Tibet riots orchestrated?

Here is a post from the Canada Tibet Committee. The title alone struck my interest so I thought I'd post the article in it's entirety and let you come up with your own opinions. I'll do some research and follow up with another post if there is anything more to this.

 

"London, UK -- Britain's GCHQ, the government communications agency
that electronically monitors half the world from space, has confirmed
the claim by the Dalai Lama that agents of the Chinese People's
Liberation Army, the PLA, posing as monks, triggered the riots that
have left hundreds of Tibetans dead or injured.

GCHQ analysts believe the decision was deliberately calculated by the
Beijing leadership to provide an excuse to stamp out the simmering
unrest in the region, which is already attracting unwelcome world
attention in the run-up to the Olympic Games this summer.

For weeks there has been growing resentment in Lhasa, Tibet's
capital, against minor actions taken by the Chinese authorities.

Increasingly, monks have led acts of civil disobedience, demanding
the right to perform traditional incense burning rituals. With their
demands go cries for the return of the Dalai Lama, the 14th to hold
the high spiritual office.

Committed to teaching the tenets of his moral authority - peace and
compassion - the Dalai Lama was 14 when the PLA invaded Tibet in 1950
and he was forced to flee to India from where he has run a relentless
campaign against the harshness of Chinese rule.

But critics have objected to his attraction to film stars. Newspaper
magnate Rupert Murdoch has called him: "A very political monk in Gucci shoes."

Discovering that his supporters inside Tibet and China would become
even more active in the months approaching the Olympic Games this
summer, British intelligence officers in Beijing learned the ruling
regime would seek an excuse to move and crush the present unrest.

That fear was publicly expressed by the Dalai Lama. GCHQ's
satellites, geo-positioned in space, were tasked to closely monitor
the situation.

The doughnut-shaped complex, near Cheltenham racecourse, is set in
the pleasant Cotswolds in the west of England. Seven thousand
employees include the best electronic experts and analysts in the
world. Between them they speak more than 150 languages. At their
disposal are 10,000 computers, many of which have been specially
built for their work.

The images they downloaded from the satellites provided confirmation
the Chinese used agent provocateurs to start riots, which gave the
PLA the excuse to move on Lhasa to kill and wound over the past week."

*buddhistchannel.tv

(This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views
expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by
APakistanNews.Com.) 

 Listen to the podcast here: http://podcasts.odiogo.com/a-pakistan-news/podcasts-xml.php 

Sources: http://www.tibet.ca/en/newsroom/wtn/4412
             http://www.apakistannews.com/tibet-riots-orchestrated-86324

Tibet documentary wins best Human Rights film award

By Phurbu Thinley
Phayul

                               Ngawang Choephel was arrested in August 1995 by Chinese authorities for videotaping  Tibetan children and elders singing and dancing their traditional songs



Dharamsala, October 13: A 30-minute documentary film on a harrowing tale of political persecution in Tibet has won award for the best Human Rights Film at a film festival in Taos, New Mexico, US.

The film Missing in Tibet, grabbed the ‘Best Human Rights Film’ award at the Eighth Annual Taos Mountain Film Festival that ended Sunday.

This film is about Nwawang Choephel, a Tibetan-born exile, who, on December 26, 1996, was sentenced to 18 years in prison by the Chinese authorities.

While living in the States, Ngawang was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study and record the ethnomusicology of his Tibetan homeland at prestigious Middlebury College in Vermont. His research took him to Tibet to document and preserve traditional music and dance.

In the midst of this research the Chinese authorities arrested him. His only ‘crime’ being he videotaped Tibetan children and elders singing and dancing their traditional songs. He was released in February 2002, after six years in prison.

Interweaving his life story with actual footage shot before his incarceration the film, narrated by Goldie Hawn and Peter Coyote recounts a harrowing tale of political persecution.

Created in 1996 by Robin Garthwait, Missing in Tibet won the Jury Award, Telluride Mountain Film Festival, 1997 and Best Short Subject Cultural Awareness, International Humanitarian Awards, 1998.

The film has been aired on PBS stations in Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Denver, San Jose, Buffalo, Anchorage, Fairbanks and Columbia, SC, and also broadcasted nationally in Australia and Hungary.

Taos Mountain Film Festival, as the name suggests, is a film festival for mountaineers, mountain lovers and mountain characters. The Spine at TMFF is Tibet. About a quarter of the festival's 40 films are related to the struggle of Tibet's people and/or their spiritual leader.

COMPASSION IN EXILE, LEAVING FEAR BEHIND, DALAI LAMA: A PORTRAIT IN THE FIRST, LEAVING FEAR BEHIND, PATH TO MOUNT KAILASH, WHY ARE WE SILENT?, THE FATE OF THE LHAPAS and TIBET, CRY OF THE SNOW LION are horde of other Tibet films featured at this year’s Taos Mountain Film Festival held from October 9 to 12.

 Source: http://www.tibet.ca/en/newsroom/wtn/4300

Tibet activists set ablaze "China's Ravan"

By Phurbu Thinley Phayul.com




 Dharamsala, October 9 

Tibetan activists paraded a demonized
effigy, bearing photos of Chinese President Hu Jintao and Zhang
Qingli, the current Chinese Communist Party Secretary to Tibet,
before setting it on fire here today.

They called the effigy "China's Ravan" and their act a symbolic
celebration of the concluding day of Dussehra.

Dussehra is celebrated by Hindus as victory of "Good over evil" in
which a Hindu mythological demon King Ravana is put on fire to mark
end of evil's reign.

Members of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), India, today labeled Hu
Jintao, who imposed Martial Law in Lhasa on March 8, 1989 following
series of demonstrations by Tibetans during his tenure as the Chinese
Communist Party Secretary to Tibet, as "China's Ravan".

During the reign of the Martial decree, which lasted for 13 months,
Tibetan demonstrators were brutally suppressed resulting in deaths.
Aftermath the brutal suppression, several detainees were subjected to
prolonged sadistic and horrifying treatments as later reported by the
UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

The activist also placed photos of Zhang Qingli,who was in the
spotlight during the 2008 Tibetan unrest for his heavy handedness in
dealing with the demonstrators.

Known for his tough policies in ethnic regions, Zhang is seen as a
man responsible for China's hardening stance in dealing with Tibetan
people in recent times. He accelerated campaigns against Tibetan
culture and religion, brought in more settlers and stepped up the
commercial exploitation of Tibet's huge reserves of raw materials.

This sharp-tongued communist party secretary is despised by Tibetans
for his scathing and defamatory verbal attacks on the revered Tibetan
leader, the Dalai Lama. He is the man who called the Dalai Lama "a
wolf in monk's clothes, a devil with a human face".

The effigy, bearing photos of the two Chinese Communist leaders, was
paraded through McLeod Ganj before it was set on fire near the town's
main square.

The activists believe burning the demonized effigy 'China's Ravan' on
final Dussehra festival signifies bringing to an end a symbol of evil.

On Thursday, Hindus celebrated the final day of Dussehra by setting
statue of Ravan on fire signifying the triumph of good over evil.

McLeod Ganj, a suburb also referred to as the Upper Dharamsala, is
the seat of the Dalai Lama led Tibetan Government-in-Exile. 


Source: 
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=22954&article=Tibet+activists+set+ablaze+%E2%80%9CChina%E2%80%99s+Ravan%E2%80%9D&t=1&c=1 

Photo: Tenzin Dasel/Phayul

DIIR submits report on ‘torture against Tibetan people’ to the UN

tibet.net Tuesday, September 30 2008 @ 02:39 pm BST

Geneva: The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), through its Tibet Bureau based in Geneva, submitted a report on “ the continuing use of torture against the Tibetan people” to “the United Nations Committee Against Torture on Violations by the People’s Republic of China Against The People of Tibet”, on 29 September.

The report details narrative of events from 2000 to 2008, presenting evidence of torture used against Tibetan people under the political and religious repression imposed by the Chinese government in Tibet.

It presents a detailed account of the Chinese government’s violations of the convention against torture by attributing those with ‘evidence of torture in connection with recent protests in Tibet’, ‘torture as a common practice in Tibet even before the March demonstration’, ‘failure of China’s legal system to ban the use of torture’, ‘absence of independent judiciary’ and the ‘Chinese authorities threat of disciplinary action against lawyers’.

The report, which evaluates China’s compliance with the convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment (torture convention) with respect to Tibet, said, “China continues to engage in widespread and systematic violations of the torture conventions against the Tibetan people.”

China has also failed to make genuine progress in the areas of concern noted by this committee in its ‘1996 and 2000 Concluding Observations’, which is supported by the recent findings of the Special Rapporteur on Torture, following his mission to China, noted the report.

The report asked the committee to examine China’s compliance with the Torture Convention taking into consideration the significant events in Tibet since 2000.

It said significant measures were implemented to curtail and repress the free practice of religion in Tibet, to deny the Tibetan people any meaningful right of free expression, and to marginalize Tibetans through a concerted effort to support the influx of Chinese settlers.

These measures have been enforced through police intimidation, arbitrary arrest and detention, and torture used to punish and terrorise the Tibetan communities. Indeed, across a broad array of economic, social and political rights, the Chinese government has failed the Tibetan people, the report added.

The report is critical of the increasing repression and economic marginalisation of Tibetans, which culminated in a sustained and widespread series of protests – almost all peaceful – throughout Tibet beginning on 10 March 2008.

Chinese authorities responded by detaining thousands of Tibetans, many of whom were treated with extreme brutality both while being detained and during their detention, shooting and killing unarmed protesters, locking monks and nuns inside their monasteries, imposing a heavy police and military presence in all cities and most towns of any significant size as well as remote nomad encampments, severely restricting travel within Tibet, and instituting “patriotic education” campaigns within the monasteries, the reported noted.

The Central Tibetan Administration urges the United Nations Committee Against Torture to scrutinize China’s compliance with the Torture Convention with particular attention to Tibet.

It also requests the committee to address the continuing use of torture against the Tibetan people and submit recommendations for its consideration in order to end the use of torture in Tibet.  

Article from: http://www.tibetcustom.com
Source: http://www.tibetcustom.com/article.php/20080930143949987

China 'spying on Skype messages'

China has been monitoring and censoring messages sent through the internet service Skype, researchers say.

 

Citizen Lab, a Canadian research group, says it found a database containing thousands of politically sensitive words which had been blocked by China.

The publically available database also displayed personal data on subscribers.

Skype said it had always been open about the filtering of data by Chinese partners, but that it was concerned by breaches in the security of the site.

Citizen Lab researchers, based at the University of Toronto, said they discovered a huge surveillance system which had picked up and stored messages sent through the online telephone and text messaging service.

The database held more than 150,000 messages which included words such as "democracy" and "Tibet" and phrases relating to the banned spiritual movement, Falun Gong.

"These text messages, along with millions of records containing personal information, are stored on insecure publicly accessible web servers," said Citizen Lab's report, entitled "Breaching Trust".

They said that by using one username, it was possible to identify all the people who had sent messages to or received them from the original user.

'Meeting laws'

Skype is operated in China as Tom-Skype, a joint venture involving the American auction site, eBay and Chinese company TOM-Online.

Citizen Lab said it was "clear" that Tom was "engaging in extensive surveillance with seemingly little regard for the security and privacy of Skype users".

They asked to what extent Tom Online and Skype were co-operating with the Chinese government in monitoring communications.

But Skype president Josh Silverman said China's monitoring was "common knowledge" and that Tom Online, had "established procedures to meet local laws and regulations".

"These regulations include the requirement to monitor and block instant messages containing certain words deemed offensive by the Chinese authorities," he said.

Mr Silverman said that it had been Tom Online's policy to block certain messages and then delete them and he would be investigating why the policy had changed to allow the company to upload and store those messages.

Although internet use is high in China, the authorities have long prevented citizens from accessing websites which are considered politically sensitive.

Western internet companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo have been criticised by human-rights groups for adhering to China's strict regulations. 

Article from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7649761.stm

Rescuers search Tibet rubble after quake kills 10

By AUDRA ANG The Associated Press Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Rescuers rushed tents, food and water to villagers in Tibet on Tuesday after an earthquake and scores of aftershocks rattled the capital and surrounding areas, killing at least 10 people and collapsing hundreds of houses.

State media said soldiers and rescue dogs were searching through rubble for people in Yangyi, the hardest-hit village in Dangxiong County, where the magnitude 6.6 quake struck late Monday afternoon.

The official Xinhua News Agency said nine people were killed in Yangyi. The 10th death was a high school student killed in a stampede in Shan'nan Prefecture, about 120 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of Dangxiong, during a quake evacuation, Xinhua said.

Nineteen people were injured in Yangyi, many with bone fractures, Xinhua said. They were mostly women, children and the elderly because the men were away harvesting and foraging for winter, it said.

About 171 homes were destroyed. Photos on the central government's Web site show piles of concrete — all that remained of collapsed houses — and the exposed roots of trees ripped from the ground.

"Almost all the buildings have collapsed in Yangyi," said Yi Xi, an employee of the Geda Township government, which oversees the village. "I went there earlier and did not see a single one still standing."

"Our efforts are focused on providing them food and shelter," she said in a telephone interview.

Tenzin Chodrak, who escaped because he was putting extra hay into the sheepfold when the quake struck and his home collapsed, told Xinhua his nephew was killed and his mother was injured.

"I can't believe it," Nyima, a Tibetan herder who lost her 2-year-old daughter, was quoted as saying by Xinhua as she wept.

According to the news agency, at least 700 rescuers were working Tuesday, with soldiers putting up more tents hoping to accommodate all the villagers by dusk. Health workers were doing medical checkups and sanitizing the area to prevent epidemics, it said.

Dangxiong County is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of the capital city of Lhasa, more than 1,600 miles (2,600 kilometers) from Beijing.

Many families stayed in tents Monday night because they were afraid their homes would fall down. The regional seismological bureau registered 188 aftershocks by 7 a.m. Tuesday (2300 GMT Monday), Xinhua said, including one above magnitude 6.0.

Authorities said Lhasa airport and the Qinghai-Tibet railway — which stretches from western Qinghai province to Tibet — were still operating. Chinese media reports said none of Lhasa's landmarks, such as the Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple, appeared to be damaged.

But schools in the capital were closed Tuesday for safety reasons, Xinhua said. Shops and hotels in Dangxiong County reached by telephone said they were open and business was normal.

China's far west is fairly earthquake-prone. On Sunday, a magnitude-5.7 earthquake shook the Xinjiang region, which borders Tibet, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which also suffered a 6.6-magnitude quake hours later. At least 60 people were killed when a village collapsed.

A 7.9 magnitude earthquake on May 12 devastated parts of Sichuan province, just east of Tibet, killing 70,000 people and leaving 5 million homeless.

China says Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries but many Tibetans say their homeland was essentially independent for most of that time. On March 14, monk-led protests against Chinese rule turned violent in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, and ethnic Chinese residents were attacked.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, said Tuesday that he was "deeply saddened by the loss of life and property as a result of the earthquake."

"Our prayers go out to those who have lost their lives in this tragedy and offer condolences to their families and those affected," he said in a statement issued by his government-in-exile in Dharmsala, India.

Article from the Associated Press

Censorship in Chinese Media

Censorship in Chinese Media

By Hung Huang

Hung Huang

Editor’s Note: Hung Huang, chief executive of a Chinese publishing empire, writes us from Beijing. For her first post we asked her to talk about how censorship affects the economic development of businesses like hers; below, she describes how government censors are paying less attention to material that was once considered too sexy for Chinese audiences, but still seem very concerned about politically sensitive information.

I always used to hate it when foreigners focused on censorship of the media in China. I think foreigners have this image of a Fu Manchu-like Chinaman, sitting in a dark corner trying to censor everything. I often wanted to say: “It is not like that. We don’t really feel that much censorship.”

Take my job as a lifestyle magazine editor and publisher. We have not been censored for the last four years, and we have had pretty aggressive (i.e., very sexy) fashion shoots, etc. I mean, FHM is the most popular men’s magazine here.

Clearly we have liberalized.

However, during the current milk powder crisis, I realized censorship is actually pretty strong. Yes, Fu Manchu as Big Brother is among us. There is a lot of open debate about the milk powder crisis on the Internet. People are questioning the news, and everyone suspects a massive government cover-up job. However, all this debate is banned on state-owned media, particularly television.

Another prime example of censorship during the Olympics happened when the Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang dropped out of the race. There was a lot of speculation as to how long his coach, the government, his sponsors and even Liu himself had known that he could not compete. The public felt that they were given a song and dance at the last minute. Again, state-owned traditional media were not allowed to talk about it.

What was really funny was that last December, at a CCTV news conference, the wife of the director of the Olympics channel jumped on stage and declared to the world that her husband was having an extramarital affair (see the video below). Now, CCTV is known as the tongue of the Communist Party. They are supposed to be above reproach; it is their job to censor everyone else. Of course, not a single TV station dared to report on this very juicy piece of news. Instead it was on www.tudou.com, the Chinese version of YouTube. The tape of the hysterical wife was up for about a day or so, and then it was taken down by the censors.

So censorship does exist, although the Chinese censors have decided that half-naked women are O.K. for the public, and the Dalai Lama — or, for that matter, the love life of a sportscaster on state-run TV — certainly isn’t.

American bloggers detained in Bejiing

I found this article this morning and found it interesting that China is not only detaining and deporting foreign Pro-Tibet demonstrators but actively seeking out anyone in Beijing with Pro-Tibetan ideals. A group of "citizen journalist" and Pro-Tibet bloggers have been added to the many activists who have been deported for demonstrating. Below is an excerpt from Reuters. Read it and let me know what you think.

For the full Reuters article click here.

More related articles:

Why is China trying to censor foreign media during the Olympic games

Tibet protestors deported from China  

"Students for a free Tibet" take action  

Are Tibet Protestors' messages getting through

Are Tibet Protestors' Messages Getting Through?

China deported Vancouver woman, other pro-Tibet protesters

One picture...says it all.

I'm not going to write a whole article today. I found this photo that had surfaced recently and wanted to share it right away. I think this image speaks for itself.
To the left is the facade and to the right is truth. Simple as that!
-Wylwyn Reyes-Campaign Tibet

photo from http://www.freetibet.net/

Why is China trying to censor foreign media during the Olympic games?

by Wylwyn Reyes

Chinese police have been arresting and deporting pro-Tibet protesters like they were selling hotcakes. Well it looks like they have now moved on to reporters.
I thought China was offering free and unrestricted reporting during the games just as any foreign reporter would do in a democratic country. Well, just as suspected a free lunch never tastes as good as it looks.

John Ray, an accredited reporter for Independent Television News (ITN) was arrested near the "Bird's Nest" Olympic stadium and dragged to a nearby restaurant, where Chinese police threw his shoes in the corner and sat on his arms. This happened shortly after nearby foreign protesters unfurled a pro-Tibet banner. The reporter who had suffered mild abrasions and some bruising later said: "I wonder how this fits in with their solemn promise of free and unrestricted reporting... it was a wrestling match".

The pro-Tibet group Students for a Free Tibet, said two of its protesters who unfurled Free- Tibet banners were arrested while six other members were also detained for protesting nearby. They included six Americans, an Israeli-American and a Japanese National.

Beijing Olympic organizers said they were introducing three "protest parks" near the stadium where anyone could express their beliefs unless it would harm "national unity" and "national, social or collective interests of China".

Well, Ji Sizun, 58, a legal advocate from the coastal province of Fujian who came to Beijing to demonstrate against corruption was arrested after he applied for a permit in one of these designated "protest parks"to hold a protest that would call for greater participation of Chinese citizens in political processes.

So it would seem any speak of Tibet, Xinjiang, or even insinuating corruption in the Chinese government would result in a breif to 24 hour detainment followed by your foreign privileges getting revoked with an intensive interrogation and finally topped off with a sprinkle of deportation. Not to mention a little slam dancing with your new friends the Chinese police.

Imagine what happens to Chinese Nationals if they attempt to protest. Does anyone remember the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989?




More articles on protests during the games in China.

Tibet protesters deported from China
Protester hurt during pro-Tibet demonstration

For more on "Students for a Free Tibet" click here.
For more on John Ray click here.



photo from Tibet Will Be Free // A global blog by Students for a Free Tibet

India arrests Tibetan exiles

Protestor Hurt During Pro-Tibet Demonstration

Tibet protestors deported from China

by Wylwyn Reyes


Lucy Fairbrother and Iain Thom were deported after Iain, an experienced climber, scaled a 120ft pylon outside the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing on Wednesday morning and unfurled a giant banner that read: “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet.”

When the two arrived back to the London City airport Lucy said: "We are only a very small part of this campaign and the ongoing struggle. There WILL be more protest." and Iain said:"It was definitely all worth it but expect there to be more. The job is not done."

Iain said he smuggled his climbing gear and banner materials in his suitcase.

“Airport security was tight but the equipment I brought in was standard climbing equipment,” he said. “We bought the banner in Britain, and we took it in blank and made it there.”

They were held by officials for 12 hours and interrogated for 5 until they were finally brought to the airport to be deported back to London.

I think the two are incredibly brave for making such a remarkable demonstration. I wonder if it will inspire other Tibet activist to take action. It did however bring more awareness to the cause.

The two are both members of the organization studentsforafreetibet.org you can find out more here.

You can watch a video of the homecoming here.

Photo form Views from North Britain

"Students for a Free Tibet" take action

photo by IndyMedia UK













by Wylwyn Reyes

So If you have been following the news recently you probably have noticed a number of Free Tibet demonstrations being held around the world. Most recently in Beijing at the Birds Nest Stadium where the 2008 Summer Olympics are being held.

There were the three Tibet independence activists that scaled the Golden Gate Bridge and unfurled a large protest banner reading “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 08” during spring's Olympic torch relay.

There was Nyendak Wangden, who had rappelled from the roof of the consulated wearing a monk's robe & hood and simulated a hanging while holding a sign reading "Stop the Killings in Tibet.".

And now there are the 2 Britain's that scaled an electric Pylon and unfurled a sign reading: "One World, One Dream: Free Tibet" in Beijing last Wednesday. You can read my article about it here.

All of these protests were demonstrated by members of an organization called "Students for a Free Tibet" a non-profit whose vision is for an independent Tibet and to create a just and equitable world, free of oppression, in which there is respect for the earth and all living things.


Their mission statement:




"Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) works in solidarity with the Tibetan people in their struggle for freedom and independence. We are a chapter-based network of young people and activists around the world. Through education, grassroots organizing, and non-violent direct action, we campaign for Tibetans’ fundamental right to political freedom. Our role is to empower and train youth as leaders in the worldwide movement for social justice."


This group of freedom fighters have been making headlines on a global scale and I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully these amazingly selfless people inspire not only us who fight for Tibet's Independence but for all people, globally, to speak up and take action for those who cannot protest themselves without fear of imprisonment, torture, or even death. I have compiled a list below of links you can check out to either learn more about "Students for a Free Tibet" or to start taking action yourself. Remember the Olympic Opening Ceremony is tomorrow and the whole world is watching Beijing right now. We have a little more than two weeks until the Olympics are over so now is the time to step it up!

Follow the links below to take action!

studentsforafreetibet.org

Activist Toolbox

Start a Chapter

Become an individual Member

Internships

Action Alerts

Tourist films Tibet riots

Olympic protest group promises more

Demos : IOC asks authorities to show "tact and understanding"

Nepal stops exiles from marching to Tibet, 30 held

Mon Jul 28, 2008
From Reuters India



KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepali police detained 30 Tibetan refugees, including nuns and monks, marching to the Tibetan border to protest against crackdowns on anti-China demonstrators.

The exiles were picked up on Sunday from the northeastern Nepali village of Jalbire, close to the Friendship Bridge which lies on Nepal's border with China and is the only international gateway to Tibet open to tourists.

"They were trying to march to Tibet and see the situation there for themselves," said Tashi Dorjee, a refugee in Kathmandu.

The march on Sunday was the latest in a series of protests by exiled Tibetans in Nepal since deadly anti-government riots broke out in Tibetan capital Lhasa and other areas in China in mid-March, to mark the anniversary of a 1959 failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Nepal, where more than 20,000 exiled Tibetans live, is the second-biggest home for Tibetans outside Tibet after neighbouring India.

Police officer Suraj Khatri Chhetri said the refugees were being driven to Kathmandu, where they would be handed over to immigration authorities.

Nepali police broke up a similar march by Tibetans this month and detained 42 exiles in the same area.

Last week, New York-based Human Rights Watch said that China was putting pressure on Nepal to crack down on protests by the Tibetans, a charge Beijing has denied.
Nepal considers Tibet part of its influential giant neighbour China.

In India, six members of the Tibetan Youth Congress began a hunger strike on Monday in New Delhi to protest against the Olympic Games, which will open next month in Beijing.

"The Chinese people deserve to host the Olympic Games, but what the Tibetans and the Chinese people deserve more now is freedom," the organisation said in a statement.

Dalai Lama preaches compassion, responsibility

by Jonathan Bastian, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

Sunday, July 27, 2008




To the Dalai Lama, they are inextricably bound to his life, his religion and his future legacy.

Consider this: Every morning at 4 a.m., the Dalai Lama rises in the pitch black and sits inside a sacred room to practice between four and five hours of meditation. Clothed only in humble red robes, he is completely alone, sitting cross-legged on the ground, contemplating the teaching and texts of Tibetan Buddhist masters.

For years, people have asked him exactly what he is meditating on. And for years, he has given them a one-word answer that is a primary tenet of Tibetan Buddhism: compassion

Yet the word “compassion” for the Dalai Lama has come to symbolize something more than mere altruism on a local scale, but rather, on a global scale.

After watching his country invaded, his monasteries destroyed and his culture dismantled by the Chinese, the Dalai Lama was forced to leave Tibet and enter the worldwide community, infusing the globe with his idealistic messages and Tibetan Buddhist ethics. This situation was summed up perfectly by famed journalist Pico Iyer, who said earlier this week at the Aspen Institute, “That Dalai Lama would always tell me, ‘I’ve lost my country, but I’ve gained the world.’”

And so it was only fitting that the Dalai Lama discussed his concept of global responsibility and compassion on Saturday morning at the Benedict Music Tent as the keynote address for the Aspen Institute’s symposium on Tibetan culture.

A century of dialogue

Capping off a week that included lectures by Tibetan scholars and practitioners, such as Bob Thurman and Sogyal Rinpoche, Saturday’s lecture began with a performance of traditional Tibetan chant and dance by Tibetan monks from the Drepung Monastery. The stage was decorated with colorful prayers flags designed by local children at the Anderson Ranch.

When the Dalai Lama walked onto the stage amid a booming standing ovation, he wore white Tibetan katak (scarf) that was also decorated by local children with red peace signs.

“I was very touched by this,” said the Dalai Lama, pointing to the scarf. “Young children’s minds are not yet spoiled. They still have a feeling of humanity.”

He then began to speak about his idea of global responsibility, which, he believes, begins not with laws or legislation, but with changing our fundamental view of the world.

“Our basic feeling of self and desire for happiness is the same,” he said. “If you look at the world from space, you see one globe. There are no real boundaries. There is too much emphasis on secondary differences — religion, nationality, ethnicity. On a basic level, we are the same. We forget basic humanity.”

This concept of universal similarities among humans, according to the Dalai Lama, must guide how we act on a global level. For example, he proposed the idea of the Americas joining together with a sense of unity, and the same for Europe.

“You have to consider your neighbor not foreign, but part of yourself,” he explained.

Moreover, the Dalai consistently harped on the importance of dialogue in terms of solving international disputes. This, of course, is a message that he has been preaching to Chinese for more than 50 years in terms of opening a discussion about the future of Tibet.

“The 21st century is a century of bloodshed,” he said. “This should be a century of dialogue.”

In terms of government, the Dalai Lama made it perfectly clear that he is a proponent of Marxism versus a totalitarian leadership or a capitalist system.

“I am attracted to the Marxist sense of lifting the lower classes,” he continued. “It is about the well being of working-class people that are normally exploited by the richer classes.”


The Dalai Lama’s discussion of Marxism, however, was not a completely extraneous or hypothetical topic.

Throughout his lecture, he repeatedly pointed to and spoke to a group of Chinese professors sitting near the front of the music tent, at times castigating the current Chinese administration, which claims to rule with socialist principles.

In essence, the Dalai Lama opined that the original precepts of the Chinese communist regime had merit in the sense that they were designed to help the lower classes. However, he claimed that this original sense of political integrity has degenerated.

“The Chinese leaders have become corrupt,” he argued. “They only think of profit, and have lost a sense of purity in the original movement.” At one point, he also referred to the Chinese government as, “totalitarian and capitalist.”

The Dalai Lama expressed concern over human rights and their standing in the Chinese constitution, which are not provided for in reality. In the case of Tibet, he claimed there is both “human rights violation and violation of religious freedom.”

As such, the Dalai Lama pleaded that the media have a “long nose,” in order to smell the truth of what exists both in front of them and behind them.

“They must inform the public clearly and openly,” he said. “Transparency is very important.”

The issue of transparency within the media has been a central in discussions about Tibet.

During last spring’s uprisings on the Tibetan plateau, foreign journalists were expelled from the country and only state-sponsored media were allowed. The government also set up a series of media tours in which they hand selected Western journalists and gave them limited access to Tibet.

Most recently, many western media outlets, such as NBC, are beginning worry about having autonomy at the Beijing summer Olympics to cover projected demonstrations that the Chinese government would rather not be televised internationally.

The essence of compassion

Towards the end of his lecture, the Dalai Lama returned to the theme that he has spent his life preaching — compassion.

According the Dalai Lama, compassion exists on two levels.

The first is on the biological level, which he said was necessary for survival, like the way a mother cares for her children.

The second level relates to training and reason, which is something that needs to be habituated, practiced and extended to on a universal level, instead just to one’s own family.

“According to science [practicing compassion] makes the body better and the immune system stronger. So many people spend their money on medicine and sleeping pills. People that have compassion don’t need these.”

The Dalai Lama’s scientific arguments in this passage are not unfounded. Throughout the week, a world-renowned professor from Stanford University spoke about a new project, “Project Compassion,” in which scientists are currently measuring the direct correlation between a compassionate mind and its positive effects on the body.

It is also important to note that in the past decade, the Dalai Lama has taken a serious interest in the connection between Buddhism and science, even saying that if certain Buddhist principles are overturned by scientific truths, they should be discarded.


Returning again to this topic of compassion, at the end of his lecture, the Dalai Lama was asked by an audience member how it can be that in such a beautiful place like Aspen, people can be so rude and cantankerous. And moreover, can the Dalai Lama teach how to resolve this issue?

Fittingly, the Dalai Lama reminded the audience that change, compassion and global responsibility begin with individuals, not just with the Dalai Lama.

“I don’t know,” he laughed. “This is your responsibility, not mine.”

"March for Tibet's Independence” Starting in Madison on July 25

FISHERS, Ind.-A 185 mile “March for Tibet's Independence” begins at 12pm at the Capitol Building (4 East Capitol Square) in Madison, Wisconsin on July 25 and concludes at China's Consulate in Chicago on August 8. The conclusion of the walk coincides with the opening of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Tibetans and their supporters from Wisconsin, other regions of the United States, and India will participate. The walk route proceeds east from Madison to Kenosha.

Wisconsin State Representatives Joseph Parisi and Spencer Black will be featured speakers at the 12pm kickoff rally being held at the Wisconsin Capitol Building.


Jigme Norbu (son of Taktser Rinpoche and nephew of His Holiness The Dalai Lama) will walk. Norbu stated, “We have not achieved my father's lifelong dream of restoring Tibet's independence. I will continue to do whatever is necessary to achieve his dream and to voice the desires of my 6 million brothers and sisters inside Tibet who only want independence and who continue to demonstrate this desire in spite of the brutal force they experience at the hands
of China's military and police.”

According to Lobsang Tenzing, President-Wisconsin Tibetan Association, “This walk will educate the citizens of our great State about the horrific conditions inside of Tibet, the cruelty of China's government, and the genuine desires of Tibetans to peacefully resolve the Tibet-China dispute. Our citizens will also learn the implications for the United States of China's rise as a super power.”

The Venerable Palden Gyatso, a Tibetan Monk, will also walk. Gyatso is in his late 70's and he served 33 years as a political prisoner of China. Since being released, Gyatso has traveled the world advocating for Tibet, and participated in many hunger strikes and walks. Gyatso will begin walking on July 27 and he will participate until the conclusion.

This is the 14th major 'March' or 'Bicycle Ride' for Tibet's independence organized by the International Tibet Independence Movement (ITIM) since 1995. ITIM walkers and bike riders have compiled 3,440 miles in more than 340 days!

The Wisconsin Tibetan Association and the Tibetan Alliance of Chicago are assisting with the coordination of this walk.

ITIM was co-founded in 1995 by Taktser Rinpoche and Professor Larry Gerstein to obtain Tibet's independence through non-violent methods. While ITIM is headquartered in Indiana, there are over 10,000 supporters of this organization worldwide.

Isabel Losada's top 10 books about the Dalai Lama and Tibet

Isabel Losada is the author of the The Battersea Park Road to Enlightenment and For Tibet, With Love: A Beginner's Guide to Changing the World. For Tibet, With Love is an exploration of the old question 'What can one person do to make a difference?' as applied to the Chinese government's policy on Tibet. Here Isabel Losada chooses her top 10 books on the subject of non-violence, the Dalai Lama and the Tibet.
Isabel Losada's website
Act for Tibet website

1. The Story of My Experiments with Truth: An Autobiography by Mahatma Gandhi

We have to start here as even the Dalai Lama admits that Bapu has been an inspiration to him. As a young man, when Tibetans came to him demanding to be allowed to take up arms to protect Tibet the young Dalai Lama would imagine what Gandhi would have said to them. If you are weary of the war on terror, reading the life of Gandhi will restore your faith in mankind.

2. The Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela

I wanted this on the list because of the common misconception that Mandela was violent. His fight against apartheid was non-violent for many years. They did eventually resort to bombing empty buildings - but never people. If you haven't read this astoundingly inspiring autobiography - where have you been?

3. Freedom in Exile by the Dalai Lama

The first autobiography of the Dalai Lama, written when he was a young man who had recently been driven into exile. Full of passion and, rather ironically as it turned out, hope. What I love about this book is the way it weaves the recent history of Tibet (since about 1945) with the Dalai Lama's personal story so I learned about Tibetan history but was gripped by the personal details. Like Mandela - an inspiring life. It's amazing how many people read 'little books of Buddhist sayings' that have the Dalai Lama's name on the cover and yet have no idea of the story of his life.

4. The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama with Howard Cutler

This has been compiled by a western psychiatrist Howard C Cutler in a series of long conversations with the Dalai Lama. I found Mr Cutler rather rambling but we all need to be reminded by His Holiness that peace has to be inside us before we can help anyone or anything. Happiness, personal responsibility, peace, empathy, compassion - wouldn't it be good if these were on the curriculum in our schools as they are in the Tibetan monasteries?

5. The Dragon in the Land of Snows: The History of Modern Tibet since 1947 by Tsering Shakya

If you've ever wondered why the world stood by and let the Chinese communist party walk into Tibet and destroy this ancient and unique culture - read and be horrified. The British come off as particularly culpable as we had diplomatic representation in independent Tibet. We decided to ignore that fact as it was inconvenient for us. We are still ignoring it.

6. Eighteen Layers of Hell: Stories from the Chinese Gulag by Kate Saunders

It is hard to believe that institutionalised torture goes on today in China. But reading this book, which includes firsthand accounts of life in the Laogai (Chinese labour camps) and details of medieval forms of torture, will leave you in no doubt. A hard read but certainly one of the most important books that I've ever read. You will never again want to buy a single item that says 'Made in China.'

7. The Hotel on the Roof of the World by Alec le Sueur

Very different from the book above, this is the light-hearted true story of the author's five years running a hotel in Lhasa. It makes Fawlty Towers seem an oasis of calm. He unfolds his tale with genuine wit and compassion for all points of view.

8. The Search for the Panchen Lama by Dr Isabel Hilton

You may be amused to know that the atheist Chinese government apparently knows more about the recognition of reincarnations than the Dalai Lama. This is the tale of how a young boy believed by Tibetans to be an incarnation of wisdom was arrested at the age of six and hasn't been seen since. He was detained because he was supposed to be the person responsible for identifying the next Dalai Lama. Instead there will now just be a mess, as the book explains.

9. The Dance of 17 Lives by Mick Brown

This is the story of the boy who got away. The other leading figure of Tibetan Buddhism, brought up under Chinese eyes to be loyal to the Chinese government, escaped over the mountains as a teenager and now lives in India. If you are sceptical about reincarnation, read journalist Mick Brown's extraordinary book.

10. The Bradt Travel Guide to Tibet by Michael Buckley

If, like me, you decide that you want to travel to Tibet then you need the help of a really travel guide. Tibet is a very dangerous place to travel - if the altitude sickness doesn't kill you then the roads probably will. This guide has all the usual things that you'd expect of a travel guide. It includes places to stay, cultural and historic information, maps and the best routes to take but the author of this guide has travelled in Tibet for over 10 years and knows his subject really well. Buying this guide may just save your life.

Sting, Dave Matthews, John Mayer and other's aid Tibet's struggle

Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com, AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, AP Photo/Dan Steinberg


07/22/08 by Natalie Finn

Just in time for China's moment in the spotlight, some of the biggest voices in showbiz are taking another stand on behalf of Tibet.
Sting, John Mayer and Dave Matthews are among the rockers lending their musicianship to Songs for Tibet, an all-star album intended to draw more attention to the Asian province's ongoing struggle for national sovereignty.
The album, which will also feature tunes by Alanis Morissette, Moby and Garbage, will have a global release on iTunes Aug. 5, three days before the 2008 Summer Olympics get underway in Beijing. Hard copies will hit stores Aug. 12.
"We wanted to express our support for the Tibetan people and their message of peace through music, a fundamental means of expression, at a time when the eyes of the world are on China," said the Art of Peace Foundation's Michael Wohl, whose Dalai Lama-supporting nonprofit is behind the CD project.
Also on the track list are songs from Rush, Suzanne Vega, Imogen Heap, Damien Rice, Underworld and Duncan Sheik.
"The commitment and enthusiasm from such a wide group of artists has been astonishing and truly heartfelt. It's been exciting orchestrating such an historic project," album producer Rupert Hine said.
Wohl added: "This album will focus people's attention on the importance of Tibet, the gifts of its culture, and the crisis the Tibetan people are facing today."
And yes, the timing of Songs for Tibet's release was deliberate, he said.
In addition to being the culmination of four years—or lifetimes—of training for thousands of athletes from all over the world, this year's Olympics has been the most controversial since the Cold War-era Moscow Games, which the U.S. and others chose to boycott in 1980.
China has been questioned from all sides about a range of issues, from its air pollution to its human-rights record to its ties to the Sudanese government.
Steven Spielberg stepped down from his role as artistic adviser of the Beijing Olympics earlier this year in opposition to China's relationship with Sudan despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
In March, both Björk and the seemingly less controversial Harry Connick Jr. were both told to keep a lid on it—Björk after she shouted pro-Tibet sentiments during a concert in Shanghai, and Connick before he'd even sung a word.
Shortly after Björk was denounced for "turning a commercial show into a political performance," censors forced the New Orleans-bred crooner to revise his set list after certain songs on the original list were deemed off limits.
China has ruled Tibet since 1951, an arrangement that, according to critics, has resulted in widespread political, religious and cultural oppression.
As many as 250 people were reported killed during a government crackdown in March that resulted in widespread rioting. Chinese officials have said that its forces killed no more than one person, and that TIbetan rioters were responsible for at least 21 deaths.

Tibet protest kits offered to Aussie athletes

15/07/2008 1:13:00 PM. | by Dominic Brock livenews.com.au


Australia’s Olympic athletes are being offered a Tibet protest kit to wear in Beijing, including badges, stickers, temporary tattoos and a T-shirt bearing the words “I support human rights” in English and Chinese.

The Australia Tibet Council will offer the kits to athletes bound for Beijing, with the packs designed to avoid Olympic bans on controversial political statements by making no explicit reference to China’s record in Tibet.

Campaign co-ordinator Simon Bradshaw told Reuters the Council had wanted to take action since Chinese authorities suppressed massive demonstrations in Tibet in March.

"Going right back to March, people have been approaching us and asking how they can help Tibet in Beijing," Bradshaw said.

But he also warned that China could confiscate the kits, and could take action against athletes who join the protest.

“[There is] no doubt that athletes who choose to make public statements over Tibet may face consequences,” he said.

Mike Tancred from the Australian Olympic Committee has recommended athletes do not take the kit to China in order to avoid antagonising other competitors.

Nepal police break up Tibet protests, 118 held

From Reuters.com Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:26pm IST


KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters calling for independence for Tibet protested in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu on Friday, and police said they took 118 demonstrators into custody for organising anti-China demonstrations.

Many were Tibetan exiles shouting "We want free Tibet" slogans. They burned an effigy of the Chinese President Hu Jintao near a consular office of the Chinese embassy in the Nepali capital.

They were then hauled into police vans and trucks and taken to detention centres. A police official said they would be freed later on Friday.

Tibetans have protested regularly in Nepal since the deadly Chinese crackdown on riots in Lhasa and other parts of Tibet in mid-March.

More than 20,000 Tibetans still live in Nepal since fleeing their homeland after a failed uprising against Beijing in 1959.

PRESIDENTS OF FIVE TIBETAN NGOs TRANSFERRED TO JAIL IN HARDWAR

Nainital - Five Presidents of the leading Tibetan non-governmental organizations in India, Tsewang Rigzin, B Tsering, Ngawang Woebar, Chime Youngdrung, and Tenzin Choeying, and one coordinator of the March to Tibet, Lobsang Yeshi, were transferred from Haldwani Police Station to Roshanabad Jail in Hardwar. They are being held under Indian Penal Code Section 151 and CRPC sections 106 and 107, according to which the Presidents, as organizers of the March to Tibet, are being accused of jeopardizing the lives of the 300 marchers.

“We are outraged that the peaceful leaders of a nonviolent march would be arrested and jailed,” said Choekyi, a Tibetan resident of Hardwar who broke into tears as she witnessed the six leaders being escorted through the jail gates. “They are not criminals; they are simply fighting China’s occupation of Tibet by using nonviolent means.”

The police have been meeting with the local village heads of Banspatan, encouraging them to create a list of complaints against the marchers. “They will use it as an excuse to remove us from here,” said Karma Sichoe, a member of the Organizing Committee. “The local Indians have been extremely welcoming and friendly, but the police are forcing them to help build a case against the Tibetan marchers.”

“Our fight is with the Chinese government, not the Indian government,” said Sherab Woeser, a main coordinator of the march. “We neither want to turn back nor do we want to stay here. We just want to walk peacefully to our ancestral homeland. Why would Tibetans need permission to return to our own home?”

Tibetans around the world have been alarmed by reports of continued repression in Tibet. Peaceful demonstrations for human rights and freedom have been consistently suppressed and monks and nuns have borne the brunt of the Chinese government’s crackdown in recent days.

According to the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy, in Kardze, Tibet (Ch: Sichuan Province), three nuns of Dragkar Nunnery and a female student were arrested by Kardze County Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials for staging a protest on May 28. After the first demonstration of the three nuns was broken up and the nuns taken away, 21-year-old female student Rigden Lhamo unfurled the Tibetan national flag and shouted slogans calling for freedom for Tibet, the release of political prisoners, and the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet.

According to an eyewitness, security forces fired gunshots during the brief protest by the student Lhamo. It was unclear whether Rigden Lhamo was shot or injured but another eyewitness reported bloodstains on the body of Rigden Lhamo as she was taken away. Rigden Lhamo is from Lhakey Village, Thingkha Township, in Kardze County. Her current whereabouts are unknown.

The March to Tibet started on March 10th from Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, and reached Banspatan after traversing through many states over the course of 74 days. On the fourth day of the March, the first group of 100 marchers were arrested and put under judicial custody for 14 days. However, a second group of 48 Tibetan exiles resumed the March two days after the arrest and were joined by the first group soon after their release.

Tibetans living in exile in India launched the March to Tibet as part of the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement. On the same day that the march was launched, monks from monasteries in Lhasa, as well as in eastern Tibet, led nonviolent demonstrations, shouting slogans supporting the Dalai Lama and independence for Tibet. Chinese authorities brutally suppressed peaceful protests that continued for days, leading to rioting in the capital and a wave of large public demonstrations that have rippled across the country.

The March to Tibet and the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement aim to revive the spirit of the Tibetan National Uprising of 1959, and engage in nonviolent direct action to bring about an end to China’s illegal occupation of Tibet.

Marching to Tibet

by JASON MAGDER, The Gazette

In a few days, Michael Willcock's travel companions could either be shot, arrested or sent to a concentration camp near the India-Tibet border.
The Vanier College graduate is the only Canadian to have joined a group of Tibetan refugee monks on a march from the Indian town of Dharamsala - the seat of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama - back to Tibet. They set out on March 10, the 49th anniversary of Tibet's national uprising against China.
"They have all accepted the fact they could die or they could be tortured when they get back to Tibet," said Willcock, 22, who is holed up in a tent on the grounds of a monastery in the Indian city of Nainital after Indian officials barred him from the march.

Until last week, Willcock, who is filming the trek for a documentary he plans to produce, was one of six foreigners on the march. Indian police arrested the other five, who hail from the United States and Europe, on May 23 and ordered them to leave the country.
Indian authorities said the foreigners had violated the terms of their visitor's visas by taking part in a religious activity, according to the Times of India.
Willcock evaded police by crouching in the bushes. After fleeing, he was unable to rejoin the march because police were prohibiting any foreigners to pass without proper papers. He made his way to a nearby town and then travelled to a monastery in Nainital, about 100 kilometres away, to conduct interviews. He pitched a tent on the grounds of the monastery and plans to stay there until he can figure out a way to get back to the march without being stopped by local authorities.
"I'd really like to get back there and document everything that's going on because it's a very pivotal moment," he said by cellphone this week. "They're not letting anyone through without papers. It's going to be difficult, but I am going to try to get back as soon as I can."
The march is intended to bring world attention to the cause of the Tibetans. For the monks, however, it's also a way to get back to their homeland.
"They just want to see Tibet, or touch the ground, one more time before they die. They want to be back in their homeland when they die," Willcock said.
Many of the monks on the march are among the 100,000 Tibetans who were exiled from their home country in 1959 at the same time as the Dalai Lama. Some of the marchers were born in refugee camps in India.
"It is a non-violent resistance against an oppressive and violent force," Willcock said, alluding to China, whose military crackdown in 1959 prompted the uprising. "It's in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela."
The marchers now are at a standoff with Indian police at the bottom of a ravine near Almora, a town about 200 kilometres from the Tibet border. It would take about a month for marchers to travel the mountainous terrain. It's unclear when the march will continue, but the monks are determined to press on.
"It would be very difficult for police to surround 300 people and take them up the ravine and off to jail - they don't have the resources for that," Willcock said.
ndian police have stymied the protesters on several occasions during the march.
Four days in, while trying to cross from one Indian state into another, marchers were stopped by police and many were arrested. While some marchers were held in jail for two days, Willcock was detained for just an hour.
"They thought I was an Indian national until I opened my mouth. Then they sent me out," Willcock said.
"It's too bad, because I wanted to stay to document what was going on inside the jail."
Willcock said he believes Indian police are following the group closely and are even monitoring their phone calls. To make sure his footage isn't seized by local authorities, he has been mailing his tapes to Belgium, and he plans to pick them up after he has finished shooting footage, sometime in September.
Despite resistance from local law enforcement, Willcock said there has not been any major violence toward the group.
The monks who have been his travelling companions for nearly two months have taught him a lot about compassion, he said.
"Some have scars all over their bodies or bullet holes, but they have completely forgiven the people who tortured them or killed their families and who are responsible for all their suffering," Willcock said.
"I want to bring back that message and show people that people are trying to solve their problems in a way that doesn't involve war or violence or killing other people, but purely from the heart, showing love and compassion. I think the best way to fight for freedom is peaceful resistance."
The monks have already forgiven their attackers for transgressions they will perpetrate against them in the future, he added. The monks believe they won't have an easy time crossing into Tibet and could be killed even before they set foot in their homeland.
Willcock said he hopes to capture that pivotal moment on film, though he'll try not to get too close, having vowed beforehand not to cross the frontier.
"I have never feared for my own life because I never considered actually crossing the border," he said.
Willcock's mother, Dawn Bramadat, said she's incredibly proud of her son's journey, but it's hard being so far away and knowing he may be in danger.
"He didn't get a visa to get into China and therefore into Tibet, and I was a bit relieved when that happened," she said from her home in Notre Dame de Grâce. "He will have to stop at the border, and that will be hard for him, knowing he will be separated from his friends and fellow marchers."

Protest march by Tibetan exiles stopped in northern India

LUCKNOW, India — Authorities in northern India have again stopped a protest march by more than 300 Tibetan exiles heading for their homeland.
The demonstrators, including Buddhist monks and nuns carrying pictures of the Dalai Lama and "Free Tibet" banners, want their arrival to coincide with this summer's Beijing Olympics Games.
The marchers began their journey March 10 in the Indian city of Dharmsala, headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Indian police detained a group of the marchers for two weeks, but the protesters restarted their walk March 15 and were allowed to proceed.
Now they have been stopped again and authorities in Uttarakhand state say they are trying to convince them to return to Dharmsala.
Authorities in India fear the protest march would embarrass China, with whom New Delhi is trying to improve economic ties despite a lingering border dispute.
Tenzin Choedon, a spokeswoman for Students for a Free Tibet, one of the groups organizing the march, said the protesters are determined to continue their walk to Tibet.
"They are determined to carry on with this non-violent direct action," Choedon told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Nainital, one of the main towns of Uttarakhand.
India has generally allowed the Tibetan exiles to protest peacefully, but as anti-China protests gathered momentum before the Beijing Olympics, the government has said that it would not tolerate actions that embarrassed China.
India is home to the world's largest Tibetan exile community, with more than 100,000 exiles.

TIME interview with THE DALAI LAMA

San Francisco, USA, 16 April 2006 (By Amanda Bower, Time Magazine)

Dalai Lama: Tibet Wants Autonomy, Not Independence

Tibet's spiritual leader speaks.

The Dalai Lama's schedule is usually set seven years in advance, but the Tibetan spiritual leader made a rare change to his plans in order to attend a San Francisco conference convened by Muslim leaders to discuss religious tolerance. His Holiness, as Tibetans call him, spoke with Time's Amanda Bower about Islam, his hopes to return to his homeland after 47 years in exile, and his hobby of tinkering with timepieces.

TIME: What was so important about this conference that you changed your schedule to attend?

THE DALAI LAMA: I have two major commitments. Number one is the promotion of human values � not because of religious belief, but because of biological reasoning. We need peace of mind. Peace of mind is good for health, good for community, good for family, and also for physical growth. A peaceful mind is more proper. A disturbed mind, harmful. My number two commitment, as a believer, is for harmony among the different religious traditions. In the last 20, 30 years, I made these two commitments whenever I had the opportunity. As far as the promotion of religious harmony is concerned, I think I made some contribution, at least between the Tibetan Buddhist community and our Christian brothers and sisters. I think we have very good, close understanding. For example, there are many Christian practitioners now showing their respect and understanding about Buddhist concepts, as there is among Buddhists now an appreciation of Christian contribution for the betterment of the world and humanity.

Personally, from my childhood, there is a Muslim community in Lhasa [Tibet's capital] for the last four centuries. Very peaceful. Very gentle. No quarrels. Nowadays, in the outside world, sometimes people get the impression Muslims are more militant. I think that is wrong. I think these wrong impressions must be eliminated. They are no good for the world. [Islam] is one of the important world religious traditions that we must respect.

But everyone gathered here is a moderate. Do you think the extremists who have been giving Islam a bad name will listen to what you have to say?

[Laughs] I don't think they will listen. In my Buddhist community, the radicals don't listen... But our attempt is to try to explore the same values, send messages, and make them known to other people. Some mischievous people always remain. Doesn't matter. It's a mistake to generalize the behavior of a few individuals to the whole tradition. Since 11th of September, some Muslims really carry some violence, including terrorism. This should not be considered representative of the whole Muslim faith. A few mischievous individuals are everywhere, among the Hindus, among the Christians, among the Muslims, among the Buddhists.

China's President Hu Jintao is visiting the U.S. at the same time as you are, and you have urged your supporters here not to demonstrate against him. Why?

Since we already have some official contact with the Chinese, we believe it is very important to create impressions that we are very sincere, we are fully committed.

Two weeks ago, the Chinese government said it would allow you to visit your homeland, which you fled in 1959, if you abandoned your pursuit of independence for Tibet. But haven't you long said that you want autonomy, not independence, for Tibet?

Oh yes. The world knows the Dalai Lama is not seeking independence. The world knows. Still the Chinese do not know. [Laughs]

Do you have any heaviness of heart about giving up hope for Tibetan independence?

No. It's not necessary. Of course the present situation, in reality, I think that 99% of the Tibetan population is very, very unhappy. Every year, I think more than 10,000 Tibetans come to India. Some escape, some with permission. Every single Tibetan, when you meet them, is crying, complaining, including some Tibetans who have high level positions and are party members. I think many foreigners who visit Tibet and who have some close contact with local Tibetans also get the same impression. There are a large number of police forces there. Why? Too much suspicion, too much fear. If what the Chinese government claims is true, there's no need for security like that. This is very bad, not only bad for Tibetans, but also for the People's Republic of China as a whole.

As far as the future is concerned, look at the European Union. In the past centuries, those nations talked most about their sovereignty. Now, today, the common interest is more important than each individual nation's sovereignty. Tibet is a landlocked country, a large area, small population, very, very backward. We Tibetans want modernization. Therefore, in order to develop Tibet materially as a modern nation, Tibet must remain within the People's Republic of China. Provided Chinese give us a full guarantee of preservation of Tibetan culture, Tibetan environment, Tibetan spirituality, then it is of mutual benefit. [Besides] foreign affairs [and] defense [are] all the things which Tibetans can manage by themselves. Tibetans should have the full autonomy.

As a hobby, you like to collect and repair watches. It seems an unusual thing for a Tibetan monk to do.

Many Tibetans, including many monks, like wristwatches. I think monks are more fond of watches than lay people. Lay people have a lot of other things. [Laughs] I don't buy them for myself, they are all presented by other people.

Obama says Bush should weigh boycott of Olympic ceremony

LEVITTOWN, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - President George W. Bush should boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympics if China does not take steps to help stop genocide in Darfur and improve human rights in Tibet, U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Wednesday.

But Obama qualified that by saying any decision should be made closer to the date of the Olympic Games in Beijing in August.

"If the Chinese do not take steps to help stop the genocide in Darfur and to respect the dignity, security and human rights of the Tibetan people, then the president should boycott the opening ceremonies," Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois, said in a statement.

"I am also deeply concerned about China's failure to support efforts to halt the genocide in Darfur. Regarding the Beijing Olympics this summer, a boycott of the opening ceremonies should be firmly on the table, but this decision should be made closer to the Games," he added.

Obama, who holds a lead over his rival Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York in the race to become the Democratic presidential nominee, did not go as far as Clinton in his statement on China and the Olympics. Clinton's call for Bush to weigh a boycott did not include any qualifiers about making the decision at a later date.

Clinton and Obama are vying to become their party's nominee to run in the November election to pick a successor to the Republican Bush.

Bush plans to attend the Summer Olympics opening ceremonies in Beijing in August and so far has resisted pressure to change his plans in response to a violent crackdown against protesters in Tibet by Chinese authorities.

China has also been accused of refusing to use its influence on the Sudanese government to get it to stop what the United States calls a genocide in Sudan's Darfur region.

At a rally earlier in the day, Obama was asked about China and said the United States needed to take a stronger and more consistent stance toward Beijing when it comes to human rights issues.

"In our policy toward China, we have not been consistent enough and tough enough in pushing them to deal with Tibet properly but also (on) their continued support of Sudan, a country that has been engaging in genocide against the peoples of Darfur," he said.

But Obama also said the United States lacked leverage with China because the country holds so much U.S. debt.

"It's very hard to tell your banker that he's wrong," he said. "And if we are running huge deficits and big national debts and we're borrowing money constantly from China that gives us less leverage."

(Reporting by Caren Bohan, editing by Patricia Zengerle)

Tibet effect: China shutters 25 video sites, penalizes 32

ARS Technica Article
By Nate Anderson

Originally published: March 21, 2008 - 01:51PM CT



If video is going to be streamed in China, the state wants to know about it. China requires a streaming company to obtain a state license and then avoid airing clips that might inspire fear, contain pornography, or endanger national security. That's a huge burden for sites that feature user-generated content, especially when "endangering national security" includes showing video clips of Chinese unrest. This week, China mounted a crackdown on 62 separate web sites that in violated a new law against showing online audio and video without permits.

When the government first instituted the law back in January, Internet video sites had already become hugely popular in China, and it was widely suspected that the rules would not be strictly enforced. At first, these suspicions appeared justified, as nothing happened for two months, even to the many sites that never bothered to obtain the state license to broadcast.

But yesterday, authorities penalized 32 sites for infractions, shut down 25 more for not having a license, and referred five cases to another department for follow-up. It was a fairly gutsy display of central control, one that may have been hastened in part by recent protests in Tibet (China recently blocked YouTube access over clips from Tibet that were appearing on the service).

It's not that the ruling Communist Party doesn't like online multimedia services; it does. Even capitalist advertising, which is surging in China, is no problem. After all, every minute spent watching a squirrel water-ski is a minute not spent thinking about massive economic inequality, rural unrest, corruption, one-party rule, or what might really be going on in Tibet.

Sina.com, the largest portal in China, is reportedly spending millions of dollars to upgrade its infrastructure in advance of the Olympics to be held this summer in Beijing, when millions of Chinese users are expected to watch the games over the Internet. While the games might seem like a perfectly innocuous thing to air, recent calls for international boycotts or protests over Tibet and other human rights issues could politicize the games more than China would like.

The country will also have to drop many of its filtering restrictions in the Beijing area to accommodate an influx of visitors. Not everyone sees a block on sites like YouTube as no big deal, and China knows it.

It has to tread carefully, however. Regulations last year designed to make bloggers register their real names with the government were abandoned in the face of popular protest, and even this year's imposition of licenses for Internet broadcast sites included concessions for established (and popular) companies.