Thank you.

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Thank you for this post, and for your work! There are lots of non-Tibetans like me praying/changing/sitting for Tibet and its people, and wishing we could do more.

A couple of other resources for people (disclosure: that I put together) can be found here:

Overview of situation and CONTACT INFO for all Chinese embassies/consulates in U.S. (scroll down a little for the contact info)

Huffington Post article on candidate not calling to re-list China as human rights violator

Thanks again for the good work -- feel free to copy the consulate contact info if you want to put it in your post.

Scott

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P.S.: I'm trying to find out what happened to the Chutsang nuns who left their nunnery on March 13 and had not returned a couple of days later. If the author, or anyone else, has info or knows how to obtain it, would you please let me know? It's for an article in the Huffington Post (3.5 million views/month). vichy a t safe-mail.net. (Replace "a t" with "@")

Thank you!

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Here is a case where the greed of Americans is funding one of the most abusive nations on earth.

Does anyone even look at a label before buying a product. Lets send a message that someonen will understand - boycott CHINA! Pay a few $$ more and buy American!

and one wonders why the world should be looking at China's military spending with a cautious eye!

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n/m

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If you want them to leave you in peace you must teach them a lesson and give the defeat they deserve. I am not in favor of violence but the language of peace only will work when you have every man and woman committed to the process and that you dont have so your only real choice is continued resistance.And watch out the bastard china does not turn you into asias "al qada" like the anglos and israel does in the middle east or the "terrorist" russia has made up all to turn us into thier slaves. Its a hard life standing up to what you know is truth and right for your people all-so expect to be hated by some of your own brainwashed zombiefied people who are afraid of thier own shadows and rather spend thier time in casinos than doing what we are suppose to be doing. Peace to all
p.s.team big raven are many natives who feel the need for a voice of truth thank you P. for supplying the service

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The Chinese believe that Tibet is part of China and was never an independent country. One of my coworkers was born and raised in China.

We got into a long argument about Tibet. He reacted as if I was complaining that the Union was wrong for invading the Confederacy. (Being a southerner, I realize that there are two sides to that metaphor as well.) But you get my point, from the United States view, the Confederacy was part of the United States.

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and making it possible to take s o m e action. prayers for those courageous freedom-seeking people.

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You can go to:

http://thebuddhistblog.blogspot.com

Or my site at Stumble Upon to get there..

http://tjtele.stumbleupon.com

As far as I am concerned boycotting The Red Chinese Olympics is the least we can and must do..!

What's most disgraceful is that America has taken Red China off the it's list of the World's Worst Human Rights Abusers...

This is an outrage and moral disgrace..!

Condi Rice is a disgrace, and our government becoming a moral disgrace for us all...

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There is not enough space, nor is this the proper forum, to expose the myth of Tibetan Buddhist nirvana. Ordinary Tibetans (i.e., non-monks and non-landlords) suffered terribly under the exploitation and oppression of the Lama's and aristocracy.

This is in no way meant to justify the actions of the Chinese government. Exchanging one despot for another is never a solution.

However, if you are genuinely interested in learning the facts behind Tibetan self-rule or autonomy (and you are motivated enough), a great starting place is an article in "Everything You Know About God Is Wrong: The Disinformation Guide to Religion." The article (Page 291) is titled, "Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth," and is authored by Michael Parenti.

My hope is that those who choose to investigate the story of Tibet beyond the superficial will experience an increased commitment and new understanding of what it means to wear a t-shirt, hang a poster, or place a bumper sticker that exclaims: "Free Tibet!"

As John exhorted us with song so many years ago, "Imagine." We are not the only dreamers!

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If you want non-rose tinted but also not poor characterizations, well done research, read Matthew Kapstein, Melvyn Goldstein, Donald Lopez, and Tsering Shakya.

There also isn't a need to exchange a romantic world view with another false characterization of Tibetan culture.

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Whatever the merits of Tibetan culture, the Buddhist religion, etc., the fact remains that China invaded and overthrew the existing government of the sovereign nation of Tibet. That there is now an uprising in defiance of this decades-old occupation can't be surprising, except that it is occurring now, so many years later. It must indicate how deeply-held the objection to Chinese occupation is. I think the only thing China will understand is economic consequences. Stop buying their (lately tainted) products, don't shop at WalMart, boycott the Olympics. I know the US government has little moral ground from which to prevail on China, but perhaps the grassroots refusal of its citizens to support trade with China and the refusal to support their "Darfur" Olympics (which is the whole other issue of the Chinese tacit support of the genocide there) may have some influence. Though I doubt that Americans will worry past their own mortgage-meltdown, stock market collapsing woes.

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Regardless of what you believe about Tibet, the Chinese Communist Party rules China with an iron hand. Dissent is not tolerated and results in being sent to a "re-education camp." In Tibet, the monastics were forced to write lengthy denounciations of the Dalai Lama and those refusing quickly disappeared and were never heard from again. Stories across China document many instances of torture, false imprisonment and murder by the Chinese Peoples Security Bureau. The land belonging to poor farmers is often taken away from them by force with the aid of government officials. Corruption is widespread and pollution is so bad in many parts of China that the air is barely breatheable. The USA has been very slow to criticize China, and readily criticizes countries like Cuba and Venezuela much more frequently, despite them having human rights records much better than China has. The USA currently has sold China an estimated $2 trillion in US dollar securities and currency. Debt needed to help finance the Iraq war and Bushes tax cuts for the rich. Unfortunately, it appears the Chinese have also purchased the silence and complacency of the US government along with much of the US budget deficit.

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This rebellion is doomed to failure because the Tibetan protesters see their struggle too narrowly in ethnic terms... which is a non-starter since they are outnumbered 99.99% by Han Chinese.

Had they saw their struggle as part of the greater yearning of all Chinese to live under a more open, transparent and accountable form of government, they would more domestic Chinese support and success.

This not ought to be a Han-Tibetan struggle, but a struggle between the forces of freedom against oppression.

Only when the Chinese are free themselves from the oppression practice by their government will the Tibetans achieve the freedoms they themselves seek.

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First before making my arguements, I would like to be made known that I am one of the Han ethnic group in China,and educated in western country. In doing so im trying to show that I have no ill conceived intention or hidden agenda, and am speaking freely from my own point of view. Therefore you can freely interpret my standpoint.

Before taking a look at the current situation, it is essential to have a brief examination of tibet history. The ruling of Tibet can be dated back as early as 17 century when Manchurian (Qing Dynasty) government first appointed Dalai Lama as both spiritual and political leader. Britain also invaded Tibet in 1904. It was only after the establishment of PRC in 1949 that Mao ZeDong reclaimed that region. There are terrirorry dispute still remain unsolved between China and India in that region.

People who dedicated themselves to separationist cause is asking nothing less than a completely independence of Tibet. The other possible system they hope to establish would be to have an self governing political body capable of persuing their own political interest under the protection of a constitution. This in effect is forcing PRC to federate, those kind of political systems we have seen in Australia and US. Its is very unlikely for chinese government to delegate such enormous power to autonormous region governments as the political power has always been centralized in beijing with some degree of exception of Macao, HK and Taiwan. Given the political compexity in China, both of their goals has yet demonstrated any practicability.

Dalai lama also adopted a middle way by abandoning calls for independence and only seeking for genuine autonomy. This is what he calls an “realistic” approach. His argument for a united China is that he think the Han chinese have brough economic prosperity and got rid of some bad traditions. His approach seems to have angered the self-proclaimed government of tibet who is currently in exile, and is only operating under the umbrella of India and Taiwan. Taiwan government has particularly supported their cause of action.

In my view, their rebellious action is hardly justified on humanitarian ground and even on their religion teaching. During the ethinic clash as many as 13 Han ethnic people have died and any shops burned down according to incomplete report of official statistic. Exiled government of Tibet claimed about 100 lives of demonsrators (or rioters) have lost during their clash with Chinese state police. It is still uncelar to outside world whether lethal force has been used by the state police and death toll remain unclear. Official police has claimed about 100 police sustained injuries during their engagement. I think there is a good chance that they acted reasionably as they must face lots pressure from central government in beijing who might have forseen that this incident might greately forshadow the Olympic game to come in August.

To me china’s human right record and freedom of information have been gradually improving incrementally, especially withing the last five years due to the surge and prevalence of internet. This change may be of outside pressure and may as well come from the government’s voluntarity(a disputable point, but whats indisputable is that the situation is getting better). Such drastic act by extreme faction of the population will only cause unnecessary deaths and dismay and furthering the gap between ethnic groups. The western media outcry and extensive reporting may shed some light on the region in a way that is forcing beijing to be more accountable and transparant. But separationists' action is hardly justified when they used such brutal force against innocent civilians, with such degree of premeditation to achieve thier political gain. I believe things can still be resolved deplomatically.

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The expatiot Tibetan propaganda on the "Free Tibet" Hollywood movement is as thick to cut as the Israel propaganda emanating from AIPAC.

The first thing for Tibetophiles to do is to read the Tibet articles in any Pre-1980's Encyclopedia. The 11th Ed. of Britannica published 1910 (pg. 921, Vol.XXVI) tells us that the whole of Tibet has been a suzerainty (protectorate) of China for about 750 years. It has not been independent from China for centuries and was not "conquered" by China in 1950.

Then read: Tibet, Abode of the Gods, Pearl of the Motherland by respected journalist Barbara Erickson who lived there while doing on-ground research, Unlike the author of the above article who says things like "I heard...". It is mostly a balanced scolarly look at the extremes of both sides. The "genocide" charge is repudiated and put to rest.

I have lived and traveled in China off and on for 7 years while doing small business there. My impression is that there is religious freedom guaranteed by the central government of China. There is not meaningful political freedom in China. The "persecution" is of people for political reasons that our own Republicans would characterize as sedition. All institutions and businesses are required to register, just as the IRS requires US taxpayers. Christians who claim to be persecuted in China are from ‘home worship’ groups who refuse to register and who choose to operate underground and who are charged with being politically subversive; like the Jehovah's Witness church that is openly anti-government and anarchist and so, unfortunately, assumed to be politically subversive. They are not persecuted for religious reasons, but political. China is full of Christian churches; Lutheran, Anglican (left over from the Opium Wars), Catholic even Baptist who go about their business with proselytization, conventions and other normal church functions. Chinese people openly wear crosses around their necks.

The biggest and longest continuous running Tibetan monastery in China, I visited in Beijing. It is open to tourists and is called the Temple of Earth and has many visiting worshipers as well as active monks. Why? In part, because a Chinese Emperor was converted to Tibetan Buddhism 400 years ago.

"All high Tibetan officials, whether ecclesiastics or laymen, are appointed subject to confirmation by the Chinese government." The 11th Ed. of Britannica says in 1910. The Sakya lamas (Phagspa was the first) were the first to be appointed to secular rule of Tibet by the Kublai Khan after he became emperor of China in 1253. Gedundub became the first Dalai Lama in 1447; but "To Sodnam rGyamtso the Mongol khans gave the title of Vajra Dalai Lama in 1576, and this was the first use of the widely known title of Dalai Lama." Gushri Kahn invaded Tibet from his Chinese throne in 1645 and installed the 5th Dalai Lama as the supreme monarch of all Tibet. THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT CONFIRMED THE DALAI LAMA IN HIS SECULAR AUTHORITY IN 1653. This marked the first time the Dalai Lama had the mantle of both religious leader (excluding Amdo and Khamdo Tibet in what is now Sishuan).

All these early middle aged centuries, there were wars, mostly civil wars. Tibet is, and was, no Shangri-La; marked by Panchen lama murders of Dalai Lamas in their pre-21 minority, aggressive invasion of other countries including Sikkim, Nepal and even India. It was, until 1950 probably the most extreme form of feudalism in world history and a pure corporatized theocracy. Estimates range from less than 1% to less than 5% were nobility who owned virtually all the land. The serfs paid taxes in form of crop share and labor, though rarely excessive, amounted to involuntary servitude. The only means of upward social mobility was to have a family child selected as Dalai Lama.

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The Communist Revolution civil war progressively consolidated po wer in the Chinese provinces, and Tibet was left until last. The idea of ‘invasion’ flies in the face, not of historical and also feudal China, but in the face of Maoist revolution and land reform and presumed relief of the peasants. The Kuomintang government had token police troops stationed in Tibet. Imagine Mao’s surprise when Tibet had the sole peasantry who rejected the radical idea of liberation from landlords! Women’s liberation from arranged marriage and feet binding and ability to serve in the Red Army were apparently not attractions to a new modern order.



The Chinese revere, celebrate and attempt to preserve the ethnic minorities of China and their one-child rules do not apply to ethnic minorities including Tibetans. They are horrified, for example, at the abject racism directed to native Americans in the Pacific NW of USA.



By contrast to the Dalai Lama’s claims, Bavaria has been forced into unification with Germany only as far back as 1870. And, well, it has the only separatist movement in Germany today! But they don't have the Hollywood glitz and the money that the Dalai Lama has, do they? If the Dalai Lama were truly in sympathy with his suffering people, would he not choose to be with them in their suffering rather than on the cheese and wine jet set, being courted by heads of state and recieving nobel Peace Prizes along with the likes of Henry Kissinger and F. Willem DeKlerk? Would we really presume to restore secular power to Tenzin Gyatso, the Pope of the East, over his serfs? Would we presume to send Tibet back to the dark ages in the name of restoration of a museum piece of a repressive anti-democratic feudal theocracy? Perhaps we can see a restoration of the ‘States Rights’ of Orville Faubus in our own country first. In the final analysis, mountaneering and satoosh wearing white tourists may cause as much radical cultural and environmental degradation of the Tibet Autonomous Region as the Han Chinese.

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Don't expect the US gov't., Republican or Democrat, to do anything, official or otherwise, to help out the Tibetans. China is the biggest creditor of the US government and could bring it to a halt just by refusing to purchase any more US gov't. bonds. Furthermore, the Chinese could wreck our economy by putting the vast number of US debt notes it already holds onto the world market. That would put the value of the dollar at about one to one with the yen.
The best way to put the squeeze on the Chinese government is through the Int'l. Olympic Committee and the US Olympic Committee. The threat of a sizeable international boycott of the Olympics in China could embarass the Chinese government into some positive action on Tibet.

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a simple search reveals that Tibet is a problem created by UK and USA to destabilize China.
the originally 1959 riot was organized and paid for by CIA. there is a documentary on youtube by BBC.
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CIA has been paying Dalai and his clique afterwards, the documents of which are posted on
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Many organizations supporting tibet independence are paid by National Endowment of Democracy, a great name, but if you do a little digging, it is easy to find out what it really is.
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someone like Dalai because he received Noble Peace Prize, but a little digging will show you the Noble Prize he received is purely a political statement. the Nobel prize committee chair openly said the reason Dalai was chosen was because the what happened in Beijing in 1989, not because what Dalai did.
it is also not difficult to find out what kind of society it really was before Chinese Communist Party ruled Tibet. just check out some books by Melvin Goldstein.
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i believe you are all good people, but supporting Dalai and secission of Tibet is basically support of slavery, torture, among other things.

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