China Digital Times

Stories tagged with: Tibet protests (148)

• The Next Tibetan Uprising?

  

  Chinese intellectual Wang Lixiong posted an essay on his wife Woeser’s blog in which he predicts that an uprising in Tibet following the Dalai Lama’s death will be even larger in scale than the protests in Lhasa this March. He suggests that a resolution of the Tibet issue before the Dalai Lama dies may be the only way to prevent such violence. John Pomfret provides a translation on his Washington Post blog:

  All those who understand Tibet know that the Dalai Lama’s fate is like a wound in every Tibetan’s heart. As Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leader, this bodhisattva has made tremendous sacrifices. He has relinquished the demand for independence, and just desires a high degree of autonomy to preserve Tibet’s unique culture and religion. But to these modest conditions the Chinese government has responded with unceasing humiliation. They have not permitted the Dalai Lama to return to his birthplace, not permitted him to meet his people who have waited a whole lifetime to see him. In this way they will be parted forever by death. This kind of pain is incomparable. While the Dalai Lama is still alive, no matter how many obstacles are encountered, Tibetans harbor hope. But once the Dalai Lama dies, this hope will be replaced by despair, anger will outweigh fear, grief will give rise to frenzy. For these reasons the next uprising will be extremely fierce. The scope will be broader, the affected area
  greater, and the number of participants larger than those of spring 2008. And it will not be possible to pacify it in a short period of time.

  The essay responds to an article in May by Tibet scholar Robert Barnett in the New York Review of Books.

  » Read more
  • October 29, 2008 9:45 PM

• China Jails Tibetan Monks Convicted in Bomb Blast

  

  From AP:

  Eight Buddhist monks convicted of bombing a government building in Tibet during an anti-government uprising in March have been sentenced to prison, two of them for life, a judge said Tuesday.

  The monks were sentenced after being convicted of setting off a bomb at the building in Gyanbe township, said Gang Weilai, the judge who presided over the case at the People’s Court in Chamdo, a Tibetan prefecture.

  Gyanbe is about 855 miles east of Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, where peaceful protests against Chinese rule erupted into violence in March.

  Gyurmey Dhondup and Kalsang Tsering were sentenced to life in prison while the others received sentences between five and 15 years, Gang said in a telephone interview. He said the monks did not appeal their sentences.

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  • October 14, 2008 3:26 AM

• China’s Grip Still Firm on Tibetan Area

  

  The BBC writes an update from Tibetan areas in Gansu that were the scene of unrest this spring and still have a heavy police presence:

  Outside town, in the small villages that line the valley roads, farmers are harvesting highland barley and potatoes. Others herd goats.

  But things are not as they were before the unrest, as one farmer with a weather-beaten face and a gold tooth was willing to explain. “It hasn’t returned to normal yet. They’ve released some of the people from prison, but not all of them,” he said as he sat on a hillside near the village of Yumo.

  The Chinese government blames the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism’s exiled spiritual leader, for orchestrating the unrest earlier this year. But the farmer dismissed such claims. “We rose up on our own because there are no human rights here,” he said.

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  • September 25, 2008 9:09 PM

• Busted in Beijing

  

  Vanity Fair interviews two American activists who were arrested in Beijing after participating in pro-Tibet protests during the Olympics:

  For years, Watterberg has lived a double life. By trade, he’s a bartender and rocker in Manhattan and Brooklyn. By calling, the 30-year-old Eagle Scout and son of an Air Force bomber pilot is an underground “sleeper cell,” a mercenary of sorts, for the pro-environment, human-rights activist set.

  Six months earlier, Watterberg had been tapped to perform the grand finale in what organizers with Students for a Free Tibet, the umbrella group orchestrating protests at the 2008 Summer Olympics, hoped would be one of the largest coordinated nonviolent demonstrations in history.

  “If we get in, if we succeed, it will be the highest honor of my life,” Watterberg told me.

  Read also an interview with artist activist James Powderly about his experience in Beijing including a stint in prison.

  » Read more
  • September 3, 2008 9:39 PM

• China Unlikely to Loosen Its Grip in West

  

  The Washington Post looks at the possible repercussions from the continued violent attacks against police in Xinjiang, including one this week in which two police officers were killed:

  The attack was the fourth incident this month in the area, bringing the total dead to 33 despite intense paramilitary police patrols since before Beijing’s Summer Olympic Games.

  In both Xinjiang and the nearby Tibetan regions, China has deployed thousands of security personnel in recent months to keep the peace and root out troublemakers. Now the government might consider keeping those forces in the regions indefinitely, experts said, because tensions remain high. Required affirmations of political loyalty and surveillance of telephone calls, Internet use and physical movement are also expected to continue.

  “Three days ago, I called my mother back in Tibet,” said Tenzin Losel, who fled Tibet for India in 1997 and had not spoken with his parents since this spring’s riot in Lhasa and the ensuing wave of anti-government protests that swept the Tibetan plateau. He said he did not want his call to get them in trouble with police, but he wanted to hear his mother’s voice. “She said hello and that she was okay. Then she asked if I was okay and after I said yes, she just put down the phone. I felt in that moment the tense division in Tibet.”

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  • August 29, 2008 9:18 PM

• Artist Tells About Chinese Ordeal

  

  James Powderly, the artist activist recently arrested in Beijing for participating in pro-Tibet protests, talks about his experience in Beijing for Artnet News:

  The real cloak-and-dagger part of Powderly’s adventure began when he arrived in Beijing on Aug. 15 without a finished device. “I assumed that I would do the prototyping in Beijing,” he said. On Aug. 16, he made contact with a member of Students for a Free Tibet, and did a “suitcase swap,” giving the activist a container of LED lights and batteries he had brought into the country, while the SFT representative gave him items he could repurpose to create his device, including a laser printer and transparencies. On Aug. 18, at an apartment on the outskirts of the city, he finished his prototype, testing it out by projecting two small-scale messages out of his window, using the test slogans “I<3 China" and "Free Beer" (both insider references to the power of wired activism). It was, he says, the only artistic project that he would get to do in China.

  By this time, Powderly says that he had also become aware that he was being followed, having noticed a woman tailing him at the Beijing Wal-Mart Superstore, where he had picked up materials to complete the laser. Seeing the same woman once again on the subway, Powderly had pretended to be falling asleep, then threw himself abruptly from the car at his stop, believing that he had thereby lost her. Later, he met with a group of fellow activists at a bar to discuss the possibility that they were being surveilled -- only to be greeted outside by the same woman, and a large team of secret police. Powderly was seized, along with the other "Free Tibet" activists: Brian Conley, Jeff Goldin, Tom Grant, Michael Liss and Jeffrey Rae...

  In jail, he says, they were kept in a state of uncertainty as to their fate. Powderly was held in what he describes as a 10 x 5 meter cell, shared with numerous other prisoners. Among his cellmates was "Emmanuel," a Ghanaian man who had a PhD in economics who spoke Mandarin and English, but who had overstayed his visa, and a man named "Roger," who was from Cameroon, and who also had an expired visa. Another cellmate was a 51-year-old Mongolian man who claimed to have no idea why he was there. None knew how long they would be held.

  Activities in Chongwen were strictly regimented. "Thirty minutes standing, thirty minutes walking in a circle, two hours of nap, and so on," Powderly recounts. Each day, he was taken to the "Inquisition Room," which the artist describes as "blood-spattered, really like something from a movie," where he was sat in a metal chair and asked the same set of questions about what he had been planning and what he was doing in China over and over again. "After a while, the questions became pretty pointless," he said.

  See extensive photographs of Powderly’s Beijing visit here, on a site created by Powderly to protest Flickr owner Yahoo’s role in the arrest of Shi Tao.

  » Read more
  • August 27, 2008 10:01 PM

• China Frees 8 American Protesters After Diplomatic Pressure

  

  Eight Americans and a Briton who were serving ten-day sentences for staging pro-Tibet protests during the Olympics have been released, according to the Washington Post:

  Top diplomats at the U.S. and British embassies earlier in the day had pressed for the immediate release of 10 foreigners — the eight Americans, a Briton and a German citizen of Tibetan origin. All had been sentenced to 10 days of detention after police swarmed their unauthorized pro-Tibet demonstrations last week. Forty-eight other foreign protesters detained by Chinese authorities during the Games were immediately deported.

  The Briton was still being held but was expected to be deported Monday morning, a source said. The fate of the German was unclear, but he was also expected to be released.

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  • August 24, 2008 9:32 PM

• Elevate China-Nepal Ties to New High: Prachanda

  

  As Nepalese and Chinese officials met this weekend for diplomatic discussions, Nepal’s Tibetan refugees staged their final protests of the Olympic Games. Nepal houses over 20,000 Tibetan refugees, but has sided with the Chinese government against Tibet, and has restrained Tibetan protesters. From the Hindu:

  China’s President Hu Jintao met Nepal’s Prime Minister Prachanda here on Sunday to exchange views on bilateral relations.

  Mr. Hu welcomed Mr. Prachanda to the Beijing Olympics’ closing ceremony and expressed gratitude to Nepal for its support to the Games. Mr. Prachanda said the Beijing Games have turned over a new leaf in Olympic history and the Nepalese people feel proud for the Chinese.

  Mr. Hu said: “The two countries have established a good neighbourly partnership and enjoyed friendship generation upon generation.” China respects the social system and path of development chosen by Nepal and supports its efforts in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity, he added.

  Mr. Hu thanked Nepal for adhering to the one-China policy and firmly supporting China on the Tibet issue.

  The International Herald Tribune covered the protest on Sunday:

  About 2,000 Tibetan exiles, including children, monks and nuns, joined a protest rally in Katmandu on Sunday, hours before the closing ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing.

  Maroon-robed monks and nuns with shaven heads, some with Tibetan flags and placards calling for independence, were among the participants who walked silently for eight kilometers, or five miles on the outskirts of the Nepali capital.

  In Katmandu, the police kept a strict vigil and snatched some flags, but they let the march continue from the Boudha suburb to the ancient monastery of Swyambhu outside the main city.

  Reuters India gives a brief description of the protests during the last week of the Olympics:

  Nepali police detained about 200 Tibetan exiles who tried to march to the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu on Tuesday protesting against China’s crackdown in their homeland in March, police said.

  Protesters, including nuns and monks, shouted “China, thief, leave our country” and “We want free Tibet” as they were picked up by police.

  Nearly 10,000 refugees have been detained in Nepal so far. Most are released after a day or so.

  See also pictures of the August 19th and earlier Tibetan protests in Nepal from fubu tibetan on flickr.com.

  » Read more
  • August 24, 2008 4:27 PM

• 10 Foreign Protesters Detained in Beijing

  

  Ten more foreign protesters have been arrested in Beijing, and this time they have been given a ten-day administrative detention order. From the New York Times:

  Reached by telephone, Public Security Bureau officials declined to comment, but faxed a two-sentence statement explaining that the six Americans had been “apprehended for upsetting public order.” The statement, which did not include the detainees’ names, said the men were being held at the Dongcheng police station.

  According to Students for a Free Tibet, among those in custody were Brian Conley, a video blogger from Philadelphia, and James Powderly, an artist from New York who had been planning to project the words “Free Tibet” on a building with laser beams. The others are Jeff Goldin, Michael Liss, and Tom Grant, all from New York, and Jeffrey Rae from Philadelphia.

  The Students for a Free Tibet website has an update, saying that all ten protesters, including a Tibetan-German and a British citizen have also been sentenced to ten days detention. Those detained include video artist James Powderly of Graffiti Research Lab and video blogger Brian Conley of Alive in Baghdad. Watch a video clip about Powderly and their protest action in Beijing:

  And a video of the actual protest:

  » Read more
  • August 22, 2008 9:37 AM

• 5 Americans Are Arrested for Protest in Beijing (Video Added)

  

  Five Americans have been arrested in Beijing for staging another pro-Tibet protest. From the New York Times:

  On Tuesday, five protesters hoisted a banner near the National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest, around 11 p.m. and projected their message in Chinese and English using blue lights. The display lasted just 20 seconds before the police intervened, organizers said. The arrested protesters were Amy Johnson, 33, Sam Corbin, 24, Liza Smith, 31, Jacob Blumenfeld, 26, and Lauren Valle, 21.

  Less information was available about the other three detained protesters, who intended to use lasers to spell out “Free Tibet” on a Beijing landmark. Organizers said it was unclear which landmark was to have been used.

  The project’s mastermind, James Powderly, 31, is a Brooklyn artist who recently showed his work at an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York entitled “Design and the Elastic Mind.” His wife, Michelle Kempner, said he had planned to show his work at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing but withdrew after learning the contents of the show would be subject to official approval.

  In a related story, the Boston Globe has an interview with a protester who was deported from Beijing after participating in a similar protest:

  Langer, 34, and five other demonstrators from his group were arrested and forced out of China on Friday after hanging a 375-square-foot “Free Tibet” sign from the façade of the headquarters of state-run China Central Television. The organization also protested at the Birds Nest Stadium, in Tiananmen Square, and at the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park.

  “It was a little disconcerting,” Langer said of his arrest. “I was detained in Beijing for nine hours.”

  » Read more
  • August 19, 2008 9:22 PM

• Video: Leaving Fear Behind

  

  A hotel in Beijing was reportedly closed down on the eve of the Olympics opening after pro-Tibet activists invited foreign media for a screening of a documentary in which Tibetans are interviewed about their feelings about the Games. ABC News has a video report on the incident. Reuters reports:

  The film featured a series of interviews with Tibetans talking about how their culture had been trampled on, how they still loved exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and how they viewed the Olympics as having done little to improve their lives.

  “Outsiders may think that the Tibetans are treated very well and that they are happy. But the truth is that Tibetans are not free to speak of their suffering,” one Tibetan said on the film.

  “Even if I had to sacrifice my life for this message to be seen by the Dalai Lama, I agree and welcome this chance,” said another.

  Al Jazeera reports on the film screening:

  The second screening, at Hotel G next to the Worker’s Stadium, one of the Olympic venues, was broken up by the hotel management.

  “You know the situation in China,” the hotel’s general manager, Nikolaus Ellrodt, appealed to the journalists watching the video. “It’s better for us if you leave … The PSB [police] are downstairs and know you are here.”

  Hotel G paid a stiff penalty for hosting the private video event. Hours later, reception said they were no longer accepting guests and did not know when it would reopen.

  The filmmakers were arrested in March and are still in detention. The official website is here. Clips of the film are available on YouTube:

  » Read more
  • August 15, 2008 10:46 PM

• In Beijing, Do Splashy Protests Pay Dividends?

  

  Mark Magnier reports in the Los Angeles Times, from Beijing:

  The eight foreigners detained Wednesday near the Olympic Village after unfurling a “Free Tibet” banner followed pole sitters, pirate radio jocks and slogan-shouting Christian activists in finding holes through China’s security operation to challenge its human rights policies.

  The question is whether their protests will make any difference.

  In the short term, such stunts do little more than gain publicity for their causes. Given the government’s skill at controlling information, their message is unlikely to reach many Chinese citizens.

  And though some human rights activists urge using quieter means to press for change, China is more sensitive to foreign pressure than it acknowledges. Some say wacky antics can heighten global attention that eventually could lead to greater openness.

  » Read more
  • August 13, 2008 11:51 PM

• Five Stage Pro-Tibet “Die-in” in Tiananmen Square (With Videos)

  

  From monstersandcritics.com:

  Beijing - Chinese police on Saturday detained five members of groups promoting independence for Tibet after they staged a ‘die-in’ in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, a witness and supporters said.
  Photographs and a video distributed by the London-based Free Tibet Campaign showed four of the protesters wrapped in Tibetan flags and lying on the square to stage the ‘mock die-in’.
  The fifth protester, identified by the group as Canadian citizen Christopher Shwartz, stood in front of them to explain to onlookers that they were ‘calling for an end to the Chinese government’s occupation of Tibet’.

  ‘We’re here from several different countries to speak out for the people of Tibet,’ the video showed Shwartz, 24, saying in the square.

  ‘This peaceful protest is also to shine a light on human rights abuses inside of Tibet during the occupation (by China),’ he said.

  Here are videos:

  (1) In china, at t square
  i happen to have stumbled upon a set of protesters in tiananmen square

  (2) One of the journalists who was recorded the protest had is passport stolen by security/police. 10 mins later his passport was returned.

  Read also: Canadian protester detained in Beijing.

  » Read more
  • August 9, 2008 1:51 PM

• Torch Relay Ends with a Bang (Updated with video)

  

  BBC is reporting that four foreigners have been arrested in Beijing for scaling 120-foot light poles and unfurling 140 square foot pro-Tibet banners outside the Bird’s Nest stadium during the final leg of the Olympic torch relay:

  Meanwhile state media reported that four pro-Tibet activists from Britain and the US had been arrested in Beijing after a brief protest close to the Olympic stadium.

  They had unfurled two large “Free Tibet” banners from electricity poles, despite tight security.

  Students for a Free Tibet is taking credit for the stunt.

  

  Read also: Tibet protesters fly flag near Beijing’s Bird Nest on the Star by Bill Schiller.

  The Xinhua reports, via the China Daily: 4 foreign nationals ordered to leave China:

  Two Americans and two British nationals have been ordered to leave China “within a prescribed time limit” after displaying “Free Tibet” banners near an Olympic venue in Beijing on Wednesday, local police said.

  Two are expected to leave on Wednesday night and the other two on Thursday.

  “They disrupted public order and violated Chinese laws. Their period of stay in the country will hereby be cut short according to the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Control of the Entry and Exit of Aliens,” the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau said in a statement issued late on Wednesday.

  The four, three men and one woman, had entered China on tourist visas.

  They gathered at about 5:47 am at the Beichen Overpass near the National Stadium, or Bird’s Nest, in Chaoyang District in northeast Beijing.

  Two of the men climbed up two electricity poles and hung the banners.

  One banner bore large black letters declaring “One World One Dream Free Tibet,” while the other said: “Tibet will be free” in English and “Free Tibet” in Chinese.

  Local police rushed to the scene 12 minutes later and took them away.

  The Guardian reports: Tibet demo Britons ‘to be deported‘:

  Two British Free Tibet campaigners are in custody in China after unfurling a Tibetan flag and banner outside the Olympic stadium.

  Lucy Fairbrother, 23, and Iain Thom, 24, were arrested in Beijing alongside two US activists. All four are expected to be deported at the earliest opportunity, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua.

  As the British Embassy in the Chinese capital continued to try to get access to the pair, who are members of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), their families spoke of their pride.

  This news on the web, via Google News.

  » Read more
  • August 5, 2008 9:27 PM

• CDT Interview Series: Chinese Journalists Talk About the Olympics, Tibet, and Cross-Cultural Understanding (4)

  

  [Editor's Note: Since March, a series of events including unrest in Lhasa and protests following the Olympic torch relay, have brought to the surface a clash between nationalist elements of the Chinese public and international critics of China. Because of tight control by the propaganda department, the issues of Tibet, foreign criticism of China's human rights record, and nationalism are not allowed to be publicly debated in the Chinese media. But what do Chinese journalists really think about these issues? In an effort to gain a more nuanced answer to this question, CDT interviewed four working Chinese journalists. Most of the interviewees prefer to remain anonymous. They are all based in Beijing and work in various national magazines and newspapers. CDT has not edited their responses.

  The last interview follows. The first three interviews are here, here and here.]

  » Read more
  • July 31, 2008 10:32 PM