My Life’s Struggle in the Shadows of Tibet’s Struggle.My Life’s Struggle in the Shadows of Tibet’s Struggle.
The iconic Potala Palace in Tibet’s regional capital of Lhasa (AFP Photo/JOHANNES EISELE)
Sixty years after the Dalai Lama fled into permanent Indian exile, the cause of Tibetan freedom that earned him a Nobel prize and a celebrity-studded international following has lost much of its momentum — neutralized, analysts say, by the passage of time and China’s rising global power.
Inside Tibet, Beijing has effectively wiped out any organized opposition to its iron-clad rule, while outside, the once-vocal support of sympathetic governments and world leaders has dwindled to near-silence in recent years despite the 14th Dalai Lama’s enduring personal popularity.
“The fate of Tibet is in the hands of the Chinese state… Tibetans outside the region are not very relevant to the fate of Tibet, and this includes the Dalai Lama”, said Nathan Hill, convener of Tibetan studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London.
In 2007, the Buddhist spiritual leader said his homeland was facing its “darkest period in 2,000 years”. The following year, with the world’s eyes on China in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics, protests unfurled across Tibet, sparking a furious response from Beijing.
“You don’t see protests like that anymore,” said Kate Saunders of the US-based International Campaign for Tibet, attributing the shift in part to Tibetans abiding by the Dalai Lama’s message of non-violence and to massive Chinese state surveillance.
Although the Dalai Lama’s campaign largely focused on autonomy rather than independence, negotiations with China stalled in 2010, amid suspicion that Beijing was intentionally dragging on pointless talks, hoping international pressure would ease with his eventual death.
The 83-year-old has sought to pre-empt any attempt by Beijing to name his reincarnated successor, even announcing in 2011 that he may be the last in the lineage.
The officially atheist Communist Party has already shown it will intervene in the reincarnation of important figures in Tibetan Buddhism, such as the Panchen Lama who traditionally plays a significant role in choosing the Dalai Lama’s successor.
The boy chosen by the Dalai Lama to serve as the Panchen Lama was detained by Chinese authorities at the age of six and has not been seen since, with Beijing appointing its own candidate in 1995.
Although the exiled leader remains a hugely popular speaker, he has cut back on his global engagements and has not met a world leader since 2016 — while governments have been wary of extending invitations to him for fear of angering Beijing.
“The craze for Tibet among Westerners in the 1980s and the following decades has decreased significantly”, said Katia Buffetrille, a Tibetologist at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris.
Even India, which offered asylum to the Dalai Lama in 1959 when he made a daring escape across the Himalayas dressed as a soldier, has turned its back, with the government reportedly warning officials against attending events featuring him, citing diplomatic sensitivities.
– Buying freedom –
As the exile-led movement loses momentum, Tibetans at home are struggling to keep their traditions alive.
“Tibetans live in a totalitarian police state — if they challenge restrictions, they face the consequences,” said Gray Tuttle, a professor of modern Tibetan studies at Columbia University.
“Previous protests from the 1980s on… have yielded no tangible benefits, rather they have generated a worse political outcome and further clampdown.”
At least 150 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009 in protest against Beijing, most of whom have died from their injuries. But the frequency of self-immolations has lessened.
China’s investment in the region includes a huge outlay on security to build a surveillance state that makes it harder to organize protests. Rights groups say that a government campaign targeting the family and friends of protesters has also helped suppress dissent.
Beijing insists that Tibetans enjoy extensive freedoms and argues it has brought economic growth to the mountainous region.
The oppression of Uighurs in Xinjiang has also overtaken Tibet as the focus of China’s human rights critics.
When Germany’s top human rights official Barbel Kofler asked to visit Xinjiang last year, she was taken instead to Tibet — an indication of how much Beijing feels secure about the situation there, even though foreign journalists are still barred from reporting independently in the region.
Many locals accuse Beijing of repressing their religion and diluting their culture, but nonetheless the economic growth — boosted by government subsidies — has even seen Tibetan exiles return to the region.
Tibetologist Francoise Robin, who visits the region every year, told AFP that Beijing had effectively sidelined any talk of freedom by pumping money into Tibet.
“This is what is paradoxical in the case of Tibet, compared to other similar situations, because China is a country… that is on the rise. Often, in order for a rebellion, for a mass movement to rise, you need economic despair.”
burs-amu/fox/fa
My Life’s Struggle in the Shadows of Tibet’s Struggle.
RICHARD NIXON VISITS CHINA. THE WEEK THAT DOOMED MY LIFE.
Richard Nixon Visits China. The Week that Doomed My Life.
My arrival in Doom Dooma, Tinsukia District, Assam, India during the Week of February 1972 marks an event that Doomed My Life.
Richard Nixon Visits China. The Week that Doomed My Life.Richard Nixon Visits China. The Week that Doomed My Life.
I live in the United States, the Leader of the Free World, a Free Nation without any sense of hope for my future Life. I constantly experience the Misery, the Despair, the Frustration, the Disappointment, the Pain, and the Feelings of Hopelessness that describe the lives of Tibetans living in Occupied Tibet.
Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada
DOOM DOOMA DOOMSAYER
Richard Nixon visits China – HISTORY
Year1972
Richard Nixon visits China
President Richard Nixon visits the People’s Republic of China. After arriving in Beijing, the president announced that his breakthrough visit to China is “The week that changed the world.” In meeting with Nixon, Prime Minister Zhou Enlai urged early peace in Vietnam but did not endorse North Vietnam’s political demands. North Vietnamese officials and peace negotiators took a dim view of Nixon’s trip, fearing that China and the United States would make a deal behind their backs. Nixon’s promise to reduce the U.S. military presence on Taiwan seemed to confirm North Vietnam’s fears of a Chinese-American sellout-trading U.S. military reduction in Taiwan for peace in Vietnam. Despite Hanoi’s fears, China continued to supply North Vietnam levels of aid that had increased significantly in late 1971. This aid permitted the North Vietnamese to launch a major new offensive in March 1972.
1972
Richard Nixon makes the first U.S. presidential visit to China
President Richard M. Nixon arrives in Beijing, the capital of the People’s Republic of China, on the first presidential visit to the world’s most populous nation. The U.S. federal government had formally opposed China’s communist government since it took power in 1949,
1848
Karl Marx publishes the Communist Manifesto
On February 21, 1848, The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx with the assistance of Friedrich Engels, is published in London by a group of German-born revolutionary socialists known as the Communist League.
Vietnam War
1970
Kissinger begins secret negotiations with North Vietnamese
National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger begins secret peace talks with North Vietnamese representative Le Duc Tho, the fifth-ranking member of the Hanoi Politburo, at a villa outside Paris.
1972
Nixon arrives in China for talks
In an amazing turn of events, President Richard Nixon takes a dramatic first step toward normalizing relations with the communist People’s Republic of China (PRC) by traveling to Beijing for a week of talks.
In my analysis, India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru treated Tibet with due respect. India recognizes the Institution of Dalai Lama and could hold negotiations with Tibet to formulate military alliance or pact between the US, India, and Tibet. All said and done, Tibet would not have received a better deal from Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.
Uncalled for: The Dalai Lama should have avoided his controversial remarks on Jinnah-Nehru.
PK Vasudeva Academic
The exiled spiritual and political Tibetan leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, at a recent event in a management institute of Goa, surprisingly said that Partition would have been averted had Qaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah become the first Prime Minister of India. “Mahatma Gandhi was very much willing to give the prime-ministership to Jinnah. But Pandit Nehru refused. I think Pandit Nehru was a little bit self-centered,” said the Dalai Lama.
Basically, the Dalai Lama should have avoided this uncalled for verdict on Jinnah and Nehru because at the time of granting asylum to him, the Government of India clearly conveyed that he and his “government-in-exile” in Macleodganj, Himachal Pradesh, will not indulge in any political activities in India and shall remain confined to religious and cultural activities pertaining to Tibet.
In 1954, India and China signed the “Panchsheel” Agreement, which recognized the Chinese sovereignty over Tibet and Nehru-led India decided to withdraw its military presence from Tibet. However, Tibetans neither recognized nor endorsed the agreement. But by 1957, when it became pretty evident that the PLA’s occupation over Tibet was not going to end, Indian and Tibetan leaders approached the next best option — the US.
With the help of the CIA, Tibetan freedom fighters were trained in covert CIA camps and resistance was generated. They supplied arms and equipment to fight the Chinese army. The CIA recruited locals to fight against the Chinese as guerrillas and were airdropped throughout the resistance period. However, the resistance was thrashed by the PLA. Monks and civilians were executed, and monasteries bombed, forcing the Dalai Lama and his followers to stealthily cross over to India in March 1959. China was angered with the Dalai Lama, as also with India for giving asylum to him and other “faulty” policy decisions of forward deployment of troops, which resulted in the 1962 war.
As the war reached its zenith, a panicky Nehru sought immediate help from US President John F Kennedy. At a meeting held on November 19, 1962, in the White House, the decision was taken for a military aid package in support of the newly created military organization in India — “Establishment 22” and later the Special Frontier Force (SFF). However, China declared a unilateral ceasefire and withdrew from many locations, fearing the US may nuke China if the battle was not stopped.
The CIA and the IB helmed the project and a seasoned officer of the Indian Army, Major-General Sujan Singh Uban, was chosen to be the founder Inspector-General of the SFF. Based in Chakrata, Uttarakhand, the force was put under the direct supervision of the Intelligence Bureau, and later, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). With an initial strength of 12,000, the SFF commenced six months of training in rock-climbing and guerrilla warfare. The soldiers were recruited with help from political leaders of the Chushi Gangdruk, the original Tibetan resistance warriors. It was primarily raised to address the lack of intelligence during war and peace. With the formation of RAW by the late 60s, and with the help of the Aviation Research Centre (ARC) which provided airlift facilities, the SFF became fully airborne-qualified and a dedicated mountain warfare force.
The SFF commandos can survive in any hazardous conditions. They are tough, hardy, well-trained in rock-climbing, para-trooping, and skydiving. They proved their mettle in the Bangladesh war. They were valuable for clandestine intelligence collection, training the Mukti Bahini and carrying out several missions, including the destruction of the Kaptai Dam and bridges. They were also part of Operation Blue Star. They carry out clandestine operations but since they are under RAW, information regarding their clandestine operations remains secret.
Against this backdrop, such words coming from His Holiness are unwelcome. However, the 14th Dalai Lama apologized a couple of days later at Bengaluru at a ‘thanksgiving’ commemorative function of 60 years of Tibetans’ life in exile for his remarks, which he said had stirred a controversy.
To overcome his omission, he said, “Jawaharlal Nehru supported both the setting up of Tibetan settlements as well as the creation of Tibetan schools so that our culture and language could be preserved.”
During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama fled to India. After the founding of the government-in-exile, Nehru settled the approximately 80,000 Tibetan refugees who followed him into exile.
The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Kagyu Karmapa is the spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Interestingly, the current 14th Dalai Lama helped the young and controversial 17th Kagyu Karmapa after he escaped from China in 1999 following the same route the Dalai Lama took in 1959. The recognition of the 17th Karmapa has been a subject of controversy since two candidates have been put forward: Ogyen Trinley Dorje (OTD) and Trinley Thaye Dorje.
Intelligence agencies promote stories about OTD seeking asylum in the US, trying to buy land to settle down there or even returning to China. Last year, he promised to return by November 2018. The controversy of both the Karmapas can be resolved only with the blessings of the Dalai Lama who before the time of incarnation should declare the real 17th Karmapa for Tibetan unity and support for his successor.
SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE – PEKING – TAWANG – NIXON CONNECTION
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon administration, I visited Tawang. I call it Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection.
I am sharing pictures of Sela Pass near Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh (North East Frontier Agency or NEFA), India, to recall my visit to Tawang in 1972 at the request of Nixon administration. President Richard M. Nixon after his famous visit to Peking to establish friendly relations with Communist China, surprised me when his Administration contacted my Unit to place surveillance equipment inside Tibet to monitor China’s nuclear tests. To perform that task, my Unit personnel did not require Passports or Visa documents for Tibet is claimed by them as their own territory.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, just a few months after President Nixon’s Visit to Peking, at the request of Nixon administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon – Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – India- Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. At the request of Nixon Administration in 1972, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Special Frontier Force – Peking – Tawang – Nixon Connection. In 1972, at the request of Nixon Administration, I visited Tawang.
Tibet’s Independence is India’s Security. The Gorichen Range, the highest mountain range of the Arunachal Pradesh separates Tibet from Tawang in India.
TIBET’S INDEPENDENCE IS INDIA’S SECURITY. People’s Republic of China claimed Indian territories of Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh.
On October 22, 2010, People’s Republic of China has launched an official online mapping service and has formally claimed the entire state of ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ and Aksai Chin region of India’s Ladakh region of the State of Jammu and Kashmir as its own territory. Beijing claims Arunachal Pradesh and has named that area as ‘Southern Tibet’. The Simla Agreement of 1914, and the McMahon Treaty between British India, Tibet, and Manchu China had established the McMahon Line as the legitimate boundary between India and Tibet. Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh was under Tibetan domination during early 19th century. Tibetans consider Tawang as holy land as their Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsang Yang Gyatso ( The Precious Ocean of Pure Melody ), a great poet was born there during 1683. However, the 13th Dalai Lama had ceded this territory to British India and had agreed that McMahon Line determines the Indo-Tibetan border. During Communist China’s unilateral military attack on India in 1962, the Indian government had declared that McMahon Line as the official boundary between India and Tibet which came under China’s military occupation since 1950.
The Security of Arunachal Pradesh is better served by Tibet’s Independence. Tibet’s Independence is India’s Security.
Birthplace of Tsangyang Gyatso, 6th Dalai Lama, Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Tibet’s Independence is India’s Security.
McMahon Line in Aksai Chin of Ladakh is the boundary recognized by India. Tibet’s Independence is India’s Security.
The McMahon Treaty of 1914 and the McMahon Line establish the boundary between India and Tibet. Tibet’s Independence is India’s Security.
To defend Northeast India, to curb the activities of insurgents and rebels, India must support Tibet’s Independence. Tibet’s Independence is India’s Security.
India and China have already held 13 rounds of talks to resolve the boundary issue. General Shankar Roychowdhury, PVSM, ADC served as India’s Chief of Army Staff from 22 November 1994 to 30 September 1997. In a recent article published in The Asian Age, he described problem of the future security of Arunachal Pradesh. So also, India’s Chief of Army Staff, General V K Singh while addressing a seminar on “Indian Army : Emerging Roles and Tasks” on October 19, 2010 said that China and Pakistan are “irritants” for India.
General Shankar Roychowdhury, PVSM, ADC was India’s 20th Chief of Army Staff. Tibet’s Independence is India’s Security.
General Vijay Kumar Singh, AVSM, India’s 26th Chief of Army Staff. Tibet’s Independence is India’s Security.
TIBET’S INDEPENDENCE IS INDIA’S SECURITY : SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE DEFENDING FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IN TIBET:
Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh Suhag AVSM VSM, General Officer-in-Command, Eastern Command of Indian Army served as the Inspector General of Special Frontier Force from April 2009 to March 2011 in the rank of Major General. Tibet’s Independence is India’s Security.
TIBET’S INDEPENDENCE IS INDIA’S SECURITY. GENERAL DALBIR SINGH SUHAG AVSM VSM, INDIAN ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF KNOWS INDIA’S ENEMIES. TIBET’S INDEPENDENCE IS INDIA’S SECURITY.
TIBET’S INDEPENDENCE IS INDIA’S SECURITY.
China’s military occupation of Tibet in 1950 has subjected India to a variety of pressures. India will forever be subjected to pressures: militarily, politically, environmentally, and now, sharing of River waters if Tibet remains under Chinese military occupation. India, for its own Security, and for the future Security of Arunachal Pradesh needs Tibet to exist as a ‘Buffer Zone’ between India and China. Tibetan People have their legitimate Rights to defend their own Culture, Religion, Language, National Identity, Tibetan Buddhist Institutions and historical freedom to their own way of life. People of the entire Free World must come together and demand Tibet’s Independence from illegal Chinese occupation. The bilateral trade and commerce between China and India has allowed China to loot and plunder India’s natural resources without firing a bullet. China has colonized India and is exploiting its natural resources without the need for military occupation. China may not launch or initiate a large-scale military invasion of India as long as this lucrative trade in minerals and manufactured goods flourishes. However, India cannot afford to ignore this security threat and risk posed by China’s military occupation of Tibet. Tibet’s Independence would be in India’s interest and it would be India’s Security.
THE SPIRITS OF SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE:
I would invite all readers of this blog post to visit Facebook Page of The Spirits of Special Frontier Force and “LIKE” the Page to show their support for establishing Freedom and Democracy in Occupied Tibet.
All wars commence in the mind, and escalate with words. “Zhang Nan” or “Southern Tibet”, the designation bestowed by the People’s Republic of China on India’s state of Arunachal Pradesh bordering Tibet, is one such example. China now claims Arunachal Pradesh as its historic territory comprising the three southern districts of the Tawang Tract unilaterally acquired by the then British Empire after the Treaty of Simla in 1913. New demands, which were first articulated around 2005, initially concerned Tawang as a traditional tributary region of Lhasa, being the birthplace of the Sixth Dalai Lama (Tsangyang Gyatso, enthroned 1697, probably murdered 1706 by Mongol guards who were escorting him to Beijing under arrest). Subsequently, a day prior to the visit of China’s President Hu Jintao to India in 2006, Sun Yuxi, the then Chinese ambassador to India, stridently reiterated in public China’s claims to the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh in a deliberately provocative gesture designed to put New Delhi on notice of Beijing’s intention to dominate the agenda of interaction according to its own priorities. In a longer-term perspective, these needlessly provocative claims could escalate to a flash point with the potential to provoke a major confrontation between the two countries, and create an existential crisis for the entire region, a contingency for which India has to prepare itself adequately.
Indian reaction has been characteristically muted, constantly choosing to soft pedal and play down the issue — a unilateral gesture of restraint regardless of the degree of blatant provocation, which exasperated many in this country. It is seen as making a virtue out of necessity, because India has neglected to build up the requisite capabilities to adopt stronger alternatives. This is surely an unenviable position for a country seeking to promote itself as a major power for a permanent seat on the Security Council.
The present Sino-Indian equation is almost irresistibly reminiscent of the run-up to the Sino-Indian border war of 1962, and provides a fascinating playback of China’s postures at that time with its disconcertingly similar sequence of claims along the McMahon Line in North East Frontier Agency (Nefa), as well as along the Uttar Pradesh-Tibet border and in Ladakh, as relics of historic injustices perpetrated in earlier days by British imperialists. A naive and militarily ill-prepared India, with an exaggerated self-image of its own international relevance as a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, had sought to dissuade a determined China with platitudinous Nehruvian philosophies of anti-colonial solidarity, all of which were contemptuously disposed of by “a whiff of grapeshot” on the desolate slopes of the Namkha Chu and Rezang La. India’s collapse and comprehensive downsizing in short order in 1962 was primarily because it lacked military capability vis-a-vis China, a fatal flaw which has a disconcerting tendency of repeating itself when lessons of earlier debacles wear off from the country, as they seem to be doing now. “1962 redux” is slowly grinding into gear again, with end results unforeseeable, except that an enhanced replay at some stage (2020?) can never be totally discounted. India must not repeat its follies of the past because this time around it has been adequately forewarned.
To recover and reunify what it perceives as its lost territories, notably Tibet and Taiwan, the People’s Republic of China has never swerved from its other such claims pertaining to areas along the Sino-Soviet and Sino-Indian borders, besides smaller island entities in the South and East China Seas, to which has now been added the complete territory of India’s Arunachal Pradesh under its new Chinese appellation.
India has to evaluate the threat potential of the situation dispassionately but realistically, having reference to China’s demonstrated determination to set its own history in order. Tibet was successfully concluded in 1950 when the People’s Liberation Army marched into the country against a feeble and disjointed resistance, and re-established China’s authority. Taiwan has been an infructuous effort so far only because of the massive support and protection of the United States, which has guaranteed the independence of that country with the presence of its Seventh Fleet.
The border of Arunachal Pradesh, and Ladakh cannot be resolved through diplomacy and mediation (again as in 1962), India will be left with starkly limited options — either capitulation to China, or military defence of its territory. In the latter contingency, even a speculative overview would suggest that for India a full-fledged Sino-India war would likely be a “two-and-a-half front”, with Pakistan and China combining in tandem, and an additional internal half front against affiliated terrorist networks already emplaced and functional within the country. For India it would be a combination of 1962, together with all of India’s wars against Pakistan (1947-65, ’71 and ’99), upgraded to future dimensions and extending over land, aerial, maritime space and cyberspace domains. Nuclear exchange at some stage, strategic, tactical or both, would remain a distinct possibility, admittedly a worst case, but one which cannot be ignored. The magnitude of losses in terms of human, material and economic costs to all participants can only be speculated upon at present.
China is obviously very much ahead of India in military capabilities, a comparative differential which will be further skewed with Pakistan’s resources coming into play. India has to develop its own matching capabilities in short order, especially the ability to reach out and inflict severe punitive damage to the heartlands of its adversaries, howsoever distant. There would be national, regional and international repercussions that would severely affect the direct participants as also close bystanders like Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan, if not countries further afield as well.
Any future Sino-Indian conflict is a doomsday scenario, straight out of Dr Strangelove, a zero-sum calculus that must not allowed to occur. China must restrain itself regarding its alleged claims to India’s Arunachal bePradesh. History has moved on — attempts to reverse it are futile.
Gen. Shankar Roychowdhury is a former Chief of Army Staff and a former Member of Parliament.
THE LEGACY OF TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM
TIBET – INDIA – US – RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. TIBET IS STILL IMPORTANT FOR INDIA’S SECURITY. US WANTS POWER BALANCE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. US PRESIDENT HARRY TRUMAN WITH INDIAN PRIME MINISTER JAWAHARLAL NEHRU AT THE NATIONAL AIRPORT IN WASHINGTON DC, ON OCTOBER 11, 1949.
People’s Republic of China came into her existence on October 01, 1949. Red China openly declared to world her ‘Expansionist’ Policy and it immediately raised security concerns in Tibet, India, and the United States. Tibet – India – US relations began with Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit to Washington DC on October 11, 1949 to meet US President Harry Truman. Red China posed a direct threat to power balance in Southeast Asia. I would characterize Tibet – India – US relations as ‘The Quest for Tibet Equilibrium’. Tibet – India – United States remain united and have this common purpose for their historical relationship. The issue is not that of Middle Way or of meaningful autonomy for Tibetans. The issue is not that of Tibet’s Independence. It doesn’t matter if Tibet is part of China or not. Tibet, India, and the US view Communist China as “AGGRESSOR” nation in Tibet which endangered Power Balance in Southeast Asia. The issue is that of restoring Balance and Equilibrium in Tibet. Special Frontier Force is prepared to restore Balance and Equilibrium in Tibet by application of physical force to counteract Red China’s Force of Oppression in Tibet.
The Spirits of Special Frontier ForceThe Spirits of Special Frontier Force, Ann Arbor, MI. At Special Frontier Force, I host ‘The Living Tibetan Spirits’…
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. TIBETAN RESISTANCE MOVEMENT REPRESENTS THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. LHASANG TSERING. Photo. Nolan Peterson. The Daily Signal.
Lhasang Tsering, 68, a Chushi-Gangdruk veteran who served in Nepal’s Mustang region in the 1970s. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)
DHARAMSHALA, India—When Sonam Dorjee was a Buddhist monk at the Debung Monastery in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, he would not kill an insect. After all, that annoying fly buzzing in your ear could be the reincarnation of a beloved family member.
But when Chinese soldiers opened fire on the Tibetan refugees with whom Dorjee was fleeing across the Himalayas in 1959, the then-25-year-old monk picked up a rifle and fought back. “It was a journey to become a different man,” Dorjee, now 81 years old, said during an interview at his home in the misty mountain village of McLeod Ganj, just outside Dharamshala.
“I had to develop a totally different mentality,” he said. “I lost my country and saw the Chinese kill many people in front of me. If you meet such a situation, it helps you to convert your mind. I had to do something for my country. There was no other choice.”
After Chinese soldiers began to shell Lhasa in 1959, Dorjee fled across the Himalayas with a group of monks and other refugees who were escorted by Chushi-Gangdruk guerilla fighters. When Chinese soldiers attacked Dorjee’s group, the fighting spirit of the Tibetan guerillas inspired the young monk. “If not for the Chushi-Gangdruk,” he said, “His Holiness and no other Tibetans would have escaped Tibet.”
“They saved Tibet,” he added. “I saw what they did, and I was thinking that I could take a weapon and I could fight for my country too.”
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. SONAM DORJEE, ESTABLISHMENT NO. 22, SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE. Photo. Nolan Peterson. The Daily Signal.
Sonam Dorjee, 81, a veteran of India’s Establishment 22 and a former bodyguard of the Dalai Lama. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)
Six years later, a 31-year-old Dorjee decided to abandon his monk’s robes for good when he joined Establishment 22—a secret all-Tibetan unit in the Indian army created after China attacked India in the 1962 Sino-Indian war. For the former monk, becoming a soldier meant abandoning some of his most elemental philosophies and beliefs—including the prohibition on killing.
“It was very difficult to give up being a monk,” he said. “It was a totally different life. As a monk, we do puja and we pray. As a soldier we trained to kill people.”
The CIA initially provided training and equipment for Establishment 22, and Dorjee remembers the CIA instructors fondly. He said their support gave the Tibetan resistance movement a morale boost. “America trained us, and gave us food and weapons,” he said. “I have a deep appreciation and a great respect for America.”
Dorjee served in Establishment 22 for 10 years before he was selected for the Dalai Lama’s bodyguard, a post he held for 11 years. Establishment 22 never faced Chinese soldiers in combat, but saw action in operations against Pakistan, including the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war.
Establishment 22 is still active and draws recruits from Tibetan refugees in India and Nepal. A dispute over pensions has tempered Dharamshala’s support for the unit, but even today, the possibility of one day fighting the Chinese lures Tibetan recruits.
“When I joined the army, I wanted to kill Chinese,” Dorjee said. “All I wanted was to kill just one Chinese soldier. I was very angry.” “It didn’t work out like that,” he continued. “I regretted not killing any Chinese. Now I don’t hate China, but I don’t regret the fighting. I tried my best. I have no anger left.”
STUCK IN THE MIDDLE
The predominant narrative of the Tibetan resistance has been the Dalai Lama’s push for nonviolence and the “middle way”—a policy dating back to the 1970s that does not call for full Tibetan independence but a status of “genuine autonomy,” in which Tibetans control internal matters and are able to preserve their culture and religion but relegate international affairs and defense to Beijing.
Yet, the Dalai Lama is only one part of the Tibetan resistance story. From the 1950s through the mid-1970s a CIA-backed Tibetan freedom fighter army called the Chushi-Gangdruk waged a bloody guerilla war against China from inside Tibet and bases in Nepal. And after the 1962 Sino-Indian war, thousands of Tibetan men signed up for Establishment 22 (which the CIA trained and supported with arms and supplies) for a chance to fight China.
The combined combat history of the Chushi-Gangdruk and Establishment 22 challenges the Tibetan nonviolent resistance narrative. And the legacy of Tibet’s freedom fighters continues to inspire generations of Tibetan refugees to retain their hope for freedom and to resist Chinese oppression off the battlefield. While most Tibetan refugees still support the Dalai Lama’s middle way approach, recent signs of wavering in China’s economy have sparked a debate within the refugee community about how Tibetans should react if China’s Communist Party collapses.
“The Chushi-Gangdruk legacy has inspired younger generations,” said Tenzin Nyinjey, researcher at the Tibetan Center for Human Rights in Dharamshala—home of the Tibetan government in exile.
“The hope for freedom hasn’t faded at all,” he added. “We’re going to see something really explosive within our lifetime.”
The debate orbits around whether the Tibetan government in exile should continue pushing for autonomy, as the Dalai Lama has advocated, or push for full-fledged independence, which Tibet’s freedom fighters fought for during the Cold War. And with the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday this year, there is also quiet debate within the refugee community about how long support for the middle way will last after his death.
“We know armed resistance is impossible, the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] has to collapse or the system has to change,” Nyinjey said. “This is not the Cold War, no one is going to arm or train Tibetans to fight. But Tibetans are quite ready to declare independence if the Communist system collapses. We have the institutions of political democracy already built here in India.” “Independence usually doesn’t require picking up a gun,” he added. “But when the time comes, young Tibetans will do what it takes.”
Many Tibetan refugees, however, still prefer the middle way approach over full independence. They base their support for the policy on a combination of pragmatism and their faith in the Dalai Lama.
“With Gorbachev, the USSR ended in an instant,” said Norbu Dorjee, 61, a business owner in Leh, the capital of India’s Himalayan Ladakh region. “China’s problems are good for us. We hope that China will become democratic, that the Communist party will collapse and we can go home.”
“But,” Dorjee added, “we are still only asking for internal autonomy, not total independence. We have to maintain faith in the path His Holiness has chosen for us.”
“I believe the middle way will last,” said Thupten Gyantso, 41, a Tibetan refugee living in Pokhara, Nepal. “The reality is that China is too powerful for us to win independence. And even if we become independent, we will still rely on China for many things.”
Opponents of the middle way claim the 40-year-old policy has achieved little for Tibetan refugees and that human rights inside Tibet have worsened in the intervening decades. “So long as Tibet insists on only achieving autonomy, it will not be an international issue,” said Lhasang Tsering, 68, a Chushi-Gangdruk veteran who served in Nepal’s Mustang region in the 1970s. He now lives in Dharamshala and owns a bookshop called “Bookworm.”
“Unless the Dalai Lama makes freedom the ultimate goal, for peace and justice, other countries won’t help us,” Tsering said. “It might be too late for Tibet by the time China collapses.” Some point to the recent Tibetan government in exile’s elections for prime minister as a bellwether for a renewed independence movement. The candidate who has arguably created the most media attention within the Tibetan refugee community is LukarJam—who has stirred controversy by openly challenging the Dalai Lama’s middle way policy and arguing for independence.
“It’s fashionable to talk about the middle way, but it kills the passion to act,” Jam said, according to the Associated Press. “I have separated the spiritual and political Dalai Lama and criticize only his political policies.” “His popularity shows skepticism about the middle way,” Nyinjey said, referring to Jam. “There’s a movement happening that shows a fracturing of Tibetan opinion, and proponents of the middle way are being forced to defend their policies.”
TIPPING POINT?
Paralleling the middle way debate is a mounting resistance movement inside Tibet against Chinese rule—evidenced by protests in 2008 and a wave of self-immolations in Tibet that began in 2009. And with Beijing hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics, some speculate that there could be a repeat of the protests that swept across Tibet in advance of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
During the 2008 protests, Tibetans sacked Chinese-owned businesses and attacked Han Chinese on the streets, underscoring simmering ethnic tensions inside China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.
“In 2008 this major uprising happened across Tibet,” said Sherab Woeser, visiting fellow at The Tibet Policy Institute, a think tank in Dharamshala. “No one expected it, and it was young people who led it. They want to have Tibetan textbooks in school and to be able to wave their flag and honor the Dalai Lama. Young people are expressing themselves in Tibet saying they want to be free.”
After the 2008 protests, Chinese authorities cracked down in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Surveillance increased, as did reports of arbitrary arrest and torture. Pictures of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan flag were outlawed, new travel restrictions were put in place and the borders with India and Nepal were sealed, practically stemming the flow of refugees out of Tibet.
Since 2009, 142 Tibetans have self-immolated inside China as a reaction to China’s crackdown. While the Tibetan self-immolators comprise all ages and spectrums of society, the average age of the self-immolators is 24, reflecting what some claim is increasing resistance against Chinese rule among Tibetan youth.
“The self-immolations are just a continuance of the Chushi-Gangdruk resistance,” Nyinjey said. “Nothing has changed. The occupation and the oppression have always been there. The same causes of the resistance are still there, but the form of resistance has changed.”
“Tibetans have seen so much death, pain and oppression, and that shows in the way they protest,” Woeser said. Some also speculate that a renewed Tibetan independence movement could spark a chain reaction of secessionist movements in China’s Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang autonomous regions.
“Tibet can be the Tunisia, the trigger, for the breakup of China,” Nyinjey claimed, referencing the self-immolation of a street vendor in Tunisia in December 2010 that was a catalyst for the Arab Spring. LEGACY
Despite the overwhelming odds against them, Tibet’s guerilla fighters fought fiercely, suffering heavy casualties as they faced Chinese artillery, tanks and bombers from horseback, armed with swords and World War I rifles.
“They had no knowledge of how to fight, they were just very patriotic and wanted to fight for their country,” said Tenpa Dhargyal, 37, general secretary of the Welfare Society of Central Dokham Chushi-Gangdruk, a New Delhi-based organization dedicated to caring for Chushi-Gangdruk veterans and their families.
Dhargyal’s grandfather was a Chushi-Gangdruk fighter who died fighting the Chinese. “Their courage came from their anger,” he said.
The Chushi-Gangdruk played a key role in establishing Tibet’s government in exile. In 1959, the Chushi-Gangdruk’s control over territory in southern Tibet created a protected corridor through which the Dalai Lama escaped to India. And after the Dalai Lama was safely in exile, the Chushi-Gangdruk subsequently protected the tens of thousands of refugees who fled across the Himalayas into India and Nepal.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. TENPA DHARGYAL, GENERAL SECRETARY, THE WELFARE SOCIETY OF CENTRAL DOKHAM CHUSHI-GANGDRUK. Photo. Nolan Peterson. The Daily Signal.
“We don’t want to live under Chinese rule. We want our country back.” —Tenpa Dhargyal, 37, general secretary of the Welfare Society of Central Dokham Chushi-Gangdruk. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)
In 1957, two years prior to the Dalai Lama’s escape, the CIA began paramilitary training for handpicked Chushi-Gangdruk fighters. The training took place at secret bases in Saipan; Camp Hale, Colorado; and Camp Peary, Virginia (at a facility known as the “farm”).
After their instruction, the Tibetan operatives parachuted into Chinese-occupied Tibet from CIA aircraft ranging from World War II era B-17s (which were painted all black) to C-130s. To create plausible deniability should an aircraft go down, the CIA initially used East European pilots recruited for covert missions over Soviet Ukraine. Air America (an aviation front for the CIA) later handled the Tibetan missions.
The Chushi-Gangdruk eventually set up camps in the remote Mustang region of Nepal, from which they launched cross-border raids into China.
The CIA supported the Chushi-Gangdruk with airdropped weapons, ammunition and supplies until 1972, when President Richard Nixon normalized relations with China and U.S. support for the Tibetan resistance was cut off. The Chushi-Gangdruk continued to operate from Nepal for several more years without U.S. backing, but achieved little.
“The U.S. treated it as a tactical move to harass the Communist block from behind, it was not a strategic decision to support Tibetan independence,” Tsering, the Chushi-Gangdruk veteran said.
“But it’s easy to point the finger at others for our failure,” he added. “We failed to capitalize on the CIA’s support to internationalize our cause and unite world opinion to support us.”
In 1974, after bowing to Chinese pressure, the Nepalese military rooted the Chushi-Gangdruk out of their mountain hideouts in Mustang, killing many (including their commander, General Gyato Wangdu, who had been trained by the CIA at Camp Hale, Colorado) in high-altitude gunfights. The Dalai Lama sent a taped message imploring the Mustang resistance to lay down their arms, spurring several fighters to commit suicide.
For some Tibetans, the history of China’s invasion of Tibet and the legacy of lives lost in the ensuing Tibetan resistance fuels a lingering distaste for submitting to Chinese rule—which they see the middle way as promoting.
“Even though they asked us to be friends with China, we don’t want it,” Dhargyal said. “We can’t make friends with them because they killed our grandparents. We don’t want to live under Chinese rule. We want our country back.” KARMA Chungdak Bonjutsang began to cry when he described how Chinese soldiers killed his mother in 1959.
Bonjutsang, now 61 years old, covered his eyes with his hands. His chest heaved a few times with deep breaths. He tried to fight through it and talk, but he choked up. After a silent moment, he wiped his eyes clear, looked up to the ceiling for an instant, and then continued.
Bonjutsang was only 6 years old when his mother, father, uncle and older brother crossed the Himalayas to escape Communist rule in Tibet. They were in a group of about 400, he said. Women, children and the elderly were kept in front, while the men and the Tibetan Chushi-Gangdruk guerilla fighters stayed at the rear to repel Chinese attacks. Their group was a part of the 80,000 Tibetans who flooded into India and Nepal in 1959 after the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) shelled protesters in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. CHUNGDAK BONJUTSANG TIBETAN EXILE. Photo. Nolan Peterson. The Daily Signal.
Chungdak Bonjutsang, 61, fled Tibet with his family in 1959. (Photo: Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal)
Bonjutsang remembers the sounds of bullets ricocheting off the hard stones of the mountain when the Chinese attack came. Exposed on a high-altitude pass with nowhere to hide, the only options were to run or fight back. Bonjutsang’s father tied the scared 6-year-old boy to one of the horses used to carry supplies so that he wouldn’t be lost in the confusion of the gunfight. And then his father and uncle joined the Chushi-Gangdruk guerillas in fighting back the Chinese soldiers.
During the attack, Bonjutsang’s mother was shot in the side. She died quickly. And with the Chinese in pursuit, there was no time to bury her. “We just left her on the ice, and then we ran away,” Bonjutsang said during an interview at the Sonamling Tibetan refugee colony in India’s Himalayan Ladakh region.
“I was very young then,” he said. “But as I grew older, the pain got worse. I can’t stop thinking about her lying dead on the ice. I see her at night when I go to sleep.” Fifty-six years later, Bonjutsang’s pain and his anger over his mother’s murder have not faded. “China is still the enemy,” he said. He has never returned to Tibet, and admits that he may never be able to. Yet, his hope that Tibet will regain its independence has not faded—and that hope is sustained by his unshakeable faith in the Dalai Lama.
“We have great hope that we will be able to return the Dalai Lama to Tibet before he passes,” Bonjutsang said. “As long as His Holiness is alive we believe freedom is possible.” A smile crept across Bonjutsang’s face. He added: “And, of course, we also hope His Holiness outlives the Communist Party in China.”
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.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. THE QUEST BEGAN ON OCTOBER 11, 1949 WITH INDIAN PRIME MINISTER’S VISIT TO WASHINGTON DC. INDIA REPRESENTED TIBET’S INTERESTS AND PROVIDED STIMULUS FOR INDIA – US RELATIONS.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. NEHRU – TRUMAN MEETING ON OCTOBER 11, 1949. TIBET EQUILIBRIUM WAS THE CHIEF CONCERN AND PURPOSE FOR THIS RELATIONSHIP.
TIBET – INNDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. NEHRU – TRUMAN MEETING ON OCTOBER 11, 1949. INDIA REACHED OUT TO THE US ON BEHALF OF TIBET.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. THIS LEGACY BEGAN ON OCTOBER 11, 1949 WITH HISTORICAL MEETING OF NEHRU AND TRUMAN.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. THIS LEGACY BEGAN WITH NEHRU AND TRUMAN AND IT WITHSTOOD THE TEST OF TIME.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. TIBET, INDIA, AND THE US RECOGNIZE CHINA AS AGGRESSOR NATION AND DESIRE TO RESTORE BALANCE IN TIBET.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. TIBET, INDIA, AND THE US SHARE A COMMON CONCERN ABOUT RED CHINA.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. INDIA’S FIRST PRIME MINISTER NEHRU AND LATER ALL OTHER PRIME MINISTERS INCLUDING HIS DAUGHTER INDIRA GANDHI VIEW CHINA AS AGGRESSOR NATION.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. IN OCTOBER 1949 WHEN COMMUNIST CHINA DECLARED HER EXPANSIONIST POLICY, IT SET OFF ALARM BELLS IN TIBET, INDIA, AND THE US.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. TIBET, INDIA, AND THE US BEGAN THIS QUEST IN OCTOBER 1949 SOON AFTER COMMUNIST PARTY CHAIRMAN MAO ZEDONG ANNOUNCED FOUNDING OF PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA. THIS LEGACY OF DALAI LAMA, NEHRU, AND TRUMAN STILL SURVIVES.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. US PRESIDENT HARRY S TRUMAN.
TIBET – INDIA – US – RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. TIBET IS STILL IMPORTANT FOR INDIA’S SECURITY. US WANTS POWER BALANCE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. TIBET, INDIA, AND THE US VIEW CHINA AS AGGRESSOR NATION THAT UPSET POWER BALANCE IN TIBET.
TIBET – INDIA – US RELATIONS – THE QUEST FOR TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. THE EMERGENCE OF RED CHINA IN OCTOBER 1949 AND HER EXPANSIONIST POLICY HAS UPSET POWER BALANCE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA.
RED DRAGON – RED CHINA – OCCUPIER OF TIBET: ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT PEOPLE OF ANCIENT TIBET HAD FACED THREATS OF FOREIGN CONQUESTS.
Red China took possession of Tibet or seized Tibet using her superior military power. Red China told a lie when she claimed about peaceful liberation of Tibet by People’s Liberation Army. Red China is an occupying force that faces eviction from Tibet when Peace, Freedom, and Justice will prevail again. It is interesting to note that people of ancient Tibet had faced similar threats from external aggressors.
Archaeologist explores the first civilization of ancient Tibet
Mon, Aug 10, 2015
Vestiges of a once flourishing prehistoric civilization dot the landscape of Upper Tibet.
For more than two decades, University of Virginia Tibet Center archaeologist and historian John Vincent Bellezza has been exploring highland central Asia, going places where few archaeologists and explorers have ventured. Since 1992, he has investigated and documented scores of monumental sites, rock art, castles, temples, residential structures, and other features on the desolate reaches of the TIBETAN PLATEAU, building a knowledge base on a vast archaic civilization and ancient religion that flourished long before Buddhism emerged and dominated this otherwise comparatively sparsely populated high altitude region.
“Commonly, when people think of Tibet, Buddhism comes to mind,” writes Bellezza in his newest book, THE DAWN OF TIBET. By this he also implies the better-known and popular images of the imposing, sky-high, mountaintop monumental wonders of Buddhist centers such as Lhasa. But, he continues, “before Buddhism was introduced, a different type of civilization reigned in Tibet, one with monuments, art, and ideas alien to those of more recent times……….Demarcated through an enormous network of citadels and burial centers spanning one thousand miles from east to west, it would endure for some fifteen hundred years.”*
Bellezza is describing an archaic civilization known as ZHANG ZHUNG, which flourished from about 500 BC to 625 AD and encompassed most of the western and northwestern regions of the Tibetan Plateau. Mastering an ancient technology base not normally attributed to people of this region in the popular perception, the people of Iron Age Zhang Zhung, according to Bellezza, built citadels, elite stone-corbelled residential structures, temples, necropolises featuring stone pillars, sported metal armaments and a strong equestrian culture, established links with other cultures across Eurasia, and exhibited a relatively uniform and standardized cultural tradition rich in ritualistic religious practice, where kings and priests dominated the highest rungs of power. These are all characteristics of stratified, centralized and developed societies most often associated with the more southerly, lower-altitude great Old World Bronze and Iron Age civilizations that ringed the Mediterranean as well as the advanced civilizations of Mesoamerica and South America. The supporting findings on the landscape, when considered across two decades of investigation, have been nothing less than prolific.
The Tibetan Plateau features ancient stone structures, many of which date back to the First Millennium B.C. McKay Savage, Wikimedia Commons
But this archaeological evidence, according to Bellezza, also opened a window on a civilization that heavily fortified itself from threats both within and without. The struggle for resources in a land where climate gradually changed over preceding millennia from one that was relatively warmer and moist to one that was cold and dry may have played a significant role in this. Competing external and internal forces may have played another. “Most archaic era residential facilities in Upper Tibet were built on unassailable high ground, on inaccessible islands, or in hidden spots, “ writes Bellezza. “This insularity indicates that defense was a preoccupation of the population. Eternal Bon historical sources speak of the martial character of Zhang Zhung society and its political nexus of kings and priests.” Even the priests were depicted in the literature as possessing arms. On the other hand, notes Bellezza, “these literary accounts also hold that the ancient priesthood was very adept in the practice of astrology, divination, magic, and medicine.”*
With much still awaiting discovery and study, Bellezza continues to explore and analyze the massive trove of data he has already compiled on this ancient people. In time, he and other researchers hope, by merging references in the literary sources with the accumulating new archaeological evidence, a sharper focus on an otherwise obscure and ill-understood civilization will emerge.
Readers can learn more about Zhang Zhung in Belezza’s book, THE DAWN OF TIBET, and in an upcoming article about Zhang Zhung authored by Bellezza in the Fall issue of Popular Archaeology Magazine.
US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi talk before a bilateral meeting at the Putra World Trade Center August 5, 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool
Red China’s acts of aggression alarm her neighbors and nations of Southeast Asia are trying their best to convince Red China about the nature of her acts. It is not easy to persuade a tyrant for a tyrant will always find a pretext to justify own actions and find fault with others if they complain about it. Red China is a danger to peace and tranquility in Southeast Asia and she must be quarantined until such time she recovers from her disease called ‘AGGRESSION’.
US, China bicker over territorial claims in South China Sea
By MATTHEW LEE and EILEEN NG
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, right, listens while U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks before a bilateral meeting at the Putra World Trade Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The United States and China clashed Wednesday over who is to blame for rising tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea with Washington demanding a halt to “problematic actions” in the area and Beijing telling foreign parties to keep out.
In blunt but diplomatic terms, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi suggested that efforts to ease tensions over competing claims remained a contentious work in progress despite hopes for movement on ways to resolve them here at a Southeast Asian regional security forum. Kerry urged China to end provocative land reclamation projects in the South China Sea that have ratcheted up tensions with its smaller neighbors in some of the world’s busiest commercial sea lanes. Wang, meanwhile, sent a strong message that those without claims, such as the United States, should allow China and the other claimants to deal with them on their own. Kerry told foreign ministers of members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that the U.S. shares their desire “to ensure the security of critical sea lanes and fishing grounds, and we want to see that disputes in the area are managed peacefully and on the basis of international law.” A senior U.S. official said Kerry made the case for easing tensions in a closed-door meeting with Wang. In his meeting with Wang, Kerry reiterated U.S. concerns about the rising tensions and “China’s large-scale reclamation, construction, and militarization of features,” according to the senior U.S. official. The official said Kerry had “encouraged” China, and the other claimants, “to halt problematic actions in order to create space for diplomacy.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the private meeting. Chinese land reclamation in contested waters has irked Southeast Asian nations who, like the U.S., want China to stop. Washington is calling for a halt to aggressive actions by China and other claimants to allow a diplomatic solution to the rift. The U.S. is not a party to the conflict but says a peaceful resolution of the problem and freedom of navigation are in the U.S. national interest. China rejects any U.S. involvement and insists it has the right to continue the reclamation projects. Beijing was opposed to the issue being raised at the security forum in the first place. Kerry told the ASEAN ministers that his meeting with Wang had been “good” and that he hoped “we will find a way to move forward effectively, together, all of us” over the course of the two-day forum. But Wang gave no indication he had been swayed by Kerry, telling reporters later that foreign parties should support Beijing and ASEAN’s plan to accelerate negotiations on a code of conduct governing behavior in the disputed waters. “We want to send a clear message to the international community that China and ASEAN have the capability and wisdom to resolve this specific issue between us,” he told a news conference. “We shouldn’t allow the South China Sea region to be destabilized.” He said that China is committed to a peaceful solution through “rules and mechanisms already in place.” He also pledged that China will uphold freedom of navigation and overflight at sea. “There has not, and will not be any problem in this regard,” he said. However, ASEAN members have complained that although China has pledged to start substantive negotiations with them on a code of conduct governing behavior in the resource-rich and busy waterways, there is a gap between its pledge and the situation on the ground. China, Taiwan and several ASEAN members — the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei — have wrangled over ownership and control of the South China Sea in a conflict that has flared on and off for decades. Tensions rose last year when China began building artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, which the U.S. and Beijing’s rival claimant countries fear could impede freedom of navigation and overflights in a major transit area for the world’s oil and merchandise. The disputes have led to deadly confrontations between China and Vietnam, and Washington and governments in the region are concerned that greater military deployments increase the risk of miscalculations and accidental clashes that could spiral out of control. U.S. officials say China has reclaimed more than 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares) in the last 18 months alone. That figure dwarfs the 100 acres (40 hectares) that Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan have reclaimed in disputed areas over the last 45 years. Wang bristled when asked about calls for China to halt its island-building activities. “China has stopped, China has stopped. You want to see who is building? Take a plane and go see who is still building,” he said. John Kerry South China Sea China
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
RED DRAGON – RED CHINA – SOUTH CHINA SEA AGGRESSION
Red China is guilty of aggression for she makes unprovoked attacks on other nations. Red China is in the habit of being destructively hostile to her weak neighbors. Red China used her armed forces violating her international obligations in ruthless pursuit of her desire to dominate other nations to further her own ends. Firstly, I am asking news media to use correct linguistic terms to describe Red China’s war like acts.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi listens while U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks before a bilateral meeting at the Putra World Trade Center on Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur. | REUTERS
Kerry raises South China Sea concerns with China’s Wang
AFP-JIJI, Reuters
Aug 5, 2015
Online: Aug 05, 2015
Print: Aug 06, 2015
Last Modified: Aug 05, 2015
KUALA LUMPUR – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry voiced concern to China on Wednesday over its land reclamation in the South China Sea and the “militarization” of its disputed waters. Kerry made the remarks to Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of meetings involving the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, where maritime tensions have taken center stage.
The official said Kerry told Wang that while Washington did not take a position on sovereignty claims in the strategic waterway, it wanted to see them resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law.
“He encouraged China, along with the other claimants, to halt problematic actions in order to create space for diplomacy,” the official said. In brief remarks to reporters after his talks with Kerry, Wang said China would pursue “peaceful discussions” to resolve the South China Sea dispute. He did not elaborate.
Recent satellite images show China has almost finished building a 3,000-metre airstrip on one of its seven new islands in the Spratlys. The airstrip will be long enough to accommodate most Chinese military aircraft, security experts have said, giving Beijing greater reach into the heart of maritime Southeast Asia.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.
China had said it did not want the South China Sea dispute raised at this week’s ASEAN meetings, but some ministers, including from host Malaysia, rebuffed that call, saying the issue was too important to ignore.
In a statement, Japan’s Senior Vice Foreign Minister Minoru Kiuchi “voiced deep concern over unilateral actions that change the status quo and heighten tensions in the South China Sea, including large-scale land reclamation, the construction of outposts and their use for military purposes.”
Despite strong public comments by several Southeast Asian ministers about the need to reduce tensions, the grouping had yet to issue a customary communique following annual talks between its foreign ministers on Tuesday.
“On the South China Sea, I think we are probably nearing a formulation,” said Jakkrit Srivali, director-general of the ASEAN department at Thailand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry. Other issues had also held up the statement, he said without elaborating. A communique was expected at the end of joint meetings between ASEAN, the United States, China, Japan and other countries on Thursday, senior officials said.
China and Southeast Asian nations had agreed to set up a foreign ministers’ hotline to tackle emergencies in the waterway, a senior ASEAN official said on Friday. This was expected to be contained in the communique.
Wang was due to hold talks with ASEAN foreign ministers later on Wednesday. On Monday, he described calls for a freeze in activity in the South China Sea as “unrealistic.”
Kerry told his ASEAN counterparts in a separate meeting that Washington wanted to see stability in the South China Sea. “We want to ensure the security of critical sea lanes and fishing grounds and to see that disputes in the area are managed peacefully and on the basis of international law,” Kerry said.
China has shown no sign of halting its construction on artificial islands in disputed areas. It has accused the United States of militarizing the South China Sea by staging patrols and joint military drills.
The senior State Department official said Kerry and Wang also discussed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States in September, as well as U.S. concerns over cybersecurity and human rights in China.
“They agreed there are many shared challenges that both countries should work closer together to address, such as climate change and development, and that more dialogue and cooperation between the United States and China remains vital,” the official said.
Revelation So, is the whole world just going to continue sitting on their thumbs while China continues to advance is what is clearly not quote “militarization”, but indeed militarization? What will it take to get the United States, the U.N- SOMEONE- to strike in glaring detail the Chinese government is ignoring officially set maritime borders and take actual action against this? Do we honestly have to wait until China takes over a nation or two in order to wake people up? This is not a time to shy due to the possibility of war. We might have one in the future if this keeps up.
koedo I couldn’t agree more. What’s truly frightening is the mismatch between Kerry and Wang Yi. Remember, Kerry and Obama, think they just accomplished a historic agreement with Iran. As far as negotiating with China goes, history is, indeed, repeating itself and Kerry is playing the lead role of Neville Chamberlain. China does not fear the current US administration in the least bit. Why should they? Kerry and Obama’s complete incompetence in the arena of foreign policy, is going to, literally, get people killed.
Revelation Bother the US Administration the Chinese government fears no one, and why? Because the world has stupidly fed the beast until it’s become the monster it is today. The majority of world economies depend on China, and they can’t simply sever relations; China knows this, which is why they dare to cause trouble. No kidding how incompetent Obama is; then again, the States has not had a competent president in ages, let alone one who isn’t a bloody coward.
THE EVIL RED EMPIRE – BEIJING IS DOOMED – NO ONE CAN SAVE RED CHINA
THE EVIL RED EMPIRE – BEIJING IS DOOMED – NO ONE CAN SAVE RED CHINA: Red China Arrogant Nation, Evil Power.
While Red China enjoys very impressive trade and commerce relations with a large number of nations of this world, it is not hard to reflect upon her sudden downfall. The word ‘Babylon’ symbolizes ‘evil’ and a seat of evil power. Man recognizes actions that unjustly harmful to others as ‘evil’ for those actions have consequences. The most important consequence of ‘evil’ action is that of a calamity, catastrophe, or disaster that will rapidly ruin the power wielded by ‘evildoer’. A man who chooses to act in evil manner causes his own downfall for there is no escape from consequences of evil acts. Red China cannot pay a ransom to ward off disaster that is sure to strike her. Using words of Prophet Isaiah, I would like to tell Red China, “There is not one that can save you.”
THE EVIL RED EMPIRE – BEIJING IS DOOMED – NO ONE CAN SAVE RED CHINA: The Fall of Babylon – Evil Empire – Prophet Isaiah
Isaiah 47 NIV – The Fall of Babylon – “Go down, sit – Bible Gateway ISAIAH 47 NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION(NIV)
THE FALL OF BABYLON
47 “Go down, sit in the dust,
Virgin Daughter Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, queen city of the Babylonians.[a] No more will you be called tender or delicate. 2 Take millstones and grind flour; take off your veil. Lift up your skirts, bare your legs, and wade through the streams. 3 Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.”
4 Our Redeemer—the Lord Almighty is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel.
5 “Sit in silence, go into darkness,
queen city of the Babylonians; no more will you be called queen of kingdoms. 6 I was angry with my people and desecrated my inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no mercy. Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke. 7 You said, ‘I am forever— the eternal queen!’ But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen.
8 “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
lounging in your security and saying to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.’ 9 Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells. 10 You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’ 11 Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you.
12 “Keep on, then, with your magic spells
and with your many sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror. 13 All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you. 14 Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame. These are not coals for warmth; this is not a fire to sit by. 15 That is all they are to you— these you have dealt with and labored with since childhood. All of them go on in their error; there is not one that can save you.
Footnotes:
Isaiah 47:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 5
Cross references:
Isaiah 47:1 : S Job 2:13; S Isa 29:4 Isaiah 47:1 : S Isa 21:9; S 23:12 Isaiah 47:1 : Ps 137:8; Jer 50:42; 51:33; Zec 2:7 Isaiah 47:1 : Dt 28:56 Isaiah 47:2 : Ex 11:5; Mt 24:41 Isaiah 47:2 : S Jdg 16:21 Isaiah 47:2 : S Ge 24:65 Isaiah 47:2 : S Isa 32:11 Isaiah 47:3 : S Ge 2:25; Eze 16:37; Na 3:5 Isaiah 47:3 : S Isa 20:4 Isaiah 47:3 : S Isa 1:24; S 34:8 Isaiah 47:3 : Isa 13:18-19 Isaiah 47:4 : S Job 19:25 Isaiah 47:4 : S Isa 13:4 Isaiah 47:4 : Isa 48:2; Jer 50:34; Am 4:13 Isaiah 47:4 : S Isa 1:4; 48:17 Isaiah 47:5 : S Job 2:13 Isaiah 47:5 : Isa 9:2; 13:10 Isaiah 47:5 : S Isa 21:9 Isaiah 47:5 : ver 7; La 1:1; Rev 18:7 Isaiah 47:5 : S Isa 13:19; Rev 17:18 Isaiah 47:6 : S 2Ch 28:9 Isaiah 47:6 : S Dt 13:15; S Isa 42:24; Jer 2:7; 50:11 Isaiah 47:6 : Isa 10:13 Isaiah 47:6 : S Isa 14:6 Isaiah 47:7 : S Isa 10:13; Da 4:30 Isaiah 47:7 : S ver 5; Rev 18:7 Isaiah 47:7 : S Isa 42:23, 25 Isaiah 47:7 : S Dt 32:29 Isaiah 47:8 : S Isa 32:9 Isaiah 47:8 : S Isa 45:6 Isaiah 47:8 : Isa 49:21; 54:4; La 1:1; Rev 18:7 Isaiah 47:9 : S Ps 55:15; 73:19; 1Th 5:3; Rev 18:8-10 Isaiah 47:9 : S Isa 13:18 Isaiah 47:9 : Isa 4:1; Jer 15:8; 18:21 Isaiah 47:9 : ver 12; Na 3:4; Mal 3:5 Isaiah 47:9 : Dt 18:10-11; Rev 9:21; 18:23 Isaiah 47:10 : S Job 15:31; Ps 52:7; 62:10 Isaiah 47:10 : S 2Ki 21:16; S Isa 29:15 Isaiah 47:10 : S Isa 5:21 Isaiah 47:10 : Isa 44:20 Isaiah 47:11 : S Isa 10:3; S 14:15; S 21:9; S 31:2; Lk 17:27 Isaiah 47:11 : S Ps 55:15; S Isa 17:14; 1Th 5:3 Isaiah 47:12 : S ver 9; S Ex 7:11 Isaiah 47:13 : Isa 57:10; Jer 51:58; Hab 2:13 Isaiah 47:13 : S Isa 19:3; S 44:25 Isaiah 47:13 : ver 15; S Isa 5:29; 43:13; 46:7 Isaiah 47:14 : S Isa 5:24 Isaiah 47:14 : S Isa 30:30 Isaiah 47:14 : Isa 10:17; Jer 51:30, 32, 58 Isaiah 47:15 : Rev 18:11 Isaiah 47:15 : S ver 13; S Isa 44:17
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi listens while U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks before a bilateral meeting at the Putra World Trade Center on Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur. | REUTERS 
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