Tibet Insight No. 13/14

 

                                      'TIBET INSIGHT'

DEVELOPMENT

 

Mud-slides disrupt Tibet road

July 02, 2014

A national highway in southwest TAR has been disrupted due to a mudslide on July 01, 2014.

The mudslide occurred on a section of the No.318 National Highway in Bomi county in Nyingchi prefecture, leaving over 80 vehicles and more than 200 people stranded. Triggered by rains, the mudslide also disrupted another section of the No. 318 National Highway in Chamdo prefecture.

 

Lhasa-Shigatse Railway to Operate in August

July 10, 2014

The Lhasa-Shigatse railway is scheduled to commence operations in August 2014. With a total length of 253.1 kms and 500,000 railway sleepers, the Lhasa-Shigatse railway was completed in March, 2014 after 4 years of constructions with the tunnels covering 115.7kms of land and accounting for 45.7 percent of the length of the line.

 

 POLITICAL

Several Tibetans arrested and Injured in Anti-Mining Protests

July 02, 2014

Nine Tibetans have been arrested by Chinese police in Dechen County in Tibet’s Kham region following protests against mining operations in Martak village in Yama Township on June 30. Around two hundred policemen arrived at the mining site near Gongla Mountain, which locals say has religious significance for Tibetans. Several Tibetans were also injured in the ensuing police crackdown on protesters. The Chinese have built a motor able road to the mountain that is rich in copper. Tibetans had approached the miners to stop operations but the miners refused to comply leading with a dispute between the two. Some claim that the company’s license for mining has been forged and called the mining "illegal". Tibetans cut pipes laid down for the mining operations on the mountain in retaliation.

 

The mining company has been extracting copper from the region for the past five or six years. It recently constructed a road to the mountain on learning about presence of copper ore.

Local Tibetans visited the County office to appeal for the release of the arrested Tibetans, but were cautioned by the Chinese authorities to cease opposition to mining operations in the area.

Last month, over twenty Tibetans were detained by Chinese authorities in Chabcha County in Tsolho for protesting against illegal mining in the region.

 

Taktsa Monastery's Chapel got in Fire

July 02, 2014

A massive fire broke out at the 349 years old Taktsa Gon Deden Tashi Choesang Ling in Zoege County in Sichuan Province on July 01, 2014. The exact cause and the extent of damage to property is not known yet. The fire gutted the main chapel of the monastery's deity.

Taksta Gon Geden Tashi Choesang Ling is a monastery of the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. This is the third incident of fire in a Tibetan monastery in less than a year.

 

Woeser and Wang Lixiong under House Arrest in Beijing

July 09, 2014

In her blog, Tibetan writer Tsering Woeser reported that she and her husband Wang Lixiong have once again been placed under house arrest. Their house arrest followed a telephone call on her mobile phone, purportedly from a US Embassy official, inviting them to a dinner to meet visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry. Woeser said their detention was aimed at averting a meeting between Woeser and John Kerry.

She added that she would have liked to thank John Kerry for the "International Women of Courage" award that she received last year, but was unable to accept in person due to travel restrictions. The award’s citation described Woeser as "the most prominent Mainland activist speaking out publicly about human rights conditions for China's Tibetan citizens."

 

UFWD Deputy Director inspects Nagri

July 10, 2014

Zhang Yijiong, Deputy Director of the CCP CC’s United Front Work Department (UFWD) visited Nagri (Ch:Ali) from July 7-8. He was accompanied by Wu Yingjie, Deputy Secretary of the TAR Party Committee, Deng Xiaogang Secretary of Politics and Law Committee and Deputy Secretary of TAR Party Committee and Dong Mingjun Vice-Chairman of TAR People’s Government. Zhang Yijiong visited Nagri to give guidance to the local cadres on counter-terrorism methods and stability in the region.

He also visited Purang County (Ch: Plyon) near the India-Nepal-Tibet border Trijunction and met police officers and border troops to talk about methods relating to counter-terrorism and stability. He praised the troops for tolerating the harsh weather and environmental conditions and thanked them on behalf of the Central United Front Work Department. He appealed to them to continue to make persistent efforts for the long term and overall stability of Tibet.

Zhang Yijiong visited KeJia(Chinese name) temple and interacted with monks. He told Party cadres to make friends and be friendly with the monks and mobilize patriotic and law-abiding monks and nuns so that Tibetan Buddhism could easily adapt to socialism.

Zhang Yijiong also met local United Front cadres and other Party workers of Nagri and told them to follow General Secretary Xi Jinping’s series of “important speeches”, implement the Party’s ethnic and religious policies conscientiously and, comprehensively improve ethnic and religious affairs in Tibet.

He met Central CPPCC member and TAR CPPCC Chairman Phakpa Lha Gelek Namgyal, the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama and CPPCC Standing Committee Member Gyaltsen Norbu before leaving Tibet for Beijing.

 

Vice-Chairman of TAR People’s Government’s Inspection Tour to Pulan County

July 10, 2014

Kelsang Tsering, Vice-Chairman of TAR People’s Government went on an inspection and supervision tour to Pulan County (Ch: Champlain) in the western part of Nagri (Ch:Ali) where a forum was heldon maintaining stability  in the county.

After listening to the work reports of County officials, he pointed out that Pulan County should work strictly in accordance with the policies of Regional and Central CCP Party Committees and that stability maintenance in the county should be given priority over all other activities.

Tibetans defy China’s ban to mark Dalai Lama’s birthday

July 09, 2014

Radio Free Asia reported (Washington-Jul 7) that despite severe restrictions enforcing a ban, including severance of communication lines, Tibetans in several parts of Tibet commemorated the Dalai Lama’s 79th birthday on July 6. The report said that inTsolho (Chinese: Hainan) Prefecture of Qinghai province, Tibetans put up new prayer flags, went for picnics, held horse races, and conducted incense burning ceremonies on sacred mountain sites. It quoted a local as saying that “engaging in any cheerful activity is the most viable way of covertly marking the occasion,” given China’s ban on open celebrations. Offerings were reported to have been placed discreetly before images of the Dalai Lama.

In the Tibetan areas of Sichuan province, China had tightened restrictions by issuing a ban on public gatherings of more than three families, deploying security forces in market areas, blocking access to the popular on-line social network site WeChat, and even disrupting telephone lines. Nevertheless, Tibetans in Tawu (Daofu) County marked the occasion by discreetly placing offerings before an image of the Dalai Lama, to pay their obeisance.

 

Tibetans assaulted by Chinese police at a checkpoint

July 10, 2014

About a dozen Tibetans were seriously injured when they clashed with Chinese security forces as they tried to defend a Tibetan truck driver being questioned at a checkpoint. The driver, who was transporting building materials to a local monastery, was stopped on Monday at a checkpoint outside Benyul village in Dzoege County. When police asked him to show his permit allowing him to carry the materials, the two heads of Benyul village and other villagers went to his assistance and vouched that he had authority work. More police arrived on the scene and attacked the Tibetans who were present. Several were injured and one had to be taken to Chengdu for serious medical attention.

The Benyul village chiefs were also seriously injured with the elder of the two, who is 65-years old, sent to the Dzoege county hospital.

 

Nepal Retracts Permission for Shamarpa's Cremation

July 12, 2014

The Nepalese government withdrew its ‘no objection letter’ issued earlier allowing Shamarpa Rinpoche’s body to be brought into Nepal from India for performance of the final rites. It claimed that the Nepalese Embassy in Delhi had issued the letter without any consultation, thinking that the Rinpoche was a religious leader who ran a monastery in Nepal.

Acting Nepali Ambassador to India, Krishna Prasad Dhakal, said the last rites of a foreign national who died outside the country cannot be performed in Nepal. He, however, remained tight-lipped when asked why the embassy earlier issued a ‘no objection letter’ to allow the Rinpoche’s body into Nepal.

Separately, a Nepal Home Ministry source said the ‘no objection letter’ had been withdrawn under pressure from the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu. The Home Ministry wasrequested not to issue a permit upon learning that a representative of the Dalai Lama from Dharmashala was scheduled to accompany the body to Kathmandu and that the Tibetan community was preparing for a rally in the Bouddha area, according to the source.

The Rinpoche was the 14th Shamarpa who was born in Derge, Tibet, in 1952. He ran theSharMinub Monastery in Nagarjuna, Kathmandu and possessed a Bhutanese passport.The 62-yearold Shamar Rinpoche died of a heart attack in Germany on June 11.

 

Shigatse to be called a City instead of Prefecture

July 14, 2014

China’s online Tibet news service reported on July 12, that the Shigatse Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) will now be known as Shigatse City, becoming the second Prefecture-level city in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) after the capital Lhasa. The report said the decision was approved by China’s State Council recently.

Tenzin Namgyal, Party Secretary of Shigaste and Vice Director of the Standing Committee of TAR People’s Congress, has said that an official ceremony would be held between August and September “to mark the new historical opportunity of Shigatse’s development.”

The new City will have the same administrative area as the former Shigatse Prefecture, with the county-level Shigatse city becoming a district and the designation of the other 17 counties remaining unchanged.

It added that Shigatse had the biggest population, longest borderline, and the most intensive agriculture in the TAR. The announcement coincided with China’s recent disclosure that the Lhasa-Shigatse railway line, completed in March, will open for passenger and cargo services in Aug 2014.

 

Chamdo Prefecture held inauguration Ceremony of Chamber of Commerce

July 14, 2014

Chamdo Prefecture’s Chamber of Commerce inaugurated and unveiled its first session on July 12. Leaders who attended the inaugural ceremony were the Vice- President of the Chamber of Commerce Lin Chunfu, Chairman of the Chamdo Prefecture’s CPPCC Rinchen

Yangdon, Deputy Commissioner of the Administrative Office of Chamdo Prefecture and Chamdo Party Secretary Wang Wei, Chairman of the Chamdo Regional Federation Yeshe Tsering and representatives of the County’s cadres and Business Associations.  More than 50 people participated in the ceremony.

Chamdo Party Secretary Wang Wei and Vice-Chairman of Chamdo Prefecture and Head of the Chamber of Commerce Jinyuan, cut the ribbons for the ceremony. The first session of the Chamdo Prefecture’s Chamber of Commerce was held immediately after the ceremony and the names of the newly elected Executed Committee and its Standing Committee were read out. The newly elected Chamber of Commerce President Mei LAN delivered the meeting’s inaugural speech.

The meeting concluded with discussions on how Chamdo Prefecture should rally more closely around the CCP CC under General Secretary and President Xi Jinping, hold high the banner of ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’, follow Deng Xiaoping’s theories of economic development, implement the Party’s ‘mass line campaign’, and maintain stability in Chamdo.

Meeting on allocation of subsidies to build Low Cost Houses

July 8, 2014

A meeting was convened under the auspices of the Nagchu (Ch:Naqqu) People’s Government to discuss the rents for low cost houses allotted to tenants  in the county and government subsidies. The meeting was attended by, among other local officials, the Deputy Magistrate and Deputy Secretary of Nagchu Prefecture, Yuting Jiang and the Chairman of Nagchu People’s Government, Jampa.

Speaking at the meeting, Yuting Jiang said that subsidies paid to households helped maintain security in the county. He congratulated the government on its success in completing 202 low cost houses in low income urban households. He stressed that low rent housing should be built with urban architectural features and also maintain a housing security system. He added that solving urban low-income housing difficulties will help promote social harmony and stability.

Deputy Secretary of Nagchu Prefecture and Chairman of the Nagchu People’s Government, Jampa, read out the “Nagchu County low-rent house allocation scheme for 2014."

Award ceremony held for Patriotic and law-abiding Monks, Nuns and Temples in Lhoka

June 2014

Nedong (Ch: Naidong) County in Lhoka Prefecture (Ch:Shannan)  held  its first award ceremony for patriotic and law-abiding monks, nuns and temples who worked  in accordance with "the CCP’s and  TAR’s United Front Work Department and Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission for the development of a harmonious model temple-cum-patriotic and law-abiding monks and nuns” .

The ceremony awarded eight harmonious model temples, out of which six were for patriotic and law-abiding monks and nuns and two awards to the Temple Management Committees. Another ten awards were conferred on outstanding cadres of Temple Management Committees, and three to religious workers for their outstanding conduct. Winners were given Yuan 147,500 (RMB) as bonus.

The Lhoka People’s Government stated at the ceremony that it conscientiously implements the CCP’s ethnic and religious policies and will continue to strengthen and innovate temple management activities. Officials further stated that the county will maximize the enthusiasm of monks and nuns. The Nedong County People’s Government has invested 92 million Yuan for temple management and renovation.

 







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