Protests in Tibet | Tibet Will Be Free

Brave monks thwart China again

Posted by Lhasa Rising on Mar 27, 2008 in Media Coverage, Multimedia, Press Coverage, Protests in Tibet | 1 comment

As China tried to rush a hand-selected group of foreign journalists on a carefully-scripted 3-day tour of Tibet, Beijing’s propaganda came crashing down thanks to the bravery of 30 Tibetan monks. What might happen to those monks now in prison is unthinkable, but their sacrifice has blasted away Beijing’s attempted facade of normalcy in Tibet.

Breaking news from the AP:

A group of monks disrupted a government-managed tour by foreign reporters to Tibet’s capital on Thursday, screaming there was no religious freedom and that the Dalai Lama was not to blame for recent violence there.

The outburst by about 30 monks came as the journalists, including an Associated Press reporter, were being shown around the sacred Jokhang Temple by government handlers in Lhasa.

“Tibet is not free! Tibet is not free!” yelled one young Buddhist monk, who then started crying.

They also said their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, had nothing to do with recent anti-government riots by Tibetans in Lhasa, where buildings were torched and looted, and ethnic Han Chinese were attacked.[...]

Government handlers shouted for the journalists to leave and tried to pull them away during the protest.

From Reuters:

“About 30 young monks burst into the official briefing, shouting: ‘Don’t believe them. They are tricking you. They are telling lies’,” USA Today reporter Callum MacLeod said by telephone from Lhasa.

Another reporter said some of the monks asserted that they had been unable to leave the Jokhang Temple since March 10.

From The Times (UK):

About 30 monks, speaking first in Tibetan and then in Mandarin Chinese so that the reporters could understand them, said they knew that they almost certainly faced arrest for their action but that they were willing to take the risk. [...]

The outburst of anger at the Jokhang temple is particularly unusual since the 120 or so monks who live there are among the most carefully watched and best cared-for of any Tibetan religious institution.

From the BBC:

The monks said they had not been allowed to leave the temple since the rioting. [...]

Later, the area around the Jokhang Temple was sealed off by riot police.

This is the Chinese government’s version of what happened:

More than a dozen lamas stormed into a briefing by a temple administrator to cause chaos.

China tried to bring these journalists on a carefully stage-managed tour of Tibet, in an attempt to counter the incredible negative publicity garnered by its brutal crackdown there. China’s propaganda effort backfired

These incredibly brave monks, who knew that they were risking torture and perhaps death, exposed China’s propaganda as a total farce.

I continue to be in awe of the incredible bravery of my fellow Tibetans in Tibet. These monks are true heroes.

SFT’s press release on this incident is below:

(more…)

New danger for Tibetan monks: starvation in besieged monasteries

Posted by Lhasa Rising on Mar 26, 2008 in Protests in Tibet | 0 comments

As the Chinese government continues its inhumane siege of major monasteries in and around Lhasa, a new danger is emerging for Tibetan monks: death by starvation.

Chinese military forces have surrounded the monasteries, cut off electricity, and are refusing to let Tibetans bring food and medicine to the monks.

The major monasteries of Sera, Drepung, and Ganden are cut off, and unconfirmed sources in Lhasa report near-starvation among the monks. Tibet.net, the website of the Tibetan government in exile, is reporting that at least one monk has starved to death at the smaller Ramoche Monastery in central Lhasa.

Because the Chinese government is refusing independent access to Tibet by journalists, aid agencies, or diplomats, these reports are impossible to confirm. They could be true, they could be exaggeration. We have no way of knowing right now. Of course, if the Chinese government had nothing to hide, it would allow access.

If these reports are true, China’s inhumane collective punishment against Tibet’s monks cannot be allowed to stand. This tactic is particularly barbaric, and yet historically appropriate for the Chinese Communist Party, which has a long history of massive collective punishment as a way of maintaining its control.

Does this sound like proper conduct for an Olympic host? Does this sound like proper conduct for any civilized country? Or does this sound like something out of the Middle Ages? We cannot jump to conclusions until the reports are confirmed. But they are troubling, to say the least.

(Click on this map for a larger image showing locations of the major monasteries in Lhasa)

Images of bravery in Tibet

Posted by Lhasa Rising on Mar 26, 2008 in Protests in Tibet | 0 comments

Monks of Rebkong monastery defying the Chinese authorities in Gardze town (Qinghai) by holding high a banned picture of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan National flag. The banner reads “Invite the Dalai Lama, Freedom Now”. This photo was taken on the 17th, March, 2008. (Copyright: Free Tibet Campaign)

Tibetans in Machu County protest against China /March 17 2008 (note poster of the Dalai Lama being carried aloft).

France and Belgium consider Olympic boycott over Tibet; pressure builds

Posted by Lhasa Rising on Mar 26, 2008 in Protests in Tibet | 1 comment

From the AP:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday that he cannot rule out the possibility he might boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics if China continues its crackdown in Tibet.

An official from France’s state television company said the broadcaster would likely boycott the games if coverage was censored, and the European Union urged China to show restraint as it tries to quell continuing unrest in its Tibetan areas.

Also from the AP, Belgium is not ruling out a boycott of the entire Olympics (some great arguments for a full boycott are here, from Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post):

The Belgian government was not ruling out a boycott of the Beijing Olympics if the situation in Tibet worsened. [...]

The sports minister of the northern Belgian region of Flanders said he will not attend the opening ceremony in Beijing, as it could be used for propaganda purposes.

And in the European Parliament, some members wore T-shirts with the five Olympic rings shaped as handcuffs during Wednesday’s session in Brussels. Some also had Tibetan flags draped over their seats. (see photo)

To recap other boycott news:

The Polish prime minister is boycotting the Olympic opening ceremonies.
Prince Charles declared that he would boycott the entire Beijing Olympics
Thai Olympic torchbearer Narisa Chakrabongse courageously withdrew in protest
An Australian torchbearer is considering withdrawing

And the killings in Tibet continue…

Posted by Lhasa Rising on Mar 25, 2008 in Protests in Tibet | Comments Off

The killings in Tibet continue. As usual, Tibetan protesters are massacred, and China’s state-run media tries to make China the victim (claiming a police officer was killed by the “lawless mob”).

This reminds me of how China once claimed no one was killed in Tiananmen Square, and then changed the story to how innocent soldiers were killed by those “counterrevolutionary” students.

From The Times:

Paramilitary police opened fire on hundreds of monks, nuns and Tibetans who tried to march on a local government office in western China yesterday to demand the return of the Dalai Lama.

Residents of Luhuo said that a monk and a farmer appeared to have been killed and about a dozen people wounded in the latest violence in Tibetan areas of China. Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, said that one officer was killed when police confronted a “lawless mob” in Luhuo.

The demonstration began at 4pm when about 200 nuns from Woge nunnery and a similar number of monks from Jueri monastery marched towards the Luhuo Third District government office. They were joined by several hundred farmers and nomads, witnesses said.

Shouting “Long Live the Dalai Lama” and “Tibet belongs to Tibetans”, they approached the office. The paramilitary People’s Armed Police appeared and ordered the crowd to turn back. Witnesses said that shots were fired and two people appeared to have died. They identified one as Congun Dengzhu, a farmer, and the second as an unknown monk.

Clearly, the message we are getting from Tibetans in Tibet is very consistent. One, they want His Holines the Dalai Lama back. Two, they want Tibetan independence. End of story.

What is really aggravating, however, is how the media is twisting the story of Tibetan violence on ethnic Chinese colonists. This is what The Times reported:

Security was already tight in Luhuo county, as in other Tibetan communities in China. The turmoil began with a riot in Lhasa on March 15, in which Chinese officials say 19 people were killed when Tibetans rampaged through the Tibetan capital, stabbing ethnic Han Chinese and setting fire to Chinese shops and offices.

We are not excusing violence committed by any party (we addressed this issue here). But The Times conflates a few days of violence in Lhasa with weeks of largely peaceful protests all over Tibet, following five decades of oppression and largely nonviolent resistance. The protests started on Monday, March 10, not the 15th as The Times reported. They were peaceful (at least from the Tibetan side — not from the Chinese soldiers) until that Friday. That day, the BBC revealed, there was a confrontation between unarmed monks and armed Chinese forces that set off the violence.

So let’s get some perspective here. Any oppressed people, after five decades of occupation, will rise up. Tibetans have been remarkably nonviolent, considering what the Chinese government has perpetrated on them. So if we want to talk about Tibetan violence on ethnic Chinese colonists in Lhasa over the course of a few days, fine. Let’s also talk about the overwhelming, state-sponsored violence perpetrated by the occupying Chinese forces.

And in any case, there’s no excuse to paint the whole uprising we are seeing all over Tibet to have been started by a violent “riot” in Lhasa. It is much more than that, and it does an incredible disservice to the brave Tibetans risking their lives to call for their county’s freedom.

China’s messed up priorities

Posted by Lhasa Rising on Mar 25, 2008 in Protests in Tibet | 1 comment

The BBC reports:

China has condemned a protest over Tibet at the Olympic torch lighting ceremony in Greece on Monday.

In the first reaction from Beijing, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said any attempt to disrupt the torch relay for the Olympic Games was shameful.

During the ceremony, campaigners broke through police lines and unfurled a Tibetan flag before being dragged away.

Meanwhile there are reports of more violence in and around Tibet, and the police are continuing to make arrests.

Let’s see, what’s more “shameful”? Protesters nonviolenly upholding human rights that are supposedly part of the Olympic spirit? Or the Olympic host country carrying out mass arrests and killings less than five months before the start of the Games?

It sounds like the Chinese government just doesn’t get it… or else it values Tibetan lives less than its international image.

Polish PM to boycott Olympic opening; pressure builds on China

Posted by Lhasa Rising on Mar 24, 2008 in Protests in Tibet | 3 comments

The Prime Minister of Poland, Mr. Donald Tusk, became the first head of government to declare that he is boycotting the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics because of China’s brutal crackdown in Tibet.

Instead, Mr. Tusk said he would meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama if he visits Poland on invitation from the Speaker of the Senate, saying it would be a “great honour” for him. You can see Prime Minister Tusk’s interview with Polish TV here on YouTube.

The Polish people, who know something about being occupied by foreign powers, should be proud.

Global pressure is mounting. Due to China’s brutality in Tibet, already:

The French Foreign Minister suggested that nations should boycott the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies
Prince Charles declared that he would boycott the entire Beijing Olympics
Thai Olympic torchbearer Narisa Chakrabongse courageously withdrew in protest

The criminal masterminds of China’s policy in Tibet

Posted by Lhasa Rising on Mar 24, 2008 in China, China Watch, Protests in Tibet | 0 comments

There are three shadowy Chinese officials tasked with their government’s merciless policy toward Tibet and the restive region of Xinjiang. One day, these three men will be high on the list of indicted criminals when there’s a trial under universal jurisdiction or perhaps (one can dream) in a future democratic China.

As Slobodan Milosevic could have attested (before he died alone in a cell in The Hague), the world just isn’t safe like it used to be for people responsible for crimes against humanity. Justice has a way of catching up…

The Times reports:

The real mastermind of Chinese policy towards the restive ethnic minorities is a 67-year-old lifetime communist functionary named Wang Lequan (bio here).

[...]on March 10 he gave away the extent of his responsibility by telling China Central Broadcasting: “No matter what nationality, no matter who it is, wreckers, separatists and terrorists will be smashed by us. There’s no doubt about that.”

His henchman, now applying the master’s methods in Tibet, is Zhang Qingli (bio here), the region’s sharp-tongued party secretary. Zhang is the man who called the Dalai Lama “a wolf in monk’s clothes, a devil with a human face”. [...] Zhang is on record as saying that “those who do not love the motherland are not qualified to be human beings”.

The third most influential figure is Li Dezhu, the party’s racial theoretician. [...]he unfolded a radical change in Chinese policy, stating that its aim was no longer to preserve minority cultures such as the Tibetans but to refashion them.

Nicholas Bequelin of Human Rights Watch says Li is the first leader explicitly to state that the problem of minorities would be “definitively solved” by mass Chinese migration.

This is not to let Preident Hu Jintao (bio here) off the hook either. In addition to being responsible for the current crackdown due to his command-responsibility role, Comrade Hu brutally implemented martial law in Tibet in 1989 as party secretary there.

Interestingly, both Comrade Hu and Comrade Zhang covered their tracks in an attempt to avoid criminal liability and responsibility for the massacres in Tibet. Maybe they are afraid of being brought to justice (not a bad idea: Slobodan Milosevic never thought he’d die alone in a cell in The Hague):

Mr. Hu actually made himself unavailable during the 1989 [Tibet] riots when the paramilitary police needed guidance on whether to crack down. The police did so and Mr. Hu got credit for keeping order, but he also assured himself deniability if the crackdown had failed, the biographer wrote.

Mr. Zhang also has an excuse; he was at the National People’s Congress in Beijing. [...] It is unclear when Mr. Zhang was told of the violence, or if he made the final decision on how to respond.