Bao Tong: On Beijing’s decision to talk to the Dalai Lama

On the decision by central government to have contact and discussions with the Dalai Lama

by Bao Tong

In the face of a major social upheaval, there are generally two roads to take. One is dialogue, and the other is opposition. Dialogue can lead to reconciliation, whereas opposition inevitably results in an exacerbation of the conflict. Whichever path we take depends on the ultimate aims of those making the decisions.

China: Qin Yongmin’s wife calls for medical parole

From RFA’s Cantonese service:

I am Qin Yongmin’s ex-wife. My name is Li Jingfang. My hope is that the authorities will show some leniency, understanding and generosity to those in prison at this time, with the approach of the Olympic Games. I really hope that Qin Yongmin will be released from jail a little earlier. He has already served 10 years in jail, since 1998.

China, Tibet: Patriotism planned at Potala Palace torch rally

From RFA’s Cantonese service. Reporter: Hai Nan. Translated by Shiny Li and Luisetta Mudie:

Authorities in Tibet are planning a mass rally of Han Chinese government supporters to support the arrival of the Olympic torch in Tibet’s iconic Potala Palace, former home of the exiled Dalai Lama.

Travel agencies in the Tibetan capital said they had received approval from the ruling Communist Party’s Youth League to organize a “patriotic activity” on the arrival of the torch at the palace, formerly the heart of Tibetan Buddhism.

China, Tibet: Interview with Grace Wang

A Chinese student at Duke University in North Carolina who wrote “Free Tibet” on the back of an anti-Chinese protester during an attempt to mediate a campus dispute over Tibet is now hated by former classmates and teachers alike, a former teacher said.

China, Tibet: Updates from Qinghai and Sichuan

From Mandarin service reporter Shen Hua:

There were Tibetan protests in Heka Township in Xinghai County of Qinghai Province on March 25. Around 15 or 16 participants have been detained, including some who surrendered themselves to police.

Gesang Jianzan, a member of the Tibetan Government in Exile told RFA that “As far as I know, around a thousand Tibetans took part in the protests, including monks and laymen. They carried banners such as ‘There is no freedom in Tibet!’ ‘Let Dalai Lama home!’” “Several dozens have been arrested, including several people of whom I know their names.”

Mr. Zhang in Heka Township told RFA that “I heard several dozens of Tibetan demonstrated on March 25. They were carrying white flags at the demonstration.” He said “Now the local situation is stable.” The white flags are in fact banners with slogans.

China, Tibet: Interview with a Qinghai Tibetan youth

From RFA Mandarin service reporter Ding Xiao in Hong Kong. Translated by Chen Ping.

After the Tibet riots, the communications of Tibetans living in China are under surveillance, and they don’t dare to express their views for fear of retribution for the authorities, as talking to foreign media might get them punished. However, a Tibetan youth who lives in the Mgo Log (in Chinese, Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in the northwestern province of Qinghai, told us some of his thoughts on the recent unrest:

Tibetan: Recently the tensions have been subsided pretty much, and we can cross into neighboring province. For example, we can travel to Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province with an ID of any kind. However, soldiers are currently going around temples, several in a group, always.

RFA: Any reduction of security forces?

Tibetan: No, it is still the same. Probably they will withdraw after September. We inevitably feel oppressed as troops are everywhere and we cannot go out easily.

RFA: Do you Tibetans discuss the current situation?

Tibetan: Normally we don’t talk about it. There was never any freedom of speech in China in the first place.

Tibet: Lhasa witnesses analyze the protests

I thought that this [the uprising] was the right thing to do. I participated in the protests and was among the protesters in the area of Ramoche monastery for about two hours. I knew that the protests were expressions of Tibetan despair over Chinese oppression in our own country. The actual suppression and crackdown by Chinese forces began on the night of March 14. At roughly 8 p.m., Tibetans in the Lhasa area heard that Chinese forces were coming. Many left and went to their homes, while others continued their protests. That very night I saw many Tibetans being taken away and Chinese armed police firing on Tibetans.

“Within a short period, about 200 Tibetans were detained. In the midst of the commotion, it was hard to tell who was alive or dead and who was taken away. I saw some Chinese with head injuries.

Video: Chinese remember Zhao Ziyang on Qing Ming

From RFA’s Cantonese service. Here is the script of a voice-over I wrote explaining what is going on in the video. I will post the English version if/when it appears on YouTube; until then…

One by one, people file quietly into the home of Zhao Ziyang, the late former Communist Party leader who fell from grace in the wake of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Zhao’s family have set up a memorial shrine inside the traditional courtyard house, to mark the Chinese grave-sweeping festival of Qing Ming.

Sichuan: Troops ‘will stay until after the Olympics’

From RFA’s Mandarin service.

A woman from Karze (in Chinese, Ganzi) county in the southwestern province of Sichuan, who has spoken to RFA before, indirectly indicated to Mandarin reporter Qiao Long that troops are still stationed in the area:

“Tibetans here won’t be able to stage any protest,” she said. “The death from last week’s protest, occurred in the urban area.”

China, Tibet: Paris protests

“No torch in Tibet!” reads the banner suspended from this Parisian bridge by protesters during the march of the Olympic torch, which makes its way to Beijing this summer.

Photo: Students for a Free Tibet photostream on Flickr.