ITSN NEWS DIGEST: 2 March, 2009

Posted Tue, 03/03/2009 - 14:13 by Jigme

ITSN NEWS DIGEST: 2 March, 2009

News Highlights:
- Reports on Protest at Sey Monastery, Ngaba
- China Published White Paper on Tibet
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IN TIBET

Reports on Protest at Sey Monastery, Ngaba

New protest today in Ngaba after officials ban prayer ceremony (ICT Release)
Several hundred monks marched from the monastery after officials banned them from praying, calling to be allowed to celebrate the Monlam prayer festival, and for the authorities to release all Tibetan prisoners from the area, according to three Tibetan sources with contacts in the area including one eyewitness. According to one of the sources, the protest was dispersed when armed police and officials confronted the protestors and troops are now surrounding the monastery.
http://tinyurl.com/ict-release

Tibetan monks protest in restive West China - report (SFT Release)
http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/article.php?id=1859

Chinese forces surround Tibetan monastery after protest: activists (AFP) - (quotes ICT & SFT reports)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ip08XsshFYkH9HaOKPVMQ0Nsk4pg

Report: Tibetan monks protest prayer ban (AP) - (quotes ICT report)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iAMqM2_Dwudz52KLQeY2ZKFQq9-gD96LMV8O1

Tibetan monks protest in restive West China - report (Reuters -Sunday)
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-38272820090301
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Reverence for Dalai Lama defies Chinese rule (Reuters)
Years of Chinese government denunciations and decades in exile have not loosened the Dalai Lama's influence over Tibetans in his homeland, where his banned image remains treasured.
http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINPEK121320090302

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CHINESE PROPOGANDA

China Published White Paper on Tibet

Full Text: Fifty Years of Democratic Reform in Tibet (Xinhua)
The Information Office of the State Council published a white paper titled "Fifty Years of Democratic Reform in Tibet" here on Monday. Following is the full text:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/02/content_10928003.htm

China White Paper to mark 50th Anniversary of "reform" in Tibet' (Xinhua)
"Tibetan people suffered exploitation and oppression under feudal serfdom and theocratic rule before 1959, a society even darker than medieval Europe, said a Chinese government's white paper here on Monday. It described the situation in Tibet before 1959 when serfdom was abolished and about 1 million Tibetan serfs were freed."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/02/content_10929067.htm

China publishes white paper to mark 50th anniversary of reform in Tibet (People's Daily)
"History has convincingly proved that there is no way to restore the old order, and no prospect for the success of any separatist attempt," the paper said.
"There is no way for the Dalai clique to uphold 'Tibetan independence'. Neither will it succeed in its attempt to seek semi-independence or covert independence under the banner of 'a high degree of autonomy'.
"The 14th Dalai Lama must thoroughly reflect upon and correct his political position and behavior. The central government has opened and will always keep its door open for the 14th Dalai Lama to return to a patriotic stand," the paper said.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90785/6604180.html

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White Paper Coverage in News:

West 'uses Tibet to attack China' (BBC)
China has published a paper praising its rule in Tibet and accusing the West of trying to inflame tensions there.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7918713.stm

White paper: Tibet in best period of development 50 years after democratic reform
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/02/content_10929246.htm

China top paper blames Tibet trouble on West (Reuters)
China's troubles in Tibet have been inflamed by Western forces seeking to divide and weaken the emerging power and distract voters from their own economic woes, the country's top official newspaper [People's Daily] said on Monday.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE5210HY20090302

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Other News on China

CPPCC members arrive in Beijing (Xinhua)
The annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the nation's top political advisory body, will begin on Tuesday. Many CPPCC members have already arrived in Beijing, bringing with them their proposals on the country's development.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/02/content_10928011.htm

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IN EXILE

Tibetans thank India (Deccan Herald)
Various events will be organised by the Tibetan settlements across the country to commemorate the golden anniversary under the Thank You India programme...
http://tinyurl.com/deccan-tibetan-thank-india

Group protests mining in Tibet (Torsar News Service)
It was peaceful, loud and attention-grabbing. Seven pro-Tibetan activists posed as delegates to a downtown mining convention yesterday morning, then unfurled a six-metre-long red banner that read "HDI - STOP MINING TIBET."
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/local/article/189523

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OTHER TIBET NEWS:

FACTBOX - Question marks over succession of Dalai Lama (Reuters)
The appointment of a successor to the 73-year-old Dalai Lama has become a looming issue for Tibetans struggling for more autonomy in China or outright independence, as the spiritual leader ages and his health declines.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-38279420090302

FACTBOX - Historical ties between China and Tibet (Reuters)
At the heart of the conflict over Tibet's status within China is the historical relationship. The Chinese government and Tibet's government-in-exile offer competing versions of whether the remote, mountainous territory was historically ruled as part of China, or whether it has legitimate claims to independence or autonomy.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-38279520090302

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Op-Ed & BLOG:

Crimson rebellion (Daily News & Analysis)
Fifty years after Tibet's spiritual and political leader Dalai Lama fled to India following a failed uprising against Chinese rule, there are increasing signs that a restive Tibetan diaspora is looking beyond the ageing leader's time with plans to step up its campaign for independence.
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1235376

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2009-03-02

News Archives

Facts about Tibet

Tibet lies at the centre of Asia, with an area of 2.5 million square kilometres (approximately 1 million square miles).

Despite over 50 years of Chinese occupation of Tibet, the Tibetan people refuse to be conquered and subjugated by China.

The Tibetan Plateau is the highest and biggest plateau in the world, so Tibet is referred to as “the roof of the world”.

For Tibetans, the term Tibet means the 3 provinces of U'Tsang, Kham and Amdo, the area traditionally known as Tibet before China's invasion.

The English word Tibet is derived from the Arabic word Tubbat. This word is in turn derived via Persian from the Turkic word Tobad, meaning ‘the heights’.

Tibet was occupied by China in 1949, and the Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959.

Hundreds of thousands of Tibetans have died as a direct result of Chinese occupation since 1949.

There are six million Tibetans in Tibet and roughly 150,000 Tibetans in exile in India and other countries.

Tibetans consider the Dalai Lama to be the temporal as well as spiritual leader of Tibet.

Thousands of Tibetans cross the mighty Himalaya on foot every year into exile, risking death, injuries and arrest.

Most Tibetans are Buddhist, but there are Muslims, Christians and practitioners of Bon, the indigenous religion of Tibet.

In 1948 Tibetan government representatives traveled to the US, UK and France on Tibetan government issued passports.

The exiled Tibetan people elected their first Prime Minister in 2000

In 2008, Tibetans took part in more than 130 separate peaceful protests against the Chinese government across the Tibetan Plateau.

Displaying a photograph of the Dalai Lama in Tibet can result in arrest.

In 1995 the Chinese government abducted the 6 year old Panchen Lama, one of Tibet's most important spiritual leaders. He is still missing.

The longest epic poem in the world is the story of a legendary Tibetan king, Gesar of Ling.

The Tibetan Plateau is the Earth's "Third Pole," providing life-sustaining waters for and regulating weather across south and east Asia.

March 10 is Tibetan National Uprising day. It marks the massive uprising in Tibet in 1959 that led to the escape of the Dalai Lama into exile.

Yak is a Tibetan term for the male of the species. Its female counterpart is called Dri.

Tibetans are denied many of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the right to self- determination, freedom of speech and religion.

Untll 1949 Tibet had its own government that managed its own domestic and foreign affairs; Tibet had its own national flag and its own currency.

According to Amnesty International more than 1,000 Tibetans were unaccounted for after the protests of 2008.

In the Tibetan Lunar Calendar, the year 2009 corresponds to the year 2136, the Year of the Earth Ox.

Prior to the uprisings of 2008, the last major protests by Tibetans against China's occupation of Tibet took place in 1989, when martial law was declared.

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