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You Don't Have To Leave Your House To Join A Protest For Tibet!

SacredRiver — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:28:18 GMT

Join the Biggest Ever Protest - for Tibet

On Thursday Aug 7th, the night before the Olympic Games start

Join Candle in My Window - for Tibet

Light a Candle for Tibet at your home, workplace or in a public place.
You will not be alone. Many millions around the world will do the same in prayer for freedom and hope.
And our candles will be seen by billions on TV screens all over the world on the day the Olympics open. Tibet will not be forgotten.

Join http://www.candle4tibet.org/ today and invite all your friends to join too.

We can do it. The world will be watching us.

posted in Free Tibet - 1 reply

I was tortured in a Chinese prison. Now I'm marching for freedom.

celestial — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:57:31 GMT

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20080507/cm_csm/yjianli

By Yang Jianli Wed May 7, 4:00 AM ET

Boston - Silence is golden, goes the aphorism. But consider the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany. Instead of walking away from the Olympics, which would have removed any tacit approval of Hitler, leaving him less emboldened – possibly even changing the course of history – the world was silent.
ADVERTISEMENT

We stir up trouble by speaking out.

But I am speaking out. Because the people inside China cannot speak out, and because thousands of brothers and sisters in prison need a voice.

I served five years as a political prisoner in China, from which I was released only last year. I was tortured, both physically and psychologically, and put in solitary confinement for the first 14 months. I was charged with "espionage," a crime of which I was innocent, and one that can mean jail for life or result in the death sentence.

My family hired a prominent Chinese lawyer in February 2003, after I had been detained. But it was only after the US House and Senate adopted resolutions calling for my release in June 2003 that I was finally allowed to meet with this lawyer.

The pressure from the US eventually made a great difference in my prison experience – I was given more freedom within the prison, and no longer tortured. The fact is that without the leadership of the US, I might never have been freed.

Even when I was finally released from prison, the Chinese government kept me in China, preventing me from uniting with my family in America. If it were not for Congressman Barney Frank and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson working on my behalf, I would not have been able to come home in August 2007.

I am just one man. But I know I need to speak out for the thousands of political prisoners languishing in jail without hope and support, including dozens still serving time for the Tiananmen Square student democracy movement in 1989; for those lawyers seeking to gain human and civil rights for their clients, for those prohibited from practicing their religion, and for those who are afraid to speak out because of the grave consequences consistently doled out by the Chinese government. I need to speak out for the invisible – the abducted, or those placed under house arrest for no other reason than for attempting to exercise their basic human rights.

So on May 4, I began walking 500 miles. It should take over 32 days to make my way from Boston to Washington, DC. I am calling my walk GongMin, which means "Citizen" in Chinese. I'm walking for "citizen power" in China. I'll walk through Providence, New Haven, Bridgeport, New York, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. My walk will conclude on June 4, the 19th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, where there will be a large gathering and remembrance in Washington.

I'm walking 500 miles as a free man, to draw attention to the struggle for freedom and democracy of Han Chinese, Tibetans, Uighurs, Mongolians, and people of all ethnic groups. And I'm walking to call for the US to continue its moral leadership.

The best option is for the US to continue to pressure China to enter a dialogue with human rights advocates around the world.

Human rights are what this great country was founded upon – they cannot, and should not, be commodified or weighed on a scale of pros and cons.

Silence, in this case, is not golden. Silence, as in the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany, is deadly.

• Dr. Yang Jianli is founder of Initiatives for China, dedicated to empowering the citizens of China by giving voice to their struggles for a peaceful transition to democratic China. He is a former political prisoner in China.

posted in Free Tibet - 2 replies

The Olympic Fire

Silence — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:51:24 GMT

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,545807,00.html

got transported by bus...
I think that never happened before.

posted in Free Tibet - 4 replies

This guy has a cool bog

SaltyDave — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:25:25 GMT

I found this guy on tribe that wants to make a movie about tibeten people
http://people.tribe.net/tomsepe/blog?topicid=bc0d5def-509b-49ec-bbce-b81e37a16454

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

Major pro-Beijing rally at Australia relay

SaltyDave — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:15:45 GMT

Read the story

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080424/wl_nm/olympics_torch_dc

posted in Free Tibet - 5 replies

Tibetan Olympics

Silence — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 03:37:15 GMT

The Tibetan Olympics 2008 are being held in Dharmashala, India, 15-25 May, 2008.
http://www.tibetanolympics.com/press/

In the planning for the last two years, this event is needed now more than ever.

The Tibetan Olympic Torch
http://www.tibetanolympics.com/torch_route/

posted in Free Tibet - 4 replies

What U Can Do!

SaltyDave — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:23:00 GMT

Hi Kids,
So as some of you know I was going to support the Tibetans when the Olympic torch came to San Francisco… and I did…

Photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saltydave/sets/72157604469014539/

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WapNnarcyo

and I was surprised at the number of pro China supporters. All my youtube coverage received only negative comments… by people that joined 2 days ago (very suspicious). Anyway my point is that the Chinese government has a HUGE sphere of influence… with its CCTV http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Central_Television
And its hordes brain washed nationals…
The Chinese have free thinking people out numbered… they can make a mob of people show up any place and can flood youtube with propaganda… We need to speak up on the internet and bring this battle of information to them… If you have the time please surf youtube and post positive comments on pro tibet videos… tell your friends! This is not a game… this is about a fascist state with lots of resources using all kinds of shifty tactics to win the war of hearts and souls.

posted in Free Tibet - 5 replies

What can we do?

SaltyDave — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:48:17 GMT

That is it... what can we do about this?
also... what should we do?
They are different questions .... this is about Buddhism isn't it?
Frankly I don't know if I should focus on my daily meditation or engage in civil disobedience.

posted in Free Tibet - 5 replies

Tibet Help

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:04:22 GMT

After gaining 1.5 million signatures on the petition it is time for the next step:

send a letter to your head of state to take action about Tibet!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_report_back/7.php/?cl=69966565

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

Caution on Email to TSGs

SacredRiver — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:45:46 GMT

http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=19975

Cyber Attacks Target Pro-Tibet Groups

Just a reminder, we are all familiar with these entire TSG list, but
just read this article and my suspicion had been reinforce by this
article.
I've receiving emails with attachments waiting to be open by some
obscure group claiming to be legit TSG and if you have not notice
this group before, it might sound fishy or too good. Some of the
recent emails I've been receiving as sent on a consistent basis...are
these two:
TibetRevlutionArmy which is claiming 30,000 members all over the
world. Never heard about this group, not to mention 30 thousand,
that's enough to put back the camps in Mustang, never did open their
constitution attachment.
Then this group of 9 Indian students who will be touring India to
spread Tibet awareness and wants you to open their attachment for
suggestion. Never heard of this group again but their intro is...We
are a new group...
Just a heads up and please spread the news.

posted in Free Tibet - 2 replies

Seattle Joins Global Day for Tibet!

SacredRiver — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 05:19:40 GMT

March 31, 2008

Spearheaded by the Tibetan Association of Washington, the Global Day of Action for Tibet were joined by the Seattle Friends of Tibet, other non-Tibetans from different Buddhist Dharma practitioners and general sympathizers from the Metro Seattle area. A moving picket, candle vigil and leaflet distribution were simultaneous done last March 31, 2008 to spread awareness on what is going on inside Tibet right now. Also the action was done to coincide with the mass movement in all over major cities around the world. A request was address to ask China to meet and have a dialog with HH the Dalai Lama. This was covered by a major TV network and two of Seattle's leading media news. More mass actions are being scheduled in the future.

Contact your local 'Tibet Support Group' and join the global clamor for a Free Tibet!

~Action4Tibet!

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

"Are Tibetans the new Jews?"

Project_Mayhem — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:30:48 GMT

I thought this was an interesting article

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1206446104194&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

In 1990, the Dalai Lama hosted a delegation of American Jews in Dharamsala, his home in exile in the hill country of northern India. His agenda was clear. Tibetans had lost sovereignty over their homeland and were scattering around the globe. How, he asked, had Jews preserved their cultural and religious identities during their own 2,000-year exile, and what might Tibetans do to preserve theirs?

Some 18 years later, the parallel between Tibet's unfolding and increasingly bleak prospects and the Jewish historical experience seems all the more relevant.

Just as after the failed first century Jewish uprising against Rome, Tibetans are becoming a minority in their homeland thanks to Beijing's strategy of drastically and irreversibly altering Tibet's population by flooding the territory with Han Chinese, China's dominant ethnic group.

Already, two out of every three residents of Lhasa, Tibet's capital, is Han Chinese. In 2006, Beijing hastened the process considerably by opening a high-speed rail link between Lhasa and Beijing. Saffron-robe clad Tibetan Buddhist monks have been replaced by Chinese-run brothels, karaoke bars and a sprawling amusement park that now surround the Portola Palace, the Dalai Lama's former residence and Tibet's equivalent of Jerusalem's ancient Temple.

IT'S EASY to imagine that the only reason China has not razed the Portola Palace as Rome razed the Second Temple is the horrific press response that action would unleash in today's global media environment, a nuisance Rome did not have to contend with. How much easier for Beijing to leave the palace intact, if only for its tourism value, particularly this year when large numbers of foreign visitors are expected to visit China's far-flung provinces as part of their Beijing Olympics experience.

But saving the palace does absolutely nothing to offset the greatest threats to Tibet's future as a political entity run by and for Tibetans: the passing of time and humanity's cruelly short memory.

It took Jews almost two millennia to re-establish an independent state in their homeland. During that time, later-arriving Arabs settled in the land and claimed it as their own. Despite Judaism's numerous ritual reminders of Zion's centrality, Jewish historical ties to the land were conveniently forgotten by most of the world, which came to view modern Jews as having no connection to the ancient Israelites who once populated the same land. As a result, returning Jews were regarded as colonialist interlopers and Arabs were seen as indigenous innocents suffering at the hands of Jewish pretenders.

Tibetans now face a similar inversion of history.

How long will it be before Tibetans are viewed as a relic, and perhaps bothersome, minority in their homeland similar to the condition of Native Americans in the United States, Formosans in Taiwan, or Serbs in Kosovo?

How long must Beijing hold on to Tibet before the world comes to think of Tibet as Chinese territory and favors the claims of the descendants of Chinese settlers over Tibetans seeking to reestablish their historical national rights? Another 30 years? A century or two? Two thousand years?

I FIRST met the Dalai Lama in 1979 in Los Angeles during his initial visit to the United States. Like so many others, I was immediately charmed. Tibetans revered him as the fourteenth in a line of individuals said to be the reincarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, a being who it is said willingly delays completion of his own spiritual enlightenment by repeatedly reincarnating for the purpose of helping others first attain theirs. Yet despite his otherworldly aura, he was entirely approachable, a seemingly "simple monk" - as he often describes himself - in possession of a keen and self-mocking sense of humor.

Speaking on interfaith relations at a Los Angeles World Affairs Council luncheon during that visit, he displayed an infectious giggle over his poor command of English when his interpreter informed him that a Jewish religious leader was called a rabbi, not a "rabie" as he had mispronounced it.

I've since been in his presence as a journalist or spiritual explorer numerous times - at day-long Tibetan religious ceremonies, at meetings with Western scientists during which he spoke about the brain- and personality-altering power of meditation, and at meetings with Washington politicians at which he pushed the Tibetan cause.

Perhaps the most unforgettable encounter was a 1997 Pessah Seder staged in his honor by the Reform movement - at which he decided that gefilte fish wasn't to his liking.

THE DALAI LAMA still retains his trademark demeanor even as his public pronouncements on the future of Tibet have become increasingly dark. He has said he is likely to be the last Dalai Lama (Dalai Lama is a title; the current office holder's actual name is Tenzin Gayatso), which would mean the end of a Tibetan Buddhist tradition stretching back more than 500 years. Rather than lobbying for genuine Tibetan independence, he now restricts himself to calling for Tibetan cultural self-determination.

Politically, the Dalai Lama argues correctly that Tibetans are powerless in the face of brutal Chinese repression and that, for all his pop culture stardom, no nation - not the United States and certainly not little Israel - is willing to antagonize the Chinese behemoth for the sake of strategically meaningless Tibet. Religiously - and he is a religious leader more than he is a political figure - he notes that Buddhism's central beliefs in the impermanence and interdependence of all worldly phenomenon dictate that Tibet's ongoing existence as a separate state is hardly assured or even necessary.

Jewish cultural identity survived the destruction of the Second Temple by shifting from a temple-based religion to its rabbinic form. Moreover, it took Jewish secularists willing to take up the gun for Zionism to gain a state in the modern era.

Tibetan religion and culture are in the initial stages of a similarly radical transformation. What shape that will take and whether it will successfully preserve a distinct Tibetan identity is, of course, unanswerable. What is clear is that Jews and Tibetans have more in common than is superficially apparent - as the Dalai Lama recognized back in 1990.

The writer is an author and editor in Annapolis, Maryland, who writes often about Jews and Buddhism.

posted in Free Tibet - 1 reply

Bush confronts China on Tibet crackdown

celestial — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:12:12 GMT

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080326/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_china

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

Economics trump human rights

Project_Mayhem — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:28:36 GMT

What a joke. At least he openly admits it though, unlike some so-called leaders

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080...jc25DmbOrgF

"When you're dealing in international relations with countries as important as China, obviously when you make economic decisions it's sometimes at the expense of human rights," he added. "That's elementary realism."

posted in Free Tibet - 6 replies

Ex-Communist Official Accuses China Of Staging Violent Tibet Riots

Marc — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:53:42 GMT

Ming claims demonstrations radicalized to justify crackdown and force Dalai Lama to resign

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Monday, March 24, 2008

A former Chinese Communist Party official has accused China of staging violent riots in Tibet in order to demonize Tibetans in the eyes of the international community, justify a brutal paramilitary police crackdown and force the Dalai Lama to resign.

Ruan Ming, who was a speechwriter for top CCP officials during the 80's, now lives in Taiwan and serves as diplomatic advisor to President Chen Shui-bian. During his time in the Communist Party, Ming was admired by democracy activists as a reformer.

In an interview carried on the Epoch Times website, Ming warns that the Chinese government is orchestrating some of the more violent riots in an attempt to demonize peaceful Tibetans and justify a greater crackdown.

He blames the Chinese Communists for violence witnessed during the riots in Lhasa on March 10th and argues that a wider agenda is unfolding.

"The CCP carefully staged the unrest in Tibet to deceive the world. Before the incident, the authorities drove away all foreign reporters and even forbade them from going out," said Ming.

"The demonstration on March 10 was meant to be peaceful. You can see from the pictures that the demonstration was all monks," he explained.

Mr. Ruan Ming was a speechwriter for former CCP General Secretary Hu Yaobang. (The Epoch Times)

"The CCP arrested some of these monks and killed them. The killing angered some young Tibetans. By March 14, the Tibetans could no longer stand the killing of innocent monks and protested."

"The CCP seized this opportunity and took pictures of these Tibetans in violent actions and sent out officers to do a door-to-door search, calling on the 'guilty' to surrender themselves," Ming concluded.

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

Seattle Friends of Tibet

SacredRiver — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:54:44 GMT

Newly organize Tibet support group in the pacific northwest. Would be setting up a regional charter if liason or groups will join within the Pacific Northwest and will be address as - "Northwest Friends of Tibet". If charter is approve or will be accepted by the Global Movement - Friends of Tibet, then international name will go under, "Firends of Tibet - U.S."

If you live in the same area and would like to join, please email us at: SFoT@gmail.com.

Enough if Enough, China needs to know that the whole world is not tolerating this issue anymore.
Join the global clamour for a Free Tibet.

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

Dalai Lama: "I Am Prepared to Face China. I Will Go to Beijing"

Marc — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 10:06:16 GMT

By Andrew Buncombe
The Independent UK

Friday 21 March 2008

As crisis over Tibet deepens, Dalai Lama makes extraordinary offer to negotiate directly with President Hu Jintao.

Dharamsala - Almost half a century after he fled to India, the Dalai Lama has raised the extraordinary prospect of travelling to Beijing and holding face-to-talks with the Chinese regime in an effort to resolve Tibet's most serious crisis for two decades.

Having watched helplessly from exile as his Tibetan homeland has suffered under Chinese rule, the man regarded as a living god by millions of his followers said yesterday that he was ready to negotiate personally with the Chinese leadership. The Dalai Lama, 73, acknowledged the difficulty associated with a face-to-face summit, but said he was even ready to meet President Hu Jintao, notorious in Tibet for his hardline approach when he served as Tibet's local Communist leader. "I am always ready to meet the Chinese leaders, and particularly Hu Jintao. I am very happy to meet," he told a small group of journalists at his office in Dharamsala. "But as I mentioned earlier, to go to Beijing and meet leaders... that would be big news. Many Tibetans would think... may develop some unrealistic expectations. I have to think very carefully."

While a visit to Beijing would leave him open to criticism of appeasing the Chinese, the undertaking the Dalai Lama gave yesterday underlines his desperate wish to avoid further bloodshed in the country of his birth.

Seeking to put pressure on China, he said he was willing to travel to Beijing in a matter of weeks if there was a "concrete indication" that the Chinese authorities were prepared to negotiate and if the protests in Tibet had concluded. His spokesman later confirmed that while he did not wish to simply provide the Chinese with a photo-opportunity that could be used against him, he was ready to discuss a "mutually agreeable solution" to the issue of Tibet.

The remarkable prospect of a summit between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese leadership - either in Beijing or elsewhere - came as China said police had opened fire and wounded four Tibetan protesters in Sichuan province and arrested dozens of others who had ignored a deadline to end the most serious demonstrations to rock Tibet for more than two decades.

Earlier this week, the Chinese leadership indicated it would be prepared to talk to the Dalai Lama if he stopped "separatist activities" and recognised Tibet and Taiwan as parts of China. Gordon Brown told the Commons on Wednesday that the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, had told him he was ready to meet the Dalai Lama if he renounced violence. But assessing the genuine intentions of the Chinese leadership remains at best a guessing game. Beijing is concerned about sullying its reputation ahead of the upcoming Olympic Games, but while giving an undertaking to meet the Dalai Lama, various Chinese officials have continued to demonise him and accuse him and his "clique" of orchestrating the demonstrations in Tibet.

"For the Dalai Lama, we not only listen to what he says, but more importantly, we focus on what he does," said the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Qin Gang. "He has said he is not a separatist. But all of his propositions and actions prove that he has never stopped his splittist words and deeds."

The Dalai Lama knows his only real leverage as head of a Tibetan government in exile is in winning over international opinion to his cause. Today he is due to meet Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, while tomorrow he is scheduled to have lunch with the actor Richard Gere in Delhi. Both have supported him for many years.

Winning the backing of camera-friendly celebrities and power-wielding politicians has long been the strength of the smiling and avuncular 1989 Nobel laureate. Laughing, joking and yet utterly serious all in the space of a sentence, this is a role he continues to play to perfection as the cause to which he has devoted his life receives unprecedented world attention. Never more than now has he needed to stress the importance of non-violent protest and the limited nature of the movement's demands.

"The Chinese constitution already mentions autonomy [for Tibet]. So that should not be just a word on paper but implemented on the spot," he said, sitting in front of a statue of the Buddha. "The whole world knows Dalai Lama is not seeking independence, one hundred times, a thousand times I have repeated this. It is my mantra - we are not seeking independence."

In Beijing, the authorities admitted for the first time that the often violent protests that swept through Lhasa 10 days ago in protest against Chinese rule had spread to other Tibetan communities in additional provinces. Subsequently, the government has dispatched more troops and paramilitaries across the region as it seeks to reassert its control in those areas. It has banned the media and foreign tourists from travelling to the region.

Precisely how many people have been killed or injured as a result of the protests and the subsequent crackdown is unclear. The Chinese government says 16 people have died while the Tibetan exiles say the number stands at 80. On walls and buildings throughout Dharamsala, exiles have posted graphic and disturbing photographs of Tibetans apparently killed by Chinese police or soldiers.

"It's horrible. There are many bodies. The Chinese are holding the bodies," claimed Tenzin Thangh, who was participating in a candlelit vigil through the main street of the town - a procession that has become a nightly occurrence. "The soldiers are going into all parts of Tibet."

>From Dharamsala, a former British hill station established on the peaceful fringe of the Himalayas, Chinese accusations regarding the Dalai Lama's ability to direct events in Tibet and the description of him as "a devil with a human face but the heart of a beast", appear little short of preposterous. Indeed, his cautious "middle way" approach has been criticised by some Tibetans, including the Tibetan Youth Congress which seeks full independence from China. While many younger Tibetans have been outspoken in their criticism of the Dalai Lama's tactics, in recent days they have halted such comments in an apparent effort not to appear divided at a crucial juncture.

What certainly does not seem in doubt is the reverence with which he is held as the community's religious leader. Before meeting reporters yesterday, the Dalai Lama spent time in the flower-filled gardens of the compound receiving and blessing various visitors, including a family who had travelled secretly from Shanghai.

Asked later how he felt about the personal insults that Chinese officials had directed towards him, he said such comments mattered little to him. He also said he did not believe that the international community was taken in by what the Chinese said.

"As a Buddhist monk, it does not matter what they call me," he said with a chuckle. "The outside world doesn't believe that I am [a] devil."

posted in Free Tibet - 1 reply

Tibetan revolt subject of Dianne Rehm show

wil — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:13:46 GMT

http://wamu.org/programs/dr/

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

Protests in Tibet

Project_Mayhem — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:47:18 GMT

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=a74405a4-6cb0-423a-8f12-de9c60c2ff91&k=2985

Chaos in Tibet capital as protests spread

Chris Buckley and Lindsay Beck
Reuters

Friday, March 14, 2008

CREDIT:
A Tibetan teacher speaks to his young monks during a religious class in the school inside Kumbum Monastery in Huangzhong County, Qinghai province March 14, 2008. Shops were set on fire in violence in Tibet's capital of Lhasa on Friday, China's Xinhua news agency reported after days of rare street protests in the contested region. REUTERS/Nir Elias

CREDIT: REUTERS/Nir Elias
A Tibetan teacher speaks to his young monks during a religious class in the school inside Kumbum Monastery in Huangzhong County, Qinghai province March 14, 2008. Shops were set on fire in violence in Tibet's capital of Lhasa on Friday, China's Xinhua news agency reported after days of rare street protests in the contested region.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Protesters in Tibet's capital Lhasa burnt shops and vehicles and yelled for independence on Friday as the region was hit by its biggest protests for nearly two decades, testing China's grip months before the Olympics.

Peaceful street marches by Tibetan Buddhist monks over previous days gave way to bigger scenes of violence and resentment in the remote, mountainous region.

"Now it's very chaotic outside," an ethnic Tibetan resident said by telephone. "People have been burning cars and motorbikes and buses. There is smoke everywhere and they have been throwing rocks and breaking windows. We're scared."

Another ethnic Tibetan resident said there were "protests everywhere." "It's no longer just the monks. Now they have been joined by lots of residents," the man said.

The eruption of anger comes despite China's repeated claims that the Tibetan people are grateful for improved lives and it threatens to stain preparations for the Beijing Olympics with fears of ethnic unrest.

Chinese rule in remote, Buddhist Tibet has become a focus for critics in the run-up to the August Games, with global marches this week to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Communist rule spilling into Tibet itself.

Those marches apparently emboldened Buddhist monks to march down Lhasa's streets, defying a heavy police presence and reports of lockdowns on several monasteries, sources with knowledge of the region said.

On Friday, 300 to 400 residents and monks demonstrated in Lhasa, a source cited a witness as saying, capping a week of daily protests led by the Buddhist clergy that has echoes of anti-government protests that rocked neighbor Myanmar last year.

"Some are angry and some are scared. The security forces are checking houses to see if any monks are hiding," said the source, who is in touch with Tibetan residents.

More than 10 monks had been arrested and tanks were patrolling the square near the Potala Palace, the source said, referring to one of the architectural wonders of the world once the winter residence of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Witnesses said a number of shops were set on fire and report from China's Xinhua news agency said the Tromsikhang Market in central Lhasa was also in flames.

CHAOS

Residents spoke of general chaos around the city, and one Tibetan man said Tibetans and minority Hui Muslim traders from other parts of China were fighting each other with rocks and knives.

A Han Chinese resident said the protests were being directed at the city's Chinese population. "The Han Chinese are really scared," the resident said. "We have been told not to go outside."

"It is very chaotic... There is lots of smoke and police around," said another Han Chinese man. An editor at the Chinese-language Lhasa Evening News said staff were staying inside.

The U.S. Embassy said it had received reports from U.S. citizens of gunfire in Lhasa and advised its citizens there to remain indoors.

Two residents reached by telephone referred to martial law.

But that could not be confirmed and China's State Council Information Office declined to comment, referring only to remarks made on Thursday by a Foreign Ministry spokesman, who said the protesters were "seeking to spark social turmoil."

The demonstrations in Lhasa earlier also spilled into at least one other ethnic Tibetan area of China.

Hundreds of monks from the Labrang monastery in the northwestern province of Gansu led a march through the town of Xiahe, the Free Tibet Campaign said, citing sources in Dharamsala, home to Tibet's government-in-exile.

The region has been periodically restive since Chinese troops invaded in 1950. Nine years later, the Dalai Lama staged a failed uprising against Chinese rule and fled into exile in India.

China imposed martial law in Tibet in 1989, the same year as the Tiananmen Square protests were crushed in Beijing, to quell anti-Chinese demonstrations, when President Hu Jintao was the Communist Party boss in the region.

This week's wave of protests began on Monday, when 500 monks from the Drepung monastery marched in Lhasa. That was followed by action from monks at the Lhasa-area Sera and Ganden monasteries. Security personnel fired tear gas on at least one of the demonstrations, reports said.

The Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said authorities had sealed off all three monasteries.

The U.S.-government-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported monks from Sera were on a hunger strike, demanding withdrawal of Chinese paramilitary forces from the monastery and the release of monks detained earlier this week.

Two monks from Drepung were in critical condition after attempting suicide by slitting their wrists, RFA said.

posted in Free Tibet - 3 replies

STAND WITH TIBET -SUPPORT THE DALAI LAMA

Marc — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:41:37 GMT

Stand with Tibet - Support the Dalai Lama
After decades of repression, Tibetans are crying out to the world for change. China's leaders are right now making a crucial choice between escalating brutality or dialogue that could determine the future of Tibet, and China.

We can affect this historic choice -- China does care about its international reputation. But it will take an avalanche of global people power to get the government's attention. The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has called for restraint and dialogue: he needs the world's people to support him. Fill out the form below to sign the petition--and spread the word.

Petition to Chinese President Hu Jintao:

As citizens around the world, we call on you to show restraint and respect for human rights in your response to the protests in Tibet, and to address the concerns of all Tibetans by opening meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Only dialogue and reform will bring lasting stability. China's brightest future, and its most positive relationship with the world, lies in harmonious development, dialogue and respect.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence/6.php?cl=62146188

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

TIBETAN EXILES GO ON HUNGER STRIKE

Marc — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:48:25 GMT

The Associated Press

Thursday 13 March 2008

Dehra, India - More than 100 Tibetan exiles began a hunger strike Thursday after police in northern India dragged them away from a six-month march to their homeland to protest China's hosting of the Olympic Games.

The demonstrators had vowed to march from India to Tibet to coincide with the start of the Aug. 8-24 Games. Indian officials - fearing the march would embarrass China - banned the exiles from leaving the Kangra district that surrounds the city of Dharmsala - the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile in India.

The exiles resisted arrest by sitting or lying down, but they were hauled into police buses here in the town of Dehra, about 12 miles from the district boundary. Some wept or shouted "Free Tibet!" and other slogans, but there was no violence, witnesses said.

Senior police official Atul Fulzele said the protesters were charged with threatening the region's "peace and tranquility." Hours after being charged, the protesters began a hunger strike.

The Tibetan exiles appeared before a magistrate late Thursday and were asked to sign a statement promising to refrain from political activity "now and in the future," Tenzin Palkyi, a march coordinator, told The Associated Press.

In the past, protesters charged with similar offenses have been released after formally pledging not to carry on demonstrating.

But the marchers refused and were told that they would be detained for 14 days, Palkyi said. They were being held in a hotel because the jail cannot accommodate them all.

No government official was immediately available to verify Palkyi's comments.

Nine people from the U.S., Scotland, Germany, Poland and Australia, who were marching with the Tibetans but were not arrested, began a hunger strike of their own, said Clay Di'Chro, a U.S. citizen.

Despite the arrests, organizers vowed to continue the march.

"We will have to find a way," said Palkyi. "Our legal team will deal with the police."

The march began Monday, the day Tibetans commemorated their 1959 uprising against China. Demonstrations took place around the world, including a protest by 300 Buddhist monks in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. That protest is believed to be the largest in the city since Beijing crushed a wave of pro-independence demonstrations in 1989.

Soldiers and police were deployed around two Buddhist monasteries in Lhasa, witnesses and residents said Thursday.

A man who answered the phone at the Sera Monastery said monks had been confined inside. Another Lhasa resident, who also refused to be identified, said the Sera and Drepung monasteries were encircled by army personnel and police.

It is extremely difficult to get independent verification of the events in Tibet since China maintains rigid control over the area.

Earlier Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang confirmed that protests had taken place, but said the situation had "stabilized." Qin accused exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama of inciting separatism, though he provided no evidence.

Qin also said China's determination to "safeguard national unification" is firm, so further protests "will not take place."

Beijing maintains that Tibet is historically part of China, but many Tibetans argue the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries and accuse China of trying to crush Tibetan culture by swamping it with Han people, the majority Chinese ethnic group.

Associated Press writer Tini Tran in Beijing contributed to this report.

MILITARY, POLICE AT TIBETAN MONASTERIES

Military, Police at Tibetan Monasteries
The Associated Press

Thursday 13 March 2008

Beijing - Soldiers and police have been deployed around two Buddhist monasteries in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa where monks launched protests against Chinese rule earlier this week, witnesses and residents said Thursday.

A man who answered the phone at the Sera monastery said monks have been confined inside its walls, shut off from outside contact, and are relying on dwindling food supplies.

The monastery was "surrounded by many people," said the man, who refused to identify himself or say whether he was a monk.

Another Lhasa resident, who also refused to be identified, said the Drepung monastery was encircled by "three layers" of army personnel while the Sera monastery had been surrounded by more than 2,000 police.

The resident said more than 10 trucks filled with soldiers, nearly a dozen police cars and also ambulances were seen heading to the area.

A Foreign Ministry official in Beijing had no immediate comment late Thursday on the reported police and military presence.

It is extremely difficult to get independent verification of events in Tibet since China maintains rigid control over the area. Foreigners need special travel permits, and journalists are rarely granted access except under highly controlled circumstances.

Large-scale demonstrations by the Buddhist monks began Monday, as they staged a bold, public challenge to China's rule using the anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Beijing rule in 1959.

Demonstrations also spilled over into traditionally Tibetan areas in the neighboring province of Qinghai. Monks at two other monasteries - the Lutsang monastery and Ditsa monastery - also held small protests but were not detained by police, according to U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia.

An official in the Bureau of Religious Affairs in Guinan County, where Lutsang is located, confirmed that protests had taken place at the monastery.

"For the past few days, we have been on high alert for protests and other formal gatherings by monks as this has been a widespread occurrence," said the official, who refused to give his name.

Earlier Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang confirmed that protests had taken place, but said the situation had "stabilized." Qin accused exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama of inciting separatism, though he provided no evidence.

"In recent days, a few monks in Lhasa city have made some disturbances," Qin said at a regular news briefing.

"This is a political scheme by the Dalai group, attempting to separate China and try to make some unrest in the normal harmonious, peaceful life of Tibetan people," he said.

Qin also said China's determination to "safeguard national unification" is firm, so further protests "will not take place."

In the Lhasa protests, the involvement of monks from Sera and Drepung is seen as particularly provocative. The monasteries traditionally trained Buddhist scholars who led theocratic Tibet before China supplanted the Dalai Lama and the rest of the theocracy.

After two demonstrations Monday - one in which 300 or more monks from Drepung marched on the streets of the capital, the other in which a smaller groups of monks from Sera protested - police arrested an unknown number of protesters, according to reports and witnesses.

On Tuesday, police used tear gas to disperse an estimated 500 to 600 monks from the nearby Sera monastery who were marching to demand the release of imprisoned fellow monks, Radio Free Asia reported.

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

Conspiracy History compilation DVDs torrents

History — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:38:35 GMT

**************************************************

Greetings to all my relations.

This is the last step of our project History Watch. If History is
defined and known by the texts, we can now add to this definition the
recorded events of the filmed archives. Animated images are harder to
deny than printed words. Our objective is to spread out freely some of
the little broadcast, even hidden informations about our collective
History.

We put online a collection of 391 documentaries and other selected and
recut videos, to offer to a wide public the best of the infos
available on the net in english and in french. If you are interested,
you have the time, the right equipment and connection, all you have to
do is open the joint document and decompress it if needed (but normaly
your system should do it automaticaly). You'll find therein nine links
that will open the torrents for the nine DVDs we compiled (around 4.6
Gig each, for a total of a little over 41 G, being over 100 hours of
videos).

Otherwise, you can go directly to btjunkie.com and search for these titles.

11 Septembre 2001 - 9-11
Bush family & friends
Capitalist & Communist regimes
Capitalist conspiracy
Mind Kontrol - Secret Programs
New World Order - Secret Societies
Secret services - cover up - covert ops
Secret weapons - UFO
Terrorism Theories propaganda

Torrents are a system of peer to peer data transfer. The more people
download a torrent, the faster it spreads and the longer it stays on
the net. If you don't have a bittorrent software, we suggest that you
download uTorrent on utorrent.com. If you want to participate in
facilitating the diffusion of these infos about our collective
History, download these torrents on as many computers as possible,
whether it is in cybercafes. It takes one or two minutes to open up
the links and the downloading will keep proceeding on its own.

Please spread this out, take part in this action for social education
on a planetary scale. Thanks.

For more info: watch.history@gmail.com History Watch

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

BEIJING: WE ARE READY

Jorge — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 02:12:33 GMT

International Human Rights Day

December 10th marks International Human Rights Day, At a time when the Chinese government cares more about its international image than ever before, we need your help to spread the message that China is a human rights failure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO_SeeTV88A

Please, share this video with your friends.

posted in Free Tibet - 1 reply

Phat Buddhist Chants on Tracks: Vajrasattva and Heart Suttra!!!

aquamarinedreamqueen — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:36:17 GMT

http://www.lotsawahouse.org/audio.html

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

TRUTH IS FREE; so is my RETREAT --Vermont

Bald Mountain Retreat, — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 17:53:10 GMT

There is no need to worry.
I'm looking to network with folks, to extend an invitation to visit Bald Mountain Retreat (www.baldmountainretreat.com) as my guest. Like-minded people who appreciate rustic accommodations are welcome to come up at no charge. (Those who require a private room can inquire about those accommodations as well.)
Basically, I'm offering people the opportunity to come stay with a retired naturopathic doctor in a truly amazing natural setting, secluded, idyllic, peaceful...
Also, if you might like to lead a retreat, please contact me.
Thank you and you are welcome,
Dr David

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

China pissed over Harper's meeting with Dali Lama

Project_Mayhem — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:19:34 GMT

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=3de7e1ec-f3db-4e53-bf24-5f419fb17ec1&k=62246

PM's Dalai Lama meeting 'disgusting conduct': China

CanWest News Service

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper welcomes Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama after receiving a scarf at the start of their meeting in Harper's office on Parliament Hill in Ottawa October 29, 2007.

SHANGHAI - China dropped the diplomatic niceties Tuesday and labelled Prime Minister Stephen Harper's official meeting with the Dalai Lama "disgusting conduct."

Foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters in Beijing: "This kind of disgusting conduct from Canada has seriously hurt Chinese people's feelings and seriously undermined Sino-Canadian relations."

Liu continued: "It's gross interference in China's affairs and the Chinese side expresses its strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition."

Canadian Embassy officials refused to say whether the ambassador in Beijing was called in by the Chinese to receive a formal complaint.

However, an official in the office of the spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry said in an interview: "We have made our representations to the Canadian side."

He would not say at what level the complaints were voiced, but said Chinese officials had protested both in Beijing and Ottawa.

China's angry words were a repeat of the condemnation it aimed at the Americans earlier this month when President George W. Bush awarded the exiled Tibetan holy man the Congressional Gold Medal.

At that time, the American ambassador was called on the rug by the Foreign Ministry and forced to hear the complaints in person.

The Chinese regard the Dalai Lama as a separatist and it infuriates them when overseas government's honour him.

"For decades the Dalai Lama's words and deeds have demonstrated that he is a political exile who wears a religious cloak while engaging in activities splitting the motherland and sabotaging ethnic unity", Liu said.

In what was described as an "historic meeting," Harper met with the Dalai Lama on Parliament Hill for 40 minutes Monday and invited television cameras and photographers to record the event.

In 2004, when former prime minister Paul Martin met the Nobel laureate, he kept things low-key in a bid not to annoy Canada's second largest trading partner. The meeting was in a private residence in Ottawa and photographers were not invited.

China has been upset with Canada since the House of Commons awarded the Dalai Lama honourary Canadian citizenship in June, 2006. Tensions increased further when Canadian citizen Huseyin Cellil, from Burlington, Ont., was denied access to Canadian consular help during his trial in a Chinese court.

He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life in prison for alleged connections to a terrorist group. Harper loudly criticized the process and spoke out publicly against China's human rights abuses.

The quarrel disrupted diplomatic relations between Canada and China to the extent that the first senior Conservative government minister did not visit China until January, when International Trade Minister David Emerson came to Beijing, and then foreign minister Peter MacKay did not visit until April.

It was an extremely slow diplomatic start by the Harper government, given China's growing economic importance. Canada-China trade was worth $42 billion in 2006.

Over the years, China has issued pro forma complaints whenever foreign government's honoured the Dalai Lama, a man it drove into exile in 1959, but in recent months it's rhetoric has intensified.

In the lead-up to next summer's Olympic Games in Beijing, China appears determined to weigh in quickly and heavily on any issue that has the potential of sparking a boycott. The human rights situation in Tibet is at the top of its worry list.

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

CREATION OF THE COMPASSION PEACE MANDALA OCT 20 MARIN RETREAT & EMPOWERMENT

aquamarinedreamqueen — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 12:55:40 GMT

CREATION OF THE COMPASSION PEACE MANDALA
A Special Workshop and Empowerment With
Lama Pema Tendzin

CREATION OF THE COMPASSION PEACE MANDALA
A Benefit Workshop with Bhutanese Thangka Artist Lama Pema Tendzin

This is a beautiful and rare opportunity to learn the ancient art of traditional sacred thangka painting from a master artist and lineage holder. Lama Pema Tendzin has paintings in permanent and private collections throughout the United States including the San Francisco Asian art museum. Additionally he has had the honor of creating beautiful ceremonial thankas for the Dalai Lama.

Lama Pema Tendzin began studying the sacred art of thangka under the tutelage of his teacher Buli Tulku Rinpoche since he was six years old. More than paintings, thangkas are potent tools for meditation, contemplation and transformation.

For this special workshop, Lama Pema Tendzin will be leading us in the creation of the Compassion Peace Mandala. The day opens with meditation, mantra and prayers.

We will then draw and paint the mandalas together under this master artist's tutelage. When the painting is completed Lama Pema and Tsewong Sitar Rimpoche will lead us in a mantra, prayer and blessing to activate the mandala. This workshop gives participants active creative time with these very special beings in the creation of a potent piece of art that will Benefit all Beings.

A SPECIAL BENEFIT:

All proceeds from this event will go towards a special painting of Guru Rimpoche Padmasambhva. This painting measuring 30 feet high by 25 feet high will be placed on the mountainside next to the Sangye Tang monastery in Bhutan.

Guru Rimpoche Padmasambhava is recognized as the principle teacher to bring Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th Century. The painting, which will be completed in February of 2008, was revealed in a vision to Lama Pema's brother Tsewong Sitar Rinpoche. Tsewong Sitar Rimpoche is the head of Sangye Tang monastery in Eastern Bhutan. Founded in the late 1500's, this monastery is in view of one of Padmasambhava's sacred pilgrimage sites. The painting will promote blessings, peace and rejuvenation.

Details:

Cost: $60.00 (Payment can be made in advance by check or by check or cash at the door).

Date: October 20th, 2007

Time: 10am-5pm

Contact-Registration: phone: 415.686.1516 email:h2olotustemple@yahoo.com

Additional Details:

Himalayan tea and delicacies will be served. There will be a lunch break and you may bring lunch at your discretion. This special event will be held at a beautiful Marin private home and directions will be given upon registration.

LAMA PEMA TENDZIN

Links:
www.sangngak.com

www.vajrayanaarts.org

A Rare Exhibition of Lama Pema's Thangkas: October 27, 2007
A rare exhbition of Lama Pema's thankas will be showcased on the evening of 10.27.2007 at Cobalt Sun Gallary (www.cobaltsun.net) in Sausalito, California. The evening will include a special mantra empowerment. Select paintings will be available for sale.

For information call: 415.383.1741

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

Blood Over Nangpa-La

SacredRiver — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 19:01:21 GMT

Today is the one year anniversary of the shooting of the Tibetan refugees [09/30/06] who were crossing the Himalayas. As we have known, an actual footage of this event was documented by foreign mountain climbers, who were able to take the video. This video shows a clear fact of how the Chinese authorities treat the Tibetan people (before and presently) and their official response to the incident.
A video presentation was done last night in Seattle and was sponsored by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), and by the following Seattle chapters of ... Students for Free Tibet (SFT), Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), Tibetan Association of Washington (TAW).
Personally this incident last year transformed me from a passive to an active Tibet supporter. Before I used to contribute small amounts here and there to ICT and that was it. After this Nangpa-la incident I have been active as I can on the Tibet issue (thats with a full time job and a family). I was able to help setup the first ever Tibet support in the Philippines (see link below) and have joined a lot of Tibet support activity here in Greater Seattle where I currently live.
The video is very touching and nicely presented and was even able to meet personally the young producer; Rabyoung Thonden Gyalkhang. After the show copies in DVD format were given, free-of-charge since Mr Gyalkhang had earlier stated that this DVD was done in order to show the current brutality the Tibetan people are still going thru todate and since this was the first time ever was captured in video and by foreign nationalities who were not Tibetans nor Chinese.
I hope people will be expose to the current Tibetan issues thru this DVD and hopefully this group could do its share in spreading this info.
Try to check on the SFT or ICT web sites for more info on how to acquire a free copy of this video.
My well wishes.
http://www.webspawner.com/users/sacredriver

posted in Free Tibet - 1 reply

The next Lama: The Dalai Lama says he won't reincarnate in Tibet

Marc — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:43:58 GMT

By Matthew Philips
Newsweek

Aug. 20-27, 2007 issue - In one of history's more absurd
acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks
in Tibet from reincarnating without government
permission. According to a statement issued by the State
Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes
into effect next month and strictly stipulates the
procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an
important move to institutionalize management of
reincarnation." But beyond the irony lies China's true
motive: to cut off the influence of the Dalai Lama,
Tibet's exiled spiritual and political leader, and to
quell the region's Buddhist religious establishment more
than 50 years after China invaded the small Himalayan
country. By barring any Buddhist monk living outside
China from seeking reincarnation, the law effectively
gives Chinese authorities the power to choose the next
Dalai Lama, whose soul, by tradition, is reborn as a new
human to continue the work of relieving suffering.

At 72, the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since 1959,
is beginning to plan his succession, saying that he
refuses to be reborn in Tibet so long as it's under
Chinese control. Assuming he's able to master the feat of
controlling his rebirth, as Dalai Lamas supposedly have
for the last 600 years, the situation is shaping up in
which there could be two Dalai Lamas: one picked by the
Chinese government, the other by Buddhist monks. "It will
be a very hot issue," says Paul Harrison, a Buddhism
scholar at Stanford. "The Dalai Lama has been the prime
symbol of unity and national identity in Tibet, and so
it's quite likely the battle for his incarnation will be
a lot more important than the others."
So where in the world will the next Dalai Lama be born?
Harrison and other Buddhism scholars agree that it will
likely be from within the 130,000 Tibetan exiles spread
throughout India, Europe and North America. With an
estimated 8,000 Tibetans living in the United States,
could the next Dalai Lama be American-born? "You'll have
to ask him," says Harrison. If so, he'll likely be
welcomed into a culture that has increasingly embraced
reincarnation over the years. According to a 2005 Gallup
poll, 20 percent of all U.S. adults believe in
reincarnation. Recent surveys by the Barna Group, a
Christian research nonprofit, have found that a quarter
of U.S. Christians, including 10 percent of all
born-again Christians, embrace it as their favored
end-of-life view. A non-Tibetan Dalai Lama, experts say,
is probably out of the question.

posted in Free Tibet - 3 replies

How best to boycott China's system

alaskaroy — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 20:34:42 GMT

How should concerned individuals and groups refrain from supporting the wrong actions of the Chinese system?

If we want to boycott the ethnicide of Tibet, we must boycott China.
If we want to boycott the suppresion of democracy, we must boycott China.
If we want to boycott slavery, we must boycott China.
If we want to boycott the poisoning of children, we must boycott China.
If we want to boycott the poisoning of pets, we must boycott China.

But Chinese imports are everywhere (at least in North America). They often are not even labelled as being from China.
For example, most "fish kibbles" for farmed fish are manufactured in Chinese factories, but farmed fish from Canada or Chile is not labeled as Chinese.

How do we resist?

posted in Free Tibet - 3 replies

Lhadon Tethong's message

Project_Mayhem — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:52:46 GMT

inspiring...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zicF8q4XNo8

posted in Free Tibet - 1 reply

Two Canadians among 6 detained after Tibet protest in Beijing

Project_Mayhem — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 17:15:26 GMT

Some brave souls...

Two Vancouverites among six detained after protest in Beijing

Meagan Fitzpatrick
CanWest News Service
Tuesday, August 07, 2007

OTTAWA -- Two Canadians are among six protesters being detained by Chinese authorities after unfurling a banner on the Great Wall of China protesting China's presence in Tibet, according to the group that organized the demonstration.

Melanie Raoul and Sam Price, both Vancouver residents, have not been heard from since about 10:30 a.m. local time Tuesday in Beijing, said Tenzin Dorjee, deputy director of Students for a Free Tibet.

The Canadians and four other protesters began their demonstration about 90 minutes earlier (about 6 p.m. PT on Monday) when they unfurled a 450-square-foot banner reading "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008."

The protest was organized to mark the one-year countdown to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The slogan for the Games is "One World, One Dream."

The group Students for a Free Tibet maintain that the Chinese government is exploiting the 2008 Summer Olympics and that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is allowing it to spread "propaganda."

"The Chinese government is trying to use the 2008 Olympics as a tool to legitimize its illegal occupation of Tibet and also to gain acceptance as a leader on the world stage and we think that's totally unacceptable because of the reality on the ground and the real situation inside Tibet which is one of very, very brutal occupation and oppression and suppression of human rights," Dorjee said in an interview from the organization's New York office.

He said the IOC is standing by while China tries to project a false image. "The IOC is actually culpable. They are actually allowing Chinese authorities to use the Olympics as a platform to promote China's image as a free and open society and to promote the Tibetans as happy and prosperous living under Chinese rule," Dorjee said.

Dorjee said the group is trying to get help from consulate offices in China to locate where the protesters were taken by Chinese authorities. Three of the other protesters are American and one is British.

At this point, Students for a Free Tibet does not have confirmation that its six members have been arrested and are assuming they are being held because they lost contact with the protesters.

"Because we haven't heard anything from them, we're assuming they're still in detention," said Dorjee.

During the demonstration, the protesters were communicating by cellphone with their colleagues and even uploaded video of themselves unfurling the banner using a laptop computer. While on the phone, one of the protesters said Chinese authorities were arriving on the scene and the group has not been heard from since. Dorjee suspects the group's two cell phones were confiscated.

A spokesperson from Canada's Foreign Affairs Department could not confirm if two Canadians are being detained in China but is investigating the report.

Dorjee said Raoul and Price have been members of Students for a Free Tibet, an international grassroots organization, for several years.

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

8-18: Himalayan Fest: entertainment with a message from leaders in Tibetan cultural preservation

Hannah — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 03:43:08 GMT

ABC-Profiled Performer, Asian Art Museum Artist Headline Festival
Entertainment with a message from Leaders in Tibetan cultural preservation

Singer and dancer Tsering Wangmo and artist Ang Tsherin Sherpa , who will headline the 2nd West Marin Himalayan Festival at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center on Saturday August 18th from 11-5pm, share more than their passion for their chosen art forms, both are internationally-recognized leaders at the forefront of the effort to preserve Tibet's cultural heritage.

Seen on ABC’s “Profiles in Excellence” last year Tsering Wangmo, a co-founder of Chaksam-Pa, the world’s premiere musical group preserving Tibetan culture, is one of only 60 masters of the Tibetan performance arts. She was among those selected to study in the Tibetan Music, Dance and Drama Society founded in Dharamsala, India in 1959 by the Dalai Lama in response to China’s occupation of Tibet and use of Tibetan storytelling and operas to spread propaganda. Wangmo has performed around the world and with notables including David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, Ray Davies (the Kinks), Ziggy Marley and Phillip Glass. To view the ABC profile please go to: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8588103701784969838&pr=goog-sl <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8588103701784969838&pr=goog-sl>

Ang Tsherin Sherpa, a renowned third generation Thangka (sacred banners) painter who has shown in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco twice and whose painting “Green Tara” is owned by actor Richard Gere, will provide an all-day demonstration of this sacred art form with hourly art talks. He has had murals commissioned by Monasteries, has been shown and collected internationally and teaches in Marin and other parts of the Bay Area. He and his father Urgen Dorje are working to preserve the tradition of Thangka painting and plan to open a school to train people of all ages and backgrounds in Thangka painting in Nepal, where Dorje is based. Commenting on his work Sherpa says, ”The strict tradition of Thangka painting teaches one how to view oneself as a channel through which all the deities manifest. There’s room for self-expression in Thangka painting but the actual practice is to eliminate the self clinging to ego.” ¬

The visual arts component of the Festival has expanded substantially with the all-day Thangka demonstration as well as a entire gallery devoted to a show by Fairfax-based Nepali contemporary painter, Sunila Bajracharya. Her work has been collected and shown internationally including at the 10th Asia Biennial Bangladesh, 5th International Art Exhibition at Gallery Dikmayer in Berlin, and as part of a special online exhibition of the International Museum of Women. Attendees will be able to meet Bajracharya at the Festival where she will be on hand to answer questions and discuss her work.

Additional performances include traditional Tibetan music and dance from the children’s performance group of the Tibetan Association of Northern California who are saving these traditions for the coming generations.
Vandhana Dance Company will perform North Indian Kathak dance featuring Megan Black who trained under Smt. Kumudini Lakhia, one of the foremost Kathak exponents in India today. Michael Davis, who has been seen on All India Television and at the Center for World Music in Madras, will perform Carnatic bamboo flute, a South Indian tradition accompanied by Douglas Vurek, who studied with South Indian percussion legend Palghat Mani Iyer on mridangam. Additional performers to be announced.

Event attendees are welcome to create their own Tibetan art in the Prayer Flag making activity. There will be kid-oriented activities and toys for children 0-5 available. There are also 3 playgrounds on our campus outside the event area. Authentic meals, snacks and beverages will be available including mouth-watering traditional handmade Tibetan Momos (dumplings) and more food to be announced. The Festival offers the best of Himalayan vendors who have traveled from up to 2 hours away creating an exciting outdoor shopping experience where unique clothing, jewelry, carpets, art, household items, books and more can be found.

After drawing 400 attendees in it¹s inaugural year, the 2nd West Marin Himalayan Festival expects to draw substantially more to enjoy a dynamic outdoor family-friendly festival in the beautiful San Geronimo Valley
setting on this Saturday, August 18th from 11-5pm. Tickets will be: Adults $8-15 sliding scale; Kids 3 and up $5; Families of 4 plus $25. Coproducers: San Geronimo Valley Community Center & the Himalaya Resource Center. Partial proceeds will benefit Himalayan Organizations of the Bay Area. The other portion will support the Community Center’s programs including the emergency food pantry, teen center, and services for families.

The San Geronimo Valley Community Center is located at 6350 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. 9 miles west of San Rafael in Marin. There is extensive parking in the area and the Community Center is a Stage bus stop. Visit www.sgvcc.org <http://www.sgvcc.org> <http://www.sgvcc.org <http://www.sgvcc.org> > or call 415-488-8888 for more information

Directions: From US 101, take the Central San Rafael Exit and turn West onto 3rd Street. Follow 3rd street west through San Rafael and turn Right onto Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Follow Sir Francis Drake Blvd. through the towns of San Anselmo and Fairfax. We are approximately 5 miles west of Fairfax. Pass
the San Geronimo Valley Golf Course and keep going for another 1/4 mile. Turn into the 1st parking lot on your right. (Look out for the Community Center Marquee). (Under 1 hour from SF, Berkeley; Under 40 minutes from Petaluma, Bolinas.)

Closest Lodgings: Valley Inn (415) 488-0105. Camping: Samuel P. Taylor State Park 415-488-9897. From the east, we are en route to Point Reyes National Seashore.

******
Also, visit us next weekend for dancing –
Sat Aug 11, 8pm at San Geronimo Valley Community Center
Please join us for a
Conscious Dance Party with The Human Revolution!
Adults $15; Seniors $12; Kids $8.

The Human Revolution serves up “conscious dance music for the people” tackling serious topics in infectiously fun world-beat & Americana tunes. Popular at Earthdance, and known for election year favorite, “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Willie Nelson” they‘ve played The Ashland Summer Music Festival & have been called “melodious nourishment for the soul” (Caspar Inn).
Visit www.sgvcc.org <http://www.sgvcc.org> <http://www.sgvcc.org> or call 415-488-8888 for more information

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

LOL... THE CHINESE LEADERS REALLY MEAN THIS...

Marc — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 07:54:17 GMT

China tells living Buddhas to obtain permission before they reincarn

China tells living Buddhas to obtain permission before they reincarnate
Tibet’s living Buddhas have been banned from reincarnation without permission from China’s atheist leaders. The ban is included in new rules intended to assert Beijing’s authority over Tibet’s restive and deeply Buddhist people.

“The so-called reincarnated living Buddha without government approval is illegal and invalid,” according to the order, which comes into effect on September 1.

The 14-part regulation issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs is aimed at limiting the influence of Tibet’s exiled god-king, the Dalai Lama, and at preventing the re-incarnation of the 72-year-old monk without approval from Beijing.

It is the latest in a series of measures by the Communist authorities to tighten their grip over Tibet. Reincarnate lamas, known as tulkus, often lead religious communities and oversee the training of monks, giving them enormous influence over religious life in the Himalayan region. Anyone outside China is banned from taking part in the process of seeking and recognising a living Buddha, effectively excluding the Dalai Lama, who traditionally can play an important role in giving recognition to candidate reincarnates.

For the first time China has given the Government the power to ensure that no new living Buddha can be identified, sounding a possible death knell to a mystical system that dates back at least as far as the 12th century.

China already insists that only the Government can approve the appointments of Tibet’s two most important monks, the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. The Dalai Lama’s announcement in May 1995 that a search inside Tibet — and with the co- operation of a prominent abbot — had identified the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, who died in 1989, enraged Beijing. That prompted the Communist authorities to restart the search and to send a senior Politburo member to Lhasa to oversee the final choice. This resulted in top Communist officials presiding over a ceremony at the main Jokhang temple in Lhasa in which names of three boys inscribed on ivory sticks were placed inside a golden urn and a lot was then drawn to find the true reincarnation.

The boy chosen by the Dalai Lama has disappeared. The abbot who worked with the Dalai Lama was jailed and has since vanished. Several sets of rules on seeking out “soul boys” were promulgated in 1995, but were effectively in abeyance and hundreds of living Buddhas are now believed to live inside and outside China.

All Tibetans believe in reincarnation, but only the holiest or most outstanding individuals are believed to be recognisable — a tulku, or apparent body. One Tibetan monk told The Times: “In the past there was no such regulation. The management of living Buddhas is becoming more strict.”

The search for a reincarnation is a mystical process involving clues left by the deceased and visions among leading monks on where to look. The current Dalai Lama, the fourteenth of the line, was identified in 1937 when monks came to his village.

China has long insisted that it must have the final say over the appointment of the most senior lamas. Tibet experts said that the new regulations may also be aimed at limiting the influence of new lamas.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2194682.ece

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

The Oracle of Tibet will also be making three appearances in Los Angeles (see below)

farewell and be well :^D — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 05:29:47 GMT

June 28
THURSDAY
7:00PM
Hosted by Lucy Casado

Welcome Ceremony at the famous Lucy’s El Adobe. Owner Lucy Casado has hosted Robert F. Kennedy, Cesar Chavez, U.S. Presidents, and numerous Tibetan delegations, including Tibetan sand mandalas constructed in the "Tibetan monks room" where she will welcome Venerable Thupten Ngodup, the Medium of Tibet's Chief State Oracle.

Address:
Lucy's El Adobe Cafe & Restaurant
5536 Melrose Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90038
Contact: Dana Walden, 323-650-1101
Eemail: danagwalden@gmail.com

L.A. Contact
Dana Walden
323 650-1101
310 430-9831 (mobile)
danagwalden@gmail.com

June 29
FRIDAY
5:30 PM
"The Time is Now"
Conversation between the Venerable Thupten Ngodup, the Medium of Tibet's Chief State Oracle, Don Alejandro Cirilo Perez Oxlaj, Head of the Council of Elders of the Maya as well as Head of Indigenous Council of the Americas, and Ruben Saufkie, Hopi Messenger of Water, who will also perform the Eagle Dance. (He will be joined by his thirteen year old son, Jordan). After this dialogue, Venerable Thupten Ngodup will speak on Global Warming and personal responsibility and offer healing and blessings. Please join us for this unprecedented event.

...and a music concert with:

Sacred chanting by Tibetan monks
Cellist, Michael Fitzpatrick (website...)
Inner Voice (website...)
$25 suggested donation

Golden Bridge Yoga
Founder: Gurmukh
6322 De Longpre Ave.
Los Angeles 90028
Contact: Sadasimran
www.goldenbridgeyoga.com

L.A. Contact
Dana Walden
323 650-1101
310 430-9831 (mobile)
danagwalden@gmail.com

June 30
SATURDAY
11:00 AM
Venerable Thupten Ngodup, the Medium of Tibet's Chief State Oracle, will offer Long Life Initiation to remove obstacles, promote healing and long life; and will offer blessings.

...and music with:

Sacred chanting by Tibetan monks
Cellist, Michael Fitzpatrick (website...)
$25 suggested donation

Golden Bridge Yoga
6322 De Longpre Ave.
Los Angeles 90028
Contact: Sadasimran
www.goldenbridgeyoga.com

L.A. Contact
Dana Walden
323 650-1101
310 430-9831 (mobile)
danagwalden@gmail.com

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

Depressing story in Rolling Stone

dangerangel — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 08:54:22 GMT

this month... read it and weep...

posted in Free Tibet - 9 replies

young identity in exile

ayola — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 17:46:08 GMT

I am working on a script for a documentary about identity of young people in exile, myself I have palestinian roots... the film would be mostly about expression of identity of a culture one does not live in... or is it just another culture... the exile culture... art, poetry, life.. connecting old to the new.
One part of the documentary would be about tibet..
If there are any young people in exile I could connect with, and hear some stories, I would be most grateful.

much love

Ayola
Nyima Wangmo

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

Liason in Seattle

SacredRiver — Mon, 28 May 2007 09:38:17 GMT

This post is about something important and urgent. It's about a beautiful race with a rich culture that is centered on the principles of buddhism and harmony. Its about this beautiful land in the himalayas, once dubbed as "Sangrila". A peacefull and serene independent country, thats until the Chinese People's Republic invaded it and had force their policy on this unique place. Today, Tibet is a sad and occupied country, where its culture, religion and the people in it are slowly being eradicated with the Chinese dictatorship and policy. The current massive immigration of Han Chinese (now flooding Tibet) are making the ethnic Tibetans a minority in their own country.

If you live in the greater Seattle area or Western Washington State, and if you are interested in the Tibet issue, please get in touch with me. Its is high time that a Tibetan support group should be form and come out from the Seattle area and join the worldwide movement for a Free Tibet. Your help is needed.

sacredriver@email.com

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

2012

Marc — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 18:37:24 GMT

In case you haven't heard...

Remote viewing Tibetan monks see Extra Terrestrial powers saving the
World from destroying itself in 2012. Remote viewing is nothing new
in Tibetan monasteries. For thousands of years remote viewing in the
middle of other spiritual activities have dominated Tibetan culture.
What some Indian tourists came to learn from a few Tibetan
monasteries under the current Chinese rule is extremely alarming and
fascinating. According to these tourists remote viewers are seeing
world powers in the course of self-destruction. They also see that
the world will not be destroyed. Between now and 2012 the world super
powers will continue to engage in regional wars. Terrorism and covert
war will be the main problem. In world politics something will happen
in and around 2010. At that time the world powers will threaten to
destroy each other. Between 2010 and 2012, the whole world will get
polarized and prepare for the ultimate dooms day. Heavy political
maneuvers and negotiations will take place with little progress. In
2012, the world will start plunging into a total destructive nuclear
war. And at that time something remarkable will happen, says,
Buddhist monk of Tibet. Supernatural divine powers will intervene.
The destiny of the world is not to self-destruct at this time.
Scientific interpretation of the monks' statements makes it evident
that the Extra Terrestrial powers are watching us every step of the
way. They will intervene in 2012 and save the world from self-
destruction. When asked about recent UFO sightings in India and
China, the monks smiled and said the divine powers are watching us
all. Mankind cannot and will not be allowed to alter the future to
that great extent. Every human being though their current acts in
life called "Karma" can alter the future lives to some extent, but
changing the destiny in that large extent will not be allowed to that
great an extent. Monks also mentioned that beyond 2012 our current
civilization would understand that the final frontier of science and
technology is in area of spirituality and not material physics and
chemistry. Beyond 2012, out technologies will take a different
direction. People will learn the essence of spirituality, the
relation between body and the soul, the reincarnation and the fact we
are connected with each other are all part of "God". In India and
China UFO sightings have increased in many folds. Many say the
Chinese and Indian Governments are being contacted by the Extra
Terrestrials. In recent days most UFO activities have been seen in
those countries who have indigenously developed Nuke capabilities.
When asked if these extra-terrestrials will show up in reality in
2012, the answers remote viewers are giving is: they will reveal
themselves in such a way that none of us scared. They will reveal
themselves only if they have to. As our science and technology
progresses, we are destined to see them and interact with them any
way. According to the remote viewers, our earth is blessed and is
being saved continuously from all kinds of hazards all the time that
we are not even aware of. As our technologies progress we will
realize how external forces saved us.

posted in Free Tibet - 6 replies

China hopes world interest in Tibet fades once Dalai Lama dies

Marc — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 06:45:23 GMT

IN A VERY CLOSE FUTURE AND WHAT EVER HAPPENS TO HIS HOLINESS, CHINESE EGOTRIPPERS WILL LEARN THAT SUCH A BUDDHAFIELD NEVER FADE AWAY EVEN IF THEY DESTROY TIBET, THE SPIRIT WILL REMAIN...

Mike Sheehan
Published: Friday March 30, 2007
Print This Email This

China hopes that global concern over the mountainous region of Tibet will fade upon the passing of its iconic religious leader, the exiled Dalai Lama, reports Spiegel Online.

"The Dalai Lama receives pilgrims from all over the world -- but the future of Tibet remains bleak," writes Andreas Lorenz for Spiegel. "And Beijing is calculating that international interest in Tibet will dwindle once he dies."

The Dalai Lama, born Tenzin Gyatso, has lived in neighboring India since 1959, when China crushed a CIA-supported rebellion that resulted in thousands of Tibetan deaths and the Dalai Lama's exile.

Lorenz writes that the Tibetan Buddhist leader "fled across the glaciers of the Himalayas and into the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh," a path that pilgrims seeking to be in the lama's presence continue to take, despite the risk from the harsh elements and Chinese soldiers, as RAW STORY reported earlier.

The Dalai Lama only makes occasional public appearances in the town he now lives in, Lorenz says. "The aim is to provide everyone who comes from Tibet the opportunity to be able to see him," he writes. "He seems cheerful and relaxed -- and doesn't give the impression of a man whose time is running out. But he also knows that the chances of him ever returning to Lhasa are dwindling with every passing day."

Indeed, asserts Lorenz, "Beijing is betting that time will work to its advantage. It obviously wants to wait patiently until Tibet has lost the Dalai Lama -- and the world has lost a teacher who for almost 50 years has acted as Tibet's greatest PR agent.

"The Chinese are calculating that once the 71-year-old passes away," Lorenz continues, "Western interest in the mystical place that is Tibet will wane, the quest for Shangrila will cease and the political pressure on Beijing will melt away..."

With no progress in negotiations with China on Tibet's future, the Dalai Lama "doesn't pursue independence any more," and further tells Spiegel in an interview that Beijing wants to continue a dialogue but no timeframe has been set.

Meanwhile, Chinese arrive in ever greater numbers to settle in Tibet, especially as a new railway has been built. Detractors see the influx as tantamount to Chinese colonization.

Excerpts from the Spiegel article, available in full at this link, follow...
#

The Dalai Lama tends to his countrymen before turning to the visitors from abroad. Some 308 Tibetans, most of them farmers and shepherds, wait silently for him, the divine king, on the ground in front of a temple. They use newspapers to shield themselves from the bright spring sun while children and infants crawl about between them.

...

Most of these pilgrims return to their own country after a few weeks. But many of them remain for the rest of their lives. They enter one of India's Tibetan monasteries, are given a place in a home for the elderly or attend the school in Dharamsala. The refugees include a noticeable number of children whose parents have stayed behind in Tibet.

...

The Dalai Lama quotes Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. He insults the Chinese and at the same time praises them. China has undergone "great changes" in recent years and will not cease reforming itself, he says. That's why there is still hope that Tibet can free itself from the Chinese yoke, he continues.

...

People like Samphel can see the effects that 50 years of Chinese rule have had on their fellow countrymen. "The young Tibetans arriving here don't speak Tibetan among themselves. They speak Chinese," he notes with disgust. "They want to meet a white woman here in Dharamsala and then leave for the United States or Europe."
#

posted in Free Tibet - 0 replies

The Statement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the 48th Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day

Sarah — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 00:55:09 GMT

Here is the link for his statement.

http://www.savetibet.org/documents/document.php?id=220

posted in Free Tibet - 1 reply

Congressional Hearing on the status of Tibet

Sarah — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 00:50:43 GMT

Hey, I actually have something positive to report to this Tribe.....I was sent a notice of a hearing in the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs from the International Campaign for Tibet. Here is the info.....

U.S. Congressional Hearing on Tibet

On March 13, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs will hold a hearing - Tibet: Status of the Sino-Tibetan Dialogue.
Three high profile speakers will testify before the full committee:
* The Honorable Paula J. Dobriansky
Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs; Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, U.S. Department of State
* His Excellency Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari
Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
* Mr. Richard Gere
Chairman of the Board of Directors
International Campaign for Tibet

You can watch the live web cast on Tuesday at 10:00 am (U.S. EST) at the House website. A video of the hearing should also be available on the Committee website after Tuesday.

International Campaign for Tibet | 1825 Jefferson Place NW | Washington, DC | 20036 | United States of America
Phone: (202) 785-1515 | Fax: (202) 785-4343 | info@savetibet.org
ICT Europe | Vijzelstraat 77 | 1017HG Amsterdam | The Netherlands
Phone: +31 (0)20 3308265 | Fax: +31 (0)20 3308266 | icteurope@savetibet.org
ICT Deutschland e.V. | Schönhauser Allee 163 | 10435 Berlin | Germany
Phone: +49 (0)30 27879086 | Fax: +49 (0)30 27879087 | ict-d@savetibet.org
ICT Brussels | 11, rue de la linière | 1060 Brussels | Belgium
Phone: +32 (0)2 609 44 10 | Fax: +32 (0)2 609 44 32 | ict-eu@savetibet.org

posted in Free Tibet - 1 reply

3 cheers for propaganda!

Sarah — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 19:03:18 GMT

This is the kind of fabricated *%#@! that the Chinese government is feeding to the Chinese people (and the rest of the world). (From the China Daily newspaper last week).

Documentary sheds new light on Tibet
By Wu Jiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-02-06 07:22

A DVD portraying old Tibet as a feudal serfdom and not as a "Shangri-la" has been backed by scholars, including those living in the autonomous region.

"It is ridiculous for some people to depict old Tibet as 'a beautiful land', completely ignoring what existed at the time - feudal serfdom, said experts participating in a seminar held last Friday in Beijing.

They were discussing a newly released documentary Tibet in the Past, made by the Central News Documentary Film Studio.

According to the experts, the documentary depicts life as it was in the autonomous region between 1951 and 1959, a period when Tibet was still under a feudal system.

When Tibet was liberated peacefully in 1951, the "17-Article Agreement" signed between the central government and the local Tibet government stipulated that "the local government of Tibet shall carry out reform voluntarily, and, when the people demand reform, it shall be settled through consultation with the Tibetan leaders".

But some of the ruling class were unwilling to give up the social system that preserved their high lifestyles.

Tibet was, therefore, still under a feudal system until democratic reform was introduced in 1959.

According to Wang Xiaoyi, professor in Tibetan studies with the Central University for Nationalities, the society of old Tibet under a feudal system was similar to that in Europe in the Middle Ages.

The wealthy class, government officials, nobles and high ranking monks accounted for less than 5 percent of Tibet's total population but owned all the farmlands, pastures, forests, mountains and rivers, and the majority of the livestock.

The serfs and slaves accounted for more than 95 percent of the population.

They had no personal freedom, and had to depend totally on the wealthy for their livelihood or act as their slaves from generation to generation.

According to an old Tibetan saying: "What the serfs and slaves take away is only their shadow, and what they leave behind are only their footprints."

These serfs and slaves were also subjected to taxes and high interest loans, according to Dralo, an expert in Tibetan studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

According to incomplete statistics, there were more than 200 kinds of taxes levied by the Kasha (the former local government of Tibet). Slaves had to contribute more than 50 percent or even 70 to 80 percent of their labor free to the Kasha and the wealthy, and more than 60 percent of the farmers and herdsmen were burdened with similar high-interest loans.

"But the local leadership had no intention of using the tax revenue for the benefit of the common people, that is why the infrastructure and education in old Tibet was extremely backward," Dralo said.

Dralo added that Tibetan leaders often visited foreign countries and the central part of the Chinese mainland during 1950s, but they had no intention of introducing a modern social system in Tibet and emancipating its people.

"They just wanted to preserve the existing social system," said the researcher.

The legal system adopted in Tibet was based on its hierarchical social system.

According to Lhapa Phuntsog, head of the China Tibetology Research Center, the "13-Article Code" and "16-Article Code" of old Tibet divided the people into three classes and nine ranks, enshrining social and political inequality between the different ranks.

According to the codes, a person belonging to the highest rank of the upper class was literally worth his weight in gold, while that of a person of the lowest rank of the lower class was worth only the price of a rope.

Serfs could be sold, transferred, given away, mortgaged or exchanged by their owners, who had the power over their births, deaths and marriages.

Male and female serfs were required to pay a "redemption fee" if they wished to marry, and their children were doomed to be serfs for life. Serf-owners could punish them at will. They even established their own private prisons.

The punishments included flogging, cutting off their hands or feet, gouging out their eyes, chopping off their ears or tongues, drowning them and or throwing them off cliffs, Phuntsog said.

"It was an extremely dark era, with no equality, human rights or democracy as some people have drummed up," Phuntsog said. He is now in his 70s, and is a descendant of a former slave family, and the first one in his family that received an education.

"It is necessary to tell the world what a true old Tibet was, to stop some people from further cheating on more people who have little knowledge of Tibet in the past," said Phuntsog.

Phuntsog's views are shared by Tendzin Ganpa, a colleague, who was also the son of a former slave.

Ganpa's forefathers served as slaves for centuries for the serf master Sampo, the largest estate-holder in Lhasa before 1960.

"Compared with the 1,000 houses the Sampo family owned, our whole family had no place to live as my father turned older and was dismissed by the master," Ganpa said.

The Sampo family is also featured in the DVD.

The Sampo couple had already fled to India when the Tibetan photographer Tashi Wangdul arrived at their mansion to shoot a previous documentary in the 1950s.

The housekeeper at the time permitted Wangdul to take all the photos he wanted of the Sampo residence.

"There was a room full of foreign liquor, food and magazines of Hollywood stars. And clothes were made of various kinds of animal fur," recalled Wangdul in the new DVD.

"Given the comparisons between the haves and have-nots, how could anyone describe Tibet as a Shangri-la with democracy and equality," Ganpa said.

"Millions of the former slaves today won't deny the progress made in the new Tibet."

However, experts warned against the tendency of gradually forgetting what had happened in the old Tibet, with the passing of the elderly and historical records vanishing.

According to Tendzin Lhungrub, also a researcher with the China Tibetology Research Center, he conducted a survey in six years ago in Lhasa among 700 local students on the region's past history, and the results were disappointing. Few knew of the early events.

"Drastic measures must be taken to teach our children about the region's history," Lhungrub said.

He said he studied for his PhD dissertation on the changes that took place to a village close to the Potala Palace, which he believed would best mirror the dramatic changes Tibet has gone through in the past 50 years.

Hundreds of people used to live in the village serving the monks in the palace, which stood as a symbol of the supreme power of religion and politics in Tibet.

Now the residents there and their offspring have all been relocated and have been given better homes.

"The change has happened everywhere," Lhungrub said. "People are living totally different, but happy lives today in a new society."

Lhungrub listed that regional ethnic autonomy has ensured equality, unity, mutual help and common prosperity among all ethnic groups in the region.

Economic development, opening up and reform has transformed the once remote region into a relatively modern one with transport links to the rest of the world.

Tibetan Buddhism has remained the main religion and its monasteries well maintained. It is increasingly attracting more tourists from home and abroad.

(China Daily 02/06/2007 page12)

posted in Free Tibet - 4 replies

Losar

celestial — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 03:21:06 GMT

Just wanted to wish everybody a happy healthy prosperous female fire pig year! Cheers!

posted in Free Tibet - 2 replies