Sudha Ramachandran | Bangalore | Sept 18

Asia Times - A proposed trip by the Dalai Lama in November to the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, part of which China claims as its territory, has ruffled feathers in Beijing. The visit by the Tibetan spiritual leader could lead Sino-Indian relations, already tense over alleged Chinese incursions into Indian territory, to deteriorate even further in the coming months.

"We firmly oppose Dalai visiting the so-called 'Arunachal Pradesh'," Jiang Yu, the spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, told Reuters this week. China claims around 90,000 square kilometers of territory in India's northeast, roughly approximating Arunachal Pradesh. It regards the area as "disputed territory" and refers to it as "Southern Tibet".

With India indicating that it will not buckle to Chinese pressure on the issue as it has in the past, a war of words and heightened tension along the nation's frontiers is on the cards. "Arunachal Pradesh is a part of India and the Dalai Lama is free to go anywhere in India," India's Minister of External Affairs S M Krishna said on Wednesday.

Arunachal Pradesh is India's eastern-most state. During the 1962 Sino-Indian border war, China advanced deep into the state, and after briefly occupying it, withdrew. It has continued to lay claim to the area, expressing this in increasingly strident language and alleged intrusions in the last couple of years. It objects to any Indian assertion of sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh.

Amy Yee | Dharmasala, India | June 29

NYT - Tibetan monks and nuns spend their lives studying the inner world of the mind rather than the physical world of matter. Yet for one month this spring a group of 91 monastics devoted themselves to the corporeal realm of science.

Instead of delving into Buddhist texts on karma and emptiness, they learned about Galileo’s law of accelerated motion, chromosomes, neurons and the Big Bang, among other far-ranging topics.

Many in the group, whose ages ranged from the 20s to 40s, had never learned science and math. In Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and nunneries, the curriculum has remained unchanged for centuries.

Andrew Buncombe | June 22

The Independent - After 500 years of autocracy, Tibetan leader calls for democracy

In a speech that underscored the pressures he has had to bear during his life serving as both a spiritual and political leader, the Dalai Lama has said there is no need for his successor to perform the two roles.

In a video clip shown to hundreds of monks, nuns and lay people gathered in the mountain town of Dharamsala, the 73-year-old said it was essential that the Tibetan community in exile embraced democracy if it were to keep step with the wider world.

"The Dalai Lamas held temporal and spiritual leadership over the last 400 to 500 years. It may have been quite useful. But that period is over," said the Nobel prize winner. "Today, it is clear to the whole world that democracy is the best system despite its minor negativities. That is why it is important that Tibetans also move with the larger world community."

Jason Subler | Beijing | Mar 28

Reuters - China marked its inaugural Serfs' Emancipation Day on Saturday with testimonials by Tibetans on the merits of Communist rule, denunciations of the Dalai Lama and vows to crush any attempts at independence.

China declared the annual public holiday in Tibet earlier this year, marking the date in 1959 when Chinese troops took direct control of the government in Lhasa after being brought in to quell an uprising.

In a carefully choreographed ceremony held on a sprawling public square beneath Lhasa's Potala Palace, the government projected its message that its rule brought an end to a cruel feudal system and has improved Tibetans' lives ever since.

Roughly a year after deadly riots shook Lhasa and triggered waves of protests in ethnic Tibetan areas, an audience of some 13,000 Tibetans sat in neat rows as a former serf, a student, military officials and the region's top leaders spoke on the horrors of the "old Tibet" and the merits of Beijing's rule.

Maggie Shields | March 25

BBC - China's move to block YouTube has been criticised by a leading advocacy group that promotes constitutional liberties in the digital age.

...Earlier in the week, the BBC reported from Beijing that China cut off access to the website because it carried a video showing soldiers beating monks and other Tibetans.

Ben Blanchard | Beijing | Mar 22

Reuters - The Tibetan anointed by Beijing as the region's second-ranking spiritual leader was quoted by Chinese state media on Sunday as saying the teachings of Buddhism justify the Communist Party's rule in his remote homeland.

His comments came two weeks after the exiled Dalai Lama said 50 years under Communism had brought "untold suffering" and turned the region he once ruled as spiritual and temporal leader into a "living hell".

Gyaltsen Norbu, recognised by China as the 11th incarnation of the Panchen Lama but spurned by many Tibetans, said the last few decades had brought freedom and prosperity to the people of Tibet, thanks to the "wise" leadership of the Party.

The 19-year-old, writing in an editorial in Party mouthpiece the People's Daily to be published on Monday, cited a line of Buddhist scripture about good leaders leading to happy people.

"What this means to me is that only with wise leaders will the country be peaceful and the people happy," the Panchen Lama said in the article, carried a day early by the official Xinhua news agency.

He said he would continue, as his predecessors did, to uphold the "four great loves" -- of the Communist Party, of socialism, of his own people and of religious belief.

Beijing | Mar 8

AFP - Chinese authorities have imposed a security lockdown in Tibet as the Himalayan region this week marks the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.

Beijing is desperate to prevent protests by monks and nomads after violent unrest last year embarrassed the leadership just ahead of the Olympics in the Chinese capital.

The Dalai Lama has called on his Buddhist followers to remain true to his non-violent cause, while also warning that worsening Chinese repression could provoke further confrontations.

"The situation in Tibet is very tense and discontentment over Chinese rule is simmering," said Tsering Shakya, a Tibetan exile and historian now working as a researcher with the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Tuesday marks half a century since Tibetans rose up against Chinese rule, a brutal period when exiles say more than 80,000 people were killed in China's military response.

Edward Wong | Maqu | Mar 5

NYT -

Enraged nomads stormed through this windswept town on the Tibetan plateau a year ago this month, raiding a police compound, setting fire to squad cars and forcing police officers to flee. To the north, Tibetans on horseback galloped into a schoolyard, ripped down a Chinese flag and hoisted a Tibetan one, shouting “Free Tibet!”

Now, the authorities have imposed an unofficial state of martial law on the vast highlands where ethnic Tibetans live, with thousands of troops occupying areas they fear could erupt in renewed rioting on a momentous anniversary next week. And Beijing is determined to keep foreigners from seeing the mass deployment.

In monasteries and nomad tents, villages and grasslands, the fury of Tibetans against Chinese rule has raged continuously since last year’s riots and the violent repression that followed. They are aware, too, that March 10 marks the 50th anniversary of a failed revolt against Chinese rule that led to the Dalai Lama’s flight into exile in India.

Signs of simmering resistance abound: Just last week, many of China’s six million Tibetans chose not to celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year, in order to mourn Tibetans who suffered during last year’s clashes. Monks have held rallies in parts of Qinghai and Sichuan Provinces. Last Friday, a monk from Kirti Monastery in Sichuan lighted himself on fire in a market, prompting security officers to shoot at him, according to Tibetan advocacy groups. Local officials deny the shooting.

Chinese leaders have prepared for the worst, ordering the largest troop deployment since the Sichuan earthquake last spring. This reporter got a rare look at the clampdown because he was recently driven through the Tibetan areas of arid Gansu Province while being detained by the police for 20 hours.

Beijing | February 24

AFP - China has closed Tibet to foreign tourists ahead of next month's highly sensitive 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule, tour agencies and other industry people told AFP Tuesday.

The ban comes amid deep tensions in the Himalayan region, with a reported increase in security forces and a call by the Dalai Lama for a boycott of Tibetan New Year celebrations on Wednesday, in protest against Chinese rule.

"Authorities asked tour agents to stop organising foreigners coming to Tibet for tour trips until April 1," an employee at a government-run travel agency in Lhasa, who c

Beijing | Feb 24

AFP - China has closed Tibet to foreign tourists ahead of next month's highly sensitive 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule, tour agencies and other industry people told AFP Tuesday.

The reported ban comes amid deep tensions in the Himalayan region, with a reported increase in security forces and a call by the Dalai Lama for a boycott of Tibetan New Year celebrations on Wednesday, in protest against Chinese rule.

"Authorities asked tour agents to stop organising foreigners coming to Tibet for tour trips until April 1," an employee at a government-run travel agency in Lhasa, who could not be named for fear of reprisals, told AFP.

He said the city's tourism bureau had decided this at a meeting in mid-February, although it was unclear when exactly the orders were given.

Ariana Eunjung Cha | Beijing | February 19

WaPo - The county of Lithang in Sichuan province was under lockdown this week after Tibetan monks, laypeople and nomads clashed with Chinese security forces Sunday and Monday, according to residents.

Zhou Xiujun, owner of a grocery store, said she witnessed a small protest near the county's main vegetable market Feb. 15 that escalated into a much larger one around lunchtime Feb. 16. On the second day, she said, she saw several hundred Tibetans gathered downtown shouting, "Long live the Dalai Lama," the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists who lives in exile in India. In just a few minutes, she said, squads of police arrived and a melee ensued.

Ton | Tongren, China | Feb 18

McClatchy Newspapers - Scratch only a little bit, and Dorje, a Tibetan nomad, lets loose with a tirade at the people he simply calls "the Chinese," the majority Han who he says will get no respite from Tibetan frustration this year — or for generations.

"After I die," the 53-year-old grizzled herder says, "my sons and grandsons will remember. They will hate the government."

On the cusp of the first anniversary of a mass revolt on the Tibetan Plateau that marked the worst ethnic unrest in China in nearly two decades, many Tibetans still seethe at living under China's thumb. Some engage in small-scale civil disobedience. Others, including monks, brazenly display photographs of the Dalai Lama, the exiled leader they revere as a God-king but that China maligns as a "beast." Nearly all gripe about a lack of religious and political freedom.

Another imminent anniversary date adds to the sensitivity of the Tibet issue. March 10 marks 50 years since the Dalai Lama fled across the Himalayas to exile in India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. Fearful of a spasm of new unrest, Beijing has closed off many ethnic Tibetan areas to journalists and made scattered arrests of organizers of resistance campaigns.

When Lhasa rioted a year ago, Tibetans in exile logged on to the only site they trust.

Jane Macartney | February 11

Times Online - Catching up with Tibet's most popular blogger isn't simple. Tsering Woeser is under constant surveillance, so we agree to meet on a street corner in Beijing. The subterfuge seems pointless: Woeser is easy to spot. Her slightly hippy style sets her apart - for our meeting she has chosen dangling earrings and a glass pendant in Buddhist colours, bought on her last visit to the Tibetan plateau.

Feb 6

The Independent - Taking place on the 4th-11th day of the first Tibetan Lunar month, Monlam, the Great Prayer Festival, is one of the most important festivals in Tibetan Buddhism. Pictures of this year's festival display the spectacular processions and colourful outfits of Tibet's Buddhist monks.

The Monlam festival was established in 1409 by Tsong Khapa, founder of the Geluk (Yellow Hat ) tradition and is considered the greatest religious festival in Tibetan Buddhism, with performances of masked dancers, known as Cham, always attracting large crowds. It is said to commemorate the Buddha's spiritual victory over the forces of ignorance, anger and greed, and his attainment of enlightenment. Pilgrims from all over Tibet take part in the festivities, which includes prayers and teachings, at monasteries throughout the region.

* Photos In pictures: Tibetan Buddhists celebrate Monlam

Edward Wong | Beijing | Jan 20

NYT - Chinese leaders have never minced words when it comes to the Dalai Lama. Last year, during the Tibetan uprising, the government labeled the Dalai Lama “a jackal clad in Buddhist monk’s robes.” Now, it has come up with a name to celebrate the date the Communists declared rule over Tibet after forcing the Dalai Lama to flee — Serf Emancipation Day.

Dec 6

The Telegraph -

France’s multi-billion pound business ties with China are under threat after President Nicholas Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama in Poland in the face of severe opposition from Beijing.

China had warned France that links between the two countries could be jeopardised if Mr Sarkozy, who also heads the EU’s rotating presidency, went ahead with a meeting with the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet.

But despite the warning the two men had a brief face to face meeting during ceremonies to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Lech Walesa receiving the Noble Peace Prize.

Last month Beijing pulled out of an EU-China summit in France in protest over the meeting, and now France’s flourishing business relationship with China, including a billion-euro deal with Airbus, could suffer from the Chinese government’s intense dislike of any high-level contacts with the Dali Lama.

** This development is indeed an unwise move which not only hurts the feelings of the Chinese people, but also undermines Sino-French ties. - Xinhua

John Mauldin's satellite's-eye-view of Chinese geopolitics.

I'm a long-time silicon valley computer guy, and have quizzed a lot of Chinese friends & colleagues on the topic. I already knew about the middle v.s. coastal economic stresses, and the far-west & Tibet geopolitics I learned right here on Le Agonist. This analysis puts it all together in a clear & broad sweep; it's the quality of rigorous thought I've come to rely on from Les Agonistes.

I am coming to see Putin as another Mao; or like some of the Roman Caesars and British empire builders. People who were not merely narcissists (how could you get there otherwise?) but who really truly cared about the long-range interests of their tribe.

These people often write or paint on the side; some of the Sandinista cabinet were published poets. Wonder if Putin writes Russian poetry?

Edward Wong | Deqin, China | Nov 17

NYT - As the flames of anti-Chinese riots and protests engulfed many Tibetan areas of western China last spring, soldiers sent to the towns and villages of the deep river valleys around here encountered nothing but silence.

But the calm here could soon crumble, depending on the outcome of a six-day meeting of Tibetan exiles scheduled to begin Monday in India. The conclave is the first of its kind since 1991. The Dalai Lama has called for hundreds of Tibetans to gather in the Himalayan town of Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile, to help decide on a new strategy for Tibet.

The Dalai Lama said this month that his drive to secure autonomy for Tibet through negotiations with the Chinese government had failed, an admission that strengthened the hand of younger Tibetans who have long agitated for a more radical approach and who have demanded independence.

Nov 15

BBC - A senior Chinese official has welcomed the UK's decision to recognise Beijing's direct rule over Tibet.

Zhu Weiqun, who is leading talks with Tibetan exiles, told the BBC the move had brought the UK "in line with the universal position in today's world".

But Mr Zhu would not say whether it might be linked with Prime Minister Gordon Brown's efforts to bring China into a new world economic order.

Beijing says Tibet has been part of the Chinese nation since the 13th Century.

Many Tibetans disagree, pointing out that the Himalayan region was an independent kingdom for many centuries, and that Chinese rule over Tibet has not been constant.

Chris Buckley | Beijing | Nov 10

Reuters - The Dalai Lama's calls for "high-level autonomy" for Tibet will never be accepted by Beijing, a Chinese official said, taking an unbending line before talks by exiled Tibetans about the future of their cause.

Zhu Weiqun, a vice minister of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department, said on Monday that envoys of the Dalai had pressed his long-standing demand for "genuine autonomy" for the mountain region during talks in Beijing last week.

Ahead of an agenda-setting meeting of exiled Tibetan activists, the Dalai's representatives gave their Chinese hosts a "Memorandum for all Tibetans to enjoy genuine autonomy". But Zhu's public response was unyielding.

China would "never allow ethnic splitting in the name of genuine autonomy," he told a news conference.

"In fact, this is seeking a legal basis for so-called Tibetan independence, or semi-independence or covert independence," said Zhu, whose department oversees the ruling Party's dealings with religious organisations.

Dharmsala, India | Oct 26

USA Today - The Dalai Lama said Saturday he has given up on efforts to convince Beijing to allow greater autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule.
The Tibetan spiritual leader said he would now ask the Tibetan people to decide on how to take the dialogue forward.

China has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of leading a campaign to split Tibet from the rest of the country. The Dalai Lama has denied the allegations, saying he is only seeking greater autonomy for the Himalayan region to protect its unique Buddhist culture — a policy he calls the "middle way."

"I have been sincerely pursuing the middle way approach in dealing with China for a long time now but there hasn't been any positive response from the Chinese side," he said in Tibetan at a public function Saturday in Dharmsala, the north Indian town that is home to Tibet's government-in-exile.

"As far as I'm concerned I have given up," he said in an unusually blunt statement.

Oct 7

BBC - China has cancelled military and diplomatic exchanges with the US in protest at a $6.5bn deal to supply Taiwan with arms, US officials say.

A number of senior level visits and military-to-military exchanges due before November would not go ahead, the US defence department said.

The sales include advanced interceptor missiles, Apache helicopters and submarine-launched missiles.

China regards Taiwan as its territory and opposes US military support.

Pentagon spokesman Maj Stewart Upton said: "China's continued politicisation of our military relationship results in missed opportunities."

The Chinese move affects a visit by a senior Chinese general, navy port calls and meetings on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

http://tibetansituation.blogspot.com/

Funny, the old hutong neighborhoods have been disappearing for the last thirty years. But leave it to the New York Times to put it on the front page and explain to us it's all the fault of the Olympics. Anything to sell the games, fraud that they are.

Let me add, before anyone gets into a tizzy: the games are a fraud not because they are in Beijing. They are a fraud because they lost the true Olympic spirit a long time ago, when VISA and MacDonalds and all the other commercial outlets weren't the 'Official insert name here" crap began. It's all a bunch of commercial garbage now.

Geoffrey York | Lhasa | June 23

Globe & Mail - Severe restrictions, including checkpoints and surveillance, imposed since wave of anti-government protests in March, exiles say.

The pilgrims returned to the Potala Palace yesterday, spinning their prayer wheels and prostrating themselves in front of the Dalai Lama's ancient palace on a mountaintop in Lhasa.

For two days, the Buddhist pilgrims had been pushed to the sidelines to make room for the Olympic torch relay in Lhasa. The traditional pilgrimage route at the Potala Palace was unceremoniously shut down, in one of many security measures by Chinese authorities, even though a month-long Buddhist festival has drawn thousands of pilgrims to the Tibetan capital.