Friday, May 10, 2013

Week Ending May 10, 2013


International Tibet Network News Digest & Analysis: 10 May 2013

Self-Immolations, Protests, and Restrictions in Tibet
‘Without independence Tibet will be annihilated,’ a self-immolator’s last words - Phayul
9 May | Details have emerged concerning the last words of Tibetan Phagmo Dhondup, who self-immolated on February 24 and later died from his injuries.

Stop “modernising” Lhasa pleads Tibetan writer - SCMP
9 May | Woeser has appealed online to protest against massive construction in Lhasa, including destruction of historic sites to create a mall and draining of underground water.

‘They treat us like animals’ - TCHRD
7 May | TCHRD has translated more writings of imprisoned Tibetan poet Tashi Rabten on the topics of Chinese tourism and its pressure on Tibetan culture and environment.
http://www.tchrd.org/2013/05/they-treat-us-like-animals/

Prisoner Releases
Nyatso Zilkar monk in poor health after imprisonment - TCHRD
8 May | Sonam Yingyen, age 44, was released last month due to medical emergency without completing his prison term. He is believed to be in Yushu but his family has been denied visitation rights throughout his detention, imprisonment, and hospitalization.

Another Tibetan Prisoner Released in Poor Health - RFA
3 May | Lodroe Gyatso, age 52, has been released after completing his full 21-year jail term. His health is in very poor condition due to years of ill-treatment and torture.

News
Allow Tibet to express grievances freely, US tells China - FirstPost
9 May | US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the US has repeatedly asked China not to denigrate the Dalai Lama and allow Tibetans to express their grievances.

Exiled Tibetan PM Lobsang Sangay ‘Not Challenging’ China Communists - SCMP
9 May | In Washington, Lobsang Sangay represented the position of seeking autonomy of some sort within China, and said “We don’t challenge, or ask for, an overthrow of the Communist Party. We don’t question or challenge the present structure of the ruling party.”

China and Tibet: Cameron says UK policy has not changed - BBC News
8 May | David Cameron has said the UK continues to recognise Chinese sovereignty over Tibet amid reports of a rift with Beijing over the issue.

Opinion and Analysis
Incivilities - Rangzen Alliance
8 May | Elliott Sperling writes about the loss of idealism in the Tibet movement due to pressure from those gaining power by supporting the Middle Way, and how civil society is impaired when arguments, dissent, and criticism are silenced.

The Silence Around Tibet’s Ecological Crisis - The Atlantic
7 May | Chinese environmental activist Hongxian Huang writes on ‘how mistrust and fear between Beijing and Tibetans are making a bad environmental problem worse’.

“What is the secret behind Secret Tibet?” by Woeser - High Peaks Pure Earth
7 May | A blogpost by Woeser from February addresses the propaganda and politics of (mis)representation behind the Chinese TV series “Secret Tibet”.

David Cameron had to stand up to China over its arrogant, clumsy efforts to stop him from meeting the Dalai Lama - Telegraph
8 May | David Cameron commented that his meeting agenda was not to be determined by Chinese pressures, exposing the clumsiness of China’s attempts to force diplomacy.

Analysis: David Cameron, China, and the meeting that tweaked the dragon’s tail - Telegraph
6 May | As he sat alongside Nick Clegg on a white leather armchair facing the Dalai Lama in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral last May, David Cameron knew he would face China’s wrath.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10040394/Analysis-David-Cameron-China-and-the-meeting-that-tweaked-the-dragons-tail.html