Hundreds sign petition for Tibet language: activists
Agence France-Presse (AFP)
October 26, 2010
BEIJING — Hundreds of teachers and students in northwest China have signed a petition in support of the Tibetan language, a rights group said, after an official education reform plan triggered protests.
Thousands of students demonstrated last week in Qinghai province over plans to institute Chinese as the main language of instruction, limiting use of Tibetan to language classes. Protests spread to a Beijing university on Friday.
According to sources in the area contacted by the US-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), more than 20 students from a Tibetan school in Qinghai’s Gonghe county have been detained following the protests.
The petition, submitted to authorities, was signed by more than 300 teachers and students and calls for Tibetan to remain the main language for teaching.
It says that if Chinese-language instruction is adopted for Qinghai’s Tibetan students, “the outcome would be that the students would not understand what the teacher is saying, not to mention be able to actually learn anything.”
The petition — a copy of which was emailed to AFP by ICT — says that many Tibetans in the province come from farming and nomadic areas and have never been in a Chinese-language environment.
While it acknowledges the need for Tibetans to learn Chinese, it compares the reform plans to instituting English as the language of instruction for ordinary Han Chinese school students.
An official with the Qinghai education department told AFP on Wednesday that he was not aware of the petition.
Many Tibetans accuse China of trying to water down their culture in a bid to increase its control over Tibetan regions, where resentment against Chinese rule runs deep, and the education reforms strike at the core of these concerns.
A top official defended the plans on Friday, saying they aimed to boost both Chinese and the native languages of minorities.
“The plan is aimed at strengthening whatever is weaker and the purpose is not to use one language to weaken another,” Wang Yubo, head of the Qinghai education department, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.
Rights groups say last week’s peaceful protests were the most significant in the area since March 2008, when violent anti-Chinese demonstrations that started in Tibet’s capital Lhasa spread to neighbouring Tibetan regions.

Dalai Lama Given Map Showing an Independent Tibet
before USA Visit

Reigniting the debate on the historical relationship between Tibet and China, the Dalai Lama recently accepted a gift of an antique map from 1869 that clearly defines Tibet and China as separate
Country BigNews.Biz October 18, 2010

An antique map challenging the relationship between Tibet and China was recently given to the Dalai Lama. It clearly defines the two regions as separate countries, a historical counterpoint to China’s claim over the highest region on earth. The gift — drawn almost a hundred years before China’s invasion of Tibet – was presented at a ceremony at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamsala, India.

The Dalai Lama received the map as a joint gift from Emory University and Miklian Antiquarian Maps. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan population, many of whom have lived in exile in India since the 1950s.

The map itself is an original chart of Asia, Tibet and China drawn by Augustus Mitchell in the year 1869. Mitchell was one of the most famous and respected mapmakers of the 19th century, and his maps were prized for their accuracy as well as their striking attention to geographic and artistic detail.

The Mitchell map also bestows additional documentation and credence to the Free Tibet movement, which asserts that the 1950 invasion of Tibet by China was illegal and a breach of state sovereignty. Official statements from China often state that Tibet is, and has always been, a part of China. This map casts doubt on that claim.

While all major governments now consider Tibet to be the domain of China, during many periods of history the relationship between the two regions was not as it is today. Both Tibet and China have cultures stretching back thousands of years, and interactions between the two have undergone tremendous flux as the powers have risen and fallen in supremacy and influence.

Miklian Antiquarian Maps owner Jason Miklian considers the map itself as a significant piece of world history, one that is often more complex and impermanent than we assume. “Almost every land in the world has been ruled by an outside force at least one point in history,” Miklian explained. “This map of an independent Tibet illustrates the always fluctuating geopolitics of nation-states since the 1600s, and a glimpse into how people understood the world almost 150 years ago. This is just one of hundreds of fascinating antique maps that provide proof that today’s borders, boundaries and countries were not always so.”

The Dalai Lama has also been awarded the position of Presidential Distinguished Professor at Emory, and will be arriving to the United States for a series of lectures from 17-19 October 2010, to be attended by actor Richard Gere, author Matthieu Ricard, and other distinguished luminaries.

More information on the Emory — Tibet partnership can be found at
http://www.tibet.emory.edu/, and Miklian
Antiquarian Maps is located at http://www.MiklianMaps.com.

Chinese dragon versus Indian tiger
Rajeev Sharma
The Morung Express
October 12, 2010
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 with Pakistan. New Delhi has started developing strategic plans for dealing with China in 2020 or 2030. Many Indian think tanks are already working on this mission objective and those which are not are gearing up to it.
India is pursuing a China policy that America has practiced for long — emphasising cooperation with China while minimizing competition. It may be the politically correct strategy but it does precious little to counter China’s rapidly increasing military might. Of late, China has become more and more assertive in its diplomatic and military conduct in line with increasingly ambitious global objectives. India, Japan, the US and Russia are indeed mindful of the probable repercussions an increasingly powerful China would have on the international balance of power, particularly when Japan and the US seem unable to maintain their lead.
The Chinese infrastructure drive is an integral part of its “string of pearls” strategy vis-a-vis India. Three ports that China is building in India’s immediate neighbourhood — Gwadar in Pakistan, Sittwe in Myanmar and Hambantota in Sri Lanka – are important pearls in the Chinese string. China has a vibrant presence across South Asia. Besides akistan, with which China has a true strategic partnership, Beijing has emerged as a major player in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Maldives. It has firmly entrenched itself in Myanmar (Burma), Mauritius and the Seychelles.
What transpired last month 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 is a clear demonstration by China of not just its technological competence but also its capability to mobilise in Tibet in the event of a Sino-Indian conflict. China already has four fully operational airports in Tibet (the last one started operations in July 2010) while the fifth is scheduled to be inaugurated in October 2010.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Navy’s recent seafaring activities and manoeuvres have revealed Beijing’s intention to increase its control of the maritime sea lanes of 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 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.
China is building up its naval might in a big way. It is not just India that is confused and concerned about the real intent of Beijing. Japan, the US, South Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan are equally apprehensive. China’s People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) was recently given a green light by the country’s highest military planning body, the Central Military Commission (CMC), to build two new nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. One aircraft carrier — Varyag of the Kuznetsov class — is already under construction. All three aircraft carriers will be available to China by 2017 and will patrol the South China Sea, Western Pacific and Indian Ocean. This will give the the Chinese Navy a blue-water capability to rival the US Navy.
India is far behind China’s gargantuan defence capabilities. At the same time, New Delhi is not twiddling its thumbs and sitting idly. India has been conscious of rapidly growing Chinese military capabilities for well over a decade. In fact, the then Indian Defence Minister George
Fernandes, while speaking in the aftermath of the May 1998 Indian nuclear tests, had gone on record as saying that China was the number one threat for India.
In 1999, the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee approved a 30-year submarine construction plan under which 30 submarines were to be constructed. Construction work on at least four nuclear submarines is in full swing, while the indigenously made Arihant nuclear powered submarine has alreay been launched. India plans to have at least 30 submarines by 2030, but this target may prove to be too stiff. India’s submarine fleet is currently facing depletion and their number is expected to go down to 16 by 2012 with the decommissioning of two Foxtrot submarines in the near future.
In March 2009, the Manmohan Singh government cleared Project 15B under which next generation warships are under various stages of construction. Besides, at least three Kolkata class destroyers are under construction under Project 15A. Two aircraft carriers – INS Vikramaditya (Admiral Gorshkov of Russia) and INS Vikrant — are under construction. To strike a harmonious balance, the Indian Navy is in the process of beefing up its fleet of stealth frigates and has initiated several new projects in this regard. Shivalik will be India’s first stealth frigate of its class. The Sahyadri and Satpura class of frigates are under advanced stage of construction. All this is as per the government’s plans to maintain a force level of more than 140 warships.
China knows very well that it is not dealing with e 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. Though China retains a decisive lead, New Delhi is determined to stay on Beijing’s heals.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama Discusses Tibet with Chinese Students
Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)
October 15, 2010
His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Thursday interacted with a group of Chinese students from different academic institutions in the US, taking up wide-range of issues ranging from why the People’s Republic of China should become a responsible nation and ways to find a solution to the issue of Tibet.
Palo Alto, California — The discussion was attended by over 130 students, professors and scholars, of which majority were Chinese. They were all from Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco State University, and San Francisco Academy of Arts.
In his address His Holiness talked about the importance of individual creativity for the development of a society and that individual freedom was needed for this. He said the People’s Republic of China as the most populated nation should take a more constructive and effective path saying that the 1.3 billion people there had every right to know reality.
His Holiness said even before the Tiananmen crisis he had been trying to reach out to Chinese people but was faced with difficulty. Following the Tiananmen development, it was much easier to get responses from the Chinese.
He added that after the 2008 crisis in Tibet more and more Chinese have started paying attention to the Tibetan issue. His Holiness said that during the past two years he had been having regular discussions with Chinese people.
Talking about the Tibetan issue, His Holiness said that it was common knowledge that he was not seeking independence (and many Tibetans were critical of this position) but the Chinese Government continued to label him as a splittist. He said that the problems in Tibet were manmade problems and so logically they can be resolved.
His Holiness then explained the development of the dialogue process with the Chinese leadership. He said in 1974 a decision had been taken not to seek
Tibetan independence. Then in early 1979 his elder brother, who acted as his emissary, was informed by Deng Xiaoping that other than the issue of independence everything else can be discussed and resolved. His Holiness said that the two thinking went well together. He said in the early 1980s there was real hope of progress when Hu Yaobang was there but then he was displaced. In 2002 contact was re-established with the Chinese leadership but there has been no genuine progress now.
His Holiness then answered questions from the people. In response to what the people could do to help on the issue of Tibet he said they could spread the real picture to everyone. His Holiness said that he always admired the Chinese people as they were hard working. He also said as a Tibetan Buddhist, he always paid salutations to the Chinese Buddhists as they are senior but added that in terms of knowledge the junior was doing quite well.
He said the problem was due to misunderstanding created by the Chinese Government and that the solution that he was striving for was of mutual benefit.
In answer to another question, His Holiness said he divided China into Four Eras. Under Mao Zedong era, ideology was prominent, under Deng Xiaoping era, becoming rich was stressed, under Jiang Zemin era, the Communist Party membership was expanded to include other sectors of the Chinese society, and under Hu Jintao era, harmonious society was stressed. His Holiness said that for a harmonious society, individual freedom, free flow of information, etc. were essential. He said things may be moving judging by recent comments of Premier Wen Jiabao and the petition by Chinese elders.
When asked how religion and politics played their roles, His Holiness said that he believed that religion and politics should be separate. He talked about the changes that have taken place in Tibetan political system and that political leadership was an elected one. However, he said that political leaders need to have spiritual background.
Fang Zheng, whose legs have been amputated after he was run over by a tank during the Tiananmen demonstrations, told His Holiness of his situation. He also referred to the Nobel Peace Prize for Liu Xiaobo and said if there was an opportunity for a meeting where did His Holiness think it would be. His Holiness said he felt saddened hearing about Fang’s situation. In terms of a meeting with Liu he said that if there was a possibility then it may be in Beijing.
His Holiness then advised the young Chinese students to take more responsibility to make this century a better one for all of us. Pointing to an elderly Chinese professor, His Holiness said they were all from the previous century but that the young people had 90 years of this century to make a difference.
Earlier during the meeting, Ms. Tenzin Seldon, a Tibetan student at Stanford University and one of the organizers of the dialogue, made introductory remarks. She said, “His Holiness the Dalai Lama has worked tirelessly to promote meaningful dialogue as the key to fostering the trust and mutual respect we urgently need as we seek a unified solution in the case of Tibet.
I hope today that, with His Holiness’ encouragement, we can frankly exchange our thoughts, and seek some common ground as we explore each other’s viewpoints.”
She added, “Through understanding and meaningful dialogues can we foster trust, as well as build mutual respect, and transparency with one another. His Holiness, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan leadership in Exile have always believed in the importance of dialogue to reach a solution to the Tibetan issue and have encouraged that between Tibetan and Chinese youth. This historic meeting was only possible because of His Holiness’s conviction in this method.”
She said that the participants in the discussion include 28 Chinese Graduate students, 60 Chinese undergraduate students, 20 Professors and scholars, 13 writers, poets, and artists, and 14 Tibetan students.
A representative of the Chinese students thanked His Holiness for coming to speak to them.
His Holiness concluded saying that such meetings were much appreciated as he had been advising Tibetans to continue to reach out to Chinese and to form groups with the aim to bring the two communities closer.

Tenth round of talks likely in December, says Tibetan PM
Phayul
October 15, 2010
Dharamsala, October 15 — Prime Minister of Tibet’s government in exile Prof Samdhong Rinpoche has said that the the next round of talks, tenth in the series held since 2002, could possibly take place in December.
“We have made full preparations for talks with China, which could be held anytime,” Hindustan Times newspaper quoted the Tibetan Prime Minister as saying in its Thursday’s edition.
Although Rinpoche did not confirm the schedule for talks, he indicated that the next round could possibly take place in December, the paper added.
“It is for them to decide the venue and time for talks,” said Rinpoche indicative of the feelers being sent from China.
Nine rounds of talks held so far between the two sides did not produce any concrete results. After a hiatus of almost 15 months the two sides held their ninth round of dialogue in January 2010 in Beijing.
With no response from China over talks for the last 10 months, according to Hindustan Times, the Tibetans had “apparently stepped up their efforts through private channels to pursue Chinese leaders to engage in a dialogue”.
“Yes, we are in touch with the Chinese side,” Rinpoche said.
Two-time PM, Rinpoche heads the task force constituted by the Tibetan government-in-exile to assist the Dalai Lama’s talks on Tibet with China.
The Tibetan side this time has “proposed to work jointly with the Communist government to improve situation inside the China-administered Tibet”, the paper said.
“This time, the Tibetan side has proposed to work on joint strategy with Chinese counterparts to create more conducive environment within Tibet,” it added.
“Talks would primarily focus around 13-point charter of demands submitted to the Chinese counterparts during the eight rounds of talks,” the paper cited a member of the Tibetan delegation to China as saying on request of anonymity
The paper also cited reliable sources in the Tibetan administration as saying that the Tibetan side would submit a note for clearing the doubts raised at the time of the ninth round of talks during the next round of meeting.
The Chinese side during the eighth round of talks two years ago had rejected the Tibetan people’s memorandum for genuine autonomy. The memorandum met with Beijing’s derision with the Communist leaders calling it a demand for
‘half-independence’ and ‘disguised independence’ or ‘covert independence’.”
The Tibetan side maintains that the articles of the proposed memorandum were prepared in accordance with the provisions of the constitution of People’s Republic of China and its laws on national regional autonomy.
The Dalai Lama, 75, who lives in exile in the Indian hill town of Dharamsala, says he does not want independence for Tibetan regions, but rather greater autonomy. He says the Tibetans should be able to make their own policy regarding religious practice, education and immigration to the regions. Tibetans are anxious over the large numbers of ethnic Han, who dominate most of China, moving to the Tibetan plateau to seek their fortunes.
Chinese Communist government continues to accuse Dalai Lama of being a dangerous “splittist,” and has flooded large areas of Tibetan regions with security forces since a widespread uprising there in March 2008.

US pays tribute to Dalai Lama’s warriors
Sify News (India)
September 16, 2010
Hundreds of Tibetan warriors who doggedly fought a 15-year guerrilla war against the Chinese in Tibet after being trained and armed by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) now have a memorial that is likely to ruffle Beijing.
The US has, for the first time, paid a tribute to the resistance forces and acknowledged the CIA’s role in training them as the agency is erecting a memorial plaque at Camp Hale, a training base in Colorado for US troops during World War II.
Unknown to the local residents, who were told it was an atomic testing site, Camp Hale served as a training camp for nearly 2,000 Tibetan warriors who were taught the art of guerrilla warfare by the CIA from 1957 to 1972 to fight China’s People’s Liberation Army that attacked Tibet in 1949 and annexed the Buddhist kingdom within two years.
The event last week saw former CIA agents, Tibetans involved in the operation, and representatives of the US Forest Service and the Tibetan-American community in Colorado gather at Camp Hale.
The plaque reads: ‘From 1958 to 1964, Camp Hale played an important role as a training site for Tibetan Freedom Fighters. Trained by the CIA, many of these brave men lost their lives in the struggle for freedom. ‘They were the best and bravest of their generation, and we wept together when they were killed fighting alongside their countrymen.’ This plaque is dedicated to their memory.’
When China attacked Tibet under Mao Zedong, the American government, regarding Beijing as a potential exporter of communism and threat to US allies and interests in the region, trained Tibetans and air-dropped them into occupied Tibet.
The guerrillas also had the support of the Indian government. Some of them operated from Mustang, Nepal’s northernmost district sharing the border with Tibet.
‘Like many CIA operations, the US involvement with Tibetan guerrillas, including the training programme at Camp Hale, has not officially been acknowledged by the US government previously,’ said the New York-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT).
‘The history of this era is increasingly being written about by academics, journalists, and those who participated in it, both Tibetan and American.’
‘We commend Senator (Mark) Udall for his lead in the US Congress and for working with the US Forest Service to provide proper recognition of the historic US support rendered in the name of Tibetan freedom and the heroism demonstrated by many Tibetans who fought for their country,’ said Todd Stein, director of government relations at the ICT.
But the tribute is bound to ruffle the feathers of Beijing that still remains suspicious of Mustang, regarding it as a base from where the ‘Free Tibet’ movement could start again and has begun a campaign in Nepal to intensify patrolling along the border.
Beijing has also prevented efforts by the US to offer asylum to Tibetan refugees in Nepal who are especially vulnerable to Chinese attempts to have them deported.
The Tibetan resistance ended after Tibetan ruler Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959, sent a
message to the warriors, asking for an end to it.

Chinese Leaders Need Bold Vision and Courage
to Resolve the Issue of Tibet: Special Envoy
By Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari
South China Morning Post
September 12, 2010
In an op-ed published in the South China Morning Post, Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kasur Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, expressed hope that the present Chinese leadership will seize the opportunity and have the courage to confront the difficult truths of contemporary Tibet, reflecting the kind of boldness of vision shown by Deng Xiaoping and Hu Yaobang.
I have spent much of the past three decades representing His Holiness the Dalai Lama in talks with Chinese leaders. Through these many years of intermittent dialogue, I have sought to make the Chinese leadership understand the will of the Tibetan people and the vision of His Holiness in finding a common road to peace and reconciliation.
Over the years, I have also witnessed a drastic change in the nature and structure of Chinese leadership – from the sweeping boldness of the Deng Xiaoping era to the statesmanship and broad-mindedness of Hu Yaobang , to the institutional constraints and lack of assertiveness in recent years.
When there was a visionary leadership, we could see that China was able to take steps that helped preserve the unity and integrity of the country, promoting the interests of all its citizens and creating a positive international image.
The attitude of the Chinese leadership to the Tibetan issue has a direct bearing on the building of a harmonious society in China and its image on the world stage.
As part of my work I have tried to understand the reasons behind the current attitude of the Chinese leadership, and can think of three possible mindsets. The first one is the view that China is rising and all ethnic peoples need to modify their individual aspirations to fit in with this new identity.
The holders of this viewpoint in China seem to disregard and undermine the distinct identity of the Tibetan people. Beijing seems to mistake the artificial stability in Tibetan areas as a sign of Tibetan acquiescence. But this is not the quiet of complacency or contentment. Rather, it is the silence of growing desperation and bitterness – the kind that multiplies under repressive conditions. It is, frankly, the kind of silence in which the seeds of future violence and instability are sown.
The second mindset is that if the Chinese authorities are successful in improving economic conditions in the Tibetan areas, the Tibetan people’s concerns will be addressed and the whole issue will go away.
This is, again, a very narrow approach to resolving the Tibetan problem. The economic marginalisation of the Tibetan people is a reality that the Chinese leadership needs to address, given that official statistics place the Tibetans at the low end of the scale of economic development.
However, as Chinese scholars and experts on the Tibetan issue know, Tibetans have a high regard for their distinct culture, which has made a positive contribution to the development of the new China.
This cultural and spiritual identity needs to be given space to flourish and prosper among the Tibetan people. That cannot be achieved solely through economic development, however well intentioned it may be.
Economic integration without any respect and sensitivity for their culture will lead to more resentment by the Tibetan people. This was the clear message that the Chinese authorities should have received from the 2008 protests all over the Tibetan areas.
The third mindset is that China should wait until the passing away of the present Dalai Lama, when the Tibetan issue will naturally disappear. This thinking is based on the belief that a leaderless and disoriented movement would fragment into pieces and eventually become irrelevant.
This is a misplaced mindset for many reasons, and very counterproductive to China’s own future. Those who subscribe to this view do not understand that fragmentation today no longer means irrelevance; it means radical unpredictability and vastly greater risk. Far from fading away, the Tibetan political movement will reinvent itself in the absence of the current, Fourteenth Dalai Lama, and become something far more complex and unmanageable in the process.
It is disheartening to see just how far China’s leaders have drifted from the early days of bold reform. The leaders I came to know in the early 1980s shared a conviction about their historic role in bringing about the difficult transition that was needed in post-Mao China. Leaders like Hu Yaobang understood that the greatness of China’s future lay in the responsible actions of its leaders to conduct the necessary groundwork for true stability. Hu called for courageous policies relating to Tibet. Because he was open
and honest, dared to act, dared to face reality and dared to bear responsibility, he won the hearts of the Tibetan people.
It is my hope that today’s leaders will seize the opportunity and have the courage to confront the difficult truths of contemporary Tibet, reflecting the kind of boldness of vision shown by Deng and Hu.
For our part, we have formally clarified His Holiness’ position in the Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People, presented at the Eighth Round of talks in November 2008. Through the Memorandum and the related Note, presented in January this year, we have stated in clear and definitive terms that we seek only genuine autonomy within the framework of the People’s Republic of China, its constitution and its laws.
We have made it abundantly clear that we will respect the People’s Republic of China’s core interest of sovereignty and territorial integrity, including respecting the authority of the central government and adhering to the regional, national autonomy system.
But the central government must also fully respect the legitimate rights of the Tibetan people to maintain our distinctive and unique identity, as this is our core interest.
The Chinese leadership needs to take responsibility and make a serious commitment to finding a real solution to the issue of Tibet. The urgency of that responsibility is all the more palpable because of the uniqueness of this current window of time. Never before has there been a Tibetan leader like His Holiness, who has so firmly and persistently pursued such a challenging and treacherous path to achieve visionary change for the Tibetan and Chinese peoples.
The PRC proclaimed itself a multi-ethnic state with all nationalities having equal power and rights, rather than a state where a majority has political dominance over the minority.
China’s leaders have a historic choice to make: will they steward China towards a peaceful future in which Tibetans finally find a sustainable home within such a modern Chinese state? Or will they look the other way as the seeds of alienation are sown, with negative consequences for the distant future?
I know His Holiness the Dalai Lama has chosen the right side of history. I can only hope China’s leaders will see fit to do the same.
-Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari is the Special Envoy of the Dalai Lama and head of the Tibetan negotiations
team in the talks with the Chinese leadership

Tibet: Tibetans wait for Dalai Lama, cling to culture
Chinese government policy and population trends have many
Tibetans worried that their culture might be dying.
Keith B. Richburg
The Washington Post
September 8, 2010
TONGREN (Amdo Labrang) — In China, the Dalai Lama is officially a dangerous separatist and a “criminal,” and his supporters are prohibited from discussing him or even displaying his picture. But here in the ethnic Tibetan areas of Qinghai province, nominally autonomous while under strict Chinese control, the exiled spiritual leader remains a ubiquitous presence, despite his long physical absence.
The Dalai Lama’s beaming visage gazes down from the temple altars of Buddhist monasteries. His likeness adorns a popular artist’s workshop and a small convenience store selling bottled soft drinks, beer and snacks.
And everywhere, it seems, the fervent wish is that the Dalai Lama might return soon, to help save the Tibetan language and culture that many believe could soon be overwhelmed by the presence of China’s ethnic Han majority. Even the Tibetans’ centuries-old tradition of herding yak, cattle and sheep across the Tibetan plateau’s grasslands appears threatened as Chinese officials move increasing numbers of semi-nomadic herdsmen into “resettlement towns,” where jobs are scarce.
“We long for the Dalai Lama to come back, to solve the issue of religious freedom and to help Tibetan culture come back,” said Gen Ga, a 24-year-old monk at a monastery in nearby Wutong village. “If we look ahead 10 or 20 years, if the Dalai Lama fails to come back, I do think Tibetan culture will die.”
A three-day trip through the ethnic Tibetan areas of Qinghai province, where the Dalai Lama was born, showed that the Beijing government’s efforts to vilify the revered leader have had no discernible effect. When government inspectors come, many Tibetans said, they usually get advance notice, and they simply hide or cover the Dalai Lama’s photo.
The vilification efforts escalated after the Tibetan areas, including this province, exploded in rioting in March 2008, the most serious resistance to Chinese rule in decades. Thousands of monks and others were arrested, and outside groups, including Human Rights Watch, accused the government of systematically abusing detainees while looking for evidence that the Dalai Lama was responsible for the unrest.
Chinese officials have strongly denied those allegations and said authorities operated lawfully to maintain order. “The judicial rights of the defendants were fully guaranteed, as well as their ethnic customs and personal dignity,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in July in response to Human Rights Watch’s allegations.
Here in Tongren, a monk in his 30s who said he participated in three protests in March 2008 said he was detained for six months after the riots, describing how he was suspended from the ceiling, beaten repeatedly and tortured with electric rods.
The monk, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the beatings ended only when he agreed to make a videotaped denunciation of the Dalai Lama.
“They made me agree to a confession saying all the things I did was because I got instructions from the Dalai Lama,” the monk said. He said he believes he was singled out because of his support for a group of 13 monks who drafted a 2007 proposal calling for the preservation of Tibetan language and culture.
The monk’s account accords with those by scores of others who were interviewed for the Human Rights Watch report. “When the monks were tortured in detention, it was often because they refused to denounce the Dalai Lama,” said Nicholas Bequelin, the China researcher for Hong Kong-based Human Rights Watch.
“There is no doubt that many Chinese state policies are aimed at diluting or reshaping Tibetan traditional culture in a way that is innocuous to the state,” Bequelin said.
The main repositories of Tibetan Buddhist culture are the monasteries – which were also the source of the 2008 uprising – and the government has since attempted to increase its control over them, setting up “management committees” to ensure that the senior monks toe the correct political line.
Chinese official media reported last month that Du Qinglin, chief of the Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, which oversees Tibet policy, said monasteries must take the lead in “anti-separatist struggles.”
For many Tibetans, the front line in the cultural struggle is linguistic. Some complained that even in the supposedly autonomous prefectures of Qinghai, signs in Chinese outnumber those in Tibetan. In government offices, Tibetans say, they are forced to speak Chinese. And they worry that Tibetan is not being taught in schools on an equal footing with Chinese.
One of the most hotly debated government policies, among Tibetans and outside experts, is the effort to induce herdsmen to give up their nomadic lifestyle on the grasslands and resettle in rows of brick houses in newly built towns.
Officials and some outside experts say the effort is needed to tackle poverty and to stop over-grazing of the grasslands. But most of the herdsmen are illiterate, and there are few jobs in the resettlement towns.
Some who have been resettled have returned to the nomadic life, but often while keeping older relatives and children in the towns to be closer to medical care and schools.
“It was pretty hard to find a job there,” said Gartsang Cerang, 36, who lived in the resettlement town of Dowa before returning to the grasslands three months ago. “Life in the town was pretty hard.” He has to start over now – he has only half a dozen yak and two sheep and lives in a tent with his daughter Nam Turji, 17. He left two children, ages 13 and 14, in town.
Marjo Herji, 30, said many of the herdsmen on the mountainside overlooking Qinghai Lake have left to work in the tourist shops. But she said she and her husband plan to stay. “It’s hard for us to do any other job. We don’t have any special skills,” she said, churning yak milk into butter with a hand-cranked machine.
But she left her daughter in the village so the girl can attend first grade and she hopes her daughter does not follow in the herder’s life. “It’s better for her to become a literate person,” she said.
China is developing Qinghai Lake as a major attraction for Chinese tourists, and some Tibetans have found jobs shuttling visitors in electric golf carts, renting local costumes or letting tourists pose for photographs with rare white yaks. But they say the pay is scant and the tourist season short. Life on the grasslands is hard, too, they say, but they could sustain themselves with their herds.
It is difficult to see how even a political settlement that allowed the Dalai Lama to return could reverse some of the trends underway on the Tibetan Plateau, but according to Barry Sautman, a Tibet expert at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, “if he were there, he could have quite a bit of influence with the central government.”
Tibetans are hopeful – and waiting.
Staff researcher Wang Juan contributed to this report.

Tibetan government fears infiltration by Chinese agents: report

Phayul
September 8, 2010

Dharamsala, Sept 8 — The security wing of Tibetan Government-in-Exile has cautioned the Indian security and intelligence agencies of anticipated attempts by China to infiltrate its band of army trained undercover agents in the town, a media report said Tuesday.

Security department in its communication to Crime Investigation Department of state police anticipated Chinese infiltration in Tibetan settlements clustered across India in the garb of monks, the report said.

“Necessary steps are being taken in wake of anticipation of Tibetan administration,” Hindustan Times quoted Superintendent of Police, Dr Atul Fulzele, as saying.

Security of the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama the centre of concern.

Effective steps have been taken to upgrade security of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, Fulzele added.

Police has also reportedly asked Ministry of External Affairs to provide funds for installing chemical detector at Dalai Lama’s residential complex.

Dalai Lama’s has three tier security manned by Himachal Police. Internal security is looked after close protection group of Tibetans. More than 150 men are deployed for round the clock security of Dalai Lama’s palace.

According to the report, Tibetan government’s fear stems from the from the fact that two months ago, a Chinese woman was arrested in McLeod Ganj town for staying without valid documents.

The woman named Chai Sha Hung was deported to her hometown last month.

The Indian police suspected her of being a spy but the claims could not be established, the report said.

Citing sources in the Tibetan government, the report said Chinese intelligence agencies were keeping track about the activities of Tibetan government and Non Government Organization that are at fore front of campaign to secure freedom for Chinese occupied-Tibet.

“Chinese government has become more wary of the Tibetans after protest scattered across Tibet ahead of Beijing Olympics” a senior official of Tibetan security said.

Local police arrested a Chinese man named Liu Xia in 2008. Intelligence gathering confirmed Xia had served Peoples Liberation Army. Information gathered by Indian intelligence revealed that Liu had visited Dharamsala twice before protest spread in Tibet.

What came to the surprise of Intelligence agencies was Liu mobile phone details which confirmed that he was in touch with high ranking military official in Lhasa. Xia has reportedly revealed that he had come by road from Lhasa, and later reached Delhi after traveling through Nepal illegally.

In the wake of renewed qualms of Tibetan government, local police has stepped up vigil on Tibetan escapees, although their numbers have decreased drastically ever since China tightened security on its borders.

“We have sent an advisory to all the Tibetan welfare officer asking them to educate Tibetans about the possible infiltration of Chinese monks ” said a Tibetan security official requesting anonymity.

Police have also reportedly advised the Tibetan leader to maintain a particular distance while meeting the new entrants at his palace. The Dalai Lama routinely meets the Tibetan exiles and well-wishers in his residence.

Tibetan PM stresses on individual effort to preserve culture
By Tenzin Pema and Rinzin Gyatso
Phayul August 30, 2010
Bangalore, Aug. 29 — Professor Samdhong Rinpoche, the Prime Minister of the Tibetan government in exile, on Sunday said Tibetans should strive to preserve their culture — not through protest marches, or via museums, or through organizing of cultural performance programs — but through the daily practice of a positive attitude, a trait deep rooted in Tibetan culture.
The Tibetan Prime Minister or Kalon Tripa, was addressing a gathering of around 300 Tibetans residing in the city. Rinpoche delivered a talk on the “Preservation of Tibetan culture and Responsibility of Tibetans in exile,” during a program organized by The Tibetan Rights and Freedom Restoration Committee in collaboration with ‘Talk Tibet’ — a group made up of college students in the city who regularly hold such activities for the Tibetan public.
The core principle of Tibetan culture or lejang is the practice of “Others before self,” Rinpoche said, adding that this was the sole reason why a scholar once remarked that “the world cannot afford to let the Tibetan culture disappear.” In his nearly three-hour long session with the Tibetans in the city, Rinpoche also defined the ways in which one can identify and classify the cultures of the west, from those of the east, including those of India, Tibet and China.
The concern to preserve Tibetan culture became a phenomenon only after 1959, and since then, there has been the occurrence of cultural genocide within Tibet, both intentionally and unintentionally, Rinpoche said, quoting the Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
While the threat to the Tibetan culture, or lejang, is now prominent both in exile and in Tibet, the former through freedom and the latter through force, the preservation of one’s culture should be an individual effort, through constant self introspection of one’s attitudes and actions, he said.
He acknowledged the lack of political and cultural knowledge within the Tibetan community today, especially among the youth, while identifying that the Tibetan exile’s responsibility is two-fold — one that of preserving one’s culture, and the second, that of working for the Tibetan issue.
Rinpoche was in the south Indian state of Karnataka for the First Tibetan National General Body Meeting that is currently underway at the biggest Tibetan settlement in India, Bylakuppe. Rinpoche is also due to attend the ceremony that will mark the 50th founding anniversary of Tibetan democracy in Bylakuppe on September 2, during which the Tibetan parliament-in-exile on behalf of the Tibetan people is set to honour His Holiness the Dalai Lama with a “Golden Seal” for his years-long selfless service to the Tibetan people.