Category Archives: FreeTibet – Tibet for Tibetans

Cold War in Asia – Lesson. 22 – Degradation of Tibetan Grasslands

Tibet Consciousness – Trouble in Tibet

TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – GLOBAL WARMING: GRASSLANDS FAIL TO THRIVE DUE TO WARMING AND LACK OF PRECIPITATION.

It is with a sense of deep pain I share an article titled “TROUBLE IN TIBET” published by NATURE, international weekly Journal of Science. Tibetans are paying a heavy price for Tibetan Plateau shoulders the burden of environmental degradation contributed by Red China’s industrial growth and advancement. Red China is responsible for reckless land management policies and for disrupting traditional lifestyles of Tibetan nomads.

Trouble in Tibet troubles my heart. I have several serious concerns about Tibet, the Land, the people, and the Government. The Institution of Dalai Lama is Tibet’s Government and it was forced into exile in March, 1959. Tibetans living in exile have the opportunity to participate in elections and choose their own representatives who run Tibetan Government-in-Exile. Tibetans living in occupied Tibet have no access to Government that represents Tibetan people. The global community of nations should not waste any more time and take action to uplift Tibetans from their troubles.

Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162 USA
Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment

nature.com

Nature

International weekly journal of science

Trouble in Tibet

Rapid changes in Tibetan grasslands are threatening Asia’s main water supply and the livelihood of nomads.

JANE QIU  13 January 2016

TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – TIBET IN TROUBLE. TIBETAN GRASSLANDS ARE DISAPPEARING RAPIDLY AND RED CHINA IS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THIS ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE.

Photo Credit. Kevin Frayer/Getty

A group of young Tibetan monks huddles on a degraded pasture on the Tibetan Plateau.

In the northern reaches of the Tibetan Plateau, dozens of yaks graze on grasslands that look like a threadbare carpet. The pasture has been munched down to bare soil in places, and deep cracks run across the snow-dusted landscape. The animals’ owner, a herder named Dodra, emerges from his home wearing a black robe, a cowboy hat and a gentle smile tinged with worry.

“The pastures are in a bad state and lack the kind of plants that make livestock strong and grow fat,” says Dodra. “The yaks are skinny and produce little milk.”
His family of eight relies on the yaks for most of its livelihood — milk, butter, meat and fuel. Dodra was forced to give up half of his animals a decade ago, when the Chinese government imposed strict limits on livestock numbers. Although his family receives financial compensation, nobody knows how long it will last.

“We barely survive these days,” he says. “It’s a hand-to-mouth existence.” If the grasslands continue to deteriorate, he says, “we will lose our only lifeline”.

The challenges that face Dodra and other Tibetan herders are at odds with glowing reports from Chinese state media about the health of Tibetan grasslands — an area of 1.5 million square kilometres — and the experiences of the millions of nomads there. Since the 1990s, the government has carried out a series of policies that moved once-mobile herders into settlements and sharply limited livestock grazing. According to the official account, these policies have helped to restore the grasslands and to improve standards of living for the nomads.

But many researchers argue that available evidence shows the opposite: that the policies are harming the environment and the herders. “Tibetan grasslands are far from safe,” says Wang Shiping, an ecologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ (CAS) Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research (ITPR) in Beijing. “A big part of the problem is that the policies are not guided by science, and fail to take account of climate change and regional variations.”

The implications of that argument stretch far beyond the Tibetan Plateau, which spans 2.5 million square kilometres — an area bigger than Greenland — and is mostly controlled by China. The grasslands, which make up nearly two-thirds of the plateau, store water that feeds into Asia’s largest rivers. Those same pastures also serve as a gigantic reservoir of carbon, some of which could escape into the atmosphere if current trends continue. Degradation of the grasslands “will exacerbate global warming, threaten water resources for over 1.4 billion people and affect Asian monsoons”, says David Molden, director general of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Such concerns propelled me to make a 4,700-kilometre journey last year from Xining, on the northeastern fringe of the plateau, to Lhasa in the Tibetan heartland (see ‘TREK ACROSS TIBET’). Meeting with herders and scientists along the way, I traversed diverse landscapes and traced the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers to their sources. The trip revealed that Tibetan grasslands are far less healthy than official government reports suggest, and scientists are struggling to understand how and why the pastures are changing.

TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – TIBET IN TROUBLE. TIBETAN GRASSLANDS FACING RAPID DECLINE; CHINESE MISMANAGEMENT CAUSED ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER.

Fenced in

It began to drizzle soon after we set off from the city of Xining on a stretch of newly built highway along the Yellow River. As our Land Cruiser climbed onto a 3,800-metre-high part of the plateau, the vista opened to reveal rolling hills blanketed by a thick layer of alpine meadow, resembling a gigantic golf course. We passed herds of sheep and yaks, white tents and nomads in colourful robes — along with barbed-wired fences that cut the rangeland into small blocks.

This part of the Tibetan Plateau, in a region known as Henan county, is blessed with abundant monsoonal rains every summer. The herders who live here are able to maintain healthy livestock and can make a decent living. “We have plenty to go around, and the livestock are well taken care of,” says herder Gongbu Dondrup.

But life has been different since the government began to fence up grasslands around a decade ago, says Dondrup. Before that, he took his herd to the best pastures at high elevations in the summer, and then came back down in the winter. Now, he must keep the yaks in an 80-hectare plot that the government assigned to his family. The pasture looks worn, and he is being pressed by the government to further downsize his herd. “I don’t know how long it can keep us going,” he says.

The fencing initiative is the latest of a string of Chinese grassland policies. After annexing Tibet in 1950, the young revolutionary Chinese republic turned all livestock and land into state properties. Large state farms competed with each other to maximize production, and livestock numbers on the plateau doubled over two decades, reaching nearly 100 million by the late 1970s. But in the 1980s, as China moved towards a market-based economy, Beijing swung to the other extreme: it privatized the pastures and gave yaks back to individual households, hoping that the move would push Tibetans to better manage their land and so boost its productivity.

Despite the privatization, nomads continued to use the rangeland communally — often in groups led by village elders. Then the government began to limit herds, and it built fences to separate households and villages. “This has totally changed the way livestock are traditionally raised on the plateau, turning a mobile lifestyle into a sedentary existence,” says Yang Xiaosheng, director of Henan county’s rangeland-management office.

The fencing policy does have merits when applied in moderation, says Yönten Nyima, a Tibetan policy researcher at Sichuan University in Chengdu. Because an increasing number of nomads now lead a settled life — at least for parts of the year — it helps to control the level of grazing in heavily populated areas, he says. “Fencing is an effective way to keep animals out of a patch of meadow.” Many herders also say that it makes life much easier: they do not have to spend all day walking the hills to herd their yaks and sheep, and if they go away for a few days, they don’t worry about the animals running off.

But the convenience comes at a cost, says Cao Jianjun, an ecologist at Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou. Fenced pastures often show signs of wear after a few years. In a 2013 study, Cao and his colleagues measured growth of the sedge species preferred by livestock in two scenarios: enclosed pastures and much larger patches of land jointly managed by up to 30 households. Despite similar livestock densities in both cases, the sedge grew twice as fast in the larger pastures, where animals could roam and plants had more opportunity to recover1. That matches the experience of Henan county herders, who say that their land sustains fewer animals than it has in the past.

Water worries

The future of the grasslands looked even bleaker as we left relatively well-to-do Henan county and ventured into the much higher, arid territory to the west. After 700 kilometres, we reached Madoi county, also known as qianhu xian (‘county of a thousand lakes’), where the Yellow River begins. Although this region gets only 328 millimetres of rain on average each year, about half of what Henan receives, Madoi was once one of the richest counties on the plateau — famous for its fish, high-quality livestock and gold mines.

Now, the wetlands are drying up and sand dunes are replacing the prairies, which means that less water flows into the Yellow River. Such changes on the plateau have contributed to recurring water shortages downstream: the Yellow River often dries up well before it reaches the sea, an event not recorded before 1970.

In 2000, China sought to protect this region, along with adjacent areas that give rise to the Yangtze and Mekong Rivers, by establishing the Sanjiangyuan (or Three-Rivers’ Headwaters) National Nature Reserve, an area nearly two-thirds the size of the United Kingdom.

Nearly one-tenth of the reserve area falls into core zones in which all activities, including herding, are prohibited. The government spends hundreds of millions of US dollars each year on moving nomads out of those core areas, constructing steel meshes to stabilize the slopes and planting artificially bred grass species to restore the eroded land. Outside the core regions, officials have banned grazing on ‘severely degraded grasslands’, where vegetation typically covers less than 25% of the ground. Land that is ‘moderately degraded’, where vegetation coverage measures 25–50%, can be grazed for half of the year.

TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – TIBET IN TROUBLE. TIBETAN PLATEAU GRASSLANDS REPLACED BY DRY, BARREN LAND.

Jonas Bendiksen/Magnum

Near the headwaters of the Yellow River, lush grasslands have given way to sand dunes.

Such policies — and related initiatives to limit livestock numbers and fence off areas of pasture — have not been easy on the herders, says Guo Hongbao, director of the livestock-husbandry bureau in Nagchu county in the southern Tibetan Plateau. “The nomads have made sacrifices for protecting the grasslands,” he says. But he also says that the strategies have paid off. Guo and other officials point to satellite studies showing that the plateau has grown greener in the past three decades2. This increase in vegetation growth, possibly the result of a combination of grazing restrictions and climate change, “has had a surprisingly beneficial effect on climate by dampening surface warming”, says Piao Shilong, a climate modeller at Peking University.

But ecologists say that such measurements look only at surface biomass and thus are not a good indicator of grassland health. “Not all vegetation species are equal,” says Wang. “And satellites can’t see what’s going on underground.”

This is particularly important in the case of the sedge species that dominate much of the Tibetan Plateau, and that are the preferred food of livestock. These species, part of the Kobresia genus, grow only 2 centimetres above the surface and have a dense, extensive root mat that contains 80% of the total biomass.
Studies of pollen in lake sediments show that Kobresia and other dominant sedges emerged about 8,000 years ago, when early Tibetans began burning forests to convert them to grasslands for livestock3. The prehistoric grazing helped to create the thick root mat that blankets the vast plateau and that has stored 18.1 billion tonnes of organic carbon.

But Kobresia plants are being driven out by other types of vegetation, and there is a risk that the locked-up carbon could be released and contribute to global warming. Every now and then on the trip to Lhasa, we passed fields blooming with the beautiful red and white flowers of Stellera chamaejasme, also known as wolf poison. “It’s one of a dozen poisonous species that have increasingly plagued China’s grasslands,” says Zhao Baoyu, an ecologist at the Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University in Yangling. Zhao and his colleagues estimated that poisonous weeds have infested more than 160,000 square kilometres of the Tibetan grasslands, killing tens of thousands of animals a year4.

Herders also report seeing new grass species and weeds emerge in recent years. Although most are not toxic, they are much less nutritious than Kobresia pastures, says Karma Phuntsho, a specialist on natural-resource management at ICIMOD. “Some parts of the plateau may seem lush to an untrained eye,” he says. “But it’s a kind of ‘green desertification’ that has little value.”

In one unpublished study of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, researchers found that Kobresia pastures that had gone ungrazed for more than a decade had been taken over by toxic weeds and much taller, non-palatable grasses: the abundance of the sedge species had dropped from 40% to as low as 1%. “Kobresia simply doesn’t stand a chance when ungrazed,” says Elke Seeber, a PhD student at the Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Görlitz, Germany, who conducted the field experiment for a project supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

“The policies are not guided by science, and fail to take account of climate change and regional variations.”

The changes in vegetation composition have important implications for long-term carbon storage, says project member Georg Guggenberger, a soil scientist at Leibniz University of Hanover in Germany. In moderately grazed Kobresia pastures, up to 60% of the carbon that is fixed by photosynthesis went into the roots and soil instead of the above-ground vegetation — three times the amount seen in ungrazed plots5. This underground organic carbon is much more stable than surface biomass, which normally decomposes within a couple of years and releases its stored carbon into the air. So a shift from Kobresia sedge to taller grasses on the plateau will ultimately release a carbon sink that has remained buried for thousands of years, says Guggenberger.

Critics of the grazing restrictions in Tibet say that the government has applied them in a blanket way, without proper study and without taking on board scientific findings. In some cases, they make sense, says Tsechoe Dorji, an ecologist at the ITPR’s Lhasa branch, who grew up in a herder family in western Tibet. “A total grazing ban can be justified in regions that are severely degraded”, he says, but he objects to the simple system used by the government to classify the health of the grasslands. It only considers the percentage of land covered by vegetation and uses the same threshold for all areas, without adjusting for elevation or natural moisture levels.

“Pastures with 20% vegetation cover, for instance, could be severely degraded at one place but totally normal at another,” says Dorji. This means that some of the grasslands that are classified as severely degraded are actually doing fine — and the grazing ban is actually hurting the ecosystem. “Having a sweeping grazing policy regardless of geographical variations is a recipe for disasters,” he says.

Fast forward

China’s grazing policy is only one of several factors responsible for such damaging changes, say the researchers. Pollution, global warming and a rash of road-building and other infrastructure-construction projects have all taken a toll on the grasslands.

Ten days after leaving Xining, we caught a glimpse of Tibet’s future when we arrived at Nam Tso, a massive glacial lake in the southern part of the plateau. Here Dorji and Kelly Hopping, a graduate student at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, have been turning the clock forward by surrounding small patches of grassland with open-topped plastic chambers that artificially raise the temperature. These experiments are important because Tibet is a hotspot in terms of climate change; the average temperature on the plateau has soared by 0.3–0.4 °C per decade since 1960 — about twice the global average.
In trials over the past six years, they found that Kobresia pygmaea, the dominant sedge species, develops fewer flowers and blooms much later under warming conditions6. Such changes, says Dorji, “may compromise its reproductive success and long-term competitiveness”.

“Having a sweeping grazing policy regardless of geographical variations is a recipe for disasters.”

At the experimental site, the artificially warmed pastures have been taken over by shrubs, lichens, toxic weeds and non-palatable grass species, says Hopping. But when the researchers added snow to some heated plots, Kobresia did not lose out to the other plants, which suggests that the loss of soil moisture might be driving the shift in species. Higher temperatures increase evaporation, which can be especially potent at high elevations. “This is not good news for species with shallow roots”, such as the Kobresia favoured by livestock, she says.
Piao says that “this interplay between temperature and precipitation illustrates the complexity of ecosystem responses to climate change”. But researchers have too little information at this point to build models that can reliably predict how global warming will affect the grasslands, he says. To fill that gap, Wang and his colleagues started a decade-long experiment in 2013 at Nagchu, where they are using heat lamps to warm patches of grassland by precise amounts, ranging from 0.5 °C to 4 °C. They are also varying the amount of rainfall on the plots, and they are measuring a host of factors, such as plant growth, vegetation composition, nutrient cycling and soil carbon content. They hope to improve projections for how the grasslands will change — and also to determine whether there is a tipping point that would lead to an irreversible collapse of the ecosystem, says Piao.

Plateau prognosis

A fortnight into the trip, we finally arrived at the outskirts of Lhasa. At the end of the day, herders were rounding up their sheep and yaks in the shadows cast by snow-capped peaks. They and the other pastoralists across the plateau will have a difficult time in coming decades, says Nyima. Climate change was not a consideration when grassland polices were conceived over a decade ago, and so “many pastoralists are ill prepared for a changing environment”, he says. “There is a pressing need to take this into account and identify sound adaptation strategies.”

As a start, researchers would like to conduct a comprehensive survey of plant cover and vegetation composition at key locations across different climate regimes. “The information would form the baseline against which future changes can be measured,” says Wang. Many scientists would also support changes to the grazing ban and fencing policies that have harmed the grasslands. Dorji says that the government should drop the simplistic practice of ‘one policy fits all’ across the plateau and re-evaluate whether individual regions are degraded enough to merit a ban on grazing. “Unless the pastures are severely degraded, moderate grazing will help to restore the ecosystems,” he says.

But scientists are not banking on such reforms happening soon. Policies in Tibet are driven less by scientific evidence than by bureaucrats’ quest for power and funds, says a Lhasa-based researcher who requests anonymity for fear of political repercussions. Local officials often lobby Beijing for big investments and expensive projects in the name of weiwen (meaning ‘maintaining stability’). Because resistance to Chinese control over Tibet continues to flare up, the government is mostly concerned with maintaining political stability, and it does not require local officials to back up plans with scientific support, says the researcher. “As long as it’s for weiwen, anything goes.”

But officials such as Guo say that their policies are intended to help Tibet. “Although there is certainly room for improvement in some of the policies, our primary goals are to promote economic development and protect the environment,” he says.

Far away from Lhasa, herders such as Dodra say that they are not seeing the benefits of government policies. After we finish our visit at his home, Dodra’s entire family walks us into the courtyard — his mother in-law spinning a prayer wheel and his children trailing behind. It has stopped snowing, and the sky has turned a crystal-clear, cobalt blue. “The land has served us well for generations,” says Dodra as he looks uneasily over his pasture. “Now things are falling apart — but we don’t get a say about how best to safeguard our land and future.”

Journal name: Nature Volume: 529, Pages: 142–145 Date published: (14 January 2016) DOI: doi :10.1038/529142a A related story at SciDev.Net explores how climate change will affect Tibetan herders.

References

Cao, J., Yeh, E. T., Holden, N. M., Yang, Y. & Du, G. J. Arid Environ. 97, 3–8 (2013). Article Shen, M. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, 9299–9304 (2015). Article PubMed ChemPort Miehe, G. et al. Quat. Sci. Rev. 86, 190–209 (2014). Article Lu, H., Wang, S. S., Zhou, Q. W., Zhao, Y. N. & Zhao, B. Y. Rangeland J. 34, 329–339 (2012). Article Hafner, S. et al. Glob. Chang. Biol. 18, 528–538 (2012). Article Dorji, T. et al. Glob. Chang. Biol. 19, 459–472 (2013). Article PubMed

Related stories and links

From nature.com

Droughts threaten high-altitude Himalayan forests 27 January 2015 Tibetan plateau gets wired up for monsoon prediction 01 October 2014 Double threat for Tibet 19 August 2014 Floods spur mountain study 04 September 2013 Thawing permafrost reduces river runoff 06 January 2012 China: The third pole 23 July 2008 Nature Geoscience Nature Climate Change

From elsewhere

Third Pole Environment International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research

Author information

Affiliations

Jane Qiu is a freelance writer in Beijing. Her trip across the Tibetan Plateau was supported by the SciDev.Net Investigative Science Journalism Fellowship for the Global South, which was funded by a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

Author details

Jane Qiu. Nature ISSN: 0028-0836 EISSN: 1476-4687 © 2016 Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved. partner of AGORA, HINARI, OARE, INASP, CrossRef and COUNTER

TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – TIBET IN TROUBLE. SUGE LA PASS AT 5440 METERS IN ELEVATION. GRASSLANDS DESTROYED.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – TROUBLE IN TIBET. PLATEAU GRASSLANDS DISAPPEARING AT RAPID PACE.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – GLOBAL WARMING – CLIMATE ACTION. TIBETAN NOMADS LIVE IN PERFECT HARMONY WITH NATURE LIVING ON LIVESTOCK-REARING. INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION IS THE CHIEF CULPRIT OF GLOBAL WARMING.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – TIBET IN TROUBLE. GRASSLANDS OF TIBETAN PLATEAU IN SERIOUS TROUBLE.
Tibet Awareness – Yaks of Tibet

Cold War in Asia – Lesson 21 – Troubles of Tibet – Railroads are military infrastructure to sustain Occupation

Trouble in Tibet – Sichuan – Tibet Railroad

Modern Face of Trouble in Tibet. Ugly Face of Occupation.

Sichuan-Tibet Railroad is a sign and symptom of ‘Trouble in Tibet’, Trouble called Occupation. This Railroad poses threat for it represents military infrastructure used to sustain Tibet’s Oppression.

Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162 USA
Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment

Modern Face of Trouble in Tibet. Ugly Face of Occupation has New Dimension.

CHINA TOPIX

WORK ON SICHUAN-TIBET RAILWAY SPEEDS UP

By ALEXIS VILLARIAS Jan 30, 2016 10:08 AM EST


The railway aims to decrease the travel time between Chengdu and Lhasa to 15 hours instead of 42 hours on a train or three days on road.

China will speed up the construction of the ambitious Sichuan-Tibet railway project this year, according to officials from the two regions. The railway aims to connect Lhasa with Chengdu, including Tibet in China’s transportation corridor to Europe.

During the fourth session of the 10th People’s Congress of Tibet in Lhasa, Losang Jamcan, chairman of the Tibet autonomous region government said that authorities will start preliminary survey and research of the Kanting-Lyi railway project this year. He hopes that this will speed up the construction of the Sichuan-Tibet railway in the 13th Five-Year Plan period, reports China Daily.

The acting governor of Sichuan, Yin Li, voiced the same sentiment during the fourth session of the 12th People’s Congress of Sichuan in Chengdu.

The construction of the west and east sections of the railway already started last year. The project is expected to be fully completed in the early 2030s.

The railway project, which will connect Lhasa and Chengdu will be divided into three sections: Lhasa-Lyingchi, Lyingchi-Kangting, and Kangting-Chengdu. Almost 1,000 km of the railway will be in Tibet.

The railway is designed around and through the mountains with the highest point at over 7,000 meters. More than 74 percent of its length will run on bridges and tunnels. The railway will be constructed 3,000 meters above the sea level.

The railway will also cross the major rivers in Minjiang, Jinshajiang, and Yarlung Zangbo, according to a senior civil engineer at China Railway Corp.

The railway has been dubbed as the longest rollercoaster in the world with a design service life of 100 years. It is believed to be one of the most difficult railway projects of all time, Lin Shijin added.
It currently takes 42 hours to travel from Chengdu to Lhasa via train and three days via road. The new project hopes to shorten travel time to less than 15 hours.

©2016 Chinatopix All rights reserved.

China approves new railway for Tibet | Dilemma X

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Modern Face of Trouble in Tibet. Ugly Face of Occupation.

Cold War in Asia – Lesson. 20 – Repression and Freedom cannot be Blended

 

The Institution of Dalai Lama is important to preserve Tibetan Political Identity. The Government of Tibet is represented by this Seal of Ganden Phodrang.
The Mind Map of Tibet reveals the spirit of defiance.

“Dalai Lama” Website Launched by His Holiness the Dalai Lama includes Mind Map, and Atlas of Emotions to help people find or discover “Inner Peace.” Spirituality and Science can be blended, but the real issue is that of blending Freedom and Repression. For Repression excludes Freedom, there will be no Peace, neither in Mind, nor in World.

TROUBLE IN TIBET – MIND MAP OF TIBET – WHERE IS PEACE WITHOUT FREEDOM? The World Atlas of Emotions excludes the Map of Tibetan Mind

Tibetans want to find or discover “Freedom” which is defined as the state or quality of being free from the control of some other person or some arbitrary power; a being able of itself to choose or determine action freely without hindrance, restraint, or repression. If Tibetans are not “Free” to act, how can Tibetans discover “Inner Peace?” Creation of Mind Map will not create Freedom in Occupied Tibet. Repression in Tibet has to go to discover Inner Peace in Mind Map of Tibet.

Dalai Lama: Website launched by Dalai Lama, Atlas of Emotions, blends Science and Spirituality to create Mind Map and reach global audiences

TROUBLE IN TIBET – MIND OF TIBET. DALAI LAMA’S WEBSITE ATLAS OF EMOTIONS EXCLUDES MIND MAP OF TIBET WHERE REPRESSION REIGNS. The World Atlas of Emotions excludes the Map of Tibetan Mind

May 6, 2016
Sally Elliott

The Dalai Lama never ceases his quest to help others navigate the complex human psyche as part of the path to inner peace, and the Dalai Lama’s website is designed to do just that.

In a truly creative and contemporary collaboration between a Hollywood producer, world-class scientists, and the Dalai Lama, a website, named Atlas of Emotions, was launched with a view of helping the world identify and understand human emotions and overcome those that block the path to peace.
The Dalai Lama’s website is the result of a collaboration between Paul
Ekman, an American psychologist, and the producers of 2015 animated blockbuster Inside Out. Atlas of Emotions blends science and spirituality to create a mind map for global audiences — the religious, the spiritual, and the secular.

“It is my duty to publish such work,” the Dalai Lama told the New York Times.

According to the New York Times, Dr. Ekman and the Dalai Lama are good friends, and when he decided on a course of action to help the human race achieve peace, the Dalai thought of Pixar’s Inside Out and its universally comprehensible model of the mind and human emotion.

“Specifically, he commissioned his good friend Paul Ekman — a psychologist who helped advise the creators of Pixar’s ‘Inside Out,’ an animated film set inside a girl’s head — to map out the range of human sentiments. Dr. Ekman later distilled them into the five basic emotions depicted in the movie, from anger to enjoyment,” reports the outlet.

Trouble in Tibet – Mind Map of Tibet. Repression excludes Freedom. There is neither inner nor outer Peace if Freedom is not in Mind Map. The World Atlas of Emotions excludes the Map of Tibetan Mind

The Dalai Lama is one of the world’s most prolific and widely followed spiritual leaders [Photo by Lisa Maree Williams]

The Dalai Lama’s website is aimed at achieving his lofty life mission guiding the human race to overcome selfish and hateful behavior, practice kindness, self-awareness, and compassion — in a changing world of countless brands of faith.

“‘When we wanted to get to the New World, we needed a map,’ Dr. Ekman
recalled the Dalai Lama telling him. ‘So make a map of emotions so we can get to a calm state,’” reports the New York Times.

Eve Ekman, Dr. Ekman’s fellow psychologist daughter, also collaborated to maximize the engagement and accuracy of the website launched by the Dalai Lama. Atlas of Emotions blends scientific knowledge, which psychologists use to help patients understand and overcome negative behaviors and emotions, and spiritual ideology to provide an interactive guide to human emotions, and it is available to any person with internet access. The website is set to be an invaluable resource for those without the money or opportunity to seek professional help and people seeking to understand their complex emotions on the path to self-awareness, inner peace, and constructive
action.

“We have, by nature or biologically, this destructive emotion, also
constructive emotion. This innerness, people should pay more attention to, from kindergarten level up to university level,” the Dalai Lama told the NY Times.

“This is not just for knowledge, but in order to create a happy human being. Happy family, happy community and, finally, happy humanity.”

Trouble in Tibet – Mind Map of Tibet. There is no Inner Peace in Mind or World without Freedom. The World Atlas of Emotions excludes the Map of Tibetan Mind

The Dalai Lama was the guest of honor at a U.S. Government-hosted PrayerBreakfast. [Photo by Pool/Getty Images]

The website launched by the Dalai Lama greets visitors with a simple and sophisticated homepage that outlines five core emotions: anger, fear, disgust, sadness, and enjoyment. Users can navigate through the wealth of scientific and spiritual knowledge through Triggers, States, Actions, Moods, and Calm — explanations of how thoughts and feelings come about, how they are experienced, the actions we take as a result, how those make us feel, and how we can overcome the blocks to inner peace and happiness posed by ignorance or lack of understanding.

Trouble in Tibet – Mind Map of Tibet. Where is Peace and Freedom in Atlas of Emotions? The World Atlas of Emotions excludes the Map of Tibetan Mind

New work! We designed an Atlas of Emotions for the @DalaiLama and @PaulEkman

https://t.co/xl2WMeZtqI pic.twitter.com/5hHZVXDDgw

— Stamen Design (@stamen) May 6, 2016

The World Atlas of Emotions excludes the Map of Tibetan Mind

With the highest quality of professional input, the website launched by the Dalai Lama, Atlas of Emotions, which blends science and spirituality to create a mind map, is set to reach global audiences. The potential for engagement is infinite.

[Photo by Chris Weeks/Getty Images]

Author

Sally Elliott

All content © 2008 – 2016 The Inquisitr News.

The World Atlas of Emotions excludes the Map of Tibetan Mind
Trouble in Tibet – Mind Map of Tibet. Repression is not compatible with Calmness. The World Atlas of Emotions excludes the Map of Tibetan Mind
Trouble in Tibet – Mind Map of Tibet. Repression Causes FEAR. The World Atlas of Emotions excludes the Map of Tibetan Mind
Trouble in Tibet – Mind Map of Tibet. Repression leads to Apprehension and Fear. The World Atlas of Emotions excludes the Map of Tibetan Mind
Trouble in Tibet – Mind Map of Tibet. Repression Triggers FEAR. The World Atlas of Emotions excludes the Map of Tibetan Mind

Atlas of Emotions – Knowing the emotions of Tibetans fighting against repression

Where is the Mind Map of Ms. Sonam Tso, Tibetan Mother of Five died in 145th known Tibet Self-Immolation Protest? Was she thinking of Freedom? Where is Freedom in The Atlas of Emotions? Is it Action evoked by Fear? Or is it Action to Demand Freedom From Fear? 

TibetanReview
Sunday, 8 May 2016

MOTHER OF FIVE DIED IN 145th KNOWN TIBET SELF-IMMOLATION PROTESTS

Atlas of Emotions – Knowing Emotions of Sonam Tso Tibetan Mother of Five. Where is her Mind Map? Was she thinking of Freedom? Is it Fear or Defiance of Chinese Rule?

Sonam Tso Tibetan mother of five died after she carried out a protest self-immolation near a monastery in Dzoege. (Photo courtesy: RFA)

(TibetanReview.net, May 08, 2016) – A belated report caused by China’s clampdown on communication channels and tight restrictions on the local people says a Tibetan mother of five died after she carried out a protest self-immolation near a monastery in Dzoege (Chinese: Ruo’ergai) County of Ngaba (Aba) Prefecture, Sichuan Province, on Mar 23.

Sonam Tso, believed to be in her 50s, told her husband, Kelsang Gyatso, who was walking with her on the circuit path running around Dzoege’s Sera Monastery, to go keep going while she proceeded to a nearby prayer-wheel room, promising to catch up with him later, said Dharamshala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) May 7. However, the woman, who belonged to Dotsa Village in the county’s Akyi Township, then set herself alight.

“A young monk heard her call out for the return of the Dalai Lama (Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader) and for freedom for Tibet as she burned,” the Tibetan Service of Radio Free Asia (Washington) Jun 6 quoted a local source as saying.

The young monk and Tso’s husband, alerted by the monk’s shout that a self-immolation had taken place, rushed to her and struggled to put out the flames. An elderly monk named Tsultrim, Tso’s uncle, then took her inside the monastery. She was later put in a vehicle to be taken to hospital but died while still in the monastery compound.

Following the incident, Chinese police detained Tso’s uncle for eight days for discussing the incident with other people. They forced him to delete the photos he had taken of Tso’s protest. Tso’s husband was also reported to have been called in for questioning three times.

Besides her husband, Tso is said to be survived by two sons and three daughters.

Tso’s action, which came after nearly a month since a young monk burned himself and died in the province’s Kardze (Ganzi) Prefecture, brings to 145 the number of known such self-immolations across Chinese ruled Tibet since 2009.

TCHRD said Sonam Tso had left a message before her self-immolation, but its contents remain unknown.

© Copyright 2016 — Tibetan Review. All Rights Reserved Designed by Tibnology

Atlas of Emotions – Knowing Emotions of Sonam Tso Tibetan Mother of Five Died in 145th Self-Immolation Protest. What is Freedom? Is it an Emotion?
Atlas of Emotions – Knowing Emotion of Self-Immolation Protest. Is it Action of Fear or is it Action to Demand Freedom From Fear?
Atlas of Emotions – Knowing Emotion of Self-Immolation. Is it Action evoked by Fear or is it Action to demand Freedom From Fear???
Atlas of Emotions – Knowing Emotion of Self-Immolation. Is it Action evoked by Fear or is it Action to Demand Freedom From Fear?
Atlas of Emotions – Knowing Emotion of Self-Immolation. What is this Protest? Is it Action in response to Fear? Or, Is it Action to Overcome Fear?
Atlas of Emotions – Knowing Emotion of Self-Immolation. Is it Protest Against Chinese Rule? Is it Defiance of Chinese Rule?
Atlas of Emotions – Knowing Emotion of Self-Immolation. Tibetans Resist Occupation for in their Minds they Desire Freedom.
Atlas of Emotions – Knowing Emotion of Self-Immolation. What do you Notice on his face? Sense of Fear and Anxiety ? or Sense of Defiance?
ATLAS OF EMOTIONS – KNOWING EMOTION OF SELF-IMMOLATION. WHERE IS THE MAP OF TIBETAN MIND?
The Mind Map of Tibet reveals the spirit of defiance

Cold War in Asia – Lesson. 14 – Balance of Power – Natural Force vs Military Force

Tibet Equilibrium – Balance between Natural Freedom and Political Oppression

Tibet Equilibrium is Balance Between Nature and Political Power.

In my analysis, the Tibetan Resistance Movement primarily aims at achieving the Balance between Natural Freedom and Political Power of any entity that rules over the lives of Tibetan People. For centuries, on account of Tibet Equilibrium, Tibetans enjoyed independent lifestyles despite military conquests of Tibet by Yuan and Manchu Dynasties of China. Red China’s military invasion, military occupation and colonization of Tibet impose severe strains on Nature as well as all denizens of Tibetan Plateau.

Tibetans are left with no choice other than that of Resistance for Red China rules over Tibet with Iron Fist severely undermining the experience of Natural Balance, Natural Harmony, and Natural Tranquility, the gifts of Nature and Natural Conditions presiding over Tibetan Existence from the beginning of its long History.

Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada

Special Frontier Force

TIBET – JOURNEY FROM NATURAL FREEDOM TO LAOGAI PRISON SYSTEM

Clipped from: https://www.tourism-review.com/tibetan-authorities-to-balance-nature-and-tourism-news10741

TIBET SEEKS BALANCE BETWEEN NATURE AND TOURISM

Tibet Equilibrium can be defined as the Balance Between Nature and Political Power.

Nik Fes – Sep 17, 2018

Tibet Equilibrium can be defined as the Balance Between Nature and Political Power.

The Chinese Tibet Autonomous Region wants to put environmental protection measures before the development of tourism. Nature and tourism need to coexist in balance.

The tourism industry in the region has developed rapidly in recent years and has become a growth driver, said Qizhala, the chairman of the local government.

Tourism contributes to Tibet’s GDP with at least 30%, according to him. The number of tourists from home and abroad arriving in Tibet annually is expected to reach 30 million, compared to 10 million in 2012 and 20 million in 2015.

Despite the incredible tourism book, the local government has always emphasized environmental protection. Experts have also advised balancing environmental protection, nature and tourism. Efforts are being made to prevent “blind development and overdevelopment,” as described by Qizhala.

The region plans to reduce the number of tourists who want to visit vantage points near glaciers, such as Qomolangma mountain. A cap on visits to Mount Qomolangma is set to be established and implemented in 2019.

“We always have to keep an eye on the minimum standard of environmental protection,” Qizhala said. Since 2009, a total of 9.6 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) has been invested in environmental protection in the region. Last year alone, 1.14 billion yuan was invested.

In order to protect wildlife better, a mechanism was introduced in 2015 to provide compensation to farmers and shepherds who have suffered wildlife losses. So far, 85 million yuan has been spent on it.

Regarding the future, Yao Tandong, director of the Institute for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau suggests that more national parks be built to make better use of tourism resources and protect the environment.

The region is considering setting up four national parks. These include Tibet’s largest lake, the mountain Qomolangma, the Yarlung Zangbo, and the earth forest of the Kingdom of Guge. Once these scenic national parks have been established, consistent planning for their protection can be implemented to minimize the environmental damage caused by tourism, Qizhala concluded.

Tibet Equilibrium is Balance Between Nature and Political Power.

 

Cold War in Asia – Lesson. 6 – Freedom is in Short Supply in Tibet

Trouble in Tibet – Freedom is in Short Supply

Science Daily published an article titled, “Water Supplies in Tibet Set to Increase in the Future.” When Freedom is in Short Supply, there is no hope for Water Supplies in Tibet to increase.

Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162 USA
SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE

Comparison Pictures of Rongbuk Glaciers. Trouble in Tibet – Freedom is in Short Supply

ScienceDaily

Water supplies in Tibet set to increase in the future —

Science Daily published an article titled, “Water Supplies in Tibet Set to Increase in the Future.” When Freedom is in Short Supply, there is no hope for Water Supplies in Tibet to increase.

ScienceDaily Water supplies in Tibet set to increase in the future
Date: January 20, 2016

Source: University of Gothenburg

Summary: The Tibetan Plateau has long been seen as a “hotspot” for international environmental research, and there have been fears that water supplies in the major Asian rivers would drastically decline in the near future. However, new research now shows that water supplies will be stable and may even increase in the coming decades.

Researcher Deliang Chen.

The Tibetan Plateau has long been seen as a “hotspot” for international environmental research, and there have been fears that water supplies in the major Asian rivers would drastically decline in the near future. However, new research now shows that water supplies will be stable and may even increase in the coming decades.

A report by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2007 suggests that the glaciers in the Himalayas will be gone by 2035. This statement was questioned and caused a great stir.

“This mistaken claim and the subsequent debate pointed to a need for a better understanding of the dynamics of climate, glaciers and future water supplies in the region,” says Deliang Chen, Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Gothenburg.

River flows stable or increasing Since the statement by IPCC in 2007, the Tibetan Plateau has been a focus of international environmental research.

A research group led by Professor Deliang Chen at the University of Gothenburg, in close collaboration with researchers from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, headed by Professor Fengge Su, has studied future climate change and its effect on the water balance in the region. The great Asian rivers have their source on the Plateau or in the neighbouring mountains.

The researchers recently published a study in Global and Planetary Change which modelled the water flows upstream in the Yellow River, the Yangtze, the Mekong, the Salween, the Brahmaputra and the Indus. The studies include both data from past decades and simulations for future decades.

The results show that water flows in the rivers in the coming decades would either be stable or would increase compared to the period from 1971-2000.
Affects a third of the world’s population The Tibetan Plateau is the highest and most extensive area of high land in the world, and what happens there affects water resources for almost a third of the world’s population.

Dr. Tinghai Ou, who was responsible for the climate projections in the study, has commented that increased precipitation and meltwater from glaciers and snowfall are contributing to increased water flows in the region.

“This is good news because social and economic development in the surrounding areas, including China, India, Nepal and other countries in Southeast Asia, are closely tied to climate change and access to water. But the fact that the glaciers are shrinking in the region could be a concern in the longer term, and we must keep a close eye on what is happening with global warming,” says Professor Deliang Chen.

Story Source:
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Gothenburg. The original item was written by Carina Eliasson. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:

F. Su, L. Zhang, T. Ou, D. Chen, T. Yao, K. Tong, Y. Qi. Hydrological response to future climate changes for the major upstream river basins in the Tibetan Plateau. Global and Planetary Change, 2016; 136: 82 DOI: 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2015.10.012

University of Gothenburg. “Water supplies in Tibet set to increase in the future.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 January 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160120113706.htm>.

Himalayan Glaciers Retreating at Accelerated Rate in Some Regions: Consequences for Water Supply Remain Unclear

Sep. 12, 2012 — Glaciers in the eastern and central regions of the Himalayas appear to be retreating at accelerating rates, similar to those in other areas of the … read more

Copyright 2015 ScienceDaily or by third parties, where indicated. All rights controlled by their respective owners.

 

Science Daily published an article titled, “Water Supplies in Tibet Set to Increase in the Future.” When Freedom is in Short Supply, there is no hope for Water Supplies in Tibet to increase.

Cold War in Asia – Lesson. 1 -The Birth of One-Party Governance in Peking poses threat to Democracy

From September 21, 1949 to September 24, 2026, The System of One-Party Governance in Peking remains as a Security Threat

From September 21, 1949 to September 24, 2026, The System of One-Party Governance in Peking remains as a Security Threat

On September 21, 1949 Mao Zedong revealed plan for One-Party Governance of mainland China establishing Single-Party System or Party-State. On September 24, 2026, the Communist Party of China continues to pose threat to Democracy, Freedom, Peace, and Justice in Asia.

On September 21, 1949, Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong revealed Plan for One-Party Governance of mainland China establishing Single-Party System or Party-State. On September 24, 2026, the Communist Party of China continues to pose threat to Democracy, Peace, and Justice in Asia.

Mao Zedong outlines the New Chinese Government – September 21, 1949

Clipped from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mao-zedong-outlines-the-new-chinese-government?

Cold War

1949

At the opening of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Peking, Mao Zedong announces that the new Chinese government will be “under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.”

The September 1949 conference in Peking was both a celebration of the communist victory in the long civil war against Nationalist Chinese forces and the unveiling of the communist regime that would henceforth rule over China. Mao and his communist supporters had been fighting against what they claimed was a corrupt and decadent Nationalist government in China since the 1920s. Despite massive U.S. support for the Nationalist regime, Mao’s forces were victorious in 1949 and drove the Nationalist government onto the island of Taiwan. In September, with cannons firing salutes and ceremonial flags waving, Mao announced the victory of communism in China and vowed to establish the constitutional and governmental framework to protect the “people’s revolution.”

In outlining the various committees and agencies to be established under the new regime, Mao announced that “Our state system of the People’s Democratic Dictatorship is a powerful weapon for safeguarding the fruits of victory of the people’s revolution and for opposing plots of foreign and domestic enemies to stage a comeback. We must firmly grasp this weapon.” He denounced those who opposed the communist government as “imperialistic and domestic reactionaries.” In the future, China would seek the friendship of “the Soviet Union and the new democratic countries.” Mao also claimed that communism would help end reputation as a lesser-developed country. “The era in which the Chinese were regarded as uncivilized is now over. We will emerge in the world as a highly civilized nation.” On October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of China was formally announced, with Mao Zedong as its leader. He would remain in charge of the nation until his death in 1976.

On September 21, 1949, Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong revealed Plan for One-Party Governance of mainland China establishing Single-Party System or Party-State. On September 24, 2026, the Communist Party of China continues to pose threat to Democracy, Peace, and Justice in Asia.
On September 21, 1949, Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong revealed Plan for One-Party Governance of mainland China establishing Single-Party System or Party-State. On September 24, 2026, the Communist Party of China continues to pose threat to Democracy, Peace, and Justice in Asia.
On September 21, 1949, Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong revealed Plan for One-Party Governance of mainland China establishing Single-Party System or Party-State. On September 24, 2026, the Communist Party of China continues to pose threat to Democracy, Peace, and Justice in Asia.

Whole Story – Whole Demand – Demanding Trump – Dalai Lama Meeting to Resolve Tibet-China Border Dispute

The Cold War in Asia – Resolve Tibet-China Border Dispute

“The Story of America Makes Everyone Free.” Whole Story – Whole Demand – Demanding Trump – Dalai Lama Meeting to Resolve Tibet-China Border Dispute
The Story of America Makes Everyone Free.” Whole Story – Whole Demand – Demanding Trump – Dalai Lama Meeting to Resolve Tibet-China Border Dispute

On behalf of Special Frontier Force, I demand Trump – Dalai Lama Meeting. It is “only logical” for we work together to uphold the doctrine of Democracy when it engages, contains, confronts, and opposes the doctrine of Communism. Tibet is the very first victim of the spread of Communism to Asia. Tibet-China Border Dispute is a mere symptom of the Cold War in Asia.

The Story of America Makes Everyone Free.” Whole Story – Whole Demand – Demanding Trump – Dalai Lama Meeting to Resolve Tibet-China Border Dispute
The Story of America Makes Everyone Free.” Whole Story – Whole Demand – Demanding Trump – Dalai Lama Meeting to Resolve Tibet-China Border Dispute

TIBET LEADER SAYS IT IS ‘ONLY LOGICAL’ TRUMP MEETS DALAI LAMA AFTER VISIT TO 3 MAJOR SACRED PLACES

Tibet’s PM in exile is disappointed that Trump did not visit the Buddhist monk despite touring the Vatican and Saudi Arabia.

BY NANDINI KRISHNAMOORTHY

May 25, 2017 07:06 BST

The Story of America Makes Everyone Free.” Whole Story – Whole Demand – Demanding Trump – Dalai Lama Meeting to Resolve Tibet-China Border Dispute

Donald Trump meets with Pope Francis in the Vatican. Reuters

After embarking on a visit to Muslim, Jewish and Christian lands during his first official overseas tour, it is now “logical “for US President Donald Trump to visit the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s prime minister in exile Lobsang Sangay has said.

Trump is scheduled to meet NATO leaders on Thursday (25 May). Earlier in the week, he visited Saudi Arabia, Israel and Palestine and met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday.

More from IBTimes UK

“Donald Trump … has been to all three major sacred places of three major traditions,” Sangay said on Wednesday (24 May). “So, what is left is Buddhism and his holiness the Dalai Lama is the most prominent Buddhist leaders in the world,” Sangay.

The leader in exile is currently on a visit to Washington and was speaking at the Heritage Foundation think tank there, Reuters reports.

“If he [Trump] can meet with all leaders of major traditions, I think it’s just logical that he meets the most prominent Buddhist leader,” he said.

The Dalai Lama has met all the four previous US presidents, greatly angering China.

Beijing considers Tibet a breakaway province and has accused the Dalai Lama of promoting independence for Tibet from the rest of China. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning monk has been saying that he only wants a higher degree of freedom for his homeland Tibet. He fled his hometown after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

Although the Dalai Lama has not yet been invited to meet Trump, Sangay said: “We are Tibetans. We are perennially optimistic.”

If Trump were to meet the spiritual leader, it could put in jeopardy negotiations with Beijing as the US is relying on China to do more to rein in an increasingly belligerent North Korea and its pursuit of nuclear and missile programme. Because of this it would be premature to talk about a meeting between Trump and the Buddhist monk, a Trump administration official told Reuters this week.

The Story of America Makes Everyone Free.” Whole Story – Whole Demand – Demanding Trump – Dalai Lama Meeting to Resolve Tibet-China Border Dispute

The Dalai Lama has met all the four previous US presidents, greatly angering China. Reuters file photo

The Dalai Lama was reportedly planning to visit the US in April, but it was pushed to June because of a hectic schedule. Washington is still not part of the monk’s June itinerary, Sangay said earlier this month.

China had recently asked Washington to “carefully handle” the Tibetan issue after top US lawmakers, including Nancy Pelosi, visited the Dalai Lama at his headquarters in north India in a bid to draw attention to human rights in Tibet.

The lawmakers vowed to stand by the monk and not give up in their campaign to protect human rights in Tibet, much to the fury of Beijing.

The Story of America Makes Everyone Free.” Whole Story – Whole Demand – Demanding Trump – Dalai Lama Meeting to Resolve Tibet-China Border Dispute

© Copyright 2017 IBTimes Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Inserted from <http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tibet-leader-says-it-only-logical-trump-meets-dalai-lama-after-visit-3-major-sacred-places-1623278>

The Story of America Makes Everyone Free.” Whole Story – Whole Demand – Demanding Trump – Dalai Lama Meeting to Resolve Tibet-China Border Dispute
The Story of America Makes Everyone Free.” Whole Story – Whole Demand – Demanding Trump – Dalai Lama Meeting to Resolve Tibet-China Border Dispute

Whole Story – USA 250-America 250 Supports Tibet’s Whole Freedom

We believe that it is the inalienable right of the Tibetan people, as of any other people, to have freedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil and have the necessities of life, so that they may have full opportunities of growth.
Whole Freedom or Purna Swaraj – United States Supports Tibet’s Whole Freedom: We believe that it is the inalienable right of the Indian people, as of any other people, to have freedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil and have the necessities of life, so that they may have full opportunities of growth.

We believe that it is the inalienable right of the Tibetan people, as of any other people, to have freedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil and have the necessities of life, so that they may have full opportunities of growth.

We believe that it is the inalienable right of the Tibetan people, as of any other people, to have freedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil and have the necessities of life, so that they may have full opportunities of growth.

While the US has stated publicly that Tibet is a part of China, yet it supports “Tibet independence forces”, a senior Chinese official has said.

UNITED STATES SUPPORTS TIBET'S FREEDOM: FOR MAN IS BORN FREE, MAN HAS A NATURAL RIGHT TO FREEDOM. UNITED STATES OPPOSES MILITARY OCCUPATION THAT DESTROYED TIBET'S NATURAL FREEDOM.
UNITED STATES SUPPORTS TIBET’S FREEDOM: FOR MAN IS BORN FREE, MAN HAS A NATURAL RIGHT TO FREEDOM. UNITED STATES OPPOSES MILITARY OCCUPATION THAT DESTROYED TIBET’S NATURAL FREEDOM. While the US has stated publicly that Tibet is a part of China, yet it supports “Tibet independence forces”, a senior Chinese official has said.

On behalf of Special Frontier Force, I am pleased to respond to a statement issued by Chinese official, Lu Guangjin, Director of the Human Rights Affairs Bureau of the Department of State Council Information Office of China when he spoke to IANS (The Times of India) on July 06, 2015.

Chinese official Lu claimed that the United States recognized Tibet as part of China one hundred years ago. The national entity known as People’s Republic of China has never existed one hundred years ago. The United States is simply stating that Tibet was part of Manchu China Empire of Ch’ing or Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) that has fallen and no longer exists in the world.

Freedom is a natural condition and for man is born free, Freedom is man’s Natural Right. Yuan or Mongol Dynasty (1260-1368) founded by Kublai Khan invaded Tibet in 1279. Later, Tibet came under nominal protection of Manchu or Qing Dynasty and with its downfall in 1911, Tibet declared independence and maintained the same until 1950 when Red China invaded and illegally occupied Tibetan territory. Tibetans were not affected by these foreign conquests and for centuries Tibetans enjoyed their Natural Freedom and maintained their independent nature.

UNITED STATES SUPPORTS TIBET'S FREEDOM: UNITED STATES DECLARED HER INDEPENCE ON JULY 04, 1776 CLAIMING HER RIGHTS TO FREEDOM, EQUALITY, AND PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. Statue of Liberty seen from the Circle Line ferry, Manhattan, New York
UNITED STATES SUPPORTS TIBET’S FREEDOM: UNITED STATES DECLARED HER INDEPENDENCE ON JULY 04, 1776 CLAIMING HER RIGHTS TO FREEDOM, EQUALITY, AND PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. While the US has stated publicly that Tibet is a part of China, yet it supports “Tibet independence forces”, a senior Chinese official has said.

United States opposes military occupation of Tibet that destroyed Tibet’s Natural Freedom. United States supports Freedom, Democracy, and Peace as national values based upon which United States declared Independence on July 04, 1776. In this context, it can be said that India was part of British Empire but India is never a part of a national entity called Great Britain. To the same extent, Special Frontier Force states that Tibet was part of Mongol China, Manchu China, and later Red China, but Tibet is never a part of a national entity called People’s Republic of China.

UNITED STATES SUPPORTS FREEDOM IN TIBET: SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE IS A MILITARY ORGANIZATION FUNDED BY UNITED STATES TO PROMOTE FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY, AND PEACE IN OCCUPIED TIBET.
UNITED STATES SUPPORTS FREEDOM IN TIBET: SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE IS A MILITARY ORGANIZATION FUNDED BY UNITED STATES TO PROMOTE FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY, AND PEACE IN OCCUPIED TIBET. While the US has stated publicly that Tibet is a part of China, yet it supports “Tibet independence forces”, a senior Chinese official has said.

US SUPPORTS ‘INDEPENDENCE FORCES’ IN TIBET: CHINESE OFFICIAL – THE TIMES OF INDIA

US supports ‘independence forces’ in Tibet: Chinese
official
IANS | Jul 6, 2015, 08.34 PM IST

And in an apparent reference to Tibetan spiritual leader the
Dalai Lama, the official said that some people who fled China were now working “with some external forces to destabilize China.”

BEIJING: While the US has stated publicly that Tibet is a part of China, yet it supports “Tibet independence forces”, a senior Chinese official has said.

And in an apparent reference to Tibetan spiritual leader the
Dalai Lama, the official said that some people who fled China were now working “with some external forces to destabilize China”.

“Some 100 years ago the US had stated publicly that Tibet is part of China. Even now it admits thatTibet is inseparable from China,” Lu Guangjin, director of the Human Rights
Affairs Bureau of the Department of State Council Information Office of China, told IANS here.

“Yet the US supports Tibet independence forces,” he said, clearly hinting at the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the India-based government-in-exile once headed by the Dalai Lama.

The 55-year-old Chinese official was categorical in his hour-long interaction that “some people who ran away from China are now working together with some external forces to create destabilizing factors and obstruct people’s lives in China.

“As I understand it, there are some external forces that provoked a small group of monks,” Lu said.

He was asked to comment on the 140 people in Tibet who have self-immolated with the demand for the return of the Dalai Lama and for freedom for Tibetans.

“Such violence triggered international reaction. During that period (2008 Beijing Olympics) some Tibet independence forces attempted to obstruct the relay torch, causing anger among Chinese.”

The official said even now attempts were being made to stall
China’s bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“Some people are creating trouble. There is an international website that supports Tibet’s independence
and it submitted material to the IOC (International Olympics Committee) saying China’s human rights violations, particularly in Tibet, don’t qualify it to host the Winter Olympics.”

On the celebration of the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday, he said: “He is celebrating the birthday for a second time (July 6),
this time in the US. In this, you see the influence of external factors.

“He (the Dalai Lama) is a religious leader. I won’t comment on his religious doings. Yet he has a shallow political vision.

“Over the years he has always been committed to the so-called ‘grand cause’ of Tibet independence. For us, he’s naive,” added the official.

He reiterated Beijing’s official line that Tibet cannot be separated from China.

According to Lu, without the intervention of external forces, the China-India relationship and the Tibet-India relationship could have been much better.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/followceleb.cms?alias=Tibet

THE TIMES OF INDIA
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While the US has stated publicly that Tibet is a part of China, yet it supports “Tibet independence forces”, a senior Chinese official has said.

While the US has stated publicly that Tibet is a part of China, yet it supports “Tibet independence forces”, a senior Chinese official has said.
While the US has stated publicly that Tibet is a part of China, yet it supports “Tibet independence forces”, a senior Chinese official has said.
While the US has stated publicly that Tibet is a part of China, yet it supports “Tibet independence forces”, a senior Chinese official has said.
While the US has stated publicly that Tibet is a part of China, yet it supports “Tibet independence forces”, a senior Chinese official has said.
While the US has stated publicly that Tibet is a part of China, yet it supports “Tibet independence forces”, a senior Chinese official has said.

Whole Losar – Whole Dude at Whole Foods praying for Freedom and Happiness in Tibet

Whole Dude at Whole Foods Wishes You all Tashi Delek

On behalf of Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment, I greet Tibetans on Losar, Tibetan New Year 2153. I pledge to renew support to Tibetans to help them find Happiness in Tibetan New Year beginning on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.

Losar 2026, the Tibetan New Year, will be celebrated on February 18, 2026, marking the start of the 2153rd year, which is the Year of the Fire Horse. This 15-day festival (with main festivities lasting 3 days) represents a time for cleansing, family gatherings, and renewal. 

On behalf of Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment, I greet Tibetans on Losar, Tibetan New Year 2153. I pledge to renew support to Tibetans to help them find Happiness in Tibetan New Year beginning on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.

Key Details for Losar 2026 (Year of the Fire Horse):

  • Date: February 18, 2026, falls on a Wednesday.
  • Significance: The Fire Horse is associated with movement, strength, and transformation.
  • Duration: The main, most significant celebrations occur over three days (Feb 18–20), though festivities can last up to 15 days.
  • Preparations: Homes are cleaned and painted, and a special noodle soup called guthuk is prepared on New Year’s Eve (Feb 17).
  • Celebration Activities: People wear new clothes, visit monasteries (like the Potala Palace or Sera Monastery), exchange greetings of “Tashi Delek,” and witness masked dances to ward off evil spirits.
  • Regions: It is a major holiday in Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, and parts of India. 
On behalf of Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment, I greet Tibetans on Losar, Tibetan New Year 2153. I pledge to renew support to Tibetans to help them find Happiness in Tibetan New Year beginning on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.

It is a time to pay homage to deities, make offerings, and enjoy traditional food like kapse (fried pastries). 

Tibet Equilibrium 2026: Special Frontier Force shares Happy Losar Tashi Delek Greetings

On behalf of Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment, I greet Tibetans on Losar, Tibetan New Year 2153. I pledge to renew support to Tibetans to help them find Happiness in Tibetan New Year beginning on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
On behalf of Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment, I greet Tibetans on Losar, Tibetan New Year 2153. I pledge to renew support to Tibetans to help them find Happiness in Tibetan New Year beginning on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.

On behalf of Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment, I greet Tibetans on Losar, Tibetan New Year 2153. I pledge to renew support to Tibetans to help them find Happiness in Tibetan New Year beginning on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.

On behalf of Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment, I greet Tibetans on Losar, Tibetan New Year 2153. I pledge to renew support to Tibetans to help them find Happiness in Tibetan New Year beginning on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
On behalf of Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment, I greet Tibetans on Losar, Tibetan New Year 2153. I pledge to renew support to Tibetans to help them find Happiness in Tibetan New Year beginning on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
On behalf of Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment, I greet Tibetans on Losar, Tibetan New Year 2153. I pledge to renew support to Tibetans to help them find Happiness in Tibetan New Year beginning on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
On behalf of Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment, I greet Tibetans on Losar, Tibetan New Year 2153. I pledge to renew support to Tibetans to help them find Happiness in Tibetan New Year beginning on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
On behalf of Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment, I greet Tibetans on Losar, Tibetan New Year 2153. I pledge to renew support to Tibetans to help them find Happiness in Tibetan New Year beginning on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
On behalf of Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment, I greet Tibetans on Losar, Tibetan New Year 2153. I pledge to renew support to Tibetans to help them find Happiness in Tibetan New Year beginning on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.

Whole Hope – The Hope for Freedom in occupied Tibet

Tibet Consciousness – The Undying Hope for Freedom

Hope for Tibet’s Freedom comes from a belief that predicts Red China’s sudden downfall similar to fall of the Evil Empire identified as Babylon in Revelation, Chapter 18.
Hope for Tibet’s Freedom comes from a belief that predicts Red China’s sudden downfall similar to fall of the Evil Empire identified as Babylon in Revelation, Chapter 18.
Hope for Tibet’s Freedom comes from a belief that predicts Red China’s sudden downfall similar to fall of the Evil Empire identified as Babylon in Revelation, Chapter 18.

On behalf of Special Frontier Force, Establishment 22, I host the Living Tibetan Spirits. These are Spirits of young Tibetan soldiers who lost their lives with the hope for Freedom in Tibet. We have not given up on our hope.

At Special Frontier Force, the concern is not about scoring a military victory. Occupation of Tibet is unjust, is illegal, and we stand opposed to it and resist  as best as possible. Victory in War is not always decided by relative strengths of parties involved. Red China’s act of aggression is Evil and hence Red China is destined to fail.

Hope for Tibet’s Freedom comes from a belief that predicts Red China’s sudden downfall similar to fall of the Evil Empire identified as Babylon in Revelation, Chapter 18.

Hope for Tibet’s Freedom comes from a belief that predicts Red China’s sudden downfall similar to fall of the Evil Empire identified as Babylon in Revelation, Chapter 18.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS - UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM - THIS CIA TRAINED FREEDOM FIGHTER SHARED A PHOTO TAKEN BY UNKNOWN CHINESE SPY WITH JOURNALIST NOLAN PETERSON, THE DAILY SIGNAL. BOTH OF THEM HAVE TO ACCOUNT FOR THE POSSESSION OF THAT PHOTO.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM – THIS CIA – TRAINED TIBETAN FREEDOM FIGHTER SHARED A PHOTO TAKEN BY UNKNOWN CHINESE SPY WITH JOURNALIST NOLAN PETERSON, THE DAILY SIGNAL. BOTH OF THEM HAVE TO ACCOUNT FOR THE POSSESSION OF THAT PHOTO.

I am pleased to share a story published by Nolan Peterson, foreign correspondent of The Daily Signal. Hopefully, media will give attention to the foul game played by Nixon-Kissinger during 1970-72. Special Frontier Force/Establishment 22 initiated Liberation of Bangladesh with military action in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in response to Genocide in East Pakistan. India’s Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi met US President Richard M Nixon in Washington DC on November 03/04, 1971 to enlist his support for India’s military intervention in East Pakistan. President Nixon announced his plan to visit Communist China on July 15, 1971. I call it as “Black Day to Freedom” and characterize Nixon as Backstabber of Tibet. I have known Richard M Nixon and his association with Tibetan Freedom Movement during the years he served as US Vice President during the presidency of Dwight David Eisenhower. Later, President Nixon denied support to India and Tibet for he needed help of General Yahya Khan, Pakistan’s military dictator to befriend Chairman Mao Zedong of Communist China who was known for his crimes against humanity including killing of millions of innocent civilians during infamous Cultural Revolution. I may not agree with Nolan Peterson’s analysis of events, but it doesn’t really matter. The only thing that matters to me is that of hosting undying hope for Freedom in Tibet.

Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162 USA
Special Frontier Force-Establishment 22-Vikas Regiment

A CIA-Trained Tibetan Freedom Fighter’s Undying Hope for Freedom

NOLAN PETERSON @nolanwpeterson October 13, 2015

TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. TSERING TUNDUK OF SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE. ESTABLISHMENT 22. HE AND PETERSON HAVE TO EXPLAIN THEIR CONNECTION TO CHINA.

Tsering Tunduk fled Tibet in 1959 after Chinese soldiers executed his parents. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)

PANGONG LAKE, India—At dawn, the old man stood outside his home on the Indian side of Pangong Lake, thumbing his prayer beads and chanting, “Om mani padme hum.”
The sun was rising from behind a wall of Himalayan peaks on the opposite shore, which was Tibet.

The old man’s face, which had been darkly tanned by a lifetime in the high-altitude sun, was as carved and as wrinkled as the Himalayas. His mouth moved almost imperceptibly as he chanted his mantra and stared across the burning blue water toward his homeland, from which he has been exiled for more than half a century.

The old man, whose name is Tsering Tunduk, fled Tibet in 1959 with his little sister, Khunda, after Chinese soldiers executed their parents. It was the same year the Dalai Lama escaped Chinese artillery in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa to seek exile in India.

Orphaned and alone, Tunduk and his sister joined a group of refugees for a treacherous two-month-long journey across the Himalayas into India. Along the way they faced hypothermia and frostbite, a lack of food, and persistent attacks by Chinese troops. Once they arrived in India, the two children began the hard life of refugees.

Ten years later, after he had completed his studies in Mussoorie in 1969, Tunduk volunteered for a secretive all-Tibetan unit in the Indian army called Establishment 22, which the U.S. CIA helped stand up and train when China attacked India in the 1962 Sino-Indian War. Tunduk went through six months of basic training, which included jump training taught by CIA instructors, whom Tunduk remembered as “blond and tall.”

As a new recruit Tunduk made only 80 rupees a month (when he retired in 1996 he made 1,300 rupees a month, about $20), but life in the military offered Tunduk an opportunity more valuable to him than money.

TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. PANGONG LAKE NEAR INDIA – TIBET BORDER. Photo. Nolan Peterson. The Daily Signal. CIA – TRAINED TIBETAN FREEDOM FIGHTER IS NOT DEFENDING INDIA-TIBET BORDER. 

Pangong Lake, which is 83 miles long, forms part of the border between India and Tibet. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)

“China killed my parents, and I wanted revenge,” Tunduk, who is now 70 years old, said during an interview from his home on Pangong Lake. He spoke in halting, accented English as he peeled potatoes in preparation for dinner. A CD playing the Buddhist, “Om mani padme hum,” mantra set to music was on an endless loop in the background. A shrine to the Dalai Lama, draped in a Khata scarf and with offerings of fruit laid out before it, was on a shelf over the table.

“I would have fought them with a knife at that time,” Tunduk added, not looking up. “I wanted to kill them all.”

Even now, at 70, Tunduk says that when he closes his eyes to sleep at night, he is haunted by images of his dead parents. As he describes their murder, Tunduk’s face muscles relax. His usual smile is replaced by something cold and expressionless. His mind is back in a time and place that no words, not even from one’s native tongue, have the power to faithfully recreate.

Tunduk grew up in an area called Nangchen, in the Kham region of Tibet. “They went through my village to get to Lhasa,” he said.

Tunduk’s father was the village boss, he explained, and when the Chinese soldiers took over, they hauled his father and mother into the town square where the soldiers had gathered all the villagers for the Thamzing, or “struggle session”—a public spectacle used to humiliate, torture, or execute Tibetans who oppose Chinese rule.

The Chinese soldiers tied Tunduk’s father’s arms and legs behind his back, beat him, and then shot him in the head. Next, they painted a target in charcoal on Tunduk’s mother’s chest, suspended her by her arms from two wood poles, and used her for target practice, pumping her body with bullets long after she was dead.

The Chinese soldiers made Tunduk and his sister watch. “I cried, and my sister cried,” he said. “There was nothing left to do but cry.”
Tunduk remembers looking into the faces of the Chinese soldiers and seeing nothing—neither pleasure nor pain. It was as if they had no emotions, he said.

A SECRET WAR

After China invaded Tibet in 1950, a grassroots resistance movement sprang up across the Himalayan kingdom. By 1956, tens of thousands of Tibetans were fighting an insurgency against Communist China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). These bands of guerrilla warriors, mainly comprising Tibetans from the eastern Kham region (known for its fierce warriors and bandits), coalesced into a resistance army called the Chushi-Gangdruk, which Tibetan resistance leader Gompo Tashi headed. The Chushi-Gangdruk (which translates to “Four Rivers, Six Ranges,” signifying unity among all the regions of Tibet) played a key role in the Dalai Lama’s escape from Tibet in 1959. The resistance army also provided armed escorts for the tens of thousands of refugees who followed in the exiled leader’s footsteps to seek sanctuary in India and Nepal.

The Chushi-Gangdruk fought the modern, mechanized Chinese army on horseback, wielding swords and World War I-era weapons such as British .303 Lee-Enfield rifles. Their fighting spirit and tactical successes eventually spurred the CIA to begin an operation in 1957 to airdrop supplies and train hand-picked fighters as paratroopers at secret bases in Saipan; Camp Hale, Colorado; and Camp Peary, Virginia—at a CIA training facility also called the “farm.” The Tibetans’ training was eclectic, including espionage tradecraft, paramilitary and small unit combat tactics, and Morse code and radio communication. The CIA operation to train and assist Tibetan fighters was code-named ST CIRCUS, and the over flights and airdrop missions were named ST BARNUM.

Over the span of the CIA’s secret war in Tibet, which lasted until 1972, Tibetan agents were dropped into Tibet from aircraft ranging from World War II B-17s, which were painted all black, to C-130s from secret bases in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). At first the CIA used East European pilots whom the CIA had previously recruited to drop anti-Soviet operatives into Ukraine. The idea was that the East European pilots would give the U.S. plausible deniability of its involvement if an aircraft went down. Later flights, however, used Air America aircrews and U.S. Forest Service smokejumpers the CIA recruited as jumpmasters and loadmasters. Special U-2 spy plane flights were also ordered to provide more intelligence about the geography of inner Tibet, much of which was still uncharted in the 1960s.

The CIA’s Tibetan operation ultimately failed to make a large-scale impact on the Chinese occupation, and many of the CIA-trained Tibetan fighters were killed in combat or captured. But the operation scored a few key tactical victories and raised the morale of exiled Tibetans. It did create an awkward situation for the Dalai Lama, however, who owed his life to the Chushi-Gangdruk warriors but was also trying to court the favor of the Indian government to secure a home for his exiled nation—backing a secret CIA war in Chinese-occupied Tibet was not in India’s interest at the time.

The CIA continued training Tibetan freedom fighters in Colorado until 1964. And support for Tibetan guerrillas based in the Mustang region of Nepal continued until President Richard Nixon’s normalization of relations with China in 1972.
Yet after CIA support dried up, approximately 10,000 Tibetan guerrilla fighters continued serving in Establishment 22.

TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE. ESTABLISHMENT NO. 22 Photo (Possibly taken by unknown Chinese Spy.) Shared by Nolan Peterson. The Daily Signal. BOTH TSERING AND PETERSON HAVE TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS PHOTO. WHICH OF THESE TWO IS CONNECTED WITH CHINESE INTELLIGENCE???

Tunduk, third from left, during jump training with the Indian army. (Photo: Shared by Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)

In 1962, the CIA’s Tibet operation was in limbo. The Kennedy administration questioned the utility of the mission due to the botched Bay of Pigs invasion and a budding rapprochement with India—Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was reluctant to support Tibet in a way that might antagonize China. The Dalai Lama’s presence in India and the CIA’s recruitment of Tibetan fighters from refugee communities made the CIA’s mission in Tibet a political liability for India’s fragile relations with Beijing.

But the political calculus for both the U.S. and India changed on Oct. 22, 1962, when China attacked India along the Himalayan frontier. India scrambled to mount a military response as 25,000 PLA troops invaded over the Thang La Ridge. Nehru’s longstanding efforts to downplay the Tibetan situation to appease Beijing were exposed as misleading, and he faced scathing criticism at home. Humiliated, Nehru turned to the U.S. to help stand up an all-Tibetan guerrilla warfare unit, tapping into the CIA’s existing recruiting and training networks for the Chushi-Gangdruk mission.

The original purpose of Establishment 22 was to use Tibetans’ fighting prowess and genetic ability to physically perform at high altitude to wage a guerrilla war against China in the Himalayas. Initially, the CIA provided much of the unit’s weapons and training. But the 1962 Sino-Indian War cooled before the Tibetan unit could be trained and fielded. India, however, recognized the combat potential of the unit and kept it active. The unit deployed to combat for the first time in East Pakistan (in hot and humid lowland conditions) in 1971 as part of Operation EAGLE, and later faced Pakistani troops in the Himalayas. Establishment 22, however, never officially faced Chinese soldiers in combat.

The use of Tibetans in operations against Pakistan was controversial among the Tibetan exile community. But the government in exile in Dharamsala ultimately supported the move out of deference to their Indian hosts. The U.S. opposed Establishment 22’s operations against Pakistan. But in 1975 the CIA rekindled its support for the Tibetan unit, sending two airborne advisers to train the Tibetans in high-altitude parachute jumps, using drop zones in Ladakh.
India later tagged Establishment 22 for counterterrorism operations. Based in Chakrata, Uttarakhand, the unit continues to serve along India’s Himalayan border as part of the Special Frontier Force.

ENEMIES

Many young Tibetan men joined the Indian military due to both the promise of exacting revenge on China and a lack of better career alternatives.
When Tunduk arrived in India, he was a 14-year-old orphan unable to communicate by means other than hand signals. “When we fled to India across the mountains we had problems with cold and food, and the Chinese were shooting at us,” he said. “And when we arrived, we had a big language problem.”

Once in India, Tunduk finished school and studied languages—he can now speak eight, he says, including English. Following graduation, however, Tunduk found that his status as a refugee afforded him few appealing career options. India conscripted many Tibetan refugees into road construction and repair teams for India’s Himalayan highways. That life didn’t appeal to Tunduk. And there was something else: he couldn’t shake his hatred for China.

“Army life was a very crazy life, but it was my best option,” he said. “I had no hope at that time to do anything else. No hope, and no aim. I faced a lot of problems, and I was affected by what happened to my parents. It made me angry. The truth is I joined the army to have revenge.”
“The army gave me a good life,” he added. “But I was always fighting for Tibet, not for India.”

Tunduk first saw combat in East Pakistan in 1971, and he fought in the 1986 battle on Siachen Glacier against Pakistani troops, in which 17 Tibetans died.
“Sometimes I became frustrated when I had to fight in other wars,” Tunduk said. “Our aim was to fight with China. Pakistan is not my enemy. China killed my parents and captured my country. China is my enemy.”

HOPE

Tunduk lives at an isolated collection of stone huts and seasonal tents called Man on the Indian shore of Pangong Lake, a thin 83-mile-long lake at an altitude of 13,940 feet, which forms part of the border between India and China in the Ladakhi Himalayas. Only nine families permanently inhabit Man, and Tunduk is the only Tibetan among them.
The lake, which is about three miles across at its widest point, is the highest saltwater lake in the world. It is the epitome of a Tibetan landscape. “After 27 years in the army, I came here because it reminds me of Tibet,” Tunduk said.

It is a long, difficult journey to Pangong Lake from the Ladhaki capital of Leh. The road is sometimes almost indiscernible as it cuts across steep mountain faces and down arid, high-altitude valleys. This road, like many in Ladakh, was constructed and maintained by Tibetan refugees pressed into construction gangs by the Indian government in the 1960s. Even today, small troupes of Tibetan road workers, comprising both men and women, are constantly at work in some of the harshest conditions imaginable. They keep India’s Himalayan roads clear, removing large rocks deposited by landslides or filling in potholes. All by hand. They live in small encampments made from old parachutes, located on what little flat ground there is. There are no trees for shade, and there is no water except for a trickle of snowmelt. Living their lives above 15,000 feet, they endure a lonely and miserable existence.

The road to Pangong Lake crosses the Chang La pass, which tops out at 17,688 feet, roughly the same height as Mt. Everest base camp in Nepal. There is an Indian army camp here, where soldiers deployed to the Himalayan border with China are sent to acclimate to the altitude. Past Chang La there are a few scattered settlements, but the Indian army constitutes most of the human footprint in this part of the Himalayas, underscoring lingering tensions with China about territorial rights in this barren, rugged territory, which date back to the 1962 Sino-Indian War.
After hours of weaving up and down mountain passes and endless switchbacks, the road enters a long valley and rounds the base of a mountain, where the ridgelines ahead seem to peel apart like curtains, revealing Pangong Lake.

TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE. ESTABLISHMENT 22, LEH, LADHAK, INDIA. ROAD TO PANGONG LAKE. Photo. Nolan Peterson. The Daily Signal.

The road to Pangong Lake from the Ladhaki capital of Leh. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)

The lake is complete, abandoned isolation. The water is a collage of deep blue and aquamarine, contrasting sharply with the earthen oranges, browns, and reds of the surrounding mountains. All the colors, made more brilliant and crisp by the thin air, seem to swirl together; it’s like looking at a Monet painting up close. Distances seem to disappear across the massive landscape due to the increased definition of light at high altitude.

The sun’s radiation is pulsing and hot, but noticed only when the nearly constant wind settles for a brief and rare moment. The only hints of humanity are several small settlements of seasonal tents and primitive homes on the Indian lakeshore.

Tunduk is short but well-built. He stands straight and moves purposefully. His body and features have been hardened by a difficult life, not broken by it. He smiles constantly and speaks excitedly in English. He uses his hands a lot as he talks, placing a hand over his heart to show sincerity and a hand on your shoulder or knee when he addresses you.
His clothes are worn and sullied by the hard years of sustaining life in this inhospitable place. Around his neck he wears a necklace with an amulet given to him by the Dalai Lama. He handles the intricately woven design like a priceless work of art. “The Dalai Lama is my God and my king,” he said.

Tunduk used to graze cows, but the extended periods spent in the harsh climate around Pangong Lake became too demanding as he grew older. In the winter, when the temperatures sometimes drop to -40 Celsius, his cheeks and the tip of his nose would turn black from frostbite, he said. Now Tunduk sticks with growing barley and black peas—the same crops that his parents grew in Tibet when he was a boy.

“It’s a very hard life here,” he said. “We live like nomads, as my parents did.”
He stockpiles food, fuel, and other supplies for the winter in case snow closes the roads and he is cut off. The roof of his home is covered with firewood and dried saucers of yak and cow dung. The walls inside are lined with bags of rice and other foodstuff. And above the dinner table is a shrine to the Dalai Lama.

Only about two miles of water separate Tunduk’s home from Tibet. Tantalizingly close, but Tunduk has not set foot in his homeland since 1959. And as he grows older he admits the chances of him ever returning home are fading. Yet he has not given up hope.
“I’m still waiting for freedom,” he said. “And when Tibet is free one day, I will walk back home from here. I will try my best.”

Different Techniques

Tunduk married his wife, Ganyen Tsultime, on Dec. 10, 1989—the same day the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize. “We met too late to have children,” Tunduk said. His younger sister, Khunda now lives in Simla, India, and has a daughter who is a nurse in California.

TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE, ESTABLISHMENT 22 TSERING TUNDUK. Photo. Nolan Peterson. The Daily Signal. I HAVE REASONS TO DOUBT THIS MAN’S LOYALTY TO SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE AND ITS MISSION.

Tsering Tunduk outside his home on the Indian side of Pangong Lake. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)

Tunduk and his wife spend nights in the sanctuary of their home. They sleep, eat, and pass time in the main room, which is heated by a stove that burns a combination of wood and yak dung. As the roof timbers creak in the Himalayan wind, Tunduk plays cards with a neighbor. There is a TV, and it is tuned to Indian news. Despite his isolation, Tunduk uses television to stay apprised of what’s happening in the world, and he is well versed in foreign affairs. He compares the current plight of Syrian refugees with that of Tibetans.

“I see a lot of countries with problems today; Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Ukraine,” he said. “I see these things, and I know what these people are going through. We had our dark times, too. Where there is a war, there is a sad story. Orphans and casualties—it’s always the same.”

Tunduk, who is devoutly Buddhist, believes that he is a sinner because of what he did as a soldier. He killed in combat and is deeply ashamed of it. To atone for the sins he believes he has committed, Tunduk has resolved to live life according to the teachings of the Dalai Lama.

“My medicine is to be kind, to make others happy,” Tunduk said as he sat outside his home, sipping on butter tea on a cloudless morning. The sun was bright and strong and still low over the Tibetan mountains on the opposite side of the lake.

“We are all the same in our hearts,” he went on, looking toward Tibet. “We want to be happy and to not suffer. We all believe in the same God (In my analysis, no Tibetan Buddhist expresses his religious belief using the term God); we just have different techniques.”

Portrait of Nolan Peterson@nolanwpeterson

NOLAN PETERSON

Nolan Peterson, a former special operations pilot and a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, is The Daily Signal’s foreign correspondent based in Ukraine.

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TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE. ESTABLISHMENT 22 THERE IS NO CONTROVERSY. TIBETAN EXILE PARTICIPATION IN OPERATION EAGLE 1971 WAS ON A VOLUNTARY BASIS, AND TIBETAN COMMUNITY FULLY SUPPORTED THIS OPERATIONAL TASK. THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN BY A CHINESE SPY.On bhavanajagat.com
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TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. US PRESIDENT RICHARD M NIXON HAS TO BE KNOWN AS BACKSTABBER OF TIBET. THE HOPE FOR TIBET’S FREEDOM IS STLL ALIVE.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS - UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. US PRESIDENT RICHARD M NIXON IS TO BE KNOWN AS BACKSTABBER OF TIBET. THE HOPE FOR TIBET'S FREEDOM IS STILL ALIVE.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. US PRESIDENT RICHARD M NIXON IS TO BE KNOWN AS BACKSTABBER OF TIBET. THE HOPE FOR TIBET’S FREEDOM IS STILL ALIVE.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS - UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. US PRESIDENT RICHARD M NIXON PURPOSEFULLY, DELIBERATELY IGNORED THE PROBLEM OF GENOCIDE IN EAST PAKISTAN.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. US PRESIDENT RICHARD M NIXON PURPOSEFULLY, DELIBERATELY IGNORED THE PROBLEM OF GENOCIDE IN EAST PAKISTAN.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS - UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. US PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON PURPOSEFULLY IGNORED GENOCIDE IN EAST PAKISTAN AND BEFRIENDED PAKISTAN'S MILITARY DICTATOR, A BUTCHER OF HIS OWN PEOPLE.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. US PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON PURPOSEFULLY IGNORED GENOCIDE IN EAST PAKISTAN AND BEFRIENDED PAKISTAN’S MILITARY DICTATOR, A BUTCHER OF HIS OWN PEOPLE.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS - UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. US PRESIDENT RICHARD M NIXON WITH GENERAL YAHYA KHAN, PAKISTAN'S MILITARY DICTATOR WHO WAS GUILTY OF GENOCIDE. BLACK DAY TO FREEDOM.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. DR HENRY KISSINGER(HE WAS NOT US SECRETARY OF STATE AND MADE ILLEGAL CONTACT WITH A FOREIGN HEAD OF STATE TO FORMULATE US FOREIGN POLICY) WITH GENERAL YAHYA KHAN, PAKISTAN’S MILITARY DICTATOR WHO WAS GUILTY OF GENOCIDE. BLACK DAY TO FREEDOM.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS - UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. A BLACK DAY TO FREEDOM. Original caption: Washington, DC.: President Nixon meets with General Agha Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan, at the White House. Khan was among six heads of state to call on Nixon following his banquet 10/24, to mark the 25th anniversary of the United Nations. October 25, 1970 Washington, DC, USA
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. A BLACK DAY TO FREEDOM. Original caption: Washington, DC.: President Nixon meets with General Agha Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan, at the White House. Khan was among six heads of state to call on Nixon following his banquet 10/24, to mark the 25th anniversary of the United Nations. October 25, 1970 Washington, DC, USA
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS - UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. ON NOVEMBER 03, 1971, US PRESIDENT RICHARD M NIXON REFUSES TO CONSIDER INDIA'S PLEA FOR ASSISTANCE TO RESPOND TO HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN EAST PAKISTAN.
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TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS - UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. ON NOVEMBER 03, 1971 US PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON DECLINED TO INTERVENE IN EAST PAKISTAN TO STOP GENOCIDE.
TIBET CONSCIOUSNESS – UNDYING HOPE FOR FREEDOM. ON NOVEMBER 03, 1971 US PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON DECLINED TO INTERVENE IN EAST PAKISTAN TO STOP GENOCIDE.