Tibet in the media on March 10th
A Snapshot of March 10th media coverage from around the world:
Nepal – Tibetan activists protest in Kathmandu (Demotix)
View powerful photos of Tibetans protesting in Kathmandu on March 10th despite severe police crackdown:
London – Reuters footage of March 6th March for Tibet
Watch the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTM3-E60HHg
San Francisco – KTVU including quote SFT’s Yangchen Lhamo:
24-year-old Yangchen Lhamo said Tibetans have been using the internet, text messages and blogs to organize quickly and efficiently to call attention to their cause.
“We’re seeing the younger generation of Tibetans is carrying the Tibetan movement forward and taking it to new levels with creative nonviolent tactics,” said Lhamo.
Watch the video: http://www.ktvu.com/bartshooting/22805457/detail.html
New Mexico – Albuquerque Journal
Kalsang Lungtok carries a photo of the Dalai Lama as he and around 50 others march to the State Capitol on Wednesday March 10, 2010, to commemorate the 51st anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising against Chinese occupation.
(Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
New York – Free Tibet Takes on Union Square (NYU News)
Tibetan nun Ngawang Sangdrol said she was imprisoned for 11 years for shouting “Free Tibet” during a protest and secretly recording Tibetan music.
“I know from personal experience, it is very helpful when free people lead a free nation to put pressure on the Chinese government,” she said. “It makes a very big difference.”
Read the full article here with quotes from Lhadon Tethong, Director of Tibet Action Institute and Tenzin Yangsel, SFT Bard College: http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/article.php?id=2164
Taipei, Taiwan – Tibetans Rally in Taipei for Uprising Anniversary
Read full article here: http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_asia/2010-03-15/125517626081.html
Press Release: Global Demonstrations Mark Tibetan Uprising Day; New Resistance Movement Takes Root In Tibet Despite Continued Repression
STUDENTS FOR A FREE TIBET
For Immediate Release:
March 10th, 2010
Contact: Tenzin Dorjee, +1 646-724-0748
Kate Woznow, +1 917-601-0069
GLOBAL DEMONSTRATIONS MARK TIBETAN UPRISING DAY; NEW RESISTANCE MOVEMENT TAKES ROOT IN TIBET DESPITE CONTINUED REPRESSION
New York – Thousands of Tibetans and Tibet supporters in dozens of countries will take to the streets today, March 10th, to commemorate the 51st anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day and to show solidarity with a new nonviolent resistance movement gaining momentum in Tibet. Today also marks two years since monks began protest marches in Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, that sparked the largest uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet since 1959. Chinese security forces are now a permanent presence in Tibetan towns and villages and a new “Strike Hard” campaign was launched in Lhasa in advance of this sensitive anniversary with hundreds of Tibetans being interrogated and harassed in recent days.
Tibetans and Tibet supporters in at least 100 cities worldwide, including in the USA, Belgium, Poland, UK, France, Germany, India, Australia, and Taiwan are marking the historic day fifty-one years ago – when Tibetans rose against Chinese rule – with protests, marches, candle light vigils, and government lobbying initiatives. In response to a new “I am Tibetan” campaign originating from Tibet, Tibetans in exile will also be recording messages of support dedicated to Tibetans living inside Tibet as part of their Tibetan National Uprising Day activities (1).
“In spite of China’s repression, there is a powerful new movement being led by the young generation inside Tibet. They are using creative, non-violent tactics to empower themselves and their communities and to challenge Chinese rule,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “March 10th is a day for Tibetans everywhere to be proud of being Tibetan – proud of our ancestors who died protecting our homeland, proud of our brothers and sisters inside Tibet who continue to resist Chinese oppression, and proud of the new generation of Tibetans who are raising the flag of Tibetan freedom around the world.”
China has heightened security in Tibet in advance of today’s anniversary with journalists and most foreigners effectively barred from the region. Tibet advocates have also noted increased efforts by the Chinese government to silence international support for Tibet in recent days. Tibetan refugees have been preemptively arrested in Nepal, and in the United States, Chinese officials have attempted without success to pressure municipal governments to revoke annual proclamations of support for Tibet.
“As the Chinese government continues its brutal repression inside Tibet, we call on leaders of free countries to take new, bold and coordinated approaches to help secure a just and fair resolution for the Tibetan people,” said Kate Woznow, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet.”
Note to editors
(1) Examples of the “I am Tibetan” movement include a homemade video from eastern Tibet posted to YouTube in late December, 2009 titled “I am Tibetan” as well as poems and a hip hop music video posted online by Tibetans that have been translated here: http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/03/new-generation-hip-hop-music-video-from.html and here: http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/02/i-am-tibetan-by-woeser.html
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Video & Photos from Rebkong (Amdo) HHDL Obama Celebration
From Reuters:
Buddhist monks in Tongren, an overwhelmingly ethnic Tibetan part of northwestern Qinghai province, said they were celebrating the meeting in Washington, which is going ahead despite warnings from Beijing that Obama’s act will hurt Sino-U.S. ties.
Tensions with Washington have already risen over issues ranging from trade and currencies to a U.S. plan to sell $6.4 billion of weapons to self-ruled Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province.
The midnight display of fireworks along a valley dotted with Tibetan Buddhist monasteries was a bold and noisy reminder that, in spite of Chinese condemnation of the Dalai Lama, he remains a potent figure in his homeland, and his meeting with Obama will be noticed here by both supporters and opponents.
“My heart is filled with joy,” said Johkang, showing off an enormous smile, standing at his monastery in this arid and mountainous part of the Qinghai province, which lies next to the official Tibet Autonomous Region.
“It is so important for us that this is happening, that the U.S. has not given in to threats and will meet our leader,” added the monk, who like many ethnic Tibetans goes only by one name.
Qinghai, called Amdo by Tibetans, is where the Dalai Lama was born in 1935. He fled into exile from Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, and since then has campaigned for self-rule for Tibetans. China brands him a separatist.
Media Round Up: Dalai Lama “Very Happy” With Obama Meeting
The Independent quotes SFT’s Executive Director Tenzin Dorjee:
“As the leader of the free world, President Obama is uniquely positioned to help broker a negotiated resolution that will give the Tibetan people the freedom they long for and deserve,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director
of Students for a Free Tibet: http://is.gd/8GMkN
The White House has released this great photo of this morning’s meeting between the two Nobel Peace laureates. View the photos and read CBS’s coverage of the meeting here: http://is.gd/8FVfx
SKY News has also posted a video of His Holiness applauding the United State for upholding universal moral values: “Since my childhood I always admire America – not economy but mainly as a champion of Democracy, freedom, human value, human creativity: http://is.gd/8G2eH
More celebrations reported in Tibet by Phayul.com: Thousands rejoice in Tibet as Obama meets Dalai Lama
CNN poll: nearly 75% of Americans think “Tibet should be independent”
A new poll released this morning shows that support for Tibetan independence is a mainstream position in the United States.
Nearly three-quarters of all Americans think Tibet should be an independent country, according to a new national poll.
Read the full article here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/18/tibet.poll/
Tibetans Welcome Meeting Between Dalai Lama and President Obama with Calls for Bold New Approach to Help Broker Tibet Resolution
STUDENTS FOR A FREE TIBET
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 18th, 2010
Contact: Tenzin Dorjee (in Washington, D.C.), +1 646-724-0748
Kate Woznow (in New York), +1 917-601-0069
TIBETANS WELCOME MEETING BETWEEN DALAI LAMA AND PRESIDENT OBAMA WITH CALLS FOR BOLD NEW APPROACH TO HELP BROKER TIBET RESOLUTION
Washington, D.C. – Tibetans and their supporters welcome the historic meeting between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and President Obama at the White House today with a festive gathering in Lafayette Square Park (across from the White House) from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Sources in Tibet are also reporting firework celebrations and other celebratory gestures, despite the overwhelming Chinese military presence in the region. Tibetans worldwide call on President Obama to adopt a bold new approach to help broker a just and lasting resolution for the Tibetan people who have suffered for decades under China’s brutal occupation.”
“As the leader of the free world, President Obama is uniquely positioned to help broker a negotiated resolution for Tibet that will give the Tibetan people the freedom they long for and deserve,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “The global community overwhelmingly supports Tibetan freedom. Tibetans, Americans, and people worldwide who were inspired by President Obama’s message of change and hope are now looking to him to lead like a Nobel Peace laureate, an honor he shares with the Dalai Lama, by standing up for American, and indeed, universal values of human rights, freedom, and justice.”
After nine frustrating rounds of dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama’s envoys, Tibet activists are calling on President Obama to help end the stalemate by publicly offering to facilitate a meeting between the Dalai Lama and China’s leaders, a move that would signal real progress towards a negotiated resolution for Tibet. The Obama administration has come under fire for its decision to postpone a meeting with the Dalai Lama last fall and its soft approach to human rights with China.
“We hope this meeting signals a stronger stance by the Obama administration on Tibet, human rights, and China. As the past 13 months have clearly demonstrated, a soft approach with Beijing not only means compromising on core values of human rights, but is a failed strategy for achieving America’s foreign policy goals with China,” added Dorjee.
Tibetans and their supporters welcome the Dalai Lama to the White House with a festive gathering at Lafayette Square Park (across from the White House) today, February 18th, from 10:00am to 2:00pm.
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Don’t let China steal Losar
By Tenzin Dorjee
Losar belongs to Tibet. Losar belongs to the Tibetan people. No one can steal it from us.
I live in a foreign land where Tibetan festivals hold no immediate meaning. Struggling onto crowded subways each morning and each night, avoiding the empty gaze of strangers, the ground I walk upon is many seas and skies away from my mountainous home. So why should I celebrate Losar? The real New Year is already past, any way. Well, the answer is simple: No matter where I live, I am Tibetan, and if I don’t celebrate my own tradition, who will?
It has become clear that Chinese authorities have been encouraging Tibetans in certain parts of Tibet to celebrate Losar, even handing out cash for fireworks in some cases. Understandably, this pathetic attempt by China to hijack Losar has angered Tibetans, some of whom may have decided to skip Losar in a knee-jerk reaction.
To celebrate Losar just because China tells us to do so – that’s a mistake. Likewise, to skip Losar just because China tells us to celebrate it – that’s also a mistake. Our tradition should not be relegated to a mere reaction – equal or opposite – to China’s demands. China should have no say in how we practice our tradition. We Tibetans must proactively decide whether, when, where and how to observe Losar.
Chinese authorities will tell us to celebrate Losar next year too, and the year after that. Are we going to skip every Losar just to make a point? If we really want to hit the Chinese government where it hurts most, we should observe Losar in all the ways that distinguish us from them. We should use the occasion to assert our identity – eat Tibetan food, wear Tibetan dress, speak in Tibetan, write Losar cards and door signs in Tibetan, light butter lamps and perform kora. Let khatas hang on the door and prayer flags fly in the wind, let the smell of tsampa and incense fill the air.
Messages from Tibet, via articles and poems, have called on Tibetans to celebrate Losar as an occasion to assert our identity, empower our community, and to distinguish ourselves from the Chinese. Many are using the power of visuals, displaying heart-shaped images with the word “Tibet” inscribed on them on various websites, to play on the fact that Losar falls on Valentine’s Day. I heard that in Lhasa, for example, people have done most of the shopping and are planning to observe Losar at home. After living under virtual martial law for nearly two years, sharing a hot bowl of guthuk and a sweet dish of dresil with friends and family will nourish the soul.
Though mourning is important as a symbolic gesture, it is politically useless beyond a certain point. Excessive mourning, instead of bringing the dead back to life, pulls the living closer to death. In fact, the best way to honor the our martyrs is to advance the Tibetan struggle for freedom – which is what they died for – and the best way to advance the struggle is to engage the grassroots through activism. People will participate in a movement that is vibrant, inclusive, engaging and dynamic. No one is drawn to a movement that is drowning in a pool of tears and self-pity and endless mourning.
Let’s distinguish ourselves from our oppressors, not by our sorrow but by our spirit, not by our mourning but by our activism. If we want to advance our movement, and if we truly want to pay tribute to our martyrs, we must observe Losar by being Tibetan, by taking action, by taking a pledge.
This Losar, take a pledge to do something every week – if possible, every day – that will strengthen Tibetan people and weaken the Chinese empire.
Tendor is the Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet.
Losar (poem by Bhuchung D. Sonam)
Losar
by Bhuchung D. Sonam
We should celebrate Losar
Some say…
To open a new chapter
Be Tibetan,
Dress Tibetan
Eat Tibetan
Speak Tibetan
To hold our heads high
Walk a new path, mindful of the past.
We should not celebrate Losar
Others say …
To respect the dead and the jailed
Be Tibetan,
Recite mani
Pray for all
Knead your rosary
Remember that
Our brothers and sisters are suffering.
To celebrate or not to celebrate
The essence is in the difference.
Losar is a good way to assert
Ourselves as a people
Because it’s Tibetan
Not just to have fun and joy…
But to state -
I am a Tibetan
I love Tibet.
I live under occupation
But I refuse to surrender.
I am a refugee
But I am not depressed.
I have a culture
It is called Tibet
I have name
It is called Tibet
I have a future
It is called Tibet
I am a Tibetan
I want a new chapter
Losar 2010: Because I am Tibetan
Dear friends and supporters of Tibet,
Tibetans will mark Losar – the Tibetan New Year – on February 14th, 2010. In the Tibetan lunar calendar, this day marks the beginning of the Iron Tiger Year 2137, a time for change, hope, and renewal. On this day, we celebrate our history, our culture, our religion, and our future – because our history is great, our culture beautiful, our religion profound, and – in spite of our present suffering – our future is bright.
Since 2008, following the Tibetan uprising in all three historical provinces of Tibet, we witnessed an escalation in the imprisonment, torture and death of our fellow countrymen and women under Chinese rule. Because of this, last year, Tibetans united around the world and did not celebrate Losar.
This year, many Tibetans are planning to observe Losar for one reason only: because we are Tibetan. We will speak Tibetan language, wear Tibetan dress, and observe Tibetan customs, thus strengthening our identity and our spirit. Through this observance we will find new courage and opportunities to advance our struggle. In observing Losar with family and friends, Tibetans will reach for happiness, which, as much as suffering, is an integral part of a freedom movement.
Through all these years of occupation one thing is clear: the oppressor envies the spirit of the Tibetan people, which cannot be crushed by violence. This year Tibetans worldwide will nourish this spirit with the observance of Losar.
While observing this important cultural tradition, we ask Tibetans and supporters to light butter lamps and candles on their altars and in their windows on February 14th to honor the courage of the Tibetan people in Tibet who continue to resist the Chinese government’s illegal occupation of their homeland.
Tibet will be free.
With hope,
Tenzin Dorjee, Lhadon Tethong,
Executive Director, SFT Director, Tibet Action Institute
Please watch this inspiring video from Amdo, Eastern Tibet, where Tibetans, young and old, declare the myriad ways they are Tibetan.
Included in the video are these statements:
I am Tibetan because I love Tibet.
I am Tibetan because I learn Tibetan.
I am Tibetan because I love my culture.
I am Tibetan because I wear only Tibetan dress.
I am Tibetan because Tibetan blood flows in me.
I am Tibetan because my mother is Tibetan.
I am Tibetan because I sing Tibetan.
I am Tibetan because I am a Tibetan nomad.
I am Tibetan because I love my land.
I am Tibetan because I am a herder on the plateau.
I am Tibetan because I never forget Tibet.
I am Tibetan because I love my Tibetan brothers and sisters.
NYT: Dalai Lama’s Envoys to Resume Talks With China
SFT’s Tendor was quoted in yesterday’s New York Times article by Ed Wong about the 9th round of meetings taking place between Beijing and Dharamsala.
“Until we see visible change on the ground in Tibet and some real give-and-take on the part of the Chinese government, we can be confident that the resumption of the dialogue is nothing more than a delaying tactic designed to mute international criticism, especially in the lead up to the expected meeting between Obama and the Dalai Lama,” said Tenzin Dorjee, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, a group based in New York that advocates for Tibetan independence.
Read the full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/world/asia/27tibet.html
As one person aptly commented, Tendor’s quote “captures an essential reality check.”
The Economist was also quick to point out that China’s decision to re-start the dialogue is more a politically calculated maneuver to preempt the expected meeting between Preisdent Obama and the Dalai Lama than a genuine gesture.
Read the full article: http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15384117
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