Contact is taking a holiday!

Contact is taking a break after 25 years of bringing you news of Tibet and Tibetan issues. We are celebrating our 25 years by bringing you the story of Contact and the people who have made it happen, and our archive is still there for you to access at any time, and below you can read the story of Contact, how it came into being and the wonderful reflections of the people who have made it happen over the years.

When and how Contact will re-emerge and evolve will be determined by those who become involved.

News From Other Sites

Tsai’s Apology Strengthens Taiwan’s Place at Front of Chinese Modernity

Bunun people in the early 1900s. Image Credit: Flickr/ Ralph Repo By Kerry Brown, August 09, 2016 – The Diplomat Magazine Mainland China’s ethnic policy could stand to learn a thing or two from Tsai’s apology. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s historic apology to the island’s indigenous people on August 1 read more →

In China, Economic Data Highlights Growing Divide Between Regions

By Mark Magnier, Aug. 10, 2016 – The Wall Street Journal Provinces’ first-half figures for GDP growth also have revived the debate over the country’s statistics BEIJING—New economic data for China broken down by region shines a light on how uneven growth is around the country and how the nation’s read more →

And the Policemen Danced

Horses dance, too From the print edition of The Economist, August 2016 In Tibetan areas the government mixes control with tolerance TROUPES of Tibetan dancers twirled long pieces of silk. Men in red-tasselled hats brandished swords. Horses in fine saddles stormed around the stadium. Last week the Gesar cultural festival read more →

China’s South China Sea Moves Draw Ire of U.S. Pacific Fleet Chief

In a photo released on Aug. 1 by Xinhua News Agency, a missile is launched from a Chinese navy ship during a live ammunition drill in the East China Sea. Photo: WU DENGFENG/ASSOCIATED PRESS By Jeremy Page, 9 August 2016 – The Wall Street Journal Adm. Swift says air patrols, read more →

US condemns demolition of Tibetan Buddhist institute by China

A photo of Larung Gar valley (Representational image). Source: Fickr Indian Express, 9 August 2016 – PTI Larung Gar is said to be the biggest Tibetan Buddhist institute in the world. The US has condemned demolition of Larung Gar Tibetan Buddhist Institute, one of the largest centres of Buddhist learning read more →

New Photos Cast Doubt on China’s Vow Not to Militarize Disputed Islands

Hangars large enough to hold: Fighter jets Bombers, tankers or transport planes By The New York Times | Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies/Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative/DigitalGlobe By DAVID E. SANGER and RICK GLADSTONE, New York Times AUG. 8, 2016 When President Xi Jinping of China visited President Obama read more →

Natural Disasters in Tibet: Is it the New Normal?

By Zamlha Tempa Gyaltsen, tibetpolicy.net World’s highest plateau witness three different natural disasters in a month A 600 million cubic meters of glacial slide onto the Aru summer pasture of Ruthok County on 17 July 2016, killing nine people, burying more than 110 yaks and 350 sheep. Ruthok is one read more →

Hong Kong Makes History with First Pro-Independence Rally

Liam Fitzpatrick / Hong KongTIME magazine  Updated: Aug. 5, 2016 10:55 PM The gathering comes just 12 days after a poll found that 1 in 6 Hong Kongers support independence from China The first pro-independence rally in Hong Kong history took place Friday in the shadow of the city’s main government read more →

( The Great Indian Prime Minister ) Nehru and the China-Tibet blunder!

Kameng Shambala The truth about the China-India War of 1962 hidden from us by Secularists, Liberals, Nehruvians, Socialists, Leftists and Congress Apologists! The people of India ( esp. the people of Arunachal Pradesh in North East ) will never forget & perhaps never forgive those responsible for the China – read more →

India is Losing an Opportunity With China

By Prem Shankar Jha, The Wire, 1 August 2016 When Delhi ignored Beijing’s quiet demarches to let sleeping dogs lie in Arunachal Pradesh, not only did the Vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin summon Ambassador Ashok Kantha to express his “strong dissatisfaction and staunch opposition” to Narendra Modi’s visit in February read more →

Himalayan railway connecting Tibet with India feasible: China

Deccan Herald, Beijing, Aug 5 (PTI) Aug 5, 2016 Chinese officials say trans-Himalayan railway connecting Tibet with India and Nepal is economically and technically feasible as Beijing looks to make Tibet an economic and cultural hub connecting China with South Asia. “The construction of a railway crossing the Himalayan mountains read more →

Dam bursts in Tibet

Press Trust of India, 03 August 2016 Heavy rains in China caused a dam to burst in Tibet, inundating three nearby villages. The dam in Lhaze County, Xigaze Prefecture, was breached yesterday as water in the Yarlung Tsangpo River rose. Water from the dam flooded three villages, with more than read more →

China blames ‘dark shadow’ of the U.S. for Hong Kong independence push

By James Griffiths and Vivian Kam, CNN Updated 0848 GMT (1648 HKT) August 3, 2016 Hong Kong (CNN)Beijing has accused the U.S. of working with so-called separatists in Hong Kong and Taiwan to undermine China and plunge it into chaos. In a video posted online by the Chinese Supreme People’s read more →

China’s elevated bus: Futuristic ‘straddling bus’ hits the road

Your eyes are not playing tricks on you, this 2m-high ‘straddling bus’ is exactly what it looks like BBC, 3 August 2016 It may look like something from the future, but China’s long-awaited “straddling bus” ran its inaugural test in Hebei province this week. The 2m-high Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) read more →

In China, a stirring and a new question

By Ashutosh Varshney, Indian Express, 3 August 2016 Peoples’ desire for freedom is greater. Can the government continue to control the flow of information? For the five years that this column has been in existence, it has primarily taken an analytical form. Narratives have been few and far between. This read more →