prizes and honorary doctorates that have been conferred on him, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, United Nations Earth Prize in 1991, US Congressional Gold Medal in 2007 and the Templeton Award in 2012. Truly, the sustained international recognition and prestige of His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been the main driving force behind the rising global awareness of and support for the cause of Tibet.
Given His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s influence and prestige, perhaps it is sadly inevitable that some group of people would seek to malign him. In particular, the Dholgyal followers have launched a politically-driven smear campaign against His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the name of religious freedom and human rights. By advocating sectarianism and fanaticism, which would jeopardize the existing harmony and unity among all the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dholgyal followers have turned into a political tool for the Chinese Communist Party. Considering the larger interest of the Buddha Dharma, and in particular, the threat against the very existence of Tibetans as a people, Tibetans must wisely discern between true and untrue and right from wrong.
On the larger issue of Tibet, we wish to reiterate the Kashag’s belief that this will only be resolved through dialogue with the Chinese government. It is our hope that the new Chinese leadership will soon realize the fact that the Middle Way Approach is a mutually beneficial solution to the Tibet problem.
To this day, the Middle Way Approach continues to receive support from governments around the world and from the international community, including a growing number of Chinese citizens. The CTA has launched a massive international campaign to continue raising this awareness and support for the Middle Way Approach. In this campaign, a rich array of information and materials on the Middle Way Approach will be distributed in many languages through websites and social media. Closer to home, the Kalons and Secretaries of the CTA will visit Tibetan settlements and generate mass awareness about the Middle Way Approach, in the earnest hope that all Tibetans will actively participate in this crucial effort.
Despite the suffocating environment of fear and repression inside Tibet for the past 60 years, the Tibetan people have resolutely kept their hope and pride alive. They have placed their aspirations in His Holiness the Dalai Lama and anxiously await his return. This profound desire for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s return and for freedom in Tibet are the common rallying cries of the 130 people who have committed self-immolation as an act of protest against China’s oppressive rule. Despite our repeated appeal against drastic actions, the heart-wrenching series of self-immolations witnessed across Tibet has amplified the true aspirations of the Tibetan people not only to the Chinese government, but also to the world at large.
With unity, innovation and self-reliance as our guiding principles, we pledge to fulfill the vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the aspirations of the Tibetans inside Tibet and all the Tibetans who left us, i.e. to restore freedom for Tibet.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to convey our heartfelt gratitude to the people and Government of India and Himachal Pradesh, as well as of the world, who have in any way, shape or form supported the cause of Tibet and contributed to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan religion and culture.
In conclusion, we pray that His Holiness the Dalai Lama may live long and all his wishes be fulfilled. May the cause of Tibet soon prevail!
The Kashag
6th July 2014
Tsering Wangchuk
TSG Liaison
+91 8679208465
[www.tibet.net] [twitter] [facebook] [linkedin] [google+]

Four Tibetans Held as ‘Ringleaders’ in Chinese Mine Protest
2014-07-03
Residents of Karsel village in Chabcha county are fighting Chinese mining of white marble in their area.
RFA
Authorities in northwestern China’s Qinghai province have released all but four of 27 Tibetans detained for opposing a Chinese mining operation that had run beyond its leasing contract and had begun to encroach on sacred sites, sources said.
The 27 residents of Karsel village in Chabcha (in Chinese, Gonghe) county in the Tsolho (Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture were taken into custody on June 6 and 7 after vowing to block the mining of white marble in their area.
Four were quickly released, with 23 held in custody for investigation, local sources said.
Of those 23, 19 were later freed “in different groups and at different times,” a Tibetan living in Europe told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Thursday, citing sources in the region.
“Now, four Tibetans are still in custody and are accused of being ringleaders in the protest,” the source, named Dorje, said.
“Family members could not learn at first where they were detained, but after making enquiries they learned that all four are being held in a prison close to [the provincial capital] Xining,” he said.
Tibetan areas of China have become an important source of minerals needed for China’s economic growth, and mining operations have led to frequent standoffs with Tibetans who accuse Chinese firms of disrupting sites of spiritual significance and polluting the environment as they extract local wealth.
Earlier this week, police in China’s southwestern Yunnan province attacked and beat a group of Tibetan women who had gathered to protest copper mining on land considered sacred by residents living near the site.
The protest came after Chinese authorities dismissed repeated appeals by Tibetans living in Dechen (in Chinese, Diqing) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture’s Dechen (Deqin) county to halt the excavations.
Family kept away
Relatives of the four still in custody for protesting against the mining of white marble in Qinghai have not been told the exact location of the prison where they are being held, and are not allowed to meet with them, Dorje said.
“Tibetans living in the Chabcha area are really worried, as they have heard that the detained protesters may now face trial and could be sentenced to a number of years in prison.”
“They are demanding that if the four are tried, they must be tried in their home county,” he said.
Chinese miners have been digging for white marble in the Karsel village area since about 1989, and continued to excavate even after the end of a contract that allowed them to work, a local source told RFA in June.
“The contract expired this year,” he said. “So the Tibetans resisted the extension of the mining work after the excavations began to adversely affect the local environment.”
“There is a sacred place near the mining site where the local Tibetans worship and make offerings, fly prayer flags, and burn incense to please the local deities,” the source added.
“A cemetery is also located in this area. The mining work is being done right behind this cemetery and has now almost reached it.”
Sporadic demonstrations challenging Chinese rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008, with 131 Tibetans to date setting themselves ablaze to oppose Beijing’s rule and call for the return of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
Reported by Kunsang Tenzin for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Tibetan altitude gene inherited ‘from extinct species’
By Paul Rincon
Science editor, BBC News website
A gene that allows present-day people to cope with life at high altitude was inherited from an extinct species of human, Nature journal has reported.
The variant of the EPAS-1 gene, which affects blood oxygen, is common in Tibetans – many of whom live at altitudes of 4,000m all year round.
But the DNA sequence matches one found in the extinct Denisovan people.
Many of us carry DNA from extinct humans who interbred with our ancestors as the latter expanded out of Africa.
Both the Neanderthals – who emerged around 400,000 years ago and lived in Europe and western Asia until 35,000 years ago – and the enigmatic Denisovans contributed DNA to present-day people.
The Denisovans are known only from DNA extracted from the finger bone of a girl unearthed at a cave in central Siberia. This 40,000-50,000-year-old bone fragment, as well as a rather large tooth from another individual, are all that is known of this species.
The tiny “pinky” bone yielded an entire genome sequence, allowing scientists to compare it to the DNA of modern people in order to better understand the legacy of ancient interbreeding.
Now, researchers have linked an unusual variant of the EPAS1 gene, which is involved in regulating the body’s production of haemoglobin – the molecule that carries oxygen in the blood – to the Denisovans. When the body is exposed to the low oxygen levels encountered at high elevations, EPAS1 tells other genes in the body to become active, stimulating a response that includes the production of extra red blood cells.
The unusual variant common among Tibetans probably spread through natural selection after their ancestors moved onto the high-altitude plateau in Asia several thousand years ago.
“We have very clear evidence that this version of the gene came from Denisovans,” said principal author co-author Rasmus Nielsen, from the University of California, Berkeley.
Denisovan finger bone A tiny finger bone provided a high-quality DNA sequence for a new species – the Denisovans
He told BBC News: “If you and I go up to high altitude, we’ll immediately have various negative physiological effects. We’ll be out of breath, we might suffer from altitude sickness.
“After a little while, we’ll try to compensate for this by producing more red blood cells. But because we’re not adapted to the high altitude environment, our response would be maladaptive – we would produce too many red blood cells.
“The blood becomes too thick and raises our blood pressure, placing us at risk of stroke and pre-eclampsia (in pregnant women).”
But Tibetans are protected against these risks by producing fewer red blood cells at high altitude. This keeps their blood from thickening.
The Tibetan variant of EPAS1 was discovered by Prof Nielsen’s team in 2010. But the researchers couldn’t explain why it was so different from the DNA sequences found in all other humans today, so they looked to more ancient genome sequences for an answer.
“We compared it to Neanderthals, but we couldn’t find a match. Then we compared it to Denisovans and to our surprise there was an almost exact match,” he explained.
He says the interbreeding event with Denisovans probably happened very long ago.
“After the Denisovan DNA came into modern humans, it lingered in different Asian populations at low frequencies for a long time,” Prof Nielsen said.
“Then, when the ancestors of Tibetans moved to high altitudes, it favoured this genetic variant which then spread to the point where most Tibetans carry it today.”
He says it remains unclear whether the Denisovans were also adapted to life at high altitudes. Denisova Cave lies at an elevation of 760m – not particularly high. But it is close to the Altai Mountains which rise above 3,000m.
Prof Nielsen said it was a “clear and direct” example of humans adapting to new environments through genes acquired via interbreeding with other human species.
Previous research has shown that ancient humans introduced genes that may help us cope with viruses outside Africa.
And a study of Eurasian populations showed that Neanderthal DNA is over-represented in parts of the genome involved in making skin, hair and nails – hinting, perhaps, at something advantageous that allowed Homo sapiens to adapt to conditions in Eurasia.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28127785

Spain court scraps probe of ex-Chinese leaders over Tibet under new universal jurisdiction law
June 24, 2014 2:48 pm
[Associated Press]
MADRID – Spain’s National Court has scrapped an investigation into several former Chinese leaders for alleged genocide in Tibet, a probe that had angered Beijing.
A court statement late Monday said the court dismissed the investigation because it did not comply with a new law that curbs Spanish courts’ use of universal jurisdiction to pursue crimes against humanity committed abroad.
The law was drawn up after China expressed anger over the probe and hinted it could damage relations. The officials under investigation included two former presidents.
Under the new law, Spanish judges can prosecute crimes against humanity committed abroad only if the suspect is Spanish, a foreign resident in Spain or a foreigner who happens to be in Spain and whom the Spanish authorities have refused to extradite.