Tibetan Headlines
Jun 22: Protestors Win Through!
China’s ambassador to Denmark, Mr Feng Tie, was mobbed by protestors carrying the Tibetan flag as he emerged from a media interview on June 18. Protestors shouted slogans including “Free Tibet”, “Free Hong Kong”, and “Free China”. Protestors are usually prevented from engaging with Chinese officials in the West.
Jun 22: Lone Protest in Exile
Lobsang Tenzin, 60, from the Hunsur Rabgyal Ling Tibetan settlement in Karnataka staged a protest on June 20 against the recent actions of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. He sustained 30% burns after setting himself alight; his daughter smothered the flames and he is now recovering in hospital. The Tibet Express quotes him as saying, “The present discord and the division is not right”.
Jun 21: Writer in Custody
Lobsang Lhundup, 41, a writer whose pen name is Dhi Lhaden, and who was arrested two years ago has still not been brought to trial, reports Radio Free Asia. RFA says he was arrested after someone reported on the teaching materials he was using for his work at a cultural center in Chengdu; that no information about his case has been released and he is not allowed visitors.
Jun 16: Condemnation from UN
UN human rights experts have issued a declaration saying they are “extremely alarmed by reports of alleged ‘organ harvesting’ targeting minorities, including Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Muslims and Christians, in detention in China”. They report receiving “credible information that detainees from ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities” may be forcibly subjected to tests not imposed on other prisoners in order to use their organs, including hearts, for forced organ harvesting.
Jun 16: Joint Declaration
The European Union and the United States have underlined their shared concerns about China’s human rights violations, including in Tibet, which was mentioned specifically in a joint declaration. The declaration follows the first EU-US summit of the newly elected US President Biden’s presidency and also mentions “the erosion of autonomy and democratic processes in Hong Kong; economic coercion; disinformation campaigns and regional security issues.”
Jun 14: Concerns over China’s HR Abuse
Japan and Australia have raised a joint statement expressing serious concerns over reports of human rights violations of the Uyghur and other Muslim minority communities in East Turkestan (Ch: Xinjiang) in North western China. “We call on China to grant urgent, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent international observers, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,” they said in a virtual meeting of Defense and Foreign ministers.
Jun 13: Boycott the Beijing Olympics
The Senate of the Czech Republic joins many countries calling for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 in the light of China's gross human rights violations in East Turkestan (Xinjiang), Tibet and Hong Kong. They aim to pressure other countries' leaders to join the boycott.
Jun 12: Congratulations!
His Holiness the Dalai Lama congratulated Mongolia's President-elect Ukhnaa Khurelsukh on his election victory. Historically, the people of Mongolia and we Tibetans have been like twin brothers and sisters and Dalai Lamas have enjoyed a close relationship with people of Mongolia since the third Dalai Lama, said His Holiness. Buddhism has shaped the identity and culture of the Mongolian people with its core values such as compassion and non violence, His Holiness said he trusts that the New President’s government will continue to preserve and uphold these values.
Jun 11: Xi in Tibet
Chinese President Xi Jinping has been on a three-day visit to the traditional Tibetan province of Amdo [Ch: Qinghai Province], calling it a “model of national unity”. He instructed local officials to adhere to Beijing’s ethnic policies and continue the sinicisation of religion in the region; also to uphold the Communist Party’s policies in Tibet, saying that the province is “strategic” for “maintaining stability in Xinjiang (East Turkestan) and Tibet”.
Jun 11: Support from Switzerland
The Swiss Parliamentary Group for Tibet has been discussing plans for supporting Tibet. Issues included that of Tibetan asylum seekers who are rejected and a petition calling for a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The petition was initiated jointly by the various Tibet support groups in Switzerland. The Parliamentary group confirmed their ongoing support for Tibetans and Tibet.
Jun 9: Space Travel!
Tibetan monks are being studied by Russian scientists who are working on the effects of long periods of space travel on the human body and mind. The scientists are studying monks’ brains during intense meditation to inform their research into placing the human body into “suspended animation” for weeks; HH the Dalai Lama has given his blessing and approval to the research.
Jun 8: Railway for Tibet
The Chinese Communist Party is celebrating its 100th birthday this month in Tibet by opening a new 435-kilometer, 160 km per hour, railway line, promised to be the region’s “fastest”, to run from Lhasa to Nyingchi. The line, dubbed a part of China’s “project of the century”, will eventually connect Lhasa with Chengdu, and will boost China’s militarisation of Tibet’s border with India at Arunachal Pradesh.
Jun 8: World Environment Day
World Environment Day on June 5 saw renewed calls to China to stop abusing Tibet’s fragile ecosystem before it is too late. An International webinar, “Environmental Destruction in Tibet by China and Implications for Asia”, organised by the Centre for Himalayan Asia Studies and Engagement and the Tibetan Youth Congress brought together experts who stated that Tibet’s environment has been damaged irreparably by China’s “Insatiable greed [...] for resources”.
Jun 7: Tiananmen Remembered
Once again China has banned the annual candlelight vigil in Hong Kong to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, despite an appeal, citing Covid-19 restrictions. Events were held around the world, in New York the Office of Tibet was represented at an event attended by many government and society leaders, and in London UK Tibetans joined the thousands of protesters outside the Chinese Embassy.
Jun 7: Schools Close
Private Tibetan schools in Kham, eastern Tibet [Ch: Sichuan] offering classes taught through the medium of Tibetan have been closed; children now attend government-run schools teaching through the medium on Chinese. The Chinese authorities say the move is to promote uniformity in the use of textbooks and instructional materials. The closures violate China’s own laws guaranteeing the right of ethnic minorities to learn through their own language.