Chinese Frogs Leap Into Tibet: Populace Flees the Hopping Hans!

China is the biggest Big Brother on the planet, no doubt about it.  Below are two views about development in Tibet and who will benefit. These reports try to walk the tightrope between reporting as the politburo wants it, and reporting facts for the real world.  First, the NY Times interpretation of this special new strategy:

China Seeks Stability in Tibet via Development
By EDWARD WONG Published: January 23, 2010
BEIJING — China’s top leaders laid out a strategy last week for bringing “leapfrog development and lasting stability” to the Tibetan regions, the state news agency reported late Friday.
President Hu Jintao and other leaders at a Tibet planning conference decided that “more efforts must be made to greatly improve living standards of the people in Tibet, as well as ethnic unity and stability,” the Xinhua news agency reported.
President Hu Jintao and other leaders at a Tibet planning conference decided that “more efforts must be made to greatly improve living standards of the people in Tibet, as well as ethnic unity and stability,” the Xinhua news agency reported.
The emphasis on economic development indicates that Chinese leaders still see the solution to the problem of Tibet as one of supplying creature comforts. If the region can develop fast enough, the reasoning goes, then Tibetans will buy into Chinese rule[...] [Anybody know anything about Tibetan Buddhism?  Like the concept of non-attachment?  Will somebody please let Hu Jintao know you can't FORCE people to be materialistic when their heritage views material success as illusion?]
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/world/asia/24china.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

Now here's the report as presented by the Xinhua News Agency.  Watch the painful effort to put a smiley face on everything:

China to achieve leapfrog development, lasting stability in Tibet
Editor: Mu Xuequan
BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- China has made plans to achieve leapfrog development and lasting stability in Tibet Autonomous Region in a bid to ensure China's development as a whole, according to a high-level meeting held here this week.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and other senior leaders attending the fifth meeting on the work of Tibet, from Jan. 18 to 20, agreed that more efforts must be made to greatly improve living standards of the people in Tibet, as well as ethnic unity and stability.
[…]  During the meeting, senior leaders also meted out plans to develop Tibetan-inhabited areas in Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee's policies towards Tibet in the new era were totally correct, suiting to national condition, Tibet's actual conditions and the fundamental interests of people of all ethnic groups in Tibet. [sic]  [I’m thinking this is a sneaky way of saying, “Yeah, this is great but only if the Tibetans want your so-called stability“.]
[…]  While vowing to take substantial measures to ensure "normal order of Tibetan Buddhism", Hu said the awareness of being part of the Chinese nation and being law-abiding citizens [my bold] must be constantly enhanced among cadre and the masses in Tibet.  [We all know that being “law-abiding citizens” can mean something different to people under the boot of an oppressive regime, no matter how many times they use the word “people” in their official titles & proclamations.]
[…]  He stressed Tibet's significance in ensuring China's national security, and efforts in building the region into a strategic reserve of natural resources, an agricultural production base, a land with unique culture and a world-class tourism destination.
[…]  Speaking of education, he said free education would be offered for all the children of farmers and herdsmen in primary schools and junior and senior high schools.  [Will Tibetan children now be educated in the Tibetan language or Mandarin?  I think I know the answer!]
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/world/asia/24china.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

I'm not just preoccupied with a free Tibet because it is a just cause or because I am a Buddhist.  Our economy has essentially collapsed and China owns us.  It's just a matter of time before the Han government insinuates itself into all aspects of American life, free speech and all.  But if you think the powers that be are going to leave the USA alone, letting us live our own lives the way we choose, I have a bridge to sell you.

Dhondup Wangchen: 6 Years for Reporting Life

Radio Free Asia reports that Tibetan documentary film maker Dhondup Wangchen has been sentenced to six years imprisonment (not counting the one he's already spent awaiting trial) for the crime of "splitting the motherland."  That's right, folks, China is such a fragile nation that it's handlers can't cope with being exposed in a documentary.  It might make the ruling class look bad.  Really.

China Jails Tibetan Filmmaker
2010-01-06
HONG KONG—Authorities in the northwestern Chinese province of Qinghai have handed a six-year jail sentence to a Tibetan filmmaker who returned from exile to make a documentary about his homeland, Tibetan sources say.
The Xining Intermediate People's Court [my bold] handed the sentence to Dhondup Wangchen, the producer of the documentary “Leaving Fear Behind,” in a secret trial that found him guilty of “splitting the motherland,” the sources said.“Dhondup Wangchen, the producer of ‘Leaving Fear Behind,’ was sentenced six years to prison,” a Tibetan from the Amdo region identified as Thardrub said.
“We were checking around about it...later, we were able to confirm that he was sentenced secretly [my bold] by Xining Intermediate People's Court in Qinghai on Dec. 28, 2009.”
Dhondup Wangchen’s relatives were given no information about his trial or sentencing, he added.
“They were not informed about the sentencing,” Thardrub said. “The relatives argue that he is innocent and he did not commit any crime...They are planning to appeal his sentence in the higher courts.”
Jamyang Tsultrim, a relative of Dhondup Wangchen now living in Switzerland, said the sentencing of Dhondup Wangchen was a clear indication of how Tibetans were deprived of freedom of expression in China.
“His relatives made arrangements for a lawyer to represent him, but the lawyers were not allowed to represent him,” Jamyang Tsultrim said.
“He was also suffering from liver problems and was denied any kind of medical treatment,” he added.
[...]  Dhondup Wangchen’s film, “Leaving Fear Behind” (www.leavingfearbehind.com), is a 25-minute documentary including interviews with Tibetans in the Amdo region expressing their views on Tibet’s exiled leader the Dalai Lama, the Beijing Olympics, and Chinese laws.
The authorities also detained Jigme Gyatso, a monk from the Kham region, at the same time, but released him on Oct. 15. He later said he was tortured in detention.
“Leaving Fear Behind” was produced outside China after Dhondup Wangchen managed to send footage out of Tibet before the authorities caught up with him.
It was shown to foreign journalists in Beijing during the Olympic Games.[...]
Original reporting by RFA’s Tibetan service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written for the Web in English by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/filmmaker-01062010111100.html

Imagine living in a country where not only is it a crime to document real things happening in real places, but a so-called "people's court" can keep you imprisoned, run a secret trial with a secret decision, and disappear you for SIX YEARS!  Your family and friends can't file an appeal because they haven't been notified of anything--not the alleged "crimes" and certainly not the supposed "justice" of having to live in a Chinese prison for almost a decade.
The day will come when the Chinese people and all the minority ethnic groups within China will recognize their enslavement to this nebulous government of the people.  They  will rise up and say, "Whose justice are you talking about?"  Let's hope true justice comes about through peaceful means.  It can happen if each and every individual bureaucrat wakes up to the crimes they commit in the name of "The People."  It will grow as they decide to stand up for justice, not Just Us.

Learn more from the web site for Leaving Fear Behind:  http://www.leavingfearbehind.com/
The NY Times covered this story in October, with more personal info about Dhondup Wangchen:
China Is Trying a Tibetan Filmmaker for Subversion
By ANDREW JACOBS
Published: October 30, 2009
CHONGQING, China — A self-taught filmmaker who spent five months interviewing Tibetans about their hopes and frustrations living under Chinese rule is facing charges of state subversion after the footage was smuggled abroad and distributed on the Internet and at film festivals around the world.
The filmmaker, Dhondup Wangchen, who has been detained since March 2008, just weeks after deadly rioting broke out in Tibet, managed to sneak a letter out of jail last month saying that his trial had begun.
“There is no good news I can share with you,” he wrote in the letter, which was provided by a cousin in Switzerland. “It is unclear what the sentence will be.”
[...]  Until now, the case of Mr. Wangchen, 35, has received little attention abroad. Uneducated and plainspoken, he was an itinerant businessman until October 2007, when he bought a small video camera and began traveling the Tibetan plateau interviewing monks, yak herders and students about their lives.
Tsetring Gyaljong, a cousin who helped him make the documentary, said that Mr. Wangchen’s political awareness was sharpened nearly a decade ago, when he witnessed a demonstration in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, that was quickly broken up by public security officers.
“He saw how it was dissolved in two or three minutes and how everyone was taken away,” said Mr. Gyaljong, speaking from Switzerland, where he has lived in exile since escaping from Tibet. “There were no pictures, no testimonies, and he felt like the world should know that Tibetans, despite the Chinese portrayals, are not a happy people.”
[...]  In an interview from Dharamsala, where she works as a baker, Mr. Wangchen’s wife, Lhamo Tso, said she feared she might not see him again for many, many years.
“As a wife, I’m very sad to be without the person I love so much,” she said. “But if I can separate out that sadness, I feel proud because he made a courageous decision to give a voice to people who don’t have one.” [...]
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/world/asia/31tibet.html?_r=2

Long live the Tibetan people, wherever they are!

What Will Tibetans Do?

Possibly the greatest test for the future of Tibetan Buddhism has begun. Whether or not this assembly will reach consensus, I believe the young people will go their own way, much like my generation did in the 60s. While fearing for their safety and ability to maintain their virtue and dignity as Tibetans, I understand the impatience of youth and how suseptible they are to delusions and grandiouse thinking. Change is the only constant. Pray and hope for the best future for all Tibetans.
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008
Tibetans Look to Future, Without Dalai Lama
By Jyoti Thottam
Hundreds of Tibetan political leaders, activists and individuals from all over the world have just begun a meeting in Dharamsala, India, that is unprecedented in its ambition: to bring all Tibetans together to decide their own future, without the direct guidance of the Dalai Lama.
The week-long summit, which includes elected members of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, non-governmental organizations and protest groups, comes at a critical time. After the Dalai Lama indicated recently that he had all but given up on negotiations with China over autonomy for Tibet, there is increasing tension between Tibetan conservatives, who favor continuing talks, and younger radicals who want to push for a free Tibet. After protests this March in Lhasa that turned violent, the radicals were energized. But since then, they have been unable channel their efforts constructively. "The community is feeling slightly lost and helpless," says Tsering Shakya, a Tibetan scholar and professor at the University of British Columbia who has written extensively about modern Tibetan history. This week's meeting is an attempt on the part of Tibetan leadership to allow them to voice their views openly — without feeling inhibited about criticizing the Dalai Lama — and perhaps restore some sense of unity.
But the choice that Tibetans are facing isn't a simple fork in the road between seeking independence or seeking autonomy. That's clear from looking at the people expected to play a key role in the talks, which are closed to the public. The central voices of the Tibetan establishment include Lodi Gyari, the Dalai Lama's envoy to Washington and chief negotiator with the Chinese, and Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche, who is also seen as a conservative force, along with several cabinet ministers. Those pushing for radical change include the Tibetan Youth Congress, who are vocal and visible, but to date have had little sway over the Tibetan political system; Students for a Free Tibet, who are very well organized but whose influence has been limited to English-speaking world; and individuals like Jamyang Norbu, a writer and fiery orator who could have an outsized influence in this kind of forum. There are also several NGOs and individuals with regional influence over different parts of the Tibetan diaspora, and a secularist group pushing for more lay leadership.
But perhaps the biggest wild card in the talks will be Tibetans inside Tibet, says Robbie Barnett, a professor of Tibetan studies at Columbia University in New York City. (There are 5.5 million, compared to about 130,000 in the global diaspora.) They won't be able to attend in person, but many of them are making their views heard through informal or secret communications. And here too, there is a wide range of views, from radicalized former prisoners to those who are actually pushing for more concessions to China in the hopes of bringing the Dalai Lama back to Tibet before the end of his life.
It will be up to the chair of the meeting, Karma Choepel, the speaker of the Tibetan parliament, to allow open and frank discussion. The Dalai Lama will not participate in any of the talks, although he is expected to address the gathering after the end of the summit. The meeting, Barnett says, is "explicitly a response by the Dalai Lama to criticism that his charisma has cramped any space for real discussion." But no one is expecting Tibetans to suddenly shift course from the "Middle Path," which advocates for negotiating with Beijing for autonomy, not independence, and has been steered so carefully by their spiritual leader for the last 30 years. Instead, the summit will be considered a success if it reaches some consensus about how to choose the Dalai Lama's successor, and if it brings Tibetans together to discuss issues like education and how to involve young Tibetans in the political process. Barnett notes that China may find it more difficult to control a movement that is strong and unified around a common purpose. "If they can achieve that, it will really be quite significant." And perhaps the most radical move of all.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1859974,00.html?xid=feed-rss-netzero

China Rapes Tibet's Natural Resources, Canada Assists

People wonder why China is so adament in refusing any cooperation with Tibet. There are many reasons, including the very basic human mental disorder called greed. As the US plunders Iraq for oil, Canada hopes to gain favor with China with business deals which will destroy Tibet's ecology. Canadian friends, please spread the word!

Continental Minerals awaiting China's OK on Tibet mine

Reuters, 13/11/08

By Lucy Hornby

BEIJING, Continental Minerals (Profile) is awaiting central government approval for a planned $520 million copper and gold mine in Tibet, which will utilize a new railway to ship ores to a smelter in inland China.

Financing from underwriters Standard Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, or ICBC, is still in the works despite a sharp global decrease in lending due to the financial crisis, said chief executive David Copeland.

The company has submitted final paperwork, including a reclamation plan, for the complex Xietongmen mine. The mine requires a series of tailing dams and water diversion engineering to prevent mining waste from contaminating the Yaluzangbu River, [my bold] in arid western Tibet, said Dickson Hall, vice president of business development.

"This project has all the elements. It will go ahead," Hall said on the sidelines of the China Mining conference.

Xietongmen is one of several new mining projects in Tibet made possible by the railroad to Lhasa, which began operations in July 2006. It will rely on a spur under construction to the town of Shigatze, due to be completed in 2010.

The railroad, denounced by pro-Tibetan activists as a means for Han Chinese migrants to flood into Tibet, has enabled the large-scale mining projects that China needs to feed its rapid economic growth.

"There's a lot of interest in Tibet from miners.[my bold] It's one of the few virgin territories left in China," said Xu Weiqin, who runs a clearing house for buying and selling mining stakes in Lhasa.

Chinese aluminium and copper giant Aluminum Corp of China, or Chinalco, in September set up a unit to explore in Tibet.

It joined fellow Chinese miners Western Mining Co (Profile) and Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd (Profile), which plan to begin production this month from Southeastern Tibet's Yulong copper deposit, which is the largest in China.

Ore from the Xietongmen mine will be transported thousands of miles to be processed by smelters owned by state-owned nickel and copper producer Jinchuan Group, which bought a 14 percent equity stake in Continental last year.

http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=23209&article=Continental+Minerals+awaiting+China%27s+OK+on+Tibet+mine

Journalist Disappeared While Investigating Nun's Murder

Tsering Tsomo was bound, beaten and tossed from a truck for posting pictures of the Dalai Lama. The journalist trying to report it disappears. Can we really afford to not be outraged by this? Please let friends and loved ones know that this could be the future of American news. China owns us. We must wake up to help those who cannot help themselves. The good deed will benefit US as well.
Tibetan TV Journalist Arrested, Nun Dead
Phayul[Thursday, September 18, 2008 00:03]
Phayul Bureau report
New Delhi, September 17 – A Tibetan journalist was arrested around midnight on September 11, reports Voice of Tibet radio service. Voice of Tibet reported that Rangjhung who was working for the Sertha television station as a news reporter and a newscaster was picked up from his home in Amdo Golok. The whereabouts and the exact reason for his arrest are unknown at the moment.
Sertha Tsuiltrim Woser, a member of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, told the radio service that Rangjhung is an employee at the Sertha Television station, and was responsible for gathering news and reading news for the TV. Tsuiltrim further said that it is not clear where the Tibetan journalist is detained. “I heard that the officials who arrested him were not local but from the Kardze Prefecture or Sichuan. No one knows where he has been held at the moment”, Tsultrim told the VOT.
Rangjhung is 25 years old, and worked as a teacher for a year before becoming a TV journalist. He is man of many talents, says Tsuiltrim. “He composed 2 books, and also wrote a book of lyrics”.
With China putting a tight lid on the flow of information from inside Tibet, news have emerged from Tibet that one nun died of beatings and 2 others were sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment in June. Geshe Monlam Tharchin, a member of the TPIE told the VOT that on 8 June, a Tibetan nun named Tsering from Samtenling Nunnery in Draggo county pasted posters and distributed leaflets calling for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet. The nuns of Samtenling Nunnery marched towards the town to stage protests in support with Tsering but were stopped on the way by the Chinese security officials. The radio service reported that the Chinese soldiers stopped the nuns and tortured them.

Tsering Tsomo

One nun named Guru was hit on the head with iron baton. Her hands tied, she was thrown from a moving vehicle which caused her head to hit the hard surface of the ground. [my bold] She was taken to the hospital but succumbed to her injuries. “The Chinese authorities told her family that she committed suicide but her family later found out that the cause of her death was not suicide but head injury.” Monlam also said that 2 other nuns, Tsering Tso, 27 and her sister Ugen Lhamo, 32, were sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment.
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=22819&article=Tibetan+TV+Journalist+Arrested%2c+Nun+Dead
On June 6 the Tibet Center for Human Rights and Dignity reported this about the initial incident: http://www.tchrd.org/press/2008/pr20080609.html

International Peace Day Candle Action, 9/21

Candle for Tibet on
International Peace Day

Sunday, 21 September 2008

We will light candles and pray for peace and freedom to the people of Tibet.
We will do it at home, with friends or combined with other peace activities we plan for Peace Day.
PLEASE INVITE ALL YOUR FRIENDS

http://candle4tibet.ning.com/

Free the Bejing 6! Others Still Missing

Useless US bureaucrats wring their hands while who knows what is happening to our citizens!
US urges free speech after China detains
six foreigners
22 hours ago
BEIJING (AFP) — The United States called on China Thursday to allow peaceful protests, after Beijing police detained six foreigners amid a wave of demonstrations by pro-Tibet activists during the Olympics.
"We are concerned by recent reports that the Chinese have detained protesters," the embassy said in a statement.
"We call on China to respect the fundamental and universally recognised right of all persons to peacefully express their views, including Chinese citizens, and we urge the Chinese to put their best face forward during these Olympic Games."
The US statement came shortly after Beijing police said it had handed out 10-day detention terms to six foreigners believed by an overseas activist group to be pro-Tibet campaigners involved in Olympic protests this week.
In a brief faxed statement, the city police information department said "Thomas" and five other foreigners had been apprehended on Tuesday for "upsetting public order", without identifying the six people any further.
"Beijing police decided to give Thomas and the five others 10 days of administrative detention," the faxed statement said.
Administrative detention is a punishment that can be meted out by Chinese police without having to go through the courts.
A US embassy spokeswoman declined to comment on the report of the detention of the six and emphasised the statement was not in direct response to those cases.
But Students For a Free Tibet said it assumed the six were American pro-Tibet activists who police detained in Beijing on Tuesday.
"These young men were in Beijing to amplify Tibetan voices calling for freedom and human rights and the right of all people to freedom of expression," Students For a Free Tibet executive director Lhadon Tethong said.
"They are no more guilty of a crime than Tibetans or Chinese who speak out for justice.
"For the Chinese authorities to sentence them at all shows the government's paranoia and intolerance of even the most peaceful challenges to its control."
Students For a Free Tibet has orchestrated a series of protests in Beijing to coincide with the Olympics in an effort to highlight what it says is China's repressive 57-year rule of Tibet.
In comments published by French newspaper Le Monde on Thursday, exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said more than 400 people had been killed since Chinese security forces cracked down on unrest in Tibet in March.
At least eight pro-Tibet protests have taken place in Beijing since early August to coincide with the Olympics, which end on Sunday.
Most of the previous protesters were deported from the country after being held by police for a short time, with a total of 10 foreign activists currently still believed in police custody.
Aside from the six Americans picked up on Tuesday, two other Americans, a Tibetan-German and a Briton have been missing since trying to stage a protest near the Olympic venues just after midnight on Thursday.
Among the six detained on Tuesday was James Powderly, an American artist who planned to project a giant laser beam onto a Beijing building with a message in support of a free Tibet.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jQq9z1M3x4oIQlFKsfPaHGx2qGvg

SFT’s Statement on the Sentencing
These individuals were in Beijing to amplify Tibetan voices calling for freedom and human rights and the right of all people to freedom of expression. They are no more guilty of a crime than Tibetans or Chinese who speak out for justice and for the Chinese authorities to sentence them at all shows the government’s paranoia and intolerance of even the most peaceful challenges to its control. (continues below…)
SFT WILL FIGHT THIS UNTIL THEY ARE HOME - MORE HERE SOON ON WHAT YOU CAN DO: Remember why they went, and keep in mind - Americans get 10 days jail, Chinese grannies get one year forced labor, and Tibetans get shot.

http://freetibet2008.org/globalactions/citizenjournalists/update0821/

Tibet Lives After Olympics

Lhasa on my mind...







A rally for Tibet is planned for Sunday, August 24 (the closing day of the Beijing Olympics) to be held in front of the United Nations in New York City. The organizers of the rally include Students for a Free Tibet, the Tibetan Women’s Association and the Tibetan Youth Congress, and they have asked the International Campaign for Tibet and our supporters to join in sending a message to China that the Tibetan struggle continues long after the Olympics conclude.
The event is planned to start at 11:00 in the morning at
Dag Hammarskjold Park, 47th Street and 1st Avenue.
Thousands of Tibetans from all over the United States are expected to attend. The Tibetan people and their supporters made sure that China’s crackdown in Tibet this spring and summer was known to the Olympics audience, in spite of the Chinese government’s determination to control every element of its Olympics story.
I hope you will join the rally to amplify the call for human rights in Tibet and basic freedoms for the Tibetan people! For more information, please email Mr. Tsering Palden at tsering.palden@gmail.com.

Olympian Ideals Support Tibet

China can’t block the music! If the bureaucrats think people won't buy this CD because THEY tell them not to, then they're going to be disappointed. Remember: use your freedom to help others without it. Peace can only exist when we are all free to express ourselves.
Over 40 Olympic athletes in Beijing download Tibet solidarity album 'Songs for Tibet'
International Campaign for Tibet and the Art of Peace Foundation
August 18th, 2008

Washington DC, (August 18, 2008) - The album 'Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace,' a top-selling rock download in the US, Canada, several European countries and Japan - which reached #4 on the Billboard album download charts in its first week of sales - has been downloaded by more than 40 Olympic athletes competing at the Beijing Games. China's official media published a provocative online article that reported many "angry" Chinese 'netizens' are "denouncing" the project and that some have called for a boycott on companies that make the pro-peace album available for sale on the web, and a ban on those involved in making the album from entering China. Over a hundred download sites and on-line retailers sell the album worldwide. Twenty musicians contributed tracks, including Sting, Dave Matthews, Alanis Morissette, John Mayer and Moby. [my bold]
Michael Wohl, Executive Director of the Art of Peace Foundation which initiated the project, said today: "We are delighted that Olympics athletes took the opportunity to download this unique album, which conveys a message of hope and solidarity with the Tibetan people, as well as a commitment to freedom of expression that cannot be suppressed."
Over 40 Olympic athletes in North America, Europe and even Beijing contacted The Art of Peace Foundation by email and through the Foundation's website. Athletes downloaded the album as an act of solidarity with Tibet. International organizations including the International Campaign for Tibet, Students for a Free Tibet, and Team Darfur helped contact the athletes. Several of the athletes, who were assured anonymity, thanked the Art of Peace Foundation. In one case, an Olympian commended the Foundation's "efforts, music and passion for peace."
Following international media coverage of the album and its success, an article about the album - which referred to "angry netizens" who "are rallying together to denounce internet retailers that offer 'Songs for Tibet' for purchase" was published on two Chinese websites, china.org.cn - the authorized government portal site to China, managed by the Information Office of the State Council (http://www.china.org.cn/china/national/2008-08/08/content_16161481.htm) - and http://www.chinanews.com, a semi-official internet news portal which operates under close scrutiny and control of the Communist Party. This follows demonstrations by overseas Chinese against some companies (such as the French supermarket chain Carrefour) and broadcasters (CNN and the BBC) that have occurred since the international community has criticized China for its crackdown in Tibet, and in the buildup to the Olympics. The demonstrations and outpouring of Chinese nationalism, particularly linked to protests against Chinese government policies at the time of the Olympic torch relay, have been fueled by misinformation and propaganda from the Chinese authorities.
"The predictably hostile response to the album from Chinese internet users and an official website at this time reflects continued attempts to suppress any support for Tibet at a time of crisis for the Tibetan people, as well as the level of entrenched misinformation about Tibet propagated by the Beijing government among the Chinese public," said Kate Saunders from the International Campaign for Tibet, which is supporting the project.
The double album, 'Songs for Tibet' celebrates peace, the Dalai Lama and Tibet. Twenty artists, including Sting, Alanis Morissette, Dave Matthews, John Mayer and Moby contributed songs for the release.
Proceeds that the foundation receives will support initiatives for promoting peace and Tibetan cultural preservation projects. Details at http://www.artofpeacefoundation.org. The video for the album, 'Songs for Tibet - Freedom is Expression,' is available on YouTube. http://www.savetibet.org/

Candle Vigil for Tibet, Pt. 2

WE WILL NOT LET
TIBET BE FORGOTTEN WE WILL SHINE OUR LIGHT AGAIN

Again, we will do it at our homes, with friends and in public.
BUT WE WILL ALSO BRING OUR LIGHT TO THE FRONT OF
EVERY CHINESE EMBASSY IN THE WORLD.
Please visit our website to learn more about it.
Vigils
Please check our full listing every day for public candle lighting near you. http://www.candle4tibet.org/en/august23

Chinese Embassies
Here is the full list of Chinese embassies: (EMBASSIES)
If you want to participate in organizing vigils in front of an embassy, please let us know. emb@candle4tibet.org
Also, do you know of a public lighting which is not on the list? Please let us know about it. We will post it for the benefit of all.
vigils@candle4tibet.org

Union Square, NYC, 8-7-8

Dealing with Citizen Fascists

If an American sports reporter gets rattled when surrounded by shouting Chinese, imagine what it's like for the Tibetans. They have been occupied for decades, literally surrounded in their own country by people transported there specifically to evict them. Time to practice dharma and loving kindness.
Olympic Blog -- Aug. 6: Running into a pre-Olympic protest
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
I got up early Wednesday morning to go for a bike ride in Beijing. It's been my routine since arriving here on Friday.
Right before I left my apartment, I saw an advisory from ABC News' Olympic mailing list saying there was some kind of incident going on near the Olympic Stadium.
I figured I'd ride by and see what I could find out. I grabbed my photo camera and Olympic media credential and rode about three minutes before arriving on the scene.
There was a man about 100 feet up a highway post, wearing climbing gear and a climbing helmet, holding a banner that read "Tibet Will Be Free." He also had a Tibetan flag hanging out of his backpack.
I dropped my bike and started taking pictures. After a few minutes, I wanted to try to talk to the man up on the post. So, I climbed up the hill to get a closer look. I yelled out, "Hey buddy, who are you?" The policemen turned and looked at me, but didn't react. But then, a man in civilian clothes (he was wearing shorts and a T-shirt) started screaming at me and tried to wave me away.
I held up my credential and yelled out, "TV! Media! Press!"
The man kept yelling, speaking mostly in Mandarin; but through some broken English, he pointed to the stadium, saying, "You're only here for [this]." He was implying that I was only here to cover the Games and this protest was none of my business. Then, he screamed, "Who are you? Who are you?" I kept trying to explain I was credentialed media.
Some of the policemen walked toward me and grabbed me by the arm. They were angry and aggressive while holding on to me, yelling in my face. But I still kept yelling, "TV! Media! Press! TV! Media! Press!" The policemen were speaking into their walkie-talkies, but I didn't understand what they were saying.
I then went back to the bottom of the hill and took more pictures. By that point, a fire truck pulled up and moved a cherry picker up the pole to try to bring down the protester. The same civilian came down the hill and started screaming at me again. Some of the onlookers joined in, and I was circled by people who started pushing and shoving me, screaming and pointing to the stadium. I never got hit or punched, but I was definitely physically accosted. I was trying to be smart about it and I wasn't hitting anyone, but I kept yelling, "Media! Press!"
Then, someone came up from behind me, someone I believe was an American. He was holding a camera and said, "Hey, buddy. This is going to get ugly; you should get out of here."
"Where are you from," he asked me.
I said, "I am from ESPN. Who are you with?"
I didn't see a credential on him, but he answered, "I am a freelancer ... just call me No-Neck."
I finally got on my bike and zoomed back to the apartment. I kept looking over my shoulder to see whether anyone was following me. But I didn't see anyone.
-- ESPN bureau producer Arty Berko
http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3521083&name=olympics&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fespn%2fblog%2findex%3fentryID%3d3521083%26name%3dolympics

Connections in Strange Places

Watching John McCain being held (and held, and held--see The Daily Show's July 29 clip on this to really feel it) by the Dalai Lama reminded me of long Sundays surrounded by Sicilian aunts who just won't let go. You want to be respectful, you certainly don't want to be punished for "acting out," but you just want to go out & play!
From the Huffington Post, here's Robert Thurman's take on the subject:
The Dalai Lama/Obama/McCain Connection
Posted July 30, 2008
I just had the huge pleasure of spending three days with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado, with old friends and luminaries in the Tibet world. A sand mandala (sacred celestial mansion diagram) of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of universal compassion, was created and dissolved. Juniper incense offerings were made, Tibetan music was played, and lively discussions were conducted both about the current crisis in Tibet and about the long-term prospects for the survival of Tibetan culture and identity.
His Holiness was his usual jolly and insightful self, though at moments one could sense the deep stress he feels due to the covert "cultural revolution" still being waged by the Chinese government against the Tibetan identity, which is so deeply rooted in Tibetan Buddhist culture. Tibetans are still being beaten, arrested, tortured, and killed for having voiced their wish for freedom and unimpeded spiritual reunion with their Lama teachers.
In the midst of it all last Friday, Senator and candidate John McCain met with the Dalai Lama and expressed his sympathy for the Tibetan people and solidarity with the nonviolent and moderate offer the Dalai Lama continues to make to the Chinese government. Later in the day, a letter came from Senator Barack Obama, expressing regret that his travel schedule prevented him from meeting and honoring His Holiness and pledging his support for the Tibetan cause in terms of regaining their human rights and religious freedom.
These good will gestures are heartening to all who desire peace and justice for Tibetans. Why did both candidates want to meet with the Dalai Lama? I find myself wishing that the candidates would read my new book, Why the Dalai Lama Matters, so that they can better understand the incredibly high stakes in this Tibetan liberation struggle. The China-West (especially US, EU, Russia, India, and Japan) relationship is the most important relationship for the entire 21rst century. China is one of the most ascendant nations of the coming era. We must all welcome its rightful importance. But the world will never tolerate another conquering superpower. [right on!, er, I mean, my bold] The European and Japanese empires have declined. The Russian and American "superpower" hegemonies are demonstrating their un-viability. The UN is still crippled by the five WW II victors' wielding their vetoes. So China, India, Brazil, the Muslim world, and the main African powers will inevitably emerge. For global survival, they must not repeat the mistakes of previous empires and superpowers, but turn to a new concept of power, the power of interconnectedness, peacefulness, dialogue, a global meshing of mutual enlightened self-interests.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-thurman/the-dalai-lamaobamamccain_b_115812.html

Challenge China on Human Rights

Join activists supporting human rights for Burma, Sri Lanka, Tibet, any and all nations under the thumb of China as the opening of the Bejing Olympics seeks to whitewash the horrors of China's dominance.

8.8.08 - A Day for Burma, Not Beijing
We are a month away from one of the most important dates in Burma’s history. August 8th marks the 20th anniversary of Burma’s largest national democratic uprising, when millions bravely marched through the streets, and nearly toppled the military regime if they had not been brutally massacred. It is also on the day that China, the #1 supporter of Burma’s military junta, will open the Beijing Olympics.
Please help us as we prepare for a Global Day of Actions for Burma - to honor those who have struggled for freedom in Burma and to demand China end its support for Burma’s dictators.
Learn More
Read about China’s support for Burma’s generals.
Read about what happened in 1988 in Burma.
Watch a video with director/producer Judd Apatow talking about the importance of 8.8.88
Watch a Video on why you shouldn’t watch the Olympics
China is the main supporter of the Burmese regime, and we are asking people to pledge to boycott those who profit from the Olympic Games. The goal is to get 1 million people to sign up - creating a loud international cry against the Chinese government. 8.8.08 is the 20th anniversary of the huge massacre of democracy activists in Burma during the 88 uprising, and has always been a solemn day for Burma. This is also the day that the Beijing Olympics will begin.
Pledge to Not Watch Today!
To get 1 million people signed up we will need a lot of help.
Join the Street Team
To find out more - Go Here

Washington DC -Challenge China
July 24th Rally

Download Flyer Here
In conjunction with PEARL (People for Equality and Relief in Lanka http://www.pearlaction.org/rally.php), we will be holding a rally opposing China’s military funding of the governments of Burma and Sri Lanka, which commit grave human rights violations against ethnic minorities.
When: July 24, 2008 at 12pm
Where: Senate Russell Park
Contact: Thelma Young thelma@uscampaignforburma.org

August 8 Events
New York City
UN Rally, 12 - 7pm

Where: Burma Consulate General and Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, United Nations
Contact: 88 Generation Students in Exile (88 GSE), National League for
Democracy, Liberated Areas, USA Branch (NLD-LA), Women on the Move for Burma (WOMB), and International Campaign for Burma - New York (ICB-NY)

Czech Republic - Prague

Contact: Burma Center Prague

Mongolians Demand Liberty, Police Murder Five

Well, are we supposed to believe this another CIA plot? Aren't Mongolians, like Tibetans and the Uyghurs simply demanding the same civil liberties we have here and shouldn't we be supporting them? Messers Parenti and Michel Chossudovsky would disagree, along with numerous China-is-ONE nuts who troll the internets. Shame on China for not listening to the people!

5 Killed in Riots After Mongolia Vote
By JIM YARDLEY
July 3, 2008
BEIJING — The president of Mongolia, Nambariin Enkhbayar, declared a national state of emergency on Tuesday after hundreds of people angered by election results rioted in the capital, Ulan Bator, leaving five people dead. Troops were patrolling the capital to enforce martial law, Mongolian state media reported.
Mongolia’s national news agency, Montsame, said 710 people were detained after groups of protesters, alleging fraud in last weekend’s national elections, clashed with the police. [my bold] Preliminary results of the elections gave a parliamentary majority to the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, the successor to the country’s Communist Party, which dominated the nation when it was a puppet of the Soviet Union. The opposition Democratic Party rejected the election results but disavowed the violence, Reuters reported.
Both political parties held closed meetings on Tuesday, and the Parliament was planning to hold a special session to address the crisis, the national news agency reported. “At this moment, the situation in the capital city is relatively normal,” the Ulan Bator police chief, Amarbold, said on state television, according to Reuters. “It is very peaceful compared to yesterday, but the troops need to stay on the street.”
[...] The UB Post, an English language newspaper in Ulan Bator, reported that 74 percent of the country’s 1.6 million eligible voters cast ballots in Sunday’s parliamentary races. [my bold] [Doesn't the fact that 74% of eligible voters turned out indicate a desire for change?] It also reported that the People’s Revolutionary Party had won at least half of the 76 legislative seats even as votes were still being counted. “Based on information we got through our primary units, we have won all mandates in nine provinces,” Yo Otgonbayar, secretary general of the party, told a news conference in Ulan Bator.
A 16-member team of international election observers confirmed the results of the race. Leaders of the Democratic Party disagreed with the preliminary results but also wanted to meet with the People’s Revolutionary Party to defuse the crisis.
“From the Sea of Japan to the eastern border of Europe, we are the only functioning democracy, and we have a duty to save it,” the Democratic Party leader, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, told Reuters. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/world/asia/03mongolia.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

For previous posts on ethnic struggles in China, please click on the tags below.

UK Site Sets Up Israeli Boycott

Unfortunately, the information below only applies to products sold in the United Kingdom. There are pages and pages of references and links to other sites, initiatives, educational sources, even a section providing a historical frame for the crises.
Keep an eye on the goods bar code:
Israel's country prefix is 729.
This website has been set up for two main purposes:
- To help people who want to boycott produce from Israel and illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, by providing sources of information about companies, products etc.
- To act as an educational resource... many people have not the foggiest idea of the war crimes, human rights abuses and flagrant breaches of international humanitarian law that are regularly committed by the Israeli Government and its armed forces (the IDF) in the what remains of Palestine. The many links on this page will lead you to valuable sources of information.
Lest there be any doubt on the subject, this site is not anti-Jewish. Many of the sites linked to on this page are run by Jews and/or Israeli citizens who are at the forefront of efforts to secure peace and justice in the Middle East. We are opposed to the Likud Government that is in power in Israel today, however we are not anti-Israel, on the contrary, we believe that it is only through the delivery of peace and justice for all citizens of the region that Israel can prosper in the long term.
As soon as Israel reaches a just peace with the Palestinian people within the framework of international law we will call an end to this boycott.
http://www.mylinkspage.com/israel.html
In fact, I've had my own ad hoc boycott going on for a while, but not regarding Israel. Whenever I start aimlessly browsing for things I probably don't need, I look at the label. If it says, Made in China, I say out loud--but not necessarily loudly, "Made in China," and put the object back. It's most effective if I keep my affect completely neutral. People haven't a clue what I'm doing or why, but they'll be thinking about it, especially next time there's a report about China and American debt.