Tibet, China: Monks want Dalai Lama to come home

This report was filed for RFA’s Mandarin service, at considerable risk to the reporter, Wei Si:

It’s a journey of about 400 kilometres along highway from Kangding to Ganzi, in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan. The road is liberally dotted with Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and temples.

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, 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.

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.

Tibet: Robbie Barnett on the recent unrest

Comments by Robbie Barnett, Tibet expert at Columbia University, March 27, 2008, regarding the recent major protests in Tibetan-populated rural areas, especially the temporary takeovers of government buildings and taking down of Chinese flags and raising of Tibetan flags:

Tibet: Comments from RFA listeners

From a Hunan man on the RFA Mandarin call-in program Listener Hotline, March 27:

The Tibet issue is analogous to forcing a woman to marry a man. The man may give the woman food, clothing, and shelter, but material things cannot replace spiritual values. She is a human being. The Dalai Lama is the rightful leader of the Tibetan people. He is like a parent to them, and yet the Chinese government vilifies him and kicked him out of his own home. Stability based on force cannot last.

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.”

Newsdesk: Crackdown continues in Lhasa

“The Chinese police, backed by the People’s Armed Police are raiding Tibetan houses in the Lhasa area. They are looking for residential permits and if anyone doesn’t have resident permits, they are taken away without reason. Even those Tibetans who do not have residential permits but who are suspected for any reason, are taken away.

For example, around 10 pm on March 15th a group of 15 to 20 police backed by PAP with protective riot gear started raiding Tibetan houses. One family from Kham Tsawa Pasho whose father is Kalsang Gyaltsen was raided. He has two sons, Locho and Jhampa, and a daughter. The daughter had a residence permit and other family members had applied for permits but approval was still pending.

Newsdesk: Tibetan update from Ngaba, Sichuan

From RFA Mandarin service reporter Ding Xiao in Hong Kong:

According to RFA, several Tibetan herdsmen protested in Jiuzhi County, Qinghai province Monday, but some lamas at the local monastery dissuaded them from becoming more radical.

The authorities sent troops to Jiuzhi over night and declared a curfew. A Tibetan in Jiuzhi said: “At first there was a demonstration, then (the Tibetans) destroyed shops. Lamas came over to persuade them not to riot. All participants were Tibetan herdsmen, about two or three hundred.”

“Police rushed to the scene but the protesters destroyed police car. There is no demonstration today (Tuesday). All demonstrators dispersed last night around six or seven o’clock. The troops arrived at six o’clock this morning. The streets are now full of soldiers. From 6:30 in the morning, (the authorities) banned people from going outside. All stores have been closed and you cannot go shopping.”

Newsdesk: China bars media, foreigners from Tibetan areas

Monday, March 17, 2008

“There are about 2,000 students in the Tibetan studies department of the Central Minorities University in Beijing—about 40 of them staged a silent protest to mourn the people killed or injured in other parts of Tibet. The police came in, and they are being held now in their classrooms.”—Protest participant in Beijing

“The authorities in Madro Gonkar and Taktse, in Phenpo, have closed the schools in these areas—after the students protested over the last two days.”—Tibetan in Canada, who spoke with relatives in Tibet