SFT in DC

Hey everyone! Elyna here.

I know that its been a while since I’ve posted an entry, but we’re all still recuperating from our trip to Washington, DC and the utter chaos that is Kalachakra 2011. Overall, it was a great, stressful, scorching hot success; thousands of people from all over the world came out in the DC heat to support SFT, Tibet, the Tibetan community, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

As a volunteer, I was able to attend some of the teachings. The earth ritual dance – contrary to what Tendor told me – was nothing like “The Lion King”. It was, however, incredibly beautiful. I found myself in sort of a trance as I sat through the dance; other parts of the dance inspired me to meditate. Many people were prostrating toward the mandala, and others I spotted were fast asleep. But despite the faint snoring coming from the upper levels of the Verizon Center, the arena was filled with peace and compassion.

This spirit of Kalachakra really translated into our “Free Tibetan Heroes” campaign. I spent most of the time standing next to three huge, 6-feet tall posters of Tibetan political prisoners, getting people psyched on signing petitions to set them free. My success probably had something to do with the silly vest I was wearing to gather donations.

Rungye Adak was the political prisoner I spent the most time gathering signatures for. In 2007, Adak openly announced at the Lithang Horse Racing Festival that Tibet will not be free unless HHDL returns home. He then proceeded to call for the release of the Panchen Lama and other Tibetan political prisoners. Just a few moments later, the Chinese government arrested him for attempting to “subvert state power”. Yeah, right. But with the notion that Tibetans inside Tibet are willing to risk their lives for freedom, we were able to obtain thousands of signatures for the release of Adak, and several other political prisoners, too. To learn more about Rungye Adak and other political prisoners inside Tibet, visit freetibetanheroes.org.

We’re all settling in the office now, getting back into the swing of things. Stef and TenDolkar are preparing for Action Camp in Germany, and there’s going to be a bunch of really awesome Lhakar Wednesday events coming up! Keep coming back to stay posted.

Take care!

~Elyna

 

A Colorful Day in Union Square

Hey readers! My name is Elyna. I’m interning at the SFT headquarters this summer. Just bringing you all up to speed with what we’ve been up to.

If you haven’t already heard of Lhakar (“White Wednesday”), it is a Tibetan-born, non-violent form of protest that promotes Tibetan culture. Every Wednesday – in honor of the Dalai Lama’s soul day – Tibetans make a special effort to, essentially, be Tibetan. This summer, Tenzin and I plan to do celebrate Lhakar by spreading awareness regarding the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

Last Wednesday afternoon, I was standing in the middle of Union Square wearing the Tibetan flag as a cape, and a sign around my neck, reading, “CHINA: STOP FORCING TIBETAN NOMADS OFF THEIR LAND”. It was most certainly not a familiar feeling for me. In fact, I don’t think it was for anyone who passed by me, either, considering how many funny looks I received from the countless New Yorkers passing by. Zaeda and Tenzin wore paper-constructed yak masks along with their flag-cloaks.

I wasn’t even aware of the nomad rights violations taking place in Tibet until the four of us starting researching about it. In 1998, Qi Jingfa, China’s Agriculture Vice Minister, announced “all herdsmen are expected to end the nomadic life by the end of the century”. That goal was not met, but the Chinese government is still doing what they can to force Tibetan nomads – who have lived nomadically for approximately 9,000 years – to settle.

We were able to collect 80 signatures in Union Square supporting Tibetan nomadic rights. Those signatures were signed on postcards, all of which are addressed to Ban Ki-moon, the current secretary general of the United Nations.

We’re planning on doing something a little more creative with the postcards than just simply mailing them, but that’s something we’ll keep you updated on. As far as our Lhakar Wednesday goes, I’d say it was pretty successful. After all, it’s always fun making friends with perfect strangers!

If you’re at all interested in learning more about what’s happening in the world of Tibetan nomads, visit http://nomadrights.org/ for more information.

For more information on Lhakar, visit http://lhakar.org/.

 

 

Tibetans speak out against mining in Gyama: Add your voice!

Meldro Gongkar is considered one of the most beautiful valleys in Tibet. In her short story, “A Killing Trip,” Tibet’s most famous poet Woeser writes about the melodious sound of the name “Meldro Gongkar,” and about its famous hot springs in Terdrom, not to mention its historic significance as the birthplace of Tibetan emperor Songtsen Gampo.

Today Meldro Gongkar valley, especially Gyama township, has been ravaged by mining operations that are now owned by China Gold International Resources, a Vancouver-based company partly owned by the Chinese state. The company’s executives are using Canada’s name, reputation, and money to steal copper and gold from Tibetans in Gyama (Ch: Jiama), near Lhasa, Tibet’s capital. Tibetans in Gyama are telling us that China Gold is polluting their rivers and ripping apart their ancestral grasslands.

Tibetans in Gyama sent a petition to Chinese authorities in 2009, a copy of which can be viewed on this page. Scroll down to read a summarized translation of the petition’s contents.

Students for a Free Tibet is calling for divestment from China Gold International Resources and their unconscionable mining project in Tibet. Join the protest and help deter shareholders as well as other Canadian corporations from doing unethical business in Tibet.

TAKE ACTION: We can help by showing global support for this divestment campaign.

1) Send a letter to the President and CEO of China Gold International Resources, Mr. Xin Song.

2) After you send a letter to the CEO, please pick up the phone and call China Gold’s headquarters at +1-604-609-0598 to convey your opposition to mining in Tibet. Helpful talking points are included below.

3) You can also take action by posting a comment on the company’s website here: http://www.chinagoldintl.com/s/SendMessage.asp

GYAMA’S SURVIVAL AT STAKE

As we petitioned many years ago, I would like to state again that in Meldro Gongkar county’s Gyama township, mining operations have shown utter disregard to the grasslands, forests, mountains, rivers, wildlife, environment, local people’s life and livelihood. The mining operations have caused great destruction to our farmlands, mountains and rivers. With factories that contaminated the water, killed many cattle and continues to cause severe damage, causing severe disputes between local Tibetans and Chinese factory workers.

In 2009, June 19th, Nyima Tsering, Passang, Phuntsok, Kalsang Dhondup and other local villagers went to the village and township authorities to appeal that the mining facilities are harming the farmers and damaging the farmland. They were told to go to the facility’s authorities, but they could not find the authorities. In the end the local villagers were so desperate that they blockaded the facility’s trucks to find the company authorities.

A company leader of work unit 18 shouted, “Kill some of the farmers, the price of their life is cheap, so I will pay for it.” Immediately some Chinese factory workers brought sticks and metal beams and started severely beating Nyima Tsering, Passang, Phuntsok and Kalsang Dhondup. The local villagers and Meldro Gongkar county’s policeman Jampa witnessed that Passang and Lobsang were most critically injured. The local people understand that some leaders in the Gyama township’s government are guilty of corruption and embezzlement, receiving bribes from the company.

The mining company’s leaders made some people collaborate with them in their sinister plot to deceive the nation and terrorize the public to achieve their own selfish interests. Following this incident, instead of helping 20 of the beating victims including Phudup, Penchung, Tenzin Dawa, the authorities detained and jailed them for up to a month. Further due to the mining operations, the local population of 4,000 Tibetans in Gyama have been turned into an insignificant and voiceless minority by the nearly 10,000 Chinese miners who have arrived in Gyama only because of the mining operations.

Due to all the problems created for us through the mining operation’s devastation of the rivers and the land and the communal disputes, the villagers finally gathered in front of the facility and protested against the mining authorities. This is how desperate we became.

Tashi Rabten’s sentence, and his poetry

The Chinese government has sentenced Tashi Rabten to a 4-year prison term, following a closed-door trial. His crime? Writing poetry and being the editor of a literary magazine known as “Shar Dungri” (Eastern Snow Mountain). Below are some poems by Tashi Rabten (pen name: Theurang) published in his book “Written in Blood,” translated from the Tibetan by Bhuchung D. Sonam.

My Tibet
 
Is it you, the flame that burns in the middle of a storm?
Is it you, the boat that rocks in the sea?
Is it also you, who offers the torch of life in the darkness of night?
 
Is it you, where there is no freedom?
Is it also you, who is chained and shackled?
Is it you, who writes history in blood?
 
Are you a warrior?
Where are your battlefield and the weapons?
Are you a prisoner?
What crimes have you committed?
 
Is it your sky that the sun shies away from?
Is it your vow to let yourself be silent?
Are these your border guards, the long guns surrounding you?
 
Freedom is different from restrictions
Because of which you move,
Because of which they tie and bind you, isn’t it?
 
Isn’t it you who is being murdered?
Isn’t it you who is being arrested?
Isn’t it you who is being tortured?
Why is it that you still want to move?
Do you want to move amidst shadows of guns?
 
No.
 
Isn’t it you who can never be cowed down?
Isn’t it you who fiercely burns with passion?
Isn’t it you who marches ahead into history?
 
Don’t you need to move even more?
Don’t you need to move till the time runs out and the life ends?
 
 
Lhasa-Gormo Railway
 
This is a road
A recently-completed road
A road that is well traveled
A road of rock mixed with steel, men with demons
A road connecting Beijing and Lhasa
 
Holy Lhasa is at one end of the road having old dreams
At the other end is Beijing, reading an incomplete plan of action
Between Lhasa and Beijing, this road
Runs like a tongue of a poisonous snake
 
On this road
The life-soul of Lhasa and its wealth
Is being transported, day and night
Nearby this road
Are terrified wild animals of Tibet
Running, running, dying, dying
 
This road, like the butcher’s knife,
Drills through the hearts of the mountains
This road, like an axe in the robber’s hand,
Cuts across the chest of Tibet’s grassland
 
On this road they come, the guests with greedy minds
On this road they run away with the hosts’ wealth
At the end of this road are the satisfied faces of the bosses in Beijing
At the other end are dusty faces of the people of Lhasa
 
In the night this road kills my quiet dreams and my sleep
In the daytime it murders my thoughts and drives me restless
Every so often this road boils my heart with anger
 
Suddenly I Remembered Lhasa
 
The sound and the vibration of the train
Suddenly shakes the computer
And the fingers do not have control over the words
 
At such times I suddenly, suddenly
At the end of the railway track
With a moving train
I remember Lhasa
The statues and butter lamps of Tsuglakhang
The golden roofs of the Potala Palace
Even the faces of the old women on the road
Flashes like the computer facing me
Anyone remembers them
With sounds of trains coming and going
 
Ah how remembering Lhasa suddenly
Is like remembering to get up
And shout out in freedom.
 
 
A Secret Petition to the Government Penned in a Computer
 
One dead body, ten dead bodies, one hundred dead bodies, one thousand dead bodies
One news, ten news, one hundred news, one thousand news
truth – 0, false – 9, truth – 20, false – 900
Red hands that take out the innards
If you are not on our side punish us
Black boots that crush heads
If you don’t understand then just imprison
 
freedom, harmony, equality, democracy
open the door, open the constitution and look inside
freedom? harmony? equality? democracy?
 
My government, if you suspect that your faces will burn with brightness
Accuse me of everything and punish me
Because I am your citizen,
Like a bird that flocks to the cliffs
I am a loyal citizen who will say ‘yes’ to everything you say.
 
Monologue In Hell
 
First
Today, if the radiant hands scratch the face of darkness
Tomorrow, will the world of dawn lift from amidst the darkness
 
Two
If a few ready-to-gallop horses
Went missing along with their saddles and reins
Is there any horse owner who is ready to point at the thief?
 
Three
If a well-planned wolf jumps onto the shepherd’s dog
The unarmed shepherd, of course, can loudly shout out everywhere
 
Four
Don’t lie when the ears are listening to the truth
When the able eyes are watching do not create disharmony
The people are watching you, even the natural world is sighing at you
 
Fifth
Even though I do not own the five physical senses
And the five meanings and six vessels are stolen
I permanently own the five pure visions of the senses
 
Sixth
Long live freedom, long live nationality
Long live truth, love live democracy
Long live the blood that runs in my veins
Long live! Long live!
 

Prisoner in Hell
 
Hell is a fortress made from iron and steel
A doorless fortress of shackles and handcuffs
 
Freedom-loving people are the prisoners of this fortress
Or they are criminals seeing the darkness of the hell
These people have fallen to the darkness of hell wanting to see freedom
 
They are the ones who blew vapour from their mouths outside the door
They are the ones who raised their fists up in the air
 
However, according to the decree from the hell
Each of them are considered criminals in prison shackled and handcuffed
The crime they are accused of is ‘love for freedom’
 
Mother says amongst the prisoners is
A very young kid brother of mine
The youngest prisoner in the world
 
If the crime that this kid has committed is not made
When he was piling stones to play with
Then this kid is truly an innocent kid
 
Freedom, equality, democracy, livelihood
One prisoner, two prisoners, three prisoners, four prisoners
 
Hell is really a hell
Freedom, equality, democracy, livelihood
Will there come a time when everyone will be free from the fortress of hell
 
 
News from Hell
 
Because of intense cold wind in hell
Those in hell experience disturbance in the temperature
Many in hell suffer from diseases
 
Yet, the news from hell is always fine and good
 
The news from hell is a newspaper
A newspaper that has lost the word ‘democracy’
A newspaper filled with secret numbers and —
 
Under the volatile weather of the hell
The hell’s news comes as a medical prescription to those who are suffering from cold
Prescription that charges money but gives no medicine
A prescription with stamp of approval from the authorities
 
News from the hell is contagious
That is transmitted through people’s mouths and ears
Those who suffer from this disease are servants in the hell 
 
The hell is basically a sick person carrying his shit in his pants
Isn’t the newspaper in hell that paper which one uses to wipe one’s bottom?

SFT & TYC join Tiananmen Commemoration event in NYC

Today was the 22nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre that shocked the world. The gathering in New York was a modest affair, held at the Dag Hammerskjold Plaza, but an important one. It was great to see several Chinese people and many supporters in attendance, and a few dozen Tibetans in the mix too, waving the colorful Tibetan flags.

Speakers included well known democracy activists along with others who have taken part in the 1989 protests in Beijing. Fang Zheng and Xu Liping are people who survived Tiananmen but not without losing their limbs and their family. Both were in attendance today, and spoke movingly about their experiences. Both SFT and Tibetan Youth Congress were there to represent Tibetan support for the Chinese democracy movement.

Today Beijing remains the single-biggest enemy of freedom worldwide. From Tibet to East Turkestan to Southern Mongolia, from Burma to Sudan to North Korea, China’s top export is not shoes or electronics but oppression! Appeasement of Beijing raises the global freedom deficit. So it’s indeed everyone’s business to root for Chinese democracy.

"The Embarrasing State of Modern Tibetan Art" By Kaka21

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by a Tibetan artist who calls himself Kaka21. The blogpost was uploaded onto his blog on November 13, 2010. Born in 1971 in Lhasa, Kaka21 had his work exhibited in last year's major modern Tibetan art exhibition in Beijing called "Scorching Sun of Tibet", see some photos of his works here on Woeser's blog.

Whilst modern Tibetan art may be becoming more visible on the international market, it is still fairly rare to find critical commentaries on modern Tibetan art written by Tibetans. Last year's commentary piece on "Scorching Sun of Tibet" by Woeser was a very popular post on High Peaks Pure Earth and below, Kaka21 offers a rather different perspective on modern Tibetan art. For readers interested in seeing more art, visit the Sweet Tea House website or Mechak Center for Contemporary Tibetan Art.



A few years ago, in a coffee shop in Lhasa I accidentally bumped into two members of the Tibetan artistic community. We instantly recognised each other, having encountered one another before in the past and so began to discuss the topic of art. I don’t know why, but I have always loved asking questions, testing my own ability to examine and understand things from a different artistic perspective. Perhaps it was because I asked too many questions, but soon enough the two Tibetan artists seemed to grow distant, simply agreeing with everything that I asked with a “Yes, yes... of course!” After a while, we all eventually drifted into silence, and the discussion stopped.

“We don’t need to spend ages thinking about how to paint a painting or finish a piece of art. All you need to do is to pick up a pencil and draw, that is modern art.” This is what they ultimately summarised as their creative motivation. I think that maybe “unconscious art” should be a sub-category of Tibetan modern art, or to put it in another way, works of art which are “intellectually simplistic”. This kind of art has only value in terms of its form, as there has been no thinking behind it. When looking at a particular style of art, it is vital to take into consideration the culture, environment and society that shape it because ultimately, what is art but a reflection of this? Especially when considering modern Tibetan art, I think it is something that we modern artists need to carefully investigate and analyse. On countless occasions, when discussing ideas with other artists, even though we all respect one another immensely, we always end up talking about things in such a cynical, joking way.

I believe that modern artists have a different set of values when judging the past and present, the modern and the traditional. The question is how can we determine modern values, when we don’t even understand traditional values? Is there even a correct system of evaluation with which to improve your creativity? In terms of artistic creativity, to blindly go against something has no merit or future, and does not allow room for progression. For modern Tibetan art, religion is a way for us to express the importance of our unique heritage and background. A lot of work nowadays is based upon the modern interpretation of religion. However, in these works, the presence of a religious element always appears to be distant and hidden to the audience, as if mourning the loss of a beautiful but fading scenery, helpless to stop it. At the same time, in many of these works modernity and its markings are always portrayed as being in opposition to this beautiful scenery, instrumental in bringing about its demise. Are we condemning modern society for its advances, or ashamed of our own incompetence? Maybe it is both. If people take religion to be the most defining part of their lives, then  its power and greatness is as strong nowadays as it has ever been, and we should not take such a lamenting, defeatist approach towards it. Religion’s real demise will only happen if it is fading within the hearts of the people. I remember an article in a magazine introducing modern Tibetan art, that once said “In our works, the Buddha will always be the symbol for life’s emotions.” From what I understand of religion, especially Buddhism in particular, the Buddha transcended our kind of human suffering, so this kind of artistic symbolism is not really applicable to the situation. Suffering is something which affects everyone’s lives, is it not possible for us to just face the reality of the situation and address it head on?

It is impossible to try and remove religion from Tibetan life and culture, yet presently, the modern Tibetan society that artists are trying to portray is also changing day by day. Tibetan culture is evolving, and the changing attitudes towards religion have become a main point of contention for many artists. Because the majority of modern Tibetan artists take religion as their main inspiration, the current crisis in belief within society has meant that consequently, the state of the art scene is also becoming rather problematic. Modern artworks are beginning to take on a rather embarrassing creative direction. Religious belief should not be just concerned with celebrating the beautiful and sublime; it is also about being ignorant and ignorance, fear, the strange and the uncanny. For such an ancient civilisation such as Tibet, we already bear so many countless examples of beautiful treasures and art, created and inspired by the unwavering beliefs of those before us. So much art nowadays has just become fickle, impatient and unfocused. We cannot deny or try to hide the fact that the modern age has shaped and forced our creativity and art into this manner, and left us with no other choice. On September 10, 2010 there was an exhibition of modern Tibetan art in Beijing entitled “Scorching Sun of Tibet”, which was received extremely well, with many people confessing that it “exceeded all expectations”. I think many people would have been surprised to find that when those artists who had been silent for so long, finally let their voices be heard, the things they had to say was actually quite informed and progressive. In addition, there have been two more exhibitions in Beijing related to Tibetan art, one called “Big and Beautiful Tibet” and another “Fascinating Tibet”. From “Beautiful” to “Fascinating” to “Scorching”, all these exhibitions seem to represent a kind of Tibet that has been negotiated and interpreted through art and creative process. However, we should pay more attention to what the purpose of these exhibitions are, and how others are engaging with them.

We still need to observe and take note of the many unique qualities of the Tibetan modern art community. There are two communities in Tibetan art; one which is involved with the Chinese Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC), and the other, an autonomous and independent collective, made up of artists such as the Gedun Choephel Artists' Guild, in spaces such as the the Melong Modern Art Space. The latter represent a much more organic and spontaneous representation of the Tibetan art community. All these communities have their own ways and characteristics, and artistic differences. From my experience of Tibetan culture, I can feel the multicultural conflict between the art, social environment and the freedom of artistic expression. This conflict and collision shows us in a visible or invisible manner, modern art in the context of frustration and helplessness.

The story China wants to kill

First they killed Kelsang Namtso, then they tried to kill the story.

In September 2006, Chinese border patrol fired at a group of Tibetan refugees escaping over the Himalayas into the uncertain exile of Nepal. One of the bullets hit 17-year-old nun Kelsang Namtso, who bled to death in the snow. The story would have died, like many other stories of Tibetans who never make it to freedom, in the Himalayan darkness had it not been for a Romanian climber with a camera who caught everything on tape.

Dolma Paklyi, survivor of the Nangpa la atrocity and Kelsang Namtso’s best friend, eventually made it to Nepal and then to India. She carried the story with her, and in a way, gave life to the memory of Kelsang Namtso.

“Murder in the High Himalaya” by Jonathan Green is the story of Dolma and Kelsang’s friendship, their journey to freedom, their sacrifice and solidarity, and their hopes and dreams. Here is a trailer about the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5EBDZU8uuo&feature=share.

This book is finally coming out in paperback. I highly encourage everyone to buy the paperback at Amazon, or in Barnes & Nobles or any other major book stores. Let’s help bring the Nangpa la story to life. This is the only way to bring justice, if it’s ever possible, to Kelsang Namtso.

Do Tibetans Benefit from “Comfortable Housing”? By Woeser

Photo taken in July 2007 in Yushu, Qinghai Province. Under construction is the village for "ecological migrants" but should be called a "new urban slum".

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on May 4, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on May 9, 2011.

This blogpost follows on from the recent blogpost "Is Migration to Tibet Unrelated to Government Policies?" that critiqued a report based on the visit of a delegation of representatives of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee to Central Tibet and Amdo in September 2010.

The full text of the report is available on the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration: http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php?id=2213&articletype=flash&rmenuid=morenews&tab=1 

For more information on the policy of "Comfortable Housing", see this 2007 report by Human Rights Watch titled “No One Has the Liberty to Refuse”.

Photo taken in August 2008 in Rebkong, Amdo. Photo shows "Comfortable Housing".

Photo taken in August 2007, in a village for "ecological migrants" in Gormo, Qinghai. Photo shows their simple temple.

In the report based on the visit of a delegation of representatives of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, there is one more conclusion which is worth discussing; the report claims that Tibetans benefit from “Comfortable Housing”. “Members of the delegation were able to confirm both the extent of this massive housing initiative, and the generally appreciative Tibetan attitude about it”.

This so-called “Comfortable Housing”, together with “Ecological Migration” and the “Settlement of Nomadic People” in Amdo and Kham areas, belongs to what the government calls “guiding farmers and herdsmen towards a more modern and civilised lifestyle”. The Autonomous Region’s top-level official, Zhang Qingli, said that “this is our struggle with the Dalai clique over taking the initiative to provide basic living conditions” and praised “the Communist Party as the real Living Buddha of the common people”.

Perhaps neither the Chinese nor the American sides have been aware of the fact that the U-Tsang farmers who moved from their old huts built from debris into “Comfortable Housing” came up with a name for their new homes: “Palkhar Lodroe Khangsar” - “Palkhar” means white forehead, which is a metaphor for bad luck; if, for example, both one’s parents die at a very young age, one can say one has “Palko kharpo charsha”, meaning that one’s forehead has gone white. “Lodroe” refers to cow lungs and intestines, which in the past would only be eaten by the lowest class of people; it is a metaphor for a vulgar and poverty-stricken lifestyle. Finally, “Khangsar” means new house - from these names created on the basis of traditional customs, we can see that farmers by no means approve of “Comfortable Housing”. Yet, what can disapproval really do? These are all integration measures taken by the government, one has no choice but to accept it.

People from Kham call “Comfortable Housing”, “Lagyag Khangba”, which means “hand-raising housing”. There is a whole series of “Lagyag” sayings; for instance “hand-raising solar stove”, “hand-raising tent” etc. “Hand Raising” simply means “to agree”. Only if one agrees, one will be given certain things; but the question is, what does one have to agree to? In line with the Party’s political principles of the “politics on command” and “maintaining stability is the top priority”, the first thing someone from the Autonomous Region when going through the civil servant examination has to attest is that one is “against separatism” and that one “criticises the Dalai”. When herdsmen move into “Comfortable Housing”, they have to raise their hands in approval and express that they are “against the Dalai clique” and that they “thank the Party”.

To build these housing compounds for herdsmen, during the first stage, the government provides ten thousand RMB and the people have to ask for a loan of ten thousand RMB, without any exceptions made to the single-storeyed Tibetan clay wall houses. In the second stage, the government provides ten thousand RMB and the herdsmen have to pay back an installment of ten thousand RMB, plus take out an additional loan of thirty thousand RMB, without any exceptions made to the red-tiled Han-style concrete blocks. And all houses have to be decorated with five-starred red flags, if not, they will be denounced. A local cadre said to me: “If one was really concerned about the needs of the herdsmen, instead of focusing on each village, the ‘settlements’ would be built somewhere near to where the nomads dwell during winter, this would actually help them. We know that the government is trying to use economic incentives as enticements. This is a grand idea but it does not really gain the approval of local herdsmen”.

In the vast Tibetan territory, “Comfortable Housing” in different areas has different emphases; the most terrible, however, is the method of “ecological migration”. Not long ago, the government “vigorously implemented a large-scale five year plan fostering the settlement of nomadic people from Qinghai Province, leading to fifty three thousand people leaving behind once and for all their nomadic lifestyles.” The main reason given was the degeneration of the grasslands caused by too much grazing. However, in reality, decades of continuous mining has been the main cause of destruction. I have seen some photos taken in the mid-1980s showing vast amounts of migrants from the outside who, like ants, crowded on the Matoe grasslands frantically digging for gold; today, this area has already become infertile. Another area of grasslands in Serthar, which is commonly referred to as the “swift golden horse”, has been exposed to mining for an entire ten years. Today, there is no gold left and people start to “return home”. But the area will never recover again.

Along with the disappearing of grassland areas and mineral resources such as gold, we also witness the erasure of traditional Tibetan culture and lifestyles. I will never forget the conversation I had with a few Khampa men in the new “ecological migrants” village, situated in the suburbs of Gormo in Qinghai Province, which is home to over 300 households. I asked them whether they liked it here or whether they preferred their home land? They said that of course they preferred their home land, since here there did not exist a single blade of grass and with any wisp of wind, there would be sandstorms. I also asked: when you moved here, did your Mountain Deity move with you? They lowered their heads and said: how is that possible? We had to abandon our Mountain Deity; and we also abandoned all our cattle and sheep...

Beijing, May 4, 2011