China jails Tibetans for celebrating Dalai Lama’s birthday
December 12, 2016
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights & Democracy, December 7, 2016 – Chinese authorities have sentenced nine Tibetans to varying terms of six to 14 years in connection with the 80th birthday celebration of the Nobel Peace laureate and Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) County in Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.
Information received by TCHRD confirms the recent sentencing of four monks, two former monks, two laywomen and two men by the Barkham Intermediate People’s Court. All of them were sentenced after being held incommunicado for months. Their family members learned about their whereabouts and status only after the sentencing.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama turned 80 on 21 June 2015 according to Tibetan calendar (6 July according to Western calendar). The Tibetan spiritual leader’s 80th birthday was celebrated on a grand scale in many countries and communities. In Tibetan tradition, celebrating a person’s 80th birthday holds special significance and is considered a major milestone of life.
It’s noteworthy that six of the 10 Tibetans sentenced are former political prisoners who had recently served prison time. It only demonstrates the failure of Chinese policy in Tibet that relies on repression as a tool to obtain Tibetan obedience and loyalty. Unsurprisingly the six former political prisoners received heavy sentences which attest to the fact that Chinese authorities have no intention to improve the human rights situation in Tibet.
Dukdra, 50, received 14 years in prison for organising a public picnic to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday in Ngaba. He was arbitrarily detained at night from his monastic quarter at the local Kirti Monastery around the end of November 2015. A native of Soruma Village in Ngaba County, he had earlier served in prison for one year and four months for his role in 2008 protests in Ngaba.
A laywoman named Bhonkho Kyi, 48, was given seven years for helping organise a public picnic to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday. It is not known whether she and Dukda were connected to the same picnic. Daughter of Mr Yarphel of Lhade Gabma village in Ngaba County, Kyi was arbitrarily detained at around 20 November 2015. She had been detained earlier for unknown reasons for several months in 2011 and 2012. With help from some relatives, she was released at the time but remained under close surveillance by the authorities.
Another monk from Kirti Monastery named Lobsang Khedup, 44, was given 13 years for creating a WeChat group chat to register names of local Tibetans wishing to offer prayers for the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday. He was arbitrarily detained in December 2015 and remained incommunicado until his sentencing. He had earlier been sentenced to three years for unknown reasons in 2011. He was however released before the completion of his term due to serious illness. The authorities feared that he might die in prison. Post release, Khedup’s family members had to spend a huge amount on his treatment for a long time. Given his precarious health condition, relatives fear that he might not survive long enough to serve 13 years in prison. At the time of his detention, he was about to sit for the exams to get his Geshe degree, a Buddhist doctorate degree. He is the son of Mr Thoeli from Chukle Gabma village in Ngaba County.
A Kirti monk named Lobsang Gephel, 29, received 12 years for suspected connection with the Dalai Lama’s birthday celebration. As previously reported, he was detained on the night of 30 November 2015 while he was returning to the monastery. He was held incommunicado at Ngaba County detention centre until his sentencing. He had earlier been sentenced to three years after being detained in May 2011. He was released a few months before the completion of the term in the end of 2013. He was a store manager at the medical college of Kirti Monastery.
The same court also sentenced three other Tibetans from Ngaba. A former monk named Trotsik Tsultrim, 33, was sentenced to six years for organising a public picnic to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s birthday. He had been sentenced earlier to one and a half years; he was among the six monks from Trotsik Monastery who were arbitrarily arrested and sentenced for their role in the 2008 protests. Trotsik Tsultrim, son of Mr Topgyal and Mrs Norlha, belongs to Yarjong family of Dowa Village in Trotsik (Ch: Hezhi) Township, Ngaba County.
Another man named Tsultrim (also known as ‘Tsultey’) was sentenced to five years after being detained at around 25 November 2015. A former Kirti monk, he had been imprisoned earlier in 2008 for taking part in protest that rocked Ngaba county that year. At the time, he was sentenced to one and a half years in prison. He is married and father of two children both of whom are not older than five. He is the son of Mrs Tapo and a native of Lhade Ghongma in Ngaba County.
A laywoman named Tarey Kyi was given eight years in prison. No other details are immediately available on them.
Sources TCHRD talked to are unavailable to provide confirmed information on the exact charges used to imprison the Tibetans. It appears that they were sentenced for ‘inciting separatism’, a vague and overbroad provision commonly used to stifle freedom of expression and opinion in Tibet.
In June 2015, Chinese authorities imposed severe restrictions on attempts made by local Tibetans to celebrate Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday. Last year, TCHRD reported on the arbitrary detention of two Tibetans a layman and woman in connection with the Dalai Lama’s birthday

Tibetan self-immolates in eastern Tibet
December 12, 2016
Radio Free Asia, December 9, 2016 – A Tibetan living in northwestern China’s Gansu province self-immolated on Thursday in the first such protest in Tibetan areas of China since May, Tibetan sources say.
The protest took place at about 7:00 p.m. local time on a main road leading from the Machu (in Chinese, Maqu) county center to the Machu Bridge, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
“Many who saw the protest said the self-immolator was praying to [exiled spiritual leader] the Dalai Lama,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Not long after, Chinese police arrived and took the self-immolator away,” the source said.
No details on the protester’s identity or condition were immediately available.
The protest brings to 146 the number of self-immolations by Tibetans living in China since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009.
Most protests feature demands for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from India, where he has lived since escaping Tibet during a failed national uprising in 1959.
Reported by RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Climate change likely cause of 2016 avalanche in Tibet
December 12, 2016
By Jaimee Bruce
Nature World, December 11, 2016 – An international team of researchers has concluded that climate change has greatly affected the previously stable region of the Tibetan Plateau, causing the devastating avalanche of 2016.
Published in an issue of the Journal of Glaciology, the study was done by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences joined by two glaciologists from The Ohio State University: Lonnie Thompson, Distinguished University Professor in the School of Earth Sciences and research scientist at the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, and Ellen Mosley-Thompson, Distinguished University Professor in Geography and director of the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center.
Tibet has avoided climate change for decades despite glaciers in southern and eastern Tibet melting at an increasing rate. Extra snowfall had most likely created additional meltwater according to Lide Tian, a glaciologist at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and lead author of the paper.
More than 70 million tons of ice broke off from the Aru glacier in western Tibet, falling onto nomadic yak herders in the valley below. “Given the rate at which the event occurred and the area covered, I think it could only happen in the presence of meltwater,” Thompson said. Other nearby glaciers may be headed the same way, he added, “but unfortunately as of today, we have no ability to predict such disasters.”
According to Thompson, the most vital fact about the avalanche was that it only lasted four or five minutes but still buried 3.7 square miles of the valley floor in that time. Thompson believes that the meltwater at the base of the glacier could have sped the avalanche’s descent down the mountain.
Another glacier in the same mountain range gave way a couple of months later, this time without fatalities. Researchers were able to get precise measurements of how much ice fell in the first avalanche by utilizing satellite data and GPS. By working with computer modelers who were able to replicate the avalanche virtually, the researchers were able to conclude by the simulations that the cause of the avalanche was the presence of meltwater.
“We still don’t know exactly where the meltwater came from, but given that the average temperature at the nearest weather station has risen by about 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) over the last 50 years, it makes sense that snow and ice are melting and the resulting water is seeping down beneath the glacier,” Thompson explained.

First Tibetan American to be appointed a Commissioner of the US International Religious Freedom Commission
International Campaign For Tibet ON DECEMBER 8, 2016
In a historic first, Dr. Tenzin Dorjee, a Tibetan American, has been appointed as a Commissioner of the bipartisan US International Religious Freedom Commission. This federal government commission was created by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad.
Dr. Dorjee is Associate Professor at the Department of Human Communication Studies, California State University at Fullerton (CSUF).
The International Religious Freedom Act mandates that three Commissioners are selected by the President, two by the leaders of the President’s party in Congress, and four by the congressional leaders of the party not in the White House. Dr. Dorjee was nominated by Leader Nancy Pelosi.
In reaction to his appointment, Dr. Dorjee said, “It is my great honor and privilege to be appointed a Commissioner of the US International Religious Freedom Commission. I deeply care about the freedom of religion and take it seriously, and look at my position as a vital platform to provide an all-inclusive-secular ethics perspective of His Holiness the Dalai Lama as well as unique Tibetan Buddhist perspective and voice on global religious freedom and rights.”
Commissioners are appointed for two year terms, and are eligible for reappointment. According to IRFA, Commissioners are “selected among distinguished individuals noted for their knowledge and experience in fields relevant to the issue of international religious freedom, including foreign affairs, direct experience abroad, human rights, and international law.”
Matteo Mecacci, President of the International Campaign for Tibet, said, “Dr. Tenzin Dorjee’s appointment is indeed a very strong recognition of the Tibetan American community, and the contribution that it can make towards fulfilling the broader American policy towards the world on the issue of religious freedom.” ICT looks forward to working with the Commission and Dr. Dorjee on issues of Tibetan religious freedom.
USCIRF makes policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress.
Following is Dr. Dorjee’s bio;
Dr. Tenzin Dorjee
California State University at Fullerton
Tenzin Dorjee (Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara) is Associate Professor at the Department of Human Communication Studies, California State University at Fullerton (CSUF). He is an intergroup and intercultural communication expert whose primary teaching and research interests are in intergroup, intercultural, intergenerational communication, identity issues, peace building, and conflict resolution. He has authored and co-authored peer-reviewed articles and chapters on Tibetan culture, identity, and communication, nonviolence and middle way approaches to Sino-Tibetan conflict, intergenerational communication context, and others.
California State University at Fullerton honored him with several outstanding recognitions for his superior teaching, peer-reviewed journal publications of the Highest Quality Scholarly and Creative Activity, and extraordinary community service: Faculty Recognition: Teacher-Scholar Award in 2011, Faculty Recognition: Scholarly and Creative Activity in 2013 and 2016, and Faculty Recognition: Extraordinary and Sustained Service in 2015. The Western States of Communication Association (WSCA) elected him to the WSCA Executive Council and Chair of the Committee for Teaching Excellence Award in 2013.
Dr. Dorjee is a published author and translator of Tibetan Buddhism into English and had also served as translator to His Holiness the Dalai Lama during teachings and talks in India and USA. He is also a prominent native translator (Lotsawa) of over 30 years with many articles. For more information, see Dr. Tenzin Dorjee, Commissioner at USCIRF website.

Taiwan Preps for Closer US Cooperation After Trump Phone Call

http://www.voanews.com/a/taiwan-preps-for-closer-us-cooperation-after-trump-phone-call/3629408.html
China and the United States are sniping at each other over President-elect Donald Trump’s phone call last week with the president of Taiwan, but the exchange of hard words between them has largely missed Taiwan itself, and the island may ultimately gain from long-term closer contact with Washington. That afterglow from the December 2 phone call between Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen could ease Taiwan’s diplomatic isolation, bolster trade ties and give it a new edge in military defense against Beijing – its most likely foe in any conflict. “I think from the outset (the call with Trump) is good for Taiwan,” said Shane Lee, political scientist at Chang Jung Christian University in Taiwan. “Tsai Ing-wen will have better access to the White House or to the administration in general. In what way, it’s hard to say. When Trump steps into the White House, he will have to talk with his advisers.”
Communist Party newspaper mocks the President-elect
China’s Communist Party-run Global Times newspaper expects more trouble than ever between the two superpowers after Trump takes office and says a lot of his words won’t turn into action. On Thursday, the paper’s website called him a “political rookie in wake of a protocol-smashing phone call with Taiwan.” But tighter relations with the United States would also put Taiwan at risk of a backlash from China, which already distrusts Tsai. Taiwan has been self-ruled since the 1940s and polls show most Taiwanese oppose Beijing’s goal of unification with China. To isolate Taiwan’s government, China asks its 170-plus diplomatic allies to avoid formal contact with Taipei. Washington broke ties with Taiwan in 1979 and switched to the larger, fast-growing China. But it has remained a staunch informal supporter of Taiwan since then.
Phone call from Trump may help Taiwan’s military
Following the Trump phone call, Taiwan should expect more arms sales and better quality weaponry for its defense against China, said Ross Feingold, Taipei-based senior adviser with the American political risk manager DC International Advisory. Trump’s Asia advisers will want more military-to-military contact as well, he forecasted. “There is also going to be people who are very supportive of higher-level military contact,” said Feingold. “The people who are advising on Asia policy, these are people who made it very clear they are very supportive of reducing the restriction on military-to-military contact.” Taiwan has the world’s 19th biggest military compared to China at number three, according to the statistical database GlobalFirePower.com. It looks to Washington as its chief weapons supplier, though China’s pressure on the U.S. government to stop arms sales has spawned a homegrown defense industry in Taiwan.
Phone call could also have an economic effect
The 12-minute call to Trump may lead to deeper discussion of trade and investment cooperation than what President Barack Obama has offered, some experts say. Trump’s administration may also try to help Taiwan open doors to international agencies where China blocks its access. On the call, Tsai asked for American help in participating and contributing to those agencies. More strategically, the Tsai government that took office in May should have the ear of Trump’s administration as needed, analysts say. Trump transition team member Ed Feulner pushed for the phone call, per media reports in Taipei. Taiwan’s foreign ministry on Wednesday thanked former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole for his “deep support,” though the president’s office says that contrary to some media reports, Dole’s company did not arrange the phone call. Tsai has expressed hope for meeting members of Trump’s transition team during a proposed stopover in the United States en route to Guatemala, a diplomatic ally, next month.
The phone call has ‘excited’ the people of Taiwan
Taiwanese are “excited” about the phone call as a sign that a U.S. leader cares about their homeland, said Ku Chung-hwa, standing committee member with the Taipei advocacy group Citizens’ Congress Watch. People on the island have also made “psychological preparation” for a Beijing backlash since Tsai won the presidential election in January, he said.
May be a price to pay
Beijing resents Tsai for not seeing Taiwan as part of China, a precondition for any dialogue. Since her election over a candidate who took a friendlier view toward China, travel agents say Beijing has discouraged tour groups from traveling to the island and the Communist leadership has formed relations with a former Taiwan ally in Africa. China has also put Taiwanese fraud suspects on trial after being arrested abroad. But China has avoided action that would upset Taiwanese to the point of pushing for constitutional independence. The constitution, written before the Chinese civil war, identifies Taiwan and China as part of the same country. Scholars in Taipei warn of a stronger backlash, such as military threats or picking off some of Taiwan’s remaining 22 diplomatic allies, if Taiwan gets too close to the United States. “A high expectation is not realistic politically and peacefully,” said Liu Yi-jian, public affairs professor at Fo Guang University in Taiwan. “I just don’t see (that) this thing will do Taiwan any good at this moment. I just don’t see the kind of high expectation on the part of the Taiwan people will help the peaceful resolution of the political conflict between two different sides of Taiwan Strait.”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and President of India grace Laureates and Leaders for Children Summit

December 10, 2016
By Staff Writer
His Holiness the Dalai Lama and President of India Mr Pranab Mukherjee graced the inaugural session of the first ever Laureates and Leaders for Children Summit held today at the Rashtrapati Bhavan (Presidential Palace) in New Delhi.
The summit brought together around 25 laureates and leaders.

The honorary guests include Princess Charlene of Monaco, Julia Gallard, former Prime Minister of Australia, Princess Laurentien of Netherlands, Nobel Peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta, who is also former the President of East Timor, Kerry Kennedy, President, Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Centre and the First Lady of Panama, Lorena Castillo.
His Holiness Dalai Lama called for making the 21st century a century of peace and said today’s education was “materialistic”. “The world is facing a lot of troubles, a lot of issues most of which are man-made. Basic human nature is of compassion, so there is hope,” said His Holiness.
Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi envisioned the Summit to harness the collective intellectual, moral and political will of the Laureates and Leaders for the benefit of the world’s children. The summit will deliberate on issues such as child trafficking and child slavery. The inaugural ceremony the leaders called for urgent action for the world to allow children to enjoy their childhood years unhindered.

China slaps new fees on Mongolian exporters amid Dalai Lama row
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-mongolia-idUKKBN13Q3IU
A major border crossing between China and Mongolia has imposed new fees on commodity shipments between the two countries, amid a diplomatic row sparked by the visit to Ulaanbaatar of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama last week.
The Dalai Lama is cherished as a spiritual leader in predominantly Buddhist Mongolia, but China regards him as a dangerous separatist and warned the visit could damage bilateral relations.
The crossing at Gashuun Sukhait is used to export copper from the giant Oyu Tolgoi mine run by Rio Tinto, as well as coal from the Tavan Tolgoi mine, which China’s state-owned Shenhua Group is currently in the running to develop.
The crossing in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia would charge vehicles a transit fee of 10 yuan ($1.45) each time they pass through the border, and would also impose an additional charge of 8 yuan per tonne for any goods they are delivering, according to a notice issued by local authorities and published by the Mongolian Mining Journal on Wednesday.
For precious metals and copper concentrate worth more than 10,000 yuan per tonne, exporters would be charged 0.2 percent of the total value of the cargo, the notice said, adding that the new charges would come into effect on Dec 1.
Dale Choi, an independent mining analyst in Ulaanbaatar, said 900 trucks pass through Gashuun Sukhait every day, adding that around 133,000 tonnes of copper concentrate is delivered into China every month via the crossing.
Local government officials contacted by Reuters on Thursday could not confirm the veracity of the announcement, but a senior industry representative in Ulaanbaatar who is familiar with the matter said the new charges were now in effect.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang did not confirm whether or not the new border fees were connected to the Dalai Lama’s visit, saying only that he was aware of the situation.
“As for the Dalai Lama’s visit to Mongolia, China has expressed its position many times,” he said at the ministry’s regular press briefing on Thursday.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. Beijing regards him as a “splittist”, though he says he merely seeks genuine autonomy for his Himalayan homeland, which Communist Chinese troops “peacefully liberated” in 1950.
Geng said in a statement last month that Mongolia needed to “adopt effective measures to eliminate the negative effects of the Dalai Lama’s visit”.
The diplomatic repercussions could hit Mongolia hard, with the crisis-hit government desperate to boost economic ties with its powerful southern neighbour and use Chinese investment and knowhow to kickstart key mining and infrastructure projects.
China has already postponed a Nov. 28 meeting between the two sides, Mongolian government spokesman G. Otgonbayar said via Twitter last week.
Mongolian government officials are due to hold talks on Friday with international partners, including the International Monetary Fund and the Development Bank of China, to discuss Mongolia’s currency and balance of payments crisis.
(Reporting by Terrence Edwards in ULAANBAATAR and David Stanway in SHANGHAI, Additional Reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Nick Macfie)

China seizes Tibetans’ passports in bid to block travel
November 21, 2016
Radio Free Asia, November 14, 2016 – Officials in western provinces of China are confiscating the passports of Tibetans authorized to travel abroad, meanwhile ordering other Tibetans to return home, in a bid to reduce attendance at a ceremony to be conducted next year in India by the Dalai Lama, sources say.
Government officials in Qinghai, Sichuan, and Gansu are now visiting the homes of Tibetan passport holders to collect the documents, saying that new seals must be affixed, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
“They say the passports will be returned once the newly required seals of township and village authorities are in place,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Speaking separately, a second Tibetan source said the move may be aimed at preventing Tibetans from attending a religious gathering conducted in India by exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
“Many Tibetans fear that this is an attempt by [Chinese] authorities to stop Tibetans who intend to travel to attend the Kalachakra teachings in India in January,” the source said.
Kalachakra, which means “Wheel of Time,” is a ritual that prepares devotees to be reborn in Shambhala, a celestial kingdom which, it is said, will vanquish the forces of evil in a future cosmic battle.
The ceremony and teachings are often conducted outside Tibet by the Dalai Lama, who is widely reviled by Chinese leaders as a “splittist” seeking to separate Tibet from Beijing’s control.
Though Tibetan passports are now being collected across Tibetan-populated areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, and Gansu, “those whose passports bear visas for business travel are exempt from the confiscation, and their passports are not being seized,” RFA’s source said.
Ordered to return home
Tibetans already traveling in Nepal are meanwhile being ordered to return home, a third source told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
“Recently, a group of Tibetans holding legal Chinese travel documents arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal, intending to visit various pilgrimage sites in Nepal and India,” RFA’s source said.
“They were also planning to attend the Kalachakra teachings in Bodh Gaya in January 2017.”
“However, their relatives back home called them in Nepal and told them to return immediately, telling them that Chinese officials had come to their homes to order their return,” the source said, adding that officials had threatened the travelers’ families.
“They also said that the government officials who had vouched for the passport holders could lose their jobs,” he said.
“My own passport is not [stamped] for visiting India,” another Tibetan source told RFA.
“The Chinese authorities suspect that we will just go anyway to attend the Dalai Lama’s Kalachakra teachings, but this isn’t true,” he said.

Reported by Kunsang Tenzin and Lhuboom for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney

Dalai Lama addresses 200 in Japanese Parliament
November 21, 2016
Central Tibetan Administration, November 17, 2016 – His Holiness the Dalai Lama on 16 November visited the Japanese Parliament and interacted with 229 parliamentarians from different political parties on the theme “Tibet and Japan” in the global world.
On his arrival at the House of Representatives Congress hall, His Holiness was greeted with thunderous applause from over 200 parliamentarians and policy makers present at the meeting.
His Holiness praised Japan as the most industrialised democratic country in Asia with very rich traditions of Shintoism and Buddhism. He expressed respect for the Shinto tradition of loving and respecting all forms of nature. “Shintoism carries respect for all forms of life. Ultimately, we are part of the nature. So respect for nature is very essential.”
Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan and the Japanese people. It is defined as an action-centric religion, focused on ritual practices to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present-day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto is the largest religion in Japan, practiced by nearly 80% of the population.
Clarifying his position on the Tibetan issue, His Holiness said, “Politically we are not looking for independence. For economic and other reasons, we want to stay within China. But Tibet issue is not just a political matter. It is preservation of one of the world’s ancient culture which is relevant to today’s world. So it is worthwhile to preserve it. The Chinese government has the responsibility to preserve rather than destroying it.”
His Holiness criticised the communist hardliners at the helm in China for attempting to censor flow of information to the public. “1.3 billion Chinese people have every right to know the reality. Once Chinese people know the reality, they have the ability to judge what’s right and wrong. So censorship is immoral… Freedom of speech and democratic system, that’s the only way,” he argued.
“World belongs to seven billion human beings and Japan belongs to Japanese people. Each country belongs to the people. Government from time to time change, people always remain there.”
His Holiness the Dalai Lama reiterated that as one of seven billion human beings on this planet, he is committed to create a peaceful and happy 21st century. Secondly, as a Buddhist monk, he is fully committed to promote harmony between different religious traditions, as they all have same message of compassion and love. Thirdly, as a Tibetan he is fully committed to the preservation of Tibet’s environment, rich heritage of knowledge and culture.
In response to a series of question, His Holiness expressed his genuine admiration and respect for the centuries-old culture and traditions of the Chinese people. “The Chinese people we really admire, we really respect. They have a 5000 year-old culture; they are a very cultured and hard-working people.”
Speaking to members of the new Parliamentary Support Group for Tibet in the Japanese Parliament, His Holiness said that their support for the Tibetan issue represents a universal commitment to justice and truth.
A Parliamentary support group for Tibet has been set up in the Japanese Parliament, which pledged to reinvigorate its support to the issue of Tibet.
-Report filed by Lobsang Choedak from Japan-

41 Tibetan refugees still at risk following release by Nepalese police
November 21, 2016
By Edward Wong
New York Times, November 18, 2016 – Forty-one Tibetans who were detained by the Nepalese police while they were on a bus bound for India have been released to a Nepalese human rights group, an advocated for Tibetan rights said Friday.
The advocate, Kate Saunders, of the International Campaign for Tibet, said early Friday in London that the human rights group, the Human Rights Organization of Nepal, and other contacts in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, had told her that immigration officials and the police had allowed all the Tibetans to be released.
Ms. Saunders said the Tibetans were mostly from Kham and Amdo, Tibetan regions now ruled by China, and were on a pilgrimage to sacred sites in Nepal and India. It is likely that they planned to go in January to an important Buddhist ceremony, the Kalachakra teaching, in Bodh Gaya, an Indian city, she said.
It is unclear what those Tibetans will do now. They could end up at the Kathmandu transit center of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. From there, many Tibetans make their way to India, against China’s wishes. Ms. Saunders said the Tibetans were in a “very precarious situation.”
The Human Rights Organization of Nepal did not respond to an email asking for an update on the situation of the Tibetans.
The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetans, is expected to teach at the Kalachakra gathering from Jan. 3 to Jan. 14. He offers this teaching regularly at different places, and many Tibetans try to make their way to Bodh Gaya, the site where the Buddha attained enlightenment, when the Dalai Lama travels there from his home in northern India to teach.
In 2012, Chinese security officials detained hundreds of Tibetans after they returned from the Kalachakra in Bodh Gaya. Many of them were released later. The Chinese government opposes the Dalai Lama and calls him a “splittist,” but Tibetans remain devoted to him, and many try to travel to India to see him.
Since a widespread uprising across Tibetan regions in 2008, the Chinese government has increased its security presence on the Tibet-Nepal border and has prevented many Tibetans from leaving. The number of Tibetans making their way to Nepal has plummeted. China is also exercising greater influence over Nepal, and Tibetans in Nepal complain of more detentions there and a ban on anti-China protests.
Ms. Saunders said Chinese officials were making great efforts to prevent Tibetans from traveling to Bodh Gaya this year for the Dalai Lama’s teaching.
“What we know is that the Chinese authorities have tightened controls on Tibetans, in some areas going from house to house to confiscate people’s passports,” she said.
“In the last few weeks, government officials have confiscated passports in the Tibetan areas of Qinghai and Gansu, and according to some sources, also in Sichuan and the Tibet Autonomous Region,” she added. “Some Tibetans who have already arrived in Nepal and India for pilgrimage and for attending the religious ceremony in Bodh Gaya have already been ordered to return, and their families pressured by the authorities.”
“So no doubt for this group of 41, things will be very difficult,” she said, “particularly given that they will now be on the radar of the Chinese authorities in Nepal, given the nature of the relationship between the two governments.”