Tibet: June 2009 Archives

By RADIO FREE ASIA
June 21, 2009

Tibetans cite a new government effort to control what news they hear.

KATHMANDU--Chinese authorities have begun to remove satellite dishes in a Tibetan-populated region of China in an effort to block access to foreign broadcasts, according to Tibetan sources.

Tibetan-language broadcasts by Radio Free Asia and Voice of America appear to be particular targets of the campaign, one source said.

"Beginning in April of this year, the local broadcasting department oin Kanlho [in Chinese, Gannan] prefecture [of Gansu province] dispatched staff to the counties to install cable lines and to pull down the satellite dishes used by local Tibetans to listen to foreign broadcasts like RFA and VOA Tibetan programs," a Tibetan woman in the Labrang area of Kanlho said.

"They also installed cable lines for listening to government-approved programs," the woman added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Local Tibetans were told by officials that they were carrying out the directives of central and provincial level authorities," she said.

"They distributed copies of the letters issued by the government."

A Gannan prefecture document obtained by RFA, citing State Council document #129, describes what it calls "unprecedented efforts to collect satellite dishes" to restrict access to long-distance broadcasts in Gansu province, a site of repeated Tibetan protests against Chinese rule during the past year.

Anyone failing to comply with government directives to remove the dishes would be "dealt with in accordance with law," the memo said.

Begun in 2000

Tibetan writer Woeser, in the June 15 entry of her blog "Invisible Tibet," noted efforts "as early as 2000" by China's government to block broadcasts by Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.

Hundreds of jamming towers have been built in Tibetan regions for this purpose, she wrote.

"The Chinese government is now forcing Tibetan monks to pull down satellite dishes so that they cannot listen to RFA and VOA broadcasts. In May this year, the Chinese authorities carried out the policy vigorously in Kanlho."

"In their place, the local Tibetans are forced to listen to [state-controlled] local TV programs connected through land lines," she wrote.

Originally reported by Lhumbum Tashi for RFA's Tibetan service. Tibetan service director: Jigme Ngapo. Translations by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

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BBC News
June 08, 2009

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has been made an honorary citizen of the French capital, Paris.

The mayor, Bertrand Delanoe, made the award in what French President Nicolas Sarkozy described as a municipal matter, not an act of state.

France has been trying to repair ties with China, but analysts said this award could further ruffle relations.

Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of wanting to split China, but he says he only wants autonomy for his people.

The Dalai Lama began his latest European tour in Denmark on Friday, and has also visited Iceland and the Netherlands.

'Deliberate staging'

He said on Sunday that the rioting that erupted in Tibet in March last year had been fomented by agents of the Chinese state in order to justify a subsequent crackdown and smear local activists as rioters.

"Despite a heavy security presence throughout Lhasa from March 10 onwards, it remains unclear why the Chinese forces of order remained inactive for so long in the centre of the city," the Dalai Lama said.

"On March 14, Tibetans unknown to anyone in Lhasa started to burn shops and throw stones at the Chinese without police interference, while film crews already in place filmed the scene and broadcast it throughout the world.

"Only then did the security forces crack down on the disturbances. It is hard not to suspect a deliberate staging of riots," he said, speaking in Tibetan through a French translator.

Tibet 'errors'

A strong reaction from China is expected to both the award and to the Dalai Lama's comments.

Tension has been high between France and China, following chaotic scenes during last year's Olympic torch relay through Paris, and a December meeting between Mr Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama.

Last month China warned France not to make more "errors" on Tibet.

The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in Dharamsala in India since 1959 when China took full control of Tibet.

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