BEIJING (Reuters) – Those who criticize China over human rights in Tibet have been “bewitched” by the Dalai Lama, a senior Chinese official said on Wednesday, days before the 60th anniversary of the Tibetan spiritual leader’s flight into exile in India.
Living Tibetan Spirits Bewitched by “Peaceful Liberation” of Tibet.
People cross a road under flags marking Tibetan Serfs’ Emancipation Day on March 28, in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China March 26, 2019. Picture taken March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer
China says it “peacefully liberated” Tibet in 1950 and has since exerted enormous effort to bring the remote region into the modern era, abolishing feudal practices while protecting its Buddhist people’s right to freely practise their religion and maintain their culture.
Critics, including the United States, say China rules with an iron fist and has overseen widespread rights abuses.
Deputy Tibet governor Norbu Dondrup said Tibetan society was “very dark and very cruel” before Communist Party rule. He was speaking in Beijing on the release of a policy paper marking six decades since China began what it calls “democratic reforms” in Tibet.
He said ordinary people – or “serfs” – could be bought and sold, thrown in jail, or even killed at will when the Dalai Lama was in charge in Tibet.
“The Dalai Lama attacking our human rights totally has ulterior motives. He tramples on human rights, and has no right, no qualifications, and is unworthy of talking about human rights,” Norbu Dondrup said.
“As for some countries slamming our human rights, they either don’t understand or believe the Dalai clique’s rumors and bewitchments,” he said.
The human rights situation in Tibet was extremely good, he said, listing examples such as free medical care and an abundance of food.
Asked whether China would ever allow an independence referendum in Tibet, as has happened in Scotland and Quebec, Norbu Dondrup said Tibet has been an inseparable part of China since ancient times.
“We have never recognized Tibet independence, and neither has any other country,” he said. “Moreover, the peoples of Tibet in the extended family of the peoples of the motherland now have very happy lives.”
China reviles the Dalai Lama, who crossed the border into exile in India on March 31, 1959, after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
Seen by Beijing as a dangerous separatist, he says he seeks merely genuine autonomy for his mountainous homeland and denies espousing violence.
The Dalai Lama told Reuters last week it was possible that, once he dies, his incarnation could be found in India and warned that any other successor named by China would not be respected.
The officially atheist Communist Party says it must approve his and other reincarnations of Tibetan lamas.
The Tibet issue has also become another irritant in China-U.S. ties after President Donald Trump signed into law a Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act in December.
That seeks to press China to open the region by denying U.S. entry to officials deemed responsible for restricting access to Tibet. China has denounced the law.
Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait
Living Tibetan Spirits Bewitched by “Peaceful Liberation” of Tibet.
“Our strength, our power is based on truth. Chinese power based on gun,” the Dalai Lama said. “So, for short term, gun is much more decisive, but long term truth is more powerful.”
In my analysis, the Battle for Tibet will not be decided by either Chinese Gun or American Gun. Truth will prevail. China will reap the consequences of her own Evil actions. Tibet’s Identity is shaped by Natural Forces, Natural Causes, and Natural Factors that condition the nature of Tibetan Existence. Nature will unleash physical force to compel China to withdraw from illegally occupied Tibetan Territory.
Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada
Special Frontier Force
Exclusive: Dalai Lama contemplates Chinese gambit after his death. Reuters
The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, said on Monday it was possible that once he dies his incarnation could be found in India, where he has lived in exile for 60 years, and warned that any other successor named by China would not be respected.
Sat in an office next to a temple ringed by green hills and snow-capped mountains, the 14th Dalai Lama spoke to Reuters a day after Tibetans in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala marked the anniversary of his escape from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, disguised as a soldier.
He fled to India in early 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule and has since worked to draw global support for linguistic and cultural autonomy in his remote and mountainous homeland.
China, which took control of Tibet in 1950, brands the 83-year-old Nobel peace laureate a dangerous separatist.
Pondering what might happen after his death, the Dalai Lama anticipated some attempt by Beijing to foist a successor on Tibetan Buddhists.
“China considers Dalai Lama’s reincarnation as something very important. They have more concern about the next Dalai Lama than me,” said the Dalai Lama, swathed in his traditional red robes and yellow scarf.
“In future, in case you see two Dalai Lamas come, one from here, in free country, one chosen by Chinese, then nobody will trust, nobody will respect (the one chosen by China). So that’s an additional problem for the Chinese! It’s possible, it can happen,” he added, laughing.
China has said its leaders have the right to approve the Dalai Lama’s successor, as a legacy inherited from China’s emperors.
But many Tibetans – whose tradition holds that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death – suspect any Chinese role as a ploy to exert influence on the community.
Born in 1935, the current Dalai Lama was identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor when he was two years old.
Speaking in Beijing at a daily news briefing on Tuesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the 14th Dalai Lama himself was chosen by following centuries-old religious rituals and history, which were “respected and protected” in rules and ordinances regulating religion.
“Therefore reincarnations, including that of the Dalai Lama, should observe the country’s laws and regulations and follow the rituals and history of religion,” Geng said.
UP FOR DISCUSSION
Many of China’s more than 6 million Tibetans still venerate the Dalai Lama despite government prohibitions on displays of his picture or any public display of devotion.
The Dalai Lama said contact between Tibetans living in their homeland and in exile was increasing, but that no formal meetings have happened between Chinese and his officials since 2010.
Informally, however, some retired Chinese officials and businessman with connections to Beijing do visit him from time to time, he added.
He said the role of the Dalai Lama after his death, including whether to keep it, could be discussed during a meeting of Tibetan Buddhists in India later this year.
He, however, added that though there was no reincarnation of Buddha, his teachings have remained.
“If the majority of (Tibetan people) really want to keep this institution, then this institution will remain,” he said. “Then comes the question of the reincarnation of the 15th Dalai Lama.”
FILE PHOTO: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, Patron of Children in Crossfire, speaks during a press conference in Londonderry, Northern Ireland September 11, 2017. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo
If there is one, he would still have “no political responsibility”, said the Dalai Lama, who gave up his political duties in 2001, developing a democratic system for the up to 100,000 Tibetans living in India.
SEMINAR IN CHINA?
During the interview, the Dalai Lama spoke passionately about his love for cosmology, neurobiology, quantum physics and psychology.
If he was ever allowed to visit his homeland, he said he’d like to speak about those subjects in a Chinese university.
But he wasn’t expecting to go while China remained under Communist rule.
“China – great nation, ancient nation – but it’s political system is totalitarian system, no freedom. So therefore, I prefer to remain here, in this country.”
The Dalai Lama was born to a family of farmers in Taktser, a village on the northeastern edge of the Tibetan plateau, in China’s Qinghai province.
During a recent Reuters visit to Taktser, police armed with automatic weapons blocked the road. Police and more than a dozen plain-clothed officials said the village was not open to non-locals.
“Our strength, our power is based on truth. Chinese power based on gun,” the Dalai Lama said. “So, for short term, gun is much more decisive, but long term truth is more powerful.”
Reporting by Krishna N. Das; Additional reporting by Philip Wen in BEIJING; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore
I say God must reincarnate to defy the Chinese Rule over Tibet.
The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, warned that the successor chosen by China could not be trusted Credit: BIJU BORO/AFP/Getty Images
The Dalai Lama has warned of a possible “double reincarnation” with one from a “free country” after Beijing reiterated that his next incarnation must comply with Chinese law.
The Tibetan Buddhist leader on Monday warned that a successor chosen by Beijing after his eventual death could not be trusted.
He said it is possible that his reincarnation could be found in India, where he has lived in exile for 60 years upon fleeing Tibet following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
“In future, in case you see two Dalai Lamas come, one from here, in free country, one chosen by Chinese, then nobody will trust, nobody will respect [the one chosen by China].
“So that’s an additional problem for the Chinese! It’s possible, it can happen,” he told Reuters in an interview.
I say God must reincarnate to defy the Chinese Rule over Tibet.
The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in northern India since the failed uprising, along with other Tibetans Credit: MONEY SHARMA/AFP/Getty Images
China stated in response that its leaders have the right to approve the Dalai Lama’s successor. The selection process “must comply with Chinese laws and regulations,” according to Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the foreign ministry.
Chinese state media highlighted those laws, titled “New Regulations on Religious Affairs and the Rules on the Management of the Reincarnation of Tibetan Living Buddhas.”
Many Tibetans, who believe that the soul of a senior Buddhist monk is reincarnated into the physical body of a child upon his death, worry a successor chosen by Beijing will be under the thumb of the ruling Communist Party.
The current Dalai Lama was identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor when he was two years old.
Now at 83, it’s getting harder for him to travel the world to boost awareness, and his influence is waning just as China’s is growing on the world stage.
I say God must reincarnate to defy the Chinese Rule over Tibet.
The Dalai Lama is now 83 Credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images
Beijing has recently cracked down heavily on religion under president Xi Jinping, after the government vowed to “Sinicize” faith. The wave of repression has affected Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists.
“China considers Dalai Lama’s reincarnation as something very important,” the Dalai Lama said in an interview with Reuters. “They have more concern about the next Dalai Lama than me.”
Beijing has previously co-opted the spiritual reincarnation process with a goal of bringing Tibetan Buddhism within party lines.
In 1995, the Dalai Lama named a young Tibetan boy as the reincarnation of the previous Panchen Lama – the second highest in spiritual authority after himself. But the child was then put under what Chinese officials described as protective custody.
Beijing put forth another successor and the Dalai Lama’s choice – then only six years old – disappeared from public.
‘Chinese interference is routine’
I say God must reincarnate to defy the Chinese Rule over Tibet.
The Chinese government has sought to discredit the Dalai Lama. In February, Wu Yingjie, leader of a parliamentary delegation from Tibet, said that Tibetans didn’t love the Dalai Lama at all.
“Since Dalai Lama defected from Tibet, he has never done a single thing that was for the benefit for the Tibetan people,” Mr. Wu said. Instead, “they are grateful for what the Party brings to them.”
Last May, Tashi Wangchuk, a Tibetan businessman, was given a five-year prison sentence by China for promoting the Tibetan language, based on comments made in interviews with the New York Times.
The Tibet Autonomous Region, in China’s far west, is considered a homeland to many Tibetans and remains on lockdown. Travel in and out of the region is difficult, even for Tibetans.
Foreign journalists cannot visit without government permission, and those requests are frequently denied. Chinese officials have said they are concerned this is out of concern that foreigners may find it difficult to acclimate to the high altitudes on the Tibetan plateau.
I say God must reincarnate to defy the Chinese Rule over Tibet.
The Official Enthronement Ceremony of the 14th Dalai Lama in Lhasa.
THE EXILED TIBETAN RULER LIVES IN THE HEARTS OF NATIVE TIBETANS
Six decades ago, the Supreme Ruler of Tibet, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was forced to live in exile. He still lives in the hearts of native Tibetans of Occupied Tibet.
After 60 years in exile, Dalai Lama’s still remembered in his homeland
Philip Wen
TAKTSER, China (Reuters) – It may have been six decades since the Dalai Lama fled into exile, but in the isolated mountain hamlet where he was born, he remains very much on the minds of devotees and Chinese authorities alike.
The Exiled Tibetan Ruler lives in the hearts of the Native Tibetans in Occupied Tibet.
Buddhist monks enter a prayer hall at Rongwo Monastery in the largely ethnic Tibetan town of Rebkong, Qinghai province, China March 9, 2019. The picture was taken on March 9, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
On the northeastern edge of the Tibetan plateau, Taktser, in Qinghai province, where the Dalai Lama was born in 1935 to parents who farmed buckwheat and barley, is a magnet to worshippers and foreign tourists – and security personnel.
During a recent Reuters visit to Taktser, known in Chinese as Hongya, police armed with automatic weapons blocked the winding road leading into the village of some 60 houses.
The Exiled Tibetan Ruler Lives in the hearts of the Native Tibetans in Occupied Tibet.The Exiled Tibetan Ruler Lives in the hearts of the Native Tibetans in Occupied Tibet.The Exiled Tibetan Ruler Lives in the hearts of the Native Tibetans in Occupied Tibet.
Police and more than a dozen plain-clothed officials who declined to identify themselves refused Reuters entry, saying the village was private and not open to the public.
The Qinghai government and China’s State Council Information Office, which doubles as the Communist Party’s spokesman’s office, did not respond to requests for comment.
Beijing views the Nobel Peace Prize laureate as a dangerous separatist and has denounced the 83-year-old spiritual leader as a “wolf in monk’s robes”. The Dalai Lama denies espousing violence and says he only wants genuine autonomy for Tibet.
The Exiled Tibetan Ruler Lives in the hearts of the Native Tibetans in Occupied Tibet.
Many of China’s more than 6 million Tibetans still venerate the Dalai Lama, despite government prohibitions on displays of his picture or any public display of devotion.
This Sunday marks 60 years since the Dalai Lama, disguised as a soldier, fled the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital after rumors that Chinese troops were planning his abduction or assassination fomented an abortive popular uprising.
The Dalai Lama crossed into India two weeks later and has not set foot in Tibet since.
Despite the passage of time, during sensitive political anniversaries, China’s security apparatus routinely restricts access to the village where the Dalai Lama’s old family is located, behind a pair of wooden doors and high concrete walls.
‘IN YOUR HEART’
One 29-year-old Tibetan man in the largely ethnic Tibetan town of Rebkong, set in a precipitous valley in Qinghai with a large monastery adorned in rich colors, enthusiastically recounted to Reuters his pilgrimage to Taktser years ago.
He said Tibetans were well aware of the upcoming 60th anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s exile, even if public commemorations of any sort were banned.
“You can only bury it in your heart, we just don’t speak about it,” he said, declining to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
“We have no ability to go against politics, we can only just go with society.”
Born Lhamo Thondup, the Dalai Lama was just two years old when identified by a search party as the new incarnation of Tibet’s most important spiritual leader, and was whisked from the family home to live in Lhasa.
The anniversary of his escape over the mountains into exile in India is one of several politically sensitive dates in China this year, including the 30th anniversary of the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in June, that the ruling Communist Party wants to ensure passes without controversy.
Speaking on the sidelines of China’s annual meeting of parliament this month, Tibet’s Communist Party chief Wu Yingjie said the Tibetan people felt greater affection toward the government than the Dalai Lama, who “hasn’t done a single good thing for the people of Tibet”.
As the Dalai Lama ages, many Tibetans fear that Beijing will simply appoint its own replacement.
The Dalai Lama has suggested that his incarnation might be found outside Chinese-controlled territory, or that the centuries-old Dalai Lama institution could die with him.
The Exiled Tibetan Ruler Lives in the Hearts of the Native Tibetans in Occupied Tibet.
A Buddhist monk walks outside Rongwo Monastery in the largely ethnic Tibetan town of Rebkong, Qinghai province, China March 9, 2019. The Picture was taken on March 9, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter The Exiled Tibetan Ruler Lives in the Hearts of the Native Tibetans in Occupied Tibet.
Monks walk in the Tibetan Buddhist Kumbum Monastery outside Xining, Qinghai province, China March 10, 2019. The picture was taken on March 10, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter The Exiled Tibetan Ruler Lives in the Hearts of the Native Tibetans in Occupied Tibet.
A monk circles the Tibetan Buddhist Kumbum Monastery during a prayer ritual outside Xining, Qinghai province, China March 10, 2019. The picture was taken on March 10, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Reporting by Philip Wen; Editing by Tony Munroe, Robert Birsel
Tibet: The Untold Story. The Land and its People exploited by the Military Occupier.
While the world pays due attention to the flight of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1959, I remind my readers to reflect upon the lives of countless number of innocent Tibetans who lost their lives on account of the brutal and oppressive Communist Regime. Apart from the people, Tibet is ruthlessly exploited and plundered by the military Occupier of Tibet.
Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada
SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE
Pictures: the Tibetan uprising and the Dalai Lama’s exile — Quartz
Today (March 10) marks the 60th anniversary of the 1959 Tibet uprising against Chinese rule. The rebellion ultimately failed, leading to the decades-long exile of the 14th Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader.
In the six decades since he escaped to India, the Dalai Lama has evolved into an international icon of nonviolence and spiritual aspirations, traveling frequently and being hosted by political and religious leaders as well as celebrities around the world.
Here is a look at his journey from living among his people at age 23 to his status now as an 83-year-old man unable to return home.
Tibet: The Untold Story. The Land and its People exploited by the Military Occupier.
AP Photo
Chinese Red Army troops fire heavy artillery guns in Lhasa Valley, Tibet, on March 17, 1959, crushing a Tibetan uprising against the Chinese occupation.
AFP/Getty Images
Tibetans gather during armed uprising against Chinese rule March 10, 1959, in front of the Potala Palace (former home of the Dalai Lama) in Lhasa.
Tibet: The Land and its People exploited by the Military Occupier.
AP Photo
The 23-year-old Dalai Lama and his escape party is shown on the fourth day of their flight to freedom as they cross the Zsagola pass, in Southern Tibet, while being pursued by Chinese military forces, on March 21, 1959, after fleeing Lhasa.
Tibet: The Untold Story. The Land and its People exploited by the Military Occupier.
AFP/Getty Images
Tibetan monks, surrounded by soldiers of the Chinese Popular Liberation Army, lay down arms in April 1959, somewhere in the Tibetan mountains after an unsuccessful armed uprising against Chinese rule.
Tibet: The Untold Story. The Land and its People exploited by the Military Occupier.
AP Photo
An Indian official greets the Dalai Lama on the latter’s arrival at a military camp on the frontier of Assam April 18, 1959, in India.
Tibet: The Untold Story. The Land and its People exploited by the Military Occupier.
AP Photo
Armed with a sword, a member of the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan bodyguard is shown at Birla House, Missouri, India, April 21, 1959.
AP Photo
The Dalai Lama of Tibet poses with his hosts, the wealthy Indian Birla brothers and their families April 28, 1959, at Birla house, Mussoorie, India.
AP Photo
The Dalai Lama of Tibet, right, sitting under a portrait of the Buddha, inaugurates the 2,503rd birthday of the Buddha at Birla House in Mussoorie, India on May 22, 1959.
AP Photo
The Dalai Lama at a press conference on June 25, 1959.
AP Photo/Fred Waters
The Dalai Lama of Tibet visits the Taj Mahal in Agra, India on Dec. 8, 1959.
AP Photo
Behind rain-spattered window of car bearing him to his Tokyo hotel, the Dalai Lama greets crowd at the city’s International Airport after arrival from India on Sept. 25, 1967.
AP Photo
The Dalai Lama converted about 2,000 Hindu untouchables to Buddhism at a colorful ceremony in New Delhi on March 11, 1973.
AP Photo/Gene Kramer
Tibet’s Dalai Lama in Simla, India on Oct. 24, 1978, as he nears his 20th anniversary in exile from his native homeland of Tibet.
AP Photo/T. Matsumoto
Welcomed in Tokyo in 1978.
AP Photo/Dan Grossi
Television talk show host Tom Snyder shares a joke with the Dalai Lama during the taping of NBC’s “Tomorrow” show in New York, Sept. 5, 1979.
AP Photo/Robert H. Houston
The Dalai Lama met with then-San Francisco Mayor Diane Feinstein and her fiancé Richard Blum at San Francisco City Hall, Sept. 26, 1979.
AP Photo
Pope John Paul II shakes hands with Dalai Lama, exiled spiritual leader of more than 6 million Tibetans, during a private meeting in Vatican City in Oct. 9, 1980.
AP Photo/Sondeep Shankar
Tibetan spiritual and political leader Dalai Lama offers a scarf during a special prayer meeting Oct. 7, 1987, in the Himalayan foothill town Dharmasala for the estimated 14 dead during the unrest in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.
AP Photo/Neal Ulevich
The ruins of a Tibetan Buddhist monastery sit on a hill outside Lhasa, July 16, 1985. Before the 1959 revolt against China and the subsequent chaos of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, Tibet had more than 2,700 monasteries.
AP Photo/Dave Caulkin
Mother Teresa of Calcutta meets with the Dalai Lama, at the Global Survival Conference in Oxford, England April 12, 1988.
AP Photo/Reed Saxon
The Dalai Lama of Tibet is flanked by actor and activist Richard Gere, left, and model and actress Cindy Crawford, at a dinner to benefit the American Himalayan Foundation at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on Sept. 17, 1993.
Reuters
The Dalai Lama waves to the crowd at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the mall in Washington on July 2, 2000.
Reuters/Mike Segar
The Dalai Lama, speaks to a crowd estimated at over 40,000 in New York’s Central Park on Aug. 15, 1999.
Reuters/David Gray
The Dalai Lama speaks to a large crowd in Sydney on May 26, 2002.
Reuters/Claro Cortes IV
Chinese military police keep watch on the roof of Potala Palace in Lhasa on Aug. 12, 2002.
Reuters/Boris Roessler/Pool
The Dalai Lama salutes a crowd near Frankfurt, Germany on Sept. 22, 2007.
Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri
Tibetan monks take part in a candle light rally on the outskirts of the Indian city of Siliguri in support of the protests in Tibet on March 15, 2008.
Reuters/Adnan Abidi
Police arrest a Tibetan exile outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi on March 17, 2008.
Reuters/Adnan Abidi
Tibetan monks shout slogans during a protest in New Delhi on March 17, 2008.
Reuters/Shannon Stapleton
The Dalai Lama greets Buddhist monks before a teaching session at Radio City Music Hall in New York on May 20, 2010.
Reuters
The Dalai Lama poses for a picture with the students of a Tibetan school after inaugurating its auditorium at Gurupura in the southern Indian state of Karnataka on July 14, 2013.
Reuters
A young Tibetan monk holds a portrait of the Dalai Lama, during celebrations marking his 80th birthday anniversary in the northern hill town of Dharamsala, India on July 6, 2015.
Reuters/Anuwar Hazarika
The Dalai Lama waves to his followers before delivering teachings at the Thupsung Dhargyeling Monastery in Dirang, in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, India on April 6, 2017.
Tibet: The Untold Story. The Land and its People exploited by the Military Occupier.
Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann
Dalai Lama arrives for his visit to the Tibet Institute Rikon in Rikon, Switzerland on Sept. 21, 2018.
Tibet: The Untold Story. The Land and its People exploited by the Military Occupier.
CHINA CAN’T HANDLE THE HEIGHTS OF TIBETAN UPRISING
60th Anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day. China Can’t Handle the Heights of Tibetan Uprising.
In my analysis, China imposed travel restrictions for China can’t handle the Heights of Tibetan Uprising which is climbing to a new peak after 60-Years of pent up resentment opposing the military occupation of Tibet.
Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada
SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE
No head for heights: China defends Tibet travel restrictions | Reuters
BEIJING (Reuters) – Foreigners can’t handle Tibet’s high altitude so China needs to restrict access, the top Chinese official in charge of the remote and mountainous region said on Wednesday, defending tough government restrictions on who can go there.
60th Anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day. China Can’t Handle the Heights of Tibetan Uprising.
Communist Party Secretary of Tibet Autonomous Region Wu Yingjie and Governor of Tibet Autonomous Region Qizhala attend a news conference during the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China, March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Access to Tibet, which China says it “peacefully liberated” in 1950, has become another irritant in ties with the United States after President Donald Trump signed into law a Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act in December.
That seeks to press China to open the region by denying U.S. entry to officials deemed responsible for restricting access to Tibet. China has denounced the law.
Speaking on the sidelines of China’s annual meeting of parliament, Tibet’s Communist Party boss Wu Yingjie said many Americans visit Tibet, especially older ones, and some foreign tourists “meet with mishap” at high altitude.
Tibetans have been finding foreigners who have died because of the harsh conditions, he said.
“The ordinary people tell us, there’s a tent, the people inside have been dead for many days, with the lack of oxygen,” Wu said. It was not clear what he was referring to and he did not elaborate.
“After considering the special geographical and climatic conditions, we adopted a series of regulations on foreigners entering Tibet in accordance with the law. This is not only for Americans. Other foreigners also have to complete these procedures.”
Tibet’s main city, Lhasa, is at about 3,650 meters (nearly 12,000 feet). Altitude sickness can affect some people at that height.
While some foreigners thank the government for the concern and help given them, only Americans “brood” about it, Wu said.
“This is really odd. If you have the opportunity go tell this to the American people.”
Non-Chinese visitors must apply for a special permit to travel to Tibet, which is usually granted for tourists provided they travel with approved tour companies but rarely for journalists and diplomats.
The government pledged in January to make access easier for foreign tourists.
60th Anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day. China Can’t Handle the Heights of Tibetan Uprising.
Rights groups and overseas activists say ethnic Tibetans face widespread restrictions under Chinese rule and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said in June conditions were “fast deteriorating”.
China routinely denies such accusations and says its rule of Tibet ended serfdom and brought prosperity to what was a backward region, and that it fully respects the rights of the Tibetan people.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, which resulted in Tibet’s Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fleeing into exile in India.
China views the Nobel Peace laureate as a dangerous separatist. The Dalai Lama denies espousing violence and says he only wants genuine autonomy for Tibet.
Many Tibetans in China still deeply venerate the Dalai Lama, despite government restrictions on displays of his picture, especially in what China calls the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Wu said the Dalai Lama was not popular in Tibet.
“Since defecting, the Dalai Lama hasn’t done a single good thing for the people of Tibet,” he said.
“The people of Tibet have weighed things up, and really thank the Communist Party for the happy life they have brought them.”
Reporting by Michael Martina and Gao Liangping; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel
LIFE IN SHADOWS OF THE US, INDIA, AND TIBET RELATIONS
Life in Shadows of the US, India, and Tibet Relations.
I profoundly regret living my life in Shadows of the US, India, and Tibet Relations. I cherish the values of Freedom and Democracy. However, it will be an utter mistake to promote these values using undercover operations. Freedom is not about living life under the dark Shadows of Secrecy. If Democracy is about Transparency and Public Accountability, no democratically elected government should make use of Covert Operations to oppose the Tyranny and Despotism of the One-Party Communist Rule.
Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada
SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE
Life in Shadows of the US, India, and Tibet Relations.
Life in Shadows of the US, India, and Tibet Relations.
Between 1957 and 1969 the CIA armed, financed, and helped train Tibetan guerrillas who operated first inside Tibet, and later — after the Dalai Lama’s escape to India in 1959 — from a base in Mustang, a remote corner of northwestern Nepal. This project, code-named ST Circus, was one of the CIA’s longest-running covert operations. The withdrawal of the CIA’s support in 1969 was as abrupt as its initial involvement was unexpected.
Life in Shadows of the US, India, and Tibet Relations.
Whole Dude-Whole Representative: Representative John Dingell with the Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn taking his oath to the officein 1955.
Special Frontier Force pays a respectful tribute to John Dingell the longest-serving member of the US House of Representatives. I acknowledge his support for the Tibetan Resistance Movement from its inception.
Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada
Special Frontier Force
Special Frontier Force pays a respectful tribute to Congressman John Dingell.Special Frontier Force Pays a Respectful Tribute to the US House Representative John Dingell who served the architects of the Tibetan Resistance Movement from its inception.Special Frontier Force pays a respectful tribute to the US House Representative John Dingell.
John Dingell on Foreign Policy
Democratic Representative (MI- 15)
Voted YES on deterring foreign arms transfers to China.
To authorize measures to deter arms transfers by foreign countries to the People’s Republic of China, A YES vote would grant the President the ability to place sanctions on any individual or country that violates the arms embargo, including:
Denial of participation in cooperative research and development
Prohibition of ownership and control of any business registered as a manufacturer or exporter of defense articles or services
Removal of all licenses relative to dual-use goods or technology
Prohibition of participation of any foreign military sales
Reference: East Asia Security Act; Bill HR 3100; vote number 2005-374 on Jul 14, 2005
Voted NO on Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China.
Vote to give permanent Normal Trade Relations [NTR] status to China. Currently, the NTR status for China is debated and voted on annually. The measure contains provisions designed to protect the United States from Chinese import surges and the administration would have to report annually on China’s compliance with the trade agreement. The bill establishes a commission to monitor human rights, labor standards, and religious freedom in China.
Reference: Bill sponsored by Archer, R-TX; Bill HR 4444; vote number 2000-228 on May 24, 2000
John Dingell, the longest-serving member of U.S. Congress, dead at 92
Special Frontier Force Pays a Respectful Tribute to the US Congress Representative John Dingell.
WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) – John Dingell, a gruff Michigan Democrat who entered the U.S. House of Representatives in 1955 to finish his late father’s term and became a legislative heavyweight and longest-serving member of Congress, died on Thursday. He was 92.
“Today the great State of Michigan said farewell to one of our greatest leaders. John Dingell will forever be remembered as ‘The Dean’ of Congress not simply for the length of his service, but for his unparalleled record of legislative accomplishments,” Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer wrote in a post on Twitter.
Dingell served 59 years in the House before retiring in 2015 because, as he said to a Michigan business group at the time, he could no longer “live up to my own personal standard” for serving in Congress.
On Wednesday, Dingell’s wife, Debbie Dingell, who was elected to succeed him, said on Twitter that she skipped Tuesday’s State of the Union address in Washington to be with him as his health declined.
The Detroit News reported he was in hospice care after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, which he had decided not to treat.
On Wednesday, Dingell dictated a tweet for his wife to write: “I want to thank you all for your incredibly kind words and prayers. You’re not done with me just yet.”
Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow wrote in a post on Twitter: “We have been incredibly lucky to have you and will miss you dearly.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Eric Beech, and Makini Brice; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Bill Trott and Peter Cooney)
Special Frontier Force pays a respectful tribute to the US Congress Representative John Dingell.
TIBET EQUILIBRIUM. FORCED RESETTLEMENT OF TIBETAN NOMADS MUST STOP.
Tibet Equilibrium. Forced Resettlement of Tibetan Nomads Must Stop.
Tibet Equilibrium. Forced Resettlement of Tibetan Nomads Must Stop.
Tibet Equilibrium. Forced Resettlement of Tibetan Nomads Must Stop.
Tibet Equilibrium. Forced Resettlement of Tibetan Nomads Must Stop.
TIBETAN NOMADS RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM
Tibet Equilibrium. Forced Resettlement of Tibetan Nomads Must Stop.
Photo taken on Jan. 18, 2019 shows the frozen Namtso Lake in Tibet. In the past, herdsmen in Tibet endured a ridiculously long, cold winter from October to the end of June, before moving to the summer meadow. They had no fixed residence and migrated when the seasons changed, taking their tents, kitchen utensils, and other necessities on horseback. Nowadays, most herdsmen benefit from local resettlement program. (Xinhua/Purbu Zhaxi)
Tibet Equilibrium. Forced Resettlement of Tibetan Nomads Must Stop.
A sheep is seen at a herdsman resettlement site in Bange County, Tibet, Jan. 17, 2019. In the past, herdsmen in Tibet endured a ridiculously long, cold winter from October to the end of June, before moving to the summer meadow. They had no fixed residence and migrated when the seasons changed, taking their tents, kitchen utensils, and other necessities on horseback. Nowadays, most herdsmen benefit from local resettlement program. (Xinhua/Chogo)
A herdswoman drives sheep at a herdsman resettlement site in Bange County, Tibet, Jan. 17, 2019. In the past, herdsmen in Tibet endured a ridiculously long, cold winter from October to the end of June, before moving to the summer meadow. They had no fixed residence and migrated when the seasons changed, taking their tents, kitchen utensils, and other necessities on horseback. Nowadays, most herdsmen benefit from local resettlement program. (Xinhua/Chogo)
Tibet Equilibrium. Forced Resettlement of Tibetan Nomads Must Stop.
Gazelles are seen near the frozen Namtso Lake in Tibet, Jan. 17, 2019. Forced Resettlement of Tibetan Nomads. (Xinhua/Purbu Zhaxi)
Tibet Equilibrium. Forced Resettlement of Tibetan Nomads Must Stop.
Yaks are seen near the frozen Namtso Lake in Tibet, Jan. 17, 2019. Forced Resettlement of Tibetan Nomads. (Xinhua/Purbu Zhaxi)
Tibet Equilibrium. Forced Resettlement of Tibetan Nomads Must Stop.
Photo taken on Jan. 18, 2019 shows the frozen Namtso Lake in Tibet. In the past, herdsmen in Tibet endured a ridiculously long, cold winter from October to the end of June, before moving to the summer meadow. They had no fixed residence and migrated when the seasons changed, taking their tents, kitchen utensils, and other necessities on horseback. Nowadays, most herdsmen benefit from local resettlement program. (Xinhua/Purbu Zhaxi)
Tibet Equilibrium. Forced Resettlement of Tibetan Nomads Must Stop.
INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES MUST DEFEND FREE SPEECH RIGHTS
January 18. Internet Freedom Day. Internet Search Engines must defend Free Speech Rights.
In celebration of Internet Freedom Day on January 18, 2019, I advocate that Internet Search Engines must defend Free Speech Rights.
Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada
SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE
Activists at Google’s London HQ protest Project Dragonfly | Business | Techworld
Google’s leaked plans for a censored Chinese search engine has sparked anger globally
This afternoon outside Google’s King’s Cross headquarters, a small group of protesters gathered to put pressure on the firm to scrap leaked plans for a censored Chinese search engine, codenamed Project Dragonfly.
The protest was orchestrated under the Stop Google Censorship campaign, which is comprised of groups associated with SumOfUs, the Tibetan independence movement, and Uighur Muslims. It was planned on the same day as Internet Freedom Day and was mirrored by planned gatherings outside Google offices in the US, Canada, India, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Sweden, Switzerland, and Denmark.
January 18. Internet Freedom Day. Internet Search Engines must defend Free Speech Rights.
When Techworld arrived, two security guards were talking to the protest organizers, but they quickly departed on reassurances that the protest would be peaceful.
Outside the glass-fronted headquarters, based in Granary Square near King’s Cross Station, a group of between 10 to 15 protesters were gathered, some of them tending to clump of red balloons emblazoned with the Google logo dappled with the gold stars of the Chinese flag.
The Intercept first revealed the Dragonfly Project in August 2018, citing insider sources and a leaked company memo. Google was reportedly harvesting information from 265.com, a Chinese-language web directory purchased by the company in 2008 that redirected any search traffic to the biggest Chinese search engine, Baidu.
The Intercept claimed the project had been underway since spring of 2017, however, it was alleged by the publication that Google’s privacy team wasn’t notified of the use of 265.com in this way.
If launched, the search engine would have to cooperate with censorship laws from the Chinese government, including barring search results of certain publications such as the BBC, and certain search terms such as news, academic studies, and sex, as well as references to Tiananmen square and Tibetan independence.
But this isn’t the protester’s only qualm with the project, it’s also due to the requirements to comply with new Chinese Internet Security law introduced in 2018.
“One of the most damaging aspects of that law is that internet service providers are required to capture details of people using their services, and that would include Dragonfly,” John Jones, Free Tibet’s campaigns and communications manager told Techworld.
The law requires that the details of searchers on the service be made available to security services should they request them.
“In theory, someone could be arrested and imprisoned based on what they search for using Google’s search engine in China,” points out Jones. He says this is a particular concern for the group based on their understanding that there have been past incidences where Chinese citizens are imprisoned for searches through Chinese websites.
The Intercept reported in December 2018 that in the aftermath of their revelations, the project has stalled. Google itself also stated that it has no ambitions to launch in China. However, many see this as not truly indicative that its interest in the rising superpower has been extinguished.
“We can’t take anything for granted so we’re going to keep putting pressure on them and hopefully get some sort of acknowledgment from the company itself that this project has been scrapped,” says Jones.
Jones says the fact that Google has now distanced itself from the allegations shows that the company was cognizant of the bad optics surrounding developing something like this. But he doesn’t see the business as monolithic.
“There are the executives and there are the people developing the project, but then there’s also many of the staff who are decent people who are ideologically opposed to this,” says Jones, pointing to dissent from within the tech giant. “They’ve been the ones leaking the information about it, contacting journalists and in some cases even resigning – because they think it violates the vision they had when they started working for Google.”
The group claim that some of the employees emerging from Google had engaged with the protest, with one signaling support, and another saying that this was a topic of intense discussion within the offices too. Techworld can’t confirm this as no one approached the protesters during the time we were present.
The project also seems to signal a pivot in Google’s former position when it pulled out of the China market, citing – in addition to a cybersecurity attack – censorship and the company’s principles for free internet.
Although in its early days the company preached somewhat utopian ideals it recently dropped its infamous ‘don’t be evil’ slogan from its code of conduct.
The Project Dragonfly revelations came amidst domestic controversies in Silicon Valley. Google had been working with the US government on a drone program called Project Maven, while Amazon workers protested their company aiding Trump’s deportation agency ICE.
Jones sees this as a blueprint for what pressure on the company could potentially achieve in regard to China.
Success, according to Jones, would look like an open acknowledgment of Google that it will be canceling the Project Dragonfly search project. But he did acknowledge when asked by Techworld that China is not the only region where the titans of Silicon Valley have wormed their way into the state surveillance apparatus.
“From my point of view, any time they violate their own principles by handing over information that the user doesn’t know is being handed over they probably do need to examine themselves and be challenged for it and it doesn’t matter if it’s in China or the US,” Jones says. “The only difference is the extent to which they’re doing it and the possible penalty that someone can be paying. I’m sure if I was working on civil rights in the US I’d be up in arms about their past cases.”
The earlier Snowden revelations, meanwhile, proved that the intelligence agencies of the ‘Five Eyes’ governments – the USA, Canada, Britain, New Zealand, and Australia – had been collaborating on an intricate worldwide surveillance dragnet.
And amid questionable fears that Russian bot networks had impacted the result of the US presidential election in 2016, Facebook and other Silicon Valley companies have been working to black-ball news sources that they have labeled as ‘divisive’ – aided by the unabashedly pro-NATO think tank The Atlantic Council.
A separate media relations volunteer, Business Insider journalist Michael Selby-Green, acknowledged that most of the people in attendance were volunteers or full-timers at groups relating to Tibet or other NGOs that exert pressure in China. He said that the protest was kept deliberately small – with minimal public outreach – because the intention was to picket Google employees and passers-by.
Jones says the problem isn’t Google offering a service in China per se.
“We have absolutely no problem in theory if Google were to open a search engine in China free from constraints of the government, we’d be completely happy with it,” he says. “The minute they start colluding with governments that are repressing human rights and develop a tool that could help them such as tracking peoples’ searches, that’s when they’ve got to be challenged.”
Some would say that from a business perspective, that the company is loath to ignore such a vast emerging and potentially extremely lucrative market, however, Selby-Green says that this doesn’t make it justifiable.
“I don’t think the ends justify the means, you’ve got to say what your values are, and you have to stick to those I think,” Selby-Green says. “If Google’s values are internet freedom and things we hold dear in the west or think we do, then I think Google has to stand by that and sacrifice that market and the profits in that market if that’s what they hold dear.”
In 2018 Samm Sacks of the Henry Kissinger-supported think tank the CSIS detailed the ins and outs of the Cyber Internet Security Law – which was inspired at least in part by Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation, putting Chinese data regulations on more of an even footing with American and European laws, at least concerning personal data held by private companies.
She added at the time that for successful companies operating within the valuable China market, success is only possible with the support of the government. Countries seeking closer ties with China, meanwhile, are approaching its government for advice on how to govern the internet.
It could be argued that Google, which was reached for comment but has not responded, is stuck between a rock and a hard place concerning China.
Google will not want to ignore the country’s growing economy, but the project was leaked during a climate of increased western scrutiny directed at China, as well as an ongoing trade war between the USA and China and the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Canada.
Western intelligence has, meanwhile, warned of the over-reliance of Chinese infrastructure equipment from Huawei – although the German technology watchdog found no evidence of wrongdoing and the company has long been under the watch of cybersecurity experts at a center in Banbury, Oxfordshire.
January 18. Internet Freedom Day. Internet Search Engines must defend Free Speech Rights.
