Thursday, December 19, 2013

Week Ending December 20, 2013

International Tibet Network News Digest & Analysis: 20 December 2013

Self-Immolations, Protests, and Restrictions in Tibet
Respected Tibetan monk burns himself to death in Gansu - RFA
19 December | Tsultrim Gyatso (43) burned himself to death in Gansu province on Thursday in protest against "suppressive Chinese law," saying in a suicide note that he wanted to "sacrifice" his life for the interest of the Tibetans, according to sources.

Last words of Tsultrim Gyatso - Burning Tibet
19 December | Tibetan poet and writer Bhuchung D. Sonam has translated Tsultrim Gyatso’s final message on his blog, with a photograph of the hand-written note.

Diru crackdown: senior Tibetan Buddhist scholar beaten to death in police custody - TCHRD
19 December | A senior Tibetan Buddhist scholar known for his keen intelligence and mediation skills died while being detained in police custody. Ngawang Jampel, 45, was among the three monks from Tarmoe Monastery who were detained on 23 November 2013 while on a vacation in Lhasa.

Tibetan teen detained over freedom posters in Driru - RFA
18 December | Sonam Tobgyal, 16, a resident of Driru county in the TAR’s Nagchu prefecture, was taken into custody on Nov. 26, a day after he posted notices declaring that Tibetans have no freedom under Beijing’s rule, sources reported.

News
Joint statement: Spanish government Tibet lawsuits- International Tibet Network
19 December | Tibet campaigners deeply concerned about Spanish government threats to close down Tibet lawsuits. Decisions by Spain’s independent judiciary to indict and order arrest warrants for former Chinese leaders have angered China.

Grasping hearts with an iron fist in Tibet - China Digital Times
18 December | Reports from BBC and Reuters on the depictions of minorities in China and the continued restrictions and surveillance of Tibetans.

North Korea is more accessible to foreign journalists than Tibet is - Washington Post
17 December | Dr. Carole McGranahan discussed the rising trend of Tibetan self-immolations – a form of political protest against Chinese rule – and the challenge of understanding Tibet's turmoil. [Video of 1-hr lecture available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fDLqEVMu7WY]

Free jailed Tibetan singers, stars tell China - Free Tibet
16 December | Peter Gabriel, Thom Yorke and Ed O’Brien (Radiohead), Serj Tankian (System of a Down) and Tjinder Singh (Cornershop) are the first signatures on a petition launched by Free Tibet calling on China to release eight singers jailed in Tibet for songs celebrating Tibetan culture and calling for freedom.

Opinion and Analysis
Next year in China: The top ten stories of 2014 - The New Yorker
18 December | Evan Osnos speculates on emerging news themes from China, with unrest in Tibet and Xinjiang at the top of the list for 2014.

Infected with politics - Tibetan Political Review

18 December | The editorial board writes, “WHO and China Turn Public Health into Political Battleground” over a Tuberculosis research prize.


This Tibetan filmmaker has been in prison for 4 years - It’s time for the Chinese government to let him go - Huffington Post

17 December | Amnesty International advocates for the release of Dhondup Wangchen.


How China distorts its minorities through propaganda - BBC

16 December | The People’s Republic wants Tibetans and Uyghurs to sing and dance on TV – but do little else. Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore reveals how the government exoticises, and marginalises, its non-Han Chinese ethnic groups.



Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Week Ending December 13, 2013

International Tibet Network News Digest & Analysis: 13 December 2013

Protests and Restrictions in Tibet
China must befriend Tibet monks to build 'impenetrable defense': official - Reuters
13 December | China must grasp the heart of the people with one hand and seize the law with the other to strike down illegal groups, the ruling Communist Party chief in Tibet, Chen Quanguo, said in the official People's Daily newspaper.

China Clamps Down Harder on Tibetan Writers and Singers - Epoch Times
12 December | CCP continues to crack down on freedom of expression in Tibet, further implementing President Xi’s Maoist “mass line” campaign of repression and surveillance. These arrests follow several other recent arrests of Tibetan writers and musicians.

China Expands Mass Re-education Campaign in Restive Tibetan Area - VOA News
11 December | Tibetan exiles say Chinese authorities have expanded a re-education campaign in the restive county of Driru by locking down at least three monasteries and calling back locals who were studying outside of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR).

News
International Campaign for Tibet appoints Matteo Mecacci, leading rights advocate, as President - ICT
12 December | ICT is honored to announce the appointment of Matteo Mecacci, a leading defender of human rights and democracy, as the new President of the International Campaign for Tibet. Matteo Mecacci takes the helm at the world’s largest advocacy organization for the Tibetan people this week, based in Washington, DC.

US Calls for Liu Xiaobos Release - The Diplomat
11 December | The U.S. Secretary of State publicly called for Liu Xiaobo’s release – for the fifth straight year.

Opinion and Analysis
A Controversial Legacy - Economist
11 December | Mr Mandela was a source of inspiration to many Chinese dissidents. Yet during his decades-long involvement with China, he often found himself taking positions that surprised and disappointed many of his admirers.

‘Paying Respect to Dhondup Wangchen and Golog Jigme’ - High Peaks Pure Earth
10 December | Woeser writes about the current and past situation surrounding filmmakers Dhondup Wangchen and Golog Jigme, from a 1 December blog post.

Behind China’s Cyber Curtain - New Republic
5 December | Christopher Beam reports from Aba: Visiting the country's far reaches, where the government shut down the Internet
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115709/chinas-aba-county-where-government-shut-internet

Week Ending December 6, 2013

International Tibet Network News Digest & Analysis: 6 December 2013

Self-Immolations, Protests, and Restrictions in Tibet
Tibetan father of two sets fire to himself in Ngaba - ICT
4 December | Konchok Tseten (30 yrs old) self-immolated in Meruma, Ngaba on 3 Decemebr. He later died from his burns and was cremated by authorities.

Tibetan monk from Dhingri arrested in Lhasa - Phayul
5 December | A monk of Shelkar Choede monastery in Dhingri in southwestern Tibet has been arrested in Lhasa on Nov. 29 for being in possession of an image of the Tibetan national flag in his cell phone.

Tibetan writer and eight other jailed in Driru - RFA
3 December | A Chinese court has ordered nine Tibetans jailed for “anti-state” activities in the wake of widespread actions in a county in Tibet resisting orders to fly the Chinese national flag, sources said.

News
For coverage of UK PM David Cameron’s visit to China, please see: http://tibetnetworknewsupdate.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/david-cameron-in-china.html

Tibetan immolations: Desperation as world looks away - BBC
2 December | Damian Grammaticas reports from inside Tibet on the surveillance and restrictions on ordinary Tibetans’ way of life.

Joe Biden urges Chinese students to challenge the status quo - NBC
4 December | The US vice president seemed to be alluding to the authoritarian rule of China's government as he described a liberal and permissive intellectual culture in the United States.

Opinion and Analysis

David Cameron in China: Statesman or Salesman? - Huffington Post

5 December | Eleanor Byrne-Rosengren, Director of Free Tibet, writes, “As Mr Cameron was still in the country, Tibetan nomad Kunchok Tseten set himself alight in protest against China's rule.”

Hack Tibet - Foreign Policy

4 December | Jonathan Kaiman reports on cyber security, malware, and risks to Tibetan society from Dharamsala, India, “ground zero in China’s cyberwar”.

China needs to change view of Tibet - Asia Times
4 December | Abanti Bhattacharya writes, “China's flawed perception on Tibet both colors and distorts its relationship with India.”

Burning for the Buddha - Tricycle
2 December | James Benn writes “Generally considered antithetical to Buddhism's Middle Way, self-immolation has a long and surprising history in scripture and practice.”