Finding the Facts About Mao’s Victims
Ian Johnson
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/dec/20/finding-facts-about-maos-victims/
Photo: Yang Jisheng, November 2010
Yang Jisheng is an editor of Annals of the Yellow Emperor, one of the few reform-oriented political magazines in China. Before that, the 70-year-old native of Hubei province was a national correspondent with the government-run Xinhua news service for over thirty years. But he is best known now as the author of Tombstone (Mubei), a groundbreaking new book on the Great Famine (1958–1961), which, though imprecisely known in the West, ranks as one of worst human disasters in history. I spoke with Yang in Beijing in late November about his book, the political atmosphere in Beijing, and the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo.
Tombstone, which Yang began working on when he retired from Xinhua in 1996, is the most authoritative account of the Great Famine. It was caused by the Great Leap Forward, a millennial political campaign aimed at catapulting China into the ranks of developed nations by abandoning everything (including economic laws and common sense) in favor of steel production. Farm work largely stopped, iron tools were smelted in “backyard furnaces” to make steel—most of which was too crude to be of any use—and the Party confiscated for city dwellers what little grain was sown and harvested. The result was one of the largest famines in history. From the government documents he consulted, Yang concluded that 36 million people died and 40 million children were not born as a result of the famine. Yang’s father was among the victims and Yang says this book is meant to be his tombstone.
Over the past few years, foreign researchers and journalists have used demographic and anecdotal evidence to arrive at similar estimates. But Yang has gone further, using his contacts around the country to penetrate closely guarded Communist Party archives and uncover more direct proof of the number of dead, the cases of cannibalism, and the continued systematic efforts of the state to cover up this colossal tragedy. This makes Tombstone one of the most important books to come out of China in recent years and led the government to ban it.
Ian Johnson: I wondered when reading Tombstone why officials didn’t destroy the files. Why did they preserve all this evidence?
Yang Jisheng: Destroying files isn’t up to one person. As long as a file or document has made it into the archives you can’t so easily destroy it. Before it is in the archives, it can be destroyed, but afterwards, only a directive from a high-ranking official can cause it to be destroyed. I found that on the Great Famine the documentation is basically is intact—how many people died of hunger, cannibalism, the grain situation; all of this was recorded and still exists.
How many files did you end up amassing?
I consulted twelve provincial archives and the central archives. On average I copied 300 folders per archive, so I have over 3,600 folders of information. They fill up my apartment and some are in the countryside at a friend’s house for safekeeping.
As a Xinhua reporter did you have more latitude to explore the archives?
When I started I didn’t say I was writing about the Great Famine. I said I wanted to understand the history of China’s rural economic policies and grain policy. If I had said I was researching the Great Famine, for sure they wouldn’t have let me look in the archives. There were some documents that were marked “restricted” (“kongzhi” in Chinese)—for example, anything related to public security or the military. But then I asked friends for help and we got signatures of provincial party officials and it was okay.
Were people sympathetic to your task?
Yes, there was an elderly staff member in one archive, for example. My guess is that he also lost family members in the Great Famine; when I asked for relevant archives, he just closed one eye and let me look. I reckon he held the same view as I: that there should be an accounting of this matter. Like me, he’s a Chinese person, and people in his family also starved to death.
Why are you the first Chinese historian to tackle this subject seriously?
Traditional historians face restrictions. First of all, they censor themselves. Their thoughts limit them. They don’t even dare to write the facts, don’t dare to speak up about it, don’t dare to touch it. And even if they wrote it, they can’t publish it. And if they publish, they will face censure. So mainstream scholars face those restrictions.
But there are many unofficial historians like me. Many people are writing their own memoirs about being labeled “Rightists” or “counter-revolutionaries.” There is an author in Anhui province who has described how his family starved to death. There are many authors who have written about how their families starved.
The government admits the fact that some people starved to death. Is mentioning starvation really a sensitive topic half a century later?
The government says the famine was caused by “three difficult years” (natural disasters), the Sino-Soviet split (of 1960), and by political errors. In my account I acknowledge that there were natural disasters but there always have been. China is so big that there is some kind of natural disaster every year. I went to the meteorological bureau five times, looked at material and talked to experts. I didn’t find that climate conditions in those three years were significantly different from that of other periods. It all seemed normal. This wasn’t a factor.
What about the Sino-Soviet split?
It had no impact. The Soviets’ break with China was in 1960. People had been starving to death for more than a year already. They built a tractor factory and that was finished in 1959. Wouldn’t that have been a help to Chinese agriculture rather than a hindrance?
So what can account for starvation on such a vast scale?
The key reason is political misjudgment. It is not the third reason. It is the only reason. How did such misguided policies go on for four years? In a truly democratic country, they would have been corrected in half a year or a year. Why did no one oppose them or criticize them? I view this as part of the totalitarian system that China had at the time. The chief culprit was Mao.
In your introduction to Tombstone, you said that the Chinese Communist Party destroyed traditional values. Did this facilitate the Great Famine?
Traditional values involve valuing life, valuing others, not doing unto others what you don’t want done to yourself. All of these values were negated. From 1950 onward, the Communists criticized the passing down of traditional values. There was a moral vacuum.
When do you think we might see Cultural Revolution-era archives opened up?
It is still early to talk about that. Overseas, many good books have been written about the Cultural Revolution. I have bought many and brought them back. Within China, there’s not a single good book on the topic.
That seems like something you should pursue.
In fact, I am planning a book on the Cultural Revolution. I am collecting material but don’t yet know exactly how I will write it. I am still trying to figure that out.
You also work for Annals of the Yellow Emperor. People say it has been under pressure.
There is some pressure of late. There were the events surrounding Wen Jiabao’s recent speeches and the Liu Xiaobo prize. There has been a backlash. They did not allow Wen’s interview with CNN to be published in the domestic media. [In the interview, which was published on September 29, Wen stated that “for any government, what is most important, is to ensure that its people enjoy each and every right given to them by the constitution,” which many reform-minded Chinese took as a signal that the country would try to live up to its constitutional protections on free speech and democracy.] We ran the full text in our magazine—we didn’t miss one word—and were censured. But that issue of our magazine was not banned; it continued to be distributed.
Why do you think your magazine seems to enjoy more leeway than other Chinese publications?
Because we know the boundaries. We don’t touch current leaders. And issues that are extremely sensitive, like 6-4 [the June 4th Tiananmen Square massacre], we don’t talk about. The Tibet issue, Xinjiang, we don’t write about them. Current issues related to Hu Jintao, Jiang Zemin and their family members’ corruption, we don’t talk about. If we talk just about the past, the pressure is smaller.
Do you feel this year’s political climate is tighter?
Usually when the Communist Party feels a sense of crisis, it will spark a backlash. Liu Xiaobo winning the Nobel Prize is a slap in the face for the Chinese government. On the date of the announcement of the prize, October the 8th, Voice of America called me for an interview. I said it was a good thing for the long-term prospects of democracy in China. It’s a good thing, I said, but also don’t over-estimate the impact; China doesn’t yield to external pressure, and there will be a backlash. And now what we are seeing is the backlash.
From a long-term perspective, it might have some inspiring effect on the progress of democracy in China. But within China, Liu is not well-known. He won’t have the same effect as Gorbachev or Havel did, for instance. And the backlash is strong. Many Chinese intellectuals can’t leave the country now, and their family members too. They’re being very strict.
December 20, 2010

The Chinese Dragon Vs The Indian Tiger
David Eshel
Defence Update, December 20, 2011
http://www.defense-update.com/analysis/2010/20122010_analysis_dragon_vs_tiger.html
Beijing’s aggressive “String of Pearls” strategy is not confronting the U.S. alone but is already severely jittering India’s complacency. And here precisely lays the root of the next conflict flashpoint in South East Asia. The soaring “Indian Tiger” facing the rising “Chinese Dragon” will eventually grow into two regional giants, both competing with rapidly dwindling strategic assets, vital for their survival, transforming the geopolitical landscape in the Asia-Pacific region – and challenging American hegemony as a global superpower.
China’s resurgence in recent years has jolted the leading powers of the world out of their stupor ‘ and India’s case is no different. Today, forward-looking Indian mandarins are no longer obsessed only with
Pakistan. New Delhi has started developing strategic plans for dealing with China by 2020 or 2030. Many Indian think tanks are already working on this mission objective.
What transpired last August was an eye opener for China-watchers in the Indian government. On 5 August 2010, The People’s Daily reported that two days previously ‘important combat readiness materials’ (read missiles) of the Chinese Air Force were transported safely to Tibet via the Qinghai-Tibet Railway ‘ the first time since such materials were transported to Tibet by railway. It was a clear demonstration by China, of its capability to mobilize in Tibet, in the event of a new Sino-Indian conflict. China already has four fully operational airports in Tibet, the last one started operations in July 2010.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Navy’s recent seafaring activities and maneuvers have revealed Beijing’s intention to increase its control of the maritime sea lanes in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The latter is an obvious cause of concern for India. China’s new-found aggressive posturing and maritime territorial claims in the South China Sea ‘ which Beijing has begun to describe as an area of its ‘core interest’, a term that the Chinese have been using for Tibet, Taiwan and Xinjiang ‘ is of no less concern in New Delhi.
China knows very well that it is not dealing with the India of 1962, when the two countries fought a one-sided war. Then India had deliberately not used its air force against the Chinese to minimize loss of territory and restrict Chinese military gains to the far-flung border areas. India is rapidly expanding and modernizing its military air, land, naval and missile forces, investing in establishing a nuclear deterrence, through a ‘Triad’ of land and surface launched missiles as well as submarine launched missiles, expansion of its air bases along the northern border, positioning of early warning radars on mountain along the North-Eastern border with Tibet and more.
Though China retains a decisive lead, New Delhi is determined to stay on Beijing’s heals. In the economic race, India could already outpace China in 2011, to become the fastest growing economies, according to the latest World Bank forecast.
But Beijing has one dominant ace along its sleeve. Being a strict authoritarian regime, it is pushing rapidly forward with aggressive modernization of its industrial and military machine, while India’s administration inherent bureaucracy is much slower in getting things done.
But the highest point of tension in the Asian Subcontinent still remains the decade-lasting animosity and suspicion existing between India and Pakistan. Here remains the most potential trigger for a regional conflict. Historically, China has been Pakistan’s strategic and military ally for nearly five decades. It was Beijing who gave Pakistan the designs for a nuclear bomb in 1984 and then helped them build it. China’s has two purposes behind its strategy assisting Pakistan. First, it takes Pakistan as a secure friend and ally in the Indian Ocean and second, they share a common interest to contain India, which, by its huge economic potential, demographic size and geopolitical position, is challenging Beijing’s ambition for regional hegemony.
Within this strategy, China has stepped up its military presence in Tibet, primarily to contain India. Their aim is to capture as much Indian territory as possible, including the town of Tawang ‘ the birthplace of the Dalai Lama ‘ in case of renewed hostilities. A secondary purpose for this buildup is to help Pakistan in any future military conflict with India. Indeed the Sino-Indian border region remains one hotly disputed area since the 1962 India-China war.
The core of territorial disputes between India and China converge at Kashmir, which also ranks as the worlds’ largest militarized zone of contention. The Chinese army, perched on its geographical vantage position, atop the towering peaks and glaciers of the strategic trans-Karakoram tract and Aksai Chin, dominates the Indian positions below. Moreover, the geopolitical ramifications of China’s forceful annexation of Tibet, which had for centuries, posed a natural barrier for India, gave Bejing a tremendous strategic starting point for any military operation against India. The 2006 opening of the China-Tibet rail-link further strengthened China’s potentially offensive capability.
On the other hand India’s quest to enhance its military potential, with active aid from Washington, could reignite a new Indo-China Himalayan border war – with acute danger from its escalating into a terrifying regional nuclear-weapons conflict.
From a strategic perspective, China is hemming India from all four sides- Tibet, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar (Burma) – all within Beijing’s zone of interest. As the deteriorating geopolitical dynamics between Beijing and New Delhi increase, as both are struggling for global superpower status, the role of the United States in this region faces sharp competition.
Although from military perspective, the US will continue to remain a key player; its influence in the region will wane considerably as the troop withdrawals from Afghanistan conclude. With Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean on the rise and its “string of pearl” strategy advancing towards key positions in the Persian Gulf, the strategic importance of India will become crucial for Washington, to prevent a most dangerous development in this part of the world.

Government of Canada to facilitate the immigration of up to 1,000
Tibetan refugees living in Arunachal Pradesh in India
Ottawa, December 18, 2010 — The Government of Canada intends to facilitate the immigration of up to 1,000 Tibetan refugees living in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India over a five-year period, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced today.
“Our government’s openness to Tibetan refugees is in keeping with Canada’s best humanitarian traditions,” said Minister Kenney. “We look forward to working with the Government of India and the Tibetan-Canadian community on the implementation of this program, and on welcoming these individuals to Canada.”
Special immigration measures will be developed in response to a request by the Tibetan community and will focus on individuals who meet specific criteria. These measures aim to maximize the involvement of communities in Canada by focusing on individuals who have secured the support of the Canadian-Tibetan community or other interested supporters.
Canada has a long-standing tradition of facilitating immigration for various groups around the world by matching prospective immigrants to community sponsors in Canada through private sponsorships. This is done at no additional cost to Canadians because initial settlement costs, including housing, are guaranteed by sponsors.
This humanitarian initiative will assist Tibetan refugees in Arunachal Pradesh, who live in remote and isolated settlements.
“I would like to recognize India’s long-standing support for the Tibetans in India,” added Minister Kenney. “This is Canada’s opportunity to complement India’s support for this vulnerable population.”
This is not the first time Canada has assisted Tibetans. In 1972, Canada established the Tibetan Refugee Program and resettled approximately 230 Tibetans in Canada who had been living in Northern India. This new initiative, which will bring in up to 1,000 Tibetans, is another example of Canada’s efforts to reach out to the Tibetan community.
Persons entering Canada under these special measures would be required to meet Canada’s requirements for immigration, including security, criminal, medical and background checks.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama clarifies statement on retirement
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has clarified his recent statement on taking complete retirement, saying that the call does not mean he will forget about the Tibetan struggle.
DHARAMSHALA: More than 99 per cent of Tibetans in and outside Tibet trust me, so I have the moral responsibility to serve them. My call for complete retirement does not mean that I will forget the Tibetan struggle. I am a Tibetan and every Tibetan has the moral obligation to carry out our own struggle, His Holiness told reporters in Kalimpong yesterday. (watch video)
His Holiness said some Tibetans living inside Tibet express anxiety and confusion over his retirement plans. “I want to hand over the ceremonial role such as signing of legislatures and documents to the democratically elected leadership. But some Tibetans inside Tibetan are anxious and confused that the Dalai Lama is now no longer interested about the Tibetan struggle. No, it is not,” he said.
He reiterated that efforts to resolve the issue of Tibet would remain one of his three commitments.
He spoke about his efforts to bring democratic reforms in Tibet before 1959 and later in exile.
Since my childhood I always admire the system of democracy. In 1952, I started reform committee and some reforms were carried out. Then after 1959 while in exile we had set up own organisation set up as the Central Tibetan Administration. We started the process of democratisation and put in place elected political leadership in 2001.
“I always tell the elected Tibetan leadership to take full responsibility as if there is no Dalai Lama and they are doing it,” he said.
(Based on report filed by Sheja Editor Kelsang Khudup from Kalimpong)

China Rewrites Tibet History: Monks Recently Escaped from Tibet
Monday, 13 December 2010 18:14 YC. Dhardhowa, The Tibet Post International
Dharamshala: – Lobsabg Norbu13december201019 and his fellow two monks had been hiding almost two years in the hills and mountains of Dege county, eastern Tibet after spread documents, banners and flags in 2009 to against Chinese rule over Tibet. The three brave monks safely managed to escape from Tibet recently, currently they have started to enjoy freedom of expression in this Himalayan hill town where His Holiness the Dalai Lama lives in exile.
As the Tibetan and foreign journalists reported out of their peaceful protests in eastern Tibet, Norbu and his friends unfurled banners they had wrapped inside the folds of their crimson robes and held aloft the documents, banners and flags of Tibet in the streets, towns and villages.
Three Tibetan monks from Gonsar monastery, Dza Bharma village of Dege county, eastern Tibet; Kunga Rinchen, 30, Lobsang Norbu, 26 and Khedup Gyatso have decided to hold a peaceful protest to against Chinese rule over their homeland on 10th November 2010. “We have drawen various slogons on many banners saying ‘Free Tibet and we want Human Rights in Tibet, long life His Holiness the Dalai Lama’, also painted many Tibetan national flags after decided to hold the protest,” Norbu told The Tibet Post International.
Norbu further told that Chinese authorities in the areas in last year have officially announced Tibetans that the local government will reward 20,000 Yuan for each head of the monks if anybody report the monks’ detail.
“We have no human rights, no religious freedom, and no freedom of express in Tibet now,” Norbu said. That peaceful protest, in April 2008, was spread a clear message around the world by the Tibetans in all parts of Tibet on the communist regime’s policy toward Tibet issue. Despite the widespread peaceful Tibetan uprising in their homeland, hundreds were killed, and hundreds were jailed under the name of Hu Jintao’s harmony society.
“If we Tibetan monks hadn’t lead the peaceful protests to express our feelings, which are feelings in all Tibetan, then we would have missed a chance to tell the world,” said Norbu, a monk with lay dress newly became a refugee.
“On 10th November 2009, 2 of my friends and I demonstrated for religious freedom and human rights in Tibet. We aimed to be heard by the state. The Chinese government had insisted that it had made improvements in the field of human rights but in actuality we had no rights, historically Tibet was an independent nation, but China rewrite our history. we tried to fight for these rights. For offenses of a small nature we were treated as criminals,” he further said.
Over two years, the three monks slipped out of their monastery, trekked into the mountains, slept in nomads’ tents, sneaked into Lhasa aboard a high-altitude traveling and crossed a raging river to Nepal. It was only here in a refugee center that they could tell their true stories to people of the world.
Chinese officials insist that any of the protests were orchestrated by Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Tibetan government in exile. The monks from Dege county, eastern Tibet say harsh Chinese policies sparked the tinder, rewriting Tibet History, violating international law, especially limitations on Buddhist practice in Tibet.
“I and my friends decided on our own to protest,” Norbu said. “The protests were caused by human rights, freedom of religious and expression issues and harshest Chinese policies toward Tibetans to denounce His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s political and spiritual leader. We couldn’t tolerate it
anymore,” he continued.
“We held the protests with the idea of perceiving our Buddhism and culture identity, which is endangered by Chinese policy. We want His Holiness the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet, but the Chinese don’t even allow us to display his picture.” he added.
The monks said that Chinese officials held various meetings to practice the ‘patriotic re-educating law’, which forces local Tibetans, particularly Buddhist monks to denounce their spiritual leaders, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama. During the spring prayer festival last year, many Tibetans were brutally beaten and arrested after burning wild-animal skins, and that many of them are still missing. “Tibetans are still under Chinese pressure of patriotic re-education if they decide to perceive their cultural and religious identity,” Norbu concluded.

The Statement of the Kashag on the Twenty-first Anniversary of the Conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize on His Holiness the Dalai Lama
On this occasion of the twenty-first anniversary of the conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize on His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Kashag, on behalf of the Tibetan people in and outside Tibet, would like to pay our utmost respect and greetings to His Holiness.
His Holiness, who besides being the foremost proponent of the principle of non-violence around the globe by applying the philosophy of dependent origination and non-violence as shown in the teachings of the Buddha, has guided the Tibetan struggle for justice onto to the path of non-violence making it different from other national struggles in the world. His Holiness has also shown, both in principle and in practice, that all global conflicts can be solved through a non-violent approach. These qualities made His Holiness the most suitable recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Thus, when His Holiness accepted the prize in 1989, it increased prestige and the value of the already esteemed Nobel Peace Prize. At the same time, it has also created a widespread awareness about and interest in the just cause of Tibet around the world. Since the award was an inspiration and the trust in the non-violent method and an outstanding recognition of the Tibetan struggle for justice, we commemorate it with highest respect and fondness. On this special occasion, if the Tibetan people in and outside Tibet can reaffirm their genuine pledge for the non-violent path based on trust and understanding, then this occasion will constitute a meaningful celebration.
An important development that we should be happy about and proud of is the conferment of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to Mr Liu Xiaobo, a prominent Chinese democracy and human rights activist, who is currently in prison in the People’s Republic of China. On behalf of all the Tibetan people, we would like to congratulate Mr Liu Xiaobo, and commend the Nobel Committee for taking this decision without bowing to the Chinese government’s pressure. However, the Kashag is saddened by the Chinese authorities appalling behaviour of not releasing Mr Liu Xiaobo from prison and keeping his wife under house arrest. The Kashag strongly condemns these actions. Since the values and aspirations of all the Nobel laureates are well known around the world, keeping a few individuals in prison cannot lock up their thoughts, principles and aspirations. It is a fact of life that the authoritarian rulers who try to control people’s thought by force and suppression are the most ignorant of human beings.
Although this day is also celebrated as World Human Rights Day, it is a matter of sadness that no one has, thus far, been able to protect human rights enough to be celebrated. Moreover, the first decade of the 21st century is over and yet looking at the fact that a number of Nobel laureates are either in prison, under surveillance or in exile shows the state of human rights today.
These days the advanced nations in the West and the countries in the East who blindly follow the West use many beautiful slogans such as democracy, freedom, equality and human rights, but in actual practice they all appear empty words devoid of any meaning.
At present, a large number of people including Tibetans in Tibet are living with constant fear and torture under the oppressive regime of the People’s Republic of China, denied even their fundamental human rights. Sadly, it has been amply proven that no powerful nations or organizations have either the will or the strength to restore them their rights. In China, being in possession of a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is deemed as a criminal act warranting many years of imprisonment. Yet the United Nations, the author of the declaration, has failed to muster enough pride to even condemn such acts. Under such circumstances, it becomes almost a laughing stock for us to commemorate the World Human Rights Day. However, we celebrate it to keep up with the international norm.
Since 2008 the whole of China and especially the Tibetan areas have been witness to systematic suppression and further restrictions of basic human rights. The right to religious freedom, the right to speech and cultural and educational freedoms have been deliberate targets. The recent proclamation by Chinese government officials in many Tibetan areas ordering a change in the medium of instruction from Tibetan to Mandarin in schools is a large-scale evil plan directed at annihilating the very identity of Tibet. Such policies not only completely ignore the ideologies of Karl Marx, Lenin and Mao on ethnic minorities but are a clear and present attempt at the whole-scale destruction of a people’s language and culture. We unequivocally condemn and criticize such heinous policies. On behalf of Tibetans in exile we offer our solidarity and enthusiastic support to the leaders, students and ordinary people who legally and peacefully request the protection of our language.
Realizing the tremendous strides in exercising modern democracy in the exile Tibetan community under His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s leadership, we fervently hope that Tibetans remain united and work towards the principal cause of Tibet.
Taking this opportunity, Kashag would like to offer the wholehearted prayers of Tibetans in and outside Tibet, beseeching His Holiness to remain as ever the religious and temporal leader of Tibet. From the depth of our hearts we request Your Holiness never to consider or even talk about semi-retirement and full-retirement. At the same time, Kashag implores Tibetans to further advance our collective merit and preserve Tibetan values and ethics, which become the most gratifying offerings to His Holiness.
Finally, the Kashag prays for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lana and the spontaneous fulfilment of all his wishes. May the truth of the issue of Tibet prevail soon.
The Kashag
10 December 2010
NB: This was translated from the original Tibetan. Should any discrepancy arise, the Tibetan version should be considered as the final authority.

Nepal: China: Kathmandu and Beijing tighten grip on Tibetan refugees
Nepal and China agree to better control along the border with Tibet and stronger measures against anti-Chinese protests organized by exiles in Nepal. In return, China will facilitate the entry of Nepalese workers in its territory.
Monday, December 06, 2010
By Asia News
Kathmandu (AsiaNews / Agencies) – Kathmandu and Beijing have signed an agreement to prevent the entry of Tibetan refugees in Nepal, the regular concession of visas into the country and control of the frequent anti-Chinese protests. The document that consists of 13 points was signed yesterday in Chautara near the border with Tibet. In exchange for more control over Tibetan exiles, Beijing will facilitate the entry of Nepalese workers into Tatopani on the border with Tibet.
After the invasion of Lhasa in 1950 and the exile of the Dalai Lama in India (1959), Nepal has hosted thousands of refugees fleeing from Tibet, enabling them to support the government in exile. To date over 20 thousand Tibetan refugees hosted in the country.
With the fall of Nepal’s monarchy in 2006 and the rise to power of the Maoist parties (Unified Communist Party of Nepal) and Marxist-Leninist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist), the country has begun to tighten economic agreements with Beijing, by prohibiting all anti-Chinese demonstrations by exiles. As early as 2008 on the occasion of the Beijing Olympics, the government had restricted the protest march, by force.
According to the Nepalese media, China had recently asked Nepal to deploy about 10 thousand security personnel along the Sino-Nepalese border. Beijing also offered the government in Kathmandu to train a police force specializing in quelling protests.

Returning to Lhasa to Witness the Current Situation
By Woeser
Tibetan Culture & News Online
Beijing, November 17, 2010
In early October, I left Beijing for Lhasa to visit my family. I stayed there for over a month. While I was there, I obtained first-hand information about the notable and subtle developments and changes that occurred over a series of sensitive days, weeks and months in Lhasa. These transformations could be felt everywhere in the city. For example, the first few days I was in Lhasa, I had the impression that everything was taking a turn for the better since the sentries who had been positioned at the Sholgrong Sar Road intersection were gone. Of course, walking around the Barkhor in the middle of the night, one would still meet guards standing back-to-back or over 60 armed soldiers. Walking from Tsemonling Road to Shonnu Road one would also face over 30 armed soldiers patrolling the streets. Yet, this was still much less than in March when one was confronted with an enormous amount of soldiers.
However, very quickly, the atmosphere in Lhasa turned tense again. Of course, the sentries at Sholgrong Sar Road came back, also the area around the sacred Lukhang was once more full of armed police; and even less surprising was the Barkhor and the areas where Tibetan reside such as Karma Kunsang, were like Baghdad, as people in Lhasa would say. For about one week, every morning at dawn, a few military helicopters would circle in the sky above Lhasa, flying at a very low level. I could see those helicopters thundering passed my window even from the second floor. We all knew that this was military terror and those being terrorised by this colossal military action weren’t just a few people. It was obvious that it was aimed at “those who are not one of us”.
One afternoon, when Wang Lixiong and I entered Barkhor from Lugu North Alley, walked along Tsemonling Road, Beijing East Road, and the Lukhang, we saw sentries, patrolling armed police, special police forces, public security guards, bouncers, plainclothes police and so on everywhere. According to rough estimates, there must have been over a thousand such people. When we passed the police station in the Barkhor, we caught sight of a few dozen young armed soldiers forming two columns inside, exercising, boxing and wrestling; the air was filled with the roars of battle and the bright red slogans attached to their heads reading: “Army-Civilians Unite, Building Harmony” seemed rather ironic. Many tourists stopped to watch the scene; some of them were astonished looking tourists from Western countries
.
Wang Lixiong said that witnessing such scenes, those Western tourists must think that Tibet is under colonial rule. But the Communist Party regards itself powerful enough to not care about concealing anything.
Of course, around the Potala Palace area the scenery is entirely different, Lhasa people jokingly call it the “Han Chinese area”. We witness a similar situation on Dekyi Road and Namtso Road with its fiery restaurants and all its culinary fragrances, which is Lhasa’s famous food streets, even though the prices are as high as in Beijing. In fact, this street should be called “Corruption Street”, where scary looking people eat and drink at the expense of the public. During lunch and dinner times, the entire street resembles a car show full of fancy vehicles. But the even more extravagant corruption is found in hidden gathering places, which according to reports are frequently visited by military and cadre restaurants. One of these places is situated next to Lhasa’s “Hunan Love” restaurant, 99% of the money spent there are public funds and waiters and waitresses claim to even know the taste of well-known cadres and garnish the dishes accordingly. One table can easily cost a few thousand, even over ten thousand Yuan.
The most memorable experience during those unpredictable days in Lhasa was that time when I walked around the Tsekor at nightfall. The scent of juniper, which believers offer during the day, was still lingering in the air; it was the fragrance of faith that makes one feel carefree and relaxed. But it is a shame that the Lukhang has already been turned into something like a Han Chinese park; the layers of prayer flags hanging above the lake had already disappeared a long time ago and instead one finds nine dragon screen walls erected at the main entrance, Han architecture is dominant
everywhere.
Meanwhile, the outstandingly beautiful Potala Palace is being stigmatised as “the most reactionary, the darkest, the cruellest, and most barbaric” construction of “Old Tibet”. Yet, during the 51 years of unified Chinese Communist Party rule, referred to as “the epitome of progress” in a self-adulating way, they have not managed to erect any building that is even anywhere near as beautiful as the Potala Palace. Instead they have shot themselves in the foot over and over again by creating a Potala Square as an imitation of Tiananmen Square. This year, they added another two completely unnecessary luxurious underground passage ways. Moreover, they paved the prayer-wheel path in front of the Potala Palace with slab stones sticking out at both ends and they are using every opportunity to further commercialise the Palace and make money. Even more troubling is the fact that the paved slab stones which used to be found in front of Potala Palace, already made shiny and smooth by many pilgrims prostrating, and which should have been preserved or at least photographed as a memory, were regarded as scrap stone and have disappeared.

Clinton grilled Rudd on dealing with China
December 5, 2010
The Sydney Mornig Herald
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton grilled then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on how best to deal with the growing economic power of China, a confidential cable released by WikiLeaks states.
In the cable from March 28 last year, Ms Clinton told Mr Rudd that although the US wanted China to be successful and were impressed by the progress of democracy, they held some anxiety over China’s growing power.
Ms Clinton said the US wanted “China to take more responsibility in the global economic sphere, create more of a social safety net for its people, and construct a better regulatory framework for the goods China manufactures.” Advertisement: Story continues below
“The Secretary also noted the challenges posed by China’s economic rise, asking: `How do you deal toughly with your banker?’,” the cable stated.
Mr Rudd replied by calling himself a “brutal realist on China”, argued for “multilateral engagement with bilateral vigour” and called for China to be integrated effectively into the international community.
“Allowing it to demonstrate greater responsibility, all while also preparing to deploy force if everything goes wrong,” he said.
The conversation between Ms Clinton and the then-prime minister occurred during a 75-minute lunch following Mr Rudd’s meeting at the White House.
Mr Rudd told Ms Clinton the idea behind the Asia Pacific Community (APC) initiative was to ensure Chinese dominance of the East Asia Summit (EAS) did not result in an Asia without the US.
“Expressing appreciation for US re-engagement in the region, Rudd said China could succeed only if the United States ceded the field,” the cable stated.
Mr Rudd said he thought Chinese leaders were paranoid about both Taiwan and Tibet, however, there were “subtle differences” between the two.
“Leaders’ reactions on Taiwan were sub-rational and deeply emotional, whereas hard-line policies on Tibet were crafted to send clear messages to other ethnic minorities,” he said.
The then prime minister said he had asked Chinese leaders to consider a “small ‘a’ autonomy deal with the Dalai Lama” but conceded there was little prospect of success.

US Dispatches from Beijing
‘True Democracy’ Within China’s Politburo?
SPIEGEL ONLINE 12/05/2010 02:44 PM
Can one find democracy in China? According to a US source in Beijing, the country’s Politburo is more interested in consensus than decrees — on all issues except for Tibet. But, US diplomats allege, most of the country’s top functionaries maintain close ties with various industries.
Is there any place in dictatorial China where votes are taken and discussions held — rather than orders given and decrees issued? Indeed there is. And it is where one would least expect it: In the heart of Chinese power.
If one is to believe US diplomatic sources in Beijing, “true democracy” prevails in the Politburo of all places, within that little-known group of top apparatchiks consisting of 24 men and one woman.
No one outside China’s ruling cadre knows who at the top of China’s power structure decides what and why. No one knows who thinks what, who is allied with whom and who really has influence. Public debates are rare. But by talking to leading functionaries, experts from the US Embassy in Beijing managed to get a glimpse inside of China’s inner circle.
The newly revealed US embassy dispatches provide surprising details. Hardly any decisions, no matter how sensitive they might be, are decreed by head of state Hu Jintao or head of government Wen Jiabao. Decisions instead tend to be taken collectively by top Communist party functionaries. When vital policy issues, such as relations with Taiwan or North Korea, are up for decision, all 25 Politburo members are involved. Lesser issues are resolved by the nine-member standing committee.
‘A Consensus System’
The committee, though, does not decide by vote, according to cables sent from US diplomats back to Washington. Instead, issues are weighed and discusses for as long as it takes to arrive at a consensus. In the decision making process, to be sure, Hu Jintao’s “views carry the greatest weight,” US diplomats quote a source with access to the inner power circle as saying. “It is a consensus system,” the source said, “in which members can exercise veto power.”
It is a system that ensures that none of the Communist party functionaries becomes too powerful. But it is a principle, US diplomats have been told, that doesn’t apply to one particularly touchy issue: that of the Dalai Lama and Tibet. On that subject, China’s president and Communist party head Hu Jintao “is firmly in charge.”
In his eyes, the Dalai Lama is a traitor and a separatist. Rebels are to be severely punished or re-educated — a view that Hu himself applied during his time as Communist party chief in Tibet from 1988 to 1992. Those who would prefer a milder approach risk their careers, US diplomats have been told.
On other issues, however, informants told American diplomats that Chinese leaders were often left to pursue their own interests. Politburo member Zhou Yongkang, who heads up Chinese security services, is said to be closely linked with the state oil industry, for example. Jia Qinglin, in slot four of the Chinese leadership hierarchy, allegedly maintains close contacts with Peking’s construction industry. Hu Jintao’s son-in-law was the boss of the big internet firm sina.com. Once source claimed that Wen Jiabao’s wife controlled the precious gems industry.
In addition, many of the 25 Politburo members are thought to maintain “close ties” to real estate magnates, many of whom are likewise party functionaries. Posts within the Chinese Communist party, US diplomats believe, sometimes go to the highest bidder. In order to turn a quick profit, such functionaries, sources told the US, are especially eager to push for economic growth, no matter what the environmental or social price might be.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,732963,00.html