The Secret Tibet (The Forbidden world)

(The Tibet Post International 8 December 2008) “Freedom of religious belief is one of the basic rights endowed…by the Chinese Constitution,” claims Tibetologist Liu Hongji, deputy director of the Institute of Contemporary Studies of the China Tibetology Research Center. Hongji recently published his article “A breach of constitution under pretext of religion” as a criticism of the Tibetan government in exile’s Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People.

The Tibetan Delegation, led by His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Senior Special Envoy Lodi Gyari, presented the memorandum to the Chinese delegation in Beijing in November as part of the eighth round of talks between the two delegations since 2002.  The memorandum states, “The essence of the Middle Way Approach is to secure genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people within the scope of the Constitution of the PRC (People’s Republic of China).” But according to Hongji, what the delegation, often referred to by Chinese officials as the “Dalai Clique,” was demanding was “not bound by law.”

“To believe in a religion or not is a personal issue and a free choice, but religious activities, which might affect other people, must be bound by law,” he wrote.

In the memorandum, freedom of religion was cited as one of eleven “basic needs” of Tibetans, which included religion, education, and preservation of culture and language. “To a very considerable extent Tibetan needs can be met within the constitutional principles on autonomy, as we understand them,” the memorandum says.
Hongji maintains that these needs are being met. “Religious groups co-exist harmoniously and their religious activities are held orderly in Tibet. Without genuine freedom of religious belief, this would be impossible,” he says.

The exile Central Tibetan Administration’s Department of Information and International Relations Secretary Thubten Samphel disagrees that Tibetans are being given the full freedom of religious belief to which they have full rights. “In fact,” he said, “this right to believe is trampled on daily. When Tibetans uprose across Tibet [in March], one constant thread in their demand is that they want religious freedom,” he said.  Preceding the Beijing Olympic Games earlier this year, riots broke out on 14 March in the Tibetan capitol city of Lhasa and quickly spread across the Tibetan region. What began with peaceful demonstrations resulted in over 200 deaths and thousands imprisoned.

“What’s happening in Tibet is that these religious activities do no breach the laws enshrined in the Chinese constitution,” said Samphel. “To the Chinese authorities, religion is perceived as a political tool.”

Religion is not the only political tool utilized by the Chinese Communist Party: education plays a key role. According to Hongji, education is “the foundation for social development” in the PRC. In the Chinese constitution, the Law on Compulsory Education mandates a mandatory education “implemented uniformly by the state” for all citizens of the appropriated age.

“The Dalai side’s claim…violated the Law on Compulsory Education and will not help improve social development,” Hongji wrote.

In its outline of a genuine autonomy, the Tibetan memorandum requires the freedom “to develop and administer their own education system in cooperation and in coordination with the central government’s ministry of education.”

“In a free autonomous arrangement, what is taught will be left in the hands of the educators where knowledge is not restricted or infringed upon,” said Samphel. “Education would not be used as a tool to either brainwash students or to hide one region’s or one country’s true historical development.”

Hongji, an ethnic Han, graduated from Department of Ethnic Minorities Languages & Literature of The Central University for Nationalities in 1978 where he studied Tibetan language.

The full text of the memorandum can be found at www.tibet.net.

Full text of article:

A breach of constitution under pretext of religion
by Liu Hongji

In the "Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People",the Dalai side, by claiming that "the Tibetan government in exile represents the interests of the Tibetan people and speaks on theirbehalf", listed several "basic needs" (including religion) of "genuine autonomy", which was quite misleading.

The Memorandum said that "We recognise the importance of separation of church and state, but this should not affect the freedom and practice ofbelievers." It also says that "An interpretation of the constitutional principle in light of international standard would also cover the freedom of the manner of belief or worship. The freedom covers the right of monasteries to be organized and run according to Buddhist monastic tradition, to engage in teachings and studies, and to enroll any number of monks and nuns or age group in accordance with these rules. The normal practice to hold public teachings and the empowerment of large gatherings is covered by this freedom and the state should not interfere in religious practices and traditions, such as the relationship between a teacher and his disciple, management of monastic institutions, and the recognition of reincarnations."

As a matter of fact, freedom of religious belief is one of the basic rights endowed to the Chinese citizens by the Chinese Constitution. Article 36 of the Constitution says "Citizens of thePeople's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief. No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizensto believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in,any religion. The state protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state. Religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination." In addition tothe Constitution, other Chinese laws, including the Criminal Law, the Civil Code, the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy, the Military Service Law, the Law on Compulsory Education, the Law on education,the Electoral Law for the National People's Congress and the LocalPeople's Congresses, the Organic Law of Village Committees, the Labor Law and the Law on Advertising all stipulate that citizens' freedom of religious belief are protected and public organizationsand individuals should not discriminate against citizens who believe in or do not believe in any religion. But one thing shouldbe clarified, freedom of religious belief does not mean religious activities are also free from government regulation or legal obligations. To believe in a religion or not is a personal issue and a free choice, but religious activities, which might affect other people, must be bound by law.

To protect citizens' freedom of religious belief, maintain social harmony and regulate religious affairs, the State Council issued a Regulations on Religious Affairs in 2004. Article 2 of the Regulation says that no organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in or not to believe in any religion. Nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in any religion or citizens who do not believe in any religion. Religious citizens and non-religious citizens shall respect each other and co-exist in harmony, and so shall citizens who believe in different religions.

The provisions concerning protection of citizens' freedom of religious belief in the Constitution and laws have been seriously implemented in Tibet. Tibet now has more than 1,780 religious sites, about 46,000 monks and nuns, four mosques and one catholic church. Religious groups co-exist harmoniously and their religiousactivities are held orderly in Tibet. Without genuine freedom of religious belief, this would be impossible.

What the Dalai side asked for was absolute religious freedom which was not bound by law. They asked to manage monasteries and enroll monks and nuns according to "religious tradition" and "religious rules", which, in fact, meant that they wanted to resume the old "religion first" regime led by the Dalai before Tibet's democratic reform. By then, Tibet had 2,676 monasteries and 120,000 monks and nuns, accounting for one tenth of Tibet's total population. Monasteries, which owned more than one third of the means of production in Tibet, sustained the Tibetan feudal serfdom as one of the three major estate-holders. The other two were local bureaucrats and nobles. The old regime didn't benefit Tibet. Instead, it impeded Tibet's social development. According to the Tibetan Annals written in the Qing Dynasty, Tibet had a total population of 1.3 million in 1737. During the following 200 years, Tibet's population didn't increase. Instead, it declined toone million in 1951. Its economic situation was even worse. In 1951, Tibet was still a feudal serfdom society with no modern industries and education. What the situation would be if the old system was restored in Tibet in which one tenth of the population was monks and nuns? By 2007, Tibet has recorded 2,83 million population. If 280,000 people were monks or nuns and did not work,the pressure on laymen to support them would be crippling.

Education is the foundation for social development. Article 2 of the Law on Compulsory Education says that "The compulsory education is the education which is implemented uniformly by the state and shall be received by all school-age children and adolescents. It is a public welfare cause that shall be guaranteedby the state." Article 4 says that "All children and adolescents who have the nationality of the People's Republic of China and have reached the school age shall have equal right and have the obligation to receive compulsory education, regardless of the gender, nationality, race, status of family property, religion, belief, etc." And Article 5 stipulates that "The people's governments at all levels and their relevant departments shall perform all functions as described by this Law and shall ensure the right to compulsory education of all school-age children and adolescents.The parents or other statutory guardians of school-agechildren and adolescents shall ensure that school-age children andadolescents go to school to receive and complete the compulsory education." The Dalai side's claim of enrolling any number of monks and nuns or age group in accordance with Buddhist monastic tradition violated the Law on Compulsory Education and will not help improve social development.

Currently, religious followers in China enjoy full freedom of religious belief. Almost all Tibetan Buddhists have scripture halls or Buddha statue niches at home, and they can invite monks to hold scripture recitation and religious ceremonies at home. Lhasa receives more than one million Buddhist followers annually, and the Jokhang Monastery is full of believers worshipping or rolling their prayer wheels. By denying the fact that the Tibetan people enjoy freedom of religious belief and asking for an amendment to the Constitution with so-called 'international standard', the Dalai side is attempting to restore theocracy in Tibet.

(The Tibet Post International 7 December 2008)- As long time planed, finally the French President Nicolas Sarkozy met His Holiness the Dalai Lama Saturday at a gathering of Nobel Peace Prize laureates in the Polish city of Gdansk, shrugging off Chinese anger, an Elysee spokesman said.

"One must approach this calmly," Sarkozy said minutes prior to the meeting. "The world needs an open China that participates in global governance. China needs a powerful Europe that gives work to Chinese enterprise."

French president, Nicolas Sarkozy is the first European head of state to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama while holding the European Union's rotating presidency.

"I never hesitated. Every time I spoke about the subject I said I would meet the Dalai Lama before the end of 2008," Sarkozy said.

The French leader's decision to engage with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader has so far seen Beijing retaliate by scrapping a China-EU summit in France and warning bilateral China-France trade deals could suffer.

At an important side, His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the most respected world leader among Western Europeans and Americans, a poll being made public on Friday shows, while Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany does the best job of combining respect with worldwide influence.

Those were among the first findings of a new survey, “World Leaders,” to be conducted every two months by Harris Interactive for the International Herald Tribune and the all-news channel, France 24.

In the six countries surveyed, the results differed sharply depending on whether the respondents were in Britain and the United States, on the one hand, or in France, Germany, Italy and Spain, on the other.

For example, the percentage who hold a “very good” or “somewhat good” opinion of Merkel ranged from 59% to 73% in Continental Europe, while it was around 30% in the US and Britain.

On the question of influence, the percentage in Continental Europe rating Merkel as having “some” or “a great deal” ranged from 66% to 77% while just one in three Britons and Americans said the same.

There was no disagreement on which leader is the most powerful: President George W. Bush. Nor was there much of a divide on his respect: he was consistently ranked near the bottom. The same was true of Vladimir Putin, the prime minister of Russia.

Two of the other leaders ranked at the top of the power list, however, were also among the most respected: Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, though both got higher rankings on the Continent than elsewhere.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, was ranked the most respected leader, generally by a wide margin in every country, though in the United States he was edged out by former Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain. The other world leader ranked near the top in popularity was Pope Benedict XVI.

Respondents were asked to give their overall opinion of 19 world leaders, ranging from Ban Ki Moon, secretary general of the UN, to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, as well as their view of each leader’s global influence and while Bush’s ranking on the respect scale was low, it was not at the bottom: that spot belongs to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.

(The Tibet Post International 13 November 2008)-His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile, through its constitution, are committed to achieving a democratic form of government.  Democracy is heralded by three important hallmarks:  representation of the people, freedom of speech, and transparency of decision-making.

(The Tibet Post International 10 October 2008)-The whereabouts of Tibetan HIV/AIDS activist, Wangdue (one name only), remains unknown to his family members since he was arbitrarily detained by the Lhasa City Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials from his home on 14 March 2008 in Lhasa, according to confirmed information received by the TCHRD.

Wangdue, now in his early 40s was born in Taktse County (Ch: Daxi/Dagze Xian), Lhasa Municipality, "Tibet Autonomous Region" ("TAR"). He is a former political prisoner initially arrested for his involvement in the March 1989 protest in Lhasa and was later sentenced to three years to "Re-education through Labour" in Sangyip Prison, otherwise known as "TAR" PSB Detention Centre. His prison sentence was further increased by four years by the Lhasa City Intermediate People's Court for his involvement in a protest in Sangyip, and he was later transferred to the notorious Drapchi Prison in Lhasa where he completed his remaining prison term. Following his release in 1995, Wangdue studied English language besides working in Lhasa.

Wangdue later came in contact with a foreign NGO working on an HIV/AIDS awareness program in Lhasa City and worked to create HIV/AIDS awareness in various brothels around Lhasa city, in schools in neighboring counties and towns, and organized talk series in various nightclubs mushrooming in the holy city. The NGO also published and printed numerous education booklets, posters and pamphlets on HIV/AIDS awareness in Tibetan and Chinese language for free distribution to educate the general public on the deadly disease which is gradually gaining ground in Tibet. Due to their success, numerous schools, government offices including the "TAR" Police Academy invited the NGO to give lecture on the HIV/AIDS awareness to their students, staffs and recruits.

Like the Chinese democracy, environmental and AIDS activist, Hu Jia, who has been nominated by the Nobel Committee for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Wangdue has been spearheading a noble community service project in educating the masses about the HIV/AIDS in Tibet. Wangdue who has disappeared since his arbitrary detention on 14 March, deserves a similar respect and adulation from the international community for his selfless community service and the international community, should therefore, urgently press for his early release so that he can continue with his noble mission of creating awareness on HIV/AIDS, an epidemic which is gradually spreading at an alarming rate in the Tibetan holy city of Lhasa and other neighboring towns and cities.

TCHRD expresses its deepest concern over the safety of Wangdue and urgently calls upon the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to ascertain his whereabouts and physical conditions. The Centre appeals to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance (UNWGEID) to urgently issue intervention to locate him and his current status.

(The Tibet Post International 11 October 2008)-Dharamshala: His Holiness the Dalai Lama has extended his message to the representatives of Tibetan communities across Europe, who are holding the first Europe Tibetan Congress in Basel, Switzerland, from 11 – 12 October.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama could not attend the inauguration ceremony of the congress, since His Holiness had to cancel his visit to Switzerland due to slight indisposition.

In his message issued on 3 October, His Holiness said: “I am pleased to know that a congress of Tibetans is being held in Basel, Switzerland, to which representatives of Tibetan communities across Europe have been invited.”

His Holiness said: “Tibetans in Europe, of whom the largest number have been settled in Switzerland since the early 1960s, have been well integrated in their adopted countries. They have also worked hard to preserve their identity and our Tibetan culture, which, deeply influenced by Buddhism, embodies knowledge
and values that I believe have the potential to be of
benefit to humanity in general.”

“The fact that new generations of Tibetans, who have been born and brought up in foreign lands, are able to follow their elders in upholding our cultural heritage in exile and creating a greater awareness of the Tibetan issue amongst the international public is a source of pride. Therefore, I offer my greetings to all of you on this occasion and encourage you to redouble your efforts in these activities,” His Holiness said.

His Holiness said: “The Kalon Tripa, Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, who is Chairman of the elected Tibetan political leadership in exile will be attending this congress. I have no doubt that he will give a thorough explanation of the issues that are of greatest concern to us today.”

The two-day congress will begin with a long life prayer for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, followed by a keynote address by Kalon Tripa, Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche.

Around 127 delegates from over 15 countries will attend the congress.

During the course of the meeting, the delegates will focus on discussing responsibilities and challenges for Tibetans living in Europe on how to preserve and promote Tibet’s unique culture, religion, language and identity.

They will also deliberate to find ways to improve the Tibetan people’s social, culture and human rights situation in Tibet.

Please visit more news and issues about Tibet and Tibetans: www.potalapost.com or www.pressoftibet.com

{The Tibet Post International 17 September 2008}-Ven. Serta Tsultrim Woeser, a Tibetan monk from Drepung Monastery, South India told The Tibet Post International that, Chinese authorities arrested Mr. Washu Rangjong, a Tibetan journalist in Serta district of eastern Tibet on 11th September 2008, around 23:00 Beijing hours.

The arrest happened after a joint team of People's Armed Police Force (PAP) from Karze Tibetan prefecture and Sichuan province came to Serta district, the PAP team had secretly taken him from his home without giving any reason for the arrest to his family.

Before his arrest, he was a Serta district news television presenter in Tibetan language, a Tibetan writer as well as a Tibetan singer. His family went to the district police office and asked why he has been arrested, but the Chinese authorities had no comment, Ven. Woeser said.

Mr. Washu Ranjong was born in 1983 in Serta District of eastern Tibet, he graduated from people's primary, middle and high school in the district and Karze Tibetan prefecture, completed his one year teacher training course from Dhardho Teacher Training college in Dhartsedho county, Sichuan province. He taught a Tibetan language course at Nyetoe Village School of Serta district for one year before joining the local television news agency. He has worked as a news presenter at Serta district news television for more than 4 years.

Mr. Washu Ranjong is also a Tibetan writer and singer, and has published two books, which detail Tibetan history, culture, literature and arts etc. He also released his first Tibetan song album. He is a father of two children.

[Saturday, March 10, 2007 18:17]
By Tenzin Dickyi
New Delhi

31 Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) activists stormed the Chinese Embassy t New Delhi today to protest China’s continued illegal occupation of Tibet. 26 of them were from RTYC Dharsamsala, 2 from RTYC Mussoorie and 3 from RTYC New Delhi. Among which only one of them was a lady who without any fear and concern walked down to squall the Chinese Embassy.

At around 11am a sudden scream by TYC members on the premises of the Chinese Embassy, shouting anti-China slogans and demanding complete independence of Tibet let to the detention of all of them by the Indian police. They were captured and throwed into a police bus and have been taken into custody at the nearest Police Stations.
As they chanted slogans like ‘Long Live His Holiness the Dalai Lama’ and ‘Free Tibet’, hoard of media personnel from the leading press agencies and media channels were present there to capture these scene. These activists were voicing the thoughts of Tibetans who are denied of freedom of expression back in Tibet and thus making the aspirations for a Free Tibet known to the whole world on behalf of them.

According to a reliable source, Jigme Kocha, one of the activists from Dharamsala fainted while he was taken to the police station in the bus though he is currenttly under proper medication at Ram Manohar Lohiya hospital.
TYC's Information Secretary Mr. Dhondup Dorjee said that they are submitting memorandums to the Indian Prime Minister, UNO Secretary General and the Chinese President. He said that their basic demand this time is the release of those 14 innocent Tibetans who went missing after the incident that happened on the fourth day of the Tibetan New Year (21st February), in front of Jokhang Temple in Tibet, since it has been reported by reliable sources that the Chinese authorities are doing their best to put this incident under the carpet.