Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières

Tibet and China: the past in the present

TSERING Shakya — 2009-04-11T07:56:28Z

China's official commemoration of its “liberation” of Tibet in 1959 is underpinned by a colonial vision that denies Tibetan voice and agency, says Tsering Shakya. The Chinese government proclaimed in January 2009 that for the first time a festival called “Serf Liberation Day” is to be celebrated in Tibet, in commemoration of the events of 1959 when Chinese forces occupied Lhasa and established direct control over the country following the uprising of Tibetans (...) - Tibet / Colonisation (Eng)

China clampdown in Tibet

AFP, AP — 2009-01-29T21:43:08Z

'Strike hard' drive ahead of politically sensitive anniversary sees 81 detained BEIJING: China's police have launched a security sweep in Tibet's capital Lhasa, ahead of the politically sensitive anniversary of a crushed uprising against Chinese rule 50 years ago. The Public Security Bureau of Lhasa launched a 'strike hard' campaign against crime on Jan 18, with raids on numerous residential areas, rented rooms, hotels, guesthouses, Internet cafes and (...) - Tibet / Human Rights & Freedoms, Dalaï-lama, Violences (Eng), International Campaign for Tibet (ICT)

China, Tibet and the left

HORE Charlie — 2008-07-19T11:48:16Z

The riots and protests in Tibet earlier this year were the most significant since China's takeover in the 1950s. Together with the protests that have accompanied the Olympic torch relay around the world, they have shown that Tibetan nationalism remains a potent force and that opposition to the Chinese occupation is still widespread. But the international left has been divided on whether to support the Tibetan protesters, with some openly backing the Chinese occupation, while others (...) - Tibet / Left forces, Liberation Struggle, History (past)

Chinese intellectuals condemn Tibet crackdown

FRENCH Howard W. — 2008-07-19T11:39:43Z

SHANGHAI: A group of prominent Chinese intellectuals has circulated a petition urging the government to stop what it calls a “one-sided” propaganda campaign on Tibet and initiate dialogue with the Dalai Lama. The petition, signed by more than two dozen writers, journalists and scholars, contains 12 recommendations. Taken together, they represent a sharp break from the government's response to the wave of demonstrations that swept Tibetan areas of the country in recent (...) - Tibet

The Gulf Between Tibet and Its Exiles

TSERING Shakya — 2008-07-19T10:31:39Z

Two recent articles concerning the unrest in Tibet purport to prove that the March unrest in Tibet was the result of foreign instigation. As a result, they have since been heavily featured in official Chinese news media, including CCTV, as well as on the Internet. This episode tells us much about the government's efforts to influence domestic and international perception of the conflict in Tibet, as well as Chinese misconceptions about the nature of the linkage between Tibetans at (...) - Tibet / India, USA (Eng), Association and NGO

Tibet: Death by consumerism

HILSUM Lindsey — 2008-07-19T09:57:50Z

As part of its “civilising mission” - and to deter independence - China is taking control of the Tibetan economy. Modernity is being imposed by force, creating ghettos and spreading deprivation across the countryside. Smoke from incense burners scented the air as crowds of pilgrims laboured uphill in the dark. At dawn, four monks in maroon and saffron robes climbed on to the roof of the Dre pung monastery overlooking Lhasa. They blew deep, reverberating horns, heralding the (...) - Tibet / Religion (Eng), Development, Economy, Culture (Eng)

Thunder from Tibet

BARNETT Robert — 2008-07-19T09:41:47Z

Review of The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama by Pico Iyer, Knopf, 275 pp., $24.00. 1. Every so often, between the time a book leaves its publisher and the time it reaches its readers, events occur that change the ways it can be read. Such is the case with Pico Iyer's account of the fourteenth Dalai Lama, the exiled leader of Tibet. The eruption of major protests in March in the former mountain kingdom has rendered Iyer's gentle study of spirituality (...) - Tibet / Liberation Struggle, History (past), Dalaï-lama, IYER Pico

“Not You! You!!!” – Tibet and Palestine

AVNERY Uri — 2008-07-18T09:31:45Z

“Hey! Take your hands off me! Not you! You!!!”—the voice of a young woman in the darkened cinema, an old joke. “Hey! Take your hands off Tibet!” the international chorus is crying out, “But not from Chechnya! Not from the Basque homeland! And certainly not from Palestine!” And that is not a joke. * * * LIKE EVERYBODY else, I support the right of the Tibetan people to independence, or at least autonomy. Like everybody else, I condemn the actions (...) - Tibet / USA (Eng), Liberation Struggle, Internationalism (Eng), Palestine (Eng), Euskadi, Chechenia

China vs The Lama and Tibet: He may be good, but he's no politician

FRENCH Patrick — 2008-04-30T18:49:19Z

NEARLY a decade ago, while staying with a nomad family in the remote grasslands of northeastern Tibet, I asked Namdrub, a man who fought in the anti-Communist resistance in the 1950s, what he thought about the exiled Tibetans who campaigned for his freedom. "It may make them feel good, but for us, it makes life worse,“he replied.”It makes the Chinese create more controls over us. Tibet is too important to the Communists for them even to discuss independence." Protests (...) - Tibet / USA (Eng)

Twelve Suggestions for Dealing with the Tibetan Situation, by Some Chinese Intellectuals

Collective, WANG Lixiong — 2008-04-27T14:53:58Z

By Wang Lixiong and over 300 others... 1. At present the one-sided propaganda of the official Chinese media is having the effect of stirring up inter-ethnic animosity and aggravating an already tense situation. This is extremely detrimental to the long-term goal of safeguarding national unity. We call for such propaganda to be stopped. 2. We support the Dalai Lama's appeal for peace, and hope that the ethnic conflict can be dealt with according to the principles of goodwill, peace, (...) - Tibet