Canadian Foreign Minister reiterates support for human rights in Tibet
January 28, 2019
Ottawa, January 28, 2019 – Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a written statement issued Monday that Canada remains deeply concerned about the human rights situation affecting Tibetans, including restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief, as well as the protection of linguistic and cultural rights. Freeland’s statement came in response to a petition submitted to the House of Commons by MP Randall Garrison and his intern Ms. Khando Langri. [1]
The statement also mentions that Canada has raised concerns regarding human rights practices directly with Chinese authorities on numerous occasions. According to the statement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had a frank and open discussion on human rights, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion as part of the third Canada-China Annual Leaders’ Dialogue on November 14, 2018. In the same year, Canada raised concerns about Tibet issues at a Ministerial Meeting to Advance Religious Freedom in Washington, and at the 3rd Universal Periodic Review of China in Geneva.
“We are grateful to the Government of Canada for continuing to raise concerns about human rights violations in Tibet,” said Sherap Therchin, Executive Director of Canada Tibet Committee. “We call upon the Government of China to respect the cultural, linguistic, religious and economic rights of Tibetans.”
In her statement, Minister Freeland also said that “Canada will continue to raise its concerns about the human rights situation in China and Tibet, and we will continue to call on China to live up to its international obligations.”
In November 2018, the Government of Canada announced $5.4 million funding to promote the preservation of Tibetan language and culture through gender-responsive teaching practices in Tibetan schools in India and Nepal. [2]
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[1] Minister Freeland’s statement is found here: http://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/ePetitions/Responses/421/e-1743/421-03025_GAC_E.pdf
[2] Canadian funding for Tibet education: https://tibet.net/2018/11/canadian-government-announces-5-4-million-in-funding-for-tibetan-education/
Americans rank Dalai Lama among most admired men in the world, showing continued US support for both him and Tibet
January 9, 2019
International Campaign for Tibet, December 31,2018 – The Dalai Lama says Americans love Tibet. A new survey shows they feel pretty good about him, too.
The Tibetan spiritual leader is eighth on Gallup’s 2018 Most Admired Man list, marking his ninth appearance in the top 10.
The list, released today, is based on a survey that asked more than 1,000 adults across the United States which living person they admired most. Former US President Barack Obama came up first for the 11th consecutive year, while his wife, former first lady Michele Obama, topped the list of most admired women.
As a leader who for decades has advocated a peaceful solution to the Tibetan crisis—earning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989—and as an eloquent voice of compassion and tolerance across religions and cultures, the Dalai Lama is often voted as one of the most respected figures around the globe.
He is greatly beloved in the United States, where his popularity and the righteousness of his cause has helped gain the American public’s support for Tibet, a historically independent country that China has occupied and ruled with an iron fist for nearly 70 years.
The news that the Dalai Lama was once again on Gallup’s list came just days after he spoke about America’s commitment to Tibet during an interview with the Hindustan Times of India.
The interviewer asked the Dalai Lama for his reaction to the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, a new law in the US that takes aim at China’s isolation of Tibet.
The bipartisan law—which requires the State Department to deny US visas for Chinese officials who are responsible for keeping Americans out of Tibetan regions—was unanimously approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate and signed into law earlier this month by President Trump.
The Dalai Lama, who retired from his political role in 2011 but remains the head of Tibetan Buddhism, said he was not in a position to comment.
However, he said, “both the US houses [of Congress] have been strong supporters of Tibet over the decades and so has been the American government. American people love Tibet.”
“His Holiness the Dalai Lama is one of the most beloved figures in the United States–and in the world—and the great reverence for him shows that enthusiasm for Tibet remains strong among the American people,” said Matteo Mecacci, president of the International Campaign for Tibet. “The unanimous approval of the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act demonstrates that the US government has a strong interest not only to address the lack of reciprocity in US-China relations, but also to keep Tibet at the center of it. The Dalai Lama’s appearance on Gallup’s list shows that the people of the United States continue to support this Nobel Peace Laureate’s peaceful advocacy of the Tibetan people’s right to preserve their own identity and culture.”
China forbids Tibetan students from participating in winter break activities, fearing exposure to perspectives different than communist ideology
January 9, 2019
Radio Free Asia, January 4, 2019 -Chinese authorities in Tibet’s Lhoka Tsethang city have ordered Tibetan students not to enroll in workshops or other outside activities during their winter break from classes, according to Tibetan sources.
The order also forbids students in the large municipality southeast of the regional capital Lhasa from taking part in religious events while they are away from school, a Tibetan living in India told RFA’s Tibetan Service, citing sources in Lhoka.
Local Tibetans believe the order is a measure aimed at guarding students from ideas and influences not approved by state authorities, RFA’s source said, named Jampa, said.
“The Tibetan students are taught communist ideology in the schools, so it is feared that any exposure to different perspectives may affect and endanger the students’ impressionable minds,” Jampa said, adding, “This ban on Tibetan students’ extracurricular activities has caused problems and concerns for the local Tibetans.”
The order, which forbids participation in “outside programs and religious activities” during winter vacation, was included at the top of Lhoka-area students’ end-of-term report cards in a copy seen by RFA.
No explanation for the ban was given on the sheet.
The restriction on religious activity in particular “exposes the lie of Chinese propaganda that Tibetans enjoy freedom of religion,” Jampa said.
Further information on the ban is difficult to obtain due to Chinese authorities’ strict control of social media channels, he said.
This winter’s ban on outside enrollments in Lhoka continues a trend of restrictions reported elsewhere in Tibet last year.
In May 2018, Chinese authorities in Tibet’s Chamdo city ordered Tibetan students and their parents to avoid religious gatherings and festivals during the Buddhist holy month of Saga Dawa, threatening them with unspecified punishments if they were caught ignoring the ban.
The order, set out in a May 14 document that circulated widely on social media, stressed the need to remove Tibetan children from religious influence in order to promote “critical thinking” in their education.
17-year old Tibetan monk arrested after calling for freedom in Tibet
December 21, 2018
CTA, December 15, 2018- A 17-year old monk named Sangay Gyatso was detained by local Chinese authorities on 10 December this year for staging a peaceful protest calling for ‘Freedom in Tibet.’ The protest took place on the main street of Ngaba County town in Ngaba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in the Tibetan province of Amdo (Incorporated into China’s Sichuan Province).
10 December is a significant date as it marks the World Human Rights Day and the 29th anniversary of the conferment of Nobel Peace Prize upon His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
According to our sources at Kirti Jeypa monastery based in Dharamshala, Sangay Gyatso carried out the protest shouting slogans calling for “Freedom for Tibet”. The local Chinese police immediately arrived at the protest site, manhandled him and took him away to an undisclosed location. Sangay was severely beaten up before he was detained. Sources said the incident was witnessed by local passersby. His current whereabouts is unknown.
Sangay Gyatso hails from a nomadic family in Soruma village in Choejema Township of Ngaba County. His father’s name is Jekar Soepa and mother’s Wangkho. Sangay is a monk at the local Kirti Monastery and a 9th-grade student of elementary Buddhist studies in the monastery.
The news of two self-immolations in Amdo Ngaba doing rounds cannot be confirmed as of now.
Elderly Tibetans go back to school to learn to read and write
December 21, 2018
Radio Free Asia, December 18, 2018– In a move aimed at improving their command of the Tibetan language, elderly residents of a Tibetan-populated county in Qinghai have launched a series of classes to learn basic skills, a source living in the area says.
The Tibetans, ranging in age from 50 to 80 years old, gather each week in Gatoe town in the Yulshul Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture’s Tridu (in Chinese, Chenduo) county for classes where they are taught writing and reading.
“There, they start by learning the Tibetan alphabet, beginning their education even at such an advanced age,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Though they all grew up speaking Tibetan, and are strongly familiar with their culture, they had been deprived of a basic education in the language since there were no schools, either state-run or private, in that area to cater to their needs in childhood,” the source said.
That so many residents are taking an interest in mastering the Tibetan language even in their older years is much appreciated by the Tibetan community, the source said.
Tridu county’s Zilkar monastery has now taken the lead in providing resources to support the classes, with senior monks showing “particular interest in promoting Tibetan literacy among the elderly Tibetans,” RFA’s source said.
“The promotion and preservation of Tibetan language and culture is being emphasized in all Tibetan communities, but in reality Tibetans now depend on [Chinese] culture and language for their own survival,” he said.
Writers, singers, and educators promoting Tibetan national identity and culture have frequently been detained by Chinese authorities, with many handed long jail terms, following region-wide protests against Chinese rule that swept Tibetan areas of China in 2008.
Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with informally organized language courses often deemed “illegal associations” and teachers subject to detention and arrest, sources say.
On May 22, 2018, a Qinghai court sentenced Tibetan shopkeeper and language activist Tashi Wangchuk, 33, to a five-year prison term for promoting “separatism” following his efforts to preserve and promote the use of his native language in Tibetan-populated regions of China.
The US State Dept. supports reciprocal access to Tibet, and Congress rejects China’s authority to choose new Dalai Lama
December 11, 2018
International Campaign for Tibet, December 4, 2018– The US Department of State supports the goals of the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act and will take steps to implement the bill if it becomes law, a department official said at a hearing today.
During the same hearing, a US Senator stated that Congress would reject a Chinese-appointed reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.
“I think it’s clear that this Congress would not recognize a Chinese imposition” of a new Dalai Lama, said Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who presided today, Dec. 4, 2018, over the hearing titled “The China Challenge, Part 3: Democracy, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law.”
The hearing brought together members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy, as well as representatives from the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Mentioning the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002, which requires American officials to visit Tibet on a regular basis, Gardner said very few American diplomats have been able to enter Tibet—a historically independent country that China has occupied for almost 70 years—because the Chinese government refuses to give them access, just as it also denies access to Tibet for American journalists and tourists, as well as citizens from around the world.
Gardner asked Laura Stone, acting deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the State Department, what level of access to Tibet her agency has received over the past three years.
While Stone said she would have to look into that and get back to him, she told Gardner that: “I do want to state very clearly that I do understand the Senate is considering the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act. We do want to continue to work very closely with Congress and with your staff with the goal of seeing that Americans do have access to Tibet.”
The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act—which takes aim at China’s unfair policy of banning Americans from Tibet, even though Chinese officials travel freely throughout the US—was unanimously approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. It now needs to pass the full Senate and be signed into law by President Trump.
The bill requires the State Department to identify the Chinese officials responsible for keeping Americans out of Tibet. The Secretary of State will then ban those officials from receiving visas to enter the US.
Gardner, one of 14 Senate cosponsors of the bill, noted that “Chinese officials who purport to represent Tibet have been freely coming to the United States.”
He asked Stone if the State Department shares the goals of the legislation. She said yes, and when Gardner asked if the department would work to implement the bill, she replied, “Of course.”
According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, when the current Dalai Lama passes away, he will reincarnate as another person.
In a gross subversion of religious freedom, the Chinese government has claimed that it alone has the right to decide who the reincarnated Dalai Lama is.
Along with saying that Congress would reject China’s choice, Gardner asked Stone how the US government would respond.
Stone said the US has a clear position that religious decisions should be made by religious organizations, not by political regimes. She added that there is wide support for that position among the US public.
Stone told Gardner: “The fact that you’re asking that question is an important signal in itself to the Chinese government that this is the kind of issue that we are watching very closely and at very senior levels.”
In addition to Gardner, Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Marco Rubio (R.-Fla.) all spoke at the meeting in support of the Tibetan people and their struggle for democracy and human rights.
Gloria Steele, acting assistant administrator in the Bureau for Asia at USAID, told the hearing that her agency partners with Tibetans to help them preserve their culture, sustain their livelihoods and conserve their environments.
USAID has helped preserve nearly 7 million Tibetan cultural heritage items; trained teachers in modern methods, benefiting more than 21,000 students at 75 Tibetan schools in India and Nepal; and bolstered the public leadership skills of more than 330 Central Tibetan Administration staff, Steele said.
USAID has also launched a pilot program to help government vendors sustain or grow their businesses through small, low-interest loans.
In the 2017 fiscal year, the program helped more than 800 microenterprises with a 100 percent on-time repayment rate, Steele said.
Tibet youth self-immolates over China’s Tibet policies
December 11, 2018
Voice of America, December 10, 2018– A young Tibetan man set himself on fire outside a district security office in China’s Sichuan province earlier this month, chanting, “Long Live His Holiness the Dalai Lama! Free Tibet!”
Tibetan sources say the man, Drugkho, is about 22 years old, and is believed to still be alive, but his whereabouts and his condition remain unclear. He is the latest Tibetan to attempt to self-immolate over repressive Chinese policies in Tibet. Local sources said the incident occurred last Saturday near the Ngaba District security office, but details were scarce.
Whenever there is a self-immolation protest, China typically beefs up its security to try to prevent the news from spreading.
“There has been an immediate lockdown in the area, with internet communications blocked. A Tibetan youth self-immolated on December 8 in the afternoon in Ngaba county, and it is true that it happened, but after the incident any discussion of this is very inconvenient,” RFA Tibetan service and The Tibet Post International reported, quoting sources in Tibet.
Dharamsala-based Kirti Monastery’s spokesman Lobsang Yeshi says no further details were known because of strict restrictions on information flow in the area and dangers to the Tibetans speaking to the outside world.
The protester was a former monk at Kirti Monastery. He was formerly known as Chokyi Gyaltsen, but after he disrobed in 2017, he took the name of Drugkho, according to Tibetan sources.
Ngaba’s main town and nearby Kirti Monastery have been the scene of repeated self-immolations and other protests in recent years by monks, former monks, and other Tibetans calling for Tibetan freedom and the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet. Drugkho’s self-immolation protest is the 42nd such confirmed incident in Ngaba.
Drugkho’s protest brings the total number of self-immolations to roughly 155 in Tibet since February 2009. The majority of those self-immolators have died.
The Reciprocal Access to Tibet receives unanimous support from the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee
November 29, 2018
International Campaign for Tibet, November 28, 2019– The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act passed another milestone today, Nov. 28, 2018, when it was unanimously approved by the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The Act, which the House of Representatives passed in September, aims to end China’s isolation of Tibet and the Tibetan people from the outside world by calling on the Chinese government to allow American journalists, diplomats and tourists into Tibet, just as their Chinese counterparts are able to travel in the US.
“The unanimous support expressed today by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) once again reflects the widespread concern of the American people for the situation inside Tibet and for the lack of access for US citizens,” said Matteo Mecacci, president of the International Campaign for Tibet. “We wish to thank in particular the main sponsor of the bill in the Senate, Sen. Rubio, and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the SFRC, Sen. Corker and Sen. Menendez, for their steadfast and principled stance in support of reciprocity in US-China relations.”
The Act also highlights the discriminatory process that Tibetan-Americans have to go through at the Chinese Embassy and consulates whey they apply for visas to visit Tibet on pilgrimage or to meet their relatives.
Currently, China heavily restricts Americans (as well as all foreigners) from entering Tibet—a historically independent country that China has occupied for nearly 70 years—even though Chinese citizens are free to travel throughout the US and other democratic countries.
Under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, the Secretary of State will have to send a report to Congress identifying the Chinese officials responsible for these unfair policies. Those officials will then be denied visas to enter the US until China’s policies change.
In recent years, politicians from both parties have become increasingly outraged at China’s unfair treatment of the US and have demanded that China’s government reciprocate on issues of trade as well as freedom of access for American journalists, diplomats and citizens.
Over the past year, Tibetan-Americans and Tibet supporters throughout the US have been reaching out to their Members of Congress to ask them to raise the issue of access to Tibet and to support the bill.
The bill was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and has 13 cosponsors as of Nov. 28, with Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) recently adding their names to the list.
The Senate is now expected to take up the bill.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama stresses the importance of realistic approach for China in dealing with Tibet issue.
November 29, 2018
Kyodo News, November 21, 2018 – The Dalai Lama urged the Chinese government to take a realistic approach toward Tibet during a speech in Tokyo on Tuesday.
“The Chinese government is starting to recognize that using pressure against Tibetans to deter separation (from China) is useless,” the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said at an event organized by a bipartisan group of parliamentarians. “An approach that corresponds to reality is necessary.”
As he advocated for Tibetan cultural and religious rights, the 83-year-old emphasized that he was not seeking independence for Tibet. His continuous call to give Tibet a high level of autonomy has made China consider him a separatist.
“Tibetans can receive economic benefits by staying in China, and the Han Chinese can receive spiritual benefits through Tibetan Buddhism,” he said, adding that Buddhist teachings have become increasingly popular among the Chinese in recent years.
The event was held in a House of Representative’s office building and attended by around 160 people.
The Dalai Lama will perform a religious ceremony Thursday in the southwestern Japan city of Fukuoka for the victims of a deadly earthquake that hit Kumamoto in 2016 and this year’s series of deadly natural disasters in western and northern Japan.
His last visit to Japan came two years ago. His planned trip to the country last year was canceled on his doctor’s advice.
The current Dalai Lama is considered the 14th incarnation of the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. He fled Tibet after a failed uprising against China’s rule in 1959 and set up a government-in-exile in Dharamsala, northern India.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama meets All Party Japanese Parliamentary Group for Tibet
November 21, 2018
Published By Tenzin Saldon
Tokyo: Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who is currently on a ten-day visit to Japan, met Members of the All Party Japanese Parliamentary Group for Tibet at the Japanese Parliamentary Complex on Tuesday. This is the fourth time that His Holiness is being hosted at the Japanese parliament.
His Holiness last visited the Japanese Parliament on 16 November 2016 during which he interacted with 229 parliamentarians from different political parties. The All Party Japanese Parliamentary Group for Tibet is the largest parliamentary group for Tibet in the world.
The Chairperson, Hakubun Shimomura, a Member of the House of Representatives from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party welcomed His Holiness to the Japanese parliamentary complex.
“The world looks up to you Your Holiness for leadership; you are someone we deeply admire. Your advice is for us like the sunshine dispelling darkness. I’d like you to know that we are also working closely with NGOs who support the cause of Tibet. On behalf of us all, I’d like to thank you for coming to our Parliament,” he said, in his welcome remarks.
Vice-Chairperson of the APJPGT, Shu Watanabe, of the People’s Democratic Party, said, “Although he is the leader of the Tibetan people, His Holiness emphasises the importance of considering the welfare of all 7 billion human beings alive today. He stresses the need for greater compassion. He voices a special appreciation of Japan as a technologically highly developed country that has kept its traditional culture and values intact.”
During the meeting, the Parliamentarians voiced strong support for the Tibetan cause and reiterated their commitment towards protecting Tibetan culture, religion, language and Tibet’s ecology. They also expressed enthusiasm in supporting economic and educational development inside Tibet. They stated that they have appealed for the release of Tibetan prisoners of conscience. They urged all nations across the world to defend and support the rights of Tibetans.
The MPs informed His Holiness of the passage of a resolution with regard to Tibet. The resolution of the All Party Japanese Parliamentary Group for Tibet was formally read out in Japanese.
“I appreciate your resolution about Tibet. Over the last 70 years since they occupied the country Chinese hardliners have tried different methods, the use of force, brainwashing and bribery to diminish the Tibetan spirit. But the greater the suppression, the stronger the Tibetan spirit grows,” His Holiness said, addressing the MPs.
“There were all kinds of problems in Tibet before 1959, but there was no intrinsic conflict between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples. However, Chinese behaviour has created a rift between the two. Discrimination exists in the administration, schools and even in prisons. The Chinese government proclaims harmony and stability, but their policies completely undermine these goals. They need to be more realistic.
He continued, “On our part, since 1974 we have not sought independence. We are prepared to stay with the PRC, provided we have all the rights we are entitled to. A few years ago, we noticed the existence of a thousand or so articles in Chinese supporting our Middle Way Approach (MWA) and critical of Chinese government policy. Today, there are at least 300 million Chinese Buddhists, many of them educated people with an appreciation of the value of the Nalanda Tradition.
“I tell parliamentary groups who support Tibet in Europe that the more they are able to express concern from their own side about the situation in Tibet, the more it helps Tibetans and raises their morale. It encourages them to know there is support elsewhere in the world. It would be helpful if you were able to go into Tibet on an environmental fact-finding mission, accompanied by ecologists, to see for yourselves how things are. As you know, as the source of great rivers, Tibet’s ecology is crucial to Asian well-being.
Concluding his remarks, His Holiness said, “In India these days I am encouraging young people in particular to revive interest in ancient Indian knowledge of the workings of the mind and emotions. It may be ancient, but I believe this knowledge remains essentially relevant today. Japan is a Buddhist country and I’m convinced that if they took more interest in this inner knowledge people here too could cultivate a firm peace of mind.”
Erico Yamatani of the Liberal Democratic Party expressed gratitude to His Holiness for coming to the Parliament. “If we were to heed what His Holiness advises we might be able to achieve peace in the world. I also offer the thought that we must do more research into ways to reverse climate change, keeping in mind the important role of the Tibetan Plateau as the Third Pole.”
General Secretary of the APJPGT, Nobuyuki Baba, of the Japan Innovation Party also addressed the meeting.
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