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

China operationalises biggest dam on Brahmaputra in Tibet

The Times of India, 13 October 2015 BEIJING: China on Tuesday operationalised the USD 1.5 billion Zam Hydropower Station, the largest in Tibet, built on the Brahmaputra river, which has raised concerns in India over the likelihood of disrupting water supplies. All six of the station’s units were incorporated into read more →

In China’s “other Tibet,” Xi Jinping is using human rights rhetoric to oppress an entire people

            Twenty years ago, Beijing hosted a landmark international summit on women’s rights. This weekend, China’s president Xi Jinping reiterated his country’s “commitment to gender equality and women’s development.” These are bold words, but they ring hollow. Because for 60 years, China has used the read more →

Richard Gere among those chosen to honor absent Dalai Lama at Liberty Medal ceremony

By Christina Lobrutto, phillyvoice.com His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet was chosen to receive the 2015 Liberty Medal in a special ceremony on Oct. 26. However, last month, his office announced the cancellation of the entire U.S. trip due to health issues. The Dalai Lama was also supposed to appear at a teaching session read more →

Less snow in Tibet means more heatwaves in Europe

Beth Walker, Chinadialogue.net Worsening heatwaves in Europe and north-east Asia are linked to thinner snowcover on the Tibetan Plateau, highlighting its key role in global weather systems, a study by Chinese scientists finds. Recent summer heatwaves in Europe and northeast Asia have caused massive water shortages and a large number read more →

The Tibetan Argument for Autonomy

By Tenzin Norgay, The Diplomat, September 30, 2015 Fifty years after the creation of the Tibet Autonomous Region, it is time for Tibet to have true autonomy. Earlier this month, Beijing marked the fiftieth anniversary of establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region with a mass spectacle in Lhasa designed to showcase its read more →

China micromanages Tibet, floods it with money to woo locals

By Aritz Parra, AP, 30 September 2015 LHASA, China (AP) — Ji Yunpeng misses hotpot dinners with his wife and daughter back in Beijing and fights insomnia caused by the high altitude in the Tibetan capital by playing computer games, and, occasionally, studying Tibetan Buddhism. “It’s just out of pure read more →

Police face enquiry over Tibet flag suppression

Published: 29 Sep 2015 07:34 GMT+02:00 http://www.thelocal.dk/20150929/copenhagen-police-face-enquiry-over-tibet-flag-supression Copenhagen Police are under renewed scrutiny for suppressing demonstrations during a Chinese state visit in 2012 and will now face a formal enquiryThe Eastern High Court last week ruled in favour of a plaintiff who claimed he was unlawfully detained by Copenhagen Police during read more →

Dalai Lama meeting in Rochester with local Tibetans

Josh Moniz, jmoniz@postbulletin.com The Dalai Lama, the exiled Buddhist leader of Tibet, will meet with several members of Minnesota’s Tibetan community Wednesday at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. The president and board members of the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota will be among the group attending the 9 a.m. meeting, which read more →

Xi Jinping’s Inner Circle Offers Cold Shoulder to Western Officials

By Edward Wong, The New York Times, 25 September 2015 BEIJING — When Wang Huning, a policy adviser to the Chinese president, made a six-month trip to the United States in 1988, he returned with notes for a 400-page memoir. “The Americans care for strength,” he wrote after watching a read more →

Remarks by President Obama and President Xi of the People’s Republic of China in Joint Press Conference

whitehouse.gov Rose Garden 12:22 P.M. EDT PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Good afternoon, everybody.  Please have a seat. I want to once again welcome President Xi back to the White House.  We first hosted him here three years ago when he was Vice President.  So this is our sixth meeting.  As a result read more →

Self-Determination Is the Only Solution for Hong Kong

By Joshua Wong, TIME.com, 25 September 2015 Taking the first step on the path toward independence is the only way that Hong Kong can defend its autonomy The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration clearly stated that Hong Kong could remain unchanged for 50 years after China resumed sovereignty in 1997. The Chinese read more →

China needs to grant genuine autonomy to Tibetan people

Editorial, Asahi Shimbun, 23 September 2015 Occupying the highlands of western China at an average elevation of 4,000 meters, Tibet marked the 50th anniversary of the foundation of its autonomous region on Sept. 1. Celebratory events were held in Tibet on Sept. 8, but the Xi administration continues to pursue read more →

Why Tibet Could Be the Best Opportunity for Xi Jinping

Co-authored by Bhuchung Tsering, Vice President, International Campaign for Tibet On September 24 later this month, China’s President Xi Jinping will arrive in Washington to meet President Obama for an important state visit. The context is a growing alarm about China’s less than peaceful rise, and provides a rare opportunity read more →

Understanding Xi’s contradictions

By Cheng Li, www.brookings.edu, 17 September 2015 Analysts of the Chinese leadership are mistaken to characterize President Xi Jinping in a simplistic, stagnant, and one-dimensional way. Prior to Xi’s ascent to the top leadership in the fall of 2012, many overseas China analysts described this new party boss as “a read more →

Tibet anniversary celebrations conceal a far darker reality

WHAT THE MAINLAND MEDIA SAY VERNA YU Coverage to mark the formation of the region’s government presented a rosy picture of its achievements and painted over the cracks A rally held to mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of Tibet’s regional government. Photo: AP Marking the 50th anniversary of read more →