The World Mourns as China’s only Nobel Laureate Dies in Custody
By Tenzin Samten / July 14, 2017
Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese writer, literary critic, human activist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, died aged 61 on July 13 in Shenyang hospital in Liaoning province, still under police guard. Last month, the Chinese government announced that Liu, who was serving an 11-year prison term, was suffering from a late-stage read more →
Tibetan Nomadic Lifestyle Under Threat
By Nirmit Shah and Mary Trewartha / July 14, 2017
While UNESCO is this month designating Kokoxili, or Hoh Xil on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau as a World Heritage Site, the nomadic lifestyle of the people who have lived there for thousands of years is under threat from the Chinese government and there is concern for the implications for the ecosystem read more →
Birthday Celebrations Continue Despite Chinese Ban
By Tenzin Samten / July 13, 2017
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama turned 82 on July 6, and even the Tibetans inside Tibet didn’t shun away from celebrating the special day despite the Chinese ban, according to a Radio Free Asia’s (RFA) local source. Tibetans in Tibet honored their spiritual leader’s birthday with prayer gatherings and read more →
Happy Birthday and Long Life to His Holiness the Dalai Lama
By Sarah Weber / July 7, 2017
His Holiness the Dalai Lama celebrated his 82th birthday in Leh, Ladakh on June 6. The celebration was organised by the Tibetan Community in Ladakh and the Ladakh Buddhist Association. Around 20,000 people were in attendance; among those present were the Tibetan president in exile Sikyong Lobsang Sangay and other read more →
His Holiness Visits America UPDATED
By Zoe Jackson and Tenzin Samten / June 30, 2017
His Holiness the Dalai Lama travelled to the United States on June 13 for his annual medical checkup at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he was greeted by a crowd of two hundred Tibetans, North American Tibetan Representative Penpa Tsering and the members of Mayo Clinic reception staff. read more →
The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra Begins
By Ben Byrne / June 30, 2017
The first Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims of the year have crossed into Tibet through the 16,500-foot high Lipulekh pass in Uttarkhand. Pilgrimages will take place between June and September during which time 1,430 devotees are expected to visit one of the holiest sites in the Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Bon religions. read more →
35th UN Human Rights Council in Geneva Looks at the Issue of Tibet
By Sarah Weber / June 28, 2017
The United Nations Human Rights Council holds three regular sessions a year: a total of ten weeks. The most recent took place from June 6 – 23. In this assembly, which was held in Geneva, various countries including the United States, United Kingdom and Germany, raised their concern over the read more →
His Holiness Speaks to 25,000
By Zoe Jackson / June 22, 2017
His Holiness the Dalai Lama traveled to the United States in June to give an address at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), as the commencement speaker for the UCSD class of 2017, as well as a public talk. The speech Embracing the Beauty of Diversity in our World, read more →
World’s Top Religious Leaders Issue Joint Appeal
By Charlotte Wigram-Evans / June 21, 2017
Twenty two of the world’s most prominent religious leaders came together on June 14 to make a plea to all of humanity. The message was simple — make friends with people of other faiths. From His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to Pope Francis, to senior Shia Muslim cleric Ayatollah Sayyid Fadhel read more →
China Deploys New Tank in Tibet
By Ben Byrne / June 19, 2017
China has deployed unspecified numbers of its latest tank, the Xinqingtan, in an area of Tibet near the Indian border. The move continues a large-scale build up of Chinese military material along the *Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India in recent years. Chinese state media praised the Xinqingtan as read more →