Chinese Military don Monks’ Robes?
Filed Under Tibet, Human Rights, China | Posted on March 22, 2008
Apparently, members of the Communist Chinese People’s Liberation Army enjoy playing dress-up.
Phayul.com reports that the riots that began in Lhasa on March 10 were actually incited by agents of the PLA dressed in monk’s robes.
Britain’s GCHQ, the government communications agency that electronically monitors half the world from space, has confirmed the claim by the Dalai Lama that agents of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the PLA, posing as monks, triggered the riots that have left hundreds of Tibetans dead or injured.
GCHQ analysts believe the decision was deliberately calculated by the Beijing leadership to provide an excuse to stamp out the simmering unrest in the region, which is already attracting unwelcome world attention in the run-up to the Olympic Games this summer.
…
The images they downloaded from the satellites provided confirmation the Chinese used agent provocateurs to start riots, which gave the PLA the excuse to move on Lhasa to kill and wound over the past week.
What the Beijing regime had not expected was how the riots would spread, not only across Tibet, but also to Sichuan, Quighai and Gansu provinces, turning a large area of western China into a battle zone.
If that report is accurate, I’m surprised it’s not getting more attention. If it weren’t directed at China, I’d dismiss it immediately as a wacky conspiracy theory. Since it is China, it somehow seems less incredible than it would otherwise.
Tibet.net reports that Chinese military personnel began donning the robes again on March 19 to provide an image of stability in the Tibetan capital, and for intelligence gathering purposes.
According to a very reliable source (from within the People’s Security Bureau), since 19th March, Chinese military personnel deployed in Lhasa have been dressing up as monks for two main purposes. Firstly, military dressed up as monks are roaming the streets of Lhasa to give of the false image that stability has been restored in Lhasa (even though a Martial Law situation is still prevalent in Lhasa). Secondly, the military dressed as monks are also being used for surveillance purposes to crackdown on the protestors. For example, the military dressed as monks have been interacting with the local Tibetans to collect information, which they have been passing on to their authorities.
Germany’s Example
Filed Under Tibet, Human Rights, China | Posted on March 20, 2008
Germany demonstrates to the world that morality and justice can still outweigh political and economic interests in framing governmental foreign policy. Here’s hoping that other countries follow Germany’s example.
From Phayul.com:
In a fresh blow to Berlin-Beijing relations, Germany has said it is freezing aid talks with the Chinese government as a result of China’s crackdown on demonstrations in Tibet.
Germany said it was suspending intergovernmental aid talks with China if the country did not end a bloody clampdown on Tibetan protestors, raising the stakes in a highly charged international conundrum over how to deal with Beijing’s rights violations months before the city hosts the Olympic Games.
German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said on Wednesday, March 19, that her ministry would suspend negotiations with the Chinese government which mainly involve grants to reduce air pollution by Chinese power plants. Explaining the decision, Wieczorek-Zeul said, “Violence can never be a solution. The two sides can only arrive at a solution through dialogue. Under such conditions, it is hardly conceivable to be conducting intergovernmental negotiations.”
Read moreStand with Tibet
Filed Under Tibet, Human Rights, China | Posted on March 20, 2008
Avaaz.org is collecting online signatures on a petition to Chinese president Hu Jintao, urging him to end the violence in Tibet.
After decades of repression, Tibetans are crying out to the world for change. China’s leaders are right now making a crucial choice between escalating brutality or dialogue that could determine the future of Tibet, and China.
We can affect this historic choice — China does care about its international reputation. But it will take an avalanche of global people power to get the government’s attention. The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has called for restraint and dialogue: he needs the world’s people to support him. Fill out the form below to sign the petition–and spread the word.
Petition to Chinese President Hu Jintao:
As citizens around the world, we call on you to show restraint and respect for human rights in your response to the protests in Tibet, and to address the concerns of all Tibetans by opening meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Only dialogue and reform will bring lasting stability. China’s brightest future, and its most positive relationship with the world, lies in harmonious development, dialogue and respect.
Their goal is 1,000,000 signatures. As of this posting, they have over 400,000. The results will be delivered to Chinese embassies around the world.
It takes about 30 seconds to complete. To sign the petition, click here.
On another note, this thought-provoking Avaaz video “Stop the Clash of Civilizations” is one of six finalists for “Best Political Video of 2007″ in the YouTube Awards.
10 Reasons to Boycott the Olympics
Filed Under Human Rights, China | Posted on March 20, 2008
- Burma
- Darfur
- Tibet
- Inner Mongolia
- Dissidents
- Religious Persecution
- Death Penalty
- Pollution
- Free Speech
- Forced Abortions
Checking Anger
Filed Under Buddhadharma | Posted on March 17, 2008
I need a break from violence and politics.
One should give up anger, renounce pride, and overcome all fetters. Suffering never befalls him who clings not to mind and body and is detached.
He who checks rising anger as a charioteer checks a rolling chariot, him I call a true charioteer. Others only hold the reins.
Overcome the angry by non-anger; overcome the wicked by goodness; overcome the miser by generosity; overcome the liar by truth.
Speak the truth; yield not to anger; when asked, give even if you only have a little. By these three means can one reach the presence of the gods.
Those sages who are inoffensive and ever restrained in body, go to the Deathless State, where, having gone, they grieve no more.
Santideva’s Bodhicaryavatara
Chapter VI: The Perfection of PatienceAnger destroys all the good conduct, such as generosity and worshipping the Sugatas, which has been acquired over thousands of eons.
There is no vice like hatred, and there is no austerity like patience. Therefore, one should earnestly cultivate patience in various ways.
The mind does not find peace, nor does it enjoy pleasure and joy, nor does it find sleep or fortitude when the thorn of hatred dwells in the heart.
Read moreIncreasing Global Awareness on the Situation in Tibet
Filed Under Tibet, Human Rights, China | Posted on March 17, 2008
The Wall Street Journal publishes an Opinion piece by Robert Barnett, Director of Modern Tibetan Studies at Columbia University.
The BBC reports “Eighty Killed in Tibetan Unrest.
Phayul reports on this statement from the floor of the EU Parliament: “The European Union must do its utmost to foster a peaceful solution of the current situation in Tibet and get involved as much as possible in the solution of Tibet problem facilitating democratic transition, free and fair election in Tibet and fundamental freedoms of Tibetans.”
The Austrian foreign minister demands “an end to violence in Tibet.”
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says, “There has been a kind of missed opportunity here for the Chinese to engage the moral authority of the Tibetan people.”
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reports, “Around 40 Tibetan middle school students were known to have been severely beaten before being arrested at around 8:30 AM (Beijing Time) today, 17 March 2008, following students’ call for the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet.”
Hillary Clinton is “deeply concerned.”
Oddly, the Washington Post reports that China has been removed from the U.S. State Department’s list of the world’s worst human rights violators.
Athletes Consider Beijing Olympics Boycott
Filed Under Uncategorized | Posted on March 16, 2008
According to an article on Phayul.com:
International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president Thomas Bach says a number of top athletes are considering boycotting the games in China over the bloody crackdown on protesters in Tibet.
“Several sports stars are feeling ill at ease when they think about the Olympic Games. Some are even considering cancelling,” Mr Bach, of Germany, told Sunday’s edition of the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
That seems like a reasonable response to me. But the IOC is discouraging this action:
Mr Bach said he understood the athletes’ concerns about the situation in Tibet but said he was advising them to participate.
“They will realise when they assess the situation that it is better to make an appearance than to stay away. That is a symbol that will be noticed by the public,” he said.
Someone needs to explain to me why that statement makes sense. Wouldn’t a boycott be more noticeable and more symbolic?
Asked if human rights had been a concern when Beijing was selected to host the Games in August, Mr Bach said the IOC believed the intense focus on China would have a positive effect.
How’s that working out for you? China has only increased its restrictions on journalists, its detention of human rights advocates, and its violent repression of dissent as it attempts to mask its true nature in preparation for the games.
According to the Olympic Charter, the Fundamental Principles of Olympism include the promotion of universal ethical principles, the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity, and rejecting any form of discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, politics, gender, or otherwise. China has never given any indication that it supports those principles; in fact, it’s worked quite diligently to deny fundamental human rights and human dignity to as wide a range of people as possible.
I’m sure the IOC realizes by now that the Olympics should never have been awarded to Beijing in the first place. Rather than the hoped-for “positive effect”, it’s had quite the opposite effect. The closer we get to the games, the more violent and repressive the Chinese regime becomes. The only reasonable response at this point, for the athletes, their sponsoring countries, the media, and all people of conscience who truly value human dignity, is a complete and total boycott of the Beijing games.
Amnesty International Calls for Independent UN Investigation into Tibet Violence
Filed Under Uncategorized | Posted on March 16, 2008
15 March 2008
“The Chinese authorities should allow an independent UN investigation into the events of the last week in Tibet, particularly in the light of the sealing off of the region in recent days and the long-term restrictions on human rights monitoring there,” said Amnesty International today. “The situation also demands attention by the Human Rights Council at its current session.”
The organization calls on the Chinese authorities to exercise restraint in responding to continuing protests, to fully account for all detainees in Lhasa and other Tibetan areas during the crackdown on protests over the last week, and to release those detained for peacefully expressing their views and exercising their freedom of expression, association and assembly.
“The Chinese authorities also need to address the underlying grievances of the Tibetan people and the long-term policies that have generated such resentment,” said Catherine Baber, Director of the Asia-Pacific Programme at Amnesty International. Long-term grievances surfacing this week include perceived exclusion from the benefits of economic development, restrictions on religious practice and the weakening of Tibetan culture and ethnic identity through government policies.
Read moreStatement by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the Violence in Tibet
Filed Under Tibet, Human Rights, China | Posted on March 16, 2008
Washington, DC - March 15, 2008
I am deeply saddened to learn that the turmoil that erupted yesterday in Lhasa following what began as peaceful protests has resulted in the loss of lives, and I am concerned that the violence appears to be continuing. I also am concerned by reports of a sharply increased police and military presence in and around Lhasa. We call on the Chinese government to exercise restraint in dealing with these protests, and we strongly urge all sides to refrain from violence.
Read moreStatement of Senator Barack Obama on the situation in Tibet
Filed Under Tibet, Human Rights, China | Posted on March 16, 2008
Chicago, IL | March 14, 2008
Chicago, IL — “I am deeply disturbed by reports of a crackdown and arrests ordered by Chinese authorities in the wake of peaceful protests by Tibetan Buddhist monks. I condemn the use of violence to put down peaceful protests, and call on the Chinese government to respect the basic human rights of the people of Tibet, and to account for the whereabouts of detained Buddhist monks.
These events come on the 49th anniversary of the exile of the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, the Dalai Lama. They demonstrate the continuing frustration of the Tibetan people at the way in which Beijing has ruled Tibet. There has been an informal dialogue between Chinese leaders and the Dalai Lama’s representatives over the past six years. It is good that they have been talking, but China has thus far shown no flexibility on the substance of those discussions. Indeed, it has delayed in scheduling the latest round, despite the willingness of the Tibetans to continue dialogue.
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