Biography of Marcher: Ngawang Tendol

Ngawang Tendol, 38, is the daughter of Tibetan subsistence farmers in Maldol outside Lhasa. She “always wanted to be a nun” and so she joined the Nichung Nunnery in Lhasa. When the nunnery was destroyed by the Chinese, Ngawang solicited donations from local supporters and carried dirt and rocks to help the construction. It took 90 nuns over two years to rebuild it.

Ngawang did not know about Tibet’s political situation until she reached the nunnery because under Chinese occupation, her teachers and her parents were forbidden from mentioning it. She learned about Tibet’s independence as she saw her fellow nuns arrested for “agitation” after protesting against Chinese rule. They inspired her to protest in the name of religious freedom.

One year, at the beginning of April, Ngawang went to Norbulingka, the summer palace of the Dalai Lama, with seven other nuns. In the middle of a cultural dance, they started shouting “Free Tibet” and “China get out of Tibet.” Within two minutes, two police officers approached her, handcuffed her and led her to a waiting police jeep. They took her to Gutsa Detention Center in Lhasa, about which she said, “I wasn’t afraid. Just sad.”

As soon as she arrived at Gutsa with the other nuns, they got off the jeeps and all of the police started beating them. They spent the next several minutes being punched and kicked by the many officers while still being held in their handcuffs. Then they spent the next two hours with their hands on their heads as the police forced them to stare at the sun. Before any questioning, the officers separated the nuns in small groups for more calculated beatings. As she stood there, Ngawang could hear the others screaming in pain and felt very nervous. When her turn came, the police used thumbscrews to lock her arms behind her back and then hung her from a tree with ropes around her body. Two guards beat her with sticks until she was unconscious and woke her with a splash of cold water. Ngawang says, “I can never forget what happened that day. I will remember the whole scene.” (more…)

Tibetan Flags – Made In China!

Police in Guangdong have raided a factory making Tibetan flags to be sent overseas. Workers and factory owners said they didn't know what the flag meant they just thought it was a colourful flag.

The mistake was noticed when some of the workers saw pictures of the protests and recognised the flag. They raised the alarm with the local authorities who then raided the factory. Workers checked the meaning of the flag by searching for it online.

It is believed that many hundreds of flags made in the factory have already been shipped to Hong Kong and further.

Authorities in the area have increased control over peoples movement, they are searching vehicles heading to Hong Kong.

What have we learnt about China then? The 'Great Fire Wall' is cracking, if workers were able to look up the Tibetan flag and that the protests have been reported in mainland China. And that the CCP just loves to look stupid - so lets help them out!

Day 50 Update from the March

The marchers today reached Pakwara, Uttar Pradesh, about 9 kilometers before Moradabad. After dinner, they held a special prayer session for the Tibetans killed in the uprising in Tibet.

The marchers were happy to welcome 54 new people to the March. The group of new marchers reached the camp at 3am.

Student receives Death Threats over SFT Group

Mark Bonello is the president of the Tibet Society at Plymouth University, a part of the Students for a Free Tibet network. Mark had put up a hand made poster advertising volunteering opportunities with the group on his university campus, the poster included his phone number. Later that night Mark received a call from someone alleging to be his friend. After Mark asked who the caller was, the caller began to threaten him “Where do you live, I'm going to kill you”. Mark hung up on the caller and immediately phoned the police. The police are treating this as a serious matter and are investigating the case further.

“It was disturbing to receive a call like that, the language was pretty disgusting and they didn't just threaten me, they threatened my family. I am concerned to see that some Chinese people in the west are taking up the mantle of the Chinese government, using fear and intimidation to force their will” said Mark. “I don't believe that it is all Chinese students who feel this way, and I would like to open a dialogue with anyone interested to discuss the Tibetan situation” he added.

Earlier in the day Plymouth University Student's Union was stormed by 120 Chinese students who aggressively demanded that the Tibet group be immediately disbanded. Representatives of the union explained to the students that the group had existed for two years and that they had not broken the rules of the Union. The local police were alerted, though the students had dispersed by the time the police arrived.

The Union held a meeting last week with the president of the Chinese Society, representatives of Plymouth Student's Union and the local police, though Mark and other SFT representatives were not allowed into the meeting. There will be a second meeting this week to try to reolve the matter.

There have been other students who have received death threats over Tibet, around the world. A Chinese student in the USA who tried to negotiate between groups of Tibetan and Chinese students has had her picture posted on Chinese websites with the words 'Traitor to her country' written across her face. She has received death threats from Chinese students around the world and her parents, who live in China, have had to go into hiding in fear of their lives.

It Means What We Thought It Means

To paraphrase former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green, Beijing’s “One World, One Dream” slogan means what we thought it means. This picture, taken at a pro-China Olympic rally in Jakarta, makes clear that the choice phrase – approved by the I.O.C. and appearing on billboards worldwide – is meant to evoke the infamous One China policy of regional hegemony. One China is the whitewashing of Taiwan’s independence and the continued occupations of Tibet, East Turkestan, and Souther Mongolia. As a matter of geopolitics, it is controversial. As a slogan for the allegedly non-political Olympic Games, it is beyond unacceptable.

There may be many things that I.O.C. deserves to be ashamed of ahead of this phrase when it comes to the Beijing Olympics. But now, with complete clarity, we must add what should be a mere slogan to the list of disgracefully pro-Chinese actions the I.O.C. has signed off on in connection to this summer’s Games.