11 June 2008
US-EU joint statement on Tibet
(Guardian; VOA; Xinhua)The United States and the European Union have called on China to hold talks again soon with the Dalai Lama's representatives. US and EU leaders issued a joint statement after meeting in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana. Their statement expressed concern about recent unrest in Tibet and urged all sides to refrain from further violence. The statement said: "We encourage both parties to move forward with a substantive, constructive and results-oriented dialogue at an early date". The statement also asked the Chinese government to address "its poor human rights record" and allow its citizens to enjoy "internationally recognised human rights". Beijing rejected the calls to hold talks with the Dalai Lama and accused the US and EU of double standards on human rights. "The Chinese side opposes the joint declaration of the EU-US summit on the issue of Tibet", foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement on the ministry's website.
13 June 2008
Canadian Parliamentarians write to Hu Jintao about Tibet
(CTC) 102 Canadian Parliamentarians from all parties and both Houses wrote to Chinese President Hu Jintao on 06 June. Writing "in the spirit of friendship and respect", the MPs and senators urged that negotiations with the Dalai Lama "begin in earnest with a firm commitment to reach a settlement within a reasonable timeframe". "In this Olympic year, we urge Hu Jintao to embrace the unifying spirit of the Games by reaching out to Tibetans with an open mind to bring this longstanding dispute to an honourable resolution", said Senator Consiglio Di Nino, Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Tibet. Canada's Parliament has actively taken up the Tibetan issue in recent years. All parties supported motions granting the Dalai Lama honorary citizenship (2006) and a motion calling for an autonomous Tibet within a sovereign China (15 February 2007). In 2007, the Dalai Lama met with the Prime Minister, the Governor General, leaders of the all the opposition parties, and a large number of parliamentarians.
14 June 2008
Beijing restricts supplies in Mustang
(PTI; TibetInfoNet) Beijing has restricted movement over the Tibetan-Nepali border in the Mustang area, leading to a supply bottleneck. Mustang has no direct road link with Kathmandu and in recent years local people have become increasingly dependent on Tibet for food and other supplies. Since May 2008, Beijing has stopped issuing visas to visitors at Choser, the border check point, and imposed restrictions on local people. The development comes at a time when there have been almost daily anti-China protests in Kathmandu, enraging the Chinese authorities. In other sectors of the border though, for instance in Tatopani, the main gate to Tibet, Nepali nationals have been able to cross over for shopping on daily permit basis throughout the events of March-April 2008.
16 June 2008
Dalai Lama in Australia
(AFP; ATC; Phayul) The Dalai Lama left Australia after a five-day visit, during which he met the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, who represented Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who was in Tokyo on an official visit. Mr Rudd denied snubbing the Dalai Lama, and told a news conference that he was ready to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader in the future. Mr Evans described his discussions with the Dalai Lama as open and instructive. He said he conveyed the Australian Government's enthusiasm for continued talks between Chinese officials and envoys of the Dalai Lama. During his Australian trip, the Dalai Lama gave teachings, attended by 6,000 people, and a public talk attended by 4,500. He also spoke with 200 members of Australia’s Chinese community, 600 members of Australia’s Tibetan and Mongolian communities, 200 Australian and Chinese journalists and 120 influential Australians including 12 Federal Parliamentarians.
17 June 2008
Tibetan marchers arrested
(AP; Phayul) Indian police have arrested 50 Tibetan exiles marching to Tibet to protest against Chinese rule as they entered Dharchula, the last Indian town before the Tibetan border. In groups of four, the marchers approached the blockade of police officers, attempting to break through in order to continue on their way. The 200 police officers arrested them and took them away on two waiting buses.
17 June 2008
Beijing blames Dalai Lama for Kathmandu protests
(IANS) Beijing has accused the Dalai Lama of organising the Tibetan protests, which are being held on an almost daily basis in Kathmandu, via a third party who is holding "secret meetings with the ringleaders of some organisations". China's ambassador to Nepal Zheng Xianglin accused the Dalai Lama and the CTA in Dharamsala of sending someone to Kathmandu to incite the protests. The ambassador told the Rising Nepal newspaper: "A leader despatched by the Tibetan government in exile is in Kathmandu now, holding secret meetings with the ringleaders of some organisations for Tibetan independence and plotting various anti-China activities". Beijing has been urging Nepal's new government to come down hard on the protesters in Kathmandu.
17 June 2008
China confirms one-day torch relay in Tibet
(AFP) The organising committee of the Beijing Games confirmed that the Olympic torch would travel to Tibet only for a day. "After the Sichuan earthquake on 12 May, the Beijing Olympic organising committee has carried out adjustments to the domestic legs of the torch relay", the committee said in a statement on its website. "The Tibet Autonomous Region leg of the relay will be on June 21, with the relay taking place in Lhasa". Xinhua reported earlier that China had scrapped its plans to take the torch through Tibet for three days due to the quake and that it would be replaced by a trip of just one day, but officials had so far declined comment.
18 June 2008
Amnesty says 1,000 detained in Tibet
(AI) Amnesty International (AI) urged the Chinese government to provide information about the over 1,000 people detained during the protests in March-April 2008, and called for free access to Tibet by independent observers. The call came as AI published an update on the situation in Tibet since the outbreak of protests. "There is very little information coming out of Tibet, but the information we have paints a dire picture of arbitrary detentions and abuse of detainees", said Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific Director at Amnesty International. Official reports only provide information on a small number of those who have been sentenced after questionable trials.
18 June 2008
Lhasa to re-open to foreign tourists soon
(Xinhua) Lhasa, will soon re-open to foreign tourists, with the date to be announced after the Tibet leg of the Olympic torch relay on 21 June, local officials told reporters. Lhasa earlier re-opened to Chinese tour groups and would resume accepting foreign tourists "very soon", said vice mayor Chen Zhichang. The re-opening date would be officially announced when the Tibet leg of the Olympic torch relay ended, said Jiang Ga, director of the Lhasa tourism bureau. However, neither official said whether other parts of Tibet would be re-opened to foreign travellers at the same time.
20 June 2008
Prominent Tibetans arrested in Kathmandu
(PTI; Reuters; TibetInfoNet) Nepalese authorities arrested three Tibetans and charged them with anti-China activities. Police said the three Tibetans - Kelsang Chung, director of the Tibetan Refugee Reception Centre in Kathmandu; Ngawang Sangmo and Tashi Dolma, senior officials of the regional Tibetan Women's Association - were arrested from their homes in dawn raids. Their arrests came amid ongoing daily street protests, and over 600 protesters were detained on 19 June for trying to storm a visa office of the Chinese Embassy. A police spokesman said that the three Tibetans were detained under Nepal's Public Security Act and could be held in custody for 90 days. Later, a police superintendent announced that most of the demonstrators would be released, but not the three: "They will be put into jail for a longer period on charges of provoking anti-China demonstrations", he said. The Tibetan Women’s Association indeed participated in the protests thus justifying the arrests in the eyes of the Nepali authorities, but Kelsang Chung and the Tibetan Reception Centre, a body affiliated to the UNHCR, have a policy of refraining from any political activities and keep a low-key profile in order to be able to concentrate on receiving recent arrivals from Tibet. The Chinese embassy is believed to have handed over to the Nepalese authorities a list of eleven Tibetans allegedly involved in the recent embassy protests.
