Tibet: December 2008 Archives

By RADIO FREE ASIA
December 22, 2008

More jail terms are handed down to Tibetans implicated in widespread anti-China protests earlier this year.

KATHMANDU--Authorities in China's southwestern province of Sichuan have handed down further prison terms to Tibetans detained in anti-China protests earlier this year, according to sources in the region.

The sentences follow a wave of jailings last month in which a court employee said that detained Tibetan protestors were being sent to prison "one after another," and promised "More will be sentenced."

Many of those recently sentenced are said to have taken part in a March 18 protest in Kardze [in Chinese, Ganzi] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture that a source there described as "major" but "peaceful."
 
"Recently, two monks, Orgyen Tashi and Tenzin Ngodrub, were sentenced by the Kardze People's Intermediate Court to three years' imprisonment," the source said. The fate of a third monk, Lobsang, who had at first been detained with the others, remains a "mystery," he said.

"His family members have no information about his health or place of detention, and they are extremely worried," he said.

Three-year terms were also handed to four other Tibetans involved in the March 18 protest, said another source. The four--Pema Deshey, Tashi Palden, Goga, and Sangpo--were "severely beaten during three months of detention in Kardze," the source said.

"Later, they were moved to Nyagrong [in Chinese, Xinlong] county prison and detained for a little over six months. Even during this detention, they were subjected to torture and severe beatings."

Relatives believe that all four may have been taken to a facility in Kardze Prefecture's Dartsedo [in Chinese, Kangding] county after sentencing, the source said, though "they could have been moved to a larger prison in China," the source said.

Truckload under guard

A truckload of Tibetan prisoners was seen being taken to China under heavy guard, the source said, and the personal belongings of some of the prisoners were being returned to family members.

More than 200 Tibetans were detained following protests throughout Kardze earlier this year, according to another source in the region.

"About 20 were released, while the rest are still being held. About 70 percent of those are said to have been sentenced to prison terms of different lengths."

"Recently, the Kardze People's Intermediate Court secretly sentenced Sherab, a monk of the Khangmar monastery, to three years in prison," a third source said.

"Tsering Phuntsog, also a monk from Khangmar, was given 2-1/2 years, and a lay youth named Palden Wangyal, 19, was given a three-year term."

"All these sentences were given secretly for fear of Tibetan reaction," the source said.

Reached for comment, a court official in Dartsedo confirmed the ongoing sentencing of Tibetan protesters, adding that only "serious cases" were being brought to the Dartsedo court, while "other cases are tried in their respective counties of the Kardze Prefecture."

Kardze [in Chinese, Ganzi] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and other Tibetan regions of Sichuan saw a crackdown on Tibetans by Chinese security forces in the wake of the Lhasa protests, which turned to violent riots on March 14.

Tibet's government in exile said more than 200 Tibetans were killed in the subsequent region-wide Chinese crackdown. China has meanwhile reported police as having killed just one "insurgent" and blames Tibetan "rioters" for the deaths of 21 people.

Original reporting by Norbu Damdul and Lobsang Choephel for RFA's Tibetan service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Service director: Jigme Ngapo. Written in English by Richard Finney. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

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By Jason Mick | DAILYTECH.COM
December 18, 2008

Just when you thought China had softened on web crack-downs, it returns to its old ways

China has not exactly been known for its great freedom of speech.  Its citizens' internet access is tightly controlled by a vast firewall - a digital Great Wall of sorts.  Those that voice their dissent on the internet are swiftly arrested.

However, with its bid for the summer Olympics on the line, China made promises to the international community that it would change.  After winning the right to host the Summer 2008 games it indeed began to quietly unblock American websites, make good on promises to allow its guest unrestricted access to the web.

With the glow of the Olympics fading, though, China has already begun to turn its back on its promises to support a free internet, slamming the door shut once again.  Reporters in China have found that China has begun re-blocking foreign news websites, including the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) and Voice of America, along with the Hong Kong-based media Ming Pao and Asiaweek.

Reporters Without Borders slammed China's behavior in a statement, saying, "Right now, the authorities are gradually rolling back all the progress made in the run-up to this summer's Olympic games, when even foreign Web sites in Mandarin were made accessible. The pretense of liberalization is now over."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao defended his country's decision this week, saying that foreign news agencies have broken Chinese laws.  Among their alleged offenses was calling Taiwan a nation, a crime in China.

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By REUTERS | via UNCENSORED Yahoo! News
December 16, 2008

China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday the country was within its rights to block websites with content illegal under Chinese law, including websites that referred to China and Taiwan as two separate countries.

China regularly blocks sites it finds unsavory, particularly those related to Tibet or critical of the Communist Party.

It considers self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Access to the Chinese-language versions of the BBC, Voice of America and Hong Kong media Ming Pao News and Asiaweek has been blocked since early December, according to a report by Asiaweek this week. They remained blocked on Tuesday.

"We can't deny that some websites continue to have problems that violate Chinese law," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

"For instance, if a website refers to 'two Chinas' or refers to mainland China and Taiwan as two independent regions, we believe that violates China's Anti-Seccession Law, as well as other laws," he said.

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By EUbusiness.com
December 07, 2008

Chinese state media on Sunday blasted French President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama as an "unwise move" that has undermined relations with Beijing.

Sarkozy, who currently holds the EU presidency, met the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader in Poland, risking a new flare-up of Chinese anger after mass demonstrations picketing French stores earlier this year.

"This development is indeed an unwise move which not only hurts the feelings of the Chinese people, but also undermines Sino-French ties," said a commentary by the official Xinhua news agency.

Sarkozy is the only European head of state to meet the Dalai Lama -- whom Beijing accuses of seeking independence for his Chinese-controlled Himalayan homeland -- while holding the EU presidency.

China's foreign ministry declined to issue an immediate response to the meeting on Sunday.

However, the talks at a gathering of Nobel Peace Prize laureates were preceded by repeated Chinese warnings that Sino-French ties, including their burgeoning trade relationship, could be harmed.

"The Chinese government and people... stand firmly against any foreign leader's contact with (the Dalai Lama) in any form," Xinhua said.

"The French side, however, in total disregard of China's grave concern and the general situation of Sino-French relations, took an opportunistic, rash and short-sighted approach to handling the Tibet issue."

After the meeting, Sarkozy took pains to play down any split with China and stressed he was free to talk to whomever he wants.

"The Dalai Lama confirmed what I already knew, that he will not demand independence for Tibet, and I told him how important I thought it was to pursue dialogue between the Dalai Lama and Chinese authorities," he said.

He added: "I am free as the French president and the EU president, I have values and convictions. Let's not make things tense, the world doesn't need it and it doesn't correspond to reality."

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By John Pomfret | The Washington Post | Newsweek
December 01, 2008

So the global economy is in meltdown, Europe and China are both facing the prospect of a seriously ugly downturn. They'd scheduled a summit for this week. You'd think both sides would want to participate. Not China.

China canceled it. The reason? Because several European leaders -- including French President Nicolas Sarkozy -- have recently met with the Dalai Lama. Whoa! Now there's a solid reason if I ever saw one. You meet with Buddhist spiritual leader, we blow off key meeting on future of the world.

There is still something of the petulant 3-year-old here, brazenly pursuing something that is decidedly not in her interests. It illustrates the fact that China's foreign policy, its strategy and its world view are anything but mature.

First, it's not like China doesn't need friends right now. It's economy is in crisis. More than half of all of China's toy manufacturers are belly up. The Federation of Hong Kong Industries says that one quarter of its members' 70,000 plants in China have closed or will soon close. After annual double-digit growth for the past decade, China's economy is only expected to grow by about 9 percent this year, if that. Next year could be a lot worse. Over the weekend President Hu Jintao told a gathering of Communist Party members that the global crisis could undermine the country's economy and threaten the party's capacity to rule China.

Europe is China's largest market. But the Europeans are restless. European businesses want to know why they sell more stuff to Switzerland than to China. Cancel a summit and these questions will only grow louder.

Second, it's not like a meeting between Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama is going to amount to much for the Tibetan cause anyway. It's not going to result in the withdrawal of Chinese troops from the Tibetan plateau or independence for Tibet, right? And it certainly won't resuscitate the moribund talks that representatives of the Dalai Lama have been holding with China for several years now. Those talks are practically dead.

So why did Hu really blow off Sarko?

The stated Chinese reason in this case bears scrutiny because of its brazen honesty. According to wire service reports, Qin Gang, a spokesman at the China's foreign ministry, acknowledged to reporters that France was being held to a higher standard than, say, the United States, whose leaders routinely huddle with the Dalai Lama and barely suffer a slap on the wrist.

"France keeps saying that China is a strategic partner. Then it should do more than other countries, mean what it says and set a high standard for its behavior," Qin said.
"We hope France will make efforts to honor its commitments and not do things that harm the feelings of the Chinese people or undermine the foundation for the two countries' cooperation."

Chinese tea-leaf readers have focused on another reason: They've wheeled out the old bogeyman of Chinese political calculus, claiming that unidentified "hard-liners" were behind the cancellation. That's rich.

The reality is that China just screwed this one up.

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