19. Nov 2011
India activates border air base
(IANS) The Indian government has "fully re-activate[d]" an advanced landing ground (ALG) at Vijayanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, reportedly in response to China's military infrastructure and capabilities build up in Tibet. Indian Air Force officers told the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) that the airbase, the third in the border state, will be used by fixed wing aircraft like the Soviet-era AN-32 military transporter. The "upgraded" Vijayanagar ALG is close to the point where Indian, Chinese and Myanmarese territories meet in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh. It will help India in quick mobilisation of troops and equipment to the borders during "crisis situations".
19. Nov 2011
Chinese medium teaching begun for preschool rural Tibetans
(eng.tibet.cn) The Chinese government announced that all Tibetan children in rural areas of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) will be given free pre-school education in the Chinese language with Tibetan being also taught as a language subject. This "bilingual" education policy will be part of China's 12th Five-Year Plan, over the period 2011-2015, according to eng.tibet.cn, citing a report of the TAR's 8th Party Congress held in Lhasa. The report said that by the end of 2010, the TAR's 73 counties had implemented free nine-year compulsory education with the enrolment rate for school-aged children accounting for 99.2% and that for primary school graduates reaching 98,2%. With this, all schools in the TAR now have Chinese as the medium in which the pupils are taught.
20. Nov 2011
Nepal, China to construct bridge across the border
(Kantipur Post) Nepal and China have agreed to construct another "friendship bridge" in Rasuwagadhi on the Nepal-Tibet border. The bridge, the second of its kind will be located along the Rasuwagadhi highway and is expected to help expand cross-border trade and transport, as it will link Nepal with major highways in Tibet. "Nepal and China entered an agreement some three months back in China to construct the friendship bridge. The 100-metre bridge will be constructed over the Trishuli river with a NRs 100 million (UK£782,500; US$1,220,703; EUR€910,653) Chinese contribution", Tulsi Prasad Sitaula, secretary at Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, told the Kantipur Post.
21. Nov 2011
Dalai Lama questions wisdom of self-immolations
(BBC) The Dalai Lama has said that he is very worried about the growing number of monks and nuns setting themselves on fire to protest against Chinese rule in Tibet. He told the BBC he was not encouraging such actions - saying there was no doubt they required courage, but questioning how effective they were. "The question is how much effect" the self-immolations have, the Dalai Lama said. "That's the question. There is courage - very strong courage. But how much effect? Courage alone is no substitute. You must utilise your wisdom", he said.
22. Nov 2011
(3 comments)
House to house visits in Ngaba
(RFA) Exile Tibetan sources have told RFA that teams of Chinese officials are going from house to house in the communities of the valleys and highlands of the Ngaba (Chin:Aba) region and are demanding that all children under 18 be sent immediately to government schools. Plainclothes officers are also present in large numbers in Ngaba town, keeping a close watch on the town's central market street, where most of Kirti's self-burnings took place, the sources told RFA.
22. Nov 2011
Public display of the Dalai Lama's portrait in Tibet
(Phayul) A large portrait of the Dalai Lama along with two Tibetan national flags were seen displayed on the roof top of the Ragya monastery in Golok, eastern Tibet (the area traditionally known as Amdo). A Tibetan monk who was formerly resident at Ragya monastery told Phayul that the Dalai Lama's portrait along with the Tibetan flags were seen by many hanging from the roof top of the monastery. "It was left there displayed for some time before the local Chinese officials came and took out the portrait and the Tibetan flags", the monk said. The monk added that no arrested had taken place at the monastery in connection with the protest.
22. Nov 2011
Troops Return to Kirti
(RFA) Chinese authorities in Sichuan province have again dispatched security forces to troubled Kirti monastery, according to exile Tibetan sources. The monastery had held a large prayer meeting on the weekend of 19-20 November to mark an important date in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar, a monk living at Kirti's sister monastery in India told Radio Free Asia (RFA). "Pretty much everyone from the Gelugpa sect attended", the monk said, in a reference to the religious lineage of the Dalai Lama. He told RFA: "This was a major meeting. A lot of security forces were sent, as Kirti was hosting the event". He said security had been relaxed after the meeting.
23. Nov 2011
Nepalese return Tibetan to Tibet
(ICT) Nepalese police forcibly returned a young Tibetan man, who was escaping from Tibet, to the Chinese authorities in September 2011, according to information received by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT). ICT reports that the Tibetan is now in detention in Tibet. It is the first known case of the refoulement of a Tibetan from the border areas of Nepal since June 2010.
24. Nov 2011
Buddhists make Lumbini Declaration
(TibetInfoNet) Representatives from the Buddhist regions Himalayan, together with international delegates representing Nalanda-Tibetan Buddhist traditions gathered in Lumbini, Nepal to convene the First International Conference on Himalayan Buddhism. Under the title, 'The Lumbini Declaration' the two-day conference made a series of pronouncements pertaining to the rights of Buddhists in the region, and in particular emphasising the role that Nepali Buddhists have in the development of Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha. The conference also called for a Global Buddhists Conference to be held in India, within one year, "to create a common platform in the form of an international organization that will protect the living culture and the Bhoti language of the authentic Nalanda-Tibetan forms of Buddhism in all the lands where it has taken root".
25. Nov 2011
Jadrel Rinpoche feared dead
(Phayul) There are reports that Jadrel (or Chadrel) Jampa Trinley Rinpoche, the former Abbot of Tashi Lhunpo monastery and the leader of the search party for the 11th Panchen Lama has died. The Rinpoche had spent six years in prison and was then subjected to house arrest on charges of "colluding with separatist forces abroad" and "revealing state secrets" after Chinese officials discovered that he had communicated his findings to the Dalai Lama and sought his advice. The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in Dharamsala says it received news of the Rinpoche's death from one of his close associates.
27. Nov 2011
India and China scrap border talks after Dalai Lama row
(The Guardian) Tensions between China and India rose after scheduled talks on outstanding border issues were cancelled following a row over a speech by the Dalai Lama at an international Buddhist event in New Delhi. Diplomats were due to discuss the decades-old dispute over the exact line taken by the frontier between the two nations in the Himalayas. The Chinese authorities are believed to have demanded that the Dalai Lama be prevented from giving the keynote speech at an international conference attended by 850 delegates in New Delhi. Indian officials refused. The organisers insisted the event was of a purely cultural and religious nature.
27. Nov 2011
Tibetan held for smuggling wild animals' body parts
(Himalayan Times) Nepalese police have arrested Tashi Namdol Lama, a Tibetan exile living in Nepal, for his alleged involvement in trading in the body parts of endangered wild animals. He has been charged with smuggling rhino horns and tiger skin to Tibet and abroad. "He was featured in the most-wanted list of Bardiya National Parks in Thakurdwar for teaming up with poachers and smuggling the body parts of endangered animals abroad" a police spokesperson said.
29. Nov 2011
Two monks from Kirti detained
(Reuters) Security forces have detained two Tibetan monks from Kirti monastery, three exiled Tibetans told Reuters, citing sources there. Gyamtso, also known as Gyatso, and Losang Gendun, or Lobsang Gendun, were detained at the Kirti monastery in Ngaba prefecture. Gyamtso was taken into custody on 21 November, while Losang Gendun was detained in October, according to two exiled monks in India. One monk based in Dharamsala, told Reuters by telephone that the Ngaba county government and the Public Security Bureau (PSB) did not give the monks any reason for the detentions and that he had no information on their whereabouts. "So far, those two monks were not involved in any sort of political activities or immolations", the monk told Reuters. "They were high-profile religious monks in the Kirti monastery", he said.
01. Dec 2011
Earthquake in Tibet
(IANS) An earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale jolted Tibet, authorities said. The earthquake struck Ngari (Chin: Ali) prefecture at 11:51am, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre. The US Geological Survey, however, said the earthquake measured 5.1 on the Richter scale. The epicentre was at a depth of 10km, reported Xinhua.
01. Dec 2011
Monk sets himself on fire
(RFA) A former monk at Tibet's Karma monastery set himself on fire in protest against Chinese rule in Tibetan areas, a Tibetan source in exile told RFA. Tenzin Phuntsok, in his forties, shouted slogans and distributed leaflets before setting himself on fire. He was reportedly taken to hospital and is believed to have survived. He was a former monk from Karma monastery, Chamdo (Chin: Changdu), TAR. Karma monastery was taken over by Chinese armed police following the 26 October 2011 bombing of a nearby government building.
01. Dec 2011
Tibetans Attack Slaughterhouse
(RFA) Tibetan herders attacked a Chinese-owned slaughterhouse in Sichuan province, demolishing the building and scattering meat along the road, a Tibetan source told RFA. The incident near the town of Minyak Ra Nga Kha in Dartsedo (Chin: Kangding) county in Kardze (Chin: Ganzi) prefecture, then sparked a clash between Tibetans and local police. "When the police arrived, the Tibetans clashed with them. They damaged their vehicles and seized some arms, smashing them and throwing them away", RFA's source said. Additional Chinese forces then arrived and detained ten Tibetans. According to RFA's source, the Tibetans believe that the Chinese slaughterhouse stole their livestock.
01. Dec 2011
International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) created
(Asian Age; TibetInfoNet) The set up of an International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) headquartered in India was announced at an international Buddhist congregation held in New Delhi 27-30 November 2011. The announcement came in the presence of the Dalai Lama, who spoke at the valedictory function. A resolution passed at the end of the conference decided that among the IBC's tasks will be to protect, preserve and promote Buddhist heritage worldwide, and in particular in India and Nepal. The IBC is expected to serve as a countervailing force to the Chinese-backed World Buddhist Forum, which has met twice in the last five years.
02. Dec 2011
TAR opens training for intangible heritage
(Xinhua) Authorities in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) launched a training course for "inheritors of national intangible cultural heritage". Thirty-seven "successors" from 22 national-level intangible cultural heritage projects attended the five-day programme, according to the TAR's Department of Culture. Many cultural heritage "inheritors" are aging and face problems trying to find successors. The training programme is meant to be a tool for cultivating more young "successors".
02. Dec 2011
Tibetan Monks Sentenced
(RFA) Chinese authorities in Gansu province have sentenced two Tibetan monks to lengthy jail terms for their participation in the protests of 2008, according to a Radio Free Asia (RFA) source inside Tibet. The two monks from Tashi Chokorling monastery, both named Tenzin Gyatso, were recently handed sentences of 13 and 15 years respectively, RFA reports. "The older monk, 40, was sentenced to 15 years. He is detained in a prison in Lanzhou. The younger monk was sentenced to 13 years. He is only 24 and is detained in a prison in Dingxi", the source said. The date of the two men's sentencing and the nature of the exact charges on which they were convicted were not immediately clear, and RFA could not reach officials for comment. Tashi Chokorling monastery is located in the Chone (Chin: Zhuoni) county, Kanlho (Chin; Gannan) TAP.
