The Tibet Post International Online Newspaper

Central Tibetan Administration Mourns Demise of Sonam Choedon

Tibetan youth jumps from bridge into Ganga river for a free Tibet

I n t e r n a t i o n a l

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A Message For The Voiceless

Vol. 02, Issue 63, 15 April 2012

Nobel Laureates Petition President Hu

B o d - K y i - Cha- Trin

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Kalon Tripa Meets Japanese Leaders, Receives Support on Tibet Issue By: Tibetan Official Media: Tibet Ne

world-nobel-laureates-tibet By: Tibetan Official Media: Tibet Net

Dharamshala: - A group of 12 Nobel Peace Laureates - including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, and President Jose Ramos Horta - today sent a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao urging him to "respect the dignity of the Tibetan people" and open "meaningful dialogue" with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan leaders. The letter is in response to the recent spate of self-immolations of Tibetans protesting the repression of the Tibetan people.

Full text of letter: President Hu Jintao, The People's Republic of China Bejiing, China Dear Mr. President: The people of Tibet wish to be heard. They have long sought See Page 5 ...

Tibetans in Europe Exercise their Freedom

Tibetans from all over Europe have gathered in Switzerland to take part in the Second European Tibetan Youth Parliament, in Zuerich, Swiss, April 6, 2012. Photo: TPI By: James Dunn, The Tibet Post

London: Tibetans from all over Europe have gathered in Switzerland to take part in the Second European Tibetan Youth Parliament. They aim to address the pressing issues effecting not only Tibetans in Europe but all Tibetans.

The opening ceremony took place yesterday, Friday, followed by the keynote address by Members of Tibetan Parliament in Exile, Ven. Thubten Wangchen and Chungdak Koren.

The Tibetan Youth Association in Europe (TYAE) was founded in 1970. In the last four decades, the TYAE has become one of the most active and well-known Tibetan organisation in Europe.

TYAE has a long tradition of providing a platform for active See Page 2 ...

Tokyo: - Kalon Tripa or the political leader of the Central Tibetan Administratioon, Dr Lobsang Sangay met two former Japanese prime ministers and Tokyo Governor during the second day of his five-day visit to Japan.

During his meeting with Shinzo Abe and Taro Aso, two former ministers, and Tokyo mayor Shintaro Ishihara, Kalon Tripa apprised them about the critical situation in Tibet in view of the tragic self-immolations of Tibetans due to the repressive policies of the Chinese government. He appealed to the Japanese leaders to lend their continued support towards resolving the issue of Tibet.

The Japanese leaders expressed their deep concern over the tense situation in Tibet, and said they stand by the Tibetan people.

Responsibility and solution to end self-Immolations lie with China Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay on the same day told reporters in Tokyo that the tragic self-immolations of Tibetans will end once the Chinese government stops its repressive policies in Tibet.

"The responsibility for the tragic self-immolations of Tibetans lies solely with the Chinese government and so does the solution," Kalon Tripa Dr Sangay said at a press conference in Tokyo in response to a question on whether the self-immolations in Tibet could be stopped.

Dr Sangay said: "Tibetans inside Tibet do not have any space and opportunity to express their aspirations and grievances.

Even peaceful demonstrations by Tibetans are not allowed."

"Even if the Tibetans held peaceful protests they are bound to suffer harsh consequences at the Chinese authorities' hands.

Eight Tibetans were shot dead by security forces for taking part in a peaceful protest earlier this year. Under such desperate circumstances, Tibetans are forced to take drastic actions like setting themselves on fire," Kalon Tripa said.

"Hence, the responsibility lies solely with the Chinese government, so does the solution," he added.

"We have repeatedly appealed to the Tibetans inside Tibet not to take drastic actions. Unfortunately, they might not have received our appeals due to blockade of phones and other communication lines by the Chinese government," Kalon Tripa said.

Kalon Tripa briefed the journalists on the evolution of democracy in the exile Tibetan community, the democratic election of Kalon Tripa, and the complete devolution of His Holiness the Dalai

Lama's political authority to Kalon Tripa, the democraticallyelected head of the Tibetan people. He also spoke in detail on the critical situation prevailing inside Tibet.

Kalon Tripa also answered questions on the status of the dialogue process between the Chinese government and envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and why he chose Japan for his first visit in Asia.

The press conference was organised the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, which also hosted a luncheon reception in honour of Kalon Tripa's visit.

Earlier in the morning, Kalon Tripa had a dialogue with noted journalist Ms Yoshiko Sakurai on the situation in Tibet, for the Chichi magazine.

China Sentences Eleven Tibetans for Protests In Eastern Tibet

Tibetan Refugees’ Problems Will Be Solved

US Department of State Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy R. Sherman (left) and US Ambassador to Nepal Scott H. DeLisi during a press meet in the Capital on Thursday. Photo: AP By: YC. Dhardhowa, The Tibet Post

Dharamshala: - To solve the long-term problems being faced and currently facing by Tibetan refugees in Nepal, the United States has urged Nepal government to ensure that Tibetans refugees taking shelter in the Himalayan nation are dealt as per the international refugee laws, according to media reports.

Visiting US Department of State Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Wendy R Sherman, on Thursday, April 5 asked Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai to provide necessary documents to Tibetan refugees to help them lead a "life of dignity and purpose" and provide ‘safe passage' to those who want to go to India and elsewhere as per the ‘gentleman agreement' reached in the past.

Every year, hundreds of Tibetans arrive in Nepal sneaking across the hilly trails of the northern border mainly to go to India to See Page 6 ...

Kalon Tripa during his meeting with Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara in Tokyo on 2 April 2012. Photo: Tibet Office In Tokyo, Japan

Chinese paramilitary police in the streets of Aba, in China's Sichuan province Philippe Lopez / AFP / Getty Images

By Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy

Dharamshala: - Eleven Tibetans who participated in peaceful protest marches in January 2012 in Drakgo (Chinese: Luhuo/ Chaggo) and Sertha (Chinese: Seda) have been sentenced to three to 13 years in prison.

Reporting on the heavy prison terms, the official Chinese government news agency Xinhua on 22 March 2012 said the Tibetans were sentenced for ‘inciting social disorder' and destroying public properties.

The 23 and 24 January 2012 protests in Drakgo and Serta counties were brutally suppressed by security officers who fired upon hundreds of unarmed protesters. At least four

known Tibetans died and many got injured in the firing in Drakgo.

In Serta, two known Tibetans died, many were injured and an unknown number were arrested.

The county court at Drakgo sentenced seven Tibetans to 10 to 13 years imprisonment in addition to imposing fines. Our sources identified those sentenced as Peldor, Dugyal Nyima, Jhipey, Gyaltho, Gyalrong Tsetan, Tsering Dhargyal and Sherab Rongpo.

In Sertha, the county court sentenced four Tibetans - Tseyang, Khechung, Tsering a n d Lenchung - to three to seven years in prison for 'obstructing government activities'.

The dates on which the 11 Tibetans were arrested are not known.

The Tibetans in Drakgo and Serta had staged peaceful protest marches against repressive official policies. Not surprisingly, by labeling these legitimate forms of protests as ‘antigovernment, vandalism, and violence', the Chinese government has criminalized all peaceful ways of expressing ones opinions and thoughts.

The fact that heavy sentences were meted out to 11 Tibetans in less than two months after the protests shows the way in which proper judicial procedure had likely been hijacked.

Global Signature Campaign for Tenzin Delek

A Signature Campaigns launched SFT-INdia calling for Release of the Buddhist Leader, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, Dharamshala, India, 7th April 2012. Photo: TPI By: YC. Dhardhowa, The Tibet Post

Dharamshala: - A worldwide signature campaign launched

by Students for a Free Tibet-India on Saturday, April 7, is calling on China to release of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, the imprisoned Buddhist leader of Tibet. Over 45,000 signatures were already registered on websites such as www.freetenzin.org, according to campaigners who have said the Buddhist leader is innocent.

"Today, April 7, 2012, marks the 10th year of injustice of Tenzin See Page 4 ...

Two More Tibetans Self-Immolate in Tibet

Tenpa Darjee (Left) and chimey paldan (Right). Photo: TPI By: Tibetan Oficial Media: Tibet Net

Dharamshala: - Reports coming out of Tibet say two more Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest against the Chinese government’s repressive policies in Tibet.

The two Tibetans – Tenpa Dargey, 22, and Chimey Palden, 21, monks from the Tsodun Kirti monastery in Gyalrong – set themselves outside the prefectural government offices in Barkham on 30 March. Both Tenpa Dargey and Chimey Palden are from Kholachang village in Tsodun town, Barkham.

Both the monks had been taken to a government hospital immediately following the incident. Monks from Tsodun monastery rushed towards Barkham to take the two monks into their custody. But they were stopped 32 km from the monastery, at a place called Dzeto, by armed police and special police forces, who sent them back to the monastery. Their present condition remains unknown.

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TPI NEWS

Tibetan NGOs Lobby Indian MPs To End The Current Crackdowns In Tibet

PRESS & STATEMENTS

15 April, 2012 Dharamshala

Exile Women's Group Hots A Crucial Panel Discussion On Tibet

By Tibetan women's association (TWA)

Lobbying Indian Parliamentarians in New Delhi. Photo: TPI/file

By The Tibet Post International

New Delhi, India: Mr. Chime Youngdung, the President of National Democratic Party of Tibet (NDPT) with his team members were arrested and imprisoned for 4 days in Tihar Jail and released on 30th March 2012, according a statement issued by NDPT. "The arrest took place on 27th March afternoon while on their way to MP flats in South Avenue of New Delhi for lobbying Indian Parliamentarian. Mr Youngdung was arrested along with Ven Gendun Gyatso, Rigzin Dorjee, and Ms. Tenzin Nordhey.

NGO supporting the Tibet issue has initiated a lobby campaign to gather the support of Indian Parliamentarians against the Chinese crackdown inside Tibet and to end the current critical situation in Tibet.

Tibetan NGO Lobbies Indian Parliamentarians Requests Support To Pressurize China to End Crackdown in Tibet.

Mr. Chime Youngdung, the President of National Democratic Party of Tibet (NDPT) with his team was arrested and imprisoned for 4 days in Tihar Jail and released on 30th March 2012. The arrest took place on 27th March afternoon while on their way to MP flats in South Avenue of New Delhi for lobbying Indian Parliamentarian. Mr Youngdung was arrested

along with Ven Gendun Gyatso, Rigzin Dorjee, and Ms. Tenzin Nordhey.

The lobbying program were initiated aftermath of Mr. Inder Singh Namdari, Member of Parliament, raised a question on ongoing self immolations in Tibet during Stared Question hour at Indian Lok Sabha. Another member of parliament, Mr. Shivanand Tiwari had also stated in parliament that Tibet with whom Indians shares strong cultural and spiritual relationship is now facing critical time with many monks and nuns self immolating themselves which is not a suicide case at all. We have not taken any reaction regarding this critical issue in Tibet.

Prior to the arrest, the team headed by President of NDPT and Mr. Lukar Jam, the Vice-president of GuChu-Sum, had lobbied many eminent Indian Parliamentarian who are in the Committee of External Affairs of Parliament to raise the Tibet issue and the urgent crisis in Tibet during the ongoing Parliament session, such as, Shri. Anand Kumar, Shri. Pardeep Kumar Singh and Shri. Rajendrasinh Rana of Bhartiya Janata Party, Shri.K.S. Alagiri of Congress Party and Shri.T.K.S.Elangovan of DMK Party. All the Indian Members of Parliament assured their full support to the Tibetan cause and pledge to raise the Tibet issue in parliament session."

International Collaboration Saves the Memories of Tibet’s Elders

By The Tibet Post International

Dharamshala: - March 30, 2012 - The Tibet Oral History Project and Memoro-The Bank of Memories are working together to share the unique culture and history of Tibet with the world.

The Tibet Oral History Project documents the extraordinary lives of exiled Tibetan elders-the last generation to live in a free, unoccupied Tibetand preserves memories of their homeland for future generations. The Project has already videotaped the eyewitness accounts of 120 elderly Tibetan refugees and this May, their oral history team of Tibetans and Americans will meet in Dharamsala, India, home of the Tibetan government in exile, to videotape 50 more oral histories with the oldest surviving Tibetan elders.

When the Dalai Lama was forced to flee Tibet in 1959, an estimated 80,000 Tibetans followed their spiritual leader into exile in India where most now live. The Tibet Oral History Project (TOHP) (www.TibetOralHistory.org) documents the refugees' early peaceful life in Tibet and the devastating impact of the Chinese invasion and

occupation on their families, livelihood, social structure and religious practices. Now at the ages of 70, 80 or 90, these refugees are the last generation who can describe the rich and ancient traditions of Tibet as an independent country.

Now these important stories will reach an even wider audience with the help of Memoro-The Bank of Memories (www.memoro.org), also a nonprofit organization, dedicated to collecting the experiences and life stories of people born before 1950. The Memoro website enables the public to upload short audio or video clips of elders' life stories and provides free distribution of this collection on an international scale.

Not only will memories and life stories be preserved, but more importantly they are being shared on a medium, the Internet, that is able to reach young people. Memoro aims to be a bridge between generations, in which they ask to the younger technology savvy generations to become "Memory Hunters", active listeners and sharers of memories from the elderly. This project

New Delhi: - In the wake of heightening Tibetan resistance and desperation, intensifying Chinese military response, and Asia's looming water crisis threatening the future of regional stability, there is no doubt that the global eye has shifted east.

In preparation for Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to the Indian capital New Delhi, the Tibetan Women's Association (TWA) hosted an "Academic Dialogue" March 27, 2012 to present imperative viewpoints to decision-makers and the public regarding SinoIndian-Tibetan affairs. Four speakers debated "What the Tibetan Leverage Means for India Today," and engaged in a question-and- answer session after their individual 15-minute statements.

The event, held at the Casuriana Hall of New Delhi's India Habitat Center, commenced with a moment of silence to respect those who are contributing to the peaceful resolution for Tibet crisis - "Tibetan, Chinese, or other, alive or passed on." Special recognition was made to yesterday's self-immolation

by Jamphel Yeshi (27) in New Delhi on March 26.

Following the introduction, four speakers offered insight into Sino-India-Tibet realities: Mr. Tempa Tsering, Special Representative for the Delhi Bureau Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Dr. Mohan Guruswamy, Chairman and Founder of the Centre for Policy Alternatives and author of ‘Chasing the Dragon: Will India Catch Up with China?'; Former Major General Vinod Saighal, internationally acclaimed political author and Executive Director of Eco Monitors Society (EMS); and Tenzin Tsundue, writer, 2001 winner of the Outlook-Picador Award for Non-Fiction, and renowned Tibetan activist.

Tempa Tsering began the discussion with an overview of past and present Tibetan history, relating notable events to a declining trust among Asian neighbors today. Tsering highlighted sources of Tibetan inspiration for nonviolent resistance and insisted that military might is not a sole source of power. He called on other countries to represent their stated principles, and suggested that India can contribute to progress in Sino-Tibet affairs under the Middle Way Policy, a path continuously encouraged by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Mohan Guruswamy followed Tsering with a compelling assessment of Indian and Chinese military positioning, the statehood of Tibet, and a review of the Indian policy of compassion toward troubled governments and citizens. "When the Tibetans threw out the Chinese in 1913, they came to India: we are a place of refuge. We are home to Afghans, Ugyurs, Burmese, Pakistanis, Tamils... it is the nature of India." Dr. Guruswamy insisted that though Tibetan activities have a strong impact on the Indian community, India would not go to war over Tibetan issues-India can only continue to pressure for the resumption of dialogues.

Tenzin Tsundue started off by acknowledging United States and India's inability to assist Tibetcountry efforts that are thwarted by business interests. Tsundue recognized India's particularly immense desire to lessen neighborly tensions and

enables the elders to return to the role of "wisdom holders", which they held just few decades ago.

Memoro is also a place where people or organizations already collecting oral histories of elders can easily publish and share all or part of their work and invite visitors to their own website or physical exposition, such as the collaboration now established with the Tibet Oral History Project.

Memoro recently archived of TOHP's 22 short videos from the Tibetan elders' eyewitness accounts with many more to be added in the future. The special section of Memoro devoted to Tibet will be translated into seven languages for Memoro websites hosted on each continent.

TOHP is also making video footage and English transcripts of the oral history interviews available through their own website, the United State Library of Congress and several universities and archives.

Memoro invites everyone to help preserve the wisdom culture of Tibet. Anyone living near a community of Tibetan refugees can easily record a Tibetan elder's story with an iPhone, iPad or Android App and upload the stories directly to Memoro's website. Visit Memoro's Tibetan section for more information: http:// www.memoro.org/us-en/tibet/.

About the Tibet Oral History Project: At the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibet Oral History Project was initiated in 2003

by Marcella Adamski, Ph.D to record the early life experiences of Tibetan elders, who were forced to flee their homeland in 1959 following the Chinese invasion and subsequent occupation.

The Tibet Oral History Project is a non-profit organization committed to making the elders' oral history interviews accessible via the Internet in order to share with the world the culture and history of Tibet.

About Memoro-The Bank of Memories:

March 25, 2012 -- TWA to organize Crucial Panel Discussion on India-China-Tibet relations on the eve of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s India visit. Photo: TWA

claimed that "India gives us [Tibetans] our strength, our confidence-India is our guru." Tsundue pointed to Tibetan unity on the boycott of Losar in honor of self-immolations, defining the "Tibetan Leverage" to be the Tibetan freedom struggle itself. "If there is any leverage India seeks-it's the Tibetan peoplethey make the Tibetan freedom struggle a threat to China." He warned of an impending Chinese collapse that will drastically damage the western corporate investment that has propped China up. "We are already free and have nothing to lose aside from Chinese insecurity." Tsundue asserted that if China has any fear, it is of the unity and the spiritual strength of the Tibetan people. He affirmed that ‘this is the leverage Tibetans have to offer.'

Major General Vinod Saighal contended that ‘dialogues' are among equals, and the western recession has eliminated the ability of many governments continue respectable dialogue with China. "Money talks... the day that India can ‘talk' will be the day India tells China to talk to a representative of His Holiness." Until then, General Saighal suggested Tibetan nonviolence itself to be the ‘Tibetan Leverage," as a force the world has never seen before.

An audience of students of various levels, news media, concerned citizens, and intellectuals responded to the statements with follow-up questions and requests for elaboration during the preliminary question an answer session, held before a break for hi-tea.

In response to a question requesting concrete examples of potential Indian action, Tempa Tsering claimed that India had already done everything within its political limitations, and Guruswamy agreed and said that ‘Freedom is something people must earn themselves." Tenzin Tsundue pointed to the

many political calculations that failed to predict the Arab Spring or the fall of the USSR-human efforts.

He suggested that India recognize historical Tibetan independence in order to claim their right to Arunachal Pradesh under the bilateral treaty signed between Tibet and British India in 1914.

The panelists also responded to inquiries regarding foreign response to self-immolation and media coverage of Tibetan events. Guruswamy said that while India is ‘unhappy to see people immolating, it has a responsibility as a rising power.' Tsundue asserted that ‘Tibetans will fight and win our freedom, but we will not kill ourselves - we may set ourselves on fire, but we will not hurt the other.

This is our spirit'.

Upon breaking for hi-tea, approximately ten policemen in plain-clothes, led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, ambushed Tenzin Tsundue while he was speaking with guests and "preventatively arrested" him around 5:30 p.m. TWA officials pleaded with the authorities to let Tsundue complete his commitment, but were met with violent shoves. Tsundue was dragged to his feet and forced out the back door, and his whereabouts remain unknown.

Tenzin Tsundue's unexpected detainment proved a stark reminder of the reality -‘Tibet's leverage'-that spawned today's panel discussion.

TWA was founded in 1959 in Lhasa, Tibet, and is the second-largest Tibetan non-governmental organization in exile. TWA is committed to the Middle Way Policy seeking genuine autonomy within the framework of PRC, and believes that thought-provoking discussion is one of the effective ways to mark President Hu Jintao's visit to India and suggest the continuation of dialogues among government representatives.

..... Tibetans in Europe Exercise their Freedom, 2nd youth Parliament ...... Continues From front Page politically interested young Tibetans and training them to become future leaders for the Tibet movement. Besides the political freedom struggle for the future of Tibet, this organisation has aimed at building awareness of and preserving our distinct identity, culture, religion and language. Today the TYAE has over 400 members Europe-wide.

Over the next two days, around 120 participants from 9 European countries will debate on diverse subjects regarding the Tibetan movement. The Youth Parliament's primary aim is to take action and to strengthen the network among the Tibetan youth in Europe.

During the opening ceremony, Norzin-Lhamo Dotschung, Member of the Organising Committee and President of the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe, highlighted the importance of the Parliamentary meeting during this troubling year

Memoro-The Bank of Memories is a non-profit organization, dedicated to collecting the experiences and life stories of people born before 1950. Established in Turin, Italy, in August 2007, the first website was launched in June 2008 and now the project is active in 14 countries on four continents. Videos on the Memoro website have been viewed more than eight million times since the website launched in 2008.

for Tibet, "What we have in common and what connects us is the will and motivation to work hard for our homeland and to affect change".

The recent string of self-immolations will no doubt be at the forefront of discussions throughout the two-day program with an additional discussion group organised even after the end of the Parliament. This open talk, entitled ‘Reflections on the Self-Immolations in Tibet', will pose questions such as, "in exile, do we even have any influence over these developments?" and "What should we be preparing ourselves for?".

The importance these self-immolations are playing in the future of Tibet was highlighted in the keynote address by Ven. Thubten Wangchen, "Unfortunately, this tragic and dramatic action of self-immolations inside Tibet and India is being repeated. Therefore, the United Nations and leaders of international communities must intervene now to stop Chinese extreme and violent attacks against Tibetans who are simply advocating our basic human rights and freedom" Norzin added in his opening speech that, "The atmosphere is clearly very positive regarding the power of Tibetan Youth to take action".

The TYAE hopes to encourage the youth to actively take part and educate themselves through political debates on the future of Tibet and early indicators from the Parliamentary meeting are very positive.

TPI NEWS

15 April, 2012 Dharamshala

Tibetan parliament thank US Senate for 6-Point Tibet Resolution

EXILE

The Tibet Post International

3

Tibetan youth jumped from the bridge into the Ganga rive for a free Tibet

By RTYC Dharamsala.

Mr. Penpa Tsering, the speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in exile delivering his opening speech at the first day of second session of the 15th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, being held in Dharamshala, India, 16th September 2011.

Photo: TPI

By Tibetan Official Media: Tibet.Net

Dharamsala: The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile has expressed its deep appreciation to US Senators for unanimously passing a resolution on Tibet last month in view of spate of tragic self-immolations of Tibetans.

The six-point resolution, introduced by Senators Dianne Feinstein and Joseph Lieberman, mourns the death of Tibetans who have self-immolated and deplores the repressive policies targeting Tibetans".

The resolution calls on the Chinese government to suspend implementation of religious control regulations, reassess religious and security policies implemented in Tibet, and resume a dialogue with Tibetan Buddhist leaders, including the Dalai Lama.

It urges the Chinese government to release all persons that have been arbitrarily detained; to cease the intimidation, harassment and detention of peaceful protestors; and to allow unrestricted access to journalists, foreign diplomats, and international organizations to Tibet.

It commends His Holiness the Dalai Lama for his decision to devolve his political power in favor of a democratic system.

It congratulates Tibetans living in exile for

holding, on 20 March 2011, a competitive, multicandidate election that was free, fair, and met international electoral standards.

It reaffirms the unwavering friendship between the people of the United States and the people of Tibet.

The resolution was co-sponsored by Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Jim Webb (D-Va.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.).

"We express our deep appreciation and gratitute to US Senators Dianne Feinstein and Joseph Lieberman and others for their support in passing a six-point resolution for the end to repression in Tibet," the Tibetan Parliament wrote in its 4th April 2012 letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein and others.

"This resolution has exposed the Chinese government's repressive policies in Tibet and we hope it will help in resolving the issue of Tibet," the letter noted.

"We always remain deeply grateful for the steadfast support of the US Senators," it noted.

Dharamsala: Tibetan Youth, Dhondup Phuntsok Jumped from Howrah Bridge into Ganga River in Kolkotta in an attempt to Free Tibet.

As the world grieves in horror by repeated news of Tibetan self-immolations from Tibet, martyr Jamphel Yeshi's self-immolation in Delhi shocked the world as he set himself ablaze and burn to death in front of the world media. And now, the news of Tibetan youth giving his life by jumping from a bridge and drowning in a river in Calcutta has gripped the Tibetan world.

According to various sources in Calcutta, Dhendup Phuntsok Jumped from the Gigantic Howrah Bridge into Ganga river and died. Before his final act of sacrifice left text messages with some of his friends and a suicide note which is at the moment with the police who are investigating into the case of his death.

On the night of 3rd April, deeply disturbed by Jamphel Yeshi's self-immolation in Delhi he sent this last text message to Ruby Mukherjee a long time Tibet supporter he said: " I want to do it myself n it is my personal decision whatsoever d consequences maybe tonite, u dont worry I m not associating any 1 in this act as this is just me n myself, I will delete all the phone number from my cell so that no one gets disturbed if I m caught in this act okay plz dont mind n dont worry coz you can count on my words..Free Tibet ".

Since 3rd April night his mother Dechen Dolma and Dhendup's friends and went looking for him, and found no until 6th April morning when his body was finished out of the Ganga. He was found wearing a FREE TIBET T-shirt.

Dhendup Phuntsok was studying in the Scottish Church College in Calcutta. Born in Darjeeling and attended school in the hill station Dhendup later moved to Calcutta with his family. A Tibetan resident of calcutta Mr Yeshi said "His family had always been in India, his grand father who lives at the ripe age of 83 recounts their lives Darjeeling even from the British Raj. They call themselves the Bhutais. But its amazing how a son of old Tibetans gave his life for Tibet when Tibetans are suffering so much under China today.

"Dhendup came across to me as a spirited young man who was willing to do anything for Tibet.

Though I never met him, he used to often message

Dhondup Phuntsok. Photo: RTYC, Dhasa.

me or call me discussing with me how to better spread the word about Tibet among Indian community" said Tenzin Tsundue, President of Regional Tibetan youth Congress.

After 33 cases of self immolations, Dhendup

Phuntsok sacrificed his life by drowning into the Ganga river. Though we are grieved by his death, his sacrifice for the country's freedom make all of us proud said Tsering Yangchen vice President of regional Tibetan youth Congress.

Central Tibetan Administration Condoles Demise of Sonam Choedon

Kalon Tripa Opens Conference on Tibet’s Global Significance

Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay and Mr Dalip Mehta, a former Indian Ambassador.

Photo: Tibetan Official Media: Tibet.Net

By Tibetan Official Media: Tibet.Net

Dharamsala: Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay today inaugurated ‘Tibet: The Third Pole & Its Global Significance', a one-day conference organised by the Tibet Policy Institute at Gangchen Kyishong.

The chief guest at the inaugural session was Mr Dalip Mehta, a former Indian ambassador to Bhutan and various other Central Asian Republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Thanking Mr Dalip Mehta for gracing the conference with his presence, Kalon Tripa said the idea behind the formation of the Tibet Policy Institute (TPI) is to create an intellectual hub here in Dharamshala where experts will be invited to speak on a weekly or monthly basis.

"Since it's launch, TPI has organised many seminars but this is the first conference where a panel discussion is being held. Soon, we will have two panel discussions a year, a day-long conference and another major conference which could be two-three days long," he said.

Speaking on the topic of the conference, he said Tibet is accurately called the Third Pole by some scientists as it has the third highest concentration of ice and snow after the Antartic and the Arctic.

"Unlike the Antartic and the Arctic, Tibet has major global significance because when Tibet's ice melts, it converts into fresh water and contributes to about 10 major rivers of the world including the Brahmaputra, Indus, Mekong, Yangtze and the Yellow river which is the basis of China's civilization," he said.

"Wars have been fought over land before, wars are being fought for energy now and very soon wars will be fought over water," he said.

He also questioned the benefits and the risk factors associated with the damming of many of the Tibetan rivers by the Chinese government.

He concluded by saying the significance of Tibet's environment transcends much beyond our national borders and added that saving Tibet is saving yourself.

Dr Dalip Mehta, the chief guest, spoke about the relevance of Tibet from the point of view of regional security.

"It is unacceptable to say that peace in Asia, to a very large extent, depends on the relationship between India and China," he said.

‘Until China invaded Tibet in 1949, Tibet throughout its independent existence, had been a zone of peace and a source for regional stability being an effective space between Asia's two largest and most populous nations namely China and India.'

"The geopolitical reality changed after Tibet's occupation by China. India and China now shares a long and dangerously militarised border of over 4500 kms with claims and counter claims, and which had led to a war between these two nations in 1962," he said.

"Today, India and China are both nuclear powers with regional and global aspirations with Tibet no longer as the buffer state. And herein lies the significance of Tibet in India's relation with China," he said.

He also raised issues regarding the dumping of nuclear waste in Tibet, the heavy militarisation of the region and the 1,100 kms rail link between Lhasa and Golmud which was aimed to enable a rapid transport of troops and military hardware.

"China can now deploy 12 PLA divisions in Tibet against India at a very short notice, courtesy this rail link," he asserted.

He said the implications of the Chinese activities in Tibet are irreversible and that India should strongly support His Holiness the Dalai Lama's middle way approach as it is the only workable way to bring about a reconciliation between the Tibetans and the Chinese.

He concluded his indictment by asserting that a safe Tibet is fundamentally about securing Asia's future.

The conference also featured other speakers like Mr Matthew Akester, an independent researcher who spoke about the rampant mining in Tibet, Mr Tsering Dhondup and Mr Tenzin Norbu, researchers from the Central Tibetan Administration's Environment Desk as well as Mr Thinley Jigme, Mr Tenzin Dheden and Prof.

Ngawang Phuntsok.

Late Sonam Choedon, former servent of CTA who passed in US recently. Photo: File

By Tibetan Official Media: Tibet.Net

Dharamshala: - The Central Tibetan Administration today mourned the death of Sonam Choedon, a civil servant, who was killed in a shooting rampage in California Monday.

Sonam Choedon and six other people were killed after a man opened fire at Oikos University, a KoreanAmerican Christian University, in Oakland, California yesterday. Oikos University founder, Pastor Jong Kim, tells the Oakland Tribune newspaper that the shooter is a former nursing student. Kim said he did not know whether the suspect was expelled from the school or dropped out. The gunman surrendered shortly after the shooting.

In a statement, the Kashag said today it was deeply

saddened on hearing the tragic news of Sonam Choedon's demise.

All the officials of the administration attended a prayer service at the staff auditorium at 3:30 pm, following which all the offices remained closed as a mark of respect.

Kashag Secretary Ven Karma Gelek Yuthok read out a brief biography of late Sonam Choedon at the prayer service.

Sonam Choedon joined the Central Tibetan Administrative service on 7 September 2005. She served in the Kashag Secretariat, Home Department and Education Department till 6 June 2010, after which she left for the US on leave.

..........Two More Tibetans Self-Immolate in Barkham, Eastern Tibet ...... Continues From front Page The Chinese government has imposed security blockade around the prefectural government headquarters by deploying a large number of special armed police.

Tenpa Dargey studied philosphy at Kirti monastery in Ngaba from 2003-2009. While studying in Tsodun monastery, he was regarded as one of the best students in the logical debate class. He was the youngest of four brothers and sisters.

Chimey Palden joined Kirti monastery as a philosophy student in 2009, but stayed only for a few months. During a visit to Lhasa in 2010, he was arbitrarily detained by public security bureau for keeping His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s photo, the Tibetan national flag and a nationalist song in his mobile phone.

The Tsodun Kirti monastery is located 82 km from Barkham town. The formal name of the monastery is Ganden Tashi Choeling. The monastery has currently at least 300 monks. It is one of the largest

Gelugpa monasteries in Gyalrong.

Since 2009, 34 Tibetans have set themselves on fire calling for freedom and His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s return to his homeland. 23 of these selfimmolators have died, and others are either critically injured or remain unaccounted for. (Read Fact Sheet) Reiterating the US government’s deep concern over the tense situation in Tibet, State Department Spokeperson Victoria Nuland on Wednesday said: “We remain deeply concerned about the tensions and the human rights violations in the Tibetan areas.”

“China’s own continuing vilification of the Dalai Lama and repeated accusations with regard to the Dalai Lama and saying that he’s directly involved adds to the Tibetan grievances and just makes the situation worse. So we continue to call on China to respect the human rights of Tibetans and to allow journalists in, et cetera,” Nuland said.

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The Tibet Post International

TPI NEWS H.H. THE DALAI LAMA

15 April, 2012 Dharamshala

Thousands attend the Dalai Lama’s US Senate Urges China to End Repressive Policies in teachings at Chime Tibet Gatsal Ling

His Holiness the Dalai Lama greeting many of the thousands that came to listen to his teachings Chime Gatsal Ling in Sidhbari, HP, India, on April 4, 2012. Photo: TPI/ Sangay

By Dalailama.com

Sidhbari, HP, India, 4 April 2012- Thousands of devotees, including new arrivals from Tibet and foreigners, are attending a three-day teachings

by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Chime Gatsal Ling Monastery in Sidhbari, near Dharamshala.

The Dalai Lama is conferring the Kagyae Initiations at the request of H.E. Garje Khamtrul

Rinpoche.

Speaking at the beginning of the teachings, the 76-year old Tibetan spiritual leader reiterated that his decision to devolve his political authorities to the elected Tibetan leadership last year is for the benefit of the Tibetan people in the long run.

"The situation prior to 300 years is different from

now," the Dalai Lama said. "This is the 21st century and the age of the people, the public."

In his message to the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile in March last year, the Dalai Lama had made clear that his intention to devolve political authority is "solely for the benefit of the Tibetan people in the long run."

"No system of governance can ensure stability and progress if it depends solely on one person without the support and participation of the people in the political process," His Holiness had said. "One man rule is both anachronistic and undesirable. We have made great efforts to strengthen our democratic institutions to serve the long-term interests of the six million Tibetans, not out of a wish to copy others, but because democracy is the most representative system of governance."

According to the organisers, a special prayer session for the Tibetans who have lost their lives in the ongoing wave of self-immolations and mass protests in Tibet will also be organised along with the teachings.

Garje Khamtrul Rinpoche Jamyang Dondrub, a highly respected teacher and master and a former civil servant of the Tibetan exile administration established the Chime Gatsal Ling, in 1991 in Mcleod Ganj.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama formally inaugurated and consecrated the new monastery in April 2010.

On Friday, the last day of the teachings, a longlife offering ceremony for the Dalai Lama will be held.

Tibetan arrested for sighting His Holiness’ vision in moon

By Tibetan Official Media: Tibet.Net

Dharamsala: The Chinese government has forbidden Tibetans living in Tibet from keeping their most-revered spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama's photos in homes, monasteries, to name a few. An act of defiance from Tibetans definitely leave them in facing the inevitable consequences.

But now, for Tibetans, even seeking just a vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the moon has become an punishable act.

A report coming out of Tibet say Phurbu Namgyal, a 20-year-old youth from Lhundup district near Tibet's capital Lhasa, saw reflection of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the moon recently.

He confided his experience to his friends while working together at a club house in Lhasa. He told them that if someone gazes at the night sky one can see His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the moon. All of them then started looking at the sky to see the vision outside the club. The police from the public security bureau knew about this and arbitrarily picked up Phurbu Namgyal alleging him for committing an illegal act.

His whereabouts and well-being remain unknown.

..... Global Signature Campaigns Calling for Release of Tenzin Delek

From left: Senator Barasso, Senator Liberman, Kalon Tripa Dr. Lobsang Sangay, Senator McCain and Senator Tom Udall on November 3, 2011. Photo: TPI/file

By Tibetan Official Media: Tibet Net

Dharamshala: - The US Senate unanimously passed a resolution introduced by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) on Friday urging the Chinese government to end its repressive policies in Tibet.

Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay, during his meeting with members of US Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Washington DC last July, urged the Senate to pass a resolution in light of the tense situation in Tibet. Dr Sangay informed Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and its members of the situation in Tibet and how there was a form of undeclared martial law in Tibet. Senator John Kerry and other Senators agreed to consider the resolution.

Kalon Tripa also laid emphasis on the need to support education of the Tibetan people and to help them have economic sustenance. The senators and the Tibetan leaders discussed what the Senate could do to help the Tibetan people.

During his subsequent to Washington DC in November that year after formally assuming the charge of Kalon Tripa, Dr Lobsang Sangay received assurance of continued strong support from Senators Dianne Feinstein, Joseph Lieberman, John McCain, Tom Udall, John Barrasso, Marco Rubio among others.

On the unanimous passage of the resolution on Tibet in the Senate, Senator Dianne Feinstein said: "The Senate has sent a clear message to the Tibetan people: we stand in solidarity with you as you strive to preserve your culture and practice your faith freely."

"The time has come for China to heed this message and end its repressive policies in Tibet. His Holiness has consistently made it clear that he does not support independence for Tibet, but rather a meaningful cultural and religious autonomy within the People's Republic of China," said Senator Feinstein.

"It is my fervent hope that passage of this resolution will convince China to engage the Dalai Lama through dialogue and negotiation on addressing the legitimate grievances of all Tibetans," Senator Feinstein added.

Senator Joseph Lieberman said: "This resolution

recognizes the importance of this historic vote, which resulted in the election of an exceptionally talented and impressive new Prime Minister or Kalon Tripa, Dr. Lobsang Sangay."

"Unfortunately, at the same time that Tibetans outside China have been making inspiring progress towards democracy, Tibetans inside China are suffering from increased repression and persecution - causing Tibetans to immolate themselves in protest. This is a critical moment for the Senate to reaffirm that the treatment of Tibetans in China and denial of fundamental human rights there is a source of deep concern for the United States," Senator Lieberman added.

In addition to Senators Feinstein and Lieberman, the resolution was cosponsored by Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Dick Durbin (DIll.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Jim Webb (D-Va.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.).

conditions and high blood pressure for which he is not receiving medical attention. Rinpoche's relatives, students, and local Tibetans are actively petitioning for the release of their beloved and respected Buddhist leader. In 2009, in a remarkable act of support and bravery, 40,000 Tibetans inside Tibet signed petitions demanding justice for their Buddhist leader.

"The global petition for the release of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche comes as protests inside Tibet are intensifying with thousands of Tibetans taking to the streets since January 2012. These demonstrations are part of an unprecedented wave of political protests, including 33 Tibetans who self-immolated since 2009 in an effort to bring international attention tot the oppressive realities inside Tibet," it further stated.

"Tenzin Delek Rinpoche is known for his dedication to preserving Tibetan religion and culture and protecting the environment. He built many schools, monasteries, and orphanages in his area, and is an advocate of the Dalai Lama's philosophy of nonviolence. Because of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche's influence in his community and his efforts to preserve Tibetan identity, he was

an obstacle to the Chinese authorities' control in the region. Over the course of a decade, he was the target of harassment, intimidation, and control

by Chinese officials."Overview Trulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a highly respected Buddhist spiritual leader from Lithang county, eastern Tibet, was sentenced to death on December 2nd, 2002 on charges of involvement in a series of unsolved explosions. His codefendant, Lobsang Dhondup, was executed shortly after. Thousands of people around the world advocated for the release of Tenzin Delek and after years of intense campaigning, his sentence was finally commuted to life imprisonment in 2005.

Human rights organizations around the world believe he was framed because he is viewed by the Chinese government as a threat to their control of Tibet. The Chinese government did not present credible evidence against Tenzin Delek Rinpoche or any of the Tibetans detained in connection with this case. They were denied access to independent lawyers and did not have a fair trial. Now, ten years after his arrest, he is still serving a life sentence for crimes he did not commit.

The resolution: · Mourns the death of Tibetans who have selfimmolated and deplores the repressive policies targeting Tibetans; · Calls on the People's Republic of China to suspend implementation of religious control regulations, reassess religious and security policies implemented in Tibet, and resume a dialogue with Tibetan Buddhist leaders, including the Dalai Lama; · Calls on the People's Republic of China to release all persons that have been arbitrarily detained; to cease the intimidation, harassment and detention of peaceful protestors; and to allow unrestricted access to journalists, foreign diplomats, and international organizations to Tibet; · Commends His Holiness the Dalai Lama for his decision to devolve his political power in favor of a democratic system; · Congratulates Tibetans living in exile for holding, on March 20, 2011, a competitive, multi-candidate election that was free, fair, and met international electoral standards; and · Reaffirms the unwavering friendship between the people of the United States and the people of Tibet.

...... Continues From front Page Delek Rinpoche's imprisonment, Students for a free Tibet network everywhere, we're launching a petition campaign to highlight his cause. So far, website such as http://freetenzin.org, we have managed to collect over 45,000 signatures and we will be forward more signatures, all will be deliver to Mr. Zhou Yongkhang, who was Sichuan party secretary when Rinpoche was arrested on false allegation in 2002," said Tenzin Jigdal, program director for Students for a Free TibetIndia.

"10 years too long; Tibetans escalate campaign for release of innocent Buddhist leader on anniversary of his arrest. Top Chinese official Zhou Yongkhang targeted for his rile in Tenzin Delek Rinpoche's imprisonment," said in a statement released by Student for a Free TibetIndia.

"On the 10th- year anniversary of this arrest, Tibetans and their supporters worldwide have wowed to escalate the campaign for the release of Tenzin Deleks Rinpoche, a highly revered Buddhist leader framed and subsequently imprisoned by Chinese authorities for crimes he did not commit. This week thousands of letters appealing for his release have sent to Zhou

Yongkhang, the politburo Standing Committee member who is currently facing speculation of a connection to the Bo Xilai scandal that rocked China last month. Zhou was Sichuan Party secretary in 2002 when Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was arrested for this alleged involvement in a series of explosions in Chengdu; allegations that are unproven to this day," the statement added.

In a global campaign effort today, students for a free Tibet-India is gathering signatures in McLeod Gan and several other Indian cities for a worldwide petition demanding Rinpoche's immediate and unconditional release.

"On this day 10 yeast ago, Chinese authorities arrested Tenzin Delek Rinpoche for the simple fact that he was a Tibetans whose influence was growing because of this social work and community leadership. Rinpoche was since been a prisoner of the Chinese state, and every day he spends in prison is one day too many," said Tenzin Dolkar, Grassroots Coordinator of Students for a free Tibet-India.

Zhuo Yongkhang served as the party secretary of Sichuan from 1999 to 2002, during which time Tenzin Delek Rinpoche was arrested and sentenced to death in a closed-door trial on

bombing charges. After a high-profile global campaign to save this life, China commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment in 2004.

Shortly after Tenzin Delek's conviction Zhou was promoted as Minister of Public Security. In his current position head of the powerful Central Political and Legislative Committee, Zhou oversees China's security forces and law enforcement institutions and has the authority to order Tenzin Delek's release.

"Zhou boosted his career by overseeing the politically motivated arrest and imprisonment of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a strong advocate of Tibetan cultural and religious rights. Zhou may sit at the top of China's authoritarian hierarchy but he will face escalating global pressure and scrutiny until he orders the release of Tenzin Delek. This innocent monk should suffer one more day in prison," said Tenzin Jigdal. Tenzin Delek is innocent, Zhou Yongkhang is the real criminal responsible for the outright repression of an innocent Tibetan monk, we demand this injustice immediately rectified.

Due to the torture and abuse Tenzin Deleks has suffered in prison, his health has deteriorated in the past ten years. He suffers from a heat

15 April, 2012 Dharamshala

TPI NEWS

INTERNATIONAL

Japanese Think-tank Hosts Int’l Symposium On Kalon Tripa’s Visit

Symposium at Kensei Kinen Kaikan organized by Japan Institute for National fundamentals (JINF).

Photo: Tibet Net

By Tibetan Official Media: Tibet Net

Tokyo: - Speaking at a conference organised by a leading Japanese think-tank, Japan Institute For National Fundamentals in Tokyo, Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay said the Central Tibetan Administration has worked tirelessly for the development of democracy for the past 50 years and will continue to put greater efforts in its endeavour.

In his speech, Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay talked about the growth of Tibetan democracy as well as about the urgent situation prevailing inside Tibet currently.

Due to the severe repression in Tibet by the Chinese government, 33 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest against the policies adopted by the Chinese government in Tibet, he

said.

"We are all humans and life is precious to us.

Nobody wants to die. So how does such a situation arise? The only reason is that they want to highlight the grim situation inside Tibet to the outside world, he asserted.

"The world community has extended their full support when a Tunisian set himself on fire. But what has happened with the crisis in Tibet. The lives of the Tibetan people are as precious as every one else," Dr Lobsang Sangay said.

"Due to the severe restrictions imposed by the Chinese government, the Tibetan people have no opportunity to practice their religion freely nor were they given equal rights when it comes to language and individual liberties," he said.

The Tibetan people inside Tibet have protested time and again, calling for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and the right to safeguard their religion and culture.

"And I am here to convey the aspirations and sufferings to the outside world on behalf of the Tibetans in Tibet," Kalon Tripa added.

The conference was attended by various intellectuals and professors including the former prime minister of Japan.

Earlier, Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay has addressed a group of overseas Chinese media based in Tokyo and answered questions ranging from the grim situation prevailing inside Tibet to the growth of Tibetan democracy and the need for the resumption of dialogue between the Chinese leadership and the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Japan Resolution Urges China to End Repression in Tibet

Sixty parliamentarians from five political parties of Japan met at the parliament to discussed and pass a resolution on the situation in Tibet. Photo: tibet.net

By Tibetan Official Media: Tibet Net

Tokyo: On the final day of Kalon Tripa's visit to Japan yesterday, sixty Japanese Parliamentarians from five political parties of Japan passed a resolution expressing their grave concern over tragic self-immolation of Tibetans in Tibet and urging the Chinese government to end its decades of repressive policies by addressing the Tibetans' grievances.

"We call on the Chinese government to respond positively to outstanding visit request from the Special Rapporteur on the freedom of religion or belief and halt the repression of human rights immediately," the resolution said.

"Years of restrictions on Tibetans' rights are the

underlying causes of the protests by way of selfimmolation. It is clearly time for the Chinese government to fundamentally rethink its approach by listening to and addressing the Tibetans' grievances," it said.

"We believe that if China realizes a truly "harmonious society" by respecting Tibetans' rights, then Japan and China will be able to a truly meaningful strategic benefit," it said.

The resolution expresses the Japanese Parliament Members' serious concern over the unending selfimmolation of Tibetans since March 2012.

It calls on the Chinese government to end the suppression of Tibetans' fundamental human

rights by removing restrictions from the monasteries and patriotic re-education tactics.

It further urge the Chinese government to give clear information on the whereabouts and wellbeing of Tibetan monks and laymen arrested in connection with the self-immolation incidents.

The media and foreign tourists must be given freedom to visit the Tibetan areas, it said.

It underlined that there should be direct and result-oriented dialogue between the Chinese government and the Central Tibetan Administration.

Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay briefed the parliamentarians in detail about the situation in Tibet and answered their questions.

Mr Lhakpa Tshoko, the Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Japan, who was presented at the meeting of Japanese parliamentarians, said: "It is unprecedented in the history of Japan that such a large number of its parliamentarians met to deliberate the urgent situation in Tibet with great concern and even passed a resolution. They have sown a seed for the future good of the issue of Tibet."

Later in the evening, Kalon Tripa delivered a talk on "Global warming with special emphasis on the fragile Tibetan environment".

Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay, during his maiden five-day visit to Japan, met two former Japanese prime minister, Tokyo Governor, Parliamentarians, journalists and general public to apprise them on the critical situation in Tibet and appealed to the Japanese people for their continued support on Tibet.

Kalon Tripa visited Japan at the invitation from former prime minister Shinzo Abe. Mr Abe, on account of his busy schedule during a visit to India last year, sent his representatives to Dharamsala to convey his greetings to Kalon Tripa and invited him to Japan.

... World Nobel Laureates Urge President Hu for Dialogue on Tibet

The Tibet Post International

Tibetan Health Kalon Meets Taiwan’s Top Health Officials

Health Kalon Dr Tsering Wangchuk (3rd left) with Taiwan’s minister of Health Mr Wen-Ta Chiu (4th left) in Taipei on 11 April 2012

By Tibetan Official Media: Tibet Net

Taipei: - Kalon Dr. Tsering Wangchuk have met top Taiwanese health offices to garner their support towards the health care system in the exile Tibetan community.

The Health Kalon raised the exiled Tibetan community's health care system during his meeting with Taiwanese health minister, Wen-Ta Chiu and Director of Bureau of International Cooperation, Department of Health, Mr Hsu Min Hu on 11 April.

Dr. Ming-Liang Lee former Taiwan's Minister of health was also present in the meeting.

Given Taiwan's advancement in public health care system, Kalon Dr. Tsering Wangchuk urged for support and co-operation from Taiwan in various health education and training programmes in Tibetan community.

They also discussed future co-operation in terms of both short- and long-term exchange and training programmes for students.

Kalon Dr Wangchuk also visited Taipei City Hospital

meaningful autonomy, and chosen negotiation and friendly help as their means of attaining it. They now turn to protest. The international community is concerned by the drastic expressions of resentment by the people of Tibet through self-immolation. The Chinese government should hear their voices, understand their grievances and find a non-violent solution.

That solution is offered by our friend and brother His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who has never sought separatism, and has always chosen a peaceful path.

We strongly urge the Chinese government to seize the opportunity he provides for a meaningful dialogue. Once formed, this channel should remain

open, active and productive. It should address issues that are at the heart of the current tension, respecting the dignity of the Tibetan people and the integrity of China.

Specifically, we are respectfully requesting that the Chinese government release all those who have been arbitrarily detained; cease the intimidation, harassment and detention of peaceful protestors; allow unrestricted access for journalists, foreign diplomats, and international organizations to Tibet; and respect religious freedom.

It is especially important to understand that the international community will be reassured if your government would allow members of the press and United Nations Human Rights investigators full

access within Tibet. Without that access, progress is unlikely and an opportunity may be lost.

Sincerely, Desmond Tutu Jody Williams Rigoberta Menchu Tum Jose Ramos Horta Leymah Gbowee Adolfo Perez Esquivel Shirin Ebadi Lech Walesa Mairead Corrigan Maguire Jon Hume Betty Williams Carlos Belo

(TCH) and met with Medical Deputy Affair Dr Chung-Hua Hsu and other medical staff of the hospital. TCH is one of the top hospital practicing both traditional Chinese and western medical system. It shares similarity with the Tibetan medical system in terms of its focus on research.

Dr Wangchuk visited Centers for Disease Control, where he watched a short film about the Prevention and Control of Hepatitis B in Taiwan. Dr. Carol, Jusin, Chen, Medical officer of the Centers for Disease Control, briefed him on prevention and control of Hepatitis B in Taiwan. They exchanged views on the treatment, public education and ways to control Hepatitis B and C. Earlier on 10 April, Health Kalon met with vicepresident of County Health Department in Hualien, located in eastern part of Taiwan. He was also invited to visit two hospitals which mainly looks after the health care of aboriginal people of the county. He also visited Hualein Tzu Chi Hospital.

... Tibetan Refugees' Problems Will Be Solved: Senior US Official ...... Continues From front Page meet their spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to hope for a better educational opportunities. Nepal has also been hosting some 20,000 Tibetan refugees who fled Tibet after their national uprising against Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959.

Addressing a press meet before wrapping up her two-day visit to Nepal on Thursday, Sherman said she discussed with Prime Minister Bhattarai about the concerns of Tibetan refugees to ensure that they have proper identifications so that they can lead a life of dignity and purpose here in Nepal. "We also discussed making sure that documents are quickly put together to support refugees who are legitimately visiting United States."

Sherman said that lack of proper documents had made Tibetan refugees living here face problems while trying to find job or higher education or travel abroad. "We did talk with the prime minister about identity cards and documentations for Tibetan refugees," she added.

Sherman had held a meeting with the representatives of Tibetan refugees living here in Kathmandu on

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Wednesday and listened to their concerns. "I really felt that the prime minister understood the issue. I am sure the issues will get resolved," she further said.

The issue of Tibetan refugees has come into the lime light lately after the refugees started staging demonstration in the Himalayan region since March, 2008, marking 50th anniversary of their national uprising against Chinese invasion of Tibet.

Concerned over the so called security stability in the Tibet due to activities of Tibetan refugees, The communist regime has been exerting a heavy pressure on Nepal to effectively crackdown on the activities of Tibetan refugees and treat the Tibetan refugees sneak into Nepal illegally as ‘illegal immigrants'.

Sherman arrived in Kathmandu on second leg of her tour of South Asian countries after India. The visit of Sherman marks the highest political visit from Washington since the visit of then Secretary of State Colin Powell to Nepal in January 2002. She is the third highest-ranking official at the US Department of State.

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Mr. Thomas Keimel Dr. Vincent Brucel Mr. YC. Dhardhowa Ms. Keary Huang Mathew Singh Toor Mr. Sangay Dorjee Ms. Pema Tso Ven Phuntsok Dhondup Mr. Sonam Sangay Mr. James Dunn Mr. Sangay Dorjee

Contributors for this Editon Keary Huang Mathew Singh Toor Dane Holding

...... Continues From front Page

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Carly Selby-James Samuel Ivo Liz Delehant Dennis Barbion Rajeshwari K Gillian stewart YC. Dhardhowa Sangay Dorjee Pema Tso

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The Tibet Post International

TPI NEWS

15 April, 2012 Dharamshala

TOP TEN CLICHES ABOUT ASIA’S WATER TOWER AND TIBET ENVIRONMENT IN TIBET THIRD POLE

By Gabriel lafitte, Outlook Tibet

By Gabriel lafitte, Outlook Tibet

...... Continues From Last Issue This is the reason why the yellow river has for so many generations been called “China’s sorrow”, because wherever it slows, it drops its sediment, and the river bed rises above the level of the surrounding plain, and massive floods spread out.

This is what prompted successive Chinese emperors to prove their power over nature by taming the yellow river, building up its s banks, building dams and many other hydraulic engineering works. It has long been proof of the legitimacy of an emperor (or Communist party leader) that he has hydraulic power over nature; and a sign that he is losing legitimacy (the mandate of heaven) if he fails to control floods. All of these deep cultural meanings are due to the erosion of Tibet.

When Chinese scientists speak of desertification and degradation in the grasslands of Tibet, especially in the region they focus on most, the prefectures of Yushu and Golok, where both the Ma Chu/Huang he/Yellow River and the Dri Chu/Chang Jiang/ Yangtze rise, they assume all degradation to be unnatural, and problematic. But no-one has adequately studied the erosion of the Tibetan Plateau well enough to be able to distinguish clearly how much erosion is natural and how much is due to human causes, whether the anthropogenic cause is global climate change or overgrazing by drogpa nomads.

The metaphor of the fragility of life on the Tibetan Plateau is appropriate. Encoded in this singe term is the suggestion that life, especially plant life biomass struggles to establish itself in such a highly erosive, frigid, windblown, blizzard-prone landscape. The plant species indigenous to Tibet, both the forests at lower altitudes and the grasses and sedges of higher and drier areas, are a miracle. They adapted to their circumstances. The kobresia sedges are amazing. They keep most of their biomass, their living tissue, below the surface, in a dense rootball, which is protected from gales, blizzards, extreme temperatures and the grazing pressure of yaks, sheep and goats. This in turn protects the soil from being eroded away.

When the living turf of the pastures is cut or dug, this exposes the soil to the full force of all the erosive powers of the earth gods of Tibet. Bare black earth soon becomes what Chinese scientists call “black beach”, the start of uncontrollable, ongoing erosion.

There are good reasons for the traditional Tibetan prohibitions on cutting the earth unless necessary, in sheltered valleys, for farming.

Chinese scientists have at most 50 years of measurements taken over a huge area, not a long enough time to have much idea of what is normal or abnormal. There is plenty of evidence that the monsoon itself has changed dramatically over the past 100,000 years, and even over the past 10,000 years which scientists call the Holocene, the recent past, that includes human use of the Tibetan Plateau.

The general trend seems to be that the monsoon is weakening, which may be a major reason why Tibetans have, for thousands of years, been slowly migrating eastwards, since western or upper Tibet, once suitable for irrigated farming villages thousands of years ago is now a stony alpine desert.

This means Tibet was much wetter, and the erosive power of the rivers much greater, in the past, a past which, in geological terms is quite recent. This makes it even harder to be sure that the erosion in Tibet at present has a human cause, or is natural.

China has rushed to blame the nomads, impoverished by being fenced in and restricted in their mobility, as the primary cause of rangeland degradation. Evidence for this is at best unclear.

The concept of “fragility” is problematic. Around the world, wherever environmentalists campaign to save a local area from development, they always say what they are they seeking to protect is a fragile (and unique) ecosystem. Of course this is true, in the sense that all ecosystems are local, and different.

All are easily disturbed by human interventions.

But if everywhere is fragile, the concept of “fragile” loses meaning.

ECOLOGICALMIGRATION, GRAIN TO GREEN: CHINA’S SEDUCTIVE BUZZWORDS The other clichés of today’s Tibet are entirely a Chinese choice of seemingly positive phrases to mask socially destructive practices. Grazing ban, ecological migration, leap-style development, comfortable housing, grain to green, are the key phrases used over and over in Chinese propaganda, on the principle of telling people something they will be pleased to hear, even if it has little to do with ground reality.

Although Tibetans have tried hard to expose the

catastrophic loss of all meaningful life to the nomads displaced by these policies, we should face the reality that these “greenwash” phrases invented by China do work, and are accepted, by many environmentalists, especially at a senior policy making level, in the institutions of global environmental governance. So there is a need to deconstruct these seemingly reasonable and positive phrases, and expose their impacts more effectively.

China has repeated these concepts endlessly, and often effectively. By telling the world that its motive for building hydro dams, displacing nomads and farmers is to green China and save the planet, China wins friends in the global environment movement who are usually critical because China so strongly resists taking action to reduce its use of coal, or reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, or agree to any global treaty that would impose any conditions on China.

If Tibetans are to fulfil the frequently expressed wish of HH Dalai Lama that environment in Tibet be top of the world’s agenda for Tibet, the starting point is to unravel the lies that bind China’s “green” narrative together.

Unravelling China’s pitch in part means challenging the facts of what it means to be displaced into a meaningless existence in a concrete block by a road, thrown from self-sufficiency into the global cash economy. It means revealing the human stories of nomads impoverished by endless regulations literally fencing them into unworkably small land areas, and then blaming them for the inevitable overgrazing.

AFUNDAMENTALMISTAKE In addition to facts and life stories of the living reality behind the “green” slogans, there is also a more fundamental level of Chinese mistake in understanding and then speaking for the nomads and farmers of Tibet. All of China’s “green” buzzwords are deeply dualistic. There is always inherent in them a shift from bad to good, from wrong to right, darkness to light, primitive to civilised, harm to healing.

Grain to green means ceasing farming on sloping dryland, and replanting trees and shrubs that are beneficial to the environment, even if the farmer loses livelihood. Removing animals to grow grass means ceasing destructive overgrazing so abundant green grass will naturally flourish. Ecological migration means abandoning an environmentally destructive mode of production, and making sacrifice for the good of the nation, and the planet, by taking up a new life elsewhere.

Implicit in all these dualisms is the most fundamental of dualisms: a split between man and nature. Modern China has adopted this from the modern scientific worldview, which in turn inherits it from the legacy of Christianity. Man and nature occupy separate realms of existence, so there is always a problem of how to negotiate the relationship between them. If it is purely a relationship of dominance of nature by man, it may be materially productive, but in the long run environmentally destructive and unsustainable.

But if respect for biodiversity and sustainability come first, human living standards may be threatened. There is always a tension, a difficult, contested negotiation to find the right balance.

But do Tibetans understand man and nature as separate realms? No. Humans and animals are all sentient beings. Unless one lives this life with great compassion, one is likely to be reborn in the next life as an animal, or even a hell being. All Tibetans know this, even those who are not particularly religious. The concern a nomad has for his/her yaks and sheep is not the calculated instrumental concern of an American rancher for dollars on the hoof; it is the naturally arising compassion for a family member.

China has misunderstood Tibet in a fundamental way, and made a serious category mistake, with disastrous consequences. If the starting point is that man exists for himself, and nature is man’s servant, then nomads are selfish, like everyone else, out to maximise benefit for themselves. Since, in Chinese eyes, the nomads are not only selfish but ignorant and backward, unaware of the consequences of their grazing animals on land that they do not own, and then they inevitably overgraze, which threatens Chin’s number one water tower. So the necessary conclusion of this chain of logic, faulty at every step, is that, for the sake of “ecology” grazing must be banned and the nomads removed, to be civilised by the roadside.

REPRESENTINGTIBETAN ENVIRONMENTAND DEVELOPMENT: What do we mean by our ten top key phrases?

A presentation to a TIBET POLICY INSTITUTE seminar 29 March 2012 So many people speak of Tibet, or for Tibet, with various agendas. The language used to represent today’s Tibet inevitably settles on metaphors which do a lot of work, which pack in many meanings. Each of the metaphors in common use comes with multiple associations. If we identify those echoes and amplifications, which arise in the minds of those who hear them when we use these words, we may notice some are helpful, some are not. So this is an attempt to pull apart the bundle of ideas and images wrapped up in those familiar phrases which have become so naturalised we often forget they are an invented short cut.

Some of the common metaphors are old: 1. Shangri-la, roof of the world, 2. Land of snows.

Some are much more recent: 3. third pole, 4. Asia’s water tower.

Some terms remind us of the problems of Tibet, such as 5. rangeland degradation, 6. grazing ban, 7. ecological migration.

Some are phrases which sound positive but actually have questionable meaning, such as 8. leap-style development, 9. comfortable housing, 10. grain to green.

These are among the many terms in use describing environment and development in Tibet. They are overused. The more familiar they become, the more meaning is packed into them, the more their usefulness fades, becoming another well-known, naturalised fact which has lost its original vibrant complexity and contradictions. Such terms become clichés, through over-use. The greatest cliché of Tibet is Shangri-la, which needs no deconstruction, since it is apparent to everyone except Chinese tourism entrepreneurs that there never was such a timeless paradise hidden in the Tibetan mountains. But new clichés come into being all the time, and it is not only the Chinese who invent them. So this is an exercise in rediscovering the full significance of terms which roll off our tongues too readily. Before these new phrases become so familiar that we stop thinking about what they really mean, let’s pause, and reconsider what each of these phrases actually includes. Let’s look at them afresh.

TIBETTHIRDPOLE The basic meaning in today’s usage is that Tibet is special, a point always worth making. This phrase was invented not by Tibetans but by Chinese scientists, who continue to claim it as their own. These are the cryologists, the scientists of cold. They continue to seek and obtain global connections and funding to do collaborative research on the frozen earth, glaciers and other phenomena of cold. We could say there is considerable confusion and competition as to who this phrase belongs to.

Tibet supporters often use Tibet Third Pole as a way of drawing attention to the impacts of climate change on Tibet. This is a complex subject, well worth attention.

It is clear from much scientific research that Tibet is warming much faster than most places on earth, especially night time winter temperatures, and Tibet is also drying, although there is extra spring rain. The impacts of these changes are complex: loss of wetlands, drying of the active layer that is seasonally frozen, then thaws, loss of carbon stored in the earth etc.

But if we step back from the detailed impacts, we find that China takes a similar stance: that many of the problems of Tibet are due to global climate change, and there is little anyone can do about it. So is this a message we find useful? If we discuss climate change in Tibet, under the general heading of Third Pole, with environmentalists around the world, they may find it hard to see how Tibet can get onto the agenda in a meaningful way, except as just one more reason why the world should take global action to reduce greenhouse gases. Environmentalists may sympathise, that Tibet experiences many problems due to climate change, but they do not respond with actions that specifically help Tibet.

A further complication is that Tibet Third Pole obscures something quite important: that Tibet is not cold all year, and warms sufficiently in spring and summer to cause both the Indian monsoon and the East Asian monsoon by heating sufficiently to cause a huge low pressure system over Tibet that pulls in the clouds heavy with water, from the oceans. So in some ways Tibet Third Pole is misleading.

The startling idea that this planet has not two poles

but three exaggerates how cold Tibet is. It makes permafrost sound permanent, which, in Tibet, it is not.

The seasonally receding and advancing permafrost of Tibet is hard to explain, or to imagine, because the English word permafrost strongly suggests permanence, and so does Third Pole. In reality there are parts of Tibet that are subtropical jungle.

ASIA’S WATER TOWER This metaphor also reminds us that Tibet is special, but in a more specific way: Tibet is the source of almost all the rivers of Asia. This is an extremely important point, but it too has some down side as well.

Reminding the peoples of South Asia, SE Asia and East Asia that their great rivers come from Tibet is valuable and necessary to repeat and repeat. If we look at actual watersheds, we can accurately say one billion people drink Tibetan water every day. Sometimes we say 47% of the world’s population depends on water from Tibet, which is inaccurate. The figure of 47% can be reached only by adding the entire populations of India, China and SE Asia. But we all know that not all Indians drink from the Brahmaputra or Indus, not all SE Asians drink from the Mekong, and not all Chinese drink from the Yangtze or Yellow Rivers. This is easily corrected if we look at who lives in the actual watersheds.

To call Tibet the water tower of Asia obscures a basic reality that Tibet is actually one of the more arid areas of Asia, and receives far less rainfall than India, China or SE Asia. Water tower suggests abundant water, endlessly available, but this is actually not so. The reality is that, despite a generally dry climate, it is the snow mountains that manage to magnetise and capture the little moisture in the air. It is the extraordinary altitude of the snow mountains that reaches into the upper atmosphere, so even high clouds become rain or more usually snow, when they come close to such a high peak.

Calling Tibet the Asian water tower draws attention to the glaciers, and connects those glaciers, in people’s minds, with their lives in downstream countries. That is good, but it sometimes ignores the one or two thousand kilometres of Tibetan land (and Tibetan people) between the glaciers and the downstream users.

Like Third Pole, this term actually originated in China, specifically the efforts of the Qinghai leaders in the 1980s to seek more funding from central leaders. They called Qinghai China’s water tower in order to make Qinghai important in Beijing’s eyes. The eventual result was the removal of the nomads from the source region of the great rivers in Qinghai, so we could say this phrase has actually had negative consequences.

Once the glaciers have melted, will Tibet any longer be Asia’s water tower? Perhaps there is a danger that people are unaware how limited is the water in the water tower, and it may soon be gone, after a few more decades of high flow due to glacier melt.

The phrase Asia’s water tower also sets up misleading images in many minds, by suggesting that most of the water in the Brahmaputra comes from Tibet. Thus people suppose that when the level of water in the Brahmaputra is unusually low it must be due to something happening in Tibet such as China building the Zangmu hydro electric dam. Equally, when there are floods in Assam or Bangladesh, people assume it must be due to something happening in Tibet. In fact, the monsoon rains in eastern India, on the southern slopes of the Himalayas are extremely heavy, and it is likely that both drought and flood in eastern India and Bangladesh are not so much affected by Tibet. Not enough measurements have been done to be sure of this, but that is what the limited evidence suggests.

The metaphor of the water tower suggests downstream countries are right to be fearful of China’s hold on the water tower, because they might lock the water tower in a series of dams and deprive downstream users. But if the Brahmaputra is not so deeply reliant on Tibetan water, this is a fear with little basis. However, we keep repeating such statements, because it is a well developed Tibetan habit to appeal to Indian fears, and to feed them. There are plenty of Indians fearful of, or suspicious of China. That is a familiar audience to exiled Tibetans; it is a reason why Indians become friends with Tibetans, by sharing a common fear.

There is only one river arising in Tibet which may soon be severely blocked by China and that is the Mekong. Not only is Tibet the water tower of the Mekong, rising deep in Tibet, in Nagchu Hor, but there are so many Chinese dams built or under construction on the Mekong, in Tibet or where the Tibetan Plateau falls away to the lowlands. This will cause many problems, including increased risk of earthquakes due to the weight of water in the dams, siltation, interrupting the life cycles of fish, and other impacts. The water released from hydro dams no longer corresponds with

seasonal cycles or even natural daily cycles, and creates many artificial problems.

Yet it is important to make a clear distinction between hydro dams that are built only to generate electricity, from hydro dams intended to capture water and divert it away from the river, either for local irrigation or long distance transfer. We seldom make that basic distinction, so people downstream imagine that China’s dams are massive, and will rob them of water they need badly. The reality is that until now, if we look at all the middle sized and large dams China has built in Tibet, or is currently constructing, not one is designed to divert water away from the river.

In India, few people know much about dams, or make the distinction between a dam for electricity and a dam for water diversion. As long as the primary audience for Tibetan messages is India, this may not be a problem. But in the wider world, it would be foolish if we do not take care to be clear about which dangers are real, and which are due to excessive imagination.

Tibetans will not be taken seriously, anywhere outside India, if they claim that all Chinese dams threaten the water supply of all downstream countries.

WHYDOESALLOFTHIS MATTER? Metaphors are powerful. They shape the imagination; they take hold in the mind, and set up further connections. China understands the power of metaphors by choosing phrases like ecological migrants and grain to green to mask processes that actually cause much displacement, suffering and loss of livelihood.

Familiar metaphors tend to be taken literally, no longer as metaphors. If a metaphor oversimplifies reality, much is left out, that may be useful or even necessary.

It is timely for us to look afresh at these familiar images used to represent Tibet, as we learn how to effectively engage with audiences worldwide.

The ten phrases listed above include some that are used exclusively by China, some only Tibetans, some that are shared, but with differing connotations. All are clichés in the sense that they are over-used, taken for granted, naturalised, too well-known to any longer stimulate the imagination, too general and vague to demand attention.

This is a not a question of right and wrong, as if a simple dualism was all we need. It may seem harsh to label all these key metaphors as clichés, since phrases such as Tibet Third Pole and Asia’s water tower have become central to the Tibetan effort to motivate the wider world to take seriously the dangers facing the Tibetan Plateau.

Cliches are neither true nor not true. They are a tired shorthand way of compressing much, in a quest for a clear, simple, brief, memorable message. This is very necessary in a world of limited attention, and so much information competing for our minds to focus on. We do need to simplify, but if we also want to move people to action, we need to keep our language fresh, and avoid clichés, as George Orwell reminds us. Being fresh and brief is hard, a constant pressure to avoid clichés as favourite shortcuts. Cliches are not necessarily wrong, but they don’t turn minds. Turning minds is our work.

DOWE NEED NEW METAPHORS? Metaphors are all we have: there is no objective, eternal truth out there, the Buddhists tell us. Metaphors wear out with overuse. They become too familiar and we forget what it is that they are pointing us to. We always need fresh metaphors.

We also need new evocative metaphors for some of the ways that Tibet is special, which we seldom notice, partly because there is no metaphor that captures it.

For example, the meteorological scientists tell us that the Tibetan Plateau is a major driver of the monsoons of India and China and SE Asia. Over the tropical oceans –both the Indian Ocean/Bay of Bengal and over the South China Sea- heavy clouds build up, but what is it that draws them inland, bearing billions of tons of water? The secret is that it is the heating of the Tibetan Plateau in spring, creating a massive low pressure system in the atmosphere over Tibet, which brings the clouds far inland.

How come we seldom mention this, since we are always keen to explain to the world that Tibet is special, a Third Pole, a water tower? Maybe it is because no-one has come up yet with a metaphor, a phrase that captures this dynamic. Perhaps we need a competition to come up with a memorable metaphor for this process, which meteorologists define in mechanical language, such as engine, driver, dynamic and forcing: words that don’t effectively express what is so extraordinary about millions of tons of water floating through the sky, magnetised by the annual heating of the Third Pole.

Any ideas for a fresh metaphor?