Tibetan Headlines
Dec 21: Audience with His Holiness
HH the Dalai Lama has granted an audience to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat at Gaden Phodrang. RSS Chief Bhagwat is on a five-day tour of Kangra, attending a seminar along with Sikyong Penpa Tsering and Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel of the Tibetan Government-in-exile who met the RSS leader personally following the seminar. It is reported that Dr Mohan Bhagwat expressed India’s solemn support for Tibet.
Dec 20: Nuclear Tests
The People’s Liberation Army has undertaken a 24-hour “Actual combat drill” in Tibet. Anti-nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare drills has recently place, along with commandos and armoured attack squads, reports the Hindustan Times of Delhi, saying that the PLS did not report the exact location of the drill, which took place amide rising border tensions between India and Chinese-occupied Tibet.
Dec 20: European Tibetans Meet
The second annual gathering of the Tibetan Communities in Europe was held in Paris December 18 - 19. 26 representatives from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Switzerland and Liechtenstein attended the meeting which looked at ways to strengthen Tibet advocacy in Europe and to implement the Central Tibetan Administration’s projects in Europe.
Dec 17: HRW Update on Tibet
Human Rights Watch, the United States based non-government organisation conducting research and advocacy on human rights, has issued an update on China’s determination to “choose” the next Dalai Lama as well as all Tibetan Buddhist reincarnations. Under the heading Chinese Authorities Double Down on Tibetan Reincarnations they report on an official visit to Tibet to ensure Tibetan officials endorse government policies on the recognition of Tibetan Buddhist incarnations.
Dec 16: Sikyong Meets His Holiness
HH the Dalai Lama has granted an audience to Sikyong Penpa Tsering, President of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, His Holiness’s first live audience since the Covid-19 pandemic began last year. This is Sikyong’s first official audience with His Holiness since he assumed the post of Sikyong in May this year. Sikyong said he pledged to serve the Tibetan public with His Holiness’s guidance and blessings at heart.
Dec 16: Monk Held Incommunicado
Tenzin Dargye, a Tibetan monk in his 30s is reported as missing, being held incommunicado since his detention more than a year ago from the Barong monastery in Kardze in Kham [Ch: Sichuan], reports Radio Free Asia. Other monks may have been arrested alongside him. He was charged with keeping pictures of HH the Dalai Lama and other politically sensitive material on his cell phone.
Dec 15: Congress Support
65 Members of the United States Congress have co-signed letters to the State Department calling on the Biden administration to engage with HH the Dalai Lama, resist China’s attempts to interfere in the Dalai Lama’s succession, and demand increased access to Tibet. This follows a lobbying campaign which included Tibet Lobby Day 2021.
Dec 15: Families Separated
Tibetan children are being separated from their parents and sent away to boarding schools set up by the Chinese authorities, says a new report by the Tibet Action Institute, an organisation using online technology and nonviolent action to support the Tibetan cause. Some 800,000 children currently live in the schools, which teach through the medium of the Chinese language and include political indoctrination on the curriculum, says TIA.
Dec 14: New National Parks
A large-scale land grab to establish a new National Park in Tibet has left Tibetan nomads without promised compensation for the land they have lost. The families have been threatened following a scuffle last month at a park construction site and construction work is reported to have halted. This is not an isolated incident, Tibetans are being removed from their homeland with no consultation and no compensation.
Dec 14: Prisoner in Critical Condition
Dhongye, 50, who has been in jail since 2018 on charges of “leaking state secrets”, is reported to be near death following injuries and prolongued torture sustained during his time in prison. He was accused of reporting to people outside Tibet on a protest against the government’s planned mining of a sacred mountain in Driru County and then held incommunicado in Driru Prison.Dhongye is known as an active environmentalist.
Dec 13: Writer Sentenced
Go Sherab Gyatso, 46, a monk from Kirti monastery Ngaba in Kham [Ch: Sichuan], has been given a 10-year prison sentence in a secret trial, reports Radio Free Asia. Gyatso is a writer and educator known for expressing loyalty to HH the Dalai Lama and his descriptions of restrictions on freedom of expression under Chinese rule. He was arrested in October last year, charges unknown.
Dec 12: Prisoners Database Launched
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) has launched a new online database with details of 5,518 Tibetan political prisoners. The information dates from 1990; 3,067 prisoners have been released, 1,809 remain in detention, says TCHRD. This is a joint initiative with HURIDOCS, the Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems based in Geneva and was launched to coincide with Human Rights Day.
Dec 12: Monk Sentenced
Trinley, 20, a Tibetan monk, has been given a five year prison sentence for sharing the teachings of HH the Dalai Lama and distributing his books, reports the Tibet Post. Trinley comes from Meruma in Ngaba County, northeastern Tibet, he was arrested in July and has been held in Mianyang Prison near Chengdu in Kham [Ch: Sichuan]. He has been arrested several times in the past.
Dec 12: US Legislation
The United States House of Representatives has passed three pieces of legislation denouncing the Chinese government for its abuses against Uyghurs, Tibetans and others, and the International Olympic Committee for failing to uphold its own human rights standards. House Resolution 317 condemns China’s ongoing Uyghur genocide and crimes against humanity against religious and ethnic minorities in the People’s Republic of China.
Dec 10: Human Rights Day
Tibetans around the world marked Human Rights Day, the day HH the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. His Holiness, in a teaching, said “I hope and pray that soon [...] the historic rights of my people will be restored” and said he hoped that “a day may dawn when people all over the world will love and help each other and live in genuine harmony”.