Contact is taking a holiday!

Contact is taking a break after 25 years of bringing you news of Tibet and Tibetan issues. We are celebrating our 25 years by bringing you the story of Contact and the people who have made it happen, and our archive is still there for you to access at any time, and below you can read the story of Contact, how it came into being and the wonderful reflections of the people who have made it happen over the years.

When and how Contact will re-emerge and evolve will be determined by those who become involved.

China opens new expanded terminal at Lhasa airport in Tibet: Report

August 11, 2021

Business Standard. August 9, 2021. China has opened a newly constructed terminal – stated to be the biggest in Tibet – at the provincial capital Lhasa, further expanding the transport infrastructure in the strategic Himalayan region China has opened a newly constructed terminal – stated to be the biggest in Tibet – at read more →

Taming the wolf warrior — China’s rising aggression

August 11, 2021

James Kynge – Financial Times, 10 August 2021 Signs of China’s growing assertiveness predated the pandemic. But it was in early 2020, as Covid-19 spread rapidly around the world, that Beijing went full “wolf warrior”. Zhao Lijian, spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, alleged on Twitter in March that the virus read more →

Xi Jinping’s Visit To Tibet: Integration Or Intimidation?

August 10, 2021

CE Malley, Organisation for Peace President Xi Jinping, along with several other high-level government and military officials from China, made a visit to the Tibetan Autonomous Region on July 23rd. This visit, the first Xi has made to Tibet since assuming office, coincides with the 70th anniversary of the coerced peace read more →

Why China’s climate policy matters to us all

August 10, 2021

By David Brown, BBC – 9 August 2021 China’s carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China’s emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. China’s President Xi Jinping has said his country will aim for its read more →

China cancels major Tibetan cultural festival

August 8, 2021

By International Campaign for Tibet|August 6, 2021. Chinese authorities in the Tibetan capital have announced the cancellation of all activities connected to the annual “Shoton” festival, citing the risk posed by the surge in COVID-19 cases in China. Shoton, or the “Yogurt festival,” which was to begin on Aug. 8, 2021, read more →

Amid standoff with India, China conducts genetic study of altitude adaptation in Tibetans

August 8, 2021

India Today, published 7 August 2021 China has reportedly opened the world’s largest “plateau human genetic resources biological sample bank” in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for medical researchers to study “plateau diseases” and improve the country’s health support capabilities in the region. According to a report in the state-owned Global Times, read more →

Xi Jinping’s Tibet visit militarily significant

August 8, 2021

By Jayadeva Ranade, The Tribune, Published 5 August 2021 Chinese President Xi Jinping’s July 21-23 visit to Tibet — his third to the region — was important. It was the first visit to Tibet in 30 years by a leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) holding all three top read more →

China’s LAC Aggression: It is as much about Tibet and internal restructuring as it is about sending India a message

August 7, 2021

Rudroneel Ghosh, The Times of India. August 5, 2021. The 12th round of corps commander-level talks between the militaries of India and China recently concluded with a joint statement carrying the usual homilies about enhancing mutual understanding and resolving the remaining disputes along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern read more →

Tibetan Students Forced to Take Military Training During Summer Break

August 6, 2021

Reported by Sangyal Kunchok for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney. Schoolchildren in Tibet are being forced by Chinese authorities into programs of military training during summer vacation in a move aimed at weakening their ties to their own culture and further indoctrinating read more →

China’s high-speed train in Tibet carries out maiden military mission: Report

August 6, 2021

Hindustan Times, Published 4 August 2021 The newly opened Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway carried new recruits of a combined arms brigade affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Tibet Military Command to an exercise field at an elevation of 4,500 meters. China’s recently launched high-speed train connecting Tibet’s provincial capital Lhasa with read more →