05. Jan 2010
2 Tibetan nuns sentenced in Kardze
(VOT) Dartsedo (Chin: Kanding) Intermediate People's Court, in Kardze (Chin: Ganzi) TAP, Sichuan province, gave two Tibetan nuns sentences of two and three years imprisonment on 17 November 2009, according to Voice of Tibet (VOT) radio service. Nordon and Lhawang Dekyi, both nuns of Nyima Getsul nunnery in Dartsedo, were arrested on 17 March 2009 for holding a "peaceful protest" in Kardze. Nordon received two years, while Lhawang Dekyi got three. The two nuns were among the 15 Tibetan political prisoners who were paraded on 05 April 2009 through the streets of Kardze. The prisoners had their heads shaven, and their hands and legs chained.
06. Jan 2010
Six years for Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen
(Tibet.net) The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in Dharamsala has announced that the Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen has been sentenced to six years in prison. The sentence was pronounced on 28 December 2009, according to the report, but it is not known where he was tried. Dhondup Wangchen, and his assistant Golok Jigme or Jigme Gyatso, were arrested by the Chinese authorities on 23 March 2008 while making the film "Leaving Fear Behind" in Tibet. Jigme Gyatso was released on bail seven months later saying he had been tortured in detention. Wangchen's lawyer, Li Dunyong reported that his client had also been tortured in order to extract a confession and that some of the injuries he sustained as a result were still painful a year later. Wangchen has been suffering from hepatitis B, for which he said he has been denied adequate medical treatment
07. Jan 2010
China withdraws films in protest over Dalai Lama documentary
(CBC) Two Chinese films have been pulled from the 21st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival in protest over a documentary about the life of the Dalai Lama. Representatives from the Chinese government met with festival director Darryl Macdonald to request the cancellation of the film 'The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet's Struggle for Freedom', by Tibetan filmmaker Tenzing Sonam and his Indian wife Ritu Sarin, according to a statement on the festival website. When Macdonald refused to pull the film, the Chinese withdrew the films 'City of Life and Death' and 'Quick, Quick, Slow'. Macdonald said he was saddened by the decision but that agreeing to the Beijing's demands would have set a bad precedent. He said: "We cannot allow the concerns of one country or community to dictate what films we should or should not play, based on their own cultural or political perspective".
09. Jan 2010
The Dalai Lama defends his stance on Shugden worship
(Tibet Post) Before a ceremony in Bodhgaya, the Dalai Lama spoke briefly about the Shugden/Dolgyal controversy. He advised his devotees to resist the worship of Shugden/Dolgyal as a potentially divisive practice, which he claimed would be "harmful to the teacher-disciple relationship". He explained to his Chinese devotees: "In Taiwan and China, the Dolgyal followers are trying to have influence with the help and support of Chinese government. They use it [their practice] as a tool against me, claiming that the Dalai Lama was censoring them. When some Tibetan monasteries tried to stop the practice for a while, the Chinese government didn't allow them, and then slowly it became a political issue".
12. Jan 2010
Two Machu schools shut down
(VOT) VOT radio service reports that an intermediate school (Tib: Lobding) and an elementary school (Tib: Lobchung) in Machu (Chin: Maqu) county Kanlho (Chin: Gannan) TAP, Gansu province, have been closed down due to "fear of protest". An education seminar on Tibetan language by a noted Tibetan scholar, Dong Yonten Gyatso, was to be organised jointly by 'Bhoerig Lobda Dringwa', 'Mangtroe Phakey Tsokpa' (a group for preservation of Tibetan Language) and 'Mani Tsokpa'. The seminar's name - "Bhoemii Kyiduk Nyamnyong" ("Tibetan people's happiness and suffering experienced together") - is derived from a slogan used in 2008 by protesting students in the county.
15. Jan 2010
Man from Ngaba sentenced to 6 years
(Phayul) Phayul reports that a Tibetan man, Dolma Namgyal, who was arrested in 2008 for alleged links with "separatist forces of the Dalai clique" has been sentenced to six years' imprisonment. According to the report, his family had no information about his whereabouts, since his arrest in Chengdu in April 2008, until 14 January 2010, the day his sentence was passed. The Emergency Coordination Committee, of Kirti monastery in Dharamsala said that Namgyal is currently being held in a prison in Chengdu, Sichuan province.
15. Jan 2010
US to protest to China over Google
(BBC) The US state department says it will make a formal protest to China over alleged cyber-attacks on the internet search giant, Google. A spokesman said the US would demand an explanation. Google has threatened to pull out of China because of what it said were hacking attacks and censorship; Beijing has tried to play down the threat. Another US internet giant, Yahoo, is also reported to have been targeted by hackers in China. "We will be issuing a formal demarche to the Chinese government in Beijing on this issue in the coming days", said state department spokesperson PJ Crowley. Google had stated that cyber-attacks originating in China aimed at rights activists, and increased web censorship, might force it to end its China operations. Google announced that it was no longer willing to censor its Chinese search engine - google.cn. In response to Google's concerns, China has said that foreign internet firms are welcome to do business there "according to the law". Jiang Yu, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, insisted the internet was "open" in China.
15. Jan 2010
China honours units of armed police force
(Xinhua) China's central government and Central Military Commission jointly honoured two units of the People's Armed Police (PAP), one based in the TAR, calling them "outstanding examples". Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council and Chairman Hu Jintao of the Central Military Commission issued a mandate to give a Class I Merit Citation to the PAPF's No. 8741 troop. Xinhua, reporting, gave no details of the troop or where it operated, saying only that it made a "prominent contribution to the fulfillment of some important missions". The other citation, also issued by Premier Wen and Chairman Hu, gave the honorary title: "Hero Squadron of the Snowy Plateau" to a special service squadron of the PAPF's contingent in the TAR, again giving no information about its operations. The PAPF is under the dual command of the State Council and the Central Military Commission.
