Tibet: September 2006 Archives

By RADIO FREE ASIA
September 19, 2006

DELHI—Authorities in the Tibetan region of Karze in China’s southwestern Sichuan province have detained a 22-year-old monk as part of a broader crackdown on anti-Chinese sentiment, making him the eighth Buddhist monk arrested or detained there this year, Tibetan sources said.

Lobsang Palden, a monk at Karze monastery, was detained Aug. 15, sources said.

“When police raided his room in the monastery, they found several incriminating documents including photos of [Tibet’s exiled religious leader] the Dalai Lama,” a Tibetan from the region told RFA.

“Relatives learned that he was severely beaten in detention when he refused to implicate others."

Karze police officials contacted by phone refused to confirm the arrest.

Sources described Lobsang Palden as the eighth monk arrested by Chinese police in the Karze area this year, where signs of opposition to Chinese rule in the Himalayan kingdom appear to be on the rise.

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By THE ASSOICATED PRESS
08 September 2006

The Dalai Lama declared Thursday that he was proud to be named an honorary Canadian citizen, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from China.

The leader of the world's Tibetan Buddhists spoke after arriving in Vancouver for the inauguration of the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education, the world's first educational center in his name.

When he was granted the citizenship by Canada's Parliament earlier this summer, China complained to the Canadian government that it could could harm relations.

"Wherever I go, it creates some inconvenience," he told a news conference at Vancouver city hall. "I'm sorry. I hope it's not my mistake."

Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs says Canada recognizes China as the legitimate government of China and Tibet, but has great respect for the Dalai Lama.

Only two other people have been granted honorary Canadian citizenship: South African leader Nelson Mandela and Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved Jews from extermination during World War II.

The Dalai Lama said Thursday Vancouver was chosen as the site of the center because its multiethnic and multiracial population gives it harmony.

"This is purely educational, not political," he said of the center.

The Dalai Lama, a Nobel peace prize winner for his struggle for Tibetan autonomy, fled into exile in northern India in 1959, following a failed uprising against Chinese rule, and is still widely revered in Tibet.