Posted by: Bhuchung Tsering on: February 1, 2009
It is 21 days to go before Losar. This year it falls on February 25 in the Gregorian calendar. As I write this, there is an ongoing movement within the Tibetan community about observing this year’s Losar differently as a mark of mourning and in rememberence of the very many people affected by the Chinese onslaught on Tibetans last year. Irrespective of where one stands on the debate, I can feel the social movement gaining ground in mobilizing the attention and energy of Tibetans throughout the world.
Posted by: Bhuchung Tsering on: January 27, 2009
I was reminded of China’s new propaganda strategy on Tibet when I read the following recently in the course of my internet browsing. “The best propaganda is that which the target audience does not recognize as overtly propagandistic in nature.” The latest example of this is today’s news about President Jimmy Carter’s forward to a book on Tibet by “three Sino-US experts.” Given President Carter’s experience with China and his knowledge of Tibet (he has met the Dalai Lama and discussed Tibet with him) I cannot imagine him supporting Chinese policies in Tibet. May be if we read the full forward we may be able to understand him better, but the point at hand is the way his involvement is being projected by the Chinese media tasked to spread their version on Tibet (I reproduce their posting below). This is subtle propaganda at work with the impression that President Carter is somehow on their side of the fence, if you will.
Posted by: Bhuchung Tsering on: January 16, 2009
The Asia Soceity in New York City is having a day-long conference today (January 16) on “Meltdown: The Impact of Climate Change on the Tibetan Plateau.” This is but the latest indication about the significance of the environment in Tibet to the region and the world. The conference features “IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri, distinguished glaciologists Lonnie Thompson and Yao Tandong, environmental experts from China, the UK, the US, Australia and the Tibetan Autonomous Region, as well as mountaineer and filmmaker David Breashears.” It seems there are some Tibetan speakers, too.
Posted by: Bhuchung Tsering on: January 14, 2009
On January 12, 2009, the Tibet Autonomous Region officials began their annual session of the TAR People’s Political Consultative Conference in Lhasa. Different officials have started reporting on how they have worked to improve the lives of the Tibetan people. Interestingly, this time they are highlighting, among others, the fact that some of the speakers are speaking in Tibetan during sessions as an important achievement.
Posted by: Bhuchung Tsering on: January 12, 2009
It is clear that the Chinese authorities are increasing their use of Tibetan personalities and institutions to justify and defend their misguided policies on Tibet. The following is the text of remarks that I made on May 15, 1999 at the “Exposing Communist Chinese Government Influence in America” Conference in Orlando, Florida. Those were the days when there was somethign called Splendid China, a theme park connected to the Chinese Government that was used as a vehicle for Chinese publicity.The park, which opened in 1993 eventually had to close its doors in 2003.
Posted by: Bhuchung Tsering on: January 8, 2009
Intellectual property rights is comparatively new to the Tibetan society. With the increasing exposure to the outside world there is greater awareness about the issue then it was in 1999 when I wrote the following article.
Posted by: Bhuchung Tsering on: January 6, 2009
While I do not like the end result, I tend to like the development of yaks becoming a part of the American bovine family, much in the way the small Tibetan American human community is trying to be part of the broader Americansociety.
Posted by: Bhuchung Tsering on: January 5, 2009
One of the significant development in the Tibetan world in 2008 was the status of the Sino-Tibetan dialogue process. There was history being made in many ways in that field. This was the year when Tibetan and Chinese representatives met the most number of times since contact was re-established in 2002. Also, the situation under which the meetings were held was challenging, to put it kindly. Above all, the outcome of the latest round that was held in November 2008 has led to a stagnation, if you will, of the process.
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