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

Xi Mobilizes China for Tech Revolution to Cut Dependence on West

Bloomberg News | 2 March 2021 For U.S. politicians, China’s potential to dominate sensitive cutting-edge technologies poses one of the biggest geopolitical threats of the next few decades. President Xi Jinping is similarly worried the U.S. will block China’s rise, and this week will unveil plans for greater self-sufficiency. At read more →

China Charges Ahead With a National Digital Currency

Annabelle Huang | New York Times | 1 March 2021 After joining the lottery through the social media app WeChat, Ms. Huang, 28, a business strategist in Shenzhen, received a digital envelope with 200 electronic Chinese yuan, or eCNY, worth around $30. To spend it, she went to a convenience store read more →

To understand China, first understand Tibet: Lobsang Sangay, Sikyong, CTA

The Shillong Times | 1 March 2021 SHILLONG, Feb 28: Fifty-two-year-old Lobsang Sangay, a Harvard scholar who has served as Sikyong (President) of the Central Tibetan Administration of the Tibetan Government in Exile (TGiE) for two tenures beginning 2011, is set to relinquish his post by May this year. Sangay read more →

Party leader calls for a Olympic boycott in Parliament

FreeTibet.org | 26 February 2021 Liberal Democrat Sir Ed Davey told the House of Commons that athletes “under no circumstances” should be “used as propaganda for the Chinese Communist Party” given its rights abuses At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 24 February, Sir Ed Davey called for Team GB to boycott read more →

Dutch parliament: China’s treatment of Uighurs is genocide

Reuters Staff | Reuters | 25 February 2021  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Dutch parliament on Thursday passed a non-binding motion saying the treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority in China amounts to genocide, the first such move by a European country. Activists and U.N. rights experts say at least one read more →

I helped build ByteDance’s vast censorship machine

Shen Lu | Protocol | February 18, 2021 This is the story of Li An, a pseudonymous former employee at ByteDance, as told to Protocol’s Shen Lu. It was the night Dr. Li Wenliang struggled for his last breath in the emergency room of Wuhan Central Hospital. I, like many read more →

The United States and China Are Fighting Over the Dalai Lama’s Reincarnation Plans

By Kelsang Dolma for Foreign Policy. February 23, 2021. The Chinese Communist Party claims ultimate control over Tibetan souls. For Westerners, the Dalai Lama is a Nobel Peace Prize winner. For Tibetans, he’s a spiritual leader. But for the Chinese government, he’s a “wolf in monk’s robes” and a “splittist.” read more →

Report: Chinese Development in Tibet Meets State Needs, Fails Tibetans

Reported by Ugyen Tenzin for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney. February 23, 2021. China’s development drives in Tibet have pulled the region closer to economic and cultural integration with Beijing but have failed Tibetans themselves, creating a “dual economy” that has seen read more →

Can China Change the Definition of Human Rights?

By Shannon Tiezzi, The Diplomat. February 23, 2021. On February 22, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gave a speech at the 46th session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. It was the first time a Chinese government official had addressed the U.N.’s top human rights body – and the speech read more →

The cost of celebrating Mother Language Day in Tibet

By Karma Tenzin, Asia Times. February 22, 2021.  On February 21, 1952, in what was then East Bengal (renamed East Pakistan in 1956 and Bangladesh in 1971), many students were martyred for voicing their concerns and the protection of their mother language, Bengali, under the government of the Dominion of Pakistan. Bengali students sacrificed their read more →

Britain to challenge China at U.N. over access to Xinjiang

Reuters. February 22, 20214:06 AM Updated 6 hours ago LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will on Monday call for the United Nations to be given “urgent and unfettered” access to Xinjiang to investigate reports of abuses in the Chinese region. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will also mark Britain’s return to read more →

Tibetan landscape continues to feel effects of glacier collapse

Reported by Free Tibet. 17th February 2021 Experts say climate change was behind the collapse of two glaciers in western Tibet in 2016 The collapse of two glaciers in western Tibet four years ago continues to have dramatic after effects, posing potential risks to nearby communities. The twin avalanches took read more →

China continues to tighten its grip in Tibet, tries to eradicate Dalai Lama from Tibetans’ religious lives

Times Now. Updated Feb 16, 2021 | 07:55 IST Washington: In the latest attempt to tighten its grip in Tibet, China is forcing the Tibetans to pay less attention to their religion and show more enthusiasm for president Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to a report by The read more →

TIME TO BREAK THE SILENCE ON TIBET

Michael van Walt van Praag & Miek Boltjes for The Sunday Guardian Live. China’s aggressive behaviour towards India and Bhutan, its expansionism in the South China Sea, and its bullying and interference in Nepal, Mongolia, and Southeast Asia, all accompanied by a sense of entitlement are directly related to how read more →

China ramping up military infra in Tibet, Xinjiang for LAC operations

Rezaul H Laskar for Hindustan Times. There is mounting evidence that China has sped up work to build and expand military and civilian facilities in Tibet and surrounding areas that will enhance its military posture along the Line of Actual … Continued The post China ramping up military infra in read more →