China: RFA listener comments on Tibet

“Could it be possible that Tibetans cannot accept the fact that their tradition and customs have been so radically changed by the Han?” –Inner Mongolian man on RFA-Mandarin call-in program Listener Hotline, March 26, 2008

“How sad it was to listen to the Tibetans chanting their prayers. It was such a peaceful demonstration here in Brussels. I cried, wondering if God listens to their prayers.” –A Vietnamese woman living in Brussels, Belgium, speaking with RFA Vietnamese service, March 26, 2008

Tibet: Lama dies in protests, monks say

On Monday, about 1,000 people, including hundreds of monks from the Jueri Monastery and nuns from the Woge Nunnery , took part in a protest in Karze’s (Ganzi’s) Luhuo county.

A lama at the Jueri Monastery told Mandarin reporter Ding Xiao on Wednesday, “They killed a lama.  They fired shots at the lamas and killed one.  He was chanting ‘Free Tibet.’  We were marching.  The troops blocked the road and fired shots.  Monday night they arrested about 30 lamas.”

Newsdesk: China suspends Baixing editor

Xu Feng, editor of the “restructured” Baixing (Commoners) magazine, said on Wednesday during his interview with Mandarin reporter Ding Xiao –

DX: I heard that you were fired?

Xu Feng: Not “fired.” Technically speaking, my job was “forcibly suspended.”

DX: Since when?

Xu: Around the 13^th. The “suspension” was a decision made by the editorial department of Commoners magazine. Zhongguo Nongcun Zazhishe (China Rural Magazine Publishing House), the parent company of Commoners, did not want it to happen. They have been trying to mediate. From a legal stand point, I have not been “fired” yet.

Bao Tong: Talk to the Dalai Lama

Here is Bao Tong’s essay translated in full. Original Chinese as broadcast on RFA’s Mandarin service here.

Take harmony seriously; talk to the Dalai Lama
by Bao Tong

The Lhasa incident has caused massive grief for all the Tibetan people and all of China. Anyone who has ever been through a great historical tragedy will understand its significance. The Chinese government spokesman said the whole thing was orchestrated by the Dalai Lama — a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize — from behind the scenes. However, as a reader from Europe put it: “Nobody here believes what the Chinese government says.”

Tibet: Reactions from inside China

The recent protests by Tibetans come amid growing calls among Chinese intellectuals for dialogue with the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing accuses of conspiring to split the motherland by secretly orchestrating the March 15 protests and riots in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, during which armed police opened fire on Tibetans, and where house-to-house searches and arrests are still continuing.

Sun Wenguang, a retired professor of eastern China’s Shandong University said the authorities were wrong to suppress the Tibetan protests using force.

“To crack down on the protests, especially to open fire, is a crime.

Newsdesk: UPDATED – Tibetans in Karze (Ganzi)

The following quotations are garnered from recent reporting by RFA’s Mandarin and Cantonese services on the situation in Tibetan areas of China:

RFA Cantonese interviewed Ms Zhou (a Tibetan) Tuesday. During the interview, at about 2 pm local time, she said there were about 200 protesters including monks from monasteries in the area, protesting in the town. They were calling for Tibetan freedom and independence. Some local residents were joining the demonstrations. They clashed with large numbers of armed police on arriving at the county government buildings.

Tibet: Monks protest in Qinghai

Right now, we are protesting in the area of Tsolho. We are demanding that the Chinese leadership open a dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and peacefully resolve the Tibetan issue. We are also demanding that His Holiness be allowed to visit Tibet. Our protest is peaceful and involves about 10-15 monks from Serlho monastery in the Tsolho (in Chinese, Hainan) prefecture. Just now we are marching toward the subdistrict headquarters, and from there we plan to go to the county government. Hundreds of local Tibetans, mainly nomads, have joined us …

Newsdesk: Tibetan blogger Woeser under house arrest

Tibetan writer Woeser’s husband, Wang Lixiong, who is an ethnic Han Chinese, told Mandarin reporter Ding Xiao that Woeser has been confined to their home in Beijing since March 10, the 49^th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising.

It was ‘inconvenient’ for Woeser to speak to RFA, a phrase often used to denote a fear of reprisal from the Chinese authorities.

Wang Lixiong said: “She has been under house arrest since March 10. Her movements are restricted, as are mine. In the past, I was their main target. But now she has become part of the target. Whatever movement we plan to make, we must first ask for approval. Only when it’s approved by higher-up can we make a move under surveillance.”

China: RFA listeners on the Tibet unrest

The following is a selection of comments from listeners who have called hotlines run by RFA’s Mandarin and Cantonese services since the Tibet unrest began. Some of the comments were made before China admitted to opening fire on anti-Chinese protests in Tibetan areas of Sichuan:

A Shanxi man called RFA Mandarin’s Listener Hotline:

“Tibetan cultural traditions have largely been destroyed. The railway enabled even more Han Chinese to go to Tibet; as a result, it has had a big impact on the environment and customs of Tibet…

Newsdesk: Fallout from Sichuan Tibetan unrest

Quotes from Ding Xiao’s report, March 19 – 中国境内藏族学生全面受控　藏区不准离校引发冲突

In Maerkang county, Gansu province, an ethnic Han teacher at the Maerkang Normal College told Mandarin reporter Ding Xiao that beginning March 15th Tibetan students who live on campus have been forbidden from returning to their homes in the rural area, and that some had protested against the policy and clashed with campus security.

He said: “The Tibetan students at the Maerkang Normal College – their homes and parents are in Ngaba prefecuture (in Chinese, Aba). They heard some rumors and wanted to go back home. The school stopped them from going, saying that it would be safer on campus.