Tibetan environmentalist says Chinese jailers tortured him

A jailed Tibetan environmentalist used the opening of his trial today to accuse Chinese captors of beatings, sleep deprivation and other maltreatment, his wife told reporters.

Karma Samdrup – a prominent businessman and award-winning conservationist – issued a statement in court detailing the brutal interrogation methods, including drugs that made his ears bleed, used on him since his detention on 3 January.

"If not for his voice, I would not have recognised him," his wife Zhenga Cuomao told the Associated Press.

She said Samdrup appeared gaunt when he appeared at the Yangqi county courthouse in Xinjiang, the mountainous province neighbouringTibet.

Prosecutor Kuang Ying denied violence had been used against Samdrup, who founded the Three Rivers Environmental Protection group and pushed for conservation of the source region for the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang (Mekong) rivers.

China puts on hold trial of Tibet environmentalist

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN (AP) – 7 hours ago

BEIJING — An award-winning Tibetan environmentalist's trial on separatism charges has been put on hold, the latest twist in a trio of intertwined cases pitting three brothers against China's communist authorities.

The cases come amid increasing reports of repression of Tibetan intellectuals, an echo of the massive security crackdown that followed deadly rioting in the capital Lhasa two years ago.

Rinchen Samdrup was due to go on trial Thursday in the Tibetan region of Chamdo on the charge of "incitement to split the country," but the trial was abruptly canceled on Sunday, according to lawyer Pu Zhiqiang.

Rinchen Samdrup, 44, was detained in August, along with his younger brother, Chime Namgyal, after they accused local officials in eastern Tibet of poaching endangered species.

Chime Namgyal, 38, is reportedly serving a 21-month sentence in a labor camp on the vague charge of harming national security.

A third brother, Karma Samdrup, 42, was arrested Jan. 3 after visiting his brothers in jail and speaking in their defense. He was due to go on trial on Tuesday in Yanqi county in the far western region of Xinjiang adjoining Chinese-administered Tibet.

He is accused of dealing in looted antiquities, charges dating from 1998 that were never pursued until this year. Supporters say the charges were revived to punish him for standing up for his brothers.

Authorities in tightly controlled Tibet are extremely sensitive to any form of social activism and criticism of their work, either explicit or implied. And suppression of intellectuals appears to have increased in the wake of the 2008 Lhasa riots, in which at least 22 people died

The Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet last month reported that 31 Tibetans are currently in prison "after reporting or expressing views, writing poetry or prose, or simply sharing information about Chinese government policies and their impact in Tibet today."

The group said it was the first time since the end of China's chaotic Cultural Revolution in 1976 that there has been such a targeted campaign against peaceful expression by Tibetan intellectuals.

It wasn't clear whether authorities were waiting to try Rinchen Samdrup at a later date or if the trial's cancellation indicated problems with the case. Calls to the court on Monday rang unanswered.

His sister-in-law, Karma Samdrup's wife Zhenga Cuomao, said her husband found his brothers in poor condition when he visited them last year.

"Karma went to see his two brothers last year before he himself was detained. He said that his brothers had been badly mistreated, especially his little brother, who he said might not be able to live much longer," Zhenga Cuomao said by phone from Xinjiang, where she was hoping to attend Tuesday's trial.

Pu, Karma Samdrup's lawyer, said he would be optimistic about an acquittal under ordinary circumstances, but that "judging from the current situation in reality combined with years of experience of mine, I think the role that lawyers can play in this case is very much limited."

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Tibet's watershed challenge

By Uttam Kumar Sinha

Monday, June 14, 2010

While Tibet raises a number of controversial questions, one dimension will assume increasing political significance: its water resources. The Tibetan Plateau, known to many as the "Third Pole," is an enormous storehouse of freshwater, believed by some to be the world's largest. It is the headwaters of many of Asia's mighty rivers, including the Yellow, Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, Brahmaputra, Indus and Sutlej. These vast water resources are of course vulnerable to environmental challenges, including climate change, but they are subject to an array of political issues as well.

Should China be the lone stakeholder to the fate of the waters in Tibet? What happens in the downstream nations that depend heavily on these rivers? China has exploited all but two rivers from the Tibetan Plateau; an exception is the Nujiang River, which flows through Yunnan province and enters Burma, where it is known as the Salween. China's north-south diversion plans on the Yarlung Zangbo (known in India as Brahamaputra), the other untouched river, are bound to worry India, a downstream state.
China's rise in recent years has been displayed in military capability, economic pace and, now, water diversions. By 2030, China is expected to fall short of its water demands by 25 percent. Its increasingly aggressive hydrobehavior is intended to secure its massive water requirements in its northern and western regions. But control over such a valuable natural resource gives Beijing enormous strategic latitude with its neighbors; when one of those countries is a rival, such as India, it becomes an effective bargaining tool and potential weapon.
Chinese nationalism is based on its aspiration of great-power status and its historic territorial claims. Such claims, for example, over Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh, a state in northeast India, are being driven by China's water needs. Mao Zedong observed in 1952, "The south has a lot of water, the north little. . . . If possible, it is ok to lend a little water." China is looking to exploit the water resources of Tibet and its hardening position on Arunachal -- Beijing considers the northeast Indian state part of its territory and made frequent military forays there this year -- is not merely rhetoric. In laying claims to Arunachal, it is claiming almost 200 million cubic feet per second of water resources in the state.

China, well-accustomed to brinkmanship, is likely to maintain a strategic silence on its river diversion plans, to keep downstream states guessing. (China denies any activity on the Yarlung Zangbo, but publicly reported satellite imagery shows otherwise.) And with no legally binding international treaty on such water-sharing, there is nothing to stop China from manipulating river flows and increasing downstream dependency.
More than 2 billion people in South and Southeast Asia depend on the waters flowing out of Tibet. Building a lower riparian coalition of, say, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam would help cement recognition of Tibet's water as a common resource. India has a diplomatic opportunity here and, given its downriver position, needs to take the initiative. One plus is that India has experience dealing with river treaties. But Tibet's unresolved political status will affect any proposals on how to sustainably manage its water resources and ensure its rivers' natural flow are not disturbed by Chinese diversion plans.
China's moves to encroach on Tibet's water need to be countered by downriver solidarity that includes agreement on multipurpose beneficial use of these resources. Downriver states need to work through legal norms of equitable utilization, "no-harm" policies and restricted Chinese sovereignty over Tibet. This pressure and international attention to defining such vital resources as common would go a long way toward preserving and sharing the waters of Tibet. While such redefinition is politically sensitive, as it clashes with national jurisdiction, it merits attention now given the current and future water requirements of South and Southeast Asia. Collective political and diplomatic pressure over a sustained period will be needed to draw in China to regional arrangements on "reasonable share of water" and frame treaties accordingly.
The concerned downstream states need to raise the issue internationally while also supporting local Tibetans and Chinese environmental lobbies' efforts to highlight the rampant ecological destruction of Tibet brought by dams and artificial diversion plans. A larger debate on basin resource management is needed; it is increasingly clear that rivers are not merely for water provisions but also have ecological functions. One need only look at China's Yangtze and Yellow rivers, both unfit for human use, to understand how important it is to follow the laws of nature regarding Tibet's waters rather than force economic development.
The writer is a research fellow at the nonpartisan Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses in New Delhi.

Old charge resurfaces against prominent Tibetan

Reuters) - A leading Tibetan collector of antiquities has been in detention nearly five months, his lawyer said Tuesday, and faces charges dating back over a decade that critics fear may be politically motivated.

Karma Samdup was due to face trial Tuesday for excavating and robbing ancient tombs -- a charge brought and dropped in 1998 -- but lawyer Pu Zhiqiang said he arrived at the court to find the hearing was postponed indefinitely.

The philanthropist was arrested in southwestern Chengdu city in early January and taken to northwestern Xinjiang region for trial as that is where the charges originated. Pu said he did not know why they had resurfaced after so long.

"He really wasn't expecting it. This case was many years ago and at that time the Xinjiang police had already made a decision recognizing Karma Samdup was not guilty and the grave robbers (who were)...have already been punished," Pu said by telephone.

Around 40, Karma Samdup is a prominent businessman.

"He is currently setting up a museum of Tibetan culture, and he is the person with the largest private collection in the world of Tibetan art and artefacts," Beijing-based Tibetan writer and activist Woeser said in a blog posting about the case.

Several artists and intellectuals have been detained or have disappeared in recent months in what activists say amounts to the broadest suppression of Tibetan culture and expression for years.

TENSE RELATIONS

The unexpected charges against a man apparently in good official standing will do little to improve ethnic relations in Tibetan areas, where tension has often been high since 2008.

In March that year, ahead of the Beijing Olympics, protests led by Buddhist monks against Chinese rule gave way to rioting that killed at least 19. Waves of protests followed and overseas groups say more than 200 were killed in a subsequent crackdown.

"Until recently most of the Tibetans who ran afoul of the system were monks, nuns and street protesters," said Robbie Barnett, a Tibet expert at Columbia University.

"But now we see writers, village environmentalists, and leading entrepreneurs becoming targets."

Pu said Karma Samdup, who could face up to 10 years in prison, was sustained by his Buddhist faith, but had lost more than 20 kg (44 pounds).

China's foreign ministry declined comment, saying it was unaware of the case. Authorities in Xinjiang could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Chinese state's relationship with even those members of minorities it promotes as models of success can be unstable.

The most prominent activist among exiled Uighurs, the Turkic and largely Muslim people who once dominated Xinjiang region, is a businesswoman who was once one of the region's richest and an adviser to the central government.

Rebiya Kadeer is now denounced by Beijing as a separatist who instigated deadly rioting in her home region last summer. She denies the accusations, saying she wants only peaceful change.

(Editing by Ron Popeski)

Strong aftershock jolts Tibet's Yushu area

Source: ANI

2010-06-04 15:40:00

A 5.7-magnitude aftershock jolted the Yushu Tibet Autonomous Prefecture in northwest China's Qinghai Province at about 10:29 a.m. on Friday. According to the China Earthquake Networks, the epicenter was monitored at 96.3 degrees east longitude and 33.3 degrees north latitude in Longbao Town, 60 km southwest of Gyegu Town. It was strongly felt in Gyegu, the prefecture seat of Yushu, Xu Chuanjie, head of emergence rescue section of the provincial earthquake bureau said. The quake focus was 10 km below the earth's surface. The tremor was followed by three other aftershocks, which measured 3.2, 3.8 and 4.1 on the Richter scale, respectively. The three aftershocks' epicenter was almost the same - 96.2 degree east longitude and 33.3 degree north latitude. No casualties have been reported. (ANI)

What happens when the Dalai Lama dies?

By TIM SULLIVAN

The Associated Press
Sunday, May 30, 2010; 12:00 AM

DHARMSALA, INDIA -- The question looms over this raggedy hillside town, a place where ancient mysticism constantly brushes against the realities of modern geopolitics. The monks who fled across the Himalayas ask it quietly, as do the exile politicians. Even the angry young activists are careful how they raise the issue.

But as the man at the center of the Tibetan exile movement approaches his 75th birthday, the question has become impossible to escape: What happens after the Dalai Lama dies?
The issue echoes far from Dharmsala, the Dalai Lama's home since he fled Tibet after a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. It ranges from policy decisions in Beijing to widespread fears inside Tibet and among the 150,000 exiles that their struggle for autonomy may collapse with the death of their icon.
It is something he thinks about all the time.
"When I pass away, when I die, of course (there will be) a setback. Very serious setback," the Dalai Lama said quietly in a recent interview in his private hilltop compound, speaking in his often-tangled English. His words spill out in bursts, and he can veer suddenly between resignation and determination. "But then, this younger generation will carry this on. There is no question.That younger generation, though, isn't so sure.

"Right now we are under His Holiness' leadership," said Tenzin Norlha, a 29-year-old Tibetan genetics researcher in Dharmsala, her face creased with worry. While the Dalai Lama is thought to be in reasonable health, he has struggled with a series of ailments in recent years and turns 75 in July. "After he passes away, then what will we see? ... Who can take care of us as His Holiness has done?"
It is hard to exaggerate the hold that the Dalai Lama, like his predecessors over the centuries, has over Tibetans. To them he is a king, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism and the embodiment of compassion. He is The Presence, The Holder of the White Lotus, The Absolute Wisdom, The Ocean. His presence often reduces his followers to speechless weeping.
For nearly 500 years the tradition has continued, with each dead Dalai Lama reincarnated into the body of a young Tibetan boy. But with Tibet's leadership in exile and an aging Dalai Lama, Tibetan history is at a precipice.
"Once the Dalai Lama dies, the whole exile structure is going to be under enormous pressure," said Robbie Barnett, a Tibet scholar at Columbia University.
Among the possible aftershocks: a rival Dalai Lama anointed inside China, home to some 5.4 million Tibetans; squabbling among various Buddhist sects; a plunge in donations; infighting in the exile government and a drop in interest among wealthy foreign supporters and young activists.
In many ways, the Dalai Lama is a man who could be undone by his own charisma. Behind the monk's robes he might look like a midwestern 1960s retiree - with a buzz haircut, oversized glasses, maroon polyester socks and orthopedic shoes - but decades of visitors have talked about his ability to make intense personal connections. He laughs loudly, he slaps playfully at people he barely knows.His most fervent Western supporters revere him as a mystical amalgam of Nelson Mandela and Yoda, and his wealthy and powerful allies range from actor Richard Gere to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

He will be a hard man to follow.
"The Tibetan government is now standing on the strength of one man," said Jamyang Norbu, a writer who once fought for the small, long-disbanded Tibetan guerrilla army. He is one of the most outspoken intellectuals favoring complete Tibetan independence, as opposed to the limited autonomy the Dalai Lama now demands.
Norbu worries about the personality cult that surrounds the Dalai Lama, and the way his god-like status can make it difficult for dissenting voices to be heard. "In many ways I am loyal to him. But it's difficult to have an independent point of view" in the exile community, he said from his Tennessee home.
The Dalai Lama, the 14th in the line of reincarnations, has at times insisted his reincarnation would be born in exile and has also said the tradition could end with his death. He has talked about dividing his power, with his reincarnation carrying on spiritual duties while someone else - perhaps someone he appoints - takes up the leadership of the exile movement.
He regularly meets with high-ranking monks to discuss his succession. The group includes the Karmapa, a 24-year-old monk known for his daring escape from China and appreciation of PlayStation war games. Many observers believe he is being groomed to take on more power.
Publicly, the Dalai Lama often treats the issue lightly - his advisers "are hoping my life may remain infinite," he said, laughing - but he is clearly sending up trial balloons, gauging what his followers will accept after he dies.
And always, Beijing's potential reactions are weighed."There's a fear that unless we can strengthen the exile government before His Holiness passes away, the Chinese will make a strong attempt to control his reincarnation process," said Norbu.

China has left little doubt that it intends to be deeply involved in the Dalai Lama's succession, ridiculing his Such a move would echo Beijing's tactics with the Panchen Lama, one of the leading figures in Tibetan Buddhism. In 1995, when the Dalai Lama named a young boy as the reincarnated Panchen Lama, that boy disappeared and has not been seen since.

Another boy, backed by Beijing, was soon named the official reincarnation, though he has little support among Tibetans.
It was far different in 1939 when, after a series of mystical signs, a young Tibetan boy named Lhamo Dhondrub was announced at age 2 to be the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama.
The new Dalai Lama was enthroned in a feudal Himalayan kingdom that had remained deeply isolated until well into the 20th century. It was a place where indentured servitude was common, telephones nearly unknown and where, in the 1930s, a politician was sentenced by the Tibetan government to having his eyeballs removed for trying to use black magic to kill a rival.
The Dalai Lama found himself jousting with China while he was still a teenager. In 1950, when he was 15, Chinese soldiers invaded Tibet. Nine years later, as talks with Beijing collapsed and a Tibetan uprising was crushed, the Dalai Lama fled with a handful of supporters across the mountains into India.

Over the past half-century, the once-feudal king has become a master of the modern world. He is an ascetic Buddhist monk long accustomed to celebrities who want to prostrate themselves before him. He travels and lectures constantly. He has raised tens of millions of dollars for the Tibetan cause, supporting everything from orphanages to a soccer team. He has become an international symbol of peace.
In Beijing, though, he's something different: "A jackal wearing a monk's robe," one China-appointed Tibetan official said. "A demon," said another. Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of being a "splittist" who is secretly plotting for Tibet's complete independence from China.
Tibetan exile leaders and independent human rights observers, meanwhile, say China is systematically stripping Tibet of its heritage. Ethnic Han Chinese are pouring into the region, while Beijing has arrested generations of political activists and oversees a vast military and intelligence network that reaches into nearly every village and monastery.
While the Dalai Lama still advocates talks with China - the discussions have limped along for years - he has few other choices. "So far, dialogue failed, but that does not mean in future no possibility," he said in the Dharmsala interview. He insists one minute that change is at hand, but then says he is always disappointed. "Eventually, all these hopes disappear."
Today, increasing numbers of Tibetans are putting their hope in a new generation of political leaders.

In 2011, Tibetans will choose the exile government's next prime minister, an election widely seen as the most democratic yet for the exiles. Reflecting the constant tug here between tradition and modernity, exile politicians have long tried to do what they think the Dalai Lama wants - while the Dalai Lama says politicians need to make their own decisions. and insisting that religious law requires the reincarnation be born in a Tibetan area under Chinese control.
This means a government led by fierce atheists may soon be trying to steer an ancient mystical process, using monks loyal to Beijing to install a China-approved successor.
The Dalai Lama shrugs at the idea: "This is very possible," he said, adding no one will be fooled: "One Dalai Lama is official; one Dalai Lama is Dalai Lama of the Tibetan heart."