Thursday, December 5, 2013

David Cameron in China

David Cameron in China: News & Analysis - December 2 to 4
Pre-Visit

Britain wins little reward from China in retreat on Tibet - Financial Times

1 December | Britain has “sold the store”, “surrendered” and “totally capitulated” in its efforts to get back into the good graces of the Chinese leadership, in the words of several senior Beijing-based diplomats from Asia and Europe.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/2f8a4ac2-5a6d-11e3-942a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2mPfogO3R

David Cameron hits back at accusations of cronyism on China trade trip - Telegraph

2 December | The Prime Minister argues he is 'absolutely right' to have his father-in-law as one of the business delegates accompanying him on his three day trip to China.

David Cameron has his price: the Dalai Lama or ‘the global race’? - Spectator

2 December | Douglas Murray writes, “...while this government is not unbothered by human rights abuses it does regard them as a luxury.  If there is a cost to highlighting such abuses then they are negotiable.”
During the Visit

British Prime Minister David Cameron backs China to 'realise its dream' - SCMP

2 December | As British prime minister agrees wide-ranging business deals in Beijing, he says two countries can 'help each other succeed in the global race'.

David Cameron calls for China investment in UK’s HS2 - Financial Times

3 December | David Cameron has opened the door to Chinese investment in the High Speed 2 rail line from London to the north.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e1e05d5a-5b31-11e3-a2ba-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2mPfogO3R

David Cameron protests to Chinese president after UK journalist barred - The Guardian

3 December | PM interrupts discussions with Xi Jinping to express unease over Bloomberg reporter excluded from press conference.

China's Global Times' Slams Britain As An 'Old European Country' Amid David Cameron Visit - Huffington Post

3 December | "The Cameron administration should acknowledge that the UK is not a big power in the eyes of the Chinese. It is just an old European country apt for travel and study," the paper's editors wrote.
Post-Visit

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 - the most recent of more than 120 Tibetans to do so since Mr Cameron last visited the People's Republic.”

David Cameron defends China trade mission - BBC

3 December | British Prime Minister David Cameron has defended his trade mission to China after criticism in the Chinese media.

David Cameron’s craven surrender to China follows a pattern - Spectator Blog

3 December | Jonathan Mirsky writes, “Mr Cameron praised China’s top leaders for setting a clear goal: comprehensive reform, including issues such as ‘the judicial protection of human rights…’ This will come as news, if he ever hears these words, to Liu Xiaobo, China’s only-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner, now serving an eleven-year sentence for calling for democracy”


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Week Ending 29 November, 2013

International Tibet Network News Digest & Analysis: 29 November 2013
Protests and Restrictions in Tibet
Sharp increase in China state security arrests: rights group - SCMP
27 November | China arrested more than 1,000 people last year for “endangering state security” (ESS) according to the official China Law Yearbook, Dui Hua said.
Seventeen Tibetans Held in Chinese-Flag-Resisting TAR County - RFA
27 November | Chinese authorities have detained 17 Tibetans in a county in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) where villagers have refused orders to fly the Chinese national flag from their homes and put up posters calling for freedom, according to sources.
Zamthang - Tibetan monk sentenced to four and half years' jail - Phayul
23 November | Hortsang Tamdin, the monk disciplinarian of Jonang monastery in Zamthang, was arrested on April 24 this year during the annual prayer of the monastery.

News
China, Japan, and America: Face-Off - The Economist
30 November | China’s new air-defence zone suggests a worrying new approach in the region.
Report: China Taking Tibetan Crackdown Seriously - VOA News
28 November | The report, released earlier this week, concluded that the way Chinese security forces responded to protests in Driru County (Biru in Chinese) reflected a strong desire to ensure that such incidents remain isolated.
Opinion and Analysis
The Great False Hope: Why the UN Offers No Solution - The Tibet Post
28 November | Kunsang Dolma writes, “Unfortunately, as the world community continues to pursue normal diplomatic and trade relations with China, it is increasingly hard to imagine that the weak existing international pressures on China are going to become any stronger. Expectations otherwise may be doing the Tibetan cause a disservice by placing the faith and energy of Tibet supporters in direction with very limited potential.”
The Great False Hope: Why the UN Offers No Solution - The Tibet Post
28 November | Kunsang Dolma writes, “Unfortunately, as the world community continues to pursue normal diplomatic and trade relations with China, it is increasingly hard to imagine that the weak existing international pressures on China are going to become any stronger. Expectations otherwise may be doing the Tibetan cause a disservice by placing the faith and energy of Tibet supporters in direction with very limited potential.”
Tibet In Flames: A Blot on Global Conscience - Eurasia Review
27 November | Dr. Subhash Kapila writes, “The systematic and prolonged religious, ethnic and cultural genocide inflicted by China in over six decades of its military occupation of Tibet has been fuelled by China’s strategic imperatives.”
http://www.eurasiareview.com/27112013-tibet-flames-blot-global-conscience-analysis/
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Thursday, November 21, 2013

Week Ending 22 November, 2013

International Tibet Network News Digest & Analysis: 22 November 2013
Protests and Restrictions in Tibet
Tibetan man disappeared amid heavy surveillance in Sog County - TCHRD
14 November | Thupten Gyaltsen aka Thupgyal, 27, was detained by local Public Security Bureau officers on the night of 11 November 2013 from his home at Village No. 5 in Gyalchen (Ch: Jiaqin) Township in Sog County.
Tibetan Monastery’s Prayer Hall Lost in Fire - New York Times
18 November | Featuring screen captures from social media. Details the events of the fire at Ganden Thubchen Choekhorling Monastery (Lithang Monastery).
Tibetan Monastery Suffers ‘Massive Damage’ in Blaze - RFA
17 November | Fire has caused “massive damage” to the main prayer hall of a revered 16th century monastery in a Tibetan area of China’s Sichuan province, injuring at least two monks, sources said Sunday.
Tibet and China News
Spanish Court Issues Arrest Warrants for Ex-Chinese Leaders - Wall Street Journal
20 November | Spain's national court, acting on a suit filed by Spanish pro-Tibet groups, issued arrest warrants for former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and four other top authorities as part of an investigation into alleged human rights abuses in Tibet.
China: US Congress' Security Panel Has 'Cold War' Mindset - VOA
21 November | China has sharply criticized a U.S. congressional commission for advocating an expansion of U.S. military power in Asia as a counterweight to China's modernizing military.
Tibetan lamas donate millions to restore prayer hall - RFA
20 November | Sources reported “Lithang Kyabgon Palden Dorjechang has promised 3 million yuan (U.S. $492,000) and Lithang Shakpa Tulku Khedrub Gelek Jampal Gyatso committed 10 million yuan (U.S. $1.64 million), while an anonymous monk promised 500,000 yuan (U.S. $82,000) for the reconstruction of the burnt prayer hall.”


Opinion and Analysis
Chinese Nuclear Force Modernization And Its Arms Control Implications - Eurasia Review
21 November | Of the five states that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty permits to possess nuclear weapons, only China is increasing the size of its nuclear forces. Despite this, Beijing adamantly refuses to join the Russian-U.S. strategic nuclear arms reduction negotiations.


The Disappearance of Tromsikhang’s Different Lives, by Woeser - High Peaks Pure Earth
19 November | Observing the huge changes taking place around her in Lhasa, Woeser takes a close look at the history and fate of the Tromsikhang, a building complex dating back to the early 18th century.
China’s Barkhor: Assimilating Tibet’s Spiritual Heart - ICT Blog
19 November | The Tromzikhang is set to be overshadowed by new malls built by the Chinese in the heart of the old city...When Tibetans have already been largely edged out of small stalls, it’s hard to see how they can successfully compete with Chinese businesses in a high-rent mall with no cultural or historical Tibetan connections.
Taking out the trash: Time to speak up to abuse - Tibet Sun
17 November | Tibetan writer Kunsang Dolma addresses how silence perpetuates abuse in the community, and asserts that Tibetan culture needs to change with the times to better benefit women: “We don’t need to copy the West, but we do need to struggle with the same social issues that they had to work through.”


Preface and first chapter of The Restless Himalayas by Dolma Kyab - High Peaks Pure Earth
15 November | The preface and first chapter of Dolma Kyab’s unpublished Chinese language manuscript “The Restless Himalayas” have been translated. The emotional preface gives way to a summary of Tibetan history, a strong basis for the rest of the book that is comprised of fifty seven chapters, concluding remarks and an afterword.

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Thursday, November 14, 2013

Week Ending November 15, 2013

International Tibet Network News Digest & Analysis: 15 November 2013
Self-Immolations, Protests, and Restrictions in Tibet
Three Tibetans Detained for Putting Up ‘Freedom’ Posters - RFA
14 November | Chinese police in a restive county in Tibet have taken into custody three men for putting up posters calling for freedom, following a wave of detentions in the area after villagers refused orders to fly the Chinese national flag from their homes.
Tibetans Resisting Chinese Flag Campaign Destroy Flagpole Stands - RFA
13 November | Tibetans have destroyed flagpole stands erected to hoist Chinese flags in a restive county in Sichuan province as part of a growing campaign opposing forced displays of loyalty to the Chinese state.
Young Tibetan Monk Sets Himself on Fire to Protest Chinese Rule - RFA
11 November | Tsering Gyal, 20, set himself ablaze at 6:30 p.m. in Pema county in Qinghai province's Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, a source in Tibet said.
Tibetan Protester Dies of His Burns - RFA
12 November | A young Tibetan monk who set himself ablaze on Monday in a challenge to Chinese rule has died on his way to a hospital in Xining, capital city of northwestern China’s Qinghai province, sources said.

Push to Release Writer Leads to Detentions in Tibet - The Epoch Times
11 November | 15 Tibetans were arrested in Driru county’s Shamchu township in Tibet last week after pushing for the release of a writer and his friend, and petitioning in groups of over five was prohibited as the Chinese regime clamps down harder in the region.
China and Tibet News
China Media: New Security Body - BBC
14 November | A media row is breaking out in Hong Kong over China's new security body, while official media defend Beijing's aid to Manila in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.
Tibetans outraged at China's reelection to UNHRC - Business Standard
13 November | Tibetans have expressed outrage at the reelection of China to the UN Human Rights Council and demanded that the member states of the global body use this as an opportunity to hold Beijing accountable for its policies on Tibet that have led to over 120 self-immolations.
Blythe’s Panther: How We Found The Oldest Big Cat - Slate
12 November | Scientist Jack Tseng describes in detail how his team of researchers discovered fossils of a new species of extinct big cat in Tibet.
Related
This Fossil Skull Unearthed in Tibet is the Oldest Big Cat Ever Found - Smithsonian Blog
12 November | Reconstructions of the newly discovered species Panthera blytheae, based on a skull discovered in Tibet that is estimated to be between 4 and 5 million years old.
Opinion and Analysis
Dalai Lama: China ‘softening’ on Tibet - Bangkok Post
14 November | The new Chinese leadership under President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang and the modern-day Chinese intelligentsia are more receptive to the Tibetan cause and Tibetans' demand for high-level autonomy, exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said on Thursday.
China's Opportunity to Live Up to Its 'Human Rights Dream' - Huffington Post
12 November | Bianca Jagger appeals to Xi Jinping and writes “President Xi Jinping has been in power for nearly a year - conditions in Tibet continue be a nightmare. But China has an opportunity to realise its Chinese dream by making a number of transformative commitments.”
Theatre of the Absurd - The Economist
12 November | Erasmus blog writes, “For an organisation to work credibly for human rights at a global level, with no geopolitical or cultural bias, it needs to be as independent as possible from all govermments, and hence from all violators.”
Chinese Party Meeting Calls for Establishing ‘National Security Council’ - Jamestown Foundation
12 November | “...the leadership’s recent decision to apply the concept of “top-level design” to foreign affairs suggest that this body may come to function as a Chinese equivalent of its international counterparts, as a venue for inter-agency coordination on security issues...”


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