Tibet: August 2008 Archives

By Radio Free Asia
August 28, 2008

Months after widespread Tibetan protests against Chinese rule, hundreds of monks are detained in Qinghai.

Hundreds of Tibetan monks detained after widespread protests against Chinese rule earlier this year were deported from the Tibetan capital Lhasa to remote Qinghai province, where they remain in custody, according to Tibetan sources.

Monks from two major Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, Sera and Drepung, both in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), may have been targeted because they were seen as playing a leading role in the demonstrations, the sources said.

Many came to study at the two monasteries near Lhasa from remote areas in eastern Tibet where the Kham and Amdo dialects are spoken.

A smaller group of monks was removed from another monastery, Ganden, and taken into detention with the others, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Unrest erupted in Lhasa on March 14 after four days of peaceful protests, turning into a day of riots targeting Han Chinese residents and businesses. China reacted by sending in a large force of paramilitary People's Armed Police to quell the unrest, sealing off the TAR and Tibetan-populated regions of China from contact with the outside world.

Exiled Tibetan leaders say 203 people died in the violence that followed, while Beijing says 22 people died, only one of them Tibetan.

Train from Lhasa

According to an authoritative source who spoke on condition of anonymity, 675 Tibetan monks from the three targeted monasteries were put on a train from Lhasa on April 25.

"Among those 675 monks, 405 were from Drepung, 205 were from Sera, and eight were from Ganden," the source said. The remaining 57 monks from outlying areas were said to have been taken from smaller Lhasa monasteries.

"They were transported to a military detention center in Golmud" in the Haixi [in Tibetan, Tsonub] Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai, the source said.

"All the monks who came originally from the Qinghai region were [then] deported to their respective towns. They are still detained there in their hometown prisons or detention centers."

They were escorted home from Golmud by officials from the Qinghai United Front and Religious Affairs Bureau, according to the source.

Monks who came originally from monasteries in the still-troubled region of Kham in Sichuan province are still being held in Golmud, however, the source said. The number of those still in detention cannot be independently confirmed.

Three groups

The monks were rounded up in three groups, the source said.

"On April 10 in the afternoon, security forces detained 550 monks from Drepung monastery, took them to the Nyethang Military School, and detained them on the school campus."

"Then, on the night of April 14, a huge contingent of Chinese security forces arrived at Sera monastery and took away about 400 monks and detained them at a military prison in Tsal Gungthang," about 20 kms (12 miles) east of Lhasa, the source said.

"On April 17, a group of monks from Ganden was also rounded up and detained somewhere in Lhasa," the source added.

All those detained were reported to have suffered harsh treatment, including beatings, while in prison.

"Twenty-four monks from Drepung and Sera monasteries remain in detention at the Nationalities Middle School in the Marpa subdivision of Rebgong in Qinghai province, where they have been held since July 25" after being moved from Lhasa in April, the source said.

Held in a house

Another source with contacts in the region said that a small group of monks from monasteries in Sogpo county in the Malho [in Chinese, Huangnan] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai had been studying in Lhasa monasteries at the time of the unrest.

"Recently, they were found detained in a house close to the Sogpo county center," he said. "They had not been put into prisons but were under some kind of house arrest. Later, we learned that they had been taken into detention in Golmud in April."

"They are not allowed to leave, but their family members and relatives can see them at the house where they are being held."

"There were about 30 to 40 monks studying in Lhasa who had come from different monasteries in Gepasumdo [in Chinese, Tongde] county" in the Tsolho [in Chinese, Hainan] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai, the source said.

"There were 20 monks from Tsang monastery alone who were studying at Sera. We were told that all of them were detained."

Brother held

A Tibetan woman living in Rebgong [in Chinese, Tongren] county in the Malho Prefecture said she had learned that her brother, a monk studying in Lhasa, had been taken to the Golmud City Detention Center.

"As you know, he was from Kirti monastery in Aba [in Tibetan, Ngaba] Prefecture [in Sichuan], but was at Sera monastery in Lhasa at the time of the March protests," she said. "We couldn't trace him for a long time."

Lhasa monasteries generally take in many monks from outlying areas, including Qinghai province. "That's always been the case, historically," Tibet expert Robbie Barnett, based at Columbia University in New York, said.

These monasteries "have colleges that are specifically designed, and have been for centuries, to accommodate people from those areas," he added. Efforts beginning in 1994 to stop this practice have largely proven unsuccessful, Barnett said.

Barnett cited reports that the Lhasa protests that began March 10 comprised monks from the Amdo Tibetan area in Qinghai province.

"Some people have said that this was quite definitely the case. And some people have said that this was also true of the Sera and Drepung [demonstrations] on the other two days," he said, but added:

"I don't know how strong the evidence is for that."

Contacted by Radio Free Asia, officials at the Sera Monastery Management Committee hung up the phone, while officials at the Drepung Monastery Management Committee refused to speak to RFA reporters.

Officials at the Huangnan Prefecture Public Security Bureau denied knowledge of any monks being held at the Nationalities Middle School in Rebgong.

Original reporting by RFA's Tibetan service. Translations by Karma Dorjee. Tibetan service director: Jigme Ngapo. Written and produced in English by Sarah Jackson-Han. Edited by Luisetta Mudie and Richard Finney.

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By Paul Mooney | U.S. News & World Report
August 26, 2008

China was intent on making a splash with the 2008 Olympics, which concluded on Sunday, and it did just that. The games are being described as the best ever, thanks to great organization, impressive Olympic venues, stunning opening and closing ceremonies, an army of 70,000 smiling volunteers, and the amazing performances by athletes such as swimmer Michael Phelps and sprinter Usain Bolt.

But it was not an entirely golden occasion.

The games fell far short of accomplishing what many, perhaps unrealistically, had hoped for--to see the authoritarian Communist Party of China, in the world's spotlight, move toward becoming a kinder and gentler regime. Indeed, there was a lot of commentators' talk about this marking China's full engagement with the world, a sort of coming-out party for a "new China."

Instead, the Communist rulers stayed true to form and did pretty much as they wished while the International Olympic Committee and international community played along for the most part. In the end, the Olympics were a tool for strengthening the party's tight grip on power, rather than being an agent of change.

This could be seen before the games kicked off. Determined to make this "the best games ever," the government forced some 1.5 million Chinese out of their homes--often with little or no compensation--to make way for Olympic venues and beautification projects. Countless hawkers, beggars, construction workers, prostitutes, trash collectors, and migrant laborers were removed from the streets and were sent back to their villages or to detention centers. Ten prominent human rights activists, dubbed the Olympics prisoners, were given prison sentences for criticizing the games.

This policy continued during the games. Ding Zilin, the mother of a 17-year-old son who was killed on the night of June 4, 1989, and the founder of the Mothers of Tiananmen, and Wan Yanhai, a leading AIDS activist, were among several activists taking forced holidays outside the capital. And Zeng Jinyan, the 24-year-old blogger and wife of imprisoned dissident Hu Jia, and her 8-month-old baby, disappeared altogether.

In a throwback to George Orwell's Animal Farm, the Communist authorities set up three Protest Zones in parks where legal demonstrations could be held. Of the 77 applications submitted, not one was approved. Indeed, 15 people were arrested for being foolish enough to believe the government was serious. This includes Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77, who have been threatened with a year in a re-education-through-labor camp. The two wished to protest against officials who evicted them from their homes in 2001.

While foreign journalists were free to cover sporting events, in many cases, they were harassed, beaten, and even arrested by the police, who prevented them from reporting on sensitive issues and even talking to Chinese citizens. According to the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China, there were more than 30 cases of reporting interference from July 25, the day of the opening of the Olympic Media Center, with the most disturbing trend the increase in the incidence of police roughing up or beating reporters and breaking their cameras. Foreign journalists also complained about restrictions on travel to places like Tibet and in Xinjiang, and the blocking of Internet websites.

Two American videobloggers were detained for covering pro-Tibetan activists and were sentenced to 10 days in prison for "disrupting public order." Dozens of foreign protesters were detained and deported.

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By BBC World News
August 22, 2008

Apple iTunes customers in China fear the online store has been blocked after a pro-Tibet album featured on the site became a hit.

The site has been unavailable inside China for the past week.

An Apple spokeswoman said the firm was currently investigating what lay behind the problem.

The Beijing authorities have not commented on the issue, but activists claim it is connected to the recent release of "Songs for Tibet".

Millions of Chinese citizens use the internet for education and business, but the government sometimes tries to block access to sites run by dissidents and human rights and Tibet activists.

Popular download

Users of iTunes in China have complained that they have been unable to download music since Monday - a day after the Art of Peace Foundation announced the release of the pro-Tibet album.

BBC staff in Beijing confirmed on Friday that the site was still not working.

The album has been a popular download across the world, and has featured on the front pages of the iTunes stores.

A review page for the album attracted a strong exchange of views between pro-Tibet campaigners and Chinese nationalists.

Michael Wohl, the Art of Peace Foundation's executive, said he believed the album was the reason for the disruption to iTunes, although he had no proof.

Those who contributed to the album include artists Alanis Morissette and Underworld, and there is also a 15-minute talk by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader.

By BBC News
August 14, 2008

China has set aside three parks during the Olympics, to allow people to demonstrate. But, as the BBC's Michael Bristow finds out, the parks are empty and those who apply for permission to protest are even finding themselves arrested.

Just before the Olympic Games began, officials said ordinary Chinese people would be able to apply for permission to vent their feelings.

But several would-be demonstrators appear to have been detained by the authorities after trying to apply for that permission.

This is just one way in which China is attempting to restrict embarrassing protests during the Olympic Games.

"The protest application process clearly isn't about giving people greater freedom of expression, but making it easier for the police to suppress it," said Sophie Richardson, from Human Rights Watch.

One of those detained is Zhang Wei, who was held after applying to stage a protest about her family's forced eviction from their courtyard home.

Her son, Mi Yu, said she was initially supposed to be held for just three days for "disturbing social order", but that that had now been extended to 30 days.

Ms Zhang, forced to move to make way for redevelopment in Beijing's Qianmen district, made several protest applications.

"She went every two or three days after seeing a report about the parks. But the police did not give their approval," Mr Mi said.

His mother was taken away last week. The family have not heard from her since.

Many obstacles

Another activist held after making a protest application was Ji Sizun, who was detained on Monday, according to Human Rights Watch.

The 58-year-old, from Fujian province, wanted to call for greater participation by ordinary people in the political process.

Citing witnesses, the rights group said Mr Ji was taken away shortly after entering a Beijing police station to ask about his application.

This application process is a taxing one. Would-be protesters even have to tell police what posters and slogans they intend to use.

There have been reports of others who have been prevented from staging protests in the designated areas.

Some have just had their applications turned down, one was sent back to her home province and yet others have been stopped from travelling to Beijing.

Confusion

The parks designated as protest zones - Shijie, Zizhuyuan and Ritan - do not seem to have been inundated with protesters.

At Shijie ("World") Park on Wednesday one worker said there had not been a single demonstration since the Olympics began.

Potential protesters might have been put off by the police car and van parked directly outside the main entrance of the park, which houses large models of famous world sites.

No one seemed to know where a protest could be held, even if Beijing's Public Security Bureau gave its approval.

"I don't know anything about that," said a ticket collector when asked where protesters could express their opinions.

It was a similar story at Ritan Park, where there seems to have been no protests either.

Dissuading people from protesting is just one tactic being used by China's security forces to prevent demonstrations.

Beijing's streets are full of police, other security personnel and volunteers, wearing red armbands, on the lookout for trouble.

Eight pro-Tibet demonstrators from Students for a Free Tibet were quickly detained on Wednesday after staging a protest.

Some well-known Chinese activists have also been told to keep a low profile during the Olympics. The friend of one said she had decided to leave the city during the Olympics to avoid trouble.

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By GILLIAN WONG - Associated Press Writer | via ABC News
August 15, 2008

Five foreign activists were deported Friday after they scaled a landmark building in Beijing to unfurl a "Free Tibet" banner over the top of an Olympic Games billboard in the latest protest during the games.

Television footage by Britain's Sky News showed the activists, draped in Tibetan nationalist flags and wearing helmets, dangling from ropes as they hung the black-and-white banner about 20 feet off the ground at the new headquarters of state-owned China Central Television, which is still under construction. Police quickly took the banner down.

The Beijing Public Security Bureau said in a faxed reply to questions that the protesters had "engaged in activities that violated Chinese law." Police ordered the activists to leave the country, it said.

Students for a Free Tibet's campaigns director, Kate Woznow, confirmed the five activists were deported later Friday. The group said the activists included three Americans, a Briton and a Canadian.

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by Charles Whelan | Agence France Presse via UNCENSORED Yahoo! News
August 13, 2008

Chinese police roughed up a British TV crew and stopped them covering a pro-Tibet protest, witnesses said, in the latest case of interference with media freedom at the Beijing Olympic Games.

Uniformed police pounced on John Ray, China correspondent for Independent Television News (ITN), shortly after protesters unfurled a pro-Tibet banner near the main Olympic complex, witnesses and the reporter said.

His cameraman Ben England was also manhandled and prevented from filming the protest, they said.

Pro-Tibetan independence group Students for a Free Tibet said two protesters who unfurled the banner were arrested while six other members of the group were also detained for protesting nearby.

Ray said he was wrestled to the ground and dragged into a nearby restaurant where he was forcibly held down by uniformed and plainclothes officers who also stamped on his hands.

Ray, who is fully accredited to report in Beijing during the Olympic Games, said he was detained for around 20 minutes and his equipment bag was confiscated.

"This was an assault in my mind, I am incredibly angry about this," Ray told AFP minutes after he was released.

His shoes were scuffed, the back of his trousers and shirt were covered in grime and he displayed some bruising on his hand.

He said he told the officers in Chinese that he was a journalist during the incident, during which he was also asked for his views on Tibetan independence.

"I am just wondering where this fits in with China's solemn undertaking to allow us to report freely during the Olympics," he said.

The British embassy said it had expressed "strong concern" to the Chinese authorities while the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) in Beijing demanded that police apologise to the ITN reporter.

"The FCC is appalled by this treatment of an accredited journalists within half a mile of the main Olympic stadium," said Club president Jonathan Watts.

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By Christine Brennan - USA TODAY
August 07, 2008

The popular notion is that the story of the Beijing Olympic Games begins this Friday night, 8.8.08, as the saying goes, with the opening ceremony in the glowing-red Bird's Nest.

But that's not entirely true. The history of China's efforts to host the Games is already being written -- some chapters, in fact, are already completed -- and, so far, the plot line looks terrible for the Chinese.

If it weren't so sad, it would be almost comical, how China's leaders are trying to sabotage their own Olympic legacy. They were supposed to free dissidents. Instead, they jailed more. They said their air would be clean. But it looks like pea soup.

Things didn't get better in Tibet. They didn't get better in Sudan's Darfur. They didn't get better for the workers in China.

Journalists were promised they could carry out their work unfettered. Then the government blocked troublesome Internet sites in the press center.

Finally, in what might be their most outrageous act yet (there's still plenty of time for more), Chinese officials revoked the visa of Joey Cheek, one of the world's most charitable Olympians, banning him from the country because of his humanitarian work as co-founder of Team Darfur.

The problem with China is not its people, but its leaders. It's not one country, but two. There's the deferential, white-glove-wearing, efficient nation of 1.3 billion that just might put on the most awe-inspiring Olympics in memory.

There's also heavy-handed official China, the one doing all that damage to its people's good name. The government might as well be the smog that rolls in each day, obscuring the stunning venues, the first-class organization and the simple acts of kindness of tens of thousands of volunteers. You get the feeling it can't help itself. At a time when it so wants to join the rest of the world, when it craves being discovered and admired, it reverts to its Mao default setting.

After decades of Games held in the most agreeable places -- Calgary, Barcelona, Sydney -- we're in uncharted territory here. But it's already clear that the worst thing national Olympic committees and their athletes can do over the next 2½ weeks is to acquiesce to the Chinese leadership's outrageous positions rather than hold true to the values of their homeland because they want to be good guests.

The U.S. Olympic Committee took a few dangerous steps in that direction Wednesday when, in a previously scheduled news conference, its leaders failed to strongly stand up for Cheek, who not only was one of their own just 2½ years ago, he was so beloved he was selected to carry the U.S. flag in the 2006 closing ceremony.

Choosing his words as if he thought Chinese President Hu Jintao had sneaked into the back row to eavesdrop, USOC CEO Jim Scherr gave a lukewarm defense of Cheek: "It is unfortunate, but it's between this government and Joey as a private citizen."

No "We stand with Joey." Not a hint of "He's ours, and he's to be lauded for his efforts." No, just Citizen Cheek.

The USOC is not a political organization, but it does represent a country of many freedoms, and it must do better than that in the next 2½ weeks.

Its leaders would do well to follow the example of the U.S. athletes, who picked as their flag bearer a 1,500-meter runner who fled Sudan at 6 and lived in a refugee camp in Kenya for 10 years before settling in the United States.

Lopez Lomong also happens to be an outspoken member of Cheek's Team Darfur, saying if he won a medal in China, he would "hold an American flag and a Sudan flag" on the medal stand. That would be a perfect political statement, the kind the Chinese government and its accomplices in the International Olympic Committee have railed against for years.

That didn't bother the U.S. team captains who voted for the flag bearer. They could have hidden Lomong. Instead, they asked him to lead them into the stadium.

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