Tibetan Headlines
Apr 25: Film Festival Moves Online
Dharamshala International Film Festival have made a selection of movies available to view online during the COVID-19 lockdown in an effort to “keep our spirits afloat by turning once again to cinema to inspire and encourage us”. The collection is reportedly going to be updated every two weeks with the current selection of free to view films available at https://diff.co.in/viewing-room/ until April 27.
Apr 24: More Tibetan Air Routes
Tibet Airlines has announced plans to add 18 new air routes in an effort to promote tourism within Chinese administered Tibet. Local authorities report that 2019 saw a 19% increase in the number of visitors to Tibet. Now with 66 air routes open between Lhasa and Chinese cities, including Kunming, Changsha and Shijiazhuang, 2020 may see another increase on the 40 million tourists from last year.
Apr 24: CTA Doubts COVID-19 Figures
President of the exiled Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has highlighted doubts over Chinese COVID-19 reporting for Tibet. Dr Lobsang Sangay described figures released by China which showed 866 COVID-19 cases in Tibetan areas, 106 cases amongst Tibetans but not a single death as “unlikely”. Dr Sangay sent a message to those in Tibet, “speaking for all Tibetans outside Tibet, our thoughts are with you”.
Apr 24: British Mayor’s Message for Tibet
The mayor of the British town of Milton Keyenes has apologised for being unable to raise the Tibetan flag due to COVID-19 restrictions. Mayor Sam Crooks reassured that “showing solidarity with the people of Tibet” remains important to the town and he hopes to be involved in the flag raising ceremony at the town’s Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Temple in future years.
Apr 24: CCP Portraits Forced on Tibetans
Tibetan households are reportedly being forced to display portraits of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders. Previously displaying portraits was a condition of receiving support under a “poverty alleviation programme” but the measure is reportedly being expanded. Images obtained by Tibet Watch show portraits of CCP leader Xi Jinping being distributed in Dzoge County in eastern Tibet. Meanwhile reports indicate authorities are inspecting homes to ensure the pictures are displayed.
Apr 24: Religious Discrimination in Himachal Pradesh
There have been reports of inter-communal conflict in Himachal Pradesh (HP), India. In Bilaspur district migrant labourers from Jammu and Kashmir were assaulted by locals in what police have described as “a case of religious intolerance”. Meanwhile in Dharamshala a Christian couple were confronted by a group of residents asked to say “Jai Shri Ram”. HP police chief SR Mardi has described such incidents as “very wrong”.
Apr 24: Tibetans Against Teaching in Chinese
Tibetans in China’s western Sichuan province are appealing against plans to drop Tibetan from schools as it will have an “adverse impact on relationships between parents and their children and goes against regional ethnic laws”. A group of Tibetan nomads from the Ngaba area have petitioned the National People’s Congress in an effort to reverse a government plan to switch school tuition to Mandarin.
Apr 24: Tibetan Appeals Against Imprisonment
Tibetan nomad A-Nya Sengdra is due to appeal a seven-year prison sentence given to him “on charges of ‘gathering people to disturb public order’ and ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’”. A-Nya is reported to have campaigned against government corruption and environmental damage caused by illegal mining. Advocacy group Free Tibet have called for China to grant “a free and fair second trial” when the appeal is heard on April 27.
Apr 23: Fines for Spitting in Dharamshala
Anyone spitting in public will face a 5,000 rupees [$65 /£53] fine according to Dharamshala Commissioner Pradeep Thakur. Thakur added that every possible step is being taken to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh, India and the fine had been introduced “as spitting in open areas may lead to spread of the disease”. Selling products which encourage spitting, such as paan (betal leaf) and gum, has also been banned.
Apr 23: Chinese Government Hackers
Following 2019 reports that compromised websites were being used to indiscriminately hack smartphones, additional evidence has emerged that Tibetans and Chinese Uighurs have been specifically targeted. The “Evil Eye” hacking group reportedly used a vulnerability with iOS software to automatically infect devices which visited specific websites. Given the nature of the websites targeted experts suggest “that the hackers were likely carrying out domestic surveillance on behalf of the Chinese government”.
Apr 23: HH Dalai Lama Encourages Unity
His Holiness (HH) the Dalai Lama has used Earth Day to remind that “the current global pandemic threatens us all, without distinctions of race, culture or gender, and our response must be as one humanity”. HH added that, “Our mother earth is teaching us a lesson in universal responsibility… In the face of the global problems we are going through it is important that we must all work together”.
Apr 23: Chinese Crackdown in Tibet
Reports are emerging that China has used “the coronavirus pandemic to deepen its advance into the private and devotional lives of Tibetans”. There is evidence of monasteries in Markham, Larung Gar and Yachen Gar being demolished, whist monks and nuns were threatened and forcibly removed. Measures introduced to combat the virus, such as movement and contact tracing, have remained active, whilst “the lockdown and heavy-handed propaganda has intensified”.
Apr 22: Taiwan Government Tibet Discussion
The Tibetan government in exile’s Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) has tabled discussions on Tibet with Taiwan’s government and the Taiwanese Parliament. Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, the DIIR office in Taiwan is preparing reports on the human rights situation in Tibet as well as appealing for the release of the Panchen Lama and his family.
Apr 22: Danish Police Protected China
A Danish investigation into police handling of pro-Tibet and China critical protests has found that illegal orders were given by police “due to a sentiment that had been created by the [Danish] Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Police Intelligence Service”. During a 2012 visit by Chinese president Hu Jintao to Copenhagen, police cleared “FREE TIEBT” slogans and Tibetan flags from view of the president as well as removing protestors.
Apr 20: UN Chinese Language Day
Since 2011 the United Nations (UN) has celebrated April 20 as Chinese Language Day in an effort “to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organisation”. Multilingualism is also of concern to the UN within China with several UN bodies expressing “concern over the rights of Tibetans to education in their own language and culture” in the country.