TIBETAN Bulletin the Official Journal of the Central Tibetan Administration Volume 25 - Issue 1 January- February 2021
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TIBETAN BulletiN THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE CENTRAL TIBETAN ADMINISTRATION VOLUME 25 - ISSUE 1 JANUARY- FEBRUARY 2021 News from Tibet and Exile Exile Tibetans Hold Preliminary Election for Sikyong and Members of 17th Tibetan Parliament ***** Feature His Holiness the Dalai Lama Holds Virtual Conversation with Mayors on Kind and Compassionate Leadership ***** Focus Central Tibetan Administration Strongly Rejects Chinese Government’s False Accusations www.tibet.net/en/tibbul www.tibet.net/en/tibbul News From Tibet and Exile 04 Exile Tibetans Hold Preliminary Election for 2021 Sikyong and TIBETAN Members of 17th Tibetan Parliament BulletiN Tibetan Bulletin is an official bi-monthly 05 A Tibetan Tour Guide Dies from Prison Injuries in Driru, Tibet journal of the Central Tibetan Administration. 06 China Sentenced a Tibetan to 13 years in 2013, News Emerges amid Clampdown 07 UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet Discusses Tibet at Virtual Meeting 08 Japanese Parliamentarians Reaffirm Support to Tibetans at General Meeting Signed articles or quotations do not 09 Czech Parliamentary Group for Tibet Reaffirms Continued Support necessarily reflect the views of the Central for Tibet on Tibetan Losar Tibetan Administration. Contributions are welcome and may be addressed to the editor, Tibetan Bulletin. Focus However the publisher regrets its inability 10 Sikyong Welcomes Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act of US to return unused articles unless they are accompanied by a self-addressed envelope 11 Election Commission Declares Result of Preliminary Election of with adequate postage. Sikyong and Members of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile Tibetan Bulletin is distributed free of charge. To subscribe please email the 14 China Warns Tibetan Internet Users of “Strike Hard” Campaign circulation manager or see back cover. for Dissenting Acts Editor 15 Central Tibetan Administration Rejects China’s False Accusations Jamphel Shonu Against the Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA) 2020 Email: [email protected] Feature Circulation Manager Norbu Wangdue 22 His Holiness the Dalai Lama Holds a Virtual Conversation with Email: [email protected] Mayors on Kind and Compassionate Leadership Tibetan Bulletin is published by: Department of Information and International Relations, Central Tibetan Administration, World Press Dharamshala - 176 215 H.P. India Tel: +91-1892-222510 / 222457 30 China Tries to Disrupt Tibetan Parliamentary Elections Vol. 25, Issue 1 JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2021 REGULARS News From Tibet & Exile ......4 Contact ......................................31 Quotes ............................32 EDITORIAL China Attempts to Mislead International Community on Human Rights Despite the large-scale violation of hu- human rights is applied to China, China However, in February 2021, there ap- man rights by the Chinese government, falls woefully short of the international peared a small crack on this digital wall. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi was standard. Even in the case of the Inter- The crack, albeit brief and temporary, invited to address the 46th session of the national Bill of Rights, of which China revealed the diversity of opinions and United Nations’ Human Rights Council is a signatory, it is still far from being the compassionate nature of China’s on 22 February. In the address, Wang Yi implemented in any of China’s provinc- everyday citizens toward the brutal poli- proposed a ‘people-centered’ approach es let alone the ethnic minority regions. cies of the Communist party. to human rights and described Tibet and Tibetans and Uyghurs continue to face East Turkestan as ‘shining examples’ of individual as well as collective human This crack on the digital wall appeared human rights progress in China. This ad- rights abuses in terms of faith, language, after Clubhouse, a new social media app dress at the UN Human Rights Council, as well as basic political rights like arrived on the tech horizon. The popu- the highest pedestal of global human equality before the law. For the Chinese larity of the app in China and in the rest rights, by a Chinese state official is not government, legality is governed less of the world was so sudden and rapid only a mockery of the UN’s ideals but by legal codification but by extralegal that the censorship machinery in China his statement also belies the real human norms such as ideology, party and the couldn’t respond swiftly. This allowed a rights situation inside Tibet and other continuing policy of state intervention few days of uncensored communication parts of China. in personal and cultural domains instead between Mandarin Chinese speakers of judicial action. from the mainland and those from the Since the founding of the People’s Re- rest of the world to speak their minds. public of China in 1949, the issue of hu- As such, Chinese foreign minister Wang man rights have bedeviled the Chinese Yi’s address at the UN Human Rights The app saw people from the Chinese government. China’s brutal suppression Council is an affront to the genuine as- mainland join those from Taiwan, Hong of human rights in its minority regions pirations and sufferings of the Tibetans, Kong, the global Chinese diaspora and like Tibet and East Turkestan, and lately Uyghurs and other oppressed people in anybody else who was interested in dis- in Hong Kong, have made China into a China and elsewhere. Rather than being cussing diverse topics ranging from the constant target of global human rights shining examples of human rights prog- politically charged to other mundane organizations and the international com- ress, Tibet and East Turkestan are shin- topics. The app became so popular in munity. In order to avoid this interna- ing examples of human rights violation China in such a short span of time that tional condemnation, China has lately with complete disregard to international on multiple Chinese ecommerce sites, tried to redefine human rights in a So- law and liberal values. invite codes were reportedly being sold cialist formulation. In this formulation, for as much as 400 Yuan. economic prosperity is described as the Clubhouse Moment: A Brief Crack in fundamental pursuit of human rights, the Great Firewall of China This brief crack on the wall, unsurpris- taking precedence over everything else. ingly, came to an end after a few days. Another event in the last two months However, for that brief moment, Chinese This attempt at redefining human rights that drew attention towards China was people within China proved that they are by putting an economic spin by China the sudden popularity of Clubhouse, an as diverse and dynamic in their aspira- is deeply problematic and misleading. invite-only app that briefly connected tions as well as expressions as any other. Human rights is a set of values derived netizens from inside and outside China. It was reported that while some argued from international consensus, and eco- This moment signified a brief crack in for the rights of the people to express nomic development is just one among China’s massive censorship wall. their opinions, some expressed sympa- the cluster of values that constitute hu- thy for the situation in East Turkestan. man rights. China’s selective interpreta- One of China’s most effective tool to tion of ‘human rights’ to suit their po- control its citizens has been the Great The main takeaway from this whole litical agenda is an attempt to mislead Firewall of China, otherwise known Clubhouse episode was that it helped the global community from the stages as the Golden Shield Project. The debunk the image of the Chinese pub- of the highest and most reputable lib- Great Firewall is a digital wall that lic as a servile monolithic mass that is eral organization in the world. This prevents China’s 1.4 billion people in complete agreement with the Chinese politically-motivated attempt at rede- from speaking freely online. Due to government’s repressive policies. It ex- fining human rights should not disguise this lack of authentic voice from in- posed the possibility that even within the essential fact that in international side China, Chinese people are often China, there is strong opposition among law, human rights should constitute misrepresented by the state media as a Han Chinese citizens to China’s repres- the whole spectrum of political, civil, giant monolith, without any diversity sive policies. social, economic, and cultural rights. of opinions or nuances in aspiration. Jamphel Shonu If the whole set of values that constitute Editor JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021 TIBETAN BULLETIN 3 NEWS FROM TIBET & EXILE EU Calls Upon China closed doors. In May 2018, a Chinese (iii) To employ the eight centuries old court in Yulshul sentenced Tashi unique Tibetan traditional method in to Ensure Tashi Wangchuk to five years in prison and an searching and recognizing the next Da- additional five years of deprivation of lai Lama. Wangchuk’s Release is political rights. ‘Unconditional’ Exile Tibetans Hold After Tibetan language rights advocate Information on Tashi Wangchuk’s health Preliminary Election Tashi Wangchuk’s release from five- could not be ascertained at this moment year imprisonment arbitrarily imposed except for his lawyer’s tweet. for Sikyong and by the Chinese government, the Members of 17th European Union issued a statement Despite the Chinese Constitution calling upon “the Chinese authorities guaranteeing the right to use and Tibetan Parliament to ensure that Mr Wangchuk’s release is develop minority languages and as unconditional and that he is able to enjoy enshrined in the international human his fundamental freedoms, including rights law, to ensure the protection of freedom of movement and residence.” native languages critical to maintaining culture and identity. In practice, Tibetans The EU has also urged the authorities face restrictions on freedom of religion to conduct a thorough investigation or belief, and freedom of education in into allegations of mistreatment, torture a minority language. It often incurs and abuses on Mr Wangchuk while in punishment in the form of detention, disappearances and deaths in detention.