Committee of 100 for Tibet Logo  

Tibet News Digest
Summer 1999
Committee of 100 for Tibet
Update on His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama Friends of Tibet everywhere celebrated the Dalai Lama's 64th birthday on July 6th. In the month of August, His Holiness will give a free talk in New York's Central Park, and offer the Kalachakra for World Peace Initiation in Bloomington, Indiana. He will teach Tsongkhapa's Thongtha-ma in Los Angeles in October, then give teachings in Italy and Holland. For updates on his teachings, see www.tibet.com.

Global Tibet Movement Shakes World Bank Project
The World Bank only conditionally approved this June a 40 million-dollar loan to the Chinese government for a controversial resettlement project, in a partial victory for the united efforts of the global Tibet movement. The China Western Poverty Reduction Project supports a large-scale population transfer of poor ethnic Chinese to an area previously settled by Tibetans. Although the loan, which threatens the local Tibetan economy, has been tentatively approved, payment will be withheld until an inspection panel examines the environmental impact. Bank leaders took unprecedented measures in reconsidering the loan due to Tibet supporters protests.

Prostitution in the Potala Palace
Reports from Tibet indicate that Chinese authorities are seeking to subvert Tibetan monks by sending prostitutes and gamblers into the Potala Palace in hopes of capturing illicit events on the surveillance camera system for eventual broadcast to the greater community. The new campaign is promoting atheism as a way to weaken allegiance to the Dalai Lama.

Hot off the Press - two new books on Tibet
John Kenneth Knaus, a 44 year veteran of the CIA, explores America's covert aide to the Tibetan resistance movement of the 50s and 60s in his revealing new book, Orphans of the Cold War: America and the Tibetan Struggle for Survival (PublicAffairs). Tsering Shakya, translator of Palden Gyatso's Fire under the Snow: the Testimony of a Tibetan Prisoner (1997), and consultant to the British media on Tibetan matters, has recently released a new study on the political history of modern Tibet entitled The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947 (Pimlico, 1999). The Dragon in the Land of Snows is a frank and controversial analysis of Tibet's recent history that aims to explode both Chinese and Tibetan myths, misunderstandings and propaganda. Tsering Shakya's approach to Tibetan history draws upon previously inaccessible documents and presents comprehensive accounts of the Dalai Lama's escape into exile in 1959 and the CIA's involvement in the Tibetan resistance movement.

The Panchen Lama: Where is he now?
Panchen Lama Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama as recognized by the Dalai Lama, had his 10th birthday on the 25th of April. He and his family have not been seen since their abduction from their home by the Chinese Public Security Bureau in 1995. In response to repeated requests from a variety of international government representatives and NGO's, Chinese authorities claim that he and his family are doing well, but refuse to reveal where. It is believed that they are still being held under house arrest. In honor of his birthday the Canada Tibet Committee has created a kid-oriented website about the Panchen Lama and Tibet at www.tibet.ca/panchenlama.

Gyaincain Norbu, the Chinese selected Panchen Lama, was brought to Lhasa on June 18th. He was reportedly then transported to the Panchen Lama's traditional seat at Tashilumpo in Shigatse by a convoy of military vehicles and under maximum security for fear that local Tibetans would resist the Chinese authorities' efforts to force them to pledge allegiance to the boy.

New restrictions on Tibetans in Lhasa
A new government policy in Lhasa prohibits stall owners on the Barkhor from engaging in silent protest by closing their stalls on specific memorial dates, including March 10, Tibetan National uprising day. Stalls are expected to remain open on those dates or owners risk losing their stalls permanently.

A Hand for the Home Team
Congratulations to the San Francisco Bay Area Tibetans, who took top honors after winning the sporting and cultural events at the 5th Annual Celebration of His Holiness' Birthday. The events were held in Los Angeles in July.

New reports on gender-specific torture
The Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy has released a new report on gender-specific torture in prisons in Tibet. Incarcerated women in Tibet recount regular experiences of rape, beatings with the purpose to induce abortions, forced sterilization, late term abortion, and coerced contraception. The Center reports that these practices indicate genocidal goals.

Jiang Strikes back at Swiss Protests
Chinese President Jiang Zemin furiously rebuked Swiss authorities for allowing pro-Tibet demonstrations too near the Swiss Parliament building as he was entering. Apparently frustrated by the pro-Tibet and Taiwan protestors that dogged his every stop on his Spring 1999 trip through Europe, Jiang lashed out at the Swiss. He vehemently lambasted Switzerland, home to many Tibetan refugees, for the dishonor and the government's inability to control its people. "You have just lost a friend," he announced to the Swiss government upon departure.

First Anniversary Commemoration of Thupten Ngodup's Death & New Delhi Hungerstrike
April 29th marked the first anniversary of the death of Thupten Ngodup who immolated himself as a tragic ending to a six-week old hungerstrike by six other Tibetans in Delhi. The Tibetans were calling on the United Nations to debate Tibetan Independence. Tibetan communities around the world lit butter lamps in his memory. In commemoration a memorial stupa has been erected in Darhamsala to honor Tibetan fighters and martyrs.

Tibetan freedom concerts raise over $2,500,000
On June 13, simultaneous Tibetan Solidarity events and Tibetan Freedom Concerts in Amsterdam, Chicago, Sidney and Tokyo united Tibet supporters around the world to urge governments to push for immediate negotiations between HH the Dalai Lama and China, and to protest the World Bank's China Western Poverty Reduction Project. Since beginning in 1996 the Tibetan Freedom concerts have raised over 2.5 million dollars for the Milarepa Fund's activities in support of Tibet.

Tibetan Youth Recruited as Police in Lhasa
The Chinese Government in Lhasa is now employing Tibetan youth to act as an additional police force. The youths are provided with a uniform and 300 yuan a month. Arresting Tibetan troublemakers brings a 500-yuan reward, while failure to do so leads to a decrease in salary.

More Articles in the Summer 1999 Newsletter

[Summer 1999 Newsletter Home Page * Tibet Online * Committee of 100 for Tibet]