Month: March 2008

This morning, while driving to work, I heard a piece of news about Tibet along with a cry and Tibetan words.
A monk was crying! According to the news, Buddhist monks in the Tibetan capital protested against Chinese rule during an official conference for foreign journalists put on by the Chinese authorities.

“Foreign journalists were expelled from Tibet at the height of the unrest, but on Wednesday China allowed a group of about two dozen reporters into Lhasa for a three-day escorted visit.
The BBC’s request to be included in the group was turned down.

The monks’ protest came as they toured the Jokhang Temple – one of Tibet’s holiest shrines.

One monk shouted “Tibet is not free, Tibet is not free” before he started to cry, an AP journalist at the scene, Charles Hutzler, reported.

Another monk said the rioting on 14 March “had nothing to do with the Dalai Lama”.

The monks said they had not been allowed to leave the temple since the rioting.

Government handlers told the journalists to leave and tried to pull them away, the reporter said.

Later, the area around the Jokhang Temple was sealed off by riot police.

The protests began on 10 March and developed into violent rioting in Lhasa before spreading to neighbouring regions.

China says 19 people were killed by rioters. The Tibetan government-in-exile says about 140 people have been killed in a crackdown by Chinese security forces.

‘Divided city’

The group of journalists has also visited a medical clinic and a clothing store, where Chinese authorities say five girls were trapped and burned to death, AP’s reporter added.
A reporter for the London-based Financial Times, meanwhile, said that the Tibetan quarter of the city resembled a war zone, with burnt-out buildings, shuttered businesses and groups of soldiers on every corner.

“The smell of burning buildings still hangs in the air nearly two weeks after violent rioting swept through the old Tibetan quarter of Lhasa,” the Financial Times’s Geoff Dyer reported.

The rioting appeared to have been more prolonged and destructive than previously thought, he wrote.

Charles Hutzler described to the BBC a city divided.

“In sort of the more recently built up, very Chinese part of Lhasa, life seems to be going on fairly normally,” he said.

“But in the older, Tibetan section of the town and the blocks leading to it we could see the remains of burnt-out buildings.”

The reporters said there was a heavy security presence in the Tibetan quarter, with squads of police and soldiers on every corner.

But in the new town, they described life as returning to a semblance of normality, with shops and restaurants busy with customers.

Treading carefully

On Wednesday, US President George Bush had “encouraged the Chinese government to engage in substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama’s representatives,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

But the fact that it has taken Mr Bush this long to talk directly to Mr Hu shows that the US is treading carefully in its response, says the BBC’s Jonathan Beale in Washington.

Despite calls from rights groups for an Olympic boycott, the White House has already made it clear that Mr Bush will still attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games”

Story from BBC NEWS http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7315895.stm

“Protesting monks dash China’s show of peace in Tibet
By Charles Hutzler
Lhasa
A GROUP of monks overturned a carefully orchestrated visit for foreign reporters to Tibet’s capital, an embarrassment for the Chinese government struggling yesterday to prove Lhasa was calm.
The government had arranged the trip to show how peaceful Lhasa was after riots shattered China’s plans for a peaceful run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

But the outburst by a group of 30 monks in red robes came as the journalists were being shown around the Jokhang Temple – one of Tibet’s holiest shrines – by Chinese government handlers.

“Tibet is not free! Tibet is not free!” yelled one young Buddhist monk, who then started to cry.

They insisted their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, had nothing to do with the anti-government riots in Lhasa, where buildings were burned and looted and ethnic Han Chinese were attacked.

Officials shouted for the journalists to leave and tried to pull them away.

“They want us to curse the Dalai Lama, and that is not right,” one monk said during the 15-minute outburst.

“This had nothing to do with the Dalai Lama,” said another, referring to the 14 March riots in which the Chinese government says 22 people died, while Tibetan exiles claim the death toll is 140.

Reporters were earlier taken to a Tibet medical clinic that was attacked by protesters and were shown a clothes shop where five girls had been trapped and burned to death.

The monks, who first spoke Tibetan and then switched to Mandarin so journalists could understand them, said they knew they would probably be arrested.

Troops who had been guarding the temple were removed the night before the visit, they said. One monk said authorities planted other monks in the monastery to talk to the journalists, calling them “not true believers but… Communist Party members.”

“They are all officials, they (the government] arranged for them to come in. And we aren’t allowed to go out because they say we could destroy things, but we never did anything,” another monk said.

Later the Chinese-installed vice-governor of Tibet said the Jokhang monks were confined to the monastery because some had joined protesters. He promised they would not be punished for their outburst.”
Source: http://news.scotsman.com/world/Protesting-monks-dash-China39s-show.3923898.jp

Before I get to the article I want to present, I must say that I was very proud when our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, took the right stance and called on China to “fully respect human rights and peaceful protest” and “show restraint” in Tibet. Harper released his statement through Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre at a pro-Tibet rally on Parliament Hill on Thursday. Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier later called on China to begin talks with Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
The response from the Chinese ambassador Lu Shumin- a pretty nasty one I must say, and I am still surprised he was not recalled back, wait a minute, I meant kicked out of Canada- was basically ‘Canada, butt out’. To Mr. Lu Shumin with love: KISS OUR ASSES!
Ambassador Lu Shumin said recent remarks from Canadian officials fail to recognize that China is attempting to restore safety and security in the face of “violent crimes” by separatists in the Tibetan capital city of Lhasa.
“These irresponsible remarks will not do any good to the image of Canada for a champion of law and order,” Lu said Friday.
He also said that any mischaracterization of the Chinese government response to the Tibetan situation “would be inappropriate and be considered as interference with China’s internal affairs. It would also send wrong messages to Tibetan separatist forces and encourage their separatist activities and violence,” Lu warned.

Harper pissed off the Chinese when he received the Dalai Lama in his office on Parliament Hill, a move China considered offensive and when he has vowed he won’t let economic interests dictate Canada’s policies on human rights in China. Some observers believe China’s refusal to designate Canada a government-approved tourist destination is a consequence of the flagging relations
Kudos to our Prime Minister.

Going back to Tibet, it’s difficult to find information on what’s happening over there, therefore, every time I find something, I feel that I have to record the information before it’s lost, maybe forever.
Following is an eyewitness account on the monk’s treatment by the Chinese army and security forces, as presented by BBC.
Read this, and then go back to the paragraph regarding Chinese position on ‘mischaracterization’ of Chinese intervention and then draw your own conclusions.

Eyewitness: Monk ‘kicked to floor’
With tension rising in Tibet following a series of anti-China protests, the BBC spoke to an eyewitness who saw police on Wednesday beating monks at one of three monasteries which have been sealed. He wishes to be identified only as John.

“We knew something was happening because there were more road checks as we got into Lhasa.
Cars were being stopped and police were writing the licence plates down. We tried to stop at a shrine outside Lhasa but were told to keep moving.
Then we heard around Wednesday lunchtime that Drepung monastery was closed. We didn’t know why.
That afternoon we went to Sera monastery to see the debating. It’s famous – the monks debate points of philosophy and people come to see it.
Just when it was about to start, around three o’clock, we started to hear rounds of applause coming out of a courtyard in the heart of the temple.
They were grabbing monks, kicking and beating them
We thought the debate was starting but then suddenly the clapping reached a crescendo – kind of a hooting.
Then the gate of the debating compound opened and this stream of maroon humanity poured out, several hundred monks. It was impossible to count but I think there were at least 300.
We thought it was part of the tradition but when you looked at the expression on their faces, it was a very serious business. They were pumping their hands in the air as they ran out of the temple.

Plain-clothes police
The minute that happened we saw the police – two or three who were inside the compound – suddenly speaking into their radios.
They started going after the monks, and plain-clothes police – I don’t know this for sure but that’s what I think they were – started to emerged from nowhere.
There were four or five in uniform but another 10 or 15 in regular clothing. They were grabbing monks, kicking and beating them.
One monk was kicked in the stomach right in front of us and then beaten on the ground.
The monks were not attacking the soldiers, there was no melee. They were heading out in a stream, it was a very clear path, and the police were attacking them at the sides. It was gratuitous violence.
The Tibetan lay-people started rushing to get out of the temple. Tibetan grandmothers were grabbing young kids and getting them out.
We were left behind when the monks left the temple. About 20 minutes later we felt as if we could leave.

Riot police
Outside the monastery the road curved to the left and to the right. We were directed left – but when we looked to the right there was a line of riot police with batons and helmets blocking off the street.
The monks were sitting in neat rows on the ground, surrounded by a phalanx of police. It was a very clear show of force – there were maybe as many as 300 riot police and regular police there.
It could have been civil disobedience, but it looked like the monks had been put there. They weren’t moving.
As we turned left, we saw troop carriers with camouflaged army regulars arriving – those green trucks with soldiers in the back on benches. We saw guns, large guns that looked like automatic weapons.
There were two or three of those trucks as well as others – several units of public order personnel swarming the situation.
As we left, all the roads around the monastery were blocked by police. There was no access.
At the time, all the phones were dead – we were trying to call the hotel but none of the cell phones were working. But within an hour the phone service was back on.
It seemed as if within half an hour the thing had been totally brought under control.
Back in Lhasa, it was eerily normal. There were police around but not really a muscular presence. It seemed to have been a massive localised show of force.
We realised that if we had gone to Sera monastery an hour earlier or an hour later, no-one would have known what these monks had done.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7296134.stm

Published: 2008/03/14 12:15:32 GMT

My heart aches every time I read about how the Chinese are dealing with the Tibet struggle for autonomy, a real autonomy.
I believe that again and again we witness the same old story: the ‘righteous’ big powers doing nothing when their interest is not in play. By ‘big powers’ I mean the USA, the UK, Germany, France… where are they now? All of them were so fast to recognize Kosovo’s independence, but no one seems to have any muscle to flex when it’s time to really do something righteous.
They are disgusting.

Following is an article as found on BBC’s site, and kuddos to BBC for covering the story of Tibet unrests.

Tibetan monks: A controlled life
China’s crackdown on monk-led rallies in Lhasa is part of a long history of state control of monasteries, argues Peter Firstbrook, producer of BBC Four series A Year in Tibet.

Buddhist monasteries are among the few institutions in China which have the potential to organise resistance and opposition to the government – so the Chinese Communist Party constantly worries about them.

Are some monks secret supporters of the Dalai Lama? Could they be working towards Tibetan independence? Beijing’s fear is so great that being found with just a photograph of the Dalai Lama in your possession could land you in jail.

Government regulation of the monasteries started almost as soon as the People’s Liberation Army marched into Tibet in 1950.

The recent protests mark the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising of 1959 when anti-Chinese and anti-communist demonstrations erupted on the streets of Lhasa, and were put down by force.

Lhasa’s three major monasteries – the Sera, Drepung and Ganden, were seriously damaged by shelling. The Dalai Lama was forced to flee into exile and the Tibetan government-in-exile estimates that 86,000 Tibetans died.

I visit these temples once or twice a month. I tell them what to do and what not to do. They all listen and say nothing
Butri
Communist Party official

Less than a decade later, Mao’s Cultural Revolution wrought havoc in the region and the Red Guards destroyed more than 6,000 monasteries and convents – just a handful survived.

Along with the buildings, hundreds and thousands of priceless and irreplaceable statues, tapestries and manuscripts were destroyed.

“At that time all the monasteries were destroyed. The whole country was changing during the revolution. The wave of change was unstoppable,” says Dondrup, a 77-year-old monk at the Pel Kor Monastery in Gyantse.

‘False’ lama

Further evidence of Chinese control over Tibetan Buddhism came in 1995, with the naming of the new reincarnation of the Panchen Lama – second only to the Dalai Lama in terms of spiritual seniority in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama selected six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima – but within days the young boy and his immediate family disappeared, apparently abducted.

Although we can’t have that many lamas now, we can still absorb new lamas under the current regulations and policies
Tsultrim
Pel Kor monastery

The Chinese government soon announced they had found the real Panchen Lama, a six-year old boy named Gyaltsen Norbu.

Gyaltsen Norbu just happened to be the son of two Tibetan Communist Party workers and he was soon whisked off to Beijing, where he continues to live today. Only occasionally does he appear in public, in carefully stage-managed events.

Most monks regard him as a “false” lama, though he is venerated by ordinary Tibetans.

We filmed his visit to the Pel Kor Monastery in Gyantse in September 2006. It was clear the authorities were worried about demonstrations as there were hundreds of police and army personnel on the streets and the monks had to go through a security check to get into their own monastery.

Since the 1980s the Chinese government has begun to rebuild some of the monasteries and they has also granted greater religious freedom – although it is still limited.

But almost every aspect of the lives of Buddhist monks and nuns is monitored and controlled by the government.

Phone technology

Every monastery and nunnery in Tibet is visited at least once every few weeks by a Communist Party official, who checks that the government rules and regulation are being correctly applied.

Butri, a Tibetan Communist Party cadre, explains: “I visit these temples once or twice a month. I tell them what to do and what not to do. They all listen and say nothing.”

The government is also very careful whom it allows to become a monk. All novices have to go through a detailed vetting procedure which takes years to complete. Even their families are checked for any subversive background.

The Chinese government also restricts the number of monks and nuns. In fact, monasteries can no longer perform many of their rituals correctly because of a shortage of monks.

Tsultrim, the deputy head lama of the Pel Kor monastery in Gyantse, said at its peak the monastery was home to 1,500 monks. Today the Chinese government restricts numbers to no more than 80.

“Although we can’t have that many lamas now, we can still absorb new lamas under the current regulations and policies,” he said.

“Of course, we need to check up on them, to see if they’re the right people for us.”

The recent conflict on the streets of Lhasa mirrors events almost 20 years ago – the last time there were major protests – when frustration among the monks and ordinary Tibetans finally reached boiling point in 1989.

But today, there is one important difference: technology. Practically every Tibetan monk I have met has a mobile phone. They even have special pockets sewn inside their robes to carry them.

In the past it has been notoriously difficult to communicate across the vast expanse of Tibet. Today, everybody is just a text away.

A Year In Tibet will be broadcast on BBC Four on Thursday, 20 March, 2008 at 2100 GMT.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7307495.stm

Published: 2008/03/20 20:34:59 GMT