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(disproven story) Brit spies confirm Dalai Lama's report of staged violence?

Gordon Thomas | London | March 21

Canada Free Press - 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.

What the Beijing regime had not expected was how the riots would spread, not only across Tibet, but also to Sichuan, Quighai and Gansu provinces, turning a large area of western China into a battle zone.


quiet Bill March 29, 2008 - 7:25am
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( categories: News | Tibet | Unproven Stories )

Another report with video

http://www.tibetcustom.com/article.php/20080328193918219

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See the new Agonist Topic Section on Tibet

quiet Bill March 29, 2008 - 10:05am
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"GCHQ"?

Really.

Is leaking something like this something a secretive organization like GCHQ is in the habit of doing?

Because that would be astonishingly chatty and helpful of GCHQ - considering they're the guys that run the English side of ECHELON.

Anyone got a past link to them ever doing something like this before?

"Hey, freedom lovers everywhere - here's a helpful shot!! Enjoy!"?

Who in GCHQ? Anyone get a name?

W.T.F.? Does that really not exceed anybody's "smelling a rat" quotient but mine?

Why do we suppose the Chinese are standing in the open looking utterly nonchalant, like they're not particularly hiding anything?

When was the photograph taken? How old is it? Do we know?

*Where* was the photograph taken? What were the circumstances? What are the objects in their hands? Do we know?

Remove the caption. What does it actually show? Is it what it says it is?

Don't get stampeded by appeals to your emotions. Take a deep breath. Ask hard questions.

If the answers are satisfactory - or if you can *find* answers - then we'll talk.

"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch March 29, 2008 - 6:48pm
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E-Mail I received on GHCQ, etc.

I have removed the name of the sender.

Dear Sangha,

I received many emails in response to my clarification email regarding
the date/source of the photo purportedly showing Chinese soldiers
preparing to disguise themselves as Tibetan monks prior to the recent
riots in Lhasa. So this email to is further clarify my statement that
the photo is not from the recent unrest. My investigation also led to
some other dubious items regarding the article itself, which I will also
relate.

To begin, if you follow the link at the end of the email to

http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/chinese-orchestrating-riots-tibet.htm

you will see that underneath the photo it says: "This is not an uncommon
'tactical move' from the Chinese government as could be seen from the
2003 annual TCHRD Report". This statement does not refer to the image,
as the image does not appear within the 2003 Annual TCHRD (Tibetan
Centre for Human Rights and Democracy) Report. However, making that
statement appear underneath the photo at the very least insinuates that
the photo may have been from 2003... which is more than can be said for
the email we were all sent -- as the email that was sent to us omitted
that statement.

Regarding the article:
1) The article states it is by Gordon Thomas of the Canada Free Press. I
have sent an email to Mr. Thomas to verify that he wrote it. In the
meantime, a search of the Canada Free Press website does not reveal this
article.
2) The information reported in the email could not be found anywhere on
TCHRD website.
3) The 2003 TCHRD Annual Report makes no mention of any incidents of
this nature.
4) This article is now widely circulating the blogosphere, however it
does not appear in any 'legitimate' news outlet.
5) The article appears to have originated on "G2 Bulletin", which is an
extreme right-wing conservative rumor mill subscription website.
6) The article appears to have been then disseminated by "The Epoch
Times", a privately owned, general-interest newspaper, originally
published in Chinese with close ties to Falun Gong.
7) An email to the GCHQ questioning the validity of the article yielded
this response:

Thank you for your email. It is GCHQ's long-standing policy to respond
that we are able to neither confirm nor deny in respect to enquiries on
intelligence matters. I would simply add that I am not aware of Gordon
Thomas making any approach to GCHQ prior to publishing on this subject;
such an approach would invariably be directed through the Press Office.

I hope that is of some help.

Regards

Alan Thompson
Press Officer, GCHQ
--------------------------

Regarding the photo:
1) Due to the angle of the photo, it could not have been taken from
space.
2) The photo in question was not included in the original article.

http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-3-27/68095.html

3) A different article:

http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-3-29/67906.html

DOES show a different photo which is said to have been doctored by
Chinese to exclude what purportedly shows a Chinese policeman dressed
like a Tibetan with a machete.
---------------------------

(Semi)CONCLUSION: After doing a whole lot of research, I have learned
that the image in question came from the back cover of the 2003 Annual
TCHRD Report. The back cover is not shown on the TCHRD website or
included in the PDF file of the report available on their website.

I learned this from a 3rd party who has seen the 2003 TCHRD report in
person. Since I have not yet seen this with my own eyes, I cannot 100%
confirm this. I have sent an email to TCHRD asking them to confirm it.
If verified, then the image is from 2003 or possibly even earlier.
------------

I hope that this information is helpful.

__________________________________________
See the new Agonist Topic Section on Tibet

quiet Bill March 29, 2008 - 6:53pm
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Magnificent - great find.

Tibetans are certainly pegging the ol' bullshit-o-meter as hard as the Chinese would be expected to.

Be warned, everyone - both sides are demonstrating they're happy to lie their asses off to present their case. Look at *everything* with skepticism.

"The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Escher Sketch March 29, 2008 - 6:59pm
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It's a bogus story

I don't know if Gordon Thomas is the real author, but the story was just debunked after it showed up the Buddhist Channel. I volunteer a couple of days each month with the Maitri Mandala in LA and they were really irritated with the Buddhist Channel for publishing it.

If you want more on the subject, there's an article at www.mahabodhi.net about it.

desilva April 1, 2008 - 4:07am
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__________________________________________
See the new Agonist Topic Section on Tibet

quiet Bill April 1, 2008 - 8:40am
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Chinese military dressed as monks

From an e-mail I received:

Although the caption under the photo making its way around the Internet was incorrect, the charge leveled that Chinese military dressed as monks during the recent riots originally came from the Dalai Lama. The charge has gained enough traction among the Tibetan community that China has officially denied same.

Report on Dalai Lama's statement: http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20080329/920484.html

This article was originally published by the Indian News Service, UNI

Chinese denial, published by UPI:

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/04/01/china_denies_soldiers_dressed_as_monks/8503/

__________________________________________
See the new Agonist Topic Section on Tibet

quiet Bill April 1, 2008 - 8:42am
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