China Digital Times

China news tagged with: Tibet protests (164)

• Chinese Court Postpones Judgment on Tibetan Living Buddha

  

  A Chinese court has unexpectedly delayed the sentencing of living Buddha Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche, arrested March 18 during the 2008 Lhasa riots for possession of illegal weapons and seizing government land, possibly due to international attention on the case. Jane Macartney reports for Times Online:

  A Chinese court has decided at the last minute to postpone judgment on a Tibetan living Buddha who faces 15 years in jail on charges of possessing illegal weapons and illegally seizing government land.

  [...]Legal experts said that such a move was rare for a Chinese court and could indicate that the unusually spirited defence presented in court and the international publicity the case has attracted could have prompted unexpected debate among judicial officials over the sentence.

  [...]The monk, the fifth incarnation of a revered Buddhist teacher, known by the title of Burongma, was arrested on March 18 last year, four days after nuns from two religious houses over which he presides took to the streets in demonstrations just as deadly rioting erupted in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.

  [...]Phurbu Rinpoche denies possession of the weapon [found in his home] and says that he signed a confession under police duress.

  » Read more
  • April 28, 2009 12:14 AM

• A Tibetan Blogger, Always Under Close Watch, Struggles for Visibility

  

  The New York Times interviews Tibetan blogger Woeser:

  A graceful, soft-spoken woman whose disquieting tales are often punctuated by nervous laughter, Ms. Woeser has become an accidental hero to a generation of disenfranchised young Tibetans. Like many of her peers, she was schooled in Mandarin, part of a policy of assimilation that left her unable to write Tibetan, and she grew up embracing the official version of history — that the Communist Party brought freedom and prosperity to a backward land.

  HER pedigree is all the more notable because her father, the son of a Han father and a Tibetan mother, was a deputy general in the Chinese Army who oversaw Lhasa.

  It was only at 24, after seven years studying Chinese poetry and literature, that she reconnected with her Tibetan DNA. During a visit to Lhasa, an aunt dragged her to the Jokhang Monastery, one of Tibetan Buddhism’s holiest sites, and she found herself overwhelmed by the emotional intensity of the faithful. “I was crying so loudly a monk told my aunt, ‘Look at that pathetic Chinese girl, she can’t control herself.’

  “It was that moment I realized I had come home,” she said.

  » Read more
  • April 25, 2009 7:43 AM

• Tibetan Lama on Trial for Weapons Charge in China

  

  Respected Tibetan abbot Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche is on trial for weapons charges and will face prison if convicted. From the Associated Press:

  The 52-year-old monk could be imprisoned for up to 15 years if found guilty, Li said, adding he was the first senior Buddhist leader to face a serious charge linked to last year’s demonstrations.

  [...] Prosecutors allege a pistol and more than 100 bullets and cartridges were found under a bed in Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche’s living room during a police raid, but the monk has denied the allegation, saying he was framed, Li said.

  “The charge is untenable,” Li said. “Police didn’t ask him about the source of the weapons or check for fingerprints.”

  The monk also pleaded not guilty to a separate charge of embezzlement involving a home for the elderly he set up, the lawyer said.

  The New York Times also reports on related arrests of nuns in two of the convents the abbot led:

  After the Chinese government sent security forces across western China to crack down on the protests last year, the nuns at the two convents in Ganzi were told to sign papers denouncing the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. However, the nuns refused and marched instead, according to Woeser, a prominent Tibetan blogger who has written about the case and who follows the Tibetan tradition of using a single name.

  At least a dozen of the nuns have been sentenced for unknown crimes, and six are still being detained, Ms. Woeser said in an interview.

  » Read more
  • April 24, 2009 10:47 PM

• Robert Barnett: A Way out of Tibet’s Morass

  

  Tibet expert Robert Barnett offers his suggestions of how both sides can work to increase understanding and decrease tensions over Tibet:

  Western governments have been accused of interference, but it is unlikely that any want to derail their relations with China, especially during an economic crisis. Last October, British Foreign Minister David Miliband was so anxious to maintain Chinese good will that he came close to denouncing his predecessors’ recognition of Tibet’s autonomy 100 years ago. But foreign concerns about the status of China’s mandate in Tibet are understandable: Tibet is the strategic high ground between the two most important nuclear powers in Asia. Good governance on the plateau is good for everyone.

  China could help to lessen growing tensions by recognizing these concerns as reasonable. The Dalai Lama could cut down on foreign meetings and acknowledge that, despite China’s general emasculation of intellectual and religious life in Tibet, some aspects of Tibetan culture (like modern art, film and literature) are relatively healthy. Western observers could accept the exiles’ assurances that their proposals on autonomy are negotiable and not bottom-line demands, rather than damning them before talks start.

  All sides would gain by paying attention to two Tibetan officials in China who dared to speak out last month. A retired prefectural governor from Kardze told the Singapore paper Zaobao that “the government should have more trust in its people, particularly the Tibetan monks,” and the current Tibet governor admitted that some protesters last year “weren’t satisfied with our policies,” rather than calling them enemies of the state, the first official concession from within China that some of its policies might be connected to the recent protests.

  » Read more
  • April 23, 2009 4:04 PM

• Large Protests by Tibetans in Western China

  

  The Los Angeles Times is giving another view of the unrest at the Rabgya Monastery in Qinghai, which official reports have called “riots”:

  A Tibetan exile news service said the protests were triggered by the suicide of a 28-year-old monk whom they identified as Tashi Sangbo. Sangbo had been arrested several days earlier at the monastery for keeping a banned Tibetan flag and political leaflets in his room, it said. On Saturday, he escaped from the police station and killed himself by jumping into a river, according to the Phayul.com news service.

  “Angry protesters managed to snatch from police the Tibetan national flag that was earlier confiscated by the Chinese officials,” said the Phayul report, which also said that thousands were involved in the protest. A short video taken from a cellphone and posted on the group’s website showed a large crowd of crimson-robed monks and civilians.

  Chinese authorities closed roads and cut off telephone lines, text messages and Internet service to the isolated Tibetan enclave in Qinghai province, making it impossible to independently verify what happened. The only reports in the Chinese media were carried by the official news agency.

  Here is the cell phone video of the incident posted by Phayul:
  

  See also a Guardian report.

  » Read more
  • March 22, 2009 9:24 PM

• China Government Office Attacked in Tibetan Area (Updated)

  

  Reuters reports on the attack of a government office in Qinghai:

  A government office in an ethnic Tibetan part of China’s western province of Qinghai was attacked by about 20 people after a man being probed for Tibet independence activities went missing, state media said on Sunday.

  Zhaxi Sangwu was taken in for investigation on Friday for “being involved in advocating Tibet independence”, the official Xinhua news agency cited police as saying.

  “He managed to run away from the police station Saturday afternoon on the excuse of using the bathroom,” it added, following which a crowd gathered and attacked a government office.

  Update: Almost 100 Tibetans have reportedly been detained in connection with the attack. From VOA:

  Xinhua says the monks were among hundreds of rioters who assaulted police and government workers at the police building Saturday, injuring some officials. It says the riot happened in the town of Ragya in the Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province.

  The Chinese news agency says police later caught six of the rioters and detained another 89 who turned themselves in. It says all but two of those arrested are monks from a local monastery.

  Western news agencies quote a resident of Ragya and a Tibetan exile who lived there as saying the protesters were angry about the apparent suicide of a monk.

  Xinhua says the monk escaped from a prison earlier Saturday and jumped into the Yellow River before disappearing. Chinese authorities had arrested him on suspicion of promoting Tibetan independence.

  » Read more
  • March 21, 2009 8:49 PM

• Dalai Lama Welcomes China Openness to Talks

  

  The International Herald Tribune reports on cautious moves to restart negotiations between Beijing and the Tibetan government-in-exile:

  The Tibetan government-in-exile over the weekend welcomed China’s stated willingness to hold more talks with its envoys but stressed that it was ‘‘not seeking separation’’ and said it hoped Beijing would demonstrate sincerity in dealing with the region.

  ‘‘His Holiness the Dalai Lama is always ready to engage with the Chinese leadership to find a mutually acceptable solution to the problems of the Tibetan people,’’ Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, said in a statement issued late Saturday.

  The Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, said Friday that China was open to more talks with envoys for the Dalai Lama as long as the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader renounced what Beijing describes as separatism.

  The assertion that the Dalai Lama wants separation from China is ‘‘far from truth,’’ Samdhong Rinpoche’s statement said.

  Xinhua has published reports that the Beijing-selected Panchen Lama, the second highest leader in Tibetan Buddhism, has made public statements backing Beijing’s policies in Tibet:

  The Panchen Lama, one of the religious leaders of Tibetan Buddhism, went to the Cultural Palace of Nationalities to see the exhibition titled “50th Anniversary of Democratic Reforms in Tibet” that has been in running in Beijing since Feb. 24.

  The Panchen Lama said documentary pictures, files and relics vividly reproduced the tragedy of slaves in old Tibet and the progress in human rights since the abolition of the serfdom.

  Tibetan people could only achieve progress and have a bright future under the leadership of Communist Party of China, the Panchen Lama said.

  Overseas groups are reporting a smattering of protests during the sensitive anniversary of last year’s unrest in Tibetan areas:

  The Indian-based Tibetan government in exile said Sunday it has received new information about peaceful demonstrations in Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) county in western Sichuan province. The exile government said Chinese authorities arrested a Buddhist nun, a monk and two other Tibetans during protests in early March.

  There was no immediate Chinese government confirmation.

  Exile sources also reported scattered acts of protests in other Tibetan towns in the Tibet Autonomous Region, as well as neighboring Qinghai and Sichuan provinces. In some places, Tibetans were said to have written slogans on walls calling for Tibetan independence and the return of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

  Reuters has a timeline of the past year of protests in Tibetan areas.

  Meanwhile, The National reports on exiled Tibetans who are using the Internet to try to engage Chinese citizens:

  With each new interlocutor she gently introduces the subject of her homeland Tibet and if they seem responsive she tells them more about her culture, religion and the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet 50 years ago tomorrow.

  Tsering is able to do this because she was brought up in Tibet where she received a Chinese education.

  Now, as part of a groundbreaking project she and 10 other recent arrivals, are putting that knowledge to use, as they seek to bypass the Chinese government and speak straight to the Chinese people, in the hope that one day they will help shape Beijing’s policies.

  Their job, however, is not an easy one.

  Al Jazeera also has a report on Tibetans living in exile and their efforts to seek independence for Tibet:

  » Read more
  • March 15, 2009 6:22 PM

• Dialogue on Tibet: Past, Present and Future

  

  While those at the polar ends of the Tibet debate may see it as a black and white issue, a few efforts have been made recently to show the complexity of the problems involved. China Pictorial, an official travel and photography magazine, reports on a conference recently held in Beijing to discuss the status and history of Tibet, attended by several China-based Tibet scholars and researchers and foreign journalists. The participants’ responses have been edited by China Pictorial:

  Did the Tibetan people enjoy democracy and freedom when the region was ruled by Dalai Lamas? Is it true, what some say, that China carries out “cultural genocide” in Tibet? Does Tibet need to develop and realize modernization?

  In the past, in China, such questions were seldom discussed in public forums. Recently, however, hosted by the Tsinghua International Center for Communication Studies (TICCS) in Beijing, an in-depth discussion on issues concerning Tibet’s politics, history, religion, economy and culture was carried out among Tibetan scholars and Western journalists at an academic workshop entitled “An Intellectual Dialogue on Tibet: Present and Past.” The viewpoints exchanged during the academic workshop tangibly represent a real dialogue among Chinese and Western media, as well as a positive discourse within academic circles. Such forums will present to the world a more complete picture of Tibet issues, so as to settle disputes and strengthen mutual understanding.

  In Foreign Policy Magazine, in an article titled “China’s West Bank?”, Alex Pasternack writes about ethnic tensions between Tibetans and Han Chinese, and acknowledges a subtle shift in tone on the issue from the Tibet government:

  Last week, as Chinese police fanned out across the Tibetan plateau, the chairman of Tibet’s government made a hushed departure from the official line on the unrest that erupted into violence there last year.

  “There were all kinds of people, some of whom weren’t satisfied with our policies, or had opinions about them, or because our government work hadn’t been fully completed,” Qiangba Puncog told reporters at the National People’s Congress annual meeting in Beijing, veering from the government’s oft cited condemnation of the Dalai Lama and his “splittist” clique. “Not everyone was a splittist.”

  If it was the conference’s most obvious and extreme understatement, it was also a rare public sign that Beijing grasps some of the complexity of its Tibetan quagmire.

  But this brief burst of enlightenment may not amount to much. Against the backdrop of the 50th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule — and as a raft of other ominous anniversaries loom in a year of economic hardship — government officials are marching on a tightrope that could snap at any moment.

  » Read more
  • March 13, 2009 10:18 AM

• New Security Measures as Tibet Anniversary Approaches

  

  On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising and the exile of the Dalai Lama, China has increased security on the border with South Asian countries. From Xinhua:

  “We have made due deployment and tightened controls at border ports, and key areas and passages along the border in Tibet,” Fu Hongyu, Political Commissar of the Ministry of Public Security Border Control Department.

  “We will firmly crackdown on criminal activities in Tibet’s border area that pose a threat to China’s sovereignty and government,” said Fu, a deputy to the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s legislative body.

  “We will go all out to maintain the security and stability of border and coastal areas,” said Fu, on the sidelines of the NPC session.

  Following widespread reporting in the foreign media about an escalation in the number of security forces in Tibet and neighboring areas, local officials have acknowledged security fears. From China Daily:

  A senior Tibetan official said yesterday that intensified police patrols in parts of Tibet were temporary security measures against possible disruptions by the Dalai Lama’s followers and Western “Tibet independence” groups.

  Legqog, chairman of the standing committee of the Tibet autonomous region’s people’s congress, said most of the region is stable. But because the Dalai group has not stopped trying to create chaos in Tibet since the March 14 violence last year, armed police have stepped up their presence, he added.

  The Times Online also reports on the new security situation:

  The rounding up of 109 monks from Lutsang monastery in Qinghai province, western China, is one of a series of extraordinary security measures being implemented to prevent restive Tibetans from commemorating the anniversary with protests against Chinese rule.

  About a quarter of China’s territory, an area the size of Western Europe, has been closed off to foreigners. Thousands of troops and paramilitary police have been deployed in Tibetan-populated regions amid fears of a renewed outburst of the anti-Chinese violence that rocked the region a year ago. Winding mountain roads have been clogged for days with convoys of armoured military trucks and coaches bringing in reinforcements.

  At the birthplace of the Dalai Lama, in Qinghai Province, authorities are trying to deter international attention as some media look back on 50 years in exile.

  Meanwhile, AFP reports from Dharamsala that, “Tibetans face 50th uprising anniversary with dismay,” while, unsurprisingly, the China Daily has a very different take in their article, “Slaves rejoice in a hard-won fight for freedom.”

  The BBC reports on comments made by Chinese President Hu Jintao on the eve of the anniversary:

  China’s President Hu Jintao has spoken of the need for a “Great Wall against separatism”, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of Tibet’s failed uprising.

  He told Tibetan leaders in Beijing that China’s “unity” needed to be protected and Tibet’s long-term security secured.

  The Tibet anniversary isn’t the only reason officials are concerned this year. The New York Times reports on the unusual number of sensitive commemorations that will take place in 2009:

  This year commemorates not only the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan revolt. June brings the 20th anniversary of the crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, protests that remain the most visible challenge to Communist rule. April is the 10th anniversary of major protests by the Falun Gong religious sect, which led to thousands of arrests and, in July of that year, a government ban on the group.

  May heralds the 90th anniversary of the May 4 movement, a 1919 student-led protest against imperial rule that is both a touchstone of Chinese nationalism and historic proof that people can challenge their rulers.

  Finally, Oct. 1 is the 60th anniversary of the creation of the People’s Republic of China. The government plans a major celebration and will be on the lookout for anyone who seeks to spoil it.

  
  Read more about the current situation in Tibetan areas, via CDT.

  » Read more
  • March 8, 2009 10:41 PM

• 50 Years after Uprising, a Clampdown on Tibetans

  

  The New York Times reports on an increasing clampdown in Tibetan areas as authorities strive to avoid unrest as the 50th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising approaches on March 10:

  Now, the authorities have imposed an unofficial state of martial law on the vast highlands where ethnic Tibetans live, with thousands of troops occupying areas they fear could erupt in renewed rioting on a momentous anniversary next week. And Beijing is determined to keep foreigners from seeing the mass deployment.

  In monasteries and nomad tents, villages and grasslands, the fury of Tibetans against Chinese rule has raged continuously since last year’s riots and the violent repression that followed. They are aware, too, that March 10 marks the 50th anniversary of a failed revolt against Chinese rule that led to the Dalai Lama’s flight into exile in India.

  Signs of simmering resistance abound: Just last week, many of China’s six million Tibetans chose not to celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year, in order to mourn Tibetans who suffered during the clashes last year. Monks have held rallies in parts of Qinghai and Sichuan provinces. Last Friday, a monk from the Kirti Monastery in Sichuan set himself on fire in a market, prompting security officers to shoot at him, according to Tibetan advocacy groups. Local officials deny the shooting.

  Official news reports are claiming that a monk has admitted to spreading a false rumor about the shooting of the burning monk. From China Daily:

  A Tibetan monk has confessed that he made up and spread rumors that police had shot a young Tibetan who set himself on fire last Friday in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, local police said Thursday.

  Jangkor, a monk at the Kirti Monastery in the Aba County of the Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba, acknowledged that he lied to “create greater disturbances so as to attract attention from overseas.”

  Meanwhile, Tibetan officials are playing down reports on rising tensions in Tibet and surrounding areas. AFP reports:

  “There shouldn’t be big problems in Tibet,” Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the region, told reporters.

  He was responding to a question about the upcoming March 10 anniversary which marks 50 years since the failed uprising led to the escape into exile of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s highest spiritual leader.

  Speaking on the first day of the annual meeting of parliament in Beijing, Qiangba admitted that problems happened every year around the same time.

  To understand just how large the gap in understanding is between the Chinese government and pro-Tibet groups, including the Tibetan government-in-exile, see two versions of Tibetan history. First, the government white paper “Fifty Years of Democratic Reform in Tibet,” via Xinhua, and a pamhlet titled “Independent Tibet - Some Facts,” (PDF) published by Rangzen, the world council of Tibetans for an independent Tibet.

  » Read more
  • March 5, 2009 1:36 PM

• China Says Tibetan “Protest” Was Celebration

  

  Following reports that monks in a Tibetan area of Sichuan staged a protest over the weekend, authorities are now saying the participants were in fact celebrating a new administrator at their monastery. From Reuters:

  Shi Jun, Communist Party boss in an ethnically Tibetan part of western Sichuan province, said there is complete religious freedom in his area and foreign news reports had misrepresented a simple celebration, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

  “Having elected a lama to the post of a monastery administrator … lamas with the Se Monastery were overjoyed and congratulated the electee on his success,” Shi told Xinhua. Overseas Tibetans and some Buddhists call the monastery Sey.

  Violent rioting rocked Aba Prefecture, where Shi holds office, last year and discontent appeared to resurface last week when a young monk set himself on fire in the street on Friday.

  From the Xinhua report:

  “Having elected a lama to the post of a monastery administrator, known as “tiebang lama”, which is literally translated as ‘iron-rod lama’, Sunday, lamas with the Se Monastery were overjoyed and congratulated the electee on his success,” the official recounted.

  [...] “This was a normal religious activity but had been distorted as ‘Tibetan lamas protest’ by some foreign media with ulterior motives, we are indignant toward the distorted news reports based on hearsays and are disappointed at those western media which have long touted they are observing ‘objectivity and fairness’ in news reporting”, said Shi.

  Some local residents also said they did not hear or see any lama protest on Sunday.

  » Read more
  • March 3, 2009 3:31 PM

• Tibetan Monk Shot By Chinese Police After Setting Himself on Fire

  

  During the Monlam prayer festival of the Tibetan New Year, a monk set himself on fire and was then shot at Kirti monastery in Aba County, an ethnic Tibetan area of Sichuan province. It is not known whether he is alive or dead. From Telegraph:

  Pro-Tibet activists in London and Hong Kong reported that the monk, called Tabe and said to be in his twenties, walked out of Kirti monastery, an important seat of worship in a majority Tibetan area of Sichuan province, at around 1pm. He was carrying a hand-drawn Tibetan flag carrying a picture of the Dalai Lama.

  He is said to have walked down the main street into nearby Aba town, dousing himself with petrol, finally immolating himself in front of numerous witnesses.

  [...]Armed police, who have flocked into Tibetan areas of China in advance of the 50th anniversary of the uprising that saw the Dalai Lama flee into exile on March 10, surrounded the monk. Three were seen to be carrying guns, and according to one account, three shots were heard.

  Tabe then fell to the ground, where the police extinguished the flames. He was then put into the back of a police van and driven away.

  Two days ago, three ethnic Uighurs set themselves on fire in Beijing’s Wangfujing to air grievances before the coming National People’s Congress session. For more information, see this CDT post.

  » Read more
  • February 27, 2009 11:32 AM

• China Expects Tibet to Celebrate, or Else

  

  The Los Angeles Times reports on Tibetans’ boycott of the traditional new year festival in honor of those killed in the violence in last year’s rioting:

  The Tibetan New Year, or Losar, is normally the most festive holiday of the year, when Tibetans burn incense, make special dumplings and set off fireworks. But this year, Tibetans have declared a moratorium on celebrating their own holiday, saying they will instead observe a mourning period for people killed last year during protests against Chinese rule.

  The 15-day holiday begins Wednesday, and as it approaches, tensions are rising. In the last few weeks, the Chinese government has closed large swaths of western China to foreign visitors — not just Tibet itself, but parts of provinces with large Tibetan populations.

  Nearly a year after the violent demonstrations reportedly left more than 120 dead, Tibetans are trying a novel technique for nonviolent protest. “Say No to Losar,” as the campaign is called, was launched by Tibetan groups in Dharamsala, India, the Dalai Lama’s home in exile.

  » Read more
  • February 23, 2009 11:37 PM

• A Year after China Quashed Revolt, Tibetans Simmer with Resentment (Updated)

  

  In the run-up to the anniversary of last year’s riots in Lhasa, and the 60th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising, tensions are rising in Tibetan areas. McClatchy Newspapers reports from eastern Qinghai:

  On the cusp of the first anniversary of a mass revolt on the Tibetan Plateau that marked the worst ethnic unrest in China in nearly two decades, many Tibetans still seethe at living under China’s thumb. Some engage in small-scale civil disobedience. Others, including monks, brazenly display photographs of the Dalai Lama, the exiled leader they revere as a God-king but that China maligns as a “beast.” Nearly all gripe about a lack of religious and political freedom.

  Another imminent anniversary date adds to the sensitivity of the Tibet issue. March 10 marks 50 years since the Dalai Lama fled across the Himalayas to exile in India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. Fearful of a spasm of new unrest, Beijing has closed off many ethnic Tibetan areas to journalists and made scattered arrests of organizers of resistance campaigns.

  Tibetan monks, nomads and students interviewed recently by McClatchy Newspapers said ethnic tensions have deepened in this eastern region of Qinghai province, which still remains open to reporters.

  Time Magazine reports from Qinghai that Tibetans are refusing to celebrate Tibetan New Year, which begins on February 25, in commemoration of last year’s violence:

  If the sentiment in areas like Qinghai is anything to go by, further protests, arrests and possibly worse seem inevitable given the depth of anger among the Tibetan population. Most Tibetans here refused to undertake any of the public activities that usually mark the coming of the New Year. “There was no dancing or singing. No one let off fireworks, even though the Chinese gave people money to buy them,” says one young villager. He says the decision was not coordinated by outside forces (officials from Tibet’s government in exile have called for a boycott of the celebrations in interviews with the media) but is a spontaneous reflection of Tibetans’ anger over the deaths last March. “Everyone is still very sad and also very angry at the Chinese authorities for what happened. No one felt like celebrating.”

  Meanwhile, in Sichuan, 21 Tibetans have reportedly been arrested for demanding the return to Tibet of the Dalai Lama. And foreigners are being kept out of TIbet in the sensitive period around the anniversaries. From The Telegraph:

  Foreigners require a permit to enter Tibet, but Youth Travel Service, one of the largest travel agencies, said few, if any, permits were being issued.

  “It is very very difficult to get a permit at the moment. We will have to wait and see when they become available again,” said a spokesman.

  Another company, Tsedang China Travel, said it was unsure whether travel would even be possible in April. Mr Wan said the ban on foreigners was for “sensitive, political, reasons”.

  Update: The Washington Post has details on the protests in Lithang County, Sichuan, which is now under lockdown, according to the report:

  Zhou Xiujun, owner of a grocery store, said she witnessed a small protest near the county’s main vegetable market Feb. 15 that escalated into a much larger one around lunchtime Feb. 16. On the second day, she said, she saw several hundred Tibetans gathered downtown shouting, “Long live the Dalai Lama,” the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists who lives in exile in India. In just a few minutes, she said, squads of police arrived and a melee ensued.

  At least one Tibetan protester was swinging a stick, she said, and others were throwing stones. The policemen subdued them using what she called “electronic sticks” and tear gas.

  The Guardian also has a report.

  AP also reports that Tibetan Buddhist clergy have been warned about engaging in any political activity, while the New York Times reports that security has been stepped up in Tibet and Tibetan areas of Sichuan and Qinghai:

  A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said last week that “the situation in Tibet is stable.” But a monk from Lhasa, reached by phone, said, “There are a lot of soldiers and People’s Armed Police in the streets,” referring to China’s main paramilitary force. Like almost all the people interviewed for this article, the monk agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.

  The monk said he, like thousands of other monks, had not been allowed to return to his monastery after being imprisoned for several months last year after the March uprising. Many of the main monasteries are being emptied out, he said. There are only about 400 monks now in the Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, he said, a small fraction of the number before the uprising.

  » Read more
  • February 19, 2009 7:19 PM

• China Says 21 More People Will Go to Prison in Tibet Protests

  

  Authorities have announced that they have made 21 more arrests in connection with the riots in Lhasa last March, bringing the total number of arrests to 76. From the New York Times:

  The new punishments, announced by Xinhua, the official news agency, came three months after the first batch of 55 convicted rioters were sentenced to terms ranging from three years to life for crimes that included robbery, arson and disturbing public order.

  Xinhua said the new punishments were first disclosed by Nyima Tsering, a Communist Party official in Lhasa, at a news briefing in the Tibetan capital on Tuesday.

  He did not provide details about the length of the sentences or the crimes committed for the newest group of convicts. But he suggested that the government had shown leniency toward the 950 people who had been detained since the March 14 riots. “We have been restraining ourselves to a large extent,” he said, according to Xinhua. “We haven’t been using destructive weapons.”

  » Read more
  • February 11, 2009 10:15 PM

CDT BOOKSHELF

FROM CHINESE CITIZEN BLOGGERS 公民博客:

Support CDT - Buy a Grass Mud Horse T-shirt!