Three Tibetans Detained for Refusing to Fly the Chinese Communist Flag at Home

Chinese authorities in Tibet have detained three villagers for refusing to fly the Chinese national flag from their homes, as local officials continue to press a campaign forcing displays of loyalty to the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

China ‘the largest hypocrisy in the world’, says Richard Gere

The actor Richard Gere has labelled China the world’s “largest hypocrisy” and condemned the communist nation’s continuing occupation of Tibet during a television interview at a religious event in India.

Gere, a Buddhist who is a devotee of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, spoke out during an extensive primetime interview on English-language news channel NDTV 24×7 last night. The actor, who is in India for the 10-day annual Kalachakra Puja Buddhist celebration, said China had failed to gauge the level of cultural idiosyncrasy in Tibet.

“China is a very difficult place to live if you are a free thinker, if you are an artist, if you are a religious person, but especially in Tibet,” said Gere. “I think they (China) have so wrongly gauged the Tibetan people, thinking they could subvert the deep, deep, deep religious beliefs and make them true communists. It’s never going to happen. Their whole lives have revolved around Buddhism, around their teachers, around their gurus … the high ideals of Buddhism. They are not going to change that in a hundred years, two hundred years, a thousand years. That will never go away.”

11th Tibetan Buddhist Self-Immolates in Southwestern China

China says a Tibetan nun has died after setting herself on fire in southwestern China. It was the 11th such self-immolation protest this year involving Buddhist monks and nuns in the restive region.

Palden Chetso, 35, died Thursday in Sichuan province. A witness told VOA’s Tibetan service he found the nun drenched in gasoline on a local roadway moments before she set herself ablaze. She said she was prepared to sacrifice for greater freedoms and the return of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Eight Buddhist monks and two nuns have self-immolated since a young protesting monk died after setting himself on fire in March at the flashpoint Kirti monastery. That death sparked months of protests by monks and nuns and triggered a major Chinese crackdown on area monasteries that included the arrests and disappearances of hundreds of monks.

Exiled Tibetans Claim CCP Detained 300 Monks in Sichuan

Tibetan exiles said on Monday (May 23) that, according to their sources, CCP security forces detained about 300 monks from the Kirti monastery in the Aba prefecture of Sichuan province. They say the roundup was part of the Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown after a Tibetan Buddhist monk lit himself on fire in protest.

Two exiled monks and a Tibetan writer say their sources told them the monks were detained and taken away in covered military trucks on April 21. Supporters had gathered around the monastery, but police beat them and drove them away with dogs.

The head of the Kirti monastery, Kirti Rinpoche lives in exile in Dharamsala, India. He said his sources told him the conditions at the monastery have become “suffocating” due to intense pressure from the CCP.

Chinese Police Surround a Tibetan Monastery in Sichuan

Chinese police are continuing to surround a Tibetan monastery in Sichuan province, after local residents tried to stop them from arresting the monks.

The standoff began earlier this week, when hundreds of people living in Sichuan’s Aba region converged on the Kirti monastery. They tried to stop police from taking away the monks for reeducation.  As many as 2,500 monks are believed to be inside the locked-down monastery.

They could soon face food shortages because they depend on offerings from locals.

Chinese Regime “Orders” Dalai Lama to Reincarnate in Tibet

On September 1st, 2007 the Chinese regime banned reincarnation without state approval, yet now the officially atheist regime is ordering the Dalai Lama to reincarnate in China after he dies.

The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in Northern India, is reported to be thinking of choosing the next Dalai Lama from outside of China. Yet the Chinese authorities announced on Monday that he must not break with tradition, and that the next Dalai Lama, the highest title in Tibetan Buddhism, must be chosen following the reincarnation tradition.

But there is a catch— the Chinese regime says it has to approve the reincarnation of any living Buddha.

Three Tibetan Monks Flee China After Arrest Warrant Issued

NTD TV, Dec. 2010 –

On November 15th, 2010 these three Tibetan monks arrived in Dharamsala, India after escaping from China. They had feared for their lives after holding a protest against Chinese communist rule.

Their names are Lobsang Norbu, Khedup Gyatso, and Kunga Rinchen. They’re from a Tibetan region of Sichuan province called Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

This man translated for the monks.

Tibetan Students’ Protests Spread to Beijing Over China’s Language Education Policy

Radio Free Asia, Oct 22, 2010 –

Tibetan students protesting against China’s education policies brought their campaign to the nation’s capital, with some 400 of them holding demonstrations at the Beijing National Minorities University.

The protests in Beijing on Oct. 22 came on the heels of demonstrations by thousands of Tibetan high school and college students this week in the remote western province of Qinghai amid fears they will be forced to adopt a Chinese-language-only curriculum.

Tibetans Villagers Block Work on Dam Near Sacred Mountain

Radio Free Asia, 2010-09-30 –

Local Tibetans have challenged Chinese work crews trying to build a dam near a mountain considered sacred by area residents, according to Tibetan sources.

The mountain, called Lhachen Naglha Dzambha, rises in Driru [in Chinese, Biru] county in the Nagchu Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), a native of the region now living in exile said.

“The Gyalmo Ngulchu [Salween] river runs through the foothills of this sacred mountain,” the source said.

“Sometime in August this year, a large number of Chinese workers arrived in the area. Local Tibetans were told they were building a dam.”

Representatives from each village in the county then gathered at the site to protest the construction, another Tibetan living in exile said, citing sources in the region.

Chinese police shoot Tibetan dead during protest two weeks ago

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese police “accidentally” shot dead an ethnic Tibetan during a protest in south-western China two weeks ago, state news agency Xinhua said Monday…….(more details from Reuters)

Two Tibetan writers being arrested, attacked at Southwest China

Reporters Without Borders, June 10, 2010 –

Reporters Without Borders condemns two new serious cases of detention and use of violence against Tibetan journalists and writers in the past few days.

Two magazine editors were arrested by police in Chengdu on 5 June and were mistreated all night before being released, while a writer and monk was arrested without a warrant for the second time in 13 months on 24 May in Ngaba, in eastern Tibet, and has been held ever since without being able to see his family.

“The Chinese authorities are offering an idealised vision of a peaceful Tibet in the 2010 Shanghai World Expo but the information coming from the Tibetan areas is very different,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Arrests, violence and surveillance are the common lot of those who defend Tibetan identity. We urge Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to give clear orders for the release of all imprisoned Tibetan intellectuals.”

Goyon and Thupten Gedun, the editors of the magazines Tibet and Purgyal Kyi Namshey (Soul of Ancient Kings), were circulating on foot in Chengdu on the evening of 5 June when around 15 policemen descended from two vehicles, used tear-gas on them, and then took them to a police station. After confiscating their mobile phones, cameras, ID cards and wallets, they tied them to chairs and interrogated them.

“The police officers used violence to interrogate us,” the journalists said. “They asked us about our work and our political activities, all the while hitting us. They also threatened us by putting guns against our heads. When we asked what we had done wrong, they hit us even harder.” One of them was tortured with electrical equipment to make him confess.

“The next day, the police checked our police records and discovered they were empty. So they let us go, but not without threatening to arrest us again.”

In Ngaba, writer Dokru Tsultrim was arrested on 24 May in Gomang monastery, where he has been staying for the past five years. A relative living in exile in the Indian city of Dharamsala said he was arrested because of two articles by him that have been published.

“Dokru Tsultrim refused to give his laptop to the police but they confiscated documents they found in his room,” the relative said. “Until now our family has been denied the right to see him.” Tsultrim is very involved in promoting literature among young Tibetans but is not a member of in any political movement, the source added……. (more details from Reporters Without Borders)

Two Tibetan Student writers arrested by 16 armed policemen at Northwest China University

Reporters Without Borders, 9 April 2010 –

Reporters Without Borders condemns the detention of two young Tibetan writers who are studying in Lanzhou, in the northwestern province of Gansu. Identified as Tashi Rabten (pen-name Therang) and Druklo (pen-name Shokjang), they were arrested on 4 April, apparently because of what they have written about the situation in Tibet.

“We fear that these two young Tibetan writers will be mistreated during their first few weeks in detention,” Reporters Without Borders. “We urge the authorities in Gansu province to provide information about what is happening to them. And if their arrests are linked to their writing, we call for their release.”

Tashi Rabten and Druklo were arrested when 16 armed policemen raided their hostel at the Northwest National Minorities University, where they are students. The police searched their rooms, confiscating books in Tibetan, their mobile phones, their laptops and their course material.

Tashi Rabten was the editor of a book in Tibetan called Trakyig (Blood Letter) about the March 2008 unrest in Tibet. Published in January 2009, its sale was stopped by the Chinese authorities because of its “suspicious” political content, and the security forces seized copies already distributed. Thereafter they were kept under surveillance and Tashi Rabten was briefly arrested in July 2009.

“If the government continues to violate our freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of thought and our private lives, we are surely going to protest,” a student representative at the university told a Tibetan journalist based abroad.

– The Reporters Without Borders

China steps up security crackdown in Tibet- “strike hard storm” campaign ongoing

By Robert Saiget (AFP) , Mar. 11, 2010-

BEIJING — Chinese security forces have stepped up a crackdown in Tibet’s capital Lhasa, two years after protests marking a failed 1959 uprising erupted in deadly violence, police and reports said Thursday.

More than 400 people have reportedly been rounded up so far in the “strike hard storm” campaign launched earlier this month, which has worried residents on edge since the March 2008 unrest in the remote Himalayan region.

A policeman at a Lhasa precinct who asked not to be named told AFP on Thursday that the campaign was aimed at cracking down on Tibetan independence activities and ordinary crime.

“I don’t know when we will end this campaign, but it could be at the end of March when this matter is over,” said the policeman, referring to the sensitive anniversaries.

More than 1,500 extra police and security personnel had been deployed as of last week, with more than 4,100 rented apartments or homes searched, according to the Lhasa Evening News.

The newspaper said while more than 400 people had been taken into police custody, only 14 had been formally arrested on unspecified charges. It was not immediately clear if the others were released or remained in detention.

Lhasa residents said Thursday the city was tense due to the heavy police and military presence.

“There are armoured vehicles patrolling the streets… the television is always talking about the need to ‘maintain stability’,” said a retired woman who identified herself as Ceyang.

“We don’t dare go out at night.”

Police are carrying out identification checks of the city’s migrant population as well as increasing routine traffic stops, the Lhasa Evening News reported…….(more from AFP)

China says missing Panchen Lama Gendun Choekyi Nyima is living in Tibet

Jane Macartney, Beijing, The Times, Mar. 8, 2010-

China shed a glimmer of light yesterday on the life of a young Tibetan man who vanished 15 years ago after the Dalai Lama declared him to be the reincarnation of the second-highest monk in Tibetan Buddhism.

The son of a Tibetan herder, Gendun Choekyi Nyima was only 5 when he was selected by the exiled Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. Police swooped on the boy’s village in a county to the north of Lhasa and, pro-Tibet exiles say, removed the child and his parents.

He has not been seen or heard from since. But Tibet’s new governor, Padma Choling, revealed yesterday that the young man, now 20, is still living in Tibet, where “his brothers and sisters are at university or are doing regular work”.

He gave no hint as to the family’s whereabouts but repeated the Communist Party’s mantra: “As far as I know, his family and he are now living a very good life in Tibet. He and his family are reluctant to be disturbed. They want to live an ordinary life.”

The information amounts to a revelation compared with the secrecy that has surrounded the life of Gendun for the 15 years since he vanished and was described by human rights groups as the youngest political prisoner in the world.

The exiled Dalai Lama announced in 1995 that he had found Gendun and the move enraged Beijing: the Dalai Lama is revered by Tibetans and his decision was certain to win widespread respect.

The Chinese Government retaliated by naming its own Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu, while Gendun is known only from a photograph of a wide-eyed five-year-old with ruddy cheeks, his mouth open in surprise at the camera……. (more details from The Times)

Tibetan Reincarnated Successor Need Approval From China Atheist Communist Regime, Says Official

AFP, Mar. 7, 2010-

BEIJING — China indicated Sunday it would take a hard line on the selection of a successor to the ageing Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in rare comments on the sensitive issue.

The final decision on the reincarnated successors to the Buddhist region’s top lamas lies with Beijing, insisted Qiangba Puncog, Tibet’s former governor and a delegate to the national parliament.

“It must get the approval of the central government otherwise the reincarnation will be illegitimate and invalid,” he told reporters on the sidelines of China’s National People’s Congress session.

Traditionally, the search for the figure’s reincarnated successor was conducted by the region’s high lamas.

But China’s officially atheist Communist Party-ruled government has claimed the right to intervene, citing a precedent set by a past emperor.

The issue of who will succeed the monk looms as potentially explosive after an outburst of anti-Chinese violence tore through the region in March 2008, prompting a tight security clampdown, which continues.

China vilifies the exiled monk as a separatist. He denies this and remains hugely popular in his Himalayan homeland. Many Tibet experts believe China is waiting for him to die and then install its own Tibetan spiritual leader.

Amid such worries, the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner said last month he would have no misgivings ending the centuries-old spiritual tradition if Tibetans so choose.

“(Its) ultimately up to people, I made clear, whether this very institution should continue or not,” the 14th Dalai Lama told National Public Radio on a visit to Los Angeles.

“If majority of Tibetan people feel the Dalai institution is no longer much relevant, then this institution should cease — there is no problem.

“It looks like the Chinese are more concerned about this institution than me,” he said with a laugh.

The Dalai Lama, who fled his Chinese-ruled homeland in 1959, turns 75 in July and is believed to be in good health.

He has said his successor could be appointed before his death or democratically elected. The Dalai Lama could also, he has said, be reincarnated in exile — out of Beijing’s reach……. (more from AFP)

Dalai Lama awarded in US despite China anger

By Shaun Tandon (AFP) , Feb. 19, 2010-

WASHINGTON — The Dalai Lama was bestowed with a US award for his commitment to democracy, the latest honor for the Tibetan spiritual leader despite China’s angry protests over his White House welcome.

One day after President Barack Obama met the exiled monk at the White House in defiance of Chinese warnings, the National Endowment for Democracy on Friday gave the Dalai Lama a medallion before a packed crowd at the Library of Congress.

The Endowment, which is funded by the US Congress, hailed the Dalai Lama for supporting a democratic government in exile and his willingness to even abolish a centuries-old spiritual position if Tibetans so choose.

“By demonstrating moral courage and self-assurance in the face of brute force and abusive insults, he has given hope against hope not just to his own people but also to oppressed people everywhere,” Endowment president Carl Gershman said before placing the Democracy Service Medal around the monk’s neck……. (AFP)

Barack Obama ignores Chinese anger and greets the Dalai Lama at the White House

The Times Online, UK, Feb. 19, 2010-

President Obama and the Dalai Lama spent more than an hour together in the White House yesterday, out of sight of the press but aware that Beijing regards their meeting as an infringement of Chinese sovereignty.

As a large crowd of Tibetan supporters — and smaller groups of Chinese — gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue, the exiled Tibetan leader made up for his failure to secure an invitation from Mr Obama on his last trip to Washington with a long discussion of religious freedom and human rights that he said showed the President’s “genuine concern” for Tibet.

The meeting may jeopardise longstanding American efforts to secure Chinese co-operation on Iran, North Korea and climate change, but Mr Obama had little choice but to welcome the Dalai Lama: he was harshly criticised from both the Left and the Right for ruling out a meeting in October, and his deferential approach to Beijing since then has yielded little except accusations of appearing weak on the world stage.

There was no joint press conference or photo call after the Map Room meeting — only a written statement from Mr Obama’s press secretary, calculated as much to mollify China as to show backing for Tibetan autonomy.

“The President stated his strong support for the preservation of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans in the People’s Republic of China,” the statement said.

For Tibetans living under Chinese rule, the fact of the meeting was enough. In a remote Himalayan monastery where communications are strictly limited, lamas heard yesterday that their god-king was to meet Mr Obama, and they were rejoicing…….(The Times)

China: Six-year sentence for Tibetan video-maker

Reporters Without Borders, 6 January 2010 –

Dhondup Wangchen, a Tibetan filmmaker who has been held since March 2008, was sentenced on 28 December 2009 to six years in prison, Reporters Without Borders has learned from his family, which knows little of the charges on which he was convicted or his present state of health.

“This self-taught video-maker, who did nothing but film interviews with Tibetans, has been given a long jail term after judicial proceedings in which his defence rights were violated,” Reporters Without Borders said. “This sentence is a disgrace for China.”

The press freedom organisation added: “We call on the judicial authorities to allow Dhondup Wangchen to file an appeal and to grant him a new, fair trial in the presence of a lawyer chosen by him and in the presence of international observers.”

Dhondup’s cousin, Gyaljong Tsetrin, a refugee in Switzerland, told Reporters Without Borders: “I am dismayed by the fact that the entire judicial proceedings have been so unfair. I am also very worried for Dhondup Wangchen because he is in a critical situation and the authorities have denied him the medical treatment he needs for his hepatitis B.”…… (more details from Reporters Without Borders)

China: Two Young Tibetans Get Three Years in Jail for Posting Dalai Lama Photos on Internet

Reporters Without Borders, Dec. 4, 2009-

Two young Tibetans, identified as Gyaltsing and Nyima Wangdu, have just been given three-year jail sentences for posting photos of the Dalai Lama online. The exact date of their conviction is not known but it is believed to have been three or four days ago. They were convicted on charges of “communicating information to contacts outside China.”

They have been detained in Lhassa since 1 October. Their families, who have not been able to visit them in prison or obtain any information about them, are concerned for their health.

Three other Internet users, identified as Yeshi Namkha, Anne (a pseudonym) and Thupten, were arrested for similar reasons on 1 December but have not yet been tried. It is not known where they are being held.

“All these young Tibetan Internet users did was exchange photos of Tibet’s spiritual leader,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We call for their immediate release and the withdrawal of all the charges. These convictions are absurd. These young people should not be made to pay for the tension between the Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama.”

– Reporters Without Borders

More Tibetans arrested in China in connection with Internet activities

Reporters Without Borders, 22 October 2009 –

Reporters Without Borders calls for the release of three young Tibetans from the village of Dara who have been held in Nagchu county since 1 October, when they were arrested in nearby Sogdzong county for allegedly sending information about Tibet to contacts abroad via the Internet.

The police have not allowed the three – identified as Gyaltsen, 25, Nymia Wangchuk, 24, and Yeshe Namkha, 25 – to have any contact with their families since their arrest.

“The Internet is monitored, censored and manipulated more in Tibet than in other Chinese provinces,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Despite the risks, Tibetan Internet users continue to transmit information, especially to the diaspora and human rights groups. It is deplorable that the Chinese police devote so much energy to identifying and arresting ordinary Internet users.”

The three young people allegedly used QQ, a Chinese instant messaging service, to send photos of the Dalai Lama and speeches by him. It appears that the Bureau of Public Security had been monitoring their online activities for some time. The population of Sogdzong country complain of police harassment, including frequent ID checks.

The monks in Sog Tsandan monastery, for example, were forced by the police to attend patriotic meetings with the authorities and were forbidden to observe their end-of-summer retreat (in which they stay within the monastery to avoid harming the insects that emerge at that time of the year).

Several bloggers and other Internet users have been arrested in Tibet in recent months. They include Pasang Norbu, arrested in Lhasa on 12 August for looking at online photos of the Tibetan flag and Dalai Lama, and Gonpo Tserang, a guide sentenced to three years in prison in June on charges of inciting separatism and “communicating outside the country” for sending emails and SMS messages about the March 2008 protests in Tibet.

– Reporters Without Borders

Nepal’s Tibetans squeezed as China flexes muscles

By Claire Cozens (AFP) , Oct. 7, 2009-

KATHMANDU — As Beijing marked the 60th anniversary of Communist rule last week, police in Nepal quietly rounded up dozens of Tibetan exiles they said were suspected of planning to hold anti-China protests here.

The pre-emptive arrests in early morning raids across the capital Kathmandu were the latest sign of an increasingly hardline approach by Nepalese authorities to the country’s Tibetan population.

Nepal is home to around 20,000 exiled Tibetans, who began arriving in large numbers in 1959 after their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled Tibet following a failed uprising against the Chinese.

Those who arrived before 1990 were given permission to stay and have often integrated successfully, building profitable businesses selling carpets and other traditional crafts, although they do not have full citizenship rights.

But in recent months the exiles say their lives have become increasingly difficult as Nepal — reportedly under heavy pressure from Beijing — has sought to restrict their activities.

Tsering Thundup, a Tibetan craft seller who lives on the outskirts of Kathmandu in an area popular with the exiles, said that there used to be few police officers in his neighbourhood — but that has changed.

“Nowadays there is a heavy police presence around our area. They conduct regular patrols and interrogate Tibetans,” the 45-year-old told AFP.

“My friends have been interrogated by police over the past few months. It has created an atmosphere of fear and I am very unhappy with the way the situation here has changed.”

Landlocked Nepal upholds Beijing’s “one China” policy — that Tibet is an integral part of the country — and has said it will not tolerate anti-China demonstrations.

In August, the government reiterated its opposition to activities aimed at “undermining the friendship between the two countries,” seeking to preserve friendly ties with its northern neighbour, a major aid donor……. (more details from AFP)

Realpolitik on China hits Dalai Lama’s cause

By Geoff Dyer in Beijing, The Financial Times, October 7 2009 –

Still jet-setting at 74, the Dalai Lama has been in Washington this week to receive an award in Congress and attend a conference on meditation. But, for the first time since 1991, the Tibetan religious leader’s visit to the US capital has not included a trip to the White House.

Barack Obama, US president, is to make his first visit to China next month and any meeting with the Dalai Lama, which would doubtless raise hackles in Beijing, has been put on hold.

The perception in some circles that the Dalai Lama has been snubbed by the administration is the latest indication that western countries are taking a softer approach to human rights in China in the face of its growing economic and diplomatic power.

As well as being the largest single holder of US Treasury bonds, China is now a central player in big global issues, from Iran’s nuclear programme to climate change, undercutting the leverage of western governments when it comes to human rights……. (more details from The Financial Times)

Three Tibetans Protesters Sentenced, China maintain strict controls inside Tibet

Radio Free Asia, 2009-08-12 –

DHARAMSALA—A Chinese court has sentenced three Tibetans to prison for their roles in a disturbance in June in which over 30 were initially detained, according to Tibetan sources.

The sentence, two-year prison terms for each of the three men, was handed down on Aug. 4 in the Chamdo prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), sources said.

“The reason for the sentences was not made public,” Geshe Monlam Tharchin, a Tibetan living in Dharamsala, India, said, citing contacts in Tibet.

“Even their relatives had little information about their charges,” he said.

The three men—identified as Gyaltsentsang Jampa, 46, Buluk, 56, and Mutsatsang Tseten, 40—had been moved to a Chamdo detention center from Jomda county, also in Chamdo prefecture, prior to their sentencing, another source said.

“At one time, it was rumored that the three would be released in Jomda, but their attitude toward Chinese officials caused them to be transferred to Chamdo,” Dorje, a Jomda native now living in India, said.

“My contacts in Jomda are reluctant to give details,” Dorje added.

The three men sentenced had been part of larger group detained in Jomda following a disturbance at nearby Kyabje monastery at the end of June.

Calls seeking comment from authorities in Chamdo and Jomda rang unanswered.

Chinese authorities have imposed tight curbs throughout Tibet following widespread anti-China protests in the region in 2008, and detailed accounts of events in Tibetan areas are often difficult to obtain.

– Radio Free Asia