7/08

The Beijing 2008 Olympics closed the way it opened - with SFT protestors making sure that the Tibet issue was very kept very much alive midst of this “celebration”. During the closing ceremony itself, one could not help notice the disconnect between the CCP officials and the Chinese people. These officials, with stern looks on [...]

On behalf of the Australia Tibet Council (ATC) I am delighted to endorse the 12-hour symbolic fast and prayers on 30th August 2008. ATC members and supporters will be joining Australia?s Tibetan Communities at many locations across the country to observe the fast and join in this very timely and important peaceful action.

Over the coming weeks, as international attention on China subsides after the Olympic Games and we move into a new phase in the Tibetan struggle, it is more important than ever to maintain the international support for Tibet. It is timely for Tibetans and Tibet supporters to re-affirm their commitment to peace and non-violence.

For many Tibetans 2008 has been a year of tremendous hardship. Yet despite the immense challenges of recent months we remain convinced that under the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and through a steadfast commitment to truth and non-violence, the coming months will mark the beginning of a brighter future for Tibet.

ATC is calling for substantive, results-orientated and time-bound negotiations on the future of Tibet to begin immediately. We are urging the Australian government to be forthright with the Chinese leadership and to encourage President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao to enter into direct negotiations with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. ATC continues to call for full media access to Tibetan areas and for the release of the more than one thousand monks and lay Tibetans unaccounted for since March.

ATC sends its heartfelt support and encouragement to all the Tibetans, Tibet supporters and peace-loving people of the world who will be observing the 12-hour fast and prayers.

Paul Bourke
Executive Officer

Tibets bekannteste Schriftstellerin und Bloggerin wurde acht Stunden lang von der Polizei verhört und wegen der Fotos, die sie in Lhasa gemacht hatte, zur Rede gestellt. Kürzlich stattete sie ihrer alten Heimat einen kurzen Besuch ab.

Acht Polizisten tauchten am Donnerstag in der Wohnung von Woesers Mutter auf und überraschten sie mit einer Vorladung zur Vernehmung. Ihr Ehemann, der Autor Wang Lixiong, bemerkte: ?Sie hatten den falschen Namen auf dem Dokument eingetragen, weshalb ich verlangte, daß sie den Namen korrigierten, ehe sie sie mitnahmen. Ich mahnte sie auch, daß sie sie innerhalb der genannten Zeit zurückbringen müßten?.

Mehrere Polizeioffiziere, die einen Hinweis von jemand erhielten, der bemerkt hatte, wie Woeser von einem Taxi aus Militär- und Polizeipositionen in Lhasa fotografierte, vernahmen sie.

Wang, der sehr besorgt um die Sicherheit seiner Frau war, äußerte Times gegenüber: ?Sie erklärte ihnen, daß es nicht verboten sei, an einem öffentlich zugänglichen Ort zu fotografieren und daß sie keine Sperrgebiete oder militärischen Einrichtungen aufgesucht habe. Sie hätten daher keine legale Basis, sie festzunehmen?. Die Polizei durchsuchte die Wohnung von Woesers Mutter und konfiszierte dabei mehrere Dokumente sowie Wangs Computer.

Sie hackten sein Paßwort, untersuchten alle Dokumente auf dem Laptop und forderten von Woeser, alle Bilder zu löschen, die Polizisten oder Militärpersonal auf den Straßen Lhasas oder anderen Orten in Tibet, die sie besucht hatte, zeigten.

Um Herrn Wang zu zitieren: ?Ich kann nicht sagen, ob sie beabsichtigten, uns einzuschüchtern. Aber wenn sie so mit einer einflußreichen Schriftstellerin umgehen, die nichts getan hat, als ein paar Aufnahmen zu machen, kann man sich ausmalen, was für eine Art von Behandlung gewöhnliche Leute in Tibet Tag für Tag erfahren?.

Das Ehepaar beschloß, so schnell wie möglich einen Flug zurück nach Peking zu buchen, aber zuerst wollten sie sich mit ihren vielen Verwandten und Freunden in der Stadt treffen. Etliche kamen jedoch nicht zu dem Familientreffen, weil sie sich auf Woesers Zusammenstoß mit der Polizei hin vor möglichen Folgen fürchteten. Am Samstag flog das Paar, das eigentlich einen Monat in Lhasa bleiben wollte, nach nur sechs Tagen Aufenthalt in der Stadt und 48 Stunden nach der Vorladung vorzeitig nach Peking zurück.

Woeser ist eine der bekanntesten Intellektuellen Tibets, zuerst als Dichterin, deren Werke anfänglich von der Regierung gebilligt wurden, und dann als Dissidentin, nachdem ihr erstes Prosabuch 2003 verboten wurde. Seitdem darf sie nichts mehr in China veröffentlichen, aber sie ließ nicht davon abschrecken und ist weiterhin schriftstellerisch tätig.

Das Blog, das sie 2005 zu schreiben begann, mußte sie auf einem Server außerhalb Chinas unterbringen, weil es wiederholt gehackt und schließlich ganz geschlossen wurde. Ihr derzeitiges Blog, http://woeser.middle-way.net, ist für viele Tibeter die beliebteste Seite und verzeichnet drei Millionen Zugriffe, seit sie es Anfang letzten Jahres auf einem Server außerhalb Chinas lancierte.

Die tibetische Hauptstadt ist weiterhin abgeriegelt. Polizei und paramilitärische Kräfte patrouillieren auf den Straßen, viele davon wurden um den Jokhang Tempel im Herzen der Altstadt eingesetzt. Auf dem Pilgerweg, der um den Tempel führt, sind mindestens vier paramilitärische Trupps rund um die Uhr auf Wache.

Jeder davon umfaßt fünf Mann, die mit Maschinengewehren bewaffnet ein Stück der Route auf und ab gehen. Buddhistische Gläubige, die ihre Gebetsmühlen drehen, Mantras rezitieren und Niederwerfungen ausführen, bahnen sich ihren Weg durch die patrouillierenden Soldaten hindurch. Einige der Trupps, die Tarnanzüge tragen, wurden kürzlich von Patrouillen ersetzt, die Geräte auf den Rücken geschnallt haben, die wie Tränengaswerfer ausschauen. Paramilitärische Kräfte stehen an Bushaltestellen, und an jedem Stop steigen Polizisten zu, um Leute, die ihnen verdächtig scheinen, sofort dingfest zu machen. Bewaffnete Polizei in Camouflage, manche mit Helmen, andere mit Schutzschildern und elektrischen Schlagstöcken ausgerüstet, stehen in Gruppen an Straßenkreuzungen und verfolgen das Geschehen auf den Straßen rundum.

Wenn dann die Nacht hereinbricht, bewegen sich Armeelastwagen voller paramilitärischer Truppen in Schrittgeschwindigkeit durch die Straßen. Die Patrouillen und die massive Polizeipräsenz betreffen in erster Linie die Altstadt, in den neueren Stadtteilen, wo die meisten der Han-Chinesen wohnen, gibt es kaum Anzeichen für erhöhte Sicherheitsmaßnahmen. Quelle: Times Online

www.phayul.com, 26. August 2008

Nicht-autorisierte Übersetzung: Adelheid Dönges
Internationale Gesellschaft für Menschenrechte (IGFM)

Aug. 25, 2008  By ANDREI CHANG (www.upi.com) HONG KONG, Aug. 25 (UPI) — In the strategic direction of Bhutan and central Nepal, the Indian air force has built three major military airports, sufficient to provide deterrence over the central part of Tibet. Photo: Two Mirage 2000H of the Indian Air Force lift off from Gwalior Air [...]

Tibetan poet / author / citizen journalist Woeser. Photo: Jack Hill / Times Online

L

ast week, the Beijing-based Tibetan poet Woeser and her writer husband Wang Lixiong travelled to Lhasa for a planned month-long visit with family and friends in her hometown. On Thursday August 7, the day before the CCP's big party reached its finishing climax in Beijing, eight police arrived at Woeser's mother's house and took the poet away for questioning. The police had come armed with a "summons" bearing the wrong name, said her husband.

She was held for questioning for eight hours by several officers who said that they were acting on a tip-off from a member of the public who had seen her photographing army and police positions in Lhasa from a taxi.

From all information available on conditions in Lhasa at the moment, it's impossible to look in any direction and not see army and police positions. They're everywhere in this militarily-occupied city. But apparently taking photos from a public conveyance travelling on public roads, showing what anyone can see with their own eyes whether they want to or not, is a security risk.

The police searched her mother?s home and removed several documents as well as Mr Wang?s laptop. They hacked his password, checked all his documents and required Woeser to erase every photograph that showed a policeman or army officer.

Mr Wang said: "I can?t say whether their intention was to intimidate. But if they can do this to an influential writer who has done nothing more than take photographs, then one can only imagine the kind of threat that ordinary people in Tibet must feel every day."

The authorities may as well declare cameras illegal in Lhasa, given that the most photogenic parts of the city are literally crawling with police and military personnel. If they're shy and don't want their pictures taken, they should stay in their barracks (or just go back home to China).

The Tibetan capital remains under lockdown. The city is patrolled by police and paramilitary forces, many deployed around the Jokhang temple, the holiest shrine in Tibetan Buddhism in the heart of the Old City. On the pilgrim route that circles the temple at least four teams of paramilitary police are on guard around the clock.

Each comprises five men carrying rifles who patrol a section of the route. Buddhists twirling prayer wheels and performing prostrations wend their way among the armed men. Some of the teams, dressed in camouflage, have recently been replaced by patrols carrying what appear to be teargas launchers in tubes on their backs.

The couple decided to return to Beijing after this harassment, but wished to have a reunion with family and friends before they left. Many were afraid of the consequences and didn't attend. They returned to Beijing on Saturday, while the Party smoked a cigarette and coyly asked its international partners, "Was it as good for you as it was for us?"

Hours before the closing ceremony, security agents arrested the elderly bishop of an underground Catholic Church, 73 year old Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo, according to a statement by the Cardinal Kung Foundation.

Another Tibetan Beijing resident decided to get out of town even before the foreplay got started, returning to his hometown (apparently somewhere in the Tibetan prefectures of Sichuan) in mid-July. Even there, refusing to watch television or use the internet, it was impossible to escape the Olympic hype. So "Tashibod" began writing an "Olympics Diary" from a remote part of the Tibetan plateau. It was published in Chinese on New Century News on August 16, and has been thankfully translated to English for China Digital Times.

The diary is very valuable for conveying the atmosphere in Tibet before and during the $40 billion bash in China's capital, full of the writer's interactions with family and friends, observations of the current situation in this unnamed locality, and especially of his own feelings about all these experiences related to the "Olympic Syndrome."

The Olympics has indeed already become a "sickness", an illness like SARS, at least for Tibetan areas and Tibetan people. Tibetans like me fled Beijing to avoid the Olympics as if we have were trying to avoid SARS. However, after I came back to the Tibetan area, I saw that the local government was in combat readiness, and even though it is not SARS, yet it is more like SARS because of the checkpoints at all the intersections and the fact that the county seat is going to be sealed off shortly.

In fact, what we are trying to avoid is not the Olympics. If we Tibetans did not enjoy the identity of being "second class citizens" in China or we were not suspected of being "terrorists" as long as we are Tibetans, most of us would probably welcome the world?s great sport gathering, and most of us would probably stay in Beijing to watch the Olympic games.

The Olympics is just like a mirror, which shows the situation of Tibetans in China

Chinese soldiers ride armoured military vehicles, with their identification markings covered by newspaper, as they enforce "harmony" in Tibetan areas. Photo: Tibetan Solidarity Committee

What does a patriotic Chinese person feel if he or she were to look into this mirror? I wonder.

On local streets there are police cars patrolling 24 hours a day, and the fully armed soldiers are guarding the main roads with weapons in their hands. The county government acts as if they were confronting a mortal enemy, and their propaganda has always emphasized "stability"? The tense facial expression of people who are working for the government institutions is a charming contrast to the big red banner with the words "Happily welcoming the Olympics" hanging on the streets.

The Olympics are very odd.

Tashibod has a friend working in the propaganda department who was tasked with teaching selected Tibetan phrases to the soldiers -- things like "Stop," "Don't move," and "Tibetans and the Chinese belong to the same family." For their part, the soldiers were keen to question the Tibetan about how tough monks are, how well they can fight, and so on. When he realised that these heavily armed Chinese soldiers considered as their prime enemies those whom Tibetans hold in highest regard, it was hard for him to bear.

He lowered his head, and repeatedly said the following sentences, "We are providing assistance to those outsiders who are employed to fight the war, and their objects of war are monks we respect the most and our compatriots. What are we doing?", "What on earth are we doing?"

On "Army Day" (August 1) a performance was put on in the town for all the county leaders, soldiers and militia. Local people also came to watch, but it was certainly not geared for their enjoyment. Praise the Motherland, praise the Communist Party, not a word of it in Tibetan. The "leaders" of course don't speak the language either. The show was filled with martial arts combat displays; the bystanders were awed, the "leaders" smiled and were satisfied.

During the entire performance, I have not heard anybody saying one Tibetan line on the stage, including the host, the actors and actresses.

I saw the Tibetans onstage in Tibetan robes decorated with tiger skins singing the so-called Tibetan songs in Chinese.

The performers were trying their best, the audience was having a great time, the leaders were satisfied with the performance, thus, everybody was happy.

I looked at them, then looked at myself. At that moment I wanted to cry.

The last entry is August 9, and Tashibod ponders the meaning of the previous night's grand spectacle of the Olympic opening ceremony. The nearly four-hour program was principally a display of Han culture and history -- Chinese drums, Chinese paintings, printing, caligraphy, Confucius, the Great Wall, Chinese opera, etc. The "fifty-five flowers" ("ethnic minority nationalities") were seen briefly (Tashibod seems not know that those "flowers" were all of the majority flower group). The government's message was, "China equals the Han nationality, and Chinese history equals Han Chinese history."

In my eyes, the Great Wall of China is only a building displaying the wisdom and hard work of mankind in the history of mankind, and in fact it was built to defend against what they called "barbarians", our ancestors, thus, is there any possibility that we minorities will find a sense of pride in the Great wall of China?

In the future, please do not nag me with such phrases as the "Chinese nation" and such hypocritical and disgusting words as "We are all descendants of Yan Di and Huang Di, and we are all children of the Chinese nation." The Han nationality who is already holding power told the world and 100 million minorities in China that it is China, and its history is the history of China.

And while they all revelled in Beijing at this massive party with their international guests, "the entire Tibetan area is shrouded in terror."

The security precautions in his town are strict, the atmosphere very tense, yet the place isn't yet sealed off like other towns have been. Should he feel fortunate?

But, at the time when the entire country is celebrating, we are going so far as to feel so fortunate that we have not been segregated collectively by the country to which we are supposed to belong. This again is such an absurd thing!

If all belongs to the Chinese nation, then should it be like this? Is it reasonable to go so far as it is now?

I vote for "unreasonable," and could certainly come up with some juicier adjectives as well. If this is how the Party wishes to promote "harmony," they're all plainly insane.

An earthquake measuring 6.6 magnitude struck western Tibet last night. The epicenter is located in the Drongpa region of Shigatse Prefecture, at Palung Tso (Palung Lake). Is there any chance that the wonderful "openness" the international media drooled about in Sichuan a few months ago would be replicated for a major earthquake in Tibet? That's a rhetorical question, by the way.
.

Vancouver has been my home for eighteen years and I will miss it. Despite the weather (it's pouring rain right now and has been for what seems like most of August), it truly is a great city to live in. I love that you are never more than an hour away from absolute wilderness or the best sushi outside of Asia. I love that I can't even name all of the ski hills near here and how a significant number of them would be world class resorts if they were anywhere else in the world. I love how honestly multicultural this city is: while Vancouver is certainly not post-racial (where is?), it has a genuine diversity I don't think you will find in many places in the world. People from different cultures here don't just put up with one another: they put their kids in the same Little League teams, go to each other's barbecues and hot pots, cheer on the Canucks together, and date and marry each other. Despite its faults (e.g. the Downtown Eastside), Vancouver really does get a lot of things right. And honestly, even the weather isn't all that bad: I'm sure one winter in Boston will convince me Vancouver's climate is actually quite decent.

Here are some pictures from earlier this month at Vancouver's premier summer event, the annual "Celebration of Light" (formerly the "Symphony of Fire"):






Will continue blogging stateside,
K

By Matthew Robertson
Epoch Times Staff Aug 23, 2008

The story of a prisoner of conscience in a Beijing labor camp

(more…)

On the 23th of august,

two activists (one of SFT France) went on the roof just boarding the Chinese ambassy to hang a banner of 5 X 2.5 m saying "China Lies, Tibetans Die".

We had a very good media coverage : several TV Channels and newspapers talked about that.

Three journalists and one of the activists get arrested, the other one managed to run (Guillaume :p)

   

Tibetans and supporters vow to continue fight against China’s injustice

Contact:
Chime Youngdung: +91 9418 069 179
Tenzin Choeying: +91 9816 368 335

24 August 2008

Dharamshala: On the final day of the Beijing Olympics, hundreds of Tibetans and supporters in Dharamshala joined protesters across the world to voice their opposition to China’s continuous violence against the Tibetans inside Tibet. Adhe Tapontsang (Ama Adhe), a former political prisoner who spent a total of 27 years in Chinese labor camps since her arrest in 1958, was the Chief Guest at the function before the protest. Rigzin Choenyi and Lhundup Sangmo, two of the famous Drapchi 14 who’ve spent 12 and 9 years respectively in Chinese prison gave their testimony to the gathering.

“We urge the international community, and especially members of the media, not to divert their attention from China after the Beijing Olympics, as the Chinese authorities are likely to intensify their hostility towards Tibetans post-Olympics” said Tenzin Choeying, National Director of Students for a Free Tibet - India. “Tibetans and supporters all over the world are deeply concerned about the thousands of Tibetans who have been arrested and ‘disappeared’ since March this year, and we request governments around the world to pressurize China to release all political prisoners,” he continued.

(more…)

Expressindia » Story

Agencies

Posted online: Saturday , August 23, 2008 at 01:33:0

A protest group, Students for a Free Tibet, had said Kolecki's decision to swap his normally shaggy haircut for a bald look ahead of Sunday's 94kg competition was a sign of solidarity with Tibet's shaven-headed Buddhist monks.

Although Kolecki declined to confirm that directly, he left little doubt about his motives. "I take a regular interest in world affairs and all the important news, including about Tibet. But I'm meant to respect the Olympic Charter," 26-year-old Kolecki said on Thursday after returning from China. "Let's just say that shaving my head was a symbol," he said.

The International Olympic Committee's document, which lays down the rules for the Games, says that "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas".

One of the leaders of the Polish branch of Students for a Free Tibet, Witek Hebanowski, said that he had been in touch with Kolecki before the Games. Hebanowski said the athlete had explained he was looking for a way to hold a protest.

Ahead of the Games, several dozen athletes had signed an open letter to China's President Hu Jintao calling for freedom of speech and religion in China, notably in Tibet, as well as the release of jailed human rights campaigners and an end to capital punishment.

But Kolecki's gesture appears to be the first protest action by an athlete actually at the Games against China's communist rulers, who have been accused by pro-Tibet groups of carrying out a bloody crackdown in the Himalayan region.

China sent troops into Tibet in 1950 and officially "liberated" it the following year. Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking independence for Tibet and of fomenting unrest. He insists he wants autonomy and religious freedom rather than independence, and has said he supports the Beijing Olympics.

A Personal Request from Samdhong Rinpoche

Dear Friends,

You might have seen the Appeal issued by the Tibetan Solidarity Committee to request all Tibetans, Tibet Support Groups and peace-loving people of the world to observe a 12-hour symbolic fasting and prayer on 30th August 2008 for world peace and, particularly, for the departed souls of the Tibetan people in recent months in Tibet. The appeal also re-commits ourselves to the path of non-violence. The objectives and how to observe the fasting are mentioned in detail in the appeal. If you have not received the appeal as yet, please visit our official website www.tibet.net and www.stoptibetcrisis.org.

We consider this as extremely important non-violent action taken by Tibetans under the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in a very critical period for Tibet, particularly the post-Olympic period. I personally request you and your organization to kindly participate in this fast and prayer and encourage many other people to join us in this effort to reduce our own defilements and to create wisdom and compassion in the minds of the oppressor. I believe you will cooperate us in this
non-violent action.
With my warm personal greetings,

Your sincerely,

Samdhong Rinpoche
14 August 2008
KALON TRIPA

I found this article this morning and found it interesting that China is not only detaining and deporting foreign Pro-Tibet demonstrators but actively seeking out anyone in Beijing with Pro-Tibetan ideals. A group of "citizen journalist" and Pro-Tibet bloggers have been added to the many activists who have been deported for demonstrating. Below is an excerpt from Reuters. Read it and let me know what you think.



For the full Reuters article click here.

Bright lights spell out "Free Tibet" on banner in Beijing

SFT[Wednesday, August 20, 2008 01:32]


FIVE AMERICANS DETAINED AFTER DISPLAY NEAR NATIONAL STADIUM



Beijing, August 19 ? Five pro-Tibet activists unfurled a banner spelling out ?Free Tibet? in English and Chinese in bright blue LED ?throwie? lights in Beijing?s Olympic Park tonight. The five were detained by security personnel after displaying the banner for about 20 seconds at 11:48 pm August 19th. Their whereabouts are unknown.

The detained activists are Americans Amy Johnson, 33, Sam Corbin, 24, Liza Smith, 31, Jacob Blumenfeld, 26, and Lauren Valle, 21.?The Chinese government is desperate to turn the world?s attention away from its abuses in Tibet as the Olympics take place, but the creativity and determination of Tibetans and their supporters has once again ensured that Tibetan voices are heard and seen in Beijing despite the massive security clampdown,? said Tenzin Dorjee, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet.

?The Chinese leadership must realize that the only way it can make the issue of Tibet disappear is to acknowledge the demands of the Tibetan people and work with them to bring an end to China?s occupation of Tibet.?

The lights used on the banner are blue 10 mm light-emitting diodes (LEDs) powered by small batteries, commonly known as ?throwies.? Throwies are open-source te