Thursday, June 27, 2013

Week Ending June 28, 2013

International Tibet Network News Digest & Analysis: 28 June 2013

Self-Immolations, Protests, and Restrictions in Tibet
China: End Involuntary Rehousing and Relocation of Tibetans - HRW
27 June | Since 2006, over two million Tibetans have been “rehoused” – through government-ordered renovation or construction of new houses – in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), while hundreds of thousands of nomadic herders in the eastern part of the Tibetan plateau have been relocated or settled in “New Socialist Villages.”

Tibetans Openly Allowed to Revere the Dalai Lama in Two Chinese Provinces - RFA
27 June | Chinese authorities in Tibetan-populated areas of Qinghai and Sichuan are allowing monks to openly venerate the Dalai Lama as a religious leader but not as a “political” figure, according to sources citing official statements introducing the “experimental” new policy.
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/allowed-06262013180033.html

Related
Rumour Watch: Will China Allow Limited Veneration of the Dalai Lama? - Tea Leaf Nation
26 June | Despite lack of official confirmation, rumors are spreading online about the possibility of legal religious veneration of the Dalai Lama in some areas.

News
China resettles nearly 2 million Tibetans, says Human Rights Watch - BBC
27 June | Tightened security over the entire Tibetan plateau: grid monitoring systems, forced resettlement into ‘socialist villages’, and unconfirmed reports of an experimental policy change supposedly allowing Tibetans to venerate the Dalai Lama as a religious leader.

Pillay: 20 years after historic human rights breakthrough, much work remains - OHCHR
27 June | Navi Pillay said there had been significant achievements since a historic human rights document was adopted in Vienna 20 years ago, but there have also been many setbacks and “the magnificent construction is still only half built.”

US Ambassador to China visits Tibet amid wave of self-immolations - Quartz
27 June | Gary Locke is on a three-day trip with members of his family and several embassy staff to meet with residents and government officials and raise concerns about the “deteriorating human rights situation,” specifically the self-immolations by Tibetans in protest against Chinese rule.

Hague seeks to calm waters over Tibet - SCMP
25 June | British Foreign Secretary William Hague told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi yesterday that "London recognises Tibet as part of China".

Opinion and Analysis
New challenges to Tibet policy from inside China - ICT
27 June | Proposals to display portraits of the Dalai Lama, end denunciation of the Tibetan leader, and lessen police presence in monasteries have been discussed at a series of meetings in Qinghai, according to several unofficial Tibetan sources.

“My response on Twitter to the Peoples Daily concerning the situation of Lhasa’s old town” by Woeser - High Peaks Pure Earth
24 June | Woeser’s blogpsot from May 18 responding to counter-reports from Chinese media on the condition and ‘developments’ taking place in Lhasa.

Tibet: China Yet Again Not Obliging Human Rights Changes - UNPO
25 June | The EU is having difficulties again being in dialogue with the Chinese government regarding pressing concerns such as the death penalty, freedom of speech and other human rights issues.

Reaching for the sky: A policy solution to gender inequality - Phayul
24 June | Tenzin Palkyi and Tenzin Dickyi argue that the CTA “ is hampered by a weak Women’s Empowerment Policy that doesn’t even acknowledge the existence of gender discrimination in our society” and “the present gender inequality in Tibetan society is a serious problem that Sikyong Lobsang Sangay’s Kashag has a real opportunity to address by implementing a credible Women’s Empowerment Policy that can be a lasting legacy”.