Dozens of Tibetans Gather With Dalai Lama Picture

Dozens of Tibetans, including monks, held up a portrait of the Dalai Lama in a community in southwestern China in an act of defiance days after other Tibetans set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule.

Police in Seda county said Tuesday that officers dealt with the gathering, but declined to say whether any of the Tibetans were arrested in the incident Monday.

China is sensitive to protests by Tibetans because they threaten its control over its western region and may inspire protests in other parts of China by people with possible grievances against the government.

At least 16 Buddhist monks, nuns and other Tibetans are believed to have set themselves on fire in the past year — four this month — mostly in traditionally Tibetan areas of Sichuan province. Most have chanted for Tibetan freedom and the return of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who fled to India amid an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

China has vilified the Dalai Lama for more than a decade, accusing him of a campaign to split the Himalayan region from the rest of China, and has tried to get monks to denounce him in political education programs held in religious institutions in Tibetan areas. The Dalai Lama says he is only seeking increased autonomy for Tibet.

                         Wang said police dealt with the incident, but declined to give any further details.

On Monday, fewer than 100 Tibetans gathered and held a portrait of the Dalai Lama, said the official at Seda county public security bureau in Sichuan province who gave only his surname, Wang. "The New Year festival is coming up so they want to draw attention by creating an incident," he said, referring to the Chinese New Year later this month.

An official from the Seda county government said there was no protest Monday.

Fears of protests by Tibetans were why Premier Wen Jiabao kept a trip to Nepal at the weekend secret, according to the Nepalese prime minister. Wen arrived Saturday in the tiny Himalayan nation that is home to thousands of Tibetan refugees.

"The visit was not announced, as the Tibetan activities have intensified recently," Baburam Bhattarai was quoted as saying in Monday's English-language Republica newspaper.

Tibetans in Nepal regularly protest against Chinese restrictions on Tibetan religion and culture. In November, a man wearing the robes of a Tibetan Buddhist monk set himself on fire in the Nepalese capital, Katmandu, emulating the self-immolations in China. The most recent was on Saturday in Sichuan.

Dicki Chhoyang, a Cabinet member of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharmsala, India, said China could have expected protests because of "the large presence of Tibetans inside Nepal and the fact that China has been so forceful in influencing Nepal's treatment of Tibetans inside Nepal." She said this included restricting Tibetans' political activities and refusing to issue refugee cards to Tibetan refugees.

In response to a question Monday about why Wen's trip to Nepal was unannounced, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said it "was arranged on ad hoc basis." He said it showed the "importance the Chinese side gives to China-Nepal relations."

source credit: ABC News

Dalai Lama to Speak at WCSU in October

The Dalai Lama will speak at Western Connecticut State University in October, bringing the world's unofficial Buddhist leader and one of the world's leading spiritual leaders to Western Connecticut for the first time.

This speaking engagement took nearly two years to organize, between two university professors and the Do Ngak Kunphen Ling (Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace) in Redding.

The events will be open to the public, and tickets will go on sale at a future date.

James Schmotter, Ph.D., and WCSU president, called the Dalai Lama's visit an extraordinary opportunity for the university and residents in the Danbury area to benefit from this unique learning opportunity.

"We know that his holiness will become a new friend as well when he comes to see us at the university," Schmotter said. "We have many friends, but we also have enemies _ and the one we struggle against every day is ignorance."

Do Ngak Kunphen Ling is the Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace in Redding. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, and he has lived in exile from Tibet since 1959, living instead in the Indian city of Dharamsala, which is the seat of the Tibetan government in exile. For more than 50 years, he has been visiting countries around the world, meeting with religious, political and educational leaders, and in 1989 he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Dalai Lama will speak at public forums from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Oct. 18 and again from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 19. He will appear at the Feldman Arena in the O'Neill Center of the WCSU Westside campus.

The final signing arrangements were made at the Office of Tibet in New York City on Jan. 10, with Schmotter representing the university and Janine Coover representing the DNKL board.

"We appreciate the university's help and support in this effort to arrange for His Holiness's visit to the community," Coover said. Coover said she was not only looking forward to the Dalai Lama's visit, but also to working together with WCSU in the future.

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Tibetan protesters fired at in China, one dead

Chinese security forces on Saturday fired into a crowd of Tibetans in Sichuan Province as they tried to take away the body of a Tibetan man who died after self-immolation. This was claimed by reports from two Tibet advocacy groups and Tibetan officials in the exile government in 

India.

It appeared that at least two people had been hit by gunfire, and one of those might have been killed, said Kate Saunders, spokesperson for International Campaign for Tibet, which is based in Washington.

"The International Campaign for Tibet is calling upon the international community to press the Chinese authorities to use restraint as a matter of urgency," it said in a statement.

Saunders said the group had spoken to at least two sources.

Another group, Free Tibet, said it had confirmed reports that a Tibetan woman was shot.

There were unconfirmed reports that many others were also hit, said Stephanie Brigden, director of the group, which is based in London.

But China remained silent about the incident on Sunday, with local officials declining to confirm it took place.

The violence took place in the town of Aba, known in Tibetan as Ngaba, a focal point for protests against Chinese rule and the scene of civilian deaths during a widespread Tibetan uprising in 2008. Since then, it has been the site of at least 11 self-immolations, some of them fatal.

Those setting themselves on fire have mainly been monks, nuns or former members of the clergy. The monks in Aba who set themselves on fire all come from the Kirti Monastery, where anger has grown over Chinese repression of religious practices.

The self-immolation on Saturday was the 16th since March 2011, when Phuntsog, a monk at Kirti, set himself on fire and died. The wave of self-immolations in the past year was preceded by that of one monk from Kirti in the spring of 2009.

In total, at least 12 Tibetans have died through self-immolation since 2009, if the death on Saturday is confirmed. Scholars of modern Tibet say the self-immolations represent a new and disturbing protest strategy among the clergy.

Witnesses reported that the police began beating the man after putting out his flames. "Tibetans became very angry and gathered in what seems to be an impromptu demonstration," Saunders said in an e-mail.

The Tibetan government-in-exile in India issued a statement saying 700 people had surrounded the police station after the police took away the body of the person who had set himself on fire. "China must take full responsibility for these cases of self-immolation. It is within its power to end these unfortunate incidents by adopting liberal policies for Tibet."
Source Credit: HT

Nepal detains 90 illegal Tibetan immigrants - police

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal has detained 90 Tibetan exiles for illegally entering the Himalayan republic, police said on Friday, in the latest crackdown on Tibetans carried out shortly before a reported visit by the Chinese premier.

Kathmandu police chief Rajendra Shrestha said the refugees were held at Thankot on the outskirts of Kathmandu late on Thursday, while they were travelling in buses coming from India.

Local media reported that Wen Jiabao would spend about five hours in Nepal on Saturday during which he is expected to meet Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai before leaving for the Middle East in the afternoon.

Beijing has released no official information about any possible visit, and Nepal government officials declined to comment on the media reports.

The premier had been scheduled to visit Nepal in December, but postponed the tour at the last minute amid speculation over security concerns and fears of Tibetan exiles organising anti-China protests. Officials said the trip was delayed due to China's "internal" reasons.

"They were detained because they failed to produce valid travel documents," Shrestha told Reuters about the Tibetan immigrants, without giving details.

Another police officer, Sudhir Raj Shahi, said all those detained were being held at a police station in the Nepali capital. "They will be freed if they produce valid travel documents. Otherwise we will hand them to the immigration department," Shahi said.

Hundreds of Tibetans fleeing their homeland arrive in Nepal every year on their way to India, where the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama lives. Nepali authorities normally hand them to the United Nations refugee agency.

Nepal, home to more than 20,000 Tibetans, is under pressure from Beijing, a key trade partner and donor, to crack down on any "anti-China" activities by the Tibetans.

Kathmandu considers Tibet a part of China and says the Tibetans are free to stay but must not engage in protests against its giant neighbour.

Two months ago a Tibetan exile set himself on fire in Nepal, in a wave of self-immolations by Tibetans, but was overpowered by others.

Beijing says the Dalai Lama is a dangerous separatist, a charge he strongly denies, insisting he seeks only genuine autonomy for Tibet through peaceful means.

Source Credit: MoneyCentral.com

Reports: Dalai Lama's security tightened on Chinese threat alert

New Delhi - Security for Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has been tightened after media outlets Saturday reported intelligence accounts of threats to his life from Chinese 'agents.'Indian police received information that some Chinese nationals of Tibetan origin, possibly from the Chinese secret services, were likely to enter India to gather intelligence on the exiled Tibetan government as well as cause harm to the Dalai Lama, the Times of India daily reported. The Dalai Lama is currently leading prayer ceremonies at the Buddhist holy site of Bodh Gaya in the eastern state of Bihar. Security had been strengthened in and around the venue, spokesman Lobsang Choedak told the IANS news agency.
Officials from the exiled Tibet government had also sounded an alert about the presence of Chinese spies at the rituals, whose goal there was reportedly to create trouble, the account continued.
Dalai Lama spokesman Chimme Choekyapa declined to comment on the matter.
'No problem or incident has been reported yet. His Holiness is imparting teachings to thousands of devotees,' he said.
The Dalai Lama has lived in exile since he fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule over Tibet. China accuses the Dalai Lama of being a separatist and inciting violence in its Tibetan Autonomous Region. The Dalai Lama says he wants greater autonomy for Tibet within China.

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Chinese-funded institutes raise concerns on U.S. campuses

More than 300 colleges in more than 90 countries -- including about 70 institutions in theUnited States -- host Confucius Institutes, centers of Chinese language and culture education and research funded by China's government. The infusion of Chinese government funding into international universities has enabled significant expansions in language teaching, cultural programming, and China-related conferences and symposia, but it has also raised fears regarding academic freedom and independence of teaching and research. Critics have questioned why colleges would provide their imprimatur to institutes that have been described by Li Changchun, China's propaganda chief, as "an important part of China's overseas propaganda setup."

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  Confucius Institute at North Carolina State University
  At North Carolina State University, the Confucius Institute offers non-credit language and cooking classes for local residents, as well as Chinese conversation.

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Confucius Institute at North Carolina State University

At North Carolina State University, the Confucius Institute offers non-credit language and cooking classes for local residents, as well as Chinese conversation.

Other scholars, however, describe the fears regarding

"If we had a U.S. government agency that was stating that it was a tool for U.S. government propaganda, my colleagues would be up in arms about having a center like that on campus," said Anne-Marie Brady, associate professor of political science at the University of Canterbury, in New Zealand. Brady, the editor of the recent volume, China's Thought Management(Routledge, 2011), said the space for criticism and inquiry at overseas Confucius Institutes is similar to that which Chinese citizens navigate: "They've got a lot of space, but the same kind of space that people have in China, which is that there are always no-go zones, and the no-go zones are obvious: Tibet, Taiwan, Falun Gong. And academia does not have no-go zones."

Confucius Institutes as, in their experiences, unfounded. "We've not ever had the experience of anybody telling us, 'Oh, don't talk about that,' or, 'This is a sensitive topic, avoid that,' and our position all along has been the minute that anybody does, we're done," said Ken Hammond, a professor of history and co-director of the Confucius Institute at New Mexico State University - which has hosted speakers who have addressed such topics as the history of Tibet and the Nationalist evacuation to Taiwan in 1949. "I wouldn't carry on a program where those constraints were placed upon me. That's not what I do. That's not why I got into this."

Source Credit: USA Today

James Blake, Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson to play Tibet Benefit 2012

Tibet House‘s 22nd annual benefit concert will take place at New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall on February 13th. As in year’s past, Philip Glass serves as the concert’s artistic director and curator. This year, he’ll be joined by James Blake, Laurie Anderson, Dechen Shak-Dagsay, Rahzel, and others.

Tickets are now available by calling Carnegie Charge (212-247-7800) or in person at the Carnegie Hall Box Office. Benefit packages are also available through Tibet House. Proceeds will go to preserving and promoting the culture of Tibet.

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Dalai Lama Gives Audience to Tibetans from Tibet and Chinese from PRC

On the morning of the January 3, 2012 at Bodh Gaya, India, the Dalai Lama gave a special audience to the 8000 Tibetans from across Tibet and the 1300 Chinese from China who had come to receive his teachings on the Kalachakra tantra.
He stated to the Tibetans that the problems that they confront will be solved one day but that they must take a long term view of things and not be disheartened by present circumstances. The Dalai Lama clarified his reasons for devolving political powers and stated that he sees the transition to a democratic rule in exile Tibetan society as a proud accomplishment, and that they should not view it as the Dalai Lama having lost spirit. The Dalai Lama said that as China opens up and becomes more informed, the Chinese will see the situation of Tibet and China in a clearer manner.
He told the Chinese in the audience that he hoped that the growing interest in Buddhism inside China will help mitigate some of the excesses of a purely materialist society, and that Buddhism's positive impact on China is also a good thing for the world in general.
source Credit: VOAnews

Tibet represents truth and it will prevail: Dalai Lama

Bodhgaya The 32nd Kalachakra began on Saturday with the Dalai Lama praying for world peace and urging Buddhists who have assembled here from across nations to “use your 10 days to imbibe Lord Buddha. We are blessed to be at his land.”
Without referring to China in his address, the Dalai Lama said that people coming from Tibet would have “time to study and reflect” during the religious festival. The Dalai Lama added that he and Tibet represented truth and the truth would always prevail.

Lakhs of people — from the US to Europe to Asian countries — have congregated here for Kalachakra 2012. This small township near Gaya is virtually painted maroon with presence of Buddhists monks.

“This event is really big. We are eagerly looking forward to the Dalai Lama’s preachings,” said Nawang Choephel, a Tibetan documentary film-maker who has recently become a US citizen.

Said a photographer from Belgium, Johan Mangeslchots: “We have three monasteries in our country and the Dalai Lama has visited these a couple of times. There is an interest in Buddhism and Bodhgaya in Belgium.”

The number of people attending the religious festival can be gauged by the fact that all hotels in and around Bodhgaya and Gaya are booked and people from adjoining villages have rented out their houses. Several villagers are even staying at makeshift structures, having put their houses on rent to tourists at pretty high rates. More than 5,000 tents are occupied by visitors. While a 10x10 ft tent comes for Rs 2,000 for 10 days, a village room costs Rs 500 per day, and a hotel room can cost one up to Rs 10,000 per night. There is long queue for passes to enter the Mahabodhi temple and Kalachakra maidan. People had to wait for as long as five hours to reach the site.With Intelligence agencies cautioning about a threat to the Dalai Lama, the Kalachakra Management Committee has been cautious in issuing passes. In fact, mediapersons from around the world had to wait for long to get their passes issued by the authorities.

Mangeslchots rued, “There’s no logic or reason offered for this delay, we had to just wait.”

Not everyone was complaining though. Mala, a beggar, has come from Ranchi, with her son. “Such a big event doesn’t happen too often,” she said.
Credit source: Indian Express