ATJ’s First Fearless Speaker Award to Tibetan Woman WriterT P I S h o rt s Ta k e s

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E X I L E

F r e e d o m o f E x p r e s s i o n

TPI, Dharamsala, 17th December 2007.The Association of Tibetan Journalist’s (ATJ) First‘Fearless Speaker Award’, the Silver Medal honored toTbetan woman writer, Mrs Tsering Woeser.By presenting Tsering Woeser’s friend Miss. Dekyi,the editor of Voice of Tibet Madarin Section receivesthe award from Mr. Thupten Samphel, the secretary ofDepartment of Information & International relation-ship, Tibetan government in exile, it is the first time tohonour a medal by the Association.The ATJ is recognizing her role as one of the Tibet’sforemost moral, culture, religious and freedom of speechfigure, who is using her articles role to peacefully de-manding for the freedon of expression of Tibetan people.“The Tibetan media - including the print and electronic- have the responsibility to promote democracy andfreedom of speech,” said Mr Thubten Samphel thismorning, during a function to mark the 10th founding

anniversary of the Association.Mr Samphel said, “The democracy bestowed upon Ti-betan people by His Holiness the Dalai Lama is veryprecious ... so, the various sections of Tibetan pressmust promote it.”Refuting the allegation that the Central Tibetan Admin-istration (CTA) viewed some Tibetan press as an im-pediment, he said, “The CTA always respect the prin-ciple of freedom of speech and democracy as enshrinedin the exile Tibetan Charter.”During the function, the ATJ honoured renowned Ti-betan poet and essayist, Tsering Woeser with the Free-dom of Speech award, for her intrepid writings callingfor freedom of speech and telling the real situation in-side Tibet based on facts.In 1988, she graduated from South West University forNationalities in Chengdu with a degree in Chinese litera-

ture. She worked as a reporter in Kardze and later inLhasa and has lived in Beijing since 2003 as a resultof political problems. In his briefing, the ATJ Presi-dent Lobsang Wangyal said the association aims toprovide information based on truth, regarding activi-ties relating to the Tibetan community, both withinand outside of Tibet.It also acts as a bridge between the Central TibetanAdministration and the people through the dissemina-tion of information, and by providing a forum for dis-cussion on issues of major importance and other relatedactivities.” he added.Established in September 1997, ATJ is an independentnon-profit making organisation, which aims to facilitatefree, fair and accurate delivering of news of the situationand developments both within and outside Tibet and toprotect the democratic right of freedom of speech.

Tibet tourism ‘hitsrecord high’

The number of tourists travelling to Tibet has hit arecord high, Chinese state media has reported.Just over four million tourists will have visited Tibet in2007, an official said, an increase of 64% year on year.The official put the increase down to better marketingand improved transport links, including the controver-sial high-speed rail service to China. Critics say Chinais using the link to increase control over Tibet andfurther erode its traditional culture. Local CommunistParty secretary Zhang Qingli said that Tibet was enter-ing a “golden era” of tourism. Revenue from tourismwas expected to hit 4.8bn yuan ($650m, £322m) in2007, up 73.3% on the previous year, he said. Both therail link and a new airport had contributed to the rise,he said. ‘Deep concern’ In the past, Lhasa could bereached only by plane or after a long, arduous roadjourney. Since the rail link opened 17 months ago,Chinese tourism and trade to Tibet has surged. But thenew train service is a source of concern to many Tibet-ans. They argue that it has facilitated an influx ofChinese settlers, who are increasingly dominating busi-ness and making Tibetans a minority in some townsand regions. In a statement in March, the Dalai Lamawarned that both the number of settlers and environ-mental degradation in Tibet had increased since thetrain line became operational, describing it as a sourceof “deep concern”. Earlier this month, the train linewas used to carry Chinese troops to the Tibetan capi-tal, Lhasa, fuelling concerns that China is using thetrain to cement its hold on Tibet.China invaded Tibet in 1950. A Tibetan government-in-exile led by the Dalai Lama is based in Dharamsala,northern India.

Mr. Narkyi Ngawangl, former secretary of Department of Information & International relationship with Miss.Dekyi, the editor of Voice of Tibet Mandarin Section receives.

Beijing talks to focus on Tibet

I n t e r n a t i o n a lThe Tibet P stSILVER MEDAL

to Tibetan womanwriter, Woeser.Front Side

W e e k l yB o d - K y i - P h o - N y a Rs.5Vol. 01, Issue 05, 18 December, 2007 www.thetibetpost.com

Fearless Speaker

SILVER MEDALto Tibetan womanwriter, Woeser.Back Side

Fearless Speaker Award Page1 Expressions of Peace Page 2 The Dalai Lama Page 3 Tibetan Film Festival Page 4 House Honors Suu Kyi Page 5 Tourists invade Tibet Page6

DNA[Tuesday, December 18, 2007 14:03]Seema GuhaForeign secy will also discuss the border issueNEW DELHI: When foreign secretary ShivShankar Menon visits Beijing later this weekfor the third round of India-China strategic dia-logue, the focus will be on the Tibet issue andborder talks.Menon will also use the opportunity to givef in ish ing touches to Pr ime Minis terManmohan Singh’s official visit to Beijingscheduled for mid-January 2008.Though India’s position on Tibet is well known,it is likely to be brought up by the Chinese duringMenon’s meeting with China’s deputy foreignminister Wu Dawei.Ever since the US Congress decided to honourthe Dalai Lama with the Congressional Goldmedal, the highest civilian award conferred byUS lawmakers, the Chinese have been wary.The Dalai Lama’s well-publicised visit to CapitolHill was followed by his trip to Canada and a meet-ing with Germany Chancellor Merkel. Germanypaid for this because when Merkel visited Chinashe was given a cool reception.In sharp contrast, the Chinese inked businessdeals worth 20 billion euro with French presidentNicholas Sarkozy. France had not entertainedTibet’s spiritual leader. The Chinese wanted todrive home this message to the Germans.Soon after the Tibetan spiritual leader returned toIndia, ministers in the UPA government were

asked not to attend a felicitation functionorganised by the Gandhi peace foundation. Thismove was noted and appreciated by Beijing.New Delhi has always regarded Tibet as an au-tonomous region of China. But now that the DalaiLama is getting on in years and is publicly hintingat choosing a successor, the Chinese would like areiteration of New Delhi’s position on Tibet, whichwill be reflected in the joint declaration at the endof the PM’s visit.India is likely to ask for a similar responsefrom China on Sikkim, though Beijing hadby the mid 1990’s come to acknowledge itas a part of India.Despite frequent reports in the Indian mediaabout the Chinese army’s incursions into In-dian territory, South Block has refrained frommaking harsh public statements against Beijing.This is because both sides realise the bound-ary demarcation is yet to be finalised and theborder remains “disputed”.The border issue, which has now reached the sen-sitive land exchange stage, is also likely to comeup in the talks between Menon and Wu Dawei.There has been little progress in the negotiationsin the last few rounds. But now the two sides arelooking to forge ahead.When national security advisor MK Narayananvisited Beijing ahead of Congress president SoniaGandhi’s trip in October, he found the Chinesemuch more accommodating and he had privatelyhoped the tricky boundary problem would movetowards a final resolution.

Fearless Speaker

Tibetan Youth DiscussionForum closed

TPI, December 19, 2007.The freedom of expression is undergoing serious prob-lem in China and all the Tibetan language websites inTibet are being closed and opened frequently. Even dis-cussion forum of Woeser in Chinese language has beenblocked in last year and also other Tibetan related Me-dias are facing lot of problem in Tibet under Chineserule. Recently on December 6, the Youth DiscussionForum of Snowland (Gang-Shoen-Leng-Teg)www.tibet123.com which is the most popular and favoritewebsite among the young-educated Tibetans has been closedby Chinese authorities. When it was about to close, it has6200 registered members and the number of the memberincreases day by day. Sometimes, there come around 3000members (Users) to chat at the same period of time in thediscussion forum. Therefore, such type of discussion fo-rum is extremely essential to us at this very critical time.It has become one of the most important platforms forTibetan youngsters to exchange ideas and experiencesbetween each other. But unfortunately, such an importantforum has been closed due to its contents related to thetrue plight of Tibet.Likewise, the Chinese government never leaves anystone unturned to fail any thought or work which islikely to be against the ideology of the Communist gov-ernment. Therefore, it is very clear that China is on topof the global list that violates the freedom of expressionthe most.

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, right, gesturesas Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, left, looks on duringthe annual summit of Nobel Peace Prize winners, RomeThursday, Dec. 13, 2007. "Our right hand has alwaysreached out to the Chinese government," the Dalai Lamasaid. "That hand has always remained empty, so withour left hand we appeal to you: help us." China con-demned the visit by the Dalai Lama to Rome, sayingThursday it opposed any country supporting or sym-pathizing with the exiled spiritual leader. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Tibetan woman writer, Woeser.

Dy Speaker to AttendFreedom of the City

Award Function in Italy10, December 2007. Dharamshala: DolmaGyari, the deputy of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, will attend an award ceremony forconferring the “Freedom of the City” of Turinto His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the cityhall on 16 December.The deputy speaker will be accompanied byunder secretary of Tibetan ParliamentarySecretariat, Tenzin Choedon during a week-long visit to Italy.Prior to the award function, the deputyspeaker will attend a meeting with the mayorof Turin, Mr Chiamparino and with other offi-cials of the city.Also during the visit, the deputy speaker willattend a press conference by His Holinessthe Dalai Lama in Turin’s Arturo Toscanini.Mrs Gyari will attend a meeting with Turin’smain regional authorities and official repre-sentatives of Association of Commons, Prov-inces and Regions for Tibet and other localassociations.Mrs Gyari will return to Dharamshala on 23December.

18 December, 2007 Dharamsala THE EDIT PAGE The Tibet Post2

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for the Mercury News, Article Launched:12/11/2007 01:34:57 AM PSTBuddhaPeace is one of those ideas with asmany definitions as there are people in theworld. The Dalai Lama - the exiled Tibetanspiritual leader whose official title includessuch powerful honorifics as “Ocean of Wis-dom” - has symbolized the hope of peacefor millions. And in this one man, whowears glasses and utilitarian shoes, lies aworld of possibilities.“The Missing Peace: Artists Consider theDalai Lama,” an exhibit of work by 88 art-ists from 25 countries, offers a symphonyof images voiced by a full orchestra of aes-thetic instruments riffing on the powerfullife force of this religious leader.“The Missing Peace: Artists Consider theDalai Lama,” an exhibit of work by 88 art-ists from 25 countries, offers a symphonyof images voiced by a full orchestra of aes-thetic instruments riffing on the powerfullife force of this religious leader.This is not an exhibit to be rushed throughlike a cafeteria line. Within the high-ceilingedspaces of the first-floor galleries at the YerbaBuena Center for the Arts, the paintings,photographs, sculpture and multimedia in-stallations furnish long moments for medita-tion on the surprising ways the artists re-sponded to the exhibit’s organizing themes.“Why do thousands go to hear him?” saidDarlene Markovich, president of the Com-mittee of 100 for Tibet and executive direc-tor of the show. “What is the message?How can art help to amplify that message?The Committee of 100 for Tibet, foundedin 1992 in Palo Alto as a group to supportself-determination for the Chinese-con-trolled country, joined with the Dalai LamaFoundation to bring together the organiza-tional and financial support to produce theexhibit. The effort began in 2000 - and theshow is planned to be on display aroundthe world for many years. The next stopfor “Missing Peace” will be Tokyo. Andthere are talks with museum officials inMoscow, Taiwan, Zagreb and Vancouver

Expressions of peaceabout displaying the show. Zurich will hostthe exhibit in spring 2009.Two local benefactors were instrumentalin bringing the show to the Bay Area,Markovich said: Sandra and BernardMagnussen of Magnussen Toyota of PaloAlto and the San Francisco-based BetlachFamily Foundation.The Bay Area has long been home to variedBuddhist communities - including SanJose’s historic Buddhist Church Betsuin,the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in BigSur, the Green Gulch Farm in Marin Countyand the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery.The Dalai Lama’s regular visits to the BayArea - most recently in April - draw thou-sands from around the Bay and the WestCoast. The Dalai Lama Foundation is basedin Redwood City and its board membersinclude several noted Silicon Valley figures.Several artists in the “Missing Peace” ex-hibit are from the Bay Area - one of theshow’s most popular works was createdby David and Hi-Jin Hodge of Half MoonBay. The couple asked more than 100people to talk about change. The processwould stop, the couple agreed, when theirsubjects began to duplicate one another.But that never happened. And when tech-nical problems led the Hodges to use iPodswith video screens to display the manymini-films, this practical choice providedan appropriate visual wallop for our gad-get-culture weary eyes.The show is structured in sections that be-gin with work focused on the Dalai Lamahimself. Here are photographs by RichardAvedon, Chuck Close and Sylvie Fleury. BillViola’s video documents a blessing from theDalai Lama so all can share in it.A group of images focuses on Tibet and itspeople. One large canvas - it measures 6 1/2feet by 10 feet - is titled “Brief History ofTibet” and its brilliant colors and intertwinedimages tell a story in striking fashion.Another part of the exhibit springs fromthe artists’ response to the basic beliefs ofBuddhism, and visitors are guided through

Ethnicity or Diverse?Not only do Tibetans feel part of an independent nation politically, but they also have anethnic consciousness that is distinct from the Chinese. Most Chinese have a broad definitionof what it means to be “Chinese.” In sharp contrast to this, Tibetans maintain a very specificidea of what it means to be “Tibetan,” and this concept reinforces a strong underlying “us vs.them” feeling of a separate Tibetan identity. These different views are best illustrated by thewords Chinese and Tibetans use to describe each other. In the Chinese language, China is knownas Zhongguo, or “the Middle Kingdom,” and is conceived of as a land mass incorporating theHan majority and 55 minorities. Similarly, the Chinese word Zhongguoren, meaning “Chi-nese people,” includes both the Han Chinese ethnic majority and the fifty-five so-calledethnic minorities living within the borders of China, including the Tibetans, Mongolians andMuslim Uighurs. The word Hanren refers to the ninety-four percent of the Population ofChina that is ethnic Han Chinese. In contrast, Tibetan language and literature have noequivalent words or phrases that encompass both Chinese and Tibetans as one people.Instead, the Tibetan language makes a clear-cut distinction: Chinese people are called Gyamiand Tibetans, Bhoepa. In Tibetan operas, for example, characters are introduced by theirdistinct ethnicity with terms such as Gyami (Chinese) or Gyakar (Indian). Furthermore, theTibetan word for China, Gyanak, is linguistically distinct from the word for Tibet Bhoe, asare the words for the Tibetan and Chinese languages, Bhoekey and Gyakey respectively.These linguistic expressions of a separate Tibetan identity are but one indicator of thedifferent views of Chinese and Tibetan nationhood and of the historical relationship be-tween the two peoples. China, it seems, has considered Tibet as an integral part, while Tibethas viewed itself as separate and independent of Chinese political control.This dichotomy challenges the fundamental definition of nationality itself. What constitutesnationality and who defines a nation? Is the decision in the hands of an ethnic majority of aparticular area, like the Tibetans, or is it made by a dominant, more powerful ethnic group likethe Chinese? Ernest Gellner writes that one of the key elements in defining nationality andnation is the common culture, whereas Walker Connor recognizes Tibetans as a distinctnationality and defines “nations” as human groupings “who share an intuitive sense of . . .sameness, predicated upon a myth of common descent.” As Tibetans have a common cultureand share an intuitive sense of sameness and common descent, Tibet is a nation in its ownright. Buttressing this separate Tibetan identity is the Tibetans´ shared historical memory ofTibet as an independent and powerful nation. When Tibetans are asked why they are ethni-cally and nationally different from Chinese, Tibetans will claim that the Tibetan empire wasonce so powerful that its army marched to the Chinese capital of Chang-an (now Xian) andcaptured it for nearly a month, forcing Emperor Tai Tsung (763-804 AD) to flee, imposing itsown puppet emperor, and exacting an annual tribute from Tibet. Many Tibetans also point tothe Sino-Tibetan peace treaty of 821 AD. This treaty proclaims that the “Tibetans shall behappy in Tibet and the Chinese in China,” clearly establishing that Tibet and China had equalstatus at that time and that each treated the other as an independent entity. This treaty stillexists today in the form of an inscription on the stone pillar in front of Jokhang Temple inTibet´s capital of Lhasa. This shared historical narrative strongly under girds the perception ofTibetan identity as separate from that of the Chinese. Thus, the Tibetan resistance to ethnicassimilation and Chinese policies is deeply rooted in historical, linguistic, and cultural reality,a reality now heightened by modern nationalistic sentiment. Religion has also given Tibetansa spiritually charged national identity. In contrast to the Tibetans´ deeply held belief inBuddhism, Communist China views Buddhism? Like all religions? As the opiate of the masses.This major clash of ideology was clearly demonstrated when the Chinese government de-stroyed every remnant of the religious institutions in Tibet. Recently, however, the Chinesegovernment has blamed this destruction on the nationwide excesses of the Cultural Revolution(1966-1976) and its attack on “the four olds”: old ideas, old culture, old customs, and oldhabits. Most Tibetans find this explanation a factually incorrect account that downplaysChinese efforts to eradicate religion and to institute a deliberate policy to destroy the spiritualfoundation of Tibetan identity and culture. The destruction and closing of monasteries inTibet were in fact carefully orchestrated well before the Cultural Revolution. In my father´shometown NyagChu (now located in Sichuan), the local monastery where he was a monk wasdestroyed in 1956, ten years before the Cultural Revolution even started. The previousPanchen Lama, in his famous “70,000 Character Petition” to Chairman Mao Zedong, wrotethat out of 2,500 monasteries in the Tibet Autonomous Region, only 70 (3%) were left in1962, three years before the Cultural Revolution began. According to the Panchen Lama´ssurvey, ninety-three percent of the 100,000 clerics had been forced out of the monasteries.The situation was reportedly even worse in Eastern Tibet, with 98-99% of the TibetanBuddhist monasteries shut down. This account is consistent with two other Chinese sources.Despite such destruction, Tibetans have held firmly to their spiritual beliefs. When a smallperiod of political openness appeared during the initial phases of China´s new liberalizationpolicies in the early 1980s, Tibetans began to voluntarily finance the rebuilding of theirdestroyed monasteries. Today they have revived many, but the quality of religious practice islimited to rituals and is often quite minimal, due to arbitrary and restrictive measures stillimposed on religious practices. This brief discussion cannot address in any depth related issues,such as the imprisonment and torture of 121622 lay people, monks and nuns for taking partin political activities, including for refusal to denounce the Dalai Lama and recognize theChinese-appointed Panchen Lama. However, April 25, 1999, marks the tenth anniversary ofthe birth of the Tibetan Panchen Lama, which will be observed worldwide by Tibetans andTibet support groups, including those in Boston, as marking the disappearance of possibly theyoungest political prisoner in the world. As many tourists who have been to Tibet sinceliberalization know, it is a common experience to be followed by Tibetan children asking forthe “Dalai Lama´s photo” even though the photograph is officially banned. If, as the Chinesehave argued, the monastic system had been so oppressive and the Dalai Lama the head slaveowner, this popular revival of Buddhist institutions and desire for the return of the Dalai Lamawould be hard to understand. If the pre-1951 order had been so horrible in the eyes of theTibetans, the Cultural Revolution ought to have been an opportune moment for them to“liberate” themselves from religion and the Dalai Lama. However, as both these examplesprove, Tibetans take great pride in their religion, which dates back 2500 years. In contrast,Communism is a modern foreign ideology brought in from China, with little hold on Tibetans´hearts and minds. Communism failed in Tibet and has never been able to compete withBuddhism’s rich spiritual message. However, this is not to say that religion is the right basis forpolitical rule; all religions have both good and bad effects on society and the concept of areligious political order is a very complex one. Rather, it suggests that the Tibetan way of lifeand values are quite distinct from and in many ways foreign to that of the contemporaryChinese. Religion matters to Tibetans in a way most Chinese find hard to understand.

the works with a series of “lessons” fromthe Dalai Lama. “If you want others to behappy, practice compassion. If you wantto be happy, practice compassion,” or “Ourprime purpose in this life is to help others.And if you can’t help them, at least don’thurt them.”With these thoughts as guideposts, visi-tors may find themselves opening up tothe images before them. From Ichi Ikeda’sphotographs of hands cupped to hold wa-ter, with superimposed messages on thetheme of water conservation to the “WorldBuddha Head Project,” a stack of Manhat-tan phone books carved out to reveal threeBuddha faces, every work sounds mentaland emotional bells.The nature of “The Missing Peace” -founded on a spiritual leader - clearly hashad an impact on the visitor experience.Markovich has witnessed reactions that arenot typical at more standard museum fare.

“I’ve seen people laughing, crying, com-pelled to talk to the stranger next to themto comment on the art,” she said. “It’s sucha good feeling - and it is the Dalai Lamadoing his work in this world.”The exhibition has expanded exponentiallybeyond its original parameters. Its Web site(http://gallery.tmpp.org) includes an edu-cational curriculum, a virtual tour and a wallof visitor responses. In development is anelectronic gallery of work done by anyonewho wants to participate by finding visualways to express peace. Each answer willbecome part of a mosaic that can be ac-cessed in a variety of electronic ways.The works were originally intended to beauctioned off or to be sold as a group forpermanent installation in a museum, but thatfuture seems to be evolving, too. Just as theoriginal idea for the exhibit changed in unex-pected ways, it’s impossible to predict justhow the exhibit will end - or if it ever will,Markovich said. “You must let go of whatyou think you want to happen and some-thing much more wonderful could happen.”

It’s Principles vs. Profits in Dealing With ChinaGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel’sprincipled diplomacy vis-a-vis Chinahas become a hot topic among diplo-matic circles in Hong Kong and Beijingin recent days. Merkel, an advocate ofthe so-called “value-oriented diplo-macy” which attaches prime impor-tance to human rights and freedom,met with Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th DalaiLama who is the spiritual leader of Ti-bet, in her office in September. AFPreported that “Merkel signaled that shesupported the Dalai Lama’s quest forcultural autonomy for the Himalayanregion, sticking to the course shesteered during a visit to China in Au-gust in which she readily tackled hu-man rights issues.”German opposition leaders and formergovernment officials had met with theDalai Lama before, but this was thefirst time an incumbent German chan-cellor had ever officially sat down withhim. The enraged Chinese governmenthas continued indiscriminate “retalia-tory offensives” against Germany overthe past three months. China has can-celed two high-level bilateral talks, oneon economics and trade, the other onhuman rights, and it bailed out of bilat-eral finance ministers’ talks scheduledfor early December in Beijing.“Bilateral relations can be improved ifGermany admits its mistake,” ChinesePremier Wen Jiabao said pointedly onNov. 28. But in an interview with theGerman press, Merkel counteredWen’s threat by saying determinedly,“As the chancellor of Germany, I willdecide on whom to meet and where. I

can’t give up my own principles for atrade relationship with China.”Merkel’s principled policies have putinto circulation a few newly-coinedterms, such as the “Merkel cost” and“new Sino-German Cold War.” Rela-tions between Germany and China arefrozen solid.Interestingly, despite some worries thather efforts might have ill effects on theGerman economy, many experts havea positive view of Merkel’s tenaciousdiplomacy. “In the long term it willprove beneficial to the German peopleand future German leaders,” said JudyDempsey, a political commentator.Merkel is winning support for her dip-lomatic style, which stands in sharpcontrast to the way other world lead-ers go to great efforts to avoid any con-flict with China. Many experts attributethe strength of Merkel’s diplomacy tothe rock-solid political foundation shehas laid — it didn’t come for free.First of all, she restored Germany’s tra-ditional alliance with the U.S., theworld’s sole superpower. German re-lations under Merkel’s predecessorGerhard Schröder were quite rocky.Unlike Schröder, Merkel has placed toppriority on her country’s practical re-lations with the U.S. In her two yearsin office, Merkel has met with U.S.President George W. Bush seven times.In early November she was invited toBush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, afirst for the German chancellor. UnderMerkel’s stewardship, U.S.-Germanrelations have been at a peak.In addition, Germany has been suc-

cessful in finding an alternative to Chinain Asia. In late October, Merkel visitedIndia, where she met with Indian PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh. At thatsummit, she agreed with Singh on astrategic cooperative relationship be-tween the two countries. An alarmedpress in China and Hong Kong said Ger-many has clasped hands with India toget ahead of China.Lastly, Germany has an economic andtechnological prowess with which itcan outperform China. This year Ger-many will be overtaken by China andslide down to fourth among world na-tions in terms of GDP. But Germanyhas been awarded 15 times more pat-ents and has spent 2.3 times more onR&D than China this year, accordingto OECD statistics. The Germans willalso likely enjoy 14 times as much percapita income as the Chinese in 2008as in 2007.And what about South Korean-Chineserelations? Fifteen years after the es-tablishment of ties with China, SouthKorea leads the world in investment inChina and the number of studentsstudying there, and it is concentratingmore on China than ever before. Butunlike the German case, South Koreanpoliticians and diplomats are always try-ing to curry favor with China. In or-der to prepare for possible conflicts ofinterest, perhaps it’s time we took alesson from Merkel’s successful dip-lomatic approach to China.This column was contributed by SongEui-dal, the Chosun Ilbo’s correspon-dent in Hong Kong.

T i b e t P o s tT i b e t P o s tT i b e t P o s tT i b e t P o s tT i b e t P o s t

The Crying Voices of a Snowland “Tibet” By Sara Wykes

18 December, 2007 DharamsalaTPI DALAI LAMAThe Tibet Post 3

China condemns DalaiLama’s visit to Rome

By Alberto Pellaschiar, 16 December 2007.AP, The Dalai Lama is seen at the begin-ning of a three-day teaching event calledBEIJING (AP) — China condemned a visitby the Dalai Lama to Rome, saying Thurs-day it opposed any country supporting orsympathizing with the exiled spiritual leader.The Dalai Lama is at the end of a 10-dayvisit to Italy and will attend an annual sum-mit of Nobel Peace Prize winners in Rome.Later Thursday, he was to meet with FaustoBertinotti and Franco Marini, respectivelythe presidents of the lower and upper cham-bers of parliament. There are no plans bythe Vatican for a papal audience for the Ti-betan spiritual leader despite earlier reportsthere would be one.“As to the Dalai’s visit to other countries,we’ve expanded on our positions on manyoccasions,” Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesman Qin Gang told reporters at a regu-

lar news briefing.“The Dalai is not a pure religious figure but apolitical exile under the cover of religionwho has long been engaged in activities aimedat splitting the motherland and nationalunity,” Qin said.“Therefore, we are opposed to any countryin any form to support or sympathize withthe Dalai’s activities,” he said.The Dalai Lama met with Pope Benedict XVIlast year, but his current visit comes as theVatican has stepped up efforts to improvechurch relations with China and an audiencewould clearly anger Beijing.The Dalai Lama’s recent meetings withGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S.President George W. Bush drew strong re-bukes from Beijing, which says he wants tosplit Tibet from China. The Dalai Lamainsists he only seeks autonomy for Tibet,which China has ruled since 1951.

Dalai Lama appeals for support atend of private visit to Italy

AFP[Monday, December 17, 2007 09:20]TURIN, Italy: The Dalai Lama on Sun-day wrapped up a private 11-day visitto Italy during which he met fellowNobel peace prize laureates and ap-pealed for continued support forTibet’s bid for autonomy.”Tibetanshave a very resistant spirit, but ulti-mately they begin to get irritated,” theexiled Tibetan Buddhist leader told re-gional lawmakers in northern Turin,according to the ANSA newsagency.”For this reason it is extremelyimportant that your support continue,”he said. “Ours is a just cause... (Ti-

betan) culture should be preserved notjust for the Tibetan people but for theentire international community be-cause it is a culture of peace, com-passion and non-violence,” headded.The Dalai Lama made a similarappeal last Thursday in Rome, urginglawmakers to offer both concrete helpas well as moral support.The TibetanBuddhist leader spoke in the parlia-ment building but not in the assemblychamber as some lawmakers hadwanted.”We do not want indepen-dence for Tibet, but only to preserveour cultural traditions, which enrich

even those of China,” the Dalai Lamasaid. China made clear its disapprovalof the trip to the Italian foreignministry.Beijing has complained to theItalian foreign ministry over the visit,which took the Dalai Lama to Rome,Milan and Turin.Recent meetings be-tween the Dalai Lama and GermanChancellor Angela Merkel and USPresident George W. Bush have an-gered Beijing. Also last Thursday, the1989 Nobel peace prize winner metother Nobel laureates including formerRussian and Polish presidents MikhailGorbachev and Lech Walesa at an an-nual summit in Rome.In Milan, theDalai Lama led a three-day confer-ence attended by some 8,000people.The Dalai Lama and thepope met in October 2006, but aninitially scheduled meeting duringthe current visit was cancelled, ina decision that Italian media reportssaid facilitated the recent ordina-tion of a new bishop in Guangdong,southern China, with the Vatican’sapproval.China sent troops into Ti-bet in 1950 and officially “liberated”it the following year. The DalaiLama, who fled Tibet following afailed uprising in the region in 1959,now travels the world seeking sup-port for his calls for Tibetan au-tonomy.

Dalai Lama says China harden-ing its stance on Tibet

December 13. The Associated Press, ROME:The Dalai Lama said Thursday that China istaking an increasingly harsh stance on Tibetand he appealed for international help dur-ing a visit to Rome.Addressing Italian lawmakers in the lowerchamber of parliament, the exiled spiritualleader said Tibet was not seeking indepen-dence from China but only wished to preserveits culture.“Our right hand has always reached out tothe Chinese government,” the Dalai Lamasaid. “That hand has always remainedempty, so with our left hand we appeal toyou: help us.”The spiritual leader was at the end of a 10-day visit to Italy that, like most of his re-cent international trips, has drawn criticismfrom China.China condemned the visit, saying it opposedany country supporting or sympathizing withthe exiled spiritual leader.

“The Dalai is not a pure religious figure but apolitical exile under the cover of religionwho has long been engaged in activities aimedat splitting the motherland and nationalunity,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesmanQin Gang told reporters in Beijing.The Dalai Lama’s recent meetings withPresident Bush and German Chancellor An-gela Merkel also drew strong rebukes fromBeijing, which says he wants to split Tibetfrom China. The Dalai Lama insists he onlyseeks autonomy for Tibet, which China hasruled since 1951.Despite progress since 2001, Chinese offi-cials in recent talks have “intensified theaccusation” of separatism and claimed “thereis no Tibetan issue,” the Dalai Lama said.The Dalai Lama stopped in Rome for anannual summit of Nobel peace laureates or-ganized by a foundation headed by formerSoviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The DalaiLama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

The Europe Weekly, 15 December 2007 - Is-sue : 760. Meeting on December 13 with Ital-ian lawmakers in Italy, the Dalai Lama showedthanks for their support of religious freedomand autonomous rule in Tibet.His visit to the European country has beencriticised by China. The Tibetan Buddhist spiri-tual leader had been invited by Italy’s lowerhouse of Parliament Chamber of Deputiesspeaker Fausto Bertinotti to address the law-makers at the Montecitorio Parliament build-ing in Rome.In what has been widely seen as a compromisemove to avoid angering Beijing, the Dalai Lamaspoke to the lawmakers not in the main assem-bly hall, but in a side room. The lawmakers -most of them members of the 280 memberbipartisan “For Tibet” group - Bertinotti andItaly’s Foreign Affairs Undersecretary, GianniVernetti, the most senior government officialpresent, warmly applauded the Dalai Lama.Reiterating that he is not advocating secessionfor Tibet, which has been occupied by Chinasince 1951, the Dalai Lama said his was a cam-paign for the Himalayan region’s autonomy andreligious freedom for its people. “We follow thetwo handed approach. Our right hand alwaysreaches out to the Chinese government askingthem to recognise minority rights. Our left handask(s) supporters, in Italy and elsewhere in theworld to help us,” the Dalai Lama said.“Once China grants us our rights, then we willuse our left hand to thank our internationalsupporters and wave goodbye,” he added. Trac-ing the recent history of negotiations withChina’s Communist government, the DalaiLama said that five meetings held since 2001had made “great progress.” However, a sixth

The Dalai Lama of Tibet (Photo: AFP)

meeting held in June-July had witnessed a hard-ening of China’s attitude with Beijing officialssubsequently claiming: “There is no Tibetanissue,” the Dalai Lama said. Foreign AffairsUndersecretary Vernetti, speaking to report-ers after the Dalai Lama’s speech, said he hadmet the Buddhist leader on behalf of PrimeMinister Romano Prodi’s government. “Iwas again struck by the great balance andmoderation of the Dalai Lama’s attitude to-wards China,” Vernetti said. “He again saidhe is not seeking full independence for Tibetbut greater autonomy achieved through opendialogue,” said Vernetti, adding that the DalaiLama could count on Italy’s support. Earlieron December 13, the Dalai Lama addressed asummit of Nobel Peace Prize winnersorganised by Rome’s city hall and a founda-tion headed by former Soviet leader, MikhailGorbachev. In his address as in the one withthe lawmakers the Dalai Lama stressed theneed for “human compassion.” “Things willnot change with just a few nice words,” the1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner said. “Butthings to change depend on our action.”Earlier on December 13, China condemnedthe Dalai Lama’s visit to Italy, with foreignministry spokesman Qin Gang saying at aroutine press briefing that the Buddhist leader“is a political exile who under the cover ofreligion who has long been engaged in activi-ties aimed at splitting the motherland andnational unity.”China has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama -who lives in exile in India - of treason andBeijing’s consul-general in Milan previouslycriticised the city’s mayor Letizia Moratti formeeting the Tibetan spiritual leader.

Dalai Lama’s visit spurs controversy By OnTheWeb: Martin Tampier Tues-day, December 18, 2007In 2010, the world will get together inVancouver-Whistler for the Olympic Win-ter Games. We will welcome them to an opensociety that appreciates different culturesand grants its citizens the freedoms that areso important to living with of dignity. Notso next year, at the Beijing Olympics.China has been, and still is today, a so-ciety that denies these rights and free-doms to its citizens. You may have heardabout their killing prisoners to sell theorgans to Western customers. Or theirdisregard of local residents in their rapidexpansion of construction, industry andpower generation projects.Or the child workers employed to makesouvenirs for the upcoming Olympics. Wealso know what happened in 1989 atTiananmen Square, where the army bru-tally suppressed a worker and student pro-test, leaving several hundred dead. And wewould all like to believe that these things arepast, and that China is now becoming moreopen and a more responsible citizen of theworld. But this is far from being the case.Since the announcement that Beijing wouldget the Olympics, we are seeing a drastic, butunderreported, crackdown on religious mi-norities. This time it’s not only Falun Gongmembers, but also Christian churches thatare being raided by the Chinese military po-lice. Here are some examples from this year:22 evangelical leaders were arrested inJune. Authorities of the eastern Shandongprovince condemned two leaders of evan-gelical house churches to a year of “re-education through labour”. Others weredetained for several days without charge,or were also likely to be condemned towork in a labour camp.In July, 15 house church leaders were de-tained by military police within one weekin Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu and Anhuiprovince. A Vacation Bible School for 150children was attacked and two teacherswere beaten and hospitalized. Police didnot provide any legal paper for the ar-rest, blaming one pastor of being involvedin “illegal religious activities.”This December, 270 Chinese pastors werearrested during a Bible study gathering. 40-50 policemen from 12 different towns were

involved in the massive detention.Last year alone, according to China Aid As-sociation, the Chinese government arrested1,958 pastors and members of unregisteredProtestant churches. A similar number wasreported for 2005. This absolute disregardfor what we hold dear in Canada – religiousfreedom, freedom of expression, freedomto assemble – shows that the Western strat-egy of “opening up” China with increasedtrade and the Olympic Games is not work-ing. Canada has a long history of standingup for what’s right. Our own governmentwebsite states, “Canada has been a consis-tently strong voice for the protection ofhuman rights and the advancement of demo-cratic values, from our central role in thedrafting of the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights in 1947-8 to our work at theUnited Nations today.” It also states, “Re-sponses to specific situations depend upona number of considerations, including agovernment’s relative commitment to hu-man rights and the effectiveness of themeans of influence at our disposal.” Whencould there be a more effective moment toact than when we host the Winter Olym-pics just two years after Beijing?A 2006/2007 scorecard report by UN Watchpraised Canada for its stance on humanrights, but went on to say that it fails tospeak out often or strongly enough for vic-tims of most of the world’s worst regimes,remaining silent when it came to notoriousabuses in China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia andZimbabwe. Is this the legacy we want?A boycott by Canada would but followgood advice from many others who are con-cerned. For example, actor Richard Gere,Chairman of the International Campaign forTibet, is calling for a boycott of the Gamesbecause of the Tibet question. Reporterswithout Borders have asked for a boycottbecause of human rights violations. Oth-ers, including 106 lawmakers in the U.S.,call for a boycott because of China’s sup-port for Omar al-Bashir, who is respon-sible for governmental violence in Darfour(Sudan). From within China, voices of dis-appointment about the impact of the Olym-pic Games can also be heard. An open let-ter sent to the Chairman of the OlympicCommittee by a group of Chinese lawyersand human rights activists in 2006 states,

“The Chinese government is already pre-paring an illusion of peace and prosperityto mislead visitors. In doing so, they feelthat voices critical of the government needto be crushed. That is exactly why they areengaging in large scale suppression of thehuman rights movement in China”.Then again, why mix sports with politics?Should we not keep these issues out of theOlympic Games? The problem is, the entireidea if having the Games in Beijing is purepolitics. Beijing’s bid for the Games ranagainst Istanbul, Osaka, Toronto, and Paris.Was the decision to go to China taken be-cause of their better plans? The nicer envi-ronment? The more accommodating culture?No – it was taken precisely in order to en-gage China and to help it integrate betterwith the rest of the world. Even the Olym-pic Charter states, “The goal of Olympismis to place sport at the service of the harmo-nious development of man, with a view topromoting a peaceful society concerned withthe preservation of human dignity.”So, from the start, the Olympics weremeant to make China a better place. Andthat certainly is not happening. If we don’tuse this opportunity now to speak outagainst Chinese Gestapo practices (meantto “clean the streets” before the Olympicstake place), we never will. And China will neverchange. They will have gotten away with itonce again and the West will have turned ablind eye. That’s politics, too: remaining silentfor political reasons. Not wanting to upsetanybody. When is enough, enough?To quote the letter from the group of Chi-nese lawyers again, “the Seoul Games andthose held in South Africa were turningpoints for the countries hosting them andthis is why we are writing to you: we knowthe IOC is not a humanitarian or a politicalorganization but according to its expressedgoals, we believe the committee is obligatedto press the Chinese government to im-prove human and civil rights in China.”A boycott will upset our trade relation-ships with China. It will upset the 2010Winter Olympics. Is it worth the price?Ask the ones who were imprisoned; askthe ones who are praying for them. Theyare hoping for a different China. We mustnot miss our chance to take a stand beforeit is too late!

Why Canada Should Boycott the Beijing Olympics

The Tibet Post 418 December, 2007 DharamsalaTPI TIBET

Tibetan Film Festival begins in NewDelhi on 22 Decembe

The Canadian Press, 12, DecemberLAUSANNE, Switzerland - The In-ternational Olympic Committee hasrejected an attempt by Tibet to fieldits own team at the 2008 Beijing Olym-pics.Delegates from the unofficial TibetanNational Olympic Committee met withOlympic officials today at the I-O-Cheadquarters in Lausanne, Switzer-land.Outside, more than 100 supporters,including some Buddhist monks,waved banners and Tibetan flags.However, a spokesman for the Ti-betan group, Wangpo Tethong, saidlater that the I-O-C was not in a posi-tion to accept its application.Michel Filliau, a senior I-O-C officialwho took part in the meeting, said arule change in 1996 means only na-tional committees from countries rec-ognized by the international commu-nity can take part in the Olympics.A special exemption is granted onlyto those territories whose nationalcommittees were recognized before1996, such as those for the Palestin-ian territories, Hong Kong and Tai-wan. which competes as ChineseTaipei.“In this particular case, athletes fromthe (Tibet) region would fall underthe National Olympic Committee ofChina,” said IOC spokeswomanGiselle Davies.Beijing dismissed outright the requestfrom Tibet, which has been controlledby China since 1951.“Tibet is part of China’s territory,” theBeijing organizing committee saidMonday in a statement. “The possi-bility of participating in the BeijingOlympics as a separate group doesnot exist.”Tethong said he was “frustrated” bywhat he felt was the IOC alienatingitself from its original principles.“We have about 30 athletes, all Ti-betan refugees, scattered around theworld,” he said. “None of them wantto start under the Chinese flag.”Tethong was accompanied at themeeting by Jigme Puenkang, a 25-year-old sprinter from Zurich, andDominik Kelsang Erne, a table tennisplayer who has competed at the na-tional level in Switzerland.“We want to send a message of hopeto the people of Tibet, who are suf-fering under the Chinese occupa-tion,” Erne said.Adolf Ogi, a former Swiss presidentwho now serves as United Nationsenvoy for sports and peace, said itwas unlikely that U.N. Secretary-Gen-eral Ban Ki-moon would intervene onthe Tibetans’ behalf.“We tried it with Kosovo for the soc-cer World Cup and the OlympicGames, and we failed,” he told TheAssociated Press. “Even if the U.N.expressed an opinion, the decisionrests with the IOC.”Tibet is one of several delicate issuesOlympic officials have had to dealwith in the run-up to next year’sgames.Worries over Beijing’s high air pollu-tion, reporting restrictions on foreignjournalists and criticism of China’shuman rights record have also forcedthe IOC to engage in careful diplo-macy ahead of the Olympics, whichbegin Aug. 8.

IOC rebuffs Ti-betan request for

own team atBeijing Olympics

10 December 2007, On the occasion of the59th International Human Rights Day to-day, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rightsand Democracy (TCHRD) salutes thosearound the world who struggle to defend,protect and promote the fundamental free-doms, the inherent dignity, and the equaland inalienable rights that are the birthrightof all members of the human family. TheUniversal Declaration of Human Rights(UDHR) was passed by the UN GeneralAssembly on 10 December 1948 and wasproclaimed as the ‘common standard ofachievement for all people and nations’ inrespect of human rights. Despite takingyears to formulate and decades of exist-ence, the struggle to ensure just entitlementof the thirty rights and freedoms enshrinedin the UDHR requires our attention todayand everyday.Boycott Beijeing Olympic 2008On 10 De-cember, Tibetans commemorate not onlyInternational Human Rights Day, but alsothe conferment in 1989 of the Noble PeacePrize to the Dalai Lama for His continuedstruggle for peace and human rights throughnon-violence. TCHRD commemorate theUDHR, the values it enshrines and our on-going effort to promote and defend humanrights of Tibetan people in Tibet.In the past eleven months, the human rightsand freedom of Tibetans in Tibet have wit-nessed an unprecedented beating at thehands of Chinese authorities. It is highlyregrettable and condemnable that thePeople’s Republic of China (PRC), despitebeing a permanent member of the UnitedNations and a state party to UN treatieson human rights, fails to respect and up-hold the basic principles set forth in theUDHR and that the most blatant forms ofviolations are regularly occurring in the re-gion with impunity. Chinese authoritiescontinue to practice a systematic denial ofhuman rights of the Tibetan people.During the past eleven months of 2007,TCHRD has documented, among others,the following known events:TCHRD received information on scores ofnew known cases of arrests of Tibetanssuspected of political activities;On 1 January 2007, new “Measures forthe ‘Regulation on Religious Affairs’” with56 articles, issued by the 11th StandingCommittee of the “TAR” People’s Gov-ernment was entered into force. This newregulation, instead of providing protectionfor religious affairs, aimed to enforce com-pliance with governmental regulations andpolicies on religious organizations, religiouspersonnel and religious citizen, place ofworship and activities;Tibetan Communist Party members, andcivil servants, even the ordinary people, inLhasa were banned from visiting templesfor a week corresponding to the NationalPeople’s Congress and the Chinese People’sPolitical Consultative Conference beingheld in Beijing in March. Party membersand civil servants were issued stark warn-ing of facing expulsion and dismissal, if theyprayed at Buddhist temples in the Capital.China intensified prohibition of religiousactivities in Tibet with severe restrictionsand prohibitions during the holy month ofSaka Dawa, which began on17 May 2007.The China State Administration of Reli-gious Affairs (SARA) office’s issuance ofthe 14-article; “Management measures forthe reincarnation of living Buddhas in Ti-betan Buddhism,” which came into effectas of 1 September this year, clearly dem-onstrates the Chinese Communist Party’sadamant attempt to undermine and tar-nish the centuries-old Tibetan tradition ofreligious practice. The new measures de-scribed by the official press as ‘an impor-tant move to institutionalize the manage-ment of reincarnation,’ are deliberately tar-geted at one of the core belief systems ofTibetan Buddhism and set out ‘approvalprocedures’ for new living Buddhas. It alsounderscores the Communist Party’s agendato undermine and supplant the Tibetan re-ligious hierarchy and weaken the authorityof legitimate Tibetan religious leaders in-cluding the Dalai Lama;

TCHRD PRESS STATEMENT ON INTERNATIONALHUMAN RIGHTS DAY

China intensified restrictions in TrulkuTenzin Delek’s Kham Nalanda ThekchenJangchub Choeling Monastery with the ar-rest of two elderly women Odho and AphaBomo, both in their late 50’s and residentsof Othok Village, Nyagchuka County,Kardze “TAP” Sichuan Province, on 19July 2007 by the Nyagchuka County Pub-lic Security Bureau (PSB) officials. Thewomen were alleged to have committed the‘crime’ of instigating people to join their callfor Trulku Tenzin Delek’s release. They werelater released on 27 August after the authori-ties called the head of the Othok village tostand as guarantor for their release;On 1 August 2007, Ronggye A’drak wasarrested for staging a public protest duringthe annual Lithang horse race festival. Inthe aftermath of Ronggye A’drak’s arrest,severe restrictions were imposed in Lithangand surrounding areas for the fear of mas-sive popular uprising by his supporters.The authorities sent additional contingentsof People’s Armed Police (PAP) forces asreinforcements to monitor and restrict theactivities of his supporters. Later on 21August, three nephews of A’drak-AdrukLopoe, Adruk Nyima and Adruk Gyatsowere arbitrarily arrested. Although Nyimaand Gyatso were released after six hours,A’druk Lopoe’s whereabouts remained un-known until his court trial;On 19 August 2007, Lothok, a 36-yearold Tibetan nomad and a father of fivechildren from Drakar Latse Village, LithangCounty was arbitrarily detained from aguesthouse in Chengdu, the provincial capi-tal of Sichuan Province;A near complete gold and copper platedcolossal statue of Guru Rinpoche in SamyeMonastery, in Dranang County, Lokha Pre-fecture, “TAP” was demolished by Chi-nese People’s Armed Police (PAP) duringthe Buddhist holy month of Saka Dawa inmid May this year; and another statue ofGuru Rinpoche was also demolished in thefirst week of October in Ngari Darchen,Purang County, Ngari Prefecture, “TAR”.In a similar incident on 14 August 2007, astatue of Guru Rinpoche under construc-tion at Rongpatsa Village, Kardze County,Kardze “TAP” was suspended followingthe local authorities’ issuance of an orderprohibiting construction of the statue;Since the first week of September 2007,the Chinese authorities have commencedan intense “Patriotic Education” Campaignin Lithang and the surrounding counties.On 2 September, Adruk Kalgyam, a Tibetannomad from Youru Kharshul Village, wasarrested for challenging the Chinese authori-ties during the campaign. In a similar caseon 3 October 2007, Jamyang Tenzin, amonk of Youru Geydenling Monastery inLithang County was arrested for his openopposition to the authorities during the‘Patriotic Education’ Campaign. The fateof these two still remains unknown;On around 7 September, police detainedsome 40 students alleged to have writtenslogans calling for the return of the DalaiLama and a free Tibet the previous day onthe walls of the village police station andon other walls in the village. Within 48 hours,all but seven of the students were releasedfrom police custody. The seven students,all from nomadic families, are students ofAmchok Bora Village Secondary School, inLabrang County (Ch: Xiahe xian), Gannan/Kanlho “TAP” in Gansu Province. Fourschoolboys from the group of seven de-tained are still in custody after being tor-tured for the alleged offence of scribblinggraffiti. The use of torture is still an en-demic and prevalent practice in Tibet de-spite China’s signature and ratification ofthe UN Convention Against Torture. Theprohibition on torture is well establishedunder international law. It is unambiguousand absolute. It is binding on all States inall territories under their jurisdiction or ef-fective control. It applies in all circum-stances and times. Nor is torture permis-sible when it is called something else: crueland inhuman treatment is unacceptable andillegal, irrespective of the name it is given;

Monday, 17 December2007, 5:15 p.mDharamshala: A collectionof sterling films on Tibet,made by world's leadingdirectors, will hit thescreen in New Delhi dur-ing a week-long TibetanFilm Festival, organisedjointly by the Foundationfor Universal Responsibil-ity of His Holiness theDalai Lama and HabitatFilm Club.Starting on 22 December,the festival will open with"Kundun", a classic film nar-rating the life story of theyoung Dalai Lama by Mar-tin Scorsese, followed bysterling series of films, in-cluding, Sacred Sites ofDalai Lama - a pilgrimagein Tibet, award winning 10Questions for The Dalai Lama,Himalaya and Destroyer of Illusion& Spirit of Tibet.Martin Scorcesse's "Kundun" is aspiritual and deeply moving film onHis Holiness the Dalai Lama. Preach-ing peace and understanding amongall people, His Holiness the Dalai Lamaeventually travels to China to meetChairman Mao Tse Tung, to no avail.In a heartbreaking decision, His Ho-liness the Dalai Lama must decidewhether to remain in Tibet and fightfor his people or flee his homelandand avert almost certain death."10 Questions for The Dalai Lama" -a Grand Festival Award Winner at theBerkeley Video and Film Festival byRick Ray contains rare historicalfootage as well as footage taken in-side Tibet. It is a story is woven be-tween a journeyman's personal ob-servations, and the life and wisdomof one of the premiere spiritual lead-ers of our time."Sacred Sites of The Dalai Lama - apilgrimage in Tibet" by Michael Wieseexplores the caves, where the earlyBuddhist masters meditated, entersthe monasteries where His Holinessthe Dalai Lamas and others taught,and - at an altitude of over 16,000

feet - looks down into the famousoracle lake of Lhamo Lhatsowhere every Dalai Lama has hadprophetic visions.Eric Valli's Himalaya - Oscar Nomi-nee, Best Foreign Film was filmedover seven months in the forbiddingDolpo region of Nepal. The Himalayatells the story of a generationalstruggle for the leadership of a tinymountain village between its proudold chief and a headstrong youngcaravaner. The balance of powershifts uneasily as they make their an-nual salt trek across the Himalayas.In "Destroyer of Illusion & Spirit ofTibet", Richard Gere narrates as thefilmmaker offers a glimpse into amystical and rarely seen side of theTibetan tradition and of one of theworld's greatest living saints."Cry of the Snow Lion" brings audi-ences to the long-forbidden "rooftopof the world" with an unprecedentedrichness of imagery from rarely-seenrituals in remote monasteries, tohorse races with Khamba warriors,to magnificent Himalayan peaks stilltraveled by nomadic yak caravans.(www.tibet.net is the officialwebsite of the Central Tibetan Ad-ministration of His Holiness theDalai Lama.) Continued on page 5

Tibet tourism ‘hits record high’

AP. 14, December 2007. Just overfour million tourists will have visitedTibet in 2007, an official said, an in-crease of 64% year on year. The of-ficial put the increase down to bettermarketing and improved transportlinks, including the controversial high-speed rail service to China. Criticssay China is using the link to in-crease control over Tibet and furthererode its traditional culture. LocalCommunist Party secretary ZhangQingli said that Tibet was entering a“golden era” of tourism. Revenuefrom tourism was expected to hit4.8bn yuan ($650m, £322m) in 2007,up 73.3% on the previous year, hesaid. Both the rail link and a new air-port had contributed to the rise, hesaid. ‘Deep concern’ In the past,Lhasa could be reached only byplane or after a long, arduous roadjourney. Since the rail link opened

17 months ago, Chinese tourism andtrade to Tibet has surged. But thenew train service is a source of con-cern to many Tibetans. They arguethat it has facilitated an influx of Chi-nese settlers, who are increasinglydominating business and making Ti-betans a minority in some towns andregions. In a statement in March, theDalai Lama warned that both thenumber of settlers and environmen-tal degradation in Tibet had increasedsince the train line became opera-tional, describing it as a source of“deep concern”. Earlier this month, thetrain line was used to carry Chinesetroops to the Tibetan capital, Lhasa,fuelling concerns that China is usingthe train to cement its hold on Tibet.China invaded Tibet in 1950. A Ti-betan government-in-exile led by theDalai Lama is based in Dharamsala,northern India.

The number of tourists travelling to Tibet has hit arecord high, Chinese state media has reported.

Printed at Imperial Printing Press, Gurudwara Road, Kotwali Bazar, Dharamshala-176215 (H.P.) Tel: - 222390/224453

18 December, 2007 DharamsalaTPI WORLDThe Tibet Post 5

House Honors Suu Kyi

WASHINGTON (AP 18-12-2007) — TheHouse voted Monday to bestow the Con-gressional Gold Medal, Congress’ highest ci-vilian honor, on Myanmar pro-democracyleader Aung San Suu Kyi.Supporters of the legislation, which passed400-0, made clear the award was meant tosend a message to the military leaders inMyanmar, or Burma, who have suppressedpolitical freedoms in that Asian country thepast two decades.Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung SanSuu Kyi, WordpressBy honoring Suu Kyi, saidRep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., “we will con-tinue to pressure the junta to release her andbring freedom and democracy to the peopleof Burma.”

Suu Kyi, 62, winner of the Nobel Peace Prizein 1991, has been detained for 12 of the past18 years. Her National League for Democ-racy party won elections in 1990 but themilitary junta refused to cede power, placingher under house arrest.In October, over Chinese objections, Presi-dent Bush attended ceremonies in the Capitolto award the gold medal to the Dalai Lama,the Tibetan spiritual and human rights leaderwho lives in exile because of his opposition tothe Chinese government’s policies in Tibet.Other non-American recipients include formerBritish Prime Minister Tony Blair, Pope JohnPaul II, South African political leader NelsonMandela and Mother Teresa.George Washington received the first GoldMedal, which originally was given to militaryheroes but was later expanded to include sci-entists, explorers, artists, athletes, humani-tarians and others with notable achievementsand contributions. More than 300 individualsand groups have received the award.The Senate must also approve the legislation.The bill is H.R. 4286.H.R. 4286: to award a congressional goldmedal to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in recogni-tion of her courageous and unwavering com-mitment to peace, nonviolence, humanrights, and democracy in Burma At the con-clusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays weredemanded and ordered. Pursuant to the pro-visions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair an-nounced that further proceedings on themotion would be postponed.2:43 P.M. - DEBATE - The House proceededwith forty minutes of debate on H.R. 4286.Considered under suspension of the rules.2:41 P.M. - Mr. Crowley moved to suspendthe rules and pass the bill.

Continued from page 4Heightened vigilance and strict measuresprior to and after the conferment of thehighest civilian award by the US to theDalai Lama on 17 October 2007 have re-sulted in China’s violation of fundamentalhuman rights of Tibetans in Tibet. TheChinese authorities utilized various precau-tionary measures including heightened vigi-lance, closer supervision of suspected in-dividuals and former political prisoners,even resorting to arbitrary arrest and de-tention. In particular, the atmosphere atDrepung Monastery remains tense, withmonks under continued heightened surveil-lance. A massive contingent of PAP forceswere deployed around the monastery, re-stricting people’s right to freedom of move-ment. A monk and four laypersons werearrested in Amdo Labrang Tashikyil Mon-astery in Sangchu County, Kanlho “TAP”,Gansu Province following offering ofSangsol Prayer and bursting firecrackers incelebration of the award to the Dalai Lama.There were also reports of two Tibetanshaving been arrested from Othok Village,Lithang County, Kardze “TAP” on 17 Oc-tober following hoisting prayer flags andoffering Sangsol prayer in honor of theDalai Lama’s receiving the US’ highest ci-vilian award;Another shooting incident on fleeing Tibetanrefugees at Nangpa Pass on 18 October thisyear left nine missing and three arrested fromthe initial group of 46 Tibetans;On 20 November, Kardze IntermediatePeople’s Court sentenced Ronggye A’drakto eight years of imprisonment and depri-vation of political rights for four years oncharges of “inciting to split the country toundermine the country unity,” and “se-verely disrupting the public order”.Whereas Adruk Lopoe, a nephew ofRonggye A’drak received the heaviest sen-tence of ten years’ imprisonment on chargesof “colluding with foreign separatist forcesto split the country and distributing politi-cal pamphlets.” Kunkhen (“JacmyangGoinqen”), an artist who was arbitrarilyarrested on 22 August by the LithangCounty PSB officials for unknown reason,was sentenced to nine years of imprison-ment on charges of “carrying out splittistactivities,” and Lothok was given threeyears imprisonment by the same court.Over 130 Tibetans still remain detained invarious prisons in Tibet for exercising theirfreedom of expression. The PanchenRinpoche, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima andmany more senior religious leaders’ where-abouts still remain unknown.

The case of Ronggye A’drak and three oth-ers from Lithang County and the lengthyprison terms given by Kardze IntermediatePeople’s Court under vaguely definedcharges of ‘endangering state security’,clearly epitomize the magnitude of repres-sion and the price Tibetans inside Tibet arepaying for the peaceful exercise of rightsenshrined in Chinese constitution and otherfundamental human rights, which are pro-tected by international covenants whichChina is a party.On this important occasion, TCHRD ex-presses its concerns over China’s increas-ing use of the vague terms - “endangeringstate security”, “disrupting social order”and “public order crimes”, etc., as a part ofChinese law, to arrest and imprison Tibet-ans. TCHRD urges the Chinese leadershipto put an immediate end to the practice oftorture in Tibet and the conduct of “patri-otic education” campaigns in the monasticinstitutions of Tibet. The Centre urgesChina to respect the provisions in the UNConvention against Torture (CAT) and theInternational Covenant on Economic, Socialand Cultural Rights (ICESCR), both towhich it is a state party. China should honorits commitments to and ratify the optionalprotocol to the CAT and the InternationalCovenant on Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR). The Centre also calls upon theChinese government to respect and complywith international standards of human rightspractices and its constitutional guarantees.On the occasion of International HumanRights Day, TCHRD has released a posterand sticker entitled “Celebration of HumanRights Violations, Beijing 2008- One World,One Dream, Let There Be Human RightsIn Tibet.” It depicts various human rightsviolations -viz. torture, curtailment offreedom of expression, arbitrary arrestand detention, lengthy prison term, andrepression of religious freedom - takingplace inside Tibet by using the symbolicOlympic mascots inside the five Olym-pic rings. The overall human rights situa-tion in Tibet and China remains grim de-spite international scrutiny of China’shuman rights policies and practices be-fore the 2008 Beijing summer Olympics.The international community should re-mind itself that behind all the glitz andglamour of the biggest international sport-ing event next summer, there are peopleinside China and Tibet who are harassedand imprisoned everyday for exercisingtheir fundamental human rights enshrinedin the UDHR and in China’s very ownConstitution.

Why Canada Should Boycott the Beijing Olympics By OnTheWeb: Martin Tampier Tues-day, December 18, 2007In 2010, the world will get together inVancouver-Whistler for the Olympic Win-ter Games. We will welcome them to anopen society that appreciates differentcultures and grants its citizens the free-doms that are so important to living withof dignity. Not so next year, at the BeijingOlympics.China has been, and still is today, a soci-ety that denies these rights and freedomsto its citizens. You may have heard abouttheir killing prisoners to sell the organsto Western customers. Or their disregardof local residents in their rapid expansionof construction, industry and power gen-eration projects.Or the child workers employed to makesouvenirs for the upcoming Olympics.We also know what happened in 1989 atTiananmen Square, where the army bru-tally suppressed a worker and studentprotest, leaving several hundred dead.And we would all like to believe that thesethings are past, and that China is nowbecoming more open and a more respon-sible citizen of the world. But this is farfrom being the case.Since the announcement that Beijingwould get the Olympics, we are seeing adrastic, but underreported, crackdown onreligious minorities. This time it’s not onlyFalun Gong members, but also Christianchurches that are being raided by theChinese military police. Here are some ex-amples from this year:22 evangelical leaders were arrested inJune. Authorities of the eastern Shandongprovince condemned two leaders of evan-gelical house churches to a year of “re-education through labour”. Others weredetained for several days without charge,or were also likely to be condemned towork in a labour camp.In July, 15 house church leaders were de-tained by military police within one weekin Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu and Anhuiprovince. A Vacation Bible School for 150children was attacked and two teacherswere beaten and hospitalized. Police didnot provide any legal paper for the ar-rest, blaming one pastor of being involvedin “illegal religious activities.”This December, 270 Chinese pastors werearrested during a Bible study gathering.40-50 policemen from 12 different townswere involved in the massive detention.Last year alone, according to China AidAssociation, the Chinese governmentarrested 1,958 pastors and members ofunregistered Protestant churches. A simi-lar number was reported for 2005. Thisabsolute disregard for what we hold dearin Canada – religious freedom, freedomof expression, freedom to assemble –shows that the Western strategy of“opening up” China with increased tradeand the Olympic Games is not work-ing. Canada has a long history ofstanding up for what’s right. Our owngovernment website states, “Canadahas been a consistently strong voicefor the protection of human rights andthe advancement of democratic val-ues, from our central role in the draft-ing of the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights in 1947-8 to our work atthe United Nations today.” It alsostates, “Responses to specific situa-tions depend upon a number of con-siderations, including a government’srelative commitment to human rightsand the effectiveness of the means ofinfluence at our disposal.” Whencould there be a more effective momentto act than when we host the WinterOlympics just two years after Beijing?A 2006/2007 scorecard report by UNWatch praised Canada for its stance on

human rights, but went on to say that itfails to speak out often or stronglyenough for victims of most of the world’sworst regimes, remaining silent when itcame to notorious abuses in China, Cuba,Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe. Is this thelegacy we want?A boycott by Canada would but followgood advice from many others who areconcerned. For example, actor RichardGere, Chairman of the International Cam-paign for Tibet, is calling for a boycott ofthe Games because of the Tibet ques-tion. Reporters without Borders haveasked for a boycott because of humanrights violations. Others, including 106lawmakers in the U.S., call for a boycottbecause of China’s support for Omar al-Bashir, who is responsible for govern-mental violence in Darfour (Sudan). Fromwithin China, voices of disappointmentabout the impact of the Olympic Gamescan also be heard. An open letter sent tothe Chairman of the Olympic Committeeby a group of Chinese lawyers and hu-man rights activists in 2006 states,“The Chinese government is alreadypreparing an illusion of peace and pros-perity to mislead visitors. In doing so,they feel that voices critical of the gov-ernment need to be crushed. That isexactly why they are engaging in largescale suppression of the human rightsmovement in China”.Then again, why mix sports with poli-tics? Should we not keep these issuesout of the Olympic Games? The problemis, the entire idea if having the Games inBeijing is pure politics. Beijing’s bid forthe Games ran against Istanbul, Osaka,Toronto, and Paris. Was the decision togo to China taken because of their better

plans? The nicer environment? The moreaccommodating culture? No – it was takenprecisely in order to engage China and tohelp it integrate better with the rest of theworld. Even the Olympic Charter states,“The goal of Olympism is to place sportat the service of the harmonious devel-opment of man, with a view to promotinga peaceful society concerned with thepreservation of human dignity.”So, from the start, the Olympics weremeant to make China a better place. Andthat certainly is not happening. If we don’tuse this opportunity now to speak outagainst Chinese Gestapo practices(meant to “clean the streets” before theOlympics take place), we never will. AndChina will never change. They will havegotten away with it once again and theWest will have turned a blind eye. That’spolitics, too: remaining silent for politicalreasons. Not wanting to upset anybody.When is enough, enough?To quote the letter from the group of Chi-nese lawyers again, “the Seoul Gamesand those held in South Africa were turn-ing points for the countries hosting themand this is why we are writing to you:we know the IOC is not a humanitarianor a political organization but accordingto its expressed goals, we believe thecommittee is obligated to press the Chi-nese government to improve human andcivil rights in China.”A boycott will upset our trade relation-ships with China. It will upset the 2010Winter Olympics. Is it worth the price?Ask the ones who were imprisoned; askthe ones who are praying for them. Theyare hoping for a different China. We mustnot miss our chance to take a stand be-fore it is too late!

17, December 2007. Word picture news. President George W. Bush, with Vice PresidentDick Cheney, left, and the Cabinet, speaking to the press in the Rose Garden of the

White House in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Dec. 14, 2007.

USA Bush Cabinet Meeting

FRANCE Donors Conference for Palestinian State

17, December 2007. Word picture news. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, from left toright, walks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Prime Minister SalamFayyad, and French Foreign and European Affairs Minister, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, at theParis conference of donors for the Palestinian state, on Monday, Dec. 17, 2007. Fayyad isasking for US$5.6 billion (€3.9 billion) in donations over the next three years, 70 percentof it for budget support and the rest for development projects.

18 December, 2007 Dharamsala TPI VARIETY The Tibet Post6

By Steve HermanVOA, New Delhi, 10 December 2007Tibetan exiles say China’s exploitation ofthe Himalayan land is degrading the envi-ronment and will have an impact beyondTibet. They say they believe China will beforced to respond to their accusations be-cause of the current worldwide attention onthe environment. VOA’s Steve Herman re-ports from New Delhi.A report by the Tibetan government-in-ex-ile contends Beijing’s policy of building large-scale infrastructure projects is destroying thefragile Tibetan grasslands and displacing pas-toral nomads.The government- in exi le ’s secre taryof information and international rela-t ions , Sonam Dagpo , to ld r epor t e r shere Monday that the problems high-lighted in its report will have an im-pact far beyond Tibet.“This report is not to shame China but to... highlight the problems which we face inTibet,” he said. “And it’s not only for theTibetan people. Tibet being one of the high-est plateaus in the world - we call it ‘theroof of the world’ - it’s the source of all themajor rivers of Asia. Whatever impacts inTibet, it impacts Asia and the world.”Two Tibetan woman stand at the foot ofthe 7,191-metre Nojing Kangtsang gla-cier, 27 Feb 2007The United Nations says more than half ofthe world’s population depends on waterfrom the Tibetan plateau.The Tibetans’ report says plans for hydro-electric dams in Tibet will mean decreasingwater supplies in India and Bangladesh, and

as far away as Vietnam. It says these projectsare meant to supply electricity to Chinesecities, not to address Tibet’s water and elec-trical needs.The Tibetans, who operate their govern-ment-in-exile from the northern Indian cityof Dharamsala, say the roads, railways andbridges that Beijing is building to exploitTibet’s natural resources are destroying a tra-ditional culture that the Chinese regard asout of step with the modern era.Kate Saunders is the spokesperson for the U.S.-based International Campaign for Tibet. Shesays despite the central government’s previ-ous refusal to acknowledge warnings of envi-ronmental destruction in Tibet, the topic isbeing discussed within Chinese society.“From a central level there’s intransigence,”she says, “but on different levels, multiplelevels within Chinese society, it’s still possibleto make some headway and have some discus-sion on environment.”The activists acknowledge that Tibetanwarnings have been ignored by Beijingbefore. But they say that with climatechange now a major issue on the worldstage, they are finding it easy to locatescientists and environmentalists who willhelp to bring pressure on Beijing.The 250-page report is likely to be viewedby Beijing as a political attack on it byfollowers of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetanspiritual leader in exile, who the Chineseleaders regard as a separatist.The Dalai Lama said last month that theChinese government has begun steps tolimit deforestation in Tibet, but he saidcorruption is hampering the effort.

Tibetans Detail Chinese Exploitation ofTheir Homeland’s Environment

EU-China: Beijing summit and hu-man rights dialogue

European Parliament, Human rights -13-12-2007.In a resolution on relations with China,Parliament welcomes closer ties buthighlights remaining differences overtrade, Tibet and human rights, notablywith a view to the 2008 Olympic Gamesin Beijing.EU-China summit: trade,counterfeiting and human rights

While welcoming the Joint Statementof the 10th EU-China Summit of 28 No-vember 2007, in which both sides speakof developing a comprehensive strate-gic partnership to meet global chal-lenges, Parliament’s resolution calls for“a more balanced trade and economicpartnership which should lead to sus-tainable growth and social develop-ment, in particular in the areas of cli-mate change, environment and energy”It also notes that “the pirating andcounterfeiting of European productsand brands by Chinese industries con-stitutes a serious violation of interna-tional trade rules” and urges the Chi-nese authorities to take action.In addition, Parliament regrets that“once again the Council and Commis-sion have failed to raise in a firm man-ner human rights issues” and that “theEU did not take the opportunity of theapproach of the Olympics to addressserious human rights concerns inChina”. It calls on the Council “to makea comprehensive evaluation of the hu-man rights situation before finalizingany new Partnership and CooperationFramework Agreement” and stressesthat any such agreement will requirethe EP’s formal assent. MEPs alsoinsist that the EU arms embargo onChina following the Tiananmenevents “must remain intact untilsubstantial progress is made onhuman rights issues”.Human rights dialogue: Tibet, Olym-pic Games, Myanmar and DarfurIn addition, the resolution refers to therecent rounds of the EU-China Dia-logue on Human Rights. It stressesthat “China’s human rights record re-mains a matter of serious concern” andstresses the need to improve the EU-China human rights dialogue. MEPshighlight key issues that must con-tinue to be raised in the dialogue: rati-fication of the International Covenanton Civil and Political Rights, reform ofthe criminal justice system, freedom ofexpression, particularly on theInternet, freedom of the press, freedom

of access to information, freedom ofconscience, thought and religion, thesituation of minorities in Tibet, the re-lease of Tiananmen detainees andworkers’ rights.On Tibet, MEPs regret that “the sixthSino-Tibetan round of talks hasbrought about no results”. They callon the Chinese government “to engagein substantive negotiations taking intodue consideration the demands of theDalai Lama for autonomy for Tibet”.China is also urged to refrain from ex-erting pressure on states that havefriendly relations with the Dalai Lama.Reports of “continuing human rightsviolations in Tibet and other provincesinhabited by Tibetan people” are notedwith concern and MEPs call on Chinato allow an independent body to haveaccess to the Panchen Lama.Turning to the 2008 Olympic Games,Parliament argues “that human rightsconcerns should receive much morefocus in the build-up to the BeijingOlympic Games” and points in this con-nection to Articles 1 and 2 of the Olym-pic Charter. It also requests the Inter-national Olympic Committee “to pub-lish its own assessment of China’s com-pliance with the undertakings given in2001 before the Games were awardedto Beijing”.The resolution highlights political perse-cution related to the Olympics, of humanrights defenders, journalists and others.The repression of ethnic groups such asthe Uighurs and religious groups suchas the Falun Gong is also condemned, asis the surveillance and censorship of in-formation on the internet. In addition,Parliament wants the Chinese authorities“to establish a moratorium on executionsduring the Olympic Games in 2008, andto withdraw the list of 42 banned catego-ries of people”.Lastly, among other demands, the reso-lution calls on China “to implement therecommendations of the UN specialrapporteur on torture” and “to stop itsongoing support for the regimes inMyanmar and Darfur”.

Reporters Without Borders stages demo in HongKong after being banned from mainland China

eight months ahead of Olympic gamesrsf.org, A large flag showing the Olympic ringstransformed into handcuffs was unfurled out-side the Liaison Office of the central people’sgovernment of China in Hong Kong today byfive Reporters Without Borders representa-tives, including secretary-general RobertMénard, in a protest to mark Human RightsDay. Two days before Chinese authorities re-fused to give visas to members of the pressfreedom organisation.(JPEG) “We had initially planned to stagethis demonstration in Beijing, but the authori-ties refused to give us visas,” Reporters With-out Borders said. “We know that some of usare blacklisted by the Chinese immigrationservices (photo below). At a time when thegovernment is compiling files on foreign jour-nalists and human rights activists in advanceof the Olympic Games, this refusal is evi-dence of its determination to keep critics at adistance.“The Chinese authorities are clearly not pre-pared to let people remind them of the under-takings they gave to improve the situation ofhuman rights and, in particular, press free-dom when they were awarded the 2008 Olym-pics in 2001.“We have to do something as we are just eightmonths away from the start of the OlympicGames. In view of the International OlympicCommittee’s silence and the Chinesegovernment’s refusal to keep its promise toimprove respect for rights and freedoms, wehave a duty to draw attention to the disas-trous situation for free speech in China. TheChinese government must take firm actionbefore the games, starting with the release ofthe hundred or so detained journalists andcyber-dissidents.”Reporters Without Borders added : “We are nottrying to spoil a major sports event, but whowill be able to say these games have been asuccess when thousands of prisoners of con-science languish in Chinese jails overshadowedby these sports stadiums ? Who will be able tobelieve in the ‘One World, One Dream’ sloganof these games when Tibetan and Uyghur mi-norities are subject to serious discrimination ?”\(JPEG) The five Reporters Without Bordersactivists unfurled the 15-square-metre flagoutside the Chinese government’s LiaisonOffice in Hong Kong at 2.30 p.m. local time.The image on the flag, the Olympic ringstransformed into handcuffs, and the accom-panying words, “Beijing 2008,” refer to theterrible situation of free expression in China.In a previous protest, four Reporters With-out Borders representatives, including itspresident, Fernando Castello, its vice-presi-dent, Rubina Möhring, and Ménard gave anunauthorised news conference outside thebuilding of the Olympic Games OrganisingCommittee, the BOCOG, in Beijing on 6 Au-gust. They were arrested later the same day attheir hotel and escorted to the airport.The world’s biggest prison for journalistsChina is the world’s biggest prison for jour-nalists (33 detained), cyber-dissidents (49 de-tained) and free speech activists. In all, about100 of them are currently serving prison sen-tences in appalling conditions after being con-victed on charges of “subversion” or “dis-seminating state secrets.”Although the Chinese media, now subject tothe law of the market, have been evolvingrapidly, the Propaganda Department and thepolitical police continue to monitor, censorand arrest recalcitrant journalists.In January, the authorities eased the regula-tions governing the work of foreign journal-ists because of this year’s Olympics. Sincethen there have nonetheless been at least 60cases of police detaining, manhandling or oth-erwise obstructing foreign correspondents inthe course of their work. In one recent case, aSwiss TV reporter was hit and detained forseven hours by officials in a village nearBeijing. After Beijing had just been awarded the 2008Games in Moscow in 2001, a representativeof the Beijing Candidate Committee said :“By entrusting the organisation of the Olym-pic Games to Beijing , you will help the de-velopment of human rights.” Six year later,Reporters Without Borders has not seen anydurable improvement in press freedom oronline free expression.Chinese journalists continue to push back thelimits of censorship but the authorities moni-tor and punish the most critical ones. In No-vember, the Propaganda Department bannedthe Chinese media from carrying “negative”stories on matters such as air pollution, adispute over Taiwan’s inclusion in the Olym-pic torch relay, and public health issues.The Internet is also controlled. ChineseInternet users are prevented from accessing

thousands of newswebsites based abroad.Chinese cyber-policeand cyber-censors scru-tinise online contentlooking for criticism.Around 20 companies,some of them Ameri-can, had to sign a “self-disciplinary pledge” inAugust undertaking tocensor the blogs theyhost in China and toask bloggers to revealtheir real identity.The IOC’s silent com-plicityAll over the world,concern is growingabout what is happen-ing with the 2008games, which are beingexploited by a govern-ment that refuses totake action to guaran-tee freedom of expres-sion and respect theOlympic Charter’s hu-manistic values.Reporters WithoutBorders has writtenseveral letters to IOCpresident JacquesRogge asking him to intervene. He has neverreplied personally, but his close aides regularlypoint out the IOC is not a “political”organisation and cannot put pressure on a “sov-ereign state.”The IOC is constantly trumpeting theprogress being made with the work on theBeijing games infrastructure but it has notmade any public statement of concernabout the lack of freedom of expression,which will undermine the work of the me-dia and the transparency that is needed forthe games.In a letter to Rogge on 29 November, Re-porters Without Borders wrote : “It is yoursilence that has unfortunately made all theseabuses possible. We continue to think thatthe IOC should do everything it can to in-fluence the policies of the Beijing gamesorganisers towards Chinese and foreign jour-nalists. A failure to rise to this key chal-

lenge would represent an enormous setbackin the history of the Olympic movement.”

AP. 15, December 2007, Railway link-ing Lhasa with China brings thou-sands to holy sitesTHREE crimson-robed monks chantquietly as they file through the an-cient palace, pausing every now andthen to pray in the candlelit roomsfilled with Buddhist statues and re-ligious murals.At the Potala Palace, the mountaintopTibetan landmark where the DalaiLama lived until he fled to India in1959 to escape Chinese control, theyare in the minority.A year-old rail line linking Lhasa, capi-tal of the remote Himalayan region ofTibet, with the rest of China hasbrought a deluge of Chinese tourists.Once quiet holy sites are now filledwith sightseers, many of them trailingbehind guides loudly explaining theircultural significance.“In the past, this was a very comfort-able place to come for Buddhists. Youcould see a lot of lamas and Tibet-ans in this place and it made you feellike this was a place for your faith,”monk Renzin Gyaltso said as hestrolled down a stone path at thePotala Palace.Tibet’s Buddhist culture, often be-sieged in the past half-century of Chi-nese rule by religious restrictions andcommunist political movements, isfacing a new threat: mass tourism.Pilgrimages to sacred sites arean integral part of Tibetan Bud-dhism. Renzin Gyaltso, 29, hasvisited the sprawling Potala Pal-ace 14 times since joining a mon-astery as a small boy.

“Now I feel sad when I come here be-cause I cannot see any good people,I can’t see any people wearing lamarobes. You can’t see anything spe-cial, they all look the same,” he saidof the tourists, dressed in fleece jack-ets and sneakers.The Dalai Lama has warned thatTibet’s religion and culture are imper-illed as he travels the world meetingheads of state and drawing harsh re-bukes from China.“Every year, the Chinese populationinside Tibet is increasing at analarming rate. And if we are to judgeby the example of the population ofLhasa, there is a real danger thatthe Tibetans will be reduced to aninsignificant minority in their ownhomeland,” he said when acceptingthe U.S. Congress’ highest civilianhonour in October.Few government plans have suc-ceeded in bringing Chinese to Ti-bet like the “Sky Train,” which hasbecome a popular alternative to ex-pensive f l ights or long, bone-crunching bus rides.Beijing wanted to build a railway to Ti-bet for decades but was put off by en-gineering challenges. The project gotunderway in earnest in 2001 and thetrain began running in July 2006, on aspecially designed track to protect thedelicate permafrost that lies undermuch of the last third of the rail line.According to government statistics,3.2 million tourists visited Tibet in thefirst nine month of this year, an in-crease of 67 per cent over the sameperiod in 2006.

Tourists invade Tibet