Many of us who have traveled to Tibet throughout the years have passed through Chengdu along the way, often staying at the famous Sam’s Guesthouse or one of the other well-known pit stops before flying to Lhasa. While definitely sharing some of the less than favourable aesthetic traits of rapidly growing Chinese cities, Chengdu does have a certain charm and beauty that peeks through, not to mention some excellent cuisine. There is also a large Tibetan Quarter in Chengdu.
For a few moments, we can put politics aside and hope for better times for our Tibetan and Chinese brothers and sisters who have died or lost love ones during this recent earthquake.
Early Wednesday, Beijing time, a spokesman for China’s Olympic Committee issued an ominous threat: “The command centre has given its order for the final assault tomorrow.” He was referring to China’s climbing team that took the Olympic torch to the summit of Mt. Everest early Thursday. But never before has the mountaineering term ‘assault’ been used more appropriately. China’s assault on Mount Everest – sacred Mount Chomolungma to Tibetans – is in fact an assault on Tibet and the Tibetan people, not to mention the Olympic ideals.
Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, will
be on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos on Thursday, May 8 at 11
p.m. on CBC.
The interview also can be viewed online after it airs at
http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=2112
I knew there was a reason they are my favorite band of all time and forever!
“Radiohead used the opening show of their world tour last night (May 5th) to send an obvious message about China’s political and humanitarian actions in Tibet. The stage for the band’s show at the Cruzan Amphitheatre in Florida was decorated with two Tibetan flags.”
Apparently the International Olympic Committee is so afraid that some of the world’s top athletes may, after winning gold, silver, or bronze in their events, take the opportunity to express their views on China’s military occupation of Tibet. As such, the IOC has decided to specifically ban such displays now, in advance of the Games […]
W.G. Huang has a very interesting, thoughtful op-ed in the Chicago Tribune. Titled “Without Rights, Pride Is Empty,” Huang confronts Chinese nationalism in the absence of rights for protest and dissent.
Demonstrations by human-rights activists and pro-Tibetan groups outraged the Chinese government. In response, the news media controlled by the Beijing regime stirred up a nationalist […]
MountEverest.net is an amazing site that aggregates all the climbing news of the Himalaya region. With one of the many olympic torches at the Northside (Tibetan side that is!) basecamp, the site is abuzz with updates and news from the area… well, at least what news can get out, due to a basically complete blackout […]
Two members of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) were barred from entering Hong Kong today, the same day that 17 Tibetans were sentenced in Lhasa to between three years and life in prison in connection to the March protests against China’s occupation of Tibet. The two Canadians deported from Hong Kong, Tsering Lama, 24, from Toronto, and Kate Woznow, 27, from New York, were detained and questioned for three hours upon their respective arrivals at Hong Kong International airport. The activists had planned to hold a press conference in Hong Kong to coincide with the Olympic torch run through the city on May 2nd.
Author Mikel Dunham has posted a dramatic account of a Tibetan refugee in Mongolia on his blog. His brother was murdered during the Chinese crackdown inside Tibet and when he spoke out, he himself became a target of Mongolian and Chinese government searches. He is currently in hiding in Mongolia and greatly fears for his […]
China’s Olympic torch faced a new wave of creative and media catching protests upon it’s arrival in Australia. Overnight the words “Don’t Torch Tibet” were beamed onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge, a national landmark, and this morning two Tibet activists were arrested for attempting to unfurl a banner on the bridge.
Click here to view […]
