Tibet Digest July 2019

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Tibet Digest is a monthly publication brought out by FNVA containing relevant news pertaining to Tibet, Chinese politics and Sino Indian relations that appear mostly but not restricted to the Chinese state media.

www.fnvaworld.org (under update) 143, 4th Floor, Uday Park, New Delhi, 49 offi[email protected]

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 1 July 2019 1 China’s Tibet Policy 6

320 villages listed as key rural tourism spots 6

China dispatches 2,307 young cadres in aid for Tibet, Qinghai 6

Tibet relics to be exhibited in Beijing 7

Tibetans Beaten, Detained in Kardze Over Dalai Lama Photos 7

11th Panchen Lama goes to Ngari for Buddhist activities 8

Tibetan Jailed in Qinghai For Listening to Foreign News Broadcasts is Freed Early For ‘Good Behavior’ 9

26 prehistoric human activity sites discovered on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau 9

Tibet funds poor students through paper recycling 10

Reservation required for visiting Potala Palace 10

Top political advisor stresses ethnic, religious affairs, poverty alleviation 10

Tibetan Buddhism Suppressed: Lamas Closely Monitored, Temple Destroyed 11

Lhasa posts double-digit increase of visitor arrivals 12

Travel Restrictions Imposed on Sichuan’s Yachen Gar Buddhist Center 12

Communist China to provide ‘guidance’ to temples, churches 13

China denies reports of having Xinjiang-like mass detention camps in Tibet 14

Top political adviser praises work of religious committee 14

China forces tourists to install an app that steals data 15

Thousands of Monks, Nuns ‘Politically Re-Educated’ After Eviction From Sichuan’s Yachen Gar 15 Environment 16

China Establishes AI monitoring platform to protect wildlife 16

Air pollutants from South Asia linked to glaciers melting 17

Scientists launch survey on depth of major lake in Tibet 17

Yueyang's diligent protection of the Yangtze River 18

Chinese scientists launch survey on depth of major lake in Tibet 18

China’s Three Gorges Dam Surrounded by Geological Faults 19

China says Three Gorges Dam safe after satellite images show structure ‘at risk of collapse’ 20

Chinese scientists launch program to tackle glacier melting on Tibetan Plateau 21

East and South Asia Are the Largest Sources of Black Carbon Blanketing the Tibetan Plateau 21

China cleans up rural environment 23

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau plays key role in enhancing East Asian monsoon under global warming 23

Lhasa launches 80 new energy buses to protect the environment 24

China Focus: Herdsmen guarding China's "water tower” 24

Tibet combats severe drought using artificial rain 25

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 2 New buoy system adopted to monitor lake environment in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau 25 Military and Infrastructure Development 26

10 Chinese officers promoted to rank of general 26

Xi stresses focusing on reform to strengthen military 26

Earth’s largest radio telescope identifies 86 pulsars 27

Chinese Navy increases aircraft carrier pilot recruits 27

China launches new remote sensing satellites 28

White paper expounds on missions, tasks of China's armed forces in new era 28

Number of noncombatants in Chinese military almost halved 28

Russia, China To Cooperate On Creation Of Ultra Powerful Lasers - Russian Scientists 29

China #1 in quantum entanglement 30

India building 61 strategic roads along Pakistan, China borders 30

Tibet Military Region forces mobilize to Xinjiang for live-fire mock combat exercise 30

Sichuan-Tibet Railway progress picks up steam 31

China to launch constellation of remote sensing satellites 32 China Politics 32

China to unveil more measures to boost consumption, tourism 32

CPC meeting analyzes economic situation, reviews accountability regulation, inspection report 32

Xi presides over symposium for soliciting advice on economic work 34 Sino-Indian Relations 35

India-China talks on vexed LAC issue on track: Eastern Army Commander 36

India-China border trade through Lipulekh Pass gathers pace 37

India, China to hold joint military drill in Meghalaya in December 37

Amended India-China tax treaty protocol enters into force 37

China Returns To Dirty Tricks Over Arunachal Pradesh, Claims Bomdila Earthquake In Tibet 38

Trade point planned at India-China LAC 38

Number of transgressions along India-China border have 39

Centre To Connect 496 India-China Border Villages With IMSAT Satellite 40

Did Chinese Troops Really Enter Deep Into Ladakh To Stop Dalai Lama’s Birthday Celebrations? 40

‘LAC protests not possible without China support’ 41

Army chief refutes report of Chinese incursion in Demchok 41

Sikkim: Bust of Iron man of Natula Inaugurated at Natula 41

India keeping close watch on Chinese dams on Brahmaputra 42 China and the Region 42

The elusive China-Nepal rail link: High costs and risks, uncertain benefits 42

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 3 Needed: A trilateral pact on the Brahmaputra river 43

In new pact, Nepal and China agree to increase weekly flights to 98 44

China majorly increasing footprint in Nepal: Experts 45

China gifts warship to Sri Lanka 46

‘Liberal’ policy chief unlikely to mean a softening on Xinjiang from China 47

India & Nepal: China Lurks But Here Is How We Can Deal With It 49 Tibet in Exile 51

The Dalai Lama legacy: India needs diplomatic policy on the succession issue 51

China Says It Must Select Next Dalai Lama; India Warned Not To Interfere – Analysis 52

US congressman warns China not to meddle in Dalai Lama's succession 53

China can’t pick the new Dalai Lama, say Tibetans 53

Tibet: China's Oppression of Minority Groups Goes Beyond Its Own Borders 54

Taiwan's ruling party calls for close cooperation with Tibet 57

UK Lawmaker Proposes Bill For Reciprocal Access to Tibet 57

Tibetans won’t recognize China-appointed Dalai Lama 58

Special Tibetan general meeting in Oct to discuss reincarnation 59

Tibetans decry Chinese claims on Dalai Lama successor 59

Pompeo: China Pressured Some Countries to Stay Away From the Religious Freedom Meeting 60

China has no right to choose my successor says Dalai Lama 61

Nyima Lhamo urges President Donald Trump for U.S. support for Tibet 61

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Calls for Sanctions Against Xinjiang Party Boss Chen Quanguo 63

Dalai Lama Representative Dismisses Chinese Pressure on India Over Reincarnation 65

China just explicating power showcase: Tibetan administration 66

China says Dalai Lama’s successor should be chosen within the country, India should not interfere 67

Disregard for China's Dalai Lama could affect ties: Beijing 67

Slovak president attacks Beijing’s human rights record 68

Nepal bans spiritual events of Tibetan refugees, further undermining their rights 69

Prague mayor Zdenek Hrib defies Beijing with support for Taiwan and Tibet 71

UNESCO fails its mission to protect unique landscape of Three Parallel Rivers in Tibet 72 Commentaries 74

China’s Military White Paper 2019 – OpEd 74

Inside China’s national defence White Paper 75

Himalayan Blunder : When India gave up on Tibet and what it needs to do now 77

Huawei Technologies’ Links to Chinese State Security 81

Climate emergency in Tibet 81

The Increasing Security Focus in China’s Arctic Policy 82

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 4 How WeChat Conquered Tibet 88

Melting glaciers could destabilize Asia 90

‘We’re Almost Extinct: China’s Investigative Journalists Are Silenced under Xi’ 92

The World Needs a Water Treaty 92

The Dalai Lama is within his rights to visit Arunachal Pradesh 94

Which way will the Tibet-Nepal railway go? 97 New Publications 99

In China Dream 99

The State of Ecology of the Tibetan Plateau 99

The McMahon Line: A Century of Discord 99

China’s New Red Guards: The Return of Radicalism and the Rebirth of Mao Zedong. 99

Will Tibet Ever Find Her Soul Again?: India Tibet Relations 1947-1962 - Part 2 99

Tibet: When the Gods Spoke India Tibet Relations (1947-1962) Part 3 (July 1954 - February 1957) 99

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 5 providing a 100 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) China’s Tibet Policy credit limit to the nation’s key rural tourism villages in the next five years. Social capital is also welcome to take a part in the construction of countryside homestays, the 320 villages listed as key rural head of the ministry said. tourism spots According to a report on national rural tourism chinadaily.com development released at the conference, the July, 30, 2019 total number of rural tourism visits reached 1.51 billion in the first half of 2019, an China will support the development of increase of 10.2 percent year-on-year, while homestay accomodation in the countryside the total income of rural tourism stood at 860 and will regard it as an important factor in the billion yuan, an 11.7 percent increase over the transformation and upgrading of the country’s same period of 2018. rural tourism, according to a rural tourism In addition, the total number of people (homestay) works conference held Sunday in employed in rural tourism in China reached Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan province, 8.86 million by the end of June, an increase of Xinhua reported. 7.6 percent year-on-year. A list of key rural tourism spots was also released at the conference, containing 320 villages in China that were jointly selected by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the China dispatches 2,307 young National Development and Reform cadres in aid for Tibet, Qinghai Commission. Xinhua, July 30, 2019 The head of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism stressed at the conference that the A total of 2,307 Chinese young cadres were standardized development of homestays in the selected to support the local development of countryside should be taken as an important Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai starting point for the transformation and Province, with those from central units arriving upgrade of rural tourism. in the capital cities of Lhasa and Xining Countryside homestays should adhere to the Monday. village’s own characteristics and should not Selected from 105 central units and 17 become a clone of the city hotel or a provinces and municipalities by the refurbishment of agritainment, according to the Organization Department of the Communist head of the ministry. Party of China Central Committee and the It should also meet the needs of mass Ministry of Human Resources and Social consumption instead of luxury consumption, Security, the cadres will spend three years in which deviates from its original purpose. the regions. The development of countryside homestays The total number of cadres selected this time should combine with poverty alleviation work, increased by 492 from three years ago, and the head of the ministry stressed, adding that 97 percent of the cadres have a bachelor farmers and financially-struck households degree or above. should be encouraged and guided to They include 181 people specialized in participate in providing homestay services as a medical care and 400 specialized in education way of rising up from poverty. based on the urgent need for such talent in Rural tourism should follow the path of green Tibet and Qinghai. development and put rural protection as the The group bound for Tibet is the ninth of its primary concern. Large-scale demolition of kind, while the one for Qinghai is the fourth. rural buildings that will undermine the original style of the countryside should be avoided. A plan to provide special financial support to key rural tourism villages in China was announced, with China Agricultural Bank

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 6 Tibet relics to be exhibited in rest of China will improve cultural communication. Beijing For the exhibition, 140 articles from the Palace Museum and 80 from Tashihunpo Monastery Thousands of kilometers lie between the have been selected. They cover a wide time Forbidden City in Beijing, China's imperial span, from the first to the ninth Panchen Lama, palace complex from 1420 to 1911, and the roughly from the 14th century to the 1930s. Tashihunpo Monastery in Shigatse Tibet "Tashihunpo is a trove of cultural splendour, Autonomous Region, built in 1447 and now the but opportunities to showcase that are rare," seat of the Panchen Lama, a Tibetan spiritual said Liu Shizhong, director of the cultural leader. heritage administration of the Tibet The two historic buildings are of immense Autonomous Rregion. "Most exhibits from importance to China since they both have Tashihunpo have not been moved from the helped maintain social stability and harmony monastery in centuries. among different ethnic groups in the past half "They not only prove Tibet has been an millennia. inalienable part of China since ancient times, Now they will be joined by a major, three- but also explain Chinese people's wish for month exhibition on Tibetan heritage set to good fortune through auspicious signs," he open in December in the Meridian Gate said. Gallery at the Beijing complex, which is now Tashihunpo became the seat of the Panchen the Palace Museum. Lama in 1607 during the Ming Dynasty In an announcement on Tuesday, Wang (1368-1644). Qing Emperor Kangxi bestowed Xudong, director of the Palace Museum, said the honorary title Panchen Erdeni on the fifth the exhibition, featuring over 220 cultural Panchen Lama in 1713, and gave him a gold relics, will be the first thematic display of seal, meaning the religious title was formally cultural relics of the Panchen Lama in the 94- recognized by the central government of year history of the Forbidden City as a public China. The seal will be on display in the museum. upcoming exhibition, according to Luo The museum also will launch a series of heavy Wenhua, a researcher at the Palace Museum weight exhibitions celebrating the 600th and curator of the exhibition. anniversary in 2020, of the founding of the "There was a social upheaval from the second Forbidden City. half of the 17th century to the first half of 18th The Manchu royal family of the Qing Dynasty century," Luo said. "The Qing Dynasty was (1644-1911) piously followed Tibetan enduring a long process of uniting the country, Buddhism. The Palace Museum houses over and the Panchen Lamas made great 40,000 cultural relics associated with that contributions as religious leaders to religion, including many gilded Buddhist maintaining the stability of Tibet and the rule statues and thangka (Tibetan Buddhist painted of the Qing central government in the region." scrolls). In subsequent years, exchanges between the "When I met the (11th) Panchen Lama, we had Qing royal court and Panchen Lamas were a pleasant review of development in Tibet in frequent－many gifts were exchanged between recent years," Wang recalled. "And I really Beijing and Shigatse. appreciated that he cared very much about the Tibetan Buddhist relics in the Palace Museum. Tibetans Beaten, Detained in "We nurtured an idea to use these legacies left Kardze Over Dalai Lama Photos by ancient people reflecting the close RFA, July 29, 2019 connection between the central government and Tibet throughout time. They are the best Police in western China’s Sichuan province evidence of historical memories." beat Tibetan villagers found with photos of the Wang added that exchange of collections of Dalai Lama in their homes following the exiled Buddhist cultural relics between Tibet and the spiritual leader’s birthday this month, detaining others who had performed public

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 7 prayers for the Dalai Lama’s long life, Tibetan leaders as a “separatist,” have long been sources said. restricted in the Tibet Autonomous Region and The assaults took place after officials in western Chinese provinces, officials are now conducted a search of subsidized housing in traveling even to hard-to-reach nomadic areas two resettlement communities in Palyul (in to enforce the ban, Jigme said. Chinese, Baiyu) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Chinese officials from government bureaus Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, a local source monitoring religious practice are also visiting told RFA’s Tibetan Service. Tibetan schools and warning teachers and “They found the photos of the Dalai Lama on students not to keep or display the photos, display in the homes, when they were Jigme said, adding that local Tibetans have inspecting the housing units,” RFA’s source also been urged to tell high-ranking Chinese said, speaking on condition of anonymity. visitors of the “big improvements in their living “Later the local officials returned, conditions” owing to government subsidies. accompanied by armed police dressed in The Dalai Lama fled Tibet into exile in India in black, and took down and confiscated all the the midst of a failed 1959 national uprising photos, beating and slapping anyone who had against Chinese rule, and displays by Tibetans put the pictures up in their homes.” of the Dalai Lama’s photo or public Members of the two resettlement communities celebrations of his birthday have been harshly had also burnt juniper and recited prayers on punished in the pst. the occasion of the Dalai Lama’s 84th birthday on July 6, and several residents had been detained by police, the source said. 11th Panchen Lama goes to Ngari “Consequently, tensions remain high, with for Buddhist activities several people in the communities taken into tibet.cn, July 29, 2019 custody.” Only residents of the state-subsidized homes in the Tromey and Natha resettlement communities had been attacked by police, with Tibetans not part of the government housing scheme were spared from the searches and violence, he said. Details of the date of the assaults and detentions and the names and number of those detained were not immediately available, RFA’s source said. Authorities in Kardze had earlier launched a new push against possession of photos of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, The 11th Panchen Erdeni Choskyi Gyalpo traveling to remote areas that had previously recently arrived in Ngari, Tibet to carry out escaped police attention, Tibetan sources said Buddhist activities. in earlier reports. On July 21, the 11th Panchen Lama arrived at The campaign, which began at the end of Chuguo Temple at the foot of Gangdise Holy April, targeted Serthar county in Kardze but is Mountain and on the southern banks of Lake also being enforced in other areas of the Manasarovar and held a grand lake worship eastern Tibetan region historically known as ceremony. As one of three major holy lakes in Kham, a Tibetan living in Switzerland said. Tibet, beautiful Lake Manasarovar is a holy “Chinese officials have banned the display of place for Buddhists to worship. Dalai Lama photos in every family home of my Hearing that the 11th Panchen Lama would native place in Serthar,” former political come to Chuguo Temple, local people dressed prisoner Golog Jigme said, citing sources in in festive clothing and came one after another, the county. waiting for the 11th Panchen Lama to receive Though possession and display of photos of his blessings. the Dalai Lama, widely reviled by Chinese

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 8 On July 22, the 11th Panchen Lama visited But now, with a Chinese national campaign Khorchak Monastery, a famous monastery of against “black and evil forces” in full swing in the Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Khorchak Tibetan areas, family members and friends in Monastery, located in Burang County, was the community are finding it “inconvenient” to built by the Tibetan translator Rinchen Zangpo openly celebrate Rabgye’s release, he added. in the year 996 AD and is over 1,000 years Writing to RFA, another Tibetan source old. described Rabgye as a “man of action.” “What Yonten Rabgye endured for so many years in prison was not because of some trivial Tibetan Jailed in Qinghai For personal matter, but because of his sincere Listening to Foreign News love, loyalty, and patriotism for the Tibetan Broadcasts is Freed Early For ‘Good people,” the source said. Foreign news broadcasts are heavily restricted Behavior’ in Tibetan areas of China, and authorities RFA, July 29, 2019 frequently monitor online discussions and search cellphones for what they consider Authorities in northwestern China’s Qinghai politically sensitive content. province have released a Tibetan man jailed for just over four years for accessing news reports by foreign broadcasters, releasing him 26 prehistoric human activity sites early for “good behavior” and hard work in discovered on Qinghai-Tibet prison, according to a Tibetan source. Yonten Rabgye, a native of Chigdril (in Plateau Chinese, Jiuzhi) county in the Golog (Guoluo) tibet.cn, July 25, 2019 Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, was freed on July 26, just under two years before his six- Researchers have found 26 prehistoric sites year sentence was due to end, and was taken with evidence of human activities during an to his hometown by police, a local source told expedition to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, RFA’s Tibetan Service. according to the Institute of Tibetan Plateau “Some of his family members and relatives had Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. gone to welcome him at the prison gate, but The research covers 16 counties and three Chinese policemen escorted him home,” prefectures in southwest China's Tibet RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of Autonomous Region spanning around 8,000 anonymity. square kilometers. A total of 58 prehistoric “At present, his overall health condition is in sites with evidence of human activities have terrible shape, but there is no visible damage been found, 13 of them are of great to his limbs,” the source said, adding, “At the significance for archeological studies, moment, it is not clear to what extent the according to the researchers. Chinese authorities may restrict his movements "Discovery of these sites is one of the greatest and conduct in the future.” achievements of this expedition," said Yang Arrested in Chigdril on March 13, 2015 and Xiaoyan, who heads a team of the expedition, charged with “accessing illegal Tibetan news "through further studies, we can reveal the content,” Rabgye was sentenced to a six-year geographical changes, social and economic term, of which he served four years and four conditions and even technological months before being released, the source said. communication of the prehistoric humans in the “Rabgye’s mother fell ill and passed away region." only two-and-a-half months into his sentence, The field research and sampling have been and he could not see her before she died,” he completed and the research team will conduct said. further analysis and tests on the gathered “Yonten Rabgye is an ordinary nomad who samples. The teams will also conduct studies on gets along well with others and is known as a the 1,442 pieces of stoneware found at the well-mannered person in his community,” the sites. source said. The expedition is part of the second comprehensive scientific expedition to the

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 9 Qinghai-Tibet Plateau that began in June 2017. Reservation required for visiting Lasting five to 10 years, the expedition will conduct a series of studies focusing on the Potala Palace plateau's glaciers, biodiversity and ecological Xinhua, July 22, 2019 changes, and will also monitor changes in the LHASA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- From Sunday, to region's climate. visit the World Heritage site Potala Palace in China's first comprehensive scientific expedition Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet to the plateau took place in the 1970s and Autonomous Region, tourists should make an covered more than 50 disciplines including appointment one day in advance. structural geology, paleontology, geophysics, "Visitors can book tickets through the official climatology, zoology and botany. website. They can also make reservations at the ticket office with their ID cards," said the Tibet funds poor students through palace's administrative office. The reservation service will start from 8 a.m., paper recycling and each person can reserve up to four tickets. Xinhua, July 24, 2019 July is the peak tourist season in Tibet. Apart LHASA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's from the Potala Palace, the Jokhang Temple in Tibet Autonomous Region is seeking an Lhasa will also adopt the appointment system environmentally friendly model of poverty for visitors to come at specified time as of alleviation by raising funds for poor students Sunday. through waste paper recycling. From July 22, an appointment to visit from Twenty needy students from Shuanghu County 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. should be made one in the hinterland of Tibet, the world's highest day in advance, and the appointment service county with an average elevation of 5,000 is available from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., said the meters, started their summer learning in the administrative committee of the Jokhang regional capital Lhasa on Wednesday, with Temple. their costs covered by the proceeds of recycled S t a t i s t i c s f ro m t h e re g i o n a l t o u r i s m paper. administration show that in the first half of "It is my first time in Lhasa, and I'd like to have 2019, Tibet received about 13.4 million a look at the Potala Palace," said Losang tourists, an increase of 20.2 percent year on Gyacan, a fifth grader. The students will also year. Nearly 13.3 million domestic tourists and enjoy a drone show and visit the Tibet Museum more than 118,600 international tourists visited of Natural Science. The public welfare Tibet from January to June, up 20 percent and program was co-launched by the Tibet Charity 53.5 percent year on year, respectively. Federation and Yixing Social Service Center, a The purpose of adopting the appointment local non-profit organization. system is to solve the contradiction between Wang Tao, Yixing's founder, said that the the protection and utilization of cultural relics money raised through recycling will also be and to ensure the sustainable utilization of the used to provide free tutoring every weekend to Potala Palace and other cultural resources, poor students in several communities in Lhasa, according to the official website of the Potala Xigaze and other cities in the region. Palace. As of early July, 39 public institutions and social enterprises have responded to the Top political advisor stresses ethnic, program and collected nearly 40,000 kg of waste paper, raising more than 35,000 yuan religious affairs, poverty alleviation (about 5,092 U.S. dollars). tibet.cn July 19, 2019 "With the support of social sectors, it is worthwhile to explore this model of 'recycling China's top political advisor Wang Yang for poverty alleviation' to improve education," underlined the efforts to properly handle said Hu Yong, deputy secretary of the ethnic and religious affairs, push forward Communist Party of China Shuanghu County poverty relief and maintain control of the fight Committee. against separatism.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 10 Wang, a member of the Standing Committee Chinese name Wutaishan) in Xinzhou, a city of of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party the northern province of Shanxi. The mountain of China Central Committee and Chairman of was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the National Committee of the Chinese 2009, and it is one of the Four Sacred People's Political Consultative Conference, Mountains of Chinese Buddhism and home to made the statement during an inspection trip to the most important China’s monasteries and northwest China's Qinghai Province on temples. Tuesday and Wednesday. Also known as Qingliang Bridge, Jixiang He instructed the province, home to a large Temple was built originally during the reign of number of ethnic Tibetan people, to uphold the the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and expanded Party's principles on religious affairs, over the years, adding more buildings. Guru streamline the management of temples and Nenghai (能海上師, 1886-1967), an eminent monasteries and stand firm against the Buddhist monk, once established a place for infiltration of foreign forces. performing Tantric rites there, promoted He urged Qinghai to utilize both law-based Tibetan Buddhism, and cultivated many administration over religious affairs and self- eminent monks. management of religious circles. According to knowledgeable local sources, The local authorities were told to respond to starting in March, police officers were the increasing interaction among ethnic groups stationed at Jixiang Temple, restricting lamas and create favorable conditions for different from traveling or holding religious activities ethnic groups to live, study and work together, and meeting with the Buddhists residing so as to support more extensive and deeper outside the temple. Before, more than 70 exchanges. surveillance cameras were installed in the Wang also asked authorities in Tibetan- temple. Every pilgrim or tourist who visits the inhabited regions to advance poverty temple must have their ID information alleviation projects, address problems such as registered and faces questioning by police. safe drinking water and housing, develop local A sign “Temple Under Maintenance; No specialty industries and protect the natural Admittance” has been displayed at the environment. entrance to the temple, and tourists are nowhere to be seen. But in reality, maintenance work on the temple was ordered Tibetan Buddhism Suppressed: to be stopped a long time ago. Lamas Closely Monitored, Temple Another source who requested anonymity Destroyed revealed that the local government repeatedly Bitter Winter, a magazine on religious liberty and human issued orders, prohibiting temples from rights in China, receiving lamas from other areas because of July 18, 2019, Zhang Feng (Pseudonym) the current focus on suppressing Tibetan Buddhism. If a lama comes to seek refuge, he Two temples in Shanxi were subjected to or she must be taken to the county’s Religious crackdowns: authorities have taken full control Affairs Bureau for investigation. The officials The clampdown on Tibetan Buddhism is in full also threatened Buddhists to revoke the over one of them, while the other has been temple’s religious venue registration certificate turned into ruins, lama arrested. if they go against the regulations. force in the year marking the 60th anniversary According to the source, the government wants of the Battle of Lhasa that brutally ended to investigate all lamas from Tibet who have Tibet’s autonomy and forced the Dalai Lama to come to the area to spread Buddhism, because exile. Two more temples in the of their fear of Tibetan independence and the northern province of Shanxi succumbed to Dalai Lama’s influence. the CCP’s persecution. Police bring arrested handcuffed lama to Temple remains in the name only watch temple demolition Jixiang Temple (literally translated as Another temple in Wutai county was forcibly Auspicious Temple) is located on Mount Wutai demolished in the winter. One lama was (also known as Mount Qingliang or by its

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 11 arrested, while other believers and masters scenic spots and discounted flights during the were dispersed. winter. According to a villager, the name of the arrested lama is Kabpa. Having come from Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the Travel Restrictions Imposed on southwestern province of Sichuan, he has lived Sichuan’s Yachen Gar Buddhist in Wutai county for more than 20 years. Center An eyewitness said that three days after RFA, July 15, 2019 Kabpa was arrested, the local government dispatched approximately 200 personnel, Authorities in western China’s Sichuan including armed police and firefighters, to province have imposed tight travel restrictions demolish the temple’s 16 buildings. Police on the Yachen Gar Tibetan Buddhist center, officers escorted Kabpa, in handcuffs and leg barring visits from outside the area and setting shackles, to the scene, who could not stop up checkpoints to monitor the movements of crying seeing the temple being demolished. vehicles, Tibetan sources say. After the temple was turned to ruins, the lama The new restrictions follow efforts beginning in was taken away; his current whereabouts are May to reduce the number of monks and nuns unknown. Some villagers say he was sent back living at the sprawling complex in Kardze (in to Ganzi Prefecture; others claim that he is Chinese, Ganzi) prefecture’s Palyul (Baiyu) kept in Xinzhou. Residents report that local county, with thousands forced out and sent police officers started frequenting back to their hometowns for political re- the village where the temple was located in education. 2015. Claiming to be “maintaining public Now, authorities have issued a temporary order,” in reality, they were looking for visiting travel permit allowing travel to and from lamas or monks. Sometimes, officers were Yachen Gar only by those residents allowed to heavily armed and accompanied by dogs. remain, a source living in the area told RFA’s Villagers said that if any out of town masters or Tibetan Service. monks were discovered, they were immediately “A large checkpoint has been set up at the sent back to their place of origin, and the outskirts of Yachen Gar and is staffed by housing units they rented were sealed off, a police around the clock to make sure that fine imposed on landlords. anyone traveling back and forth has the permit in their possession,” RFA’s source said, Lhasa posts double-digit increase of speaking on condition of anonymity. “Another checkpoint closer to Yachen Gar also visitor arrivals checks for travel permits,” the source said, tibet.cn July 18 2019 adding that anyone found moving in or out of the area without permission is considered to be Lhasa, capital of Southwest China's Tibet traveling illegally. autonomous region, saw more than 6.42 The travel permit, a copy of which was recently million visitors to the city in the first half of obtained by RFA, is valid until March 2020 2019, up 18.72 percent year on year, local and was issued by Palyul county’s Yachen tourism authorities said Wednesday. Monastery Management Committee. It bears The city raked in 10.9 billion yuan ($1.58 the committee’s official seal. billion) from tourism in the same period, up In addition to controlling traffic flows at Yachen 25.46 percent year on year, according to the Gar, “Chinese authorities have also put up Lhasa tourism development bureau. surveillance cameras at all intersections of Lhasa is home to some of China's most Yachen Gar and are even using drones to renowned cultural and tourist sites such as the keep a watch on things,” RFA’s source said. Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple. “Under surveillance this strict, including on the In a bid to attract more winter tourists, Tibet internet, anyone passing information to has rolled out a spate of preferential policies outsiders is putting themselves at risk,” he said. including waiving admission charges for some An unfolding strategy

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 12 Since removals began in May, around 3,500 improve and make innovations in the monks and nuns had been forced to leave management of temples and churches in Yachen Gar, while around 600 Chinese accordance with the law”, Xinhua reported. officials had been permanently stationed at the The party was referring to Buddhist and Taoist center to “maintain a tight watch” over those temples, which have been receiving more who remain and check on all outside visitors. visitors than in the past. There is also some Restrictions on Yachen Gar and the better- concern in the official atheist party about a known Larung Gar complex in Sichuan’s section of the Chinese wealthy getting Serthar (Seda) county are part of “an interested in matters of spirituality. The party unfolding political strategy” aimed at had earlier warned its members against controlling the influence and growth of these participating in religious functions. important centers for Tibetan Buddhist study Management of churches has always been a and practice, a Tibetan advocacy group said thorny issue because China is opposed to the in a March 2017 report. Pope taking the final decision in the “[Both centers] have drawn thousands of appointment of bishops of Catholic Chinese practitioners to study Buddhist ethics churches. But there has been some easing in and receive spiritual teaching since their restrictions, with Beijing recently approving the establishment, and have bridged Tibetan and appointments of a bishops done by the Chinese communities,” the Washington-based Vatican. International Campaign for Tibet said. The decision to “guide” religious institutions During 2017 and 2018, at least 4,820 Tibetan shows that the party has not been happy with and Han Chinese monks and nuns were the state of things, and is getting ready to issue removed from Larung Gar, with over 7,000 new orders about instilling values of patriotism dwellings and other structures torn down and socialism in religious practices. beginning in 2001, according to sources in the The meeting involved 11 national and several region. other leaders representing different Chinese Last month, Tenzin Dorjee, chair of the provinces. Even more significant was that the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International CPPCC, which is the topmost political advisory Religious Freedom, called China’s restrictions body, opened up this discussion over a digital on Yachen Gar an “egregious violation of the platform available on smartphones. The idea freedom of religion,” telling RFA at the time was to encourage wider consultation among that restrictions in Tibet are “going from bad to party leaders in different parts of the worse.” country. China has been using mobile phone apps for consensus-building though critics say the decision-making process is top down Communist China to provide because the party cadre usually echo the ‘guidance’ to temples, churches views of senior leaders. The country’s political Times of India, July 14, 2019, Saibal Dasgupta advisors emphasised the need for shrine managers to utilise the internet and big data to BEIJING: Communist Party leaders have set up a digital platform for religious affairs decided to provide guidance to religious management. They also proposed institutions in China “so that they can better improvement in policies, laws and regulations adapt themselves to socialist society”. The to better guide temples and churches to decision emerged from a meeting of the strengthen self-management, Xinhua said national committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which met to discuss the management of temples and churches in the country, official Xinhua news agency said. The meeting was led by Wang Yang, a member of the most power powerful standing committee of the political bureau of the Communist Party. He also called for efforts “to

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 13 China denies reports of having Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to tackle violent attacks by the separatist East Turkistan Islamic Xinjiang-like mass detention camps Movement (ETIM). in Tibet In a letter to the United Nations High India Today, July 12, 2019 Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, a group of 22 nations urged China China on Friday dismissed as "totally untrue" to end its "mass arbitrary detentions and reports of having Xinjiang-like mass detention related violations" and called on Beijing to centers in Tibet. allow UN experts to access the region. Head of the Tibetan government-in exile Lobsang Sangay, in an interview to the BBC earlier this month, said that such detention Top political adviser praises work camps existed in Tibet. of religious committee When asked about the reports that such camps China Daily July 4, 2019 were being held by China in Tibet too, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang, China's top political adviser, Wang Yang, met during a media briefing on Friday, said, "What representatives from the China Committee on has been motioned in the report is totally Religion and Peace on Wednesday and said untrue." the committee has become a window for the Geng Sangey, in the BBC's 'Hard Talk' country to introduce its religious policies to the program on July 1, had said that the ruling world. Communist Party of China (CPC) secretary of "The committee has been actively introducing Xinjiang Chen Quanguo was previously the the real situation of religious freedom in China party secretary of Tibet before he was shifted to the world," said Wang, chairman of the to Xinjiang. National Committee of the Chinese People's "He is the same architect. He implemented the Political Consultative Conference. same repressive policies in Tibet for five years "It has provided an important platform for the which he is implementing in one year time in country's political advisory body to Xinjiang," Sangey had claimed. communicate with the world, and made "We do have these camps, but not as large as positive contributions to creating an external the Uighur camps. So, lot of people have been environment conducive to China's sent for education through labour, development," he said. imprisonment, tension," he said. Established in 1994, the China Committee on Asked whether he has any figure about the Religion and Peace is a nonprofit organization number of people detained in such camps in consisting of representatives from the five Tibet, he said "that we didn't know. Even for major religions in China - Buddhism, Taoism, Xinjiang it is being estimated that more than Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism. million or more (have been detained)." The committee has about 100 representatives "As far as we know the political prisoners who who are also members of the National were arrested and imprisoned (in Tibet) we Committee of the CPPCC, the country's political are talking of few thousands," he said. advisory body. Meanwhile, facing strong criticism over the The committee is under the commission for detention camps in restive Xinjiang, where over ethnic and religious affairs of the CPPCC. 11 million Uighur Muslims of Turkik origin live, The committee aims to promote unity and China on Thursday lodged a diplomatic protest harmony among religious groups and further with 22 countries, labelling as "slander" a exchanges and cooperation with religious letter sent by these countries to top United circles around the world. It also wants to Nations officials condemning Beijing's mass safeguard the unification of the country and detention of ethnic Uighur Muslims and other strive for world peace and common prosperity. minorities. On Wednesday, the committee reviewed its Reports from the UN and other international work report of the past five years and elected human rights group spoke of mass detention of new board members. Pagbalha Geleg Uighurs in Xinjiang bordering Afghanistan and Namgyai, honorary president of the China

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 14 Buddhist Association, was elected as committee The gathering of information in China’s president. Xinjiang region has been part of an effort by According to the committee's work report Beijing authorities to restrict and monitor delivered during the meeting, it has actively activities of the local Muslim population, helped China's social development, contributed according to The Guardian report. to regional peace and stability, made progress The report says such material ranges from in opposing violence and religion extremism terms associated with Islamist extremism and and promoted human rights. weapons operation manuals to apparently In the past five years, the committee organized innocuous information such as fasting during 20 trips abroad and received eight foreign Ramadan and music by a Japanese heavy groups to improve its influence internationally, metal group. the report said. It also organized two international meetings and signed three cooperation documents with Thousands of Monks, Nuns other international organizations that promote ‘Politically Re-Educated’ After peace among religions, it said. Eviction From Sichuan’s Yachen The committee has always safeguarded the country's dignity and interests during Gar international exchanges, especially when it RFA, July 1, 2019 involves Taiwan and Tibet issues, the report said. Thousands of monks and nuns forced out of the Wang said the committee should continue to Yachen Gar Tibetan Buddhist Center in western guide religions to better adapt to socialist China’s Sichuan province and back to their society and find better ways to tell the world hometowns have been “rounded up” by about China's religious stories so the country authorities and sent for “political re- can be heard in religious circles. education,” according to Tibetan sources. He urged committee members to contribute to In a campaign beginning in May, the removals world peace and the building of a shared targeted mainly residents who had come from future for mankind. areas outside Sichuan to join the remote and sprawling temple complex in Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) prefecture’s Palyul (Baiyu) China forces tourists to install an county, which until recent years had housed an app that steals data estimated 10,000 monks, nuns, and lay CNBC, July 3, 2019, David Reid practitioners devoted to scriptural study and meditation. Police in China are secretly installing spy apps Speaking to RFA’s Tibetan Service, a Tibetan on phones of visitors to the country that can living in the area said most of the monks and extract emails, texts and address contacts, nuns were from Jomda (Jiangda) and Palbar according to a cross-media investigation. (Bianba) counties, in the Tibet Autonomous Evidence gathered by the New York Times, The Region’s (TAR) Chamdo (Changdu) prefecture, Guardian in England and Suddeutsche and had been sent there for political re- Zeiting in Germany has claimed that travellers education. are being targeted when they enter the “The Chinese authorities have ordered that the country’s Irkeshtam border crossing with number of monks and nuns staying at Yachen Kyrgystan. Gar not exceed more than 4,700, and Border guards are seizing tourist phones and, because of that many monks and nuns have without asking permission, installing been evicted from the institute,” the source surveillance software on the devices. said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The app, said to be designed by a Chinese “Those monks and nuns who were forcefully company, searches for phones based on the returned to their birthplaces have now been Android operating system and checks its rounded up by local Chinese police and made content against topics and media that the to attend political re-education classes [at Chinese government considers inappropriate. detention centers] in their hometowns.”

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 15 The source said that due to “overflowing Chinese communities,” the Washington-based numbers” at a detention center in Jomda, International Campaign for Tibet said. “many have been sent to Chamdo city for During 2017 and 2018, at least 4,820 Tibetan political re-education.” and Han Chinese monks and nuns were “As soon as they are brought to the detention removed from Larung Gar, with over 7,000 centers, their cellphones are confiscated, dwellings and other structures torn down rendering them incommunicado with the beginning in 2001, according to sources in the outside,” the source added. region. A second source based in southern India told Last month, Tenzin Dorjee, chair of the RFA that some “70 monks and nuns are being bipartisan U.S. Commission on International held in Jomda and are undergoing thorough Religious Freedom, called China’s restrictions political re-education” after being summoned on Yachen Gar an “egregious violation of the by police upon their return to their hometowns. freedom of religion,” telling RFA at the time “The monks and nuns are forced to wear the that restrictions in Tibet were “going from bad clothes of laypersons at the detention center to worse.” and the Chinese authorities make them denounce [Tibetan spiritual leader] the Dalai Lama on a daily basis, as well as memorize political propaganda, which they are later tested on,” said the source, who also declined to be named. “These monks and nuns could be held for political re-education for another several Environment months before they are released to their families. After that, they will be restricted from re-enrolling with any other monasteries or relocating elsewhere.” Last month, sources told RFA that since the China Establishes AI monitoring removals began in May, around 3,500 monks and nuns had been forced to leave Yachen platform to protect wildlife Global Times, July 31, 2019 Gar, while around 600 Chinese officials had been permanently stationed at the center to The AI big data real-time monitoring platform, “maintain a tight watch” over those who co-developed by the Feline Research Center of remain and check on all outside visitors. National Forestry and Grassland To avoid emotional scenes between residents Administration, Harbin Institute of Technology being expelled and their friends who stay (HIT) and HIT Big Data Group, is expected to behind, no one may accompany those being support research on ecological systems, animal evicted as they are brought to buses to be populations and individual animals through taken away, they said. advanced technologies including artificial An unfolding strategy intelligence, machine learning and neuro- Restrictions on Yachen Gar and the better- linguistic processing. known Larung Gar complex in Sichuan’s Internet of Things, big data and intelligent Serthar (Seda) county are part of “an machine vision will also enable the platform to unfolding political strategy” aimed at establish individual recognition models with controlling the influence and growth of these main recognition elements such as animals' important centers for Tibetan Buddhist study posture, gait, color and fur pattern. and practice, a Tibetan advocacy group said Li Fuquan, an official with HIT Big Data Group, in a March 2017 report. said the platform will be preliminarily applied “[Both centers] have drawn thousands of to track and monitor endangered Siberian Chinese practitioners to study Buddhist ethics tigers, leopards and their prey. Forest zones in and receive spiritual teaching since their northeastern Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces establishment, and have bridged Tibetan and and border areas between China and Russia

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 16 are Siberian tigers and leopards' main Kang noted that he has been researching this habitat. area for more than a decade and wants to The platform is expected to provide cross- raise the public awareness of environmental border services for wildlife protection, protection. according to Li. A database for Siberian tigers and leopards will be established to help study the Scientists launch survey on depth relationship between the changes of ecological of major lake in Tibet environment and the development of the Xinhua July 25, 2019 species. "Data can help us better understand wildlife, LHASA-Chinese scientists are working on a and more technologies are expected to be survey to measure the depth of a major lake in introduced to study and protect wild animals," southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Li added. sources with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said Tuesday. Lake Yamzhog Yumco with an area of about Air pollutants from South Asia 590 square km is located in Nanggarze linked to glaciers melting County in the city of Shannan. Yamzhog Global Times July 31, 2019 Yumco along with Lake Namtso and Lake Manasarovar are regarded as the three holy Atmospheric pollution has accelerated the lakes of Tibet About 70 km away from Lhasa, glaciers melting in the world's Third Pole which capital of the region, the lake has become one covers the Tibetan Plateau and surroundings, of the most popular tourist attractions in Tibet. as high levels of air pollutants are extending This is the first time for Chinese scientists to from South Asia and accumulating on the conduct a comprehensive measurement of the southern slope of the Himalayas, an depth contours of the lake. international research team found recently. The survey is part of the country’s second The Third Pole region is noted for its high rates comprehensive scientific expedition to the of glacier melt and the associated hydrological Qinghai-Tibet Plateau that began in June 2017. shifts that affect water supplies in Asia, the Lasting five to 10 years, the expedition will research findings noted. conduct a series of studies focusing on the Atmospheric pollutants contribute to climatic plateau’s glaciers, biodiversity and ecological and cryospheric changes through their effects changes, and will also monitor changes in the on solar radiation and snow and ice surfaces. region’s climate. The research team led by research fellow Kang China’s first comprehensive scientific Shichang from the State Key Laboratory of expedition to the plateau took place in the Cryospheric Science under the Northwest 1970s and covered more than 50 disciplines Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, including structural geology, paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, also found that geophysics, climatology, zoology and botany. atmospheric pollution generated in South Asia Dubbed “the water tower of Asia,” the plateau can be transported via the Indian monsoon provides the water supply for many Asian and westerlies, and thus reaches the rivers including the Yangtze, Yellow River and hinterlands of the Third Pole region. Mekong River. As the water resources of the Kang told the Global Times that his team plateau are also vulnerable to the influence of researched in a number of South Asian climate change, it is important to find out the countries and the country that emitted the most water storage of glaciers and lakes and the air pollution was India, given its large volume, runoff of rivers. followed by Pakistan. "India is well aware of the seriousness of pollution in its country. We hope India can control its air pollution and enhance international cooperation, but funding is a problem," Kang said.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 17 Yueyang's diligent protection of the work towards one goal: the preservation of the Yangtze River. Yangtze River https://www.prnewswire.com July 24,2019 Chinese scientists launch survey on Stretching from west to east across central China, the Yangtze River is the third depth of major lake in Tibet Xinhua, July 23, 2019 longest river in the world. Dongting Lake, the second largest freshwater lake in China, is an LHASA, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists essential part of the Yangtze River system. are working on a survey to measure the depth About 50 percent of the lake area is in of a major lake in southwest China's Tibet Yueyang, Hunan Province. The lake plays a Autonomous Region, sources with the Chinese vital role in maintaining the ecological security Academy of Sciences (CAS) said Tuesday. and biological diversity of the Yangtze River Lake Yamzhog Yumco with an area of about valley. 590 square km is located in Nanggarze On April 25, 2018, while on an inspection trip County in the city of Shannan. Yamzhog for the Yangtze River Economic Belt Yumco along with Lake Namtso and Lake development, President Xi Jinping entrusted the Manasarovar are regarded as the three holy local officials of Yueyang with the task of lakes of Tibet. protecting the river. About 70 km away from Lhasa, capital of the Since 2018, Yueyang has worked hard to region, the lake has become one of the most ensure environmental security by shutting down popular tourist attractions in Tibet. polluting industries and starting remediation This is the first time for Chinese scientists to projects. Moreover, 16 government officials conduct a comprehensive measurement of the were appointed as "river chiefs" to regularly depth contours of the lake. inspect major rivers and lakes. Meanwhile, Ju Jianting, a researcher with the Institute of Yueyang has been actively developing its Tibetan Plateau Research of the CAS, said ecological agriculture, green industry, and researchers used to only have the water depth ecological tourism, setting a good example of data around the lakeshore of Yamzhog Yumco, ecology-first green development along the and they did not have comprehensive Yangtze River Economic Belt. knowledge of the lake terrain. The efforts paid off. What we see today are Since the shape of Yamzhog Yumco is beautiful green belts on both banks of the complicated, researchers decided to measure Yangtze River. The previously smelly, in three directions on the lake this time. They dirty Dongfeng Lake, which adjoins the will use sonar technology to collect the depth Yangtze River through Dongting Lake in data of the lake and draw the lake bottom downtown Yueyang, is now an area locals go isobath. The area and the water volume of the to relax and exercise. lake will also be measured and calculated with The now clean Dongting Lake attracts huge the assistance of remote sensing image, numbers of birds. The influx of birds is obvious according to Ju. proof of the wetland's improving environment. The survey is part of the country's second Surveys over the past two years show an comprehensive scientific expedition to the increase in the number of new birds flying over Qinghai-Tibet Plateau that began in June 2017. to the lake area. In 2018, more than 240,000 Lasting five to 10 years, the expedition will water birds passed winter at Dongting Lake, conduct a series of studies focusing on the an increase of more than 20,000 from 2017, plateau's glaciers, biodiversity and ecological setting a 10-year-high record. The singing of changes, as well as monitor changes in the swans, wild geese and wild ducks adds to the region's climate. lake's great scenery. China's first comprehensive scientific expedition Dongting Lake is known as the "Kidney of the to the plateau took place in the 1970s and Yangtze River," and protection of the Yangtze covered more than 50 disciplines including River is of high importance for the ecological structural geology, paleontology, geophysics, security of China and the world. The joint climatology, zoology and botany. efforts of Yueyang, Hunan and China at large

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 18 Dubbed "the water tower of Asia," the plateau same time, the most notorious dam project in provides the water supply for many Asian human history. The site selected at the rivers including the Yangtze, Yellow River and beginning of the project may well have been Mekong River. As the water resources of the the prelude to a series of disastrous plateau are also vulnerable to the influence of consequences. climate change, it is important to find out the Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin forcibly water storage of glaciers and lakes and the launched the project in 1994, despite strong runoff of rivers. opposition from Chinese hydrologists, as he Statistics from the CAS show that the Qinghai- sought to boast of political achievements to Tibet Plateau has more than 30,000 lakes, consolidate his power. covering an area of more than 47,000 square Chinese state-run media claimed that after 24 km, accounting for more than half of the total years of geological studies, Chinese geologists area of the country's lakes. Among them, there proposed in a meeting in 1979 that a small are more than 110 lakes covering an area of island called Sandouping be chosen as the more than 50 square km, accounting for 67 dam site for the Three Gorges Project. percent of the total area of China's plateau The Three Gorges refer to Quatang Gorge, lakes. However, most lakes lack comprehensive Wu Gorge, and Xiling Gorge, bordering information on water depth and quality. Sichuan Province and Hubei Province. Zhu Liping, deputy director of the Institute of Sandouping Island is situated in the middle of Tibetan Plateau Research of the CAS, said as Xiling Gorge. of 2017, the second comprehensive scientific These geologists said that the river bottom at expedition has collected the information of Sandouping is relatively wide and the bedrock depth and water quality of lakes covering is hard, intact granite, making it an ideal about 28,000 square km. location for a dam site, according to Chinese Recently, researchers are investigating the media. underwater terrain of lakes covering over 50 However, some Chinese hydrologists and square km each to learn the comprehensive geologists have repeatedly warned that there condition of the water volume of the lakes on are several seismic faults in the surrounding the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau so as to lay a areas of the dam. foundation for the further research on the Wang Weiluo, a Chinese hydraulic engineer interrelation of lakes and the climate. residing in Germany, told the Chinese- language Epoch Times in a recent interview that the dam site is composed of igneous rock, China’s Three Gorges Dam a type of rock formed through the cooling and Surrounded by Geological Faults solidification of magma or lava, and is Epoch Times, July 18, 2019 OLIVIA LI, relatively solid. However, from a larger scope, the geologic condition of the surrounding area is quite risky for Sandouping to be a dam site. “The dam is located on granite bodies of Huangling anticline, which is surrounded by several big faults. The faults on the west side even directly pass through the reservoirs. All these faults have incurred earthquakes in Chinese history,” Wang said. There are four relatively large earthquake faults in Hubei Province, and three of them are located in proximity to the dam. “Although these faults are short and small, ranging from dozens of miles to approximately 100 miles, Dr. Wang Weiluo, author of "The 36 Tricks of the Three Gorges being so close to the Three Gorges Dam makes Project." The Epoch Times Photo Archive (The Epoch Times ) them a serious threat to the safety of the China’s Three Gorges Dam is the largest dam,” Wang said. hydroelectric dam in the world, and at the

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 19 Professor Weng Lida, former director of the China says Three Gorges Dam safe Water Resources Protection Bureau of the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission, after satellite images show structure and one of the lead authors of the April 2007 ‘at risk of collapse’ “Yangtze River Protection and Development en.brinkwire.com July 18, 2019 Report,” disclosed in the report that the three quake faults inside Hubei Province mentioned China’s controversial Three Gorges Dam, the by Wang have already caused numerous small world’s biggest hydropower project, is quakes since the dam was erected. The Three structurally sound, officials said, denying Gorges’ reservoirs, situated close to these rumours on social media it was at risk of faults, may induce an earthquake sometime collapse. later, according to Weng. Safety experts with the government-run China In December 2013, a 5.1-magnitude Three Gorges Corporation said on its official earthquake occurred in Badong County, Hubei website that the Yangtze River dam had moved Province. The epicenter was only about 70 a few millimetres due to temperature and miles from the Three Gorges Dam. It could well water level changes, but safety indicators be a warning sign. remained well within their normal range. A dam project in India further illustrates that They were responding to a Twitter user who even for dams and reservoirs on solid posted satellite photos from Google Maps last geological settings, there’s a high risk that the week purporting to show the dam had bent dams will induce earthquakes. and was at risk of breaking. The photos were The Koyna Dam is one of the largest dams in circulated on domestic social media, sparking Maharashtra, India. It is globally recognized concerns over its structural integrity. that the foundation of the Koyna dam is ideal The central government said the problem was in that the reservoir was built on the Indian with the satellite imaging, rather than the dam, side of the Indian-Australian plate, which was the Caixin financial news service reported on formed several million years ago. This type of Tuesday, citing a statement. geological structure is considered to be the The state-owned China Aerospace Science and most stable. The dam is located in the Technology Corporation released high- Precambrian geological zone, and the rock definition satellite images of the dam on its bottom of the dam is basalt, which is very Weibo account to show that the project ‘has hard. However, on Dec. 11, 1967, an no problems at all’. earthquake of magnitude 6.5 occurred near The 185-meter Three Gorges Dam has been the dam, the most intensive reservoir one of China’s most expensive and most earthquake ever documented in human history. controversial engineering projects, submerging Chinese authorities only focused on the entire villages, displacing millions of people bedrock foundation of the dam when telling and disrupting ecosystems. Chinese people why the dam site was an Critics say it has also increased earthquake “ideal location,” while well-known and well- and landslide risks in the region. identified seismic fracture zones were located In 2011, five years after the dam was built, only a few dozen miles away from the massive China admitted the project had caused project. widespread social and environmental damage This highly politicized project also sets records and promised 124 billion yuan (£14 billion) in for the number of people displaced, the extra funding. number of cities and towns flooded, and the A parliamentary delegate said this year that length of the reservoirs. Moreover, throughout half of the promised money had still not been its construction and operation, the project has paid out. been plagued by corruption, spiraling costs, Fan Xiao, a Chinese geologist and long- environmental impacts, and resettlement standing critic of giant dam projects, said the difficulties. rumors reflected the lack of debate about the Three Gorges project, which was now considered a ‘national treasure’ that should not be criticized.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 20 ‘If talking about problems is stigmatized, then to glaciers melting, and oases in arid regions it is nothing more than putting one’s head in such as the Hexi Corridor and the Qaidam the sand and deceiving oneself,’ Fan posted Basin might be difficult to sustain, he on his WeChat account on Monday. elaborated. ‘It will sole no problems and could make them "We will estimate the changes in the Asian worse,’ he added. water tower in a comprehensive context, and Fully functional in 2012, the 248 million yuan prepare for the worst scenario," Yao said. (£29 million) Three Gorges Dam is the world’s Three working groups have been set up to largest in terms of electricity generating address the issue. Chinese scientists are capacity, which can reach 22,500 megawatts, working with foreign peers to focus on water, according to South China Morning Post. The ecology and human activities, and conduct entire project consists of a dam and five-tier research via observation, simulation and ship lock, in addition to 32 generators. impact assessment, the report said. The research aims to develop a solid foundation for international cooperation, Yao Chinese scientists launch program said. to tackle glacier melting on Tibetan This year's workshop focused on local water Plateau resources, ecosystem and human activities. Scientists from different countries shared their Global Times, July 15, 2019 observations, addressed the local impact and Chinese scientists have launched the "Third provided scientific advice to policymakers. Pole Environment program" at an international workshop in Beijing in a bid to combat environmental changes taking place in the East and South Asia Are the Largest Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Sources of Black Carbon Over the past 100 years, the Third Pole region, Blanketing the Tibetan Plateau also known as the Water Tower of Asia, has Glacier Hub, July 11, 2019 Carly Roth experienced the warmest period in the past two millennia, with the peak occurring in the past 30 years, according to data, said Yao Tandong, a professor with the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Science and Technology Daily reported on Monday. The Third Pole is a high-altitude region covering the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and surrounding areas, extending over 5 million square kilometers, and is the source of many Asian rivers including the Yangtze, Yellow,

Indus and Yarlung Zangbo. A shot of the Amphulaptsa Pass, Nepal, taken during a 2009 Researchers predict that the temperature at the expedition that resulted in Kaspari’s 2014 study. The dark layers Third Pole may rise by 4 C in the 21st century, are a combination of black carbon and dust. (Source: Jesse Cunningham) according to data released at an international workshop on the Water Tower. A recent study conducted by researchers at the "The warming climate has caused an Chinese Academy of Sciences and published in imbalance in ratio between water, ice and the journal S c i e n c e o f t h e To t a l water vapor, leading to catastrophic Environment suggests that black carbon and consequences caused by glacial lake outbursts dust play a crucial role in the melting of and landslides," Yao said. In some places, Tibetan Plateau glaciers—and the researchers expansion of lakes might result in the think they know the sources of that inundation of grasslands and increase in river troublesome sediment. runoff, threatening the downstream ecology, “We believe that black carbon, dust, and other while other places might run out of water due light-absorbing impurities must be important

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 21 factors in accelerating … ice melting Li and his co-researchers sampled the ice, worldwide,” Yang Li, a coauthor of the study, snow, and nearby topsoil of the Laohugou told GlacierHub. And, according to the study, Basin glacier during the summer and winter of East and South Asia are the largest sources of 2016 and measured concentrations of black black carbon emissions that are transported to carbon and dust. To determine the effect of the the Tibetan Plateau. Black carbon, also called black carbon and dust on the amount of soot, is a byproduct of the partial combustion energy absorbed by the glacier, they of organic matter and fossil fuels. used SNICAR, a model for determining Susan Kaspari is an associate professor at the albedo of snow and ice surface. Central Washington University and worked They found large spaciotemporal variability in previously with Shichang Kang, another one of the concentrations of black carbon and dust. the study’s authors. “When you see emissions Still, they concluded that the concentrations of coming off the back of a truck that’s really black carbon and dust on the glacier were black, you’re seeing the black carbon,” “comparable to or higher than” concentrations Kaspari told GlacierHub. on most other Third Pole glaciers. The Along with fossil fuels, an important source of concentrations, though, were lower than those black carbon is the burning of biofuels, such as of some select glaciers of the Tibetan Plateau, wood or animal waste, she added. specifically, including the Baishui No. 1 and “[Black carbon] doesn’t stay in the atmosphere Xiao Dongkemadi glaciers, which indicated, a really long time,” Kaspari said. “Usually it according to the study, “discrepancies in the will stay in the atmosphere on the scale of a deposition, enrichment, and re-exposure of few days to at the most, maybe two weeks.” [black carbon] over the Tibetan Plateau.” Gravity and precipitation eventually pull the Li and his coauthors found, however, that dust black carbon back to earth. And that’s where plays a more important role than black carbon the trouble comes in for glaciers. in accelerating melting. Scientists describe black carbon, along with Susan Kaspari found a similar result in her dust, as a light-absorbing particle, meaning 2014 study that measured black carbon and that due to its dark color it absorbs more dust on the glacier ice and snow of energy from the sun compared to other light- Solukhumbu, Nepal. colored materials—especially the typically “Let’s say you had a hundred parts per billion bright-colored surfaces of glaciers. When black carbon, which would be certainly black carbon settles on snow and ice, “It enough black carbon to cause a change in absorbs more energy from the sun, and then how much energy is being absorbed,” she that warms the snowpack or ice, and leads to said. “If you put that on a snow pack that was accelerated melt,” Kaspari said. quite clean, that black carbon could have a Kaspari and Kang, among others, published really large impact.” a study in 2011 that detailed how black “If you took that same amount of black carbon carbon concentrations in the Tibetan Plateau and it was deposited upon a snow pack that have increased dramatically. “We documented already had a lot of dust,” she added, “the a three-fold increase from preindustrial to efficacy, or how effective that black carbon industrial periods, starting around the 1970s, would be in absorbing energy, would be a lot relative to, prior to that period of time,” less because the dust is already absorbing Kaspari said. some of that solar radiation that could Various anthropogenic activities contributed to otherwise be absorbed by the black carbon.” this increase, including the Kuwait oil fires set The Tibetan Plateau is a region that is by Iraqi forces during the 1991 Gulf War. “naturally dusty already,” said Kaspari, who Li’s new study focused on the Laohugou added that the rising temperatures brought Basin on the northern slope of the western about by climate change exacerbate the Qilian Mountains, which lie on the Tibetan situation. “As the glaciers are retreating,” she Plateau. These mountains lost 20.9 percent of said, “you’re exposing more and more area their glacial area—about 22 cubic kilometers of that used to be covered with glacier that has a ice—in the past 50 years, according to lot of dust.” a study conducted last year.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 22 And that dust, she added, gets blown onto China started construction on over 50,000 glaciers. garbage treatment facilities and 80,000 Li and his coauthors found local topsoil to be a sewage treatment facilities in rural areas the likely source of not only the glacier’s dust, but first half of this year, Li said at a press also its black carbon. Urban activities, such as conference. automobile exhaust and industrial pollution, Renovation of toilets for more than 10 million release black carbon that pollutes the soil, rural households were also carried out during according to the study. the period, after the successful renovation of To reduce the amount of black carbon toilets for over 10 million rural households in released into the environment, Kaspari 2018. suggested more efficient combustion methods, China launched a toilet revolution in 2015 to more efficient engines, and the elimination of increase the number and sanitation of toilets at coal-fired power plants. tourist sites. The campaign was expanded to Natural sources of black carbon, such as improve public toilets in cities and build better wildfires, are more difficult to mitigate. And toilets in rural areas. there’s no feasible way to remove black The central government has allocated 7 billion carbon that’s already settled across the yuan (about 1.03 billion U.S. dollars) to help surface of the world’s glaciers. rural areas press ahead with the toilet Li told GlacierHub that the results of his study revolution since last year. Another 3 billion do not speak to the possible concentrations of yuan was allocated for clean-up of rural areas black carbon in other glaciated regions of the in central and west China regions. Tibetan Plateau. “The concentrations of black carbon and dust in the Tibetan Plateau glaciers must vary broadly, because of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau plays key spatiotemporal variability in wet, dry, and post role in enhancing East Asian depositional conditions,” he said. monsoon under global warming Still, along with other studies that research tibet.cn July 7, 2019 black carbon concentrations in other glaciers of the Tibetan Plateau, the work of Li and his Chinese researchers have discovered that the coauthors adds to our evidence that human Qinghai-Tibet Plateau plays an essential role in activity accelerates the melting of glaciers in enhancing the East Asian summer monsoon Tibet and worldwide. (EASM) circulation under global warming. The latest study of Chinese scientists revealed China cleans up rural environment that global warming affects the EASM through Xinhua, July 11, 2019 enhanced latent heating over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) -- China's efforts to It was jointly conducted by researchers from clean up the living environment for rural Jinan University, Sun Yat-Sen University, the residents are producing encouraging Institute of Atmospheric Physics of Chinese outcomes, an official with the Ministry of Academy of Sciences(CAS) and Nanjing Agriculture and Rural Affairs said here University of Information Science and Thursday. Technology. More than 80 percent of the country's villages The research found that the enhancement of have launched clean-up campaigns since the East Asian summer monsoon caused by the end of last year, disposing of over 40 million greenhouse effect is due to the thermal forcing tonnes of garbage, 30 million tonnes of mud in over the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. ditches and ponds, and rubble in 40 million Under global warming, the enhanced locations, said Li Weiguo, an official with the hydrological recycling and enhanced vertical ministry. moisture advection have the largest The central authorities issued an action plan to contribution to the increased precipitation over clean up rural environment at the end of last the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. year. The research was published in the Journal of Climate.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 23 Integrated innovation platform for efficient use emissions and further improve the local air of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau biological resources quality. built The new buses are all plug-in hybrid electric The Qinghai Province Science and Technology vehicles, equipped with Tibetan-Mandarin Department disclosed on July 2 that the bilingual station announcements, driving province has built an integrated innovation monitoring and management systems, and platform for the efficient use of biological auto-alarms, according to the city's bus resources of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The operation company. platform will promote an upgrade to the The company purchased 110 new energy standard for biological resources, Tibetan buses after the city's 104 old buses reached medicinal materials, and related their service lives. The other 30 buses are pharmaceuticals in Qinghai Province and will scheduled to be put into operation by the end solve key and common professional issues. of this month. By then, Lhasa will have 422 Known as the world's "Third Pole", the new energy buses, accounting for more than Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the most concentrated 80 percent of the city's total buses."Our goal area of biodiversity of high-altitude regions in of vigorously promoting new energy vehicles is the world. According to the Qinghai Province to implement the low-carbon and green way of Science and Technology Department, the traveling, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, platform took three years to build. It integrates and to protect the clear water and blue sky of technological development, product research the snowy plateau," said Gogyi, general and development, pilot testing, achievement manager of the company.Lhasa plans to transformation, and industrial services. replace its old buses with new energy ones by The building of the platform is led by the batches, and all of the city's buses are Chinese Academy of Social Sciences expected to be powered by new energy by Northwest Plateau Institute of Biology. They 2021, said Gogyi.Currently, Lhasa has 522 have built one production line of high-altitude buses and 41 bus routes, covering the main characteristic resources products and served urban areas, suburbs and surrounding 13 enterprises, transforming more than 10 new counties, making it more and more convenient products and science and technology for locals to travel by public transportation. achievements and creating 186 million yuan (27 million US dollars) in economic benefits for businesses. China Focus: Herdsmen guarding Qinghai is the main area for developing Tibetan medicine in China. There are currently China's "water tower” 19 Tibetan medicinal production businesses in Xinhua, July 5, 2019 Qinghai. In 2018, the total output value of Qinghai's Tibetan medicine industry reached XINING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Lekga, 55-year-old 2.6 billion yuan (0.38 billion US dollars), herdsman in northwest China's Qinghai accounting for 44 percent of the total output Province, has a new job in the Sanjiangyuan value of China's Tibetan medicine industry. The National Park in the province -- guarding the scale of development and comprehensive environment. strength of Qinghai's Tibetan medicine industry The national park, also known as the Three- ranks first in China. River-Source National Park, is home to the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers, which is praised as the "water Lhasa launches 80 new energy tower" of China. It started trial operation in buses to protect the environment 2016 and is set to open in 2020. Along with other over 17,000 herdsmen, he Xinhua July 7, 2019 has been trained and licensed by the local Eighty buses using new energy have been put government as an ecological conservator in into use Saturday morning in Lhasa, the capital the national park that is in charge of rescuing city of China's southwest Tibet Autonomous wildlife, preventing fires, cleaning up the Region, which will help reduce vehicle exhaust garbage, and other affairs related to environmental protection.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 24 "Local herdsmen are familiar with the terrains precipitation as severe drought lingers for a and the wildlife in the national park and have month, local meteorological bureau said. a strong awareness of environmental Since June, many areas in Tibet have seen a protection, who can play a more important record high temperature and the drought has role in the environmental protection than hampered crop yield and livestock husbandry, others," said Liu Xinnong, a staff with the the bureau said in a statement. Beijing-based Shanshui natural protection Meteorological data showed the average center. rainfall in Tibet last month was 30.5 mm, 57 The herdsmen uploaded the pictures of snow percent down over the previous years. leopards and brown bears that they saw to the Rainfall is expected to hit Tibet on Wednesday social platforms to raise the public awareness and Thursday, and cloud seeding was used to of the wildlife protection. intensify the rain, with 31 rain-inducing rockets The national park used to be troubled by shot into the clouds. garbage, grassland degradation, and other Experts predict that the major agricultural environmental issues. The country has invested regions along the Yarlung Zangbo River in more than 18 billion yuan (2.6 billion U.S. Tibet will see significant rainfall in the following dollars) in environmental protection and days, which will relieve the drought. ecological restoration in the Sanjiangyuan area from 2005 to 2018. "I rescued a snow leopard with some villagers New buoy system adopted to and released it into the wild in 2016," said monitor lake environment in Lekga. "I want to do my best to protect wildlife Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the national park." Xinhua, July 2, 2019 The ecological conservators, including Lekga, receive a salary of 1,800 yuan every month. BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese The provincial government has paid researchers have set up a large-scale buoy compensations worth of 30.5 million yuan to system to monitor the lake environment in Nam local people whose livestock were killed by Co, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous wild animals. Region, according to its developer Tuesday. "The local government has included content Lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are mostly about environmental protection into the distributed in sparsely populated areas with textbooks in primary and middle schools to high altitudes and harsh climates, making it raise the awareness of environmental hard to obtain long-term observation data. protection among the students," said Mu Researchers from the Institute of Tibetan Yonghong, an official with the management Plateau Research under the Chinese Academy committee of the national park. of Sciences developed a large-scale buoy The province has formulated 14 regulations at monitoring platform to keep a close look on the provincial level in the field of ecological the lake. environment, providing a legal foundation for The buoy platform is made of anti-corrosion the protection of the national park. materials and is equipped with an integrated An artificial intelligence (AI) monitoring data collector and wireless signal controller. It platform, aiming to protect wildlife, has been carries a range of monitoring equipment jointly established, local authorities said including a multiparameter water quality Tuesday. detector and an acoustic doppler current profiler. Tibet combats severe drought using The system can continuously monitor the temperature, pH levels and chlorophyll content artificial rain of the water, as well as the lake surface Xinhua, July 3, 2019 temperature, air humidity and wind speed. It can automatically transfer the acquired data to LHASA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in the Beijing data center through the 4G signal southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region communication module. Tuesday began to use artificial means to boost

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 25 The system offers informatization measures for The promoted officers are Director of the CMC lake monitoring, helping researchers get a Equipment Development Department Li better understanding of the physical and Shangfu, Commander of the Southern Theater chemical conditions of the lakes in Qinghai- Command of the People's Liberation Army Tibet Plateau, according to the institute. (PLA) Yuan Yubai, Political Commissar of the Western Theater Command of the PLA Wu Shezhou, Political Commissar of the Northern Theater Command of the PLA Fan Xiaojun, Political Commissar of the Central Theater Command of the PLA Zhu Shengling, Commander of the PLA Navy Shen Jinlong, Military and Political Commissar of the PLA Navy Qin Shengxiang, Commander of the PLA Air Force Ding Laihang, President of the National Infrastructure Defense University of the PLA Zheng He and Political Commissar of the Chinese People's Development Armed Police Force An Zhaoqing. Xu Qiliang, CMC vice chairman, announced the orders of promotion at the ceremony, which was presided over by Zhang Youxia, the other CMC vice chairman.

10 Chinese officers promoted to Xi stresses focusing on reform to rank of general Xinhua, July 31, 2019 strengthen military Xinhua, July 31, 2019

BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has stressed concentrating efforts to implement the strategy of strengthening the military through reform to advance the cause of building a strong military in the new era. Xi made the remarks while presiding over a group study session of the CPC Central Xi Jinping (C, front), chairman of the Central Military Committee Political Bureau on reforming Commission (CMC), and other leaders pose for a group photo with ten senior Chinese military and armed police military policies and institutions on Tuesday. officers who have been promoted to the rank of general in At the session, held ahead of China's Army Beijing, capital of China, July 31, 2019. Xi presented the Day on August 1, Xi extended greetings to all officers with certificates of order signed by him at a ceremony the CMC held in Beijing on Wednesday. personnel of the People's Liberation Army, (Xinhua/Li Gang) armed police, militia and reserve force on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Ten senior Chinese Central Military Commission. military and armed police officers have been Xi noted the historic change to the promoted to the rank of general, the highest organizational structure of China's military and rank for officers in active service in China. the revolutionary shift in its force composition Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military through reforms since the 18th CPC National Commission (CMC), presented the officers with Congress in 2012. certificates of order signed by him at a Xi said the reform of military policies and ceremony the CMC held in Beijing on institutions aims to address the incompatibility Wednesday. of policies with the new era, new missions and new institutions.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 26 Xi spoke of the need to focus on reform 10 October 2017, only after a year’s targets, stay confident and determined, and operational trial. rise to challenges in the reform. Located in a naturally deep and round karst He also stressed the complexity of the reform depression in the south-western province of of military policies and institutions and the Guizhou, FAST has a receiving dish area need to take a holistic approach. equivalent to about 30 football fields. Xi said issues to be prioritized include those FAST’s key tasks include observation of pulsars concerning combat preparedness of the armed as well as exploration of interstellar molecules forces, key points of operation of the system, and interstellar communication signals. as well as those concerning the benefits of According to Zhang Pei, scientist with the officers and soldiers. National Astronomical Observatories of China, Xi said the reform of military policies and pulsars with high density and energy are institutions requires the emancipation of the irreplaceable "celestial laboratories" and could mind. be used to replace navigational satellites to It is necessary to get rid of all outdated locate spacecraft. mentalities and acts and stay true to reality in British astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell and the reform, he said. Antony Hewish discovered the first pulsar on Xi also stressed the need to study major issues, 28 November 1967. Scientists have since find the problems, carry out reforms and make identified more than 2,000 pulsars. proper assessments. Pulsar observation is very important as it can Describing it a task shared by the armed forces be used to confirm the existence of and the civilian sector, Xi called for concerted gravitational radiation and black holes, and efforts to carry out the reform of military help solve many other major questions in policies and institutions. physics. “FAST has huge scientific potential and it may detect unprecedented signals during searches Earth’s largest radio telescope for pulsars, which will help us in further studies identifies 86 pulsars in astrophysics and basic physics,” Zhang said. chinawatch.com July 29, 2019, “FAST detected one of the faintest millisecond Cao Zinan pulsars ever recorded in February 2018, which Discovery of the celestial objects could lead to was unable to be seen by many other navigational satellites being superseded for the countries’ telescopes. This shows us its location of spacecraft advantage in sensitivity,” said Li Di, chief scientist of the FAST project. Three years into its operation, the world’s largest radio telescope, FAST, had identified 86 pulsars up to 19 July. Chinese Navy increases aircraft A pulsar is a celestial object, thought to be a carrier pilot recruits rapidly rotating neutron star, that emits regular Global Times, July 28, 2019 pulses of radio waves and other electromagnetic radiation at rates of up to China has recruited 41 percent more cadet 1,000 pulses per second. pilots for aircraft carrier fighter jets this year China’s Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical than 2018, a significant move according to Radio Telescope(FAST) is still in its Chinese military analysts noting how it commissioning phase. But it has already provided increased talent reserve for Chinese partially achieved its scientific goal of carriers. conducting astronomical observations on the The 41 percent increase is significant and ground as a practical telescope. comes at a time when China's aircraft carrier FAST has now achieved tracking, in-motion sector is undergoing rapid development, an scanning and other astronomical observation anonymous military expert told the Global modes, with several key results exceeding Times on Sunday. expectations. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's Chinese scientists discovered multiple pulsars annual pilot recruitment ended in early July using the FAST telescope for the first time on

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 27 with nearly 20 percent more cadet pilots White paper expounds on missions, enrolled year-on-year. The numbers also revealed a 41 percent enrollment increase of tasks of China's armed forces in cadet pilots for carrier-based fighter jets, the new era PLA Daily reported on Friday. Xinhua July 24, 2019 China's sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is in A white paper titled "China's National Defense operation. A second carrier is expected to be in the New Era" released by the State Council ready for service soon, while a third one is Information Office Wednesday expounded on under construction. the missions and tasks of China's armed "China has been training more pilots for forces. aircraft carriers for some time now, and this China's armed forces endeavor to provide upward trend will continue to guarantee strategic support for consolidating the warship operations," the military expert said, leadership of the Communist Party of China noting that China will not only have more and the socialist system, safeguarding national carriers in the future, but the sizes will be sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, bigger, enabling them to carry more aircraft, protecting China's overseas interests, and thus requiring more pilots. promoting world peace and development, said Flying a carrier jet is widely known to be the white paper. difficult. Many pilots who signed up for the The missions and tasks of China's armed forces carrier recruitment program did not pass the were laid out in seven aspects: early selection rounds. -- Safeguarding national territorial sovereignty Over 4,500 pilots passed initial selection and maritime rights and interests; round earlier this year, almost twice the -- Maintaining combat readiness; amount from 2018, which was roughly 2,600. -- Carrying out military training in real combat For the closing round last year, 800 pilots conditions; made it to the final selection, but exactly how -- Safeguarding interests in major security many were enrolled was not announced. fields; -- Countering terrorism and maintaining stability; China launches new remote sensing -- Protecting China's overseas interests; satellites -- Participating in disaster rescue and relief. ecns.cn July 27, 2019

China successfully sent a group of new remote Number of noncombatants in sensing satellites into orbit from the Xichang Chinese military almost halved Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's chinawatch.com July 19, 2019 Zhang Zhihao Sichuan Province on Friday. The satellites, belonging to the Yaogan-30 White paper points to historic reduced ratio of family, were launched by a Long March-2C national budget spent on defence amid carrier rocket at 11:57 a.m. (Beijing Time). warnings on Taiwan, hopes for co-operation in The satellites have entered the planned orbits, outer space, and cybersecurity concerns and will be used for electromagnetic The Information Office of the State Council, environment detection and related China’s cabinet, published China’s National technological tests. Defence in the New Era, the country’s 10th Friday's launch was the 308th mission of the national defence white paper, on 24 July. Here Long March rocket series. are the highlights. Defence spending ‘reasonable and appropriate’ China’s defence spending is “reasonable and appropriate” and accounts for a relatively low percentage of the country’s GDP and government expenditure compared with other major countries, the white paper said.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 28 The ratio of China’s annual defence spending force in China’s national security, calling them to GDP fell from a peak of 5.43 per cent in “the major security fields”. 1979 to 1.26 per cent in 2017, it said, and the With its goal of developing outer space for ratio of defence budget to government peaceful purposes, China actively took part in expenditure decreased from 17.37 per cent in international co-operation in outer space, it 1979 to 5.14 per cent in 2017. said. It listed cyberspace security as a “key From 2012 to 2017, China’s average annual area for national security, economic growth defence expenditure was around 1.3 per cent and social development” and said China is of GDP. The US figure was 3.5 per cent, with facing severe security threats from cyberspace. Russia on 4.4 per cent, India 2.5 per cent, and the United Kingdom 2 per cent. Taiwan separatists and their activities are the Russia, China To Cooperate On “gravest immediate threat” to peace and Creation Of Ultra Powerful Lasers - stability in the Taiwan Straits and the “biggest Russian Scientists barrier” to the peaceful reunification of the Urdupoint News July19, 2019, Umer Jamshaid country, according to the defence white paper. The Taiwan authorities, led by the Democratic MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th Progressive Party, have “stubbornly” pursued July, 2019) Russia and China intend to independence and refused to recognise the cooperate on creation of ultra powerful lasers 1992 consensus that embodies the one-China for scientific experiments, the president of principle (which states that there is only one the Russian academy of Sciences (RAS), China in the world, and that both the mainland Alexander Sergeyev, told reporters on Friday. and Taiwan belong to that one China). Earlier in the day, Russia and China signed “We make no promise to renounce the use of a road map for scientific cooperation force, and reserve the option of taking all in Moscow. necessary measures,” it said. “This is by no "The third area of [scientific] cooperation means targeted at our compatriots in Taiwan, [envisaged by the road map] is the creation but at external interference forces and the very and use of ultra powerful lasers. We agreed small number of Taiwan separatists and their that our first bilateral meeting would be held activities.” in Shanghai this year, where we will discuss Number of noncombatants in Chinese military the creation of ultra powerful petawatt- and almost halved exawatt-level lasers," Sergeyev said. Nearly half the noncombatant jobs in the The RAS chief also noted military have been abolished and about 25 that Russia and China already had laser per cent of office posts at military units above installations with a power of 100-200 the regiment level have been shed. petawatts (one petawatt equals Military organisations involved in artistic to million gigawatts). In the performance, sports, news services, future, Russia and China plan to combine publication, and medical and research bodies experience and efforts to create new lasers for have been dismantled or simplified, the white fundamental research, he added. paper said. Laser is a technology of light amplification by The military had fulfilled its goal of reducing its stimulated emission of radiation. It has a wide troops by 300,000, and now maintained an range of applications, from military and law active force of two million troops, the white enforcement to education and healthcare. paper said. Russian and Chinese scientists also agreed to Fewer jobs: a female candidate presents her ID jointly study changes in the Tibetan Plateau's as she prepares to sit the PLA’s national non- climate system, Sergeyev said. military personnel examination CREDIT: VGC "Another area [of Russian-Chinese scientific Emphasis on outer space and cyberspace cooperation] is very interesting, it is linked to security the studies of Tibet. This is not The white paper gave outer space and only Chinese issue, it is due to the fact that the cyberspace the same weight as the nuclear Tibetan Plateau, as they say, is the globe's 'Third Pole.' If you look at the map, we will see

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 29 that there is a vast highland, the impact of Defence Shripad Naik said in a written reply which on the Earth's climate is huge, but not to Rajya Sabha. yet sufficiently studied," he said. Out of these 272 roads, 61 roads of length 3,323.57 km have been identified as strategic. Work has been completed on 2,304.65 km China #1 in quantum entanglement and work on balance stretches is in progress. Science, Space & Robotics News, July 15, 2019 Further, in addition to meeting the operational Jak Connor requirement, the above mentioned roads on completion would also enhance accessibility to China teleports object 300 miles China has border areas where the border infrastructure successfully sent an electron to an a ground and forward connectivity is lacking. orbiting satellite that is more than 300 miles India has been focusing in building away. The human race has made another infrastructure in the eastern and northern milestone in the quantum entanglement field borders with China to match up their military where they have managed to teleport an building along the Line of Actual Control. electron to a low-orbiting satellite 300 miles away. According to a team of researchers in China, scientists have managed to use Tibet Military Region forces quantum entanglement to teleport an electron mobilize to Xinjiang for live-fire 300 miles away. An MIT Technology Review said that this is the furthest the technology has mock combat exercise managed to teleport an object, the scientists Global Times, July , 7 2019 findings have been published in a paper online An artillery brigade under the People's at arXiv. This isn't the first test of its kind, for Liberation Army (PLA) Tibet Military Region about a month these scientists have conducted recently mobilized from Southwest China's many tests and have beamed up millions of Tibet Autonomous Region to Northwest photons from their ground site located in Tibet. The team said that "This work establishes the China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region first ground-to-satellite up-link for faithful and for a live-fire mock combat exercise. ultra-long-distance quantum teleportation, an Acting as the red team, the artillery brigade essential step toward global-scale quantum arrived at a plateau with an altitude of more Internet." For those that don't know, quantum than 4,800 meters in Hotan Prefecture of entanglement is a "strange phenomenon" that southern Xinjiang after setting out from Lhasa, happens "when two quantum objects, such as capital city of Tibet, more than 10 days ago, photons, form at the same instant and point in China Central Television (CCTV) reported on space and so share the same existence. In Sunday. technical terms, they are described by the The goal of the exercise is to train the troops' same wave function." real-combat capabilities from all perspectives, as the red team will conduct systems confrontation with the opposing blue team. India building 61 strategic roads Thousands of PLA soldiers and officers from along Pakistan, China borders Tibet then scattered across an area of tens of India Today, July 15, 2019, Manjeet Singh Negi square kilometers, together with various types of combat vehicles. Upon receiving their India is building 61 strategic roads along the orders, they rapidly formed up and mobilized borders with China and Pakistan to strengthen toward the targeted area, using the night as its military infrastructure in the region. cover, CCTV reported. A revised Long Term Roll on Works Plan of They were soon met with attacks from the blue Border Roads Organisation for five years team, who deployed special operation units for (2018-19 to 2022-23) has been formulated for harassment attacks, launched chemical strikes construction and improvement of 272 roads of and used drones for reconnaissance, the length 14,545 km, Minister of State for report said. Facing electronic jamming from the blue team, the red team used the BeiDou Navigation

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 30 Satellite System and vehicle-borne frequency prepare for it. Trains traveling at 160 modulation radio stations to reestablish kilometers per hour are expected to begin communication and restored command over running on that section by 2021. the troops. The Sichuan-Tibet railway was first proposed In the coming days, the two teams will conduct more than a century ago, with the idea revived more exercises, including intelligence after the foundation of the People's Republic of reconnaissance, infiltration, combat planning China in 1949, but various hurdles prevented it and long-range artillery strikes, CCTV from progressing. Trains finally began running reported. on the first section of the line to open, from "In this cross-regional exercise, our work is Chengdu to Ya'an in Sichuan province, in based on an important principle: making it December. real," Song Linsheng, a member of the Tibet The third section of the line, between Ya'an Military Region exercise director team, told and Nyingchi, will be one of the world's most CCTV. challenging railway projects because it winds We will push the troops to hopeless situations, through the Sichuan Basin, Yunnan-Guizhou to extremes, so we can expose those Plateau and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, climbing shortcomings during peacetime that limit the from 600 meters above sea level to nearly troops' combat capabilities, Song said, noting 4,500 meters, according to Zhao Jian, a that only in this way can the troops be truly professor of rail transportation at Beijing trained. Jiaotong University. Both Tibet and Xinjiang are China's "It will go through complicated geological borderlands, and exercises like this will boost conditions fraught with avalanches, landslides, the PLA's capabilities to safeguard the earthquakes, heat, karst caves and country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, underground streams," he said. analysts said. At its annual work conference in January, national railway operator China State Railway Group, which was then called China Railway Sichuan-Tibet Railway progress Corp, said it would complete the feasibility picks up steam study for the Ya'an-Nyingchi section by June China Daily, July 7, 2019 and finish preparations for construction by the end of September. The group is also in charge The building of the Sichuan-Tibet railway is of national railway planning and construction. picking up steam, with construction work on Things seem to have been progressing rapidly nine new stations on the Lhasa-Nyingchi in the past month. People's Railway Daily, section in the Tibet autonomous region to which is sponsored by the group, reported that begin soon, according to railway authorities. the company reviewed the feasibility study for The Office of the Leading Group of Railway the Ya'an-Nyingchi section on June 4 and Construction and Operation in Lhasa, Tibet's reached a consensus that would be passed on. regional capital, said last week that the nine On June 17, Peng Qinghua, Party secretary of stations will be built by China Railway Sichuan, said at a news conference that Construction Group and China Railway construction of the Ya'an-Nyingchi section, Construction Engineering Group, which won spanning about 1,000 km, would begin soon. the bidding for the project, but the exact date "Bridges and tunnels will cover over 90 percent that work will commence has yet to be of the line, which means there will be nearly determined. 800 km of tunnels and more than 100 km of An earlier report by Lhasa Radio and TV bridges," he said. Station on one of its WeChat accounts said The next day, when China State Railway work on the stations was expected to begin Group announced its name change, finalizing this month and will be completed by the end of its restructuring, it was disclosed that a new next year. office had been established to lead the The laying of track on the 435.48-kilometer Sichuan-Tibet railway project. A new company, Lhasa-Nyingchi section, one of the easier parts Sichuan-Tibet Railway, was also added to the of the Sichuan-Tibet railway, began in October, following four years of work to

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 31 existing 18 railway bureaus and companies controlled by the group. China Politics On June 26, various government departments in Sichuan discussed the route selected for the Ya'an-Nyingchi section in the province and reached a consensus on the proposed route, according to the website of Sichuan's China to unveil more measures to Department of Natural Resources. boost consumption, tourism Zhao, the professor, said, "Once in operation, Xinhua, July 31, 2019 the rail line will help Sichuan province build itself into an inland transportation hub within BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- China will roll out China as well as a bridge that connects the more measures to further promote the growth country with South Asian countries including of domestic consumption and the tourism Nepal and India, which will greatly boost the sector to better meet people's needs, economy in southwestern China with according to a State Council executive meeting convenient transportation." Wednesday chaired by Premier Li Keqiang. The Sichuan-Tibet railway will be the second China will encourage the application of new rail line connecting Tibet with the rest of the technologies including big-data to prop up the country. The 1,956-km Qinghai-Tibet Railway development of customized consumption and opened in 2006. other new business models, said a statement released after the meeting. Localities will be encouraged to include community-based medicare, old-age care and China to launch constellation of housekeeping infrastructure into the renovation remote sensing satellites of old neighborhoods and provide financial ecns.cn July 1, 2019 and tax support for such programs. Development of the e-commerce sector in rural China is planning to launch a constellation of areas should be further promoted, said the 192 remote sensing satellites by 2021, reports statement, calling for the improvement of cold China Central Television. chain logistics of agricultural produce. Artificial intelligence technology will process To further boost cultural consumption and the the images captured by the satellites, which tourism sector, the meeting called on local will have sensors with multiple resolutions. This authorities to cut or exempt ticket prices of will allow poor quality images to be filtered scenic areas, with nighttime catering, shopping out so that only useful data is beamed back to and performances encouraged. earth. Meanwhile, market oversight will be enhanced Scientists working on the project are also with market entities and personnel violating the attempting to enable the constellation to be law facing tough punishment in a bid to protect self-piloting. the rights and interest of consumers. When complete, the project is expected to provide better data for environmental monitoring, disaster prevention and mitigation, and traffic management. CPC meeting analyzes economic The RAS president stressed that the rivers situation, reviews accountability flowing from the Tibetan Plateau provide water to a significant part of regulation, inspection report the world's population, and studying the state Xinhua, July 30, 2019 of the highlands will provide scientists with an BEIJING, July 30 (Xinhua) -- The Political insight into how the climate of the Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Earth may change in the future. Central Committee held a meeting on Tuesday, Sergeyev added that China and Russia were analyzing the economic situation, arranging also considering the possibility of building economic work in the second half of the year, astrophysical stations in Tibet. and reviewing a Party accountability

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 32 regulation and a report on discipline infrastructure such has information network, inspection. said the statement. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC China will deepen the reform of institutions and Central Committee, presided over the meeting. mechanisms, stimulate the vitality and The Chinese economy maintained the steadily momentum of economic development, speed advancing momentum in the first half of 2019, up the implementation of major strategies and with the main macroeconomic indicators enhance the functions of urban agglomeration. remaining in the reasonable range, according The country will take targeted measures to to a statement released after the meeting. support the development of private In the first half of the year, the supply-side enterprises, accelerate the clearing of "zombie structural reform made continuous headway, enterprises," effectively handle trade frictions the reform and opening-up continued to be and keep employment, the financial sector, deepened, employment was relatively full, foreign trade, foreign and domestic targeted poverty alleviation was advanced in investments, and expectations stable, an orderly manner and people's living according to the meeting. standards continued to improve, said the China's opening-up will be expanded and statement. major opening-up policies will be further The country has witnessed increasing positive implemented. The financial supply-side factors behind its high-quality development, structural reform will be advanced and according to the meeting. financial institutions should be encouraged to As the Chinese economy faces new risks and increase medium- and long-term financing to increasing downward pressure, the country the manufacturing industry and private should focus on long-term trends and key companies. issues so as to turn crises into opportunities, The sci-tech innovation board should properly the statement said. implement its registration-based initial public China will maintain the basic tune of "seeking offering system with information disclosure at progress while maintaining stability" for its its core and improve the quality of listed firms, economic work and continue to promote said the statement. supply-side structural reform. China will adhere to the principle of "housing China must uphold the new development is for living in, not for speculation," implement philosophy, and make efforts to boost high- the long-term mechanism to maintain the sound quality development, and push forward reform development of the real estate market, and not and opening-up, the statement said. use real estate as a short-term means of The meeting also called for holistic efforts to stimulating the economy, according to the maintain stable growth, advance reform, make meeting. structural adjustments, improve living The meeting also required solid implementation standards, guard risks, and ensure stability to of pro-employment policies with a particular foster continuous and sound economic growth focus on ensuring the employment of college in the country, according to the statement. graduates, migrant rural workers and veterans. China will continue to implement the proactive Efforts should also be made to stabilize market fiscal policy and the prudent monetary policy. supply and prices, pay particular attention to Fiscal policy should be strengthened and workplace safety and strengthen the policies of cutting taxes and fees should be prevention of natural disasters. further implemented. China will keep its The statement also noted a revision by the CPC monetary policy neither too tight nor too loose Central Committee to the Party accountability while maintaining market liquidity at a regulation pursuant to the spirit of the 19th reasonable level. CPC National Congress. More efforts should be made to deepen the It stressed the need to uphold Xi Jinping supply-side structural reform, lift the level of Thought on Socialism with Chinese the industrial chain, expand the domestic Characteristics for a New Era and to market, stabilize manufacturing investment and safeguard Xi's status as the core of the CPC accelerate the construction of new type of Central Committee and the whole Party, as

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 33 well as the authority and centralized, unified economic situations and economic work in the leadership of the CPC Central Committee. second half of the year from non-CPC Party organizations at all levels and Party personages. officials should keep the CPC's original Xi said it is necessary to heighten confidence, aspiration and mission firmly in mind, closely maintain strategic focus, and keep in mind align themselves with the CPC Central both the domestic and international situations Committee, and ensure that the Party's line, during the pursuit of sustained and sound principles, policies and the CPC Central economic development. Committee's major decisions and plans are Despite the challenges and problems in implemented, according to the statement. economic operations, the Chinese economy Underlining the importance of strictness in the has maintained sound momentum in the long full and rigorous governance over the Party, run, he said, stressing the need to the statement called for efforts to ensure that unswervingly advance supply-side structural all Party officials who fail to fulfill their duties reform, foster new growth points and achieve should be called to account accordingly, so as high-quality development in a down-to-earth to rigidly enforce accountability mechanisms. manner. Party officials who have shown outstanding The meeting was attended by Li Keqiang, work performance after being brought to Wang Yang, Wang Huning and Han Zheng, all account should be assigned to proper positions members of the Standing Committee of the as long as they meet certain requirements, so Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. as to encourage officials to work hard, Li reviewed China's economic work in the first according to the statement. half of the year and introduced the CPC The statement noted that the central leading Central Committee's considerations for group on disciplinary inspection has carried economic work in the second half of the year. out three rounds of discipline inspections, Heads of the central committees of eight non- covering all centrally administered state-owned Communist parties and the All-China enterprises (SOEs) and making notable Federation of Industry and Commerce, as well progress. as the representative of personages without Based on the findings of the inspections, it party affiliations made their respective pointed out that central SOEs have markedly speeches, agreeing with the CPC Central boosted their awareness and responsibility in Committee's analysis of the economic situation Party governance, and achieved remarkable and plans for economic work. progress in their reform and development. They also gave suggestions on the economy, They have made key contributions to economic which, Xi said, were well-targeted and would and social development, the advancement of be seriously considered by the CPC Central science and technology, the development of Committee. the national defense and the improvement of Xi appreciated their contributions to the CPC people's livelihood, however, prominent Central Committee's policy-making as they had problems still exist, said the statement. accomplished a series of research projects on Central SOEs were urged to rectify the the focal tasks of the Party and the government problems found in the inspections, and such as prompting innovation-driven combine this with the efforts to deepen reform development and optimizing the business and promote high-quality development. environment to unleash the vitality of economic entities. Xi stressed that it is of great significance to Xi presides over symposium for ensure stable and sound economic growth in soliciting advice on economic work the second half of the year during which the ECNS.cn July 30, 2019 country will celebrate its 70th founding anniversary. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist He hoped the non-CPC personages could Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, properly understand the country's current presided over and addressed a symposium on economic situation and be more confident and Monday to solicit opinions and suggestions on resolute.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 34 "China's economy is generally sound, yet the external environment and domestic economic Sino-Indian situation are undergoing profound and complicated changes," Xi said. "As long as we Relations keep focused, stand firm and work hard to enhance our strength, exploit our potential in reform and innovation and actively open new ground, the ship of the Chinese economy is bound to ride the waves and sail forward steadily." In ‘constant touch’ with China The transition of the Chinese economy from a over Brahmaputra: Junior MEA phase of rapid growth to a stage of high- quality development, which demands a change minister North East Now, July 28, 2019 in development concepts, optimization of economic structure and a shift in growth 'Govt has seen reports drawing possible drivers, won't be easy, he said. linkage between the deterioration in the He hoped non-CPC personages could focus on quality of Siang/Brahmaputra River and the essential concerns of the CPC Central construction activities on the river in China' Committee and the key issues in social and Responding to a starred question in the Rajya economic development, make full use of their Sabha this month, union minister of state for expertise and advantages to offer insightful external affairs V Muraleedharan said India and valuable advice. was in ‘constant touch’ with China to Xi also hoped non-CPC personages could ‘safeguard our interests’ pertaining to the properly meet difficulties and challenges on Brahmaputra river. the path of pursuing development, take MP Lal Sinh Vadodia has asked a series of responsibilities and devote themselves to their pointed questions on the Brahmaputra and duties. how reported dam construction by China was "As the country has made an extraordinary likely to adversely impact on its downstream journey in the past 70 years, we should firmly course. believe in the bright prospects of China's Vadodia asked (a) whether some dams have development and fully recognize the twists and been built or are under construction on turns on the road ahead," Xi said. tributaries of Brahmaputra river by China; (b) He called for efforts to utilize the political whether due to construction of the said dams, advantages of the CPC leadership and the the water of Siang river has become polluted socialist system and make full preparations for and the local people are forced to drink this preventing and resisting risks in a bid to turn polluted water as a result of which they are challenges into opportunities. having various types of diseases; and (c) the details of steps taken by Government to provide pure drinking water to the people living there and protect their interests? Muraleedharan in a written reply said the Government has seen reports ‘drawing possible linkage between the deterioration in the quality of Siang/Brahmaputra River and the infrastructure construction activities on the river in China’. “In this regard, Government has noted Chinese Foreign Ministry’s statements denying any such link and stating that the situation was caused by an earthquake in the region and was not a man-made incident. “Government, in close cooperation with various State Governments which are users of

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 35 the waters of Brahmaputra River, continues to Brahmaputra flows from Tibet into Arunachal carefully monitor the water flow in river Pradesh, Assam and later into Bangladesh. Brahmaputra for early detection of abnormality so that corrective and preventive measures are taken to safeguard livelihood of India-China talks on vexed LAC peoples of these states of Union of India,” issue on track: Eastern Army stated Muraleedharan. Commander The minister further pointed out that “as a Economic Times, July 26, 2019 lower riparian State with considerable established user rights to the waters of the KOLKATA: Talks to resolve the "vexed" Line of trans-border rivers, Government has Actual Control (LAC) issue with China are on consistently conveyed its views and concerns to track, with differences getting narrowed down the Chinese authorities and has urged them to after every round of discussion, Eastern Army ensure that the interests of downstream States Commander Lt Gen M M Naravane said here are not harmed by any activities in upstream on Friday. areas”. Putting a time frame to resolve the issue, Muraleedharan assured the house that the however, would be difficult at this point, the government “remains engaged with China on General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern the issue of trans-border rivers to safeguard Command, said. our interest, including through an "With every round of talks on the vexed LAC institutionalized Expert Level Mechanism which issue, the differences keep getting narrowed was established in 2006, as well as through down. Hopefully at some point, all the interests diplomatic channels”. will converge and we will be able to formally Vadodia’s question was perhaps prompted by sign an agreement," he said. recent reports about China blocking a Asked at what stage the talks have reached, tributary of the Brahmaputra to construct a Naravane, who has been appointed the next dam and Beijing’s reported plans to construct vice-chief of the Army, said, "We are in the multiple dams on Yarlung Tsangpo, the name 23rd or 24th round of talks, putting a time by which the Brahmaputra is known in Tibet. frame to it is difficult. The sooner the (LAC) China has already allayed Indian issue is resolved, the sooner the two large apprehensions that the Lalho dam project on Asian neighbours can get past these obstacles the Xiabuqu river, a tributary of the Yarlung to move on the path of progress." Tsnagpo , would adversely impact on the flow Speaking to news persons after the wreath- of the Brahmaputra river into India. laying ceremony on the 20th anniversary of Describing the Lalho dam project on the the Kargil war victory against Pakistan, he said Xiabuqu river as an important livelihood "As with our western neighbour, with our project to address food security and flood northern neighbour, too, if we have peace, the safety in Tibet, the Chinese foreign ministry population on both sides will be able to look told an Indian news agency that the tributary forward to a brighter future." river is located completely within the Chinese The LAC with China traverses the states of side. Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal “The reservoir capacity of the project is less Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. than 0.02 per cent of the average annual The Indian Army and the Chinese People's runoff of the Yarlung Zangbo-Brahmaputra. It Liberation Army (PLA) were involved in a 73- cannot have an adverse impact on the day standoff at Doklam in 2017 in the Sikkim downstream,” Chinese foreign ministry said in sector over construction of a road by the PLA, a written reply to PTI to a question on India’s overlooking the narrow 'Chicken's Neck' concerns over the dam. corridor connecting the north-eastern states China has also rejected as “false and untrue” with the rest of the country in an area, which is media reports that it was planning to build a also claimed by Bhutan. 1,000- km long tunnel to divert water from the The standoff, which had strained relations Brahmaputra river in Tibet close to Arunachal between the two countries, was finally resolved Pradesh to the parched Xinjiang region.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 36 after the PLA stopped the road construction, Hand-in-Hand was started in 2007 in Kunming following which India withdrew its troops. but was halted after the Chinese troops came Significantly, the Chinese military has said that to Belgaum in Karnataka for the second it is striving to promote security and stability edition. The exercised resumed only five years along the India-China border and has created later in 2013 as New Delhi and Beijing had favourable conditions to resolve the Doklam suspended their military ties because of a visa standoff. row. After the 6th edition in Pune in 2016, the exercise again got derailed because of 73-day stand-off between the two forces in Sikkim's India-China border trade through Doklam area where the troops from both sides Lipulekh Pass gathers pace came face to face. Times of India, July 21, 2019, Prem Punetha The situation eased last year and the troops of the two sides interacted once again in China PITHORAGARH: India-China border trade and videos of People's Liberation Army (PLA) through Lipulekh Pass is gearing up gradually. soldiers dancing with their Indian counterpart Almost one and a half months into the trade, also went viral. The drill is on track this year export of goods worth Rs 96,000 from India despite recent incident in Demchok region of and and import of goods worth Rs 1.45 lakh to Ladakh where a Chinese group objected to India were recorded by mid-July. Traders told locals celebrating the Dalai Lama's birthday. TOI that the pace of trade is expected to see The situation was diffused in flag meeting as is an upswing in August. At present, 34 Indian the practice. Indian traders (and helpers) are at Taklakot, the Chinese mandi (market), to conduct business. Amended India-China tax treaty “This year, the district administration had protocol enters into force issued trade passes to 65 traders and 157 mnetax.com July 19, 2019, helpers. Currently, 13 traders and 21 helpers By Prabhakar KS, Shree Tax Chambers, Bengaluru are staying at Taklalot to conduct business While some traders are heading towards An amending protocol to the China-India tax Talakot, others are returning to Gunji, the treaty entered into force from June 5, the Indian mandi, from Taklakot Varun Agarwal, Indian government announced on July 17. assistant trade officer, India-China border To carry out desired amendments, the protocol trade, told TOI. was signed on 26 November 2018 in New Delhi. It amends the 1994 income tax treaty between China and India, also signed in New India, China to hold joint military Delhi. drill in Meghalaya in December he latest protocol has brought in key The Indian Express, July 20, 2019 amendments to the existing agreement on the basis of recommendations of the 2015 OECD/ NEW DELHI: The next edition of India and G20 Base Erosion Profit Shifting Plan. For China military drill, that was resumed last year example, the preamble states that the treaty is following a freeze over the Doklam stand-off, not designed to create opportunities for non- will be held later this year. taxation or reduced taxation through tax An official said there that the joint military evasion or avoidance including through treaty exercise "Hand-in-Hand" will be held in Umroi shopping arrangements. near Shillong, Meghalaya. The last exercise, The treaty also states that by mutual which was the seventh edition, was held in agreement, the competent authorities can Chengdu in December 2018. determine at taxpayer’s residence having In Umroi, the two forces will focus on counter- regard to place of effective management terror operations, establishment of joint (POEM). Further it contains provisions allowing command post and joint combat drill though a the tax authorities of the two countries to detailed planning meeting will be held in exchange information to enforce tax laws. August.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 37 It seems that both the countries finally have • Qoidêngarbo Ri, which translates to woken up to the reality of abuse of tax treaty White Stupa Mountain was for Choten provisions by multinational entities through Karpo Ri. treaty shopping and other means. As a positive • Mainquka was for Menchuka and Bümo sign, India has revised its tax treaties with La is likely to be Bumla, located a short other major economies such as Mauritius, distance from Tawang. Singapore, and Switzerland recent past. Earlier in May 2019, it had destroyed 30,000 As of now, India has signed 88 bilateral and world maps after they did not mention that multilateral tax agreements. Arunachal Pradesh and Taiwan were part of Chinese territory, the official media had reported. China Returns To Dirty Tricks Over As per a report by news agency PTI, the two Arunachal Pradesh, Claims countries have had as many as 21 rounds of Bomdila Earthquake In Tibet talks in an attempt to resolve the border dispute covering 3,488-km-long Line of Actual The Republic, July 19, 2019 Control (LAC). However, repeating its dirty A minor earthquake of 5.5 magnitudes was tricks, China has also been claiming the reported in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday estranged island of Taiwan as part of its afternoon. However, immediately after the territory that must be reunified with the quake hit the north-eastern region of India, mainland, even by force. China tried to play its dirty tricks and needled India over the quake, by changing the name of the Arunachal Pradesh's region where the Trade point planned at India-China quake was felt. While the epicentre of LAC the earthquake was Arunachal Hindustan Times, July 19 2018 Sudhi Ranjan Sen Pradesh's Bomdila area, China claimed that it was hit in Shannan, which is in Tibet. The Indian Army has approved the opening of Taking to Twittertter, the Chinese media quoted a new trading point with China at Dumchelle in the China Earthquake Networks Center and Ladakh, the third such along India’s disputed, claimed that a magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit albeit peaceful 3,488-km border with China in the Cona County in "Shannan" in Southwest a confidence building measure ahead of China's Tibet Autonomous Region.The Chinese President Xi Jinping’s October visit. epicentre of the quake was at the depth Although the Indian Army’s spokesperson did of 16.8 km and was located 64 km northeast not respond to queries, three officials familiar of Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh, as per the US with the matter said on condition of anonymity Geological Survey. Tremors of the quake were that the army has cleared the opening of the also felt in Assam. post, and that it is up to the government now. Significantly, China has internally renamed Hindustan Times learns that the trading post many places of Arunachal Pradesh, could open as soon as the end of the year and including Tawang, Bomdila and Itanagar. It that work has already started on the customs has renamed Bomdila Shannan as a part of its check point and the road to it. The only thing claim that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of Tibet left is for the Cabinet Committee on Security to region Here are some of the places which sign off. were remained by China in April 2017 - Dumchelle is in Southern Ladakh, and is Wo'gyainling, Mila Ri, Qoidengarbo Ri, strategically located between Chushul , one of Mainquka, Bumo La and Namkapub Ri. These the five designated Border Personnel Meeting places are believed to be located along the (BPM) meeting points between the Indian and Line of Actual Control ( LAC) Chinese armies, and Demchok in Southern • Wo’gyainling refers to the Urgyenling Ladakh. monastery, near Tawang town, which The two other recognised trading points with is the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama China are Lipulekh in Uttrakhand and Nathu in Tawang district La in Sikkim. Predetermined, locally made

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 38 items are traded through these points with an Number of transgressions along aim of boosting the local economy. President Xi is scheduled to be in India in India-China border have October for an informal summit with Prime Economic Times, July 18, 2019 Shaurya Karanbir Gurung Minister Narendra Modi. Opening up another NEW DELHI: The number of transgressions and trading point along the disputed Line of Actual the percentage of face-offs during them along Control (LAC) would be a major confidence the Line of Actual Control between India and building measure, analysts said. China have ‘considerably’ reduced this year as Although the Dumchelle trading point will be compared to last year, the defence ministry new, trade at the border town between said. residents of Ladakh and the Tibetans from the The ministry in its annual report 2018-19 said other side has a long history. Goods are that the situation along the India-China border bought and sold at Dumchelle regularly. In has remained peaceful. “Compared to last addition, there is a three-week-long fair at year, the number of transgressions this year Dumchelle where locals from both sides have considerably reduced. Concomitantly, the participate. percentage of face-offs or aggressive In the past, the Chinese People’s Liberation interactions during these transgressions has Army (PLA) has even used the hotline, which also reduced this year,” reads the report. connects military commanders on both sides of On Wednesday, Defence Minister Rajnath the border and which is used to sort out minor Singh in the Lok Sabha said that peace has issues, to discuss dates of the fair. “It is an prevailed on the India-China border, while informal arrangement between the two sides,” adding that due to the difference in perception a senior serving Indian Army officer said. there have been some unpleasant incidents at “It is a traditional trade route. In the past, the the local level temporarily. He said that the army has written to the government advising it two countries are respecting bilateral pacts to to either completely stop the trade or formalise ensure peace and tranquillity along border. He the exchange,” a government official added. sought to assuage the Opposition’s concerns The current trade through Dumchelle is over Chinese troops reportedly entering informal and designating it a trading point will Doklam area in Ladakh recently. automatically lead to “supervision of the The ministry explained both sides patrol upto goods flowing through this area. Also, there their respective perceptions of the LAC. could be revenue implications for the The standoff at CNN junction in Eastern government,” this person said. “Ladakh is Ladakh due to Indian construction of a track flooded with Chinese made goods, much of and the constant raising of the Indian which is traded through this particular point.” temporary operating base at Andrathang in India-China ties which hit a low during the 73- Arunachal Pradesh were the only instances day long stand-off between the armies of the where there was a “major difference of two countries in the Doklam plateau in Sikkim opinion between the two sides”. in 2017 warmed after the historic informal “A few Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) summit at Wuhan between Prime Minister which had been proposed by both sides for Modi and President Xi in April 2018. Both consideration have been implemented in leaders agreed to give “strategic” guidance to sensitive areas of Arunachal Pradesh, thereby the respective militaries to reduce border easing the tension to some extent. Some tensions. additional CBMs are under consideration by Nonetheless, caution on either side is both sides,” reads the report. understandable. The LAC is not demarcated. Specific cases of transgression by Chinese To address this, the two countries have agreed patrols are also taken up with Chinese to elaborate mechanism that includes banner authorities through the established mechanism drills and communication between local of hotlines, Border Personnel and Flag commanders through established “hotlines” to meetings. “Post the Wuhan summit, there has ensure minor issues do not escalate into major been an increase in the number of flag ones. meetings. This may be attributed to the intent

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 39 to resolve outstanding issues through IMSAT satellite and this includes the villages in discussion at various levels,” said the ministry. Niti Valley," he told the House. The report also states that post the He said the government is providing disengagement in August 2017 after the 72- communication service at cheaper rates to days long Doklam standoff, Indian and armed forces personnel and they are charged Chinese troops have redeployed themselves at Rs.1 per minute telephone call instead of Rs. away from their positions near the face-off site. 25 per minute. "The BSNL does this work “The strength of either side has, however, despite all kinds of problems," he said. reduced. The Indian Army is continuously monitoring Chinese activities in the area and is adequately prepared to respond to any Did Chinese Troops Really Enter contingency,” reads the report. Deep Into Ladakh To Stop Dalai In a major engagement after the standoff, the defence ministers of India and China met in Lama’s Birthday Celebrations? eurasiantimes.com July 17, 2019 Delhi in August last year. “It is pertinent to note that the previous such incoming visit by Epoch Times quoting the Economic Times states the Chinese defence minister was in September that the incident occurred on July 6. At that 2012,” said the ministry. time, about 11 Chinese soldiers wearing plain Both sides recognised that ‘peace’ and clothes were accused of crossing the line of ‘tranquility’ in the India-China border area is actual control and entered the Ladakh area. At an important prerequisite to the development the time, the local residents were holding the of bilateral relations. 84th birthday celebration for the Dalai Lama. Chinese government sources said that the PLA Centre To Connect 496 India-China soldiers only protested near the line of actual control, held a banner with the words “All Border Villages With IMSAT activities to separate Tibet are prohibited,” Satellite and also did not cross the line. ndtv.com July 18, 2019 However, the residents of the Ladakh region of NEW DELHI: The government has decided to India refuted the statement. In a Facebook connect 496 villages along the India-China page that Urgain Chodon, head of Koyul border with IMSAT satellite that will restore Village, posted, she shared photos of the connectivity to people living in such remote soldiers standing next to their vehicle and the areas, Communications Minister Ravi Shankar five-star flag and banner.She said that the Prasad informed the Rajya Sabha today. village residents have been holding birthday Replying to queries by members over celebration ceremonies for the Dalai Lama for connectivity issues in Niti valley in Chamoli a number of years. This year, for the first time, district of Uttarakhand along the India-China Chinese soldiers crossed the border and border, he said all digital satellite phone entered 6 kilometers into India. Not only did terminals (DSPTs) have been disrupted in these they put up the five-star flag representing villages and the outposts of Indo-Tibetan China, but they also told them that they could Border Police (ITBP), Army and Border Roads not put up the Tibetan flag, claiming that it was Organisation. inciting the villagers. This is believed to be the This happened after the transponder of NSS-6 first large-scale invasion of Chinese soldiers Satellite was turned off on May 13 this year since the confrontation between the Chinese due to security concerns. and Indian troops in 2017. Mr Prasad said since these are far flung areas India Denies The Claims and each mountain is connected with the Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat stated satellite, the process to restore such service is that there has been no intrusion by the Chinese long and cumbersome and involves a lot of in Ladakh’s Demchok sector amid reports of capital infusion. Chinese soldiers crossing the Line of Actual "There is reconfiguration with other satellite Control (LAC) last week after some Tibetans and the government has decided to link 496 hoisted Tibetan flags on the Dalai Lama’s villages along the India-China border through birthday.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 40 There is no intrusion. The matter was taken up Army chief refutes report of at a flag meeting and sorted. We have a very good working relationship with the Chinese, Chinese incursion in Demchok General Bipin Rawat said on Saturday. Pune mirror, July 14, 2019 According to Experts that EurAsian Times On July 6, the Chinese side had raised talked to, It is impossible for the Chinese forces objections to the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai to enter the Indian territory and go back Lama’s birthday celebrations by some locals without any retaliation from the Indian security on the Indian side. The Chinese personnel had forces and the border guards. If the Chinese shown them banners saying, “ban all activities did enter, they must have stationed themselves to split Tibet”. There was sloganeering from at the no man’s land where Indian and both sides and the sand the situation was Chinese soldiers often come face-to-face. diffused. Stating that India had a good working ‘LAC protests not possible without relationship with the the China, Rawat said, “Any time, any thing happens, we have the China support’ local commanders talking to each other.”About The Tribune, July 14, 2019 the situation on the LAC, he said, They have a Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat on Saturday said perception on the alignment of their LAC and people protesting the celebration of Tibetan we we have our own view. There are gaps in spiritual leader the Dalai Lama’s birthday on between, so both sides patrol and come into July 6 in eastern Ladakh couldn’t have each others’ areas.” reached the Line of Actual Control (LAC) without the knowledge or backing of the Sikkim: Bust of Iron man of Natula Chinese. On some Chinese in civvies recently having Inaugurated at Natula showed a banner to residents of Ladakh near NorthEast India 14 July 14, 2019 Fukche, Gen Rawat said, “Anytime when civilians come forward (to the LAC), there will be PLA (People’s Liberation Army of China).” The banner hoisted by the group read ‘Ban all activity to split Tibet’. The LAC is the defacto boundary between India and China. The Army Chief denied any intrusion. “Let us clear this perception. There has been no intrusion. We need to dispel this talk of intrusion… we have very good working relations with China.” Gen Rawat said on the Indian side too if Bust of Iron man of Natula Sagat Singh, Sikkim civilians moved towards LAC, they were accompanied by ITBP or Army. “We don’t The Black Cat Division conducted centenary allow civilians to go to LAC unmonitored,” the celebrations of birth of Lieutenant General Army Chief said. He said civilians had come Sagat Singh, Padma Bhushan, PVSM at Natu and “obliviously, the Chinese did accompany La on 14 July 2019 with full military grandeur. them” as nobody would want civilians to go to General Officer Commanding Black Cat the border without their activity being Division unveil a bust of Lieutenant General monitored. — TNS Sagat Singh, at Baba Harbhajan Singh Shrine near Sherathang and laid a wreath in honour of the Late hero to whom we attribute the Indian Army’s presence at Natu La today.During the unprovoked belligerence by the Chinese at Natu La and Cho La in August and September 1967 respectively, General

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 41 Sagat Singh displayed leadership of the highest order and gave a befitting reply to the China and the Chinese. Due to his resolute outlook, the Indian Army Region stood firm at these two passes and showed to the Nation and the World that such hostile acts by the Chinese would not go unchallenged.The Tri-Colour continues to flutter with pride today at Natu La because of the grit, determination and farsightedness of the officer and our The elusive China-Nepal rail link: Nation shall always remain grateful to him. High costs and risks, uncertain Indeed, he shall always be remembered as benefits ‘The Iron Man of Natu La’. Hindustan Times, July 30, 2019, Sam Cowan

India keeping close watch on There has been a flood of commentary in the Indian media on China’s enhanced Chinese dams on Brahmaputra engagement with Economic Times, July 4, 2019 Nepal in recent years. Beijing’s commitment to Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury build a railway link to Kathmandu has become the symbol of this new dynamic. But while NEW DELHI: India is closely monitoring many in New Delhi may think this is a done construction of dams by China on river deal, the truth is more complicated. Brahmaputra including any diversion of water Nepal’s Prime Minister, KP Oli, is not a man to due to construction of dams, the minstry of be modest in his claims and promises. In a external affairs (MEA) told Parliament. public speech on June 3, 2018, just before a The Indian government has consistently visit to China, he stated, “While the Indian rail conveyed its views and concerns to the would take four years to materialise, a metro Chinese authorities, the Ministry stated in a rail by China would reach Kathmandu within written answer tabled in Lok Sabha on three years.” Clearly, his top priority on the Wednesday. “The ‘Outline of the 12th Five trip was to get an absolute commitment from Year Plan for National Economic and Social China to build the railway. On his return, there Development of the People’s Republic of was a striking difference in tone. A newspaper China’ endorsed in March 2011 indicated that article on June 24, 2018, significantly headed, three hydropower projects on the main stream “PM Oli applies brakes on his railway dream”, of Brahmaputra river in Tibet Autonomous quoted him as saying, “Materialising rail is not Region were approved for implementation by like waving a magic wand.” the Chinese authorities. The reasons for his uncharacteristic restraint A hydropower project at Zangmu was soon became clear. Following an agreement declared fully operational by Chinese signed during his visit, the China Railway First authorities in October 2015,” Minister of state Survey and Design Institute conducted a MEA V Muraleedharan stated while answering month-long technical study of the proposed a query. Zangmu dam over the Brahmaputra, 121-km railway from Kathmandu to Kyirong. which became partially operational in 2014, The Chinese invited the Nepal side to come to raised serious concerns in India as the first the north central city of Xi’an on August 21 to major hydropower project among a few more be briefed on the technical results of the study, planned by China on the trans-border river in but key details had already appeared in The Tibet. The dam's reservoir capacity of just 86.6 Kathmandu Post on August 16. The essence million cubic meters of water accounts for a was that both governments would have to portion of the average annual runoff of the consider very significant technical and financial Brahmaputra. hurdles before even considering finalising the project. The Chinese report highlighted many high technical risks. Engineers would need to build

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 42 ramps along the northern and southern slopes ahead of DPR”, reported the detail of what leading to Lake Paiku, near Kyriong, to must have been a disappointing outcome for connect the tracks to the Kathmandu section to Nepal. overcome the huge difference in elevation First, Chinese officials asked Nepal to meet the between the southern and northern edges of standards set by the pre-feasibility study, and the Himalaya. pointed to the need for further technical study The Kathmandu section of the railway is in the of the report which China had passed to “collision and splicing zone” along the Nepal. They also asked for preparations to be Eurasian Plate, presenting six major geological made to tackle the engineering challenges that problems. First, the hard rock burst and the may arise, and for an in-depth study on large deformation of soft rocks would cause minimising possible geological disasters. The extremely high stress. Second, the problems fourth concern was on measures to be taken to associated with the fault effects of the deep, ensure the security of the railway and, finally, active fractures lying in high-intensity seismic officials pointed out the need for a scientific areas. The level of seismic activities could study to minimise the ecological impacts in the present problems with high ground affected areas. temperatures, slope stability, debris and water None of these issues are easy. A proper erosion. investigation of the engineering challenges, Given that depressing assessment, Nepal g e o l o g i c a l d i s a s t e r p o t e n t i a l a n d understandably took heart from an annex environmental impact, along such a long attached to the Joint Communique of the corridor that, in effect, is a transect across the Leaders’ Roundtable of the Second Belt and Himalayas, will be a large, complex and costly Road Forum for International Cooperation piece of work. signed on April 27, 2019. The Annex was not My view is that China could build this rail link mentioned in the text but, in a list under a but it would be very high risk and require a heading of, “Economic corridors and other vast commitment of money, men and resources projects catalysed and supported by over many years [nine has been talked about], connectivity”. It included, “The Nepal-China and for what economic benefit? Trans-Himalayan Multi-dimensional In sum, on this emotive, costly and complex Connectivity Network, including Nepal-China project, it would be wise to wait and see if cross-border railway.” Also listed were such China has the will to make it happen. Nepal grandiose projects as the “New Eurasian Land will continue to push hard, but I can envisage Bridge” and “North-South Passage Cairo-Cape China playing a long game. Town Passway”. International Cooperation signed on April 27, 2019. The Annex was not mentioned in the text Needed: A trilateral pact on the but, in a list under a heading of, “Economic Brahmaputra river corridors and other projects catalysed and Hindustan Times, July 30, 2019 supported by connectivity”. It included, “The Nilanthi Samaranayake Nepal-China Trans-Himalayan Multi- dimensional Connectivity Network, including The recent flooding of the Brahmaputra, and Nepal-China cross-border railway.” Also listed China’s sharing of satellite data showing were such grandiose projects as the “New flooded districts in Assam has brought attention Eurasian Land Bridge” and “North-South to the need for better management of this Passage Cairo-Cape Town Passway”. important river basin by China, India, and There was, therefore, understandable optimism Bangladesh. The Brahmaputra is the fifth- about a meeting in Beijing on June 19-20, largest river in the world by flow. However, held, as Nepal thought, to finalise the Detailed unlike the major river systems of the Indus and Project Report [DPR] and to get agreement the Ganga, it currently has no water-sharing from China to pay for it. But this concluded treaty, nor is an agreement under negotiation. without any discussion of the DPR. An article A recent book I co-authored with Satu Limaye in Republica, dated June 21, 2019, under the and Joel Wuthnow examines the challenges heading of “China seeks clarity on 5 points faced by the three countries at the domestic,

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 43 bilateral, and multilateral levels. Underscoring about hydropower dam construction. As an the environmental and humanitarian example of an important river cooperation, challenges, the breach of the Brahmaputra’s China was the first country to provide India embankments in mid-July displaced an with satellite data of flooding in Assam after estimated 5.8 million people in Assam and New Delhi requested this information under 400,000 people in northern Bangladesh. At a the International Charter Space and Major minimum, better forecasting capabilities and Disasters. data-sharing are required to reduce the impact of future flooding on downstream populations. In new pact, Nepal and China agree But the geopolitical stakes are also high, not least because the Brahmaputra runs through to increase weekly flights to 98 Arunachal Pradesh, an area disputed by China Kathmandu Post, July 27, 2019 as “Southern Tibet.” India, China, and Bangladesh have not yet prioritised this issue, KATHMANDU (The Kathmandu Post/ANN) - but continue to allow tensions in diplomatic Nepal and China signed a revised bilateral air relations to compromise water security in this services agreement on Friday, which will allow river basin. 98 weekly flights between the two countries on For example, China apparently cut off limited a reciprocal basis, an increase from the data-sharing with India due to the Doklam existing 70 flights per week. standoff in 2017. The year before, China Nepal and China signed a revised bilateral air announced that it would temporarily divert the services agreement on Friday, which will allow Xiabuqu river — a tributary of the 98 weekly flights between the two countries on Brahmaputra, which is known as the Yarlung a reciprocal basis, an increase from the Tsangpo in Tibet — due to the construction of a existing 70 flights per week. dam. Both moves caused alarm among Indian Of the increased 28 flights, Chinese carriers policymakers and strategists over the potential will have to operate 21 flights in and out of the for China to cause difficulty to downstream two upcoming international airports—Gautam countries. Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa However, India also has a downstream and Pokhara International Airport, according neighbour — Bangladesh — which is concerned to Tourism Ministry officials who signed the about India’s river linking project, and its agreement in Beijing. potential to adversely affect the resources of The new deal means Nepal has allowed the the Brahmaputra (known as the Jamuna in addition of seven new flights to the severely Bangladesh). More immediately, Dhaka is congested Tribhuvan International Airport in eager to finalise a water-sharing agreement Kathmandu. over the Teesta River — a tributary of the China had requested Nepal to revise the air Brahmaputra — with New Delhi. The service pact to allow more flights from the agreement has been stalled since the failure to country due to an increase in demand and the conclude it in 2011. consumption of allocated frequency of existing Being downstream of China and India, flights to Nepal. Bangladesh suffers severe impacts The existing pact between the two countries (widespread erosion and flooding), and thus, allows flights to seven destinations in China: has the most to gain from a water-sharing Beijing, Shanghai, Lhasa, Guangzhou, agreement. But India and China stand to Kunming, Chengdu and Xi’an. In the revised benefit from an agreement as well. For China, pact, the Chinese side has agreed to designate this is an opportunity for it to demonstrate eight new destinations for Nepali carriers, leadership on a serious issue of human security according to Pramod Nepal, an under- and improve its international reputation, which secretary at the Tourism Ministry. has been damaged by the country’s “Nepali carriers will be allowed to operate assertiveness in East Asian waters. flights to any new destinations within China at India for its part would benefit not only from the Nepali airlines’ discretion,” he said. data-sharing with China to mitigate flooding, Currently, five Chinese carriers—Air China, but also from the exchange of information China Southern, China Eastern, Sichuan

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 44 Airlines and Tibet Airlines—operate flights to Lord Buddha, has been scheduled to come into Nepal. operation by early 2020. Pokhara However, no Nepali carriers currently fly to International Airport is expected to complete China. The national flag carrier used to by July 2021. operate a service to the Japanese city of Osaka, via Shanghai, until 2008 under fifth freedom rights. In 2015, Nepal Airlines China majorly increasing footprint applied for landing permission at Guangzhou in Nepal: Experts Baiyun International Airport, but its application Economic Times, July 24, 2019 is still pending. “As we raised this issue with the Chinese side, NEW DELHI: China has not only made deep the Chinese side has agreed to expedite the inroads into Nepal, with major investments in process of issuing operating authorisations to the Himalayan country's infrastructure, it is Nepal Airlines and Himalayan Airlines as per also getting closely involved in Kathmandu's their applications for flights between security and political architecture, with top Kathmandu and Guangzhou and Beijing officials from Beijing visiting Nepal regularly, respectively,” Nepal told the Post. experts said here. Vijay Shrestha, vice-president of Administration At a talk on 'An Assessment of Nepal China at Himalayan Airlines, said they are currently Relations', former Indian envoy to Nepal Ranjit planning to operate Kathmandu-Lhasa and Rae said while China was increasing its Kathmandu-Beijing routes by October this footprint in Nepal, "but it is not large enough year. to dent the nature of India-Nepal relations". “We have applied for flight permissions and According to Professor S.D. Muni, one of the are waiting for slot approval,” said Shrestha, main reasons for China's outreach into Nepal adding that the move is aimed at bringing was due to its "sense of vulnerability" with more Chinese tourists for the Visit Nepal 2020 regard to Tibet and that Kathmandu "gets campaign. Nepal wants to bring in at least panicky" over the subject of the Dalai Lama. 500,000 Chinese tourists in 2020. Rae, who was the Indian ambassador to A senior official at the Tourism Ministry said Nepal at the time of the five-month border Chinese officials agreed, in principle, to allow blockade, said China's involvement in Nepal Nepali carriers to land at Ngari Gunsa Airport was visible in the economic, defence and in Tibet, which is the fourth highest airport in political spheres. the world and the nearest airport to Kailash Rae, who was the Indian ambassador to and Manasarovar, two holy sites for Hindus Nepal at the time of the five-month border and Buddhists. blockade, said China's involvement in Nepal Nepal has been asking to allow its airlines to was visible in the economic, defence and conduct Mansarovar t ours or aer ial political spheres. circumnavigation of Mansarovar in China by "China is the single largest FDI source for helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft for a long Nepal, and its presence is not just there in time. The proposed aerial tour has been small projects, but in substantive ones, like expected to attract a large number of pilgrims cement, airports, roads, transmission lines, who have money but no time or inclination to railway, optical fibre network. China's trek across the treacherous route. economic involvement in Nepal is significant," “Chinese officials have assured us that once Rae, who is currently a member, the Ngari Gunsa Airport is transformed into an Commonwealth High Level Group on international airport, they would allow us to Governance, said at the talk. operate its flights there,” said Nepal. Chinese banks have also opened in Nepal and Arrivals from China saw the strongest growth the two-way trade between the two neighbours of 46.8 percent to 153,602 individuals in is at the ratio of 45:1, heavily tilted in Beijing's 2018, largely due to increased flight favour. frequencies between the two countries. People-to-people connect between the two was Gautam Buddha International Airport, which increasing at a rapid pace, with lots of Chinese will serve as a gateway to the birthplace of tourists visiting Nepal, especially Pokhara.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 45 Trans-border connectivity between the two "China does not want South Asia to gang up nations, which share a 1,400 km border, was with the US against it," he said, adding that a also most significant, he added. The Nepal- major motive behind Beijing's involvement in China Trans-Himalayan Multi-dimensional Nepal was to "keep India in place". Connectivity Network (THMCN) is part of China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. The proposed 170 km trans-border railway line China gifts warship to Sri Lanka is to connect Kerung in southern Tibet to Economic Times, July 17, 2019 Kathmandu and then to Lumbini on the Nepal- BEIJING: China has gifted a warship to Sri India border. Lanka, in the latest sign of its deepening China and Nepal also held joint military military cooperation with the strategically exercises for the first time, and Beijing is located island nation in the Indian Ocean. supplying arms and equipment to the Also, China's rolling-stock manufacturer has Nepalese side. The Chinese Defence Minister announced that it would shortly deliver nine visited Nepal and the two sides hold regular "new type" of diesel trains to Sri Lanka. exchanges. The China-gifted frigate 'P625' arrived in But it has been a while since an Indian Colombo last week. Defence Minister visited Nepal, the experts The Type 053 frigate was commissioned into said. China's People's Liberation Army Navy in 1994 In the political sphere too, China has a strong as the Tongling. The 2,300-tonne warship was presence in Nepal, and a strong outreach with decommissioned by the PLA Navy in 2015. The the Madhesi parties. The unification of the two warship has now been gifted to the Lankan Communist parties also had the "strong Navy. backing of China". The Lankan Navy, which played a key role in According to Muni, Professor Emeritus, fighting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Jawaharlal Nehru University and former has about 50 combat, support ships and Indian Ambassador to Laos, China's outreach inshore patrol craft with most originating from into Nepal was "part of its overall global and India, the US, China and Israel. Asian strategy". India last year gifted a coast guard off shore He said the Chinese were "driven by a sense patrol vessel (OPV) to the Lankan navy in of vulnerability" with regard to Tibet and the addition to providing two OPVs in 2006 and restive Xinjiang province in western China. 2008. With regard to China's deep inroads into The Commander of the Lanka Navy, Vice Nepal's economy, Muni said it was largely Admiral Piyal De Silva, thanked China for the driven because the Chinese companies had frigate and said his forces would take the gift reached "saturation point" and and Beijing as a suggestion of the good wanted them "to remain engaged". friendship between the two countries, state-run "With the Chinese growth sliding and the high Xinhua news agency reported. demand for natural resources by its He said Lanka is currently facing maritime companies, combined with the demand for challenges with the surrounding sea being new markets to feed on, China has set its sights used by perpetrators for carrying out unlawful on South Asia," said Muni. acts including drug trafficking. South Asia, comprising a region with 1.6 With the acquisition of the frigate, the billion population with 5-7 percent growth rate, surveillance capabilities of the navy will be "is a huge market", in Beijing's eyes. greatly enhanced, he said. China is also concerned about the "Malacca As a new member of the Lankan Navy, the dilemma" - the Strait of Malacca, a key Asian 'P625' frigate will be mainly used for offshore sea trade route and major choke point, and is patrol, environment monitoring and anti-piracy seeking to resolve the matter through its combats, the report said. involvement in the Gwadar port in China, According to a statement issued by China's Humbantota in Sri Lanka and Sittwe in mission in Colombo, the Chinese navy held a Myanmar, Muni said. two-month professional training for more than

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 46 110 Sri Lankan naval officers and sailors in state-run news agency Xinhua reported after Shanghai. the meeting ended on Tuesday. China, which has acquired Sri Lanka's The small group, first formed in 2000, has Hambantota port in 2017 as a debt swap, has been instrumental in shaping and implementing been ramping up its ties with the island nation Beijing’s Xinjiang policies. It brings together and expanded its naval presence in the Indian officials from across party and state apparatus Ocean with an established logistics base in to coordinate various policy fronts from Djibouti. Xinhua also reported that China's security, ethnic and political issues to rolling-stock maker CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co economic. has produced nine diesel trains for Sri Lanka. Wang’s new role was largely expected since The new type of diesel trains, equipped with he is chairman of the Chinese People’s Political 90 train cars, rolled off the production line on Consultative Conference (CPPCC) – China’s Friday in the Chinese city of Qingdao. They top political advisory body. His predecessor, are the fourth batch of diesel trains the Yu Zhengsheng, also headed the coordination company produced for Sri Lanka, the report group when he was CPPCC chairman. said. The trains were designed to travel at a However, analysts said the timing of the speed of 120-km per hour. Compared to trains announcement suggested it was a calculated currently used in Sri Lanka, the new trains have move by the leadership to assuage growing more air-conditioned carriages and are international concerns over the detention of an equipped with facilities such as a passenger estimated one million or more Uygurs and information system, LCD TV and toilets other Muslim minorities in what the Chinese designed for people with disabilities. government calls “vocational training centres” The new trains are made with special in Xinjiang. corrosion-resistant material and techniques Last week, a group of 22 Western countries catering to the high-temperature and high- issued a statement urging China to stop mass humidity in Sri Lanka. Previously, the company detentions in Xinjiang. The joint letter to the exported three batches of 43 trains to Sri United Nations High Commissioner for Human Lanka, accounting for over a half of the Rights – signed by Britain, Japan, Canada and country's total trains in operation, the report others – was the first concerted international said effort to condemn the practice and represented an embarrassment for Beijing. ‘Liberal’ policy chief unlikely to mean a softening on Xinjiang from China scmp.com July 17, 2019, Nectar Gan

• Appointment of Wang Yang seen as ‘calculated move’ to assuage international concerns • Analysts doubt it will mean a change in Beijing’s hardline approach to the region A senior Chinese leader known for his relatively liberal style of governance has been The appointment of Wang Yang as the new named the ruling Communist Party’s handler of policy handler for China’s Xinjiang region is Xinjiang policy, amid increasing international unlikely to lead to a softening in policy, despite criticism over the mass detention of Muslim his liberal reputation. Photo: AFP minorities in the far western region. A senior Chinese leader known for his Wang Yang, a member of the party’s relatively liberal style of governance has been policymaking Politburo Standing Committee, named the ruling Communist Party’s handler of attended a high-level three-day conference in Xinjiang policy, amid increasing international Xinjiang as head of the Central Committee’s criticism over the mass detention of Muslim Xinjiang Work Coordination Small Group, the minorities in the far western region.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 47 Wang Yang, a member of the party’s during his tenure as the party boss of inland policymaking Politburo Standing Committee, metropolis Chongqing and the southern attended a high-level three-day conference in economic powerhouse of Guangdong. Xinjiang as head of the Central Committee’s He was credited with resolving mass protests Xinjiang Work Coordination Small Group, the against corruption in Wukan village in state-run news agency Xinhua reported after Guangdong in 2011 by listening to villagers’ the meeting ended on Tuesday. grievances, sacking corrupt officials and The small group, first formed in 2000, has allowing freer elections in the village. been instrumental in shaping and implementing But, despite Wang’s track record, there would Beijing’s Xinjiang policies. It brings together not be much room for him to manoeuvre on officials from across party and state apparatus Xinjiang policies, Chen said. to coordinate various policy fronts from “Under the current party-state structure, Wang security, ethnic and political issues to doesn’t have the power to make major economic. changes, although he is the group leader – Wang’s new role was largely expected since everyone knows that power rests in the hands he is chairman of the Chinese People’s Political of the supreme leader,” he said, referring to Consultative Conference (CPPCC) – China’s President Xi Jinping. top political advisory body. His predecessor, The changeover of another key position in the Yu Zhengsheng, also headed the coordination small group, meanwhile, signals anything but a group when he was CPPCC chairman. softening of policy. However, analysts said the timing of the The group’s day-to-day affairs are being announcement suggested it was a calculated handled by an office now headed by United move by the leadership to assuage growing Front Work Department Deputy Director Shi international concerns over the detention of an Jun, a former vice-minister of public security. estimated one million or more Uygurs and Until April last year, that post was held by Shi other Muslim minorities in what the Chinese Dagang, a long-time veteran in Xinjiang who government calls “vocational training centres” now serves on the ethnic affairs commission of in Xinjiang. the National People’s Congress, the national Last week, a group of 22 Western countries legislature. issued a statement urging China to stop mass The announcement of Wang’s position also detentions in Xinjiang. The joint letter to the came much later than that of his predecessor. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Yu was named coordinator two months after Rights – signed by Britain, Japan, Canada and becoming CPPCC chairman, during his first others – was the first concerted international inspection tour to the region as a Politburo effort to condemn the practice and Standing Committee member. represented an embarrassment for Beijing. For Wang, the announcement came 18 months Days later, a group of 37 countries – mostly after he took the helm of the CPPCC, and only from Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle on his third publicised tour to Xinjiang. East, but also including Russia and North According to Xinhua, Wang was in the oasis Korea – submitted a similar letter in defence of town of Hotan for the conference to review the China’s policy and expressing opposition to party’s long-running programme to channel “politicising human rights”. financial support, technology and talent to “Under such an external environment, the Xinjiang from the country’s more developed Chinese government needs to consciously regions. make a response,” said Chen Daoyin, a Before his latest visit, Wang had already been political analyst in Shanghai. on two inspection tours of Xinjiang – in March “After all, Wang Yang represents the relatively this year and in April 2018 – including to the liberal and open-minded element in Chinese southern part of the region, which is heavily officialdom, and his appointment [to the populated by the ethnic Uygur minority. coordination group] is a way to assuage During those visits he expressed support and concerns expressed by the international approval for regional par ty leaders’ community,” he said.Wang earned his implementation of Beijing’s edicts and reputation as a more open-minded leader

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 48 achievement of “significant interim results” in King Mahendra (1956-72) had observed: “The “improving” the situation in Xinjiang. one single factor that is permanent in Indo- But during his April visit, Wang also said the Nepal relations is geographical contiguity and region needed to “perfect” its stability cultural oneness.” maintenance measures. While calling for a Nepal and India indeed have a ‘roti-beti ka continued crackdown on ethnic separatist rishta’. Tiny Nepal is also a proud nation forces and religious extremism, the CPPCC determined to maintain its strategic autonomy. boss stressed that traditional ethnic culture ndia, on the other hand sees Nepal as a should be protected and the normal religious buffer, and desires a friendly government needs and customs of believers should be there. As such, there are some differences in ensured. the manner in which the neighbours perceive The party has never published an official full each other.India-Nepal Ties, As We Know It list of members of the Xinjiang coordination Nepal did conclude a bilateral Treaty of Peace group, as is the case for the party’s many and Friendship with India in 1950, under other leading small groups – a constellation of which both sides pledged to extend national decision-making bodies that have seen their treatment to each other’s citizens. It was roles and status strengthened under Xi, who further agreed that, Nepal would be free to personally heads a number of them. import – from or through India – arms, Despite this obscurity, the names and positions ammunition or warlike material, necessary for of the group’s leadership can be pieced its security. However, in practice Nepal has together from their occasional mentions on derived the benefits of the 1950 Treaty, government websites and in state media without assuming reciprocal obligations, and reports. yet maintained that the Treaty is unfair. She The group was previously headed by the has periodically sought its revision. chairman of the party’s Central Political and Earlier, it had concluded a bilateral boundary Legal Affairs Commission, including disgraced agreement. Premier Zhou described Nepal- security tsar Zhou Yongkang. But the role was China relations as ‘blood-ties’. Not too subtly, taken over by the chairman of the Chinese Foreign Minister Marshal Chen Yi often stated: People’s Political Consultative Conference after “China will side with Nepal in case of any Xi came to power in 2012. foolhardy attempt to attack Nepal by foreign Its other members have included senior army.”What Has China Got To Gain Out Of officials from the party’s United Front Work Friendship With Nepal? Department, the State Ethnic Affairs Other than befriending India’s immediate Commission, the Ministry of Public Security neighbours, China’s main objective in and the paramilitary police, as well as party cultivating Nepal is to ensure that they are on leaders in Xinjiang. the same page on Tibet. Before its occupation Xinjiang’s hardline party boss Chen Quanguo by China in 1950, Nepal had maintained close – the face of the region’s heavy-handed relations with Tibet, and had almost no ties crackdown – is likely to serve under Wang as with China. a deputy head of the group, although no such Tibetans fleeing to India often use Nepal as a announcement has yet been made. transit point. Under Chinese pressure, Nepal has been turning them back, even though they are certain to be persecuted by Chinese India & Nepal: China Lurks But authorities. Earlier this month, Nepal forced Here Is How We Can Deal With It the Tibetan community to cancel a public thequint.com July 17, 2019 VISHNU PRAKASH celebration of the Dalai Lama’s birthday by withholding clearance, on ‘security’ grounds. Neighbouring nations seldom enjoy trouble- India & Nepal’s Deep-Rooted Connection free ties, regardless of their overarching All the same, India has remained Nepal’s commonalities. Nepal’s 18th century founder, biggest developmental and trade partner, as King Prithvi Narayan Shah, had colourfully well as principal security provider. Some 8 described his nation as a ‘yam between two million Nepalis live and work in India, boulders’. comprising one fourth of its total population.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 49 The valiant Nepali Gorkha soldiers are an to gain the favour of Nepali decision makers. integral part of the proud legacy of the Indian It also did much better than India in speedily Army. implementing developmental projects. Nepal also sources its POL (petrol, oil and “If Nepal enhances its relations with China in lubricants) and power requirements from India. the areas of trade and connectivity, rail, roads It is ironical that it faces widespread power and air, then how come it is a disadvantage to shortages, despite being blessed with a India?” One should not consider Nepal as its commercially feasible hydropower potential of satellite, cautioned former PM Madhav Nepal. 42,000 MW. It is a fact that Nepal has encountered trade Its present installed capacity is just 1100 MW. and transit difficulties at Indian ports, Numerous initiatives have been taken by India especially Kolkata. Naturally Kathmandu has over the preceding decades, to build been exploring alternatives. hydroelectric power plants, virtually at no cost Can India & China Work Together in Nepal? to Nepal. However, an inbred suspicion of In the aftermath of the ill-advised 2015 India and short-sighted politics have blockade on the entry of Indian products into successfully scuttled Indian efforts. Nepal by the Madhesis in Terai, to press for Is Only Nepal To Blame? their political rights that India condoned, China A large section of the political elite is averse to senses an opportunity. sharing hydropower generated from Nepalese They further agreed to speed up a feasibility waters with India. That it has been going waste study on FTA. over millennia or that Nepal has remained China is now planning a railway link to trapped in poverty, is of little consequence to Kathmandu from Lhasa, that could be them. Just the Pancheshwar multi-purpose dam operational within 5-7 years, and provide project for example, agreed upon in 1996 and Nepal access to Chinese sea ports, even if not designed to generate 4,800 MW of electricity economically viable. In June 2018, Nepal annually, could have transformed the country’s formally joined the Chinese BRI (Belt and Road fortunes. Initiative), signing agreements worth USD 2.4 So, is only Nepal to blame? Not at all. Truth billion for infrastructure development. be told, Nepali leaders have generally been S Jaishankar (now External Affairs Minister) insecure, and in modern times they never had inter alia written (Economic Times, August failed to play the China card against New 2018) – “Chinese power is a fact of life….Our Delhi. footprints will overlap in South Asia and India on the other hand has sometimes been beyond, and India would be judged by the prescriptive, meddlesome and heavy-handed, quality of its delivery… This requires India…to accentuating the Nepalese sense of invest generously and non-reciprocally in the vulnerability and suspicion. growth of its neighbours…Investing in South Nepal’s Neutrality During 1962 Sino-Indian Asian connectivity is today the smartest move War we can make.” Former Foreign Secretary MK Rasgotra recalls We should forthwith agree to revise or scrap in his memoirs, that Prime Minister Indira the 1950 Treaty if Nepal so prefers. Given her Gandhi, told him before he took office as size and capabilities, India will do well to Ambassador in Kathmandu in 1973, not to make few demands of its neighbours, except trust ‘Nepal’s rulers’, who said one thing and where it pertains to her legitimate security did the opposite’. concerns. Next, King Birendra crossed India’s security Can India and China work together in Nepal, redline by importing anti-aircraft guns in for example, by undertaking joint hydropower August 1988 from China and sending its projects? It is hoped that Indian diplomacy has military personnel there for training. Livid, the nimbleness to evolve with the times. India imposed an economic blockade that caused unprecedented hardship to Nepal.On the other hand, China worked closely with the monarchy till it lasted, and next with the party in power. It used its economic clout effectively

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 50 He may choose to reincarnate, which will Tibet in Exile postpone matters, declare that he has already reincarnated, which would save some time, or even consider a grown-up person as his successor by declaring the latter as his The Dalai Lama legacy: India needs emanation rather than reincarnation. In any of diplomatic policy on the succession these possible scenarios, such a person cannot be a Chinese appointee; else the cause of issue Tibet would be more or less finished. Daily O, July 31, 2019 Unrelenting China Makarand R. Paranjape But assuming that the Dalai Lama prevents the Indo-Tibetan ties have never been as strong as eventuality of a Chinese puppet by ensuring they are today. A principled and strategic that his successor is of his own choosing, the intervention in the succession issue is a question still remains whether such a person challenge and opportunity not to be should be discovered in China, India, or missed.Also lost in translation was the idea that elsewhere. If the successor emerges in China, the person occupying the office had to have he or she may lead the struggle from within global charisma and appeal also implied in China. His Holiness himself has often the word ‘attractive.’ The negative publicity expressed the wish to return to Tibet even if the around the succession issue has only served to Chinese authorities haven’t obliged. If the bring it to the fore once again. Today, with S successor is from India, then the present Jaishankar as Minister for External Affairs, and situation of continuing the Tibetan Government Vijay Keshav Gokhale as Foreign Secretary, in Exile from Indian soil will be extended. India undoubtedly has very distinguished and This will gain us some leverage over China but knowledgeable China experts at the helm of also the ‘Big Brother’s’ continuous bullying. If affairs. But what is our Dalai Lama policy in the successor is from neither India nor China, contradistinction to our China policy? The then this may serve as a fillip to the further Dalai Lama is arguably one of our strongest internationalising of the cause of Tibet. diplomatic assets against China, yet on the However, given China’s might and crucial issue of his succession, our approach is determination as to the de-facto numero uno unclear. power in the world, how much purchase will To begin with, it would be a grave mistake to such a Dalai Lama command is uncertain. As believe that the Dalai Lama’s succession is far as the gender of the successor is none of our concern, being purely a spiritual concerned, a lady Dalai Lama — or, as matter, internal to the Tibetan community or to American comedienne Mamrie Hart already the present Dalai Lama. We can be christened her, Dolly Lama — would certainly reasonably sure that no one who matters in be desirable. India’s diplomatic establishment holds such What’s our stance? views. But there is some ambiguity about She could accord the position of both gender whether India’s interests should be solely in and diplomatic advantages. But, once again, line with those of the Dalai Lama himself or of the several possibilities, if not imponderables, the Tibetan nation, whether within China or remain. scattered across the world. China is way ahead of us in propaganda China’s own position is unambiguous on the warfare. What, in comparison, are India’s issue of succession. It wants to assert its right options? Simply to leave it to the Dalai Lama? not only to decide who the next Dalai Lama He has shown astute awareness of global will be, but also to play a crucial role in his or geopolitics. But wouldn’t it be tactically better her discovery. to work out a plan, behind the scenes, that Without going into the technical or theological would not only preserve the religious and issues that govern the process, we need to spirituality sanctity of the office of the Dalai understand that the present Dalai Lama’s Lama, but also India’s long-term interests? authority in this matter is supreme. The Dalai Lama commands enormous respect inside Tibet, and in several parts of India

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 51 including Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, and arrogance of power and China’s hegemonic Arunachal Pradesh, as also in Nepal, Sikkim, approach towards other countries in the Bhutan, Mongolia, not to mention large region. swathes of the Western world. Dalai Lama has completed 84 years on Indo-Tibetan ties, reaching back to ancient 6th July this year. To millions of Tibetans in times, have never been as strong as they are Tibet and outside he is the spiritual protector. It today. We must do our best to ensure that they is the responsibility of the High Lamas of are not diluted or whittled away. A principled Gelgup tradition to seek out the next and strategic intervention in the succession reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and issue is a challenge and opportunity not to be acceptable to the Tibetans and not to any missed. Government. On the question of the drawing lots from the “golden urn” Dalai lama has himself explained China Says It Must Select Next in his well known statement on the Dalai Lama; India Warned Not To reincarnation issued officially by the Tibetan Interfere – Analysis Office of the Dalai Lama in September 24, 2011( given as an annexure to this paper), the Eurasiareview July 25, 2019, Dr. S. Chandrasekharan Urn method was mischievously introduced by the Manchus and was not followed in the Wang Neng Sheng, Director General of the reincarnation of 9th, 13th and even the current Government of Tibet Autonomous Region told Dalai lama! a group of Indian journalists on 14th July that Historically, the Tibetans were confined to successor to the 14th Dalai Lama has to be Tibet and selection of next Dalai Lama on the decided within China and “any interference by exit of the incumbent Dalai Lama had to be India on the issue will impact bilateral ties”. within Tibet itself. He said that the the reincarnation of the Dalai Now the situation has totally changed with the Lama is a historical, religious and political Dalai Lama’s escape to India in 1959 issue. There are established historical following an uprising by the local Tibetans in institutions and formalities for the reincarnation Tibet. India granted asylum to Dalai Lama of the Dalai Lama”. and there is a Tibetan Government in exile in He also added that the successor to the current Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh! Dalai Lama must be found through the “draw The question of finding a successor to the of lots in golden urn process” within China. present 14th Dalai Lama can therefore not be His views were almost repeated by the restricted to Tibet alone but to all over the Director of China Tibetology Research Centre world where the Tibetans refugees have Zha Luo, who said that any refusal by India to moved and have settled. recognize the next Dalai Lama to be chosen The real motive of China in insisting to find the within China will impact bilateral ties. successor within China appears to be to find Wang is said to be holding the rank of a Vice some young one in China itself and treat him in Minister in Tibet while Zha Luo is only a Head the same way as they have done with the of a think of think who is credited to be Panchen Lama. ‘advising’ the Chinese government on issues In 2004, the current Dalai Lama had said – relating to Tibetan Affairs. “My life is outside Tibet. Therefore my While Zha Luo is free to advise the Chinese reincarnation will logically be found outside”. Government anything he wants, it is not clear A detailed statement of Dalai Lama on the what ‘locus standi’ he has in warning India question of “Reincarnation” may be found in that failure to recognise the next Dalai Lama the statement issued by Dalai Lama on from China will impact on bilateral ties. September 24, 2011 is given as an annexure It is odd and unacceptable that a junior minister Wang of a province in China should warn another sovereign country of a possible adverse impact on the bilateral relations between the two countries. It is nothing but

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 52 US congressman warns China not Lama should be chosen with the consent and involvement of the Chinese government. In an to meddle in Dalai Lama's exclusive interview to this newspaper, a senior succession official of the Central Tibetan Administration Taiwan News, July 23, 2019 (CTA) said that lamas are born in places where they have the freedom to carry out their Congressman Jim McGovern to introduce bill tasks without any hindrance, and China is a aimed at protecting Tibet from China “repressive” state which does not allow that TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Democratic freedom. Congressman Jim McGovern has proposed a “As said by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a bill ensuring U.S. support for Tibet and the lama is reincarnated on his free will to fulfill Dalai Lama. the incomplete task of the former. So, the McGovern announced the bill, which is reincarnated lama should be born in a place intended to curb Chinese encroachment in where he is free to complete the task. If he is Tibet, at a Tibetan refugee community meeting born in a repressive country, where he cannot in New York on July 21. The congressman contribute, then the very purpose of the plans to introduce the bipartisan bill in reincarnation is lost. The current Chinese Congress next week, reports Voice of America. regime is repressive and against religion. A The legislation would place financial and Dalai Lama selected by the regime won’t be economic sanctions on China based on the accepted by Tibetans and the freedom-loving Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability international community,” Tsewang Gyalpo Act if they were to interfere with the succession Arya, secretary of the CTA’s department of or reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. McGovern information and international relations, told stated that any decisions regarding who will this newspaper. He added that there was be become the 15th Dalai Lama should only be no possibility of the next Dalai Lama living in made by the Tibetan Buddhist community. Tibet at present. “If the situation in Tibet The bill also aims to promote talks between remains unchanged, there is no such China and representatives of the Dalai Lama in possibility. His Holiness has said this clearly,” order to protect the Tibetan plateau’s natural Mr Arya said. environment. It further proclaims U.S. support This comes in response to the recent for Tibetan exiles and would authorize the controversy stoked by the statements of a U.S. to send them financial aid. Chinese official and a member of Beijing-based McGovern said that the bill, aimed at think tank China Tibetology Research Centre, strengthening the existing Tibetan Policy Act, who told a group of visiting Indian journalists rules out the construction of any more Chinese that China will reject any reincarnation of consulates on U.S. soil until the U.S. has been the Dalai Lama born among Tibetan exiles in permitted to build a consulate of its own in India or elsewhere. Lhasa, Tibet. They also said China expects India not to Beijing claims that the next Dalai Lama cannot recognise any successor of the Dalai Lama be chosen by any individual person but must chosen by the Tibetan government-in-exile, and be done so by the Chinese government. The who is not endorsed by China, adding this will 14th and current Dalai Lama, now 84 years trigger a major political issue between the two old, rejects this, stating that his successor will countries. They further said that historically the absolutely not be chosen by China. Chinese government has played a leading role in picking the Dalai Lama, and a reincarnation of the present Dalai Lama had to be decided China can’t pick the new Dalai by choosing names from the Golden Urn. They Lama, say Tibetans added without China’s recognition, the Dalai Asian Age, July 23, 2019, Vineeta Pandey Lama does not have any legal status. Rejecting China’s role in issues relating to the New Delhi: The Tibetan government-in-exile Tibetan faith and choosing the next Dalai based in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, has Lama, the top CTA official said: “China has no rejected the suggestion that the next Dalai role in selection of the Dalai Lama. Historically,

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 53 the Manchu Qing dynasty came only in 1644, closely been monitored by Chinese authorities the Chinese Republic in 1912, and the PRC in through constant surveillance and have October 1949. But the history and institution of received many threatening messages, including the Dalai Lama started when the first Dalai death threats. This demonstrates that China’s Lama was born in 1391, and his reincarnation severe human rights violations against minority was selected in 1475.” groups is no longer merely a domestic issue, “A Dalai Lama picked by the Chinese will not but a global one. be accepted not only by Tibetans, but by all This article was originally published Buddhists along the Himalayan borders in by OpenCanada India, Nepal, Mongolia, China and devotees Relations between China and Canada have around the world,” Mr Arya added. been shaken by the arrest of Huawei finance Tibetans living outside China say that in case chief Meng Wanzhou in December 2018, and China tries to meddle in the reincarnation of the subsequent process to extradite her to the His Holiness the Dalai Lama, nobody will United States. recognise him, as happened with the Panchen Over the past few months, we’ve seen a Lama. progression of retaliatory acts from the The Tibetan government-in-exile has sought Chinese government, including the detention of India’s support on this issue of the Dalai at least two Canadian nationals accused of Lama’s reincarnation. “India should urge the espionage and a block by China on imports of Chinese leadership not to interfere in this canola and meat from Canada. spiritual domain of Buddhist. The concept of Amidst the “bitter stalemate” between the two past and future lives is very sacred to the countries, there is another topic that has Buddhist and Hindu religion. Communist China received less attention and is also among the trying to profane this belief will not be reason relations are deteriorating: an increase tolerated by believers around the world. This in harassment of minority groups by China. message should be conveyed to China for their Last week, on July 10, United Nations sake,” Mr Arya said. ambassadors from 22 states, including India has so far maintained a distance from the Canada, co-signed a letter sent to Coly Seck, religious issues of Tibetans in India and that of the Human Rights Council president, and the Dalai Lama’s successor, saying it was a Michelle Bachelet, High Commissioner for matter of religion and of sentiments, in which Human Rights, condemning China’s treatment the Indian government was in no way going to of the Uighur people and other minorities in get involved. the Xinjiang region. The Chinese in May this year rejected an “We, the co-signatories to this letter, are initiative by US ambassador Terry Branstad to concerned about credible reports of arbitrary engage Beijing in a dialogue with the present detention in large-scale places of detention, as Dalai Lama to resolve their differences. well as widespread surveillance and restrictions, particularly targeting Uighurs and other minorities in Xinjiang,” the letter read. Tibet: China's Oppression of Meanwhile, Amnesty International reports that Minority Groups Goes Beyond Its family members of detained Uighurs living Own Borders outside China face the anguish of not knowing the fate of their relatives, and the fear of being Open Canada arrested if they try to seek them out, or China’s oppression of its minority groups has deported if they engage in campaigns. Even spilled beyond its own borders, targeting those members of the Uighur diaspora outside Tibetans and Uyghurs living overseas. of China, including those in Canada, without Recently, members of Tibetan and Uyghur detained family members at home have also minority groups settled in Canada have been targeted — joining other groups under increasingly faced severe harassment and attack by China, such as Tibetans. intimidation by Chinese officials. The targeted A history of repression individuals, including university students, Chinese oppression of the Tibetan population women, and human rights activists, have might be most well-known — China has

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 54 historically protested before every visit by the Earlier this year, a Tibetan student, Chemi Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan Lhamo, was cyberbullied and received death people, to allied countries. But a crackdown threats after being elected student president of on the Uighur population in the Xinjiang region the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), (also called East Turkestan) has been taking and a Uighur activist, Rukiye Turdush, place for decades, by sending millions of experienced harassment while speaking at ethnic Han Chinese to Uighur-majority regions Ontario’s McMaster University. with the aim of making them a minority in their Lhamo and Turdush have different own land, as well as by destroying mosques backgrounds — Turdush has been fighting for and imprisoning imams. the cause of East Turkestan for years, having Since 2014, more than a million people have left China in 1998 with her five-month-old son been sent to re-education camps. China is for fear of persecution, and Lhamo was born in using (and abusing) tech surveillance tools to India, a Tibetan refugee’s granddaughter, and track down and arrest as many Uighurs as the moved to Canada when she was 11 years old. government sees fit — using AI face Yet they have both suffered harassment for recognition, collecting DNA, location tracking, defending the cause of their people, and for etc., along with US-developed tech. identifying themselves as a member of a nation This crackdown has heavily impacted not only under Chinese control. the Uighur population in China, but also the Lhamo found refuge in the Tibetan community diaspora, who suffer from heavy harassment in Toronto when she was a teenager searching and are trying to set up campaigns to for her identity. She began engaging with the denounce China’s persecution and help their community, for instance becoming a member friends and relatives. of the board of Students for Free Tibet. This led Both groups, the Tibetans and Uighurs, are her to run in UTSC elections, campaigning now facing increasing repression abroad. against racism, Islamophobia and issues Tibetans have a sizeable diaspora living in affecting her community, as she explained in India, Nepal and the United States, while an interview with OpenCanada. Uighurs outside China live mainly in On the harassment she suffered, broadly Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and covered by local media, she says she found it Turkey. According to Canada’s 2016 census, “interesting, because I was vice president there are about 8,000 Tibetans and 1,500 before and no one had a problem. Now Uighurs in the country. Despite the seemingly suddenly thousands of students opposed me small numbers, they have been facing online even running for president. It was a bit of a and offline harassment from Chinese nationals, shock.” She adds that “this is not even about according to Amnesty International Canada. me…it’s something bigger. There’s a pattern. While repression in Tibet has been ongoing [Chinese students] are always talking about since the 1950s, it has gradually received less Tibet being a part of China, of me being part attention as the crackdown in the Uighur- of a Free Tibet movement.” inhabited region has increased, which China “If they see that Tibet is part of China, they claims is in response to a series of attacks should be proud of having me, [someone] against Chinese interests by Islamic terrorists. ‘Chinese,’ as president of the student body of Yet, both cases serve as an example for what the university,” she added ironically. may become a reality around the world in a Turdush was president of the Uyghur Canadian dystopic future: complex surveillance and Society for two terms, and even outside China, monitoring systems, coupled with a policy of she has reasons to fear for her life (and that of mass persecution and “re-education” camps to her son), she said in an interview. She is avoid any kind of resistance to Chinese constantly harassed on Twitter and YouTube: control. “[Chinese students] use a lot of bad words. Harassment in Canada They attack [me] with curses, harass, say Diaspora members of the two groups in terrible things. They sometimes say I’m not Canada have been facing an increase in real, but a machine. They e-mail me private pressure coming from Chinese nationals under messages with threats.” the control of the Chinese embassy here.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 55 Recalling her experience giving a speech at Concordia to cancel an event about Uighur McMaster University in February, she said: repression in Xinjiang. “When I entered the huge classroom with Peter Irwin, program manager of the World about 100 people, one Chinese [man] opened Uyghur Congress, said in an email exchange the door and started filming me. Another guy that the NGO’s Facebook page was attacked, came and stood by the door, said bad words also in April, “by a Chinese group called Di- in Chinese and left, then another Chinese girl ba” and that he expects further attacks “given came and started walking all over the place the sensitivity of the Uyghur issue to the trying to disturb me. Then another girl came. Chinese government.” One by one, they came when I was talking to Tibetans have also been systematically disturb me, and I realized that they were there targeted by malware-enabled espionage on purpose.” operations, and by digital campaigns “seeking Cases of harassment and intimidation against to compromise private data or discredit activists such as Turdush and Lhamo seem very activists,” says the report “Harassment and well organized and planned by Chinese Intimidation of Individuals in Canada Working officials. Turdush published a video statement on China-related,” published by The Canadian on her Facebook profile about what happened Coalition on Human Rights in Canada Activism. at McMaster University and shared images of Sonam Chokey, national director of Students WeChat messages to students, which she said for a Free Tibet Canada, denounced the she believed were from the Chinese consulate. threats and online harassment suffered by her Included in the conversations, she said, was and the Tibetan community. “From time to time, the instruction to find information on Turdush’s we do get messages and comments [on] some son, a student at a Canadian university. of the stuff we post on the internet,” she told However, she said she doesn’t have explicit OpenCanada. “Personally, I’ve experienced proof of the senders’ identities. harassment from Chinese nationals at street Lhamo also believes that the attack against her protests and I have also received really was coordinated. “There’s definitely a unfriendly phone calls. I have voice mails from connection to the Chinese embassy, students this one person who called me many times out of nowhere couldn’t organize protests speaking very poorly about the Dalai Lama, quickly with thousands of Chinese nationals. talking about me, threatening me and my life.” These international Chinese students can’t To control communication entering or leaving organize such demonstrations in one day,” she China, access to Tibet is heavily restricted for said. journalists. China also has the Great Firewall — Tibetans and Uighurs in Canada are not the a combination of technologies such as DNS only targets of Chinese harassment and scare spoofing, URL filtering, etc. that censor content tactics. China is surveilling and threatening deemed illegal by Chinese authorities. Chinese Uighurs in the US and, according to a report authorities also use a mobile app, IJOP, to by the Uyghur Human Rights Project called carry out illegal mass surveillance and “The Fifth Poison: the Harassment of Uyghurs arbitrary detention in East Turkestan, says a Overseas,” the monitoring and harassment of report by Human Rights Watch. Uighurs, as well as of Tibetans, is taking place Earlier this year, Toronto police launched an globally. China has also resorted to spies in investigation into the threats received by Germany and Sweden to keep tabs on Lhamo, but so far the Canadian government members of the Uighur community, as well as hasn’t issued statements on either case. threatening messages through WeChat against Chokey believes that Chinese pressure on Uighurs in France and other parts of the world. activists in Canada and elsewhere is Meanwhile, China has also increased increasing. surveillance within Tibet and, in March, Lhamo agrees: “In general there has been pressured Concordia University to cancel an multiple folks that have been detained in China event with a Uighur activist. In April, Chinese even for singing songs in China, so repression officials pressured the Montreal Institute for is growing,” she said. “Pressure is increasing Genocide and Human Rights Studies at as the economic power of China is growing.”

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 56 Taiwan's ruling party calls for close diplomats, and other travelers have been denied entry to Tibet. cooperation with Tibet “My Bill would emulate in the UK what the US Strait Times, July 26, 2019 has done,” Loughton, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Tibet, said on a video TAIPEI (DPA) - Taiwan's Democratic Progressive clip posted on Facebook on Tuesday, citing Party (DPP) on Friday (July 26) called for a concerns over what he called China’s closer cooperation between Taipei and Tibet “horrendous human rights abuses” in the after representatives of the Taiwanese ruling Himalayan region. party met with the Dalai Lama in India earlier “To say to China: You need to open up, we in July. need to expose these human rights abuses. DPP secretary-general Luo Wen-jia said that You need to treat Tibetans fairly around the during a July 17 visit to the Dalai Lama in world and within China itself, and if you don’t, Dharamshala, issues ranging from human don’t expect the people responsible for that to rights and democracy to education were be able to come to the UK,” he said. discussed. “It may seem like a remote issue, but it’s an "Taiwan and Tibet should cooperate closely important principle for human rights of because we share same values and face the minorities throughout the world,” Loughton same threat," Mr Luo said. said. “And the Tibetans have suffered for far In a video released by the Voice of Tibet late too long.” on Thursday, Mr Luo said the meeting took Details on when Loughton’s bill will come up place and that the DPP delegation was in India for debate in the Parliament were not mainly to wish happy birthday to the spiritual immediately available. leader, who turned 84 years old on July 6. 'A positive move' He also said that the DPP representatives and Speaking on Wednesday to RFA’s Tibetan the Dalai Lama discussed the possibility to Service, London-based Free Tibet campaign conduct more exchanges on issues ranging advocacy manager John Jones welcomed the from religion to democracy. submission of Loughton’s bill to the UK In a defence white paper released on Parliament. Wednesday, China said it would "not renounce “We think it is a positive move. We were the use of force" in its plan to reunite with excited when the Reciprocal Access bill had Taiwan, a self-governed democracy that China success in the U.S., and we thought it was sees as a breakaway province. good for other countries to replicate that, to In the same paper, Beijing listed cracking send a message to the Chinese government,” down against proponents of separatist Jones said. movements in Tibet as one of its main defence “If they are going to impose travel restrictions goals. on people from the UK to Tibet, then those people imposing the restrictions need to be UK Lawmaker Proposes Bill For held accountable themselves.” In a move pushing for greater U.S. access to Reciprocal Access to Tibet Tibet, now largely closed by China to RFA, July 24, 2019 American diplomats and journalists, President Donald Trump on Dec. 20, 2018 signed into A British lawmaker submitted a bill to the law a bill denying visas to Chinese officials House of Commons this week that would bar responsible for blocking entry to the Beijing- entry to the UK for any Chinese officials found ruled Himalayan region. to block freedom of travel to Tibet by British The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018 citizens. requires the U.S. Secretary of State to identify The bill submitted by Conservative Party MP Chinese officials responsible for excluding U.S. Tim Loughton on Tuesday mirrors a similar bill citizens, including Americans of Tibetan ethnic now passed into law in the U.S., and requires origin, from China’s Tibet Autonomous Region that a report be made to Parliament each (TAR), and then ban them from entering the year, listing instances where British politicians, United States.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 57 The law also requires the State Department to A Tibetan government-in-exile official said provide to the Congress each year a list of during the period of 629-869, Buddhism from U.S. citizens blocked from entry to Tibet. India was adopted in Tibet and the 'Wrong signals' reincarnation system was adopted in the Meanwhile, Chinese foreign ministry 13th century with the birth of ‘Tulku’ system. spokeswoman Hua Chunying slammed Trump’s (Tulkus are considered principal standard- signing of the bill into law, saying the new law bearers of Tibetan Buddhist traditions and sends “seriously wrong signals” of support to provide social and spiritual guidance for both what she called forces working to separate ordained and laity and they are considered to Tibet from Chinese rule. be the reincarnation of Buddha.) “If the United States implements this law, it will “The tradition of reincarnation is rooted in a cause serious harm to China-U.S. relations and Buddhist belief system wherein all sentient to the cooperation in important areas between beings are bound through a cycle of birth and the two countries,” she said. death. The cycle is broken when through A formerly independent nation, Tibet was rigorous training and practice one could attain taken over and incorporated into China by enlightenment,” the official said. force nearly 70 years ago, following which Among the incarnation lineages recognized in Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the period, two incarnations became thousands of his followers fled into exile in particularly significant and revered in Tibet. India. The Dalai Lamas and the Panchen Lamas are Chinese authorities now maintain a tight grip regarded by Tibetans as the ‘sun and moon’ on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political owing to the special spiritual bond they share activities and peaceful expression of ethnic and their interchangeable role as teacher and and religious identities, and subjecting Tibetans disciple. to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and The Tashilhunpo monastery that was founded extrajudicial killings. by the first Dalai Lama, Gendun Drupa (1391-1474) in 1447 and also was its first abbot, started this system. Tibetans won’t recognize China- But China since 1949 has tried to meddle into appointed Dalai Lama the affairs of Tibetan after the government inquirer.net July 22, 2019 developed its religious policy and the government purged tenth Panchen Lama, one NEW DELHI — Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai of the towering figures in Tibet, criticizing the Lama said no recognition or acceptance would government’s policies in Tibet. After his death be given to Dalai Lama appointed by the in 1989, the search for his reincarnation was Chinese government for political ends and pursued in Tibet with the list of probable Tibetans would only recognize reincarnation candidates. recognized through legitimate methods. When the Dalai Lama made his choice and In a statement, Dalai Lama remarked on the declared on 15 May 1995 that Gendun irony of Chinese attempts to seek to recognize Choekyi Nyima had been recognized as the his reincarnation and said it ‘is particularly 11th Panchen Lama. This declaration was inappropriate for Chinese communists, who sharply rebuked by the Chinese government explicitly reject even the idea of past and and declared it illegal and invalid. On 17 May future lives. Let alone the concept of 1995, the authorities abducted the child and reincarnate Tulkus, to meddle in the system of his family. reincarnation and especially the reincarnations Chadrel Rinpoche who led the search party for of the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas.’ the reincarnation and his assistant Jampa He further said in no uncertain terms that Chung were then arrested and handed six-year “apart from the reincarnation recognized and four-year sentences respectively for selling through such legitimate methods, no state secrets and colluding with separatist recognition or acceptance should be given to a forces abroad. candidate chosen for political ends by anyone, Six months after his abduction, China including those in China.” announced that it had selected a Tibetan boy

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 58 named Gyaltsen Norbu and he is currently on the strength of his or her karma, merit and being promoted by the government. and prayers. However, little is known about the fate and “Therefore, the person who reincarnates has current state of the candidate that was sole legitimate authority over where and how declared by Dalai Lama as the reincarnation he or she takes rebirth and how that of the tenth Panchen Lama. reincarnation is to be recognized. It is a reality “China has in the last few decades have that that no one else can force the person strengthened control over religious institutions concerned, or manipula him or her,” he had with party cadres effectively controlling these said. institutions. With the introduction of new measures, all reincarnating lamas must now seek approval of the state,” the official added. Tibetans decry Chinese claims on Dalai Lama successor The Tribune, July 20,2019 Special Tibetan general meeting in Oct to discuss reincarnation The office of the Dalai Lama has sought to Times of India, July 21, 2019, Shri Puri reject renewed claims by China that it alone has the right to choose his next successor. A Dharamshala: Tibetans are planning a special senior Chinese official had recently said that general meeting in October, which will be Beijing will reject any reincarnation of the attended by the cabinet, pin-exile and other Dalai Lama born among Tibetan exiles in India Tibetan leaders. or elsewhere. According to Central Tibetan administration “The Dalai Lama’s reincarnation cannot be (CTA), the which will discuss the lineage of the decided by his personal wish or some group of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, will take people living in other countries,’’ a senior place between October 3 and Oct .. With the Chinese official posted in Tibet told a group of issue of reincarnation of 15th Dalai Lama visiting Indian journalists. trending these days, people are hoping the In response, his office here flagged a statement meeting between Tibetan heads will provide by the Sikyong (Ruler) of the Central Tibetan some answers. The meeting will also discuss Administration Lobsang Sangay, where he five-fifty forum. said: “If the Chinese leadership believes in According to an official of Tibetan rebirth and religion so much, instead of administration who do do not want to be worrying about the reincarnation of a “devil,” named, five-fifty forum was launched in in they should —as His Holiness himself has 2017 with an aim to work on the strategy to remarked—start with finding the reincarnation resolve the the issue of Tibet, based on the of revolutionary leaders such as Chairman ‘middle way approach’, as well as to Mao and Deng Xiaoping”. strengthen CTA’s resilience to sustain the His office also reiterated the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan freedom struggle and preserve Tibetan statement when the controversy had flared up culture for the next 50 years. earlier to indicate that the position of on his The office of the Dalai Lama, however, refused successor among Tibetan exiles in India and to comment. This will be the third special elsewhere remains changed. The Dalai Lama general meeting. China had recently warned had remarked on the irony of Chinese attempts India not to interfere with the reincarnation to seek to recognise his reincarnation and said process of Dalai Lama and said it would be it “is particularly inappropriate for Chinese chosen within China based on the 200-year-old communists, who explicitly reject even the idea historical process. The reincarnation of 15th of past and future lives, let alone the concept Dalai Lama is a contentious issue between the of reincarnate Tulkus, to meddle in the system China and the Tibetans living in exile. The of reincarnation and especially the sitting Dalai Lama, in one of his statements, reincarnations of the Dalai Lamas and Panchen had said reincarnation is a phenomenon that Lamas”. should take place either through the voluntary He further said that “apart from the choice of the person concerned or ator at least reincarnation recognised through such legitimate methods, no recognition or

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 59 acceptance should be given to a candidate cannot prove the exact number they chosen for political ends by anyone, including successfully impacted.” those in the People’s Republic of China”. China has a record of pressuring countries, typically at U.N. forums, to align with its positions, particularly on high-priority issues Pompeo: China Pressured Some for the regime such as Taiwan and Tibet. The Countries to Stay Away From the U.S. and other critics are concerned that the Religious Freedom Meeting massive international infrastructure program known as the Belt-and-Road initiative is Cnsnews.com, July 19, 2019 Patrick Goodenough providing Beijing with even more leverage to (CNSNews.com) – Secretary of State Mike use on other countries. Pompeo on Thursday thanked countries that Just a week ago at the U.N. Human Rights resisted pressure from China’s communist Council, 37 countries signed a letter to senior government and attended a major U.S. U.N. officials praising China’s policies in ministerial on religious freedom. And he Xinjiang, echoing its claims that the camps warned that the U.S. had taken note of there are “vocational education and training countries that caved in to Beijing. centers” used to “deradicalize” Muslims as Addressing participants at the State part of a campaign terrorism and extremism. Department-hosted event, Pompeosaid officials Of note, more than half of the signatories were in China had “discouraged other countries countries that are members of the from attending this very gathering.” Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a “Is that consistent with the guarantee of bloc of the world’s Muslim countries which has ‘freedom of religious belief’ that is found been silent on China’s treatment of Muslims. directly in the Chinese constitution?” he asked. ‘There is no so-called religious persecution in “If you’re here today and you’re a country China’ which has defied the Chinese pressure to come China has responded icily to the increasing here, we salute you and we thank you,” U.S. and broader concern about the situation Pompeo continued. “And if you have declined in Xinjiang. to attend for the same reason, we took note.” On the sidelines of the ministerial, President He added, however, that the U.S. hoped that Trump met in the Oval Office with 27 victims of countries which chose not to attend this year’s religious persecution from 16 countries, ministerial – the second annual event of its including four from China – a Uighur Muslim, kind – “will reconsider your decision next time a Christian, a Tibetan Buddhist, and a Falun and find the courage to stand up for freedom Gong practitioner. every day and always.” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman called Pompeo called out China for persecuting Trump’s meeting with the four “sheer Christians and adherents of the Falun Gong interference in China’ internal affairs.” movement, but devoted his strongest language “Those the U.S. invited to the so-called for its treatment of Uighur and other minority religious meeting include a member of the Muslims in the far-western Xinjiang region. Falun Gong cult and some other people who “China is home to one of the worst human have been smearing China’s religious policy,” rights crises of our time. It is truly the stain of Lu Kang told a briefing at the ministry. the century,” he said. “Since April 2017, the “We urge the U.S. to view China’s religious Chinese government has detained more than policies and freedom of religious belief in an one million Chinese Muslims and other unbiased manner,” he said. minorities in camps in Xinjiang.” “There is no so-called religious persecution in Pompeo did not name the countries that had China at all,” Lu declared. “The Chinese bowed to pressure from Beijing not to citizens enjoy freedom of religious belief in participate in the ministerial. accordance with law.” “We know the Chinese government called There was no immediate reaction from the countries specifically to discourage foreign ministry to Pompeo’s remarks on participation,” a State Department Thursday, but the Communist Party- spokesperson said on background. “We affiliated Global Times did respond.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 60 The true “stain of the century,” it quoted an India's intervention on the issue cannot be academic from one of China’s top law schools accepted. While China is not in favour of as saying, was U.S.-initiated wars that have incorporating any spiritual process into the caused humanitarian suffering and spread next Dalai Lama's appointment, on the other terrorism globally. hand, the Tibetan spiritual leader is A second academic, from a university traditionally selected, including the spiritual administered by the foreign ministry, resorted process. According to the current Dalai Lama to personal attacks, saying Pompeo himself (84), the process of electing his successor will was “a stain” – a diplomat who instead of start in 2025 when he is 90 years old. making friends around the world has offended The Dalai Lama said in a statement that the as many as he can, and was almost universally politically elected candidate should not be not liked. recognized, including the people of the Turning to Pompeo’s comments about the U.S. People's Republic of China. Although the Dalai having taken note of countries which Lama has not explained all the procedures to succumbed to Chinese pressure not to attend be held to select his successor, scholars say the ministerial, Global Times said “experts” that Buddhist monasteries wish to reincarnate viewed those remarks as “blatant threat to him with prayers and tantric rituals. countries which would make fair judgments on China’s Xinjiang policies and a show of U.S. hegemony.” Nyima Lhamo urges President In a separate article, the Communist Party- Donald Trump for U.S. support for linked daily said it was “comical” for the Tibet Trump administration to tout religious freedom Tibet Post International, July 18, 2019, David Thomas after issuing what it called a “Muslim travel ban.” It also pointed to this week’s House of Representatives resolution condemning Trump for remarks directed at Democratic congresswomen of color. The article ended by deriding those claiming to be victims of religious persecution in China, labeling them extremists who “have become pathetic cannon fodder in the U.S. containment of China.”

China has no right to choose my Nyima Lhamo whose uncle Tulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche died in Chinese prison in 2015, speaking to U.S. President Donald Trump successor says Dalai Lama during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, U.S.A., on NewsTrack, July 18, 2019 July 17, 2019. Photo: TPI

The Tibetan religious leader the Dalai Lama Washington DC — Nyima Lhamo, a Tibetan has given China a big boost on the election of activist, whose uncle Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, his successor. The Dalai Lama has said that one of the most prominent Tibetan religious China cannot decide my successor because it leaders died in a Chinese prison, has strongly does not come under its jurisdiction. The Dalai appealed to the United States President Lama has said that my successor will take the Donald Trump for continued support for Tibet decision of the people of Tibet. India and and support for the return of the His Holiness China have been on the move since the the 14th Dalai Lama to Tibet. beginning. During the second Ministerial to Advance also read 'Howdy Modi': Indian community will Religious Freedom held July 16 to 18, 2019, welcome PM Modi in the US in a special way the Tibetan issue received attention at the China had recently said that the Dalai Lama's highest level of American leadership. Nyima successor should be decided in China and Lhamo, who fled Tibet to tell the world about

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 61 Chinese injustice in her homeland, delivered plight of the Tibetan people in their remarks at her message to President Trump in the White the ministerial, President Trump heard directly House on the afternoon of July 17, 2019. for the first time from a Tibetan about the need She also thanked the US President Donald for US support for the Dalai Lama. Trump and his leadership for their support for The meeting was hosted by the US State Tibet during a meeting in the Oval Office of Department and attended by 100 nations and the White House. The 30-minute meeting 1,000 participants. Around 30 survivors from involved many survivors of religious 19 countries around the world where their persecution from around the world, including religious freedom are denied and they are people from China, Myanmar, Iran, Tibet, suffering under different forms of social and Turkey, and North Korea. political discriminations. Those survivors of Meeting the president in the Oval Office religious persecution from all faiths were given alongside other survivors of religious a global platform in Washington DC this week. persecution participating in the ministerial, Nyima Lhamo, a human rights defender and Nyima Lhamo spoke up spontaneously to ask the niece of the late Tenzin Delek Rinpoche for US support for the people of Tibet. has given her testimony at the meeting on 'I am from Tibet, it is my dream to have this China's brutal crackdown on Tibetans inside opportunity to visit the President of the United Tibet. Later President Donald Trump invited all States of America. Please, Tibetans inside Tibet the participants to his Oval office and listened need the support of the United States of to stories of each participant. America and His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Nyima Lhamo shared her story of Tibetans come back to Tibet. “Tibetan need America’s inside Tibet being tortured, imprisoned and support, please. We need support,” Nyima sufferings of Tibetans under Communist China. Lhamo said. Tibetans around the world expressed their The US President Donald Trump responded, solidarity with her after she appealing saying "support yes." President Trump for U.S. support for Tibet and She emotionally appreciated the US President the return of the His Holiness the 14th Dalai for understanding of her broken English. "I am Lama to Tibet. very sorry, my English is not good," she told "In the future, the leaders of other countries the President. must follow Trump's exemplary of listening to A very humble and positive reaction from the the sufferings of suppressed people in this US President, interestingly he has encouraged world. Trade should not be the only interest of her saying "that's fine. Your English is actually the leaders in the world. Thank you, President very good." Donald Trump, to the listening out the story of She also expressed her gratitude for the sufferings," Bagdro, a former Tibetan political opportunity to attend the gathering of prisoner wrote on his facebook. survivors of religious persecution from around The Tibet delegation who attended the the world, saying "thank you very much for the Ministerial comprised of the Representative opportunity to share our stories." Ngodup Tsering, Office of Tibet, Washington She also sincerely appealed to President DC and staff of OoT-DC, Kunchok Dolma Trump for US support for His Holiness the Yaklha, Special Appointee for Human Rights, Dalai Lama to return to Tibet. Then, US Tibet Bureau Geneva, Members of President Donald Trump again responded, International Campaign for Tibet, Azen bravely saying: "Thank you very much and Rinpoche from Nepal, and Nyima Lhamo, “please say hello" presumably to His Holiness niece of late Tulku Tenzin Delek. the Dalai Lama. President Trump was joined by White House The second Ministerial to Advance Religious Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Sam Freedom which is believed to be the World’s Brownback, the administration’s ambassador Biggest Event on Religious Persecution was at large for international religious freedom at concluded in Washington DC, USA, on the meeting which took place on the sidelines Wednesday, July 18, 2019. of the annual Ministerial to Advance Religious While Vice President Pence and House Freedom, a conference hosted by the US State Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) focused on the Department to bring together leaders from

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 62 around the world to discuss the challenges violations of religious freedom elsewhere in the facing religious freedom, identify means to world if it does not hold China accountable for address religious persecution and its policies targeting Uyghurs in the Xinjiang discrimination worldwide, and promote greater Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). respect and preservation of religious liberty for “The violations [in the XUAR] are of such all. scale, are so big, and the commercial interests Nyima Lhamo is a human rights advocate and are so significant that it sometimes tempers our the niece of the late Tulku Tenzin Delek values in terms of how we should act,” Pelosi Rinpoche, a highly revered reincarnate lama said, while addressing the July 16-18 and one of the most prominent Tibetan political Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in prisoners who died in a Chinese prison in July Washington on Tuesday. 2015. Nyima and her mother, Dolkar Lhamo, “Unless we are willing to speak out against the were detained by Chinese authorities for violations of religious freedom in China we publicly questioning the cause of her uncle’s lose all moral authority to talk about it any death and demanding an investigation. Nyima other place in the world.” fled and arrived in India on July 24, 2016, Pelosi also urged lawmakers to sanction XUAR leaving behind her mother and 6-year-old Communist Party Secretary Chen Quanguo daughter. under the Global Magnitsky Act for his role in Despite the risks, she continues to speak out China’s policies in the region, where about her uncle’s death while in Chinese authorities are believed to have detained up to custody, appealing to the international 1.5 million Uyghurs and other Muslim community to call on the Chinese government minorities accused of harboring “strong to investigate the circumstances of his death. religious views” and “politically incorrect” She has raised her uncle’s case at the UN ideas in internment camps since April 2017. Human Rights Council, briefed international She was joined by former Representative Frank officials, visited more than ten countries to Wolf on a panel moderated by Sam pledge her case for her uncle, and testified Brownback, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for before the U.S. Congress. Nyima’s family International Religious Freedom. continues to face harassment by authorities, Wolf noted that Chen had tested many of the who threaten continued persecution of her repressive policies he rolled out in the XUAR family unless she stops her advocacy. during his prior role as Party Secretary in The Communist totalitarian regime of China Tibet. began their invasion of Tibet in 1949, reaching “What he did in Tibet was basically cultural complete occupation of the country in 1959. genocide,” Wolf said. Since that time, more than 1.2 million people, Earlier at the event, Jewher Tohti, the daughter 20% of the nation's population of six million, of jailed Uyghur professor Ilham Tohti, have died as a direct result of China's invasion slammed China for its policies in the XUAR, and occupation. In addition, over 99% of and questioned whether Beijing is qualified to Tibet's six thousand religious monasteries, host the 2022 Winter Olympics when Uyghurs temples, and shrines, have been looted or and other Muslim minorities remain held in the decimated resulting in the destruction of region’s vast network of internment camps. hundreds of thousands of sacred Buddhist An outspoken economics professor who scriptures. regularly highlighted the religious and cultural persecution of Uyghurs in the XUAR, Tohti was charged with promoting ethnic separatism and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Calls was handed a life sentence by a Chinese court for Sanctions Against Xinjiang on Sept. 23, 2014 following a two-day trial. Party Boss Chen Quanguo US action The U.S. did not join nearly two dozen rfa.org July 17, 2019 Joshua Lipes countries at the United Nations’ Human Rights Speaker of the House of Representatives Council in Geneva who urged China to end Nancy Pelosi has warned that the U.S. risks mass arbitrary detentions, as well as losing its moral authority to speak out against widespread surveillance and restrictions, on

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 63 Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the issued by more than a dozen member XUAR, in a letter to the U.N.’s human rights countries of the Organisation of Islamic czar Michelle Bachelet last week. The U.S. quit Cooperation (OIC) expressing support for the council in June 2018. China’s policies in the XUAR, which it said But while an increasing number of governments “ignored widespread repression of the have spoken out against the persecution of region’s Muslims.” Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the The Chinese government-promoted letter was XUAR, little concrete action has been taken to issued in response to the joint statement from hold China accountable. the 22 countries at the Human Rights Council Earlier in July, U.S. Representative Adam last week. Schiff, who is also the chairman of the House “The Chinese government garnered the Intelligence Committee, introduced the third support of a dozen Muslim-majority countries piece of legislation to Congress that includes to help whitewash its abysmal human rights provisions addressing the situation in the XUAR record in Xinjiang,” said Sophie Richardson, as part of the Intelligence Authorization Act HRW’s China director. for Fiscal Year 2020. “Instead of joining with the many governments In May, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations denouncing abuses against Xinjiang’s Muslims, Committee passed the Uyghur Human Rights these countries have joined Beijing’s repugnant Policy Act, which would appoint a special counter narrative.” State Department coordinator on Xinjiang and HRW noted that the 57-country OIC “has require regular reports on the camps, the largely remained silent and at times applauded surveillance network and the security threats China’s efforts in recent months,” including by posed by the crackdown—if endorsed by the praising the government’s work in “providing full U.S. Senate and ratified by the House of care to its Muslim citizens,” and saying in Representatives. March that it “look[ed] forward to further A complimentary bill—HR 649—was proposed cooperation” with China. in January by U.S. Representatives Chris Smith Delegates from the Islamic body also took part of New Jersey and Tom Suozzi of New York, in what HRW called a “highly controlled, state- who warned in a statement at the time that the managed” diplomatic visit to the XUAR without XUAR has “become nothing short of a police criticizing any of the government’s rights state” and urged fellow lawmakers to “take a violations, although it has been vocal in stand against this violation of human rights and condemning abuses and demanding show the Chinese government that this is accountability for the treatment of Rohingya unacceptable.” Muslims in Myanmar. Last week, Congressional-Executive HRW urged OIC nations to sign the joint Commission on China (CECC) chair and statement issued by the 22 nations at the cochair U.S. Representative Jim McGovern Human Rights Council before the July 26 and Senator Marco Rubio—who co-authored deadline. the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act—issued a “China’s repressive Xinjiang campaign has put statement calling on U.S. President Donald the OIC’s credibility on the line,” Richardson Trump’s administration to do more to address said. the situation in the XUAR. “If the OIC wants to be the global voice for “For the last year, we have urged the the rights of oppressed Muslims everywhere, Administration, without success, to take actions its members need to stop looking the other to hold Chinese officials and businesses way and denounce China’s abusive policies in accountable for what may constitute crimes Xinjiang.” against humanity in the XUAR,” the statement said, adding that while “rhetoric has been tough … it’s not enough given the egregious scope of abuses.” China-backed letter Also on Wednesday, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) slammed a statement

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 64 Dalai Lama Representative Tibetan tradition holds that senior Buddhist monks are reincarnated in the body of a child Dismisses Chinese Pressure on after they die. India Over Reincarnation Pema Jungney, speaker of the Tibetan RFA, July 16, 2019 Parliament-in-Exile, told RFA that the office of the Dalai Lama “will have the sole legitimate The Dalai Lama’s representative in North authority to choose his successor and no one America has dismissed recent remarks by else holds the right to interfere.” Chinese officials demanding that India support The Dalai Lama himself has said that his Beijing’s selection of the 84-year-old Tibetan successor would come from a free country spiritual leader’s successor. without Chinese interference. Recent remarks to Indian reporters in Lhasa by “In future, in case you see two Dalai Lamas two Chinese officials responsible for Tibet come, one from here, in free country, one warning New Delhi against recognizing the chosen by Chinese, then nobody will trust, Dalai Lama’s choice of successor have added nobody will respect (the one chosen by a new element to longstanding Chinese China). So that's an additional problem for the pressure on Tibetans, said Ngodup Tsering, Chinese! It's possible, it can happen,” he told the Dalai Lama’s representative in North Reuters in March. That scenario played out in America. 1995, with another senior Tibetan lama. “The Chinese government’s interference in the The Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, Dalai Lama’s reincarnation has been there was recognized on May 14, 1995 at the age since 2007. However trying to put pressure on of six by the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen the Indian government on this issue has Lama-—the reincarnation of his predecessor, startled me,” Tsering told RFA’s Tibetan the 10th Panchen Lama. Service in an interview. Three days later, the young Panchen Lama and “China has always been keen on eradicating his family were taken away by Chinese the Tibetan identity and religious practices. In authorities, who then installed another boy as terms of recent statements made about India’s their own candidate in his place. stand on the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, I feel The whereabouts of the Tibetan choice of the conversation came about just because Panchen Lama, who turned 30 this year, some Indian journalists happened to be there remain unknown and he has not been seen in in China,” he added. public since his disappearance. The Panchen Zha Luo, director at Beijing-based China Lama installed by China has not been Tibetology Research Center, a government-run accepted by Tibetans. think tank, told Indian reporters recently that Asked if India could succumb to Beijing’s any refusal by India to recognize China’s pressure on the Dalai Lama in the interest of choice of the next Dalai Lama would hurt ties. India-China relations, Tsering said “India being "It will be a major political difference that a secular country where its constitution states would impact bilateral relations and any wise that every individual has the right to religious political leader wouldn't do that," said Zha, freedom, I am very positive that India will not according to the Press Trust of India (PTI). interfere in the reincarnation process of the "Since the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is Dalai Lama.” an important issue for China any friendly “Moreover, the Indian government has revered country or friend of China would not interfere and provided immense protection to the Dalai or meddle on the issue," Zha was quoted as Lama over the last many years,” he added. saying. The current, 14th, Dalai Lama fled to India in A second Chinese official, Wang Nengsheng, 1959 following a Chinese crackdown on an the director general of the Tibet Autonomous uprising by Tibetans. India granted him Region government, told a small group of political asylum and the Tibetan government-in- Indian journalists in Lhasa last week that “the exile has been based in northern India’s Dalai Lama's reincarnation is not decided by Dharamsala since then. his personal wish or by some group of people “Many European countries and the United living in other countries.” States have passed bills on this matter citing

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 65 that authority to appoint the next Dalai Lama is he or she takes rebirth and how that solely in the hands of the community who reincarnation is to be recognized, says a post venerate their religion and religious leaders on the official website of the Dalai Lama. without any other interference,” said Tsering. "When I am about 90, I will consult the high “I don’t think the rest of the world will stoop Lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the down too low like China is doing,” he said. Tibetan public, and other people concerned who follow Tibetan Buddhism, and re-evaluate whether the institution of the Dalai Lama China just explicating power should continue or not," said a post quoting showcase: Tibetan administration the spiritual leader dated September 24, 2011. thequint.com July 16, 2019, Vishal Gulati "On that basis we will take a decision. If it is decided that the reincarnation of the Dalai Dharamsala, July 16 (IANS) China's insistence Lama should continue and there is a need for on appointing the next Dalai Lama is just the 15th Dalai Lama to be recognized, showcasing of power, according to the Tibetan responsibility for doing so will primarily rest on 'government in exile'. the officers of the Dalai Lama's Gaden On China's warning that India should not Phodrang Trust." interfere in the process of appointing the next At the same time, the Dalai Lama had clarified Dalai Lama, the Dharamsala-based Central that apart from the reincarnation recognised Tibetan Administration (CTA) on Tuesday said through such legitimate methods, no the Chinese functionaries were in the habit of recognition or acceptance should be given to a issuing forewarnings just to keep the issue candidate chosen for political ends by anyone, alive. including those in China. "The cause of this provocation is that His Washington based pro-Tibet group, the Holiness (the Dalai Lama) has recently International Campaign for Tibet, in March slammed Chinese interests in (appointment of) said: "Not only do the Chinese government's his successor," a CTA official told IANS. claims completely disregard centuries-old The spiritual leader has said his successor Tibetan Buddhist religious tradition, they also would never come from Chinese-controlled obviously violate the universal principle of regions but from a "free country". religious freedom. The reaction came on the recent remarks by "The regulations invoked by Beijing clearly do Wang Neng Sheng, Director General of the not meet international standards, as they People's Government Information Office of the openly deny the fundamental right of Tibetan Tibet Autonomous Region of China, that the Buddhist communities to follow their own Dalai Lama's successor should be approved by spiritual process without government the Chinese government. interference." Wang has said the reincarnation cannot be Questioning the basis of China's claim on the decided by the Dalai Lama's personal wish or incarnation issue, Tibetan activist and poet by some group of people living in other Tenzin Tsundue said there is nothing Chinese countries. about the Dalai Lama as the title is Mongolian The CTA said the Dalai Lama himself has on and the leader is Tibetan. several occasions asserted that the authority "Like India, China too was under foreign over his reincarnation rests solely upon himself. occupations. The Mongols and Manchus The Dalai Lamas have functioned as both the terrorized the rice-eating Chinese for over 400 political and spiritual leaders of Tibet for 369 years until 1911 China's independence. The years since 1642. Republic of China was founded under the first What is reincarnation? President Sun Yat-sen in 1912," he told IANS. It is a phenomenon which should take place "Today, China-occupied countries: Tibet, East either through the voluntary choice of the Turkestan, Mongolia and Manchuria make 60 concerned person or at least on the strength of per cent of China's landmass. China has his or her karma, merit and prayers. colonized the histories of these occupied Therefore, the person who reincarnates has countries and owns them as history of China," sole legitimate authority over where and how he added.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 66 He said the institution of the Dalai Lama is 400 According to Tibetan tradition, the Dalai Lama years old, while the People's Republic of China reincarnates after his death – and the new was founded in 1949. person is appointed his successor. China, "How can agnostic communists even pretend to however, claims the next spiritual leader of have any faith in reincarnations?" Tsundue Tibetan Buddhism has to be approved by its asked. government. In March, the Dalai Lama had Sadly, the international community, lured by said it was possible his successor could be cheap ‘Made in China' products, accepts found in India after his death. He had also Chinese sovereignty on these occupied warned that a successor chosen by China countries, added Tsundue, known for his would not be respected. trademark red headband. Wang, however, said religion “can’t interfere On his birthday on July 6 this year, the Dalai in politics, justice, administration and Lama had said: "I am now 84, but I hope to be education” and that “religions in China must able to celebrate the occasion with all of you be independent from foreign influence”. for many more years to come." Zha Luo, director of the Beijing-based China Tibetology Research Centre, told Indian journalists that if India formally recognises any China says Dalai Lama’s successor successor to the Dalai Lama who has not been should be chosen within the accepted by China, it will become a political country, India should not interfere difference between the two countries “that would affect bilateral relations”. scroll.in July 15, 2019, Scroll Staff When asked what would happen if India An official of the Tibet Autonomous Region refuses to recognise the next Dalai Lama said the Dalai Lama does not have legal status chosen by China, Zha said: “Since the without recognition from the Chinese reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is an government. important issue for China, any friendly country China has said that any successor to the Dalai or friend of China would not interfere or Lama should be chosen from within the country meddle on the issue.” Zha, however, called it a and India’s interference in the matter will hypothetical answer to a hypothetical question. affect bilateral ties, Hindustan Times reported on Monday. “There are established historical institutions Disregard for China's Dalai Lama and formalities for the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and the position of the Chinese could affect ties: Beijing government is clear cut and resolute,” said Times of India, July 14, 2019, Sachin Parashar Wang Neng Sheng, director general of the People’s Government Information Office of the LHASA/BEIJING: Amid concerns Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Wang, internationally over the deteriorating health of who is an official with the rank of vice minister, the Dalai Lama, Chinese officials have warned made the statement on July 8 to a group of that the issue of his reincarnation may Indian journalists who were invited for a tour adversely impact Sino-Indian ties if India of the Tibet Autonomous Region. disregards the appointment of the new Dalai “[The Dalai Lama’s] reincarnation will not be Lama by Beijing through the "traditional" decided by his personal wish or some group of process.The same issue of finding a successor people living in other countries,” Wang said. of the 14th Dalai Lama .is threatening to turn “The current Dalai Lama was recognised by into another flashpoint in fast deteriorating US- Beijing and his successor must be found China ties with the former saying that this is a through the ‘draw of lots in golden urn religious issue with no role for the state in it. process’ within China,” PTI quoted Wang as While India looks at the Dalai Lama as s a saying. The official said the Dalai Lama does spiritual figure who isn't allowed to carry out not have a legal status without recognition by any political activity on Indian soil, it may find the Chinese government. it difficult steer clear of the issue for long as

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 67 the Tibetan government- in-exile based here is Slovak president attacks Beijing’s likely to appoint its own Dalai Lama. "This can turn into a major political difference human rights record that would affect ties (if India doesn't recognise EURACTIV.com July 12, 2019 Agata Palickova the Dalai Lama chosen by China). But no wise leader or friendly country will do that. Of Slovakian president Zuzana Čaputová has course, India can also stay away (and not criticised Beijing for not respecting human publicly endorse him). India though should rights, during a visit by China’s foreign affairs respect China's right to deal with its (internal) chief on Wednesday (10 July). Wang Yi was in social and domestic issues said Zha Luo, the Slovakia to discuss the involvement of the director of China Tibetology Research he Visegrád Four in the Silk Road project. premier Chinese government Tibet policy think Čaputová expressed her concerns in line with tank. the European Union’s common position, about The officials also warned against any attempt the deteriorating human rights situation in to change the status quo in Arunachal Pradesh China and the detention of lawyers and human which China claims as a part of southern rights activists, as well as about the position of Tibet. ethnic and religious minorities. She expects The 84-year-old Dalai Lama has himself progress in the human rights dialogue between suggested that his ssuccessor could come from the EU and China. among his followers in India. As Zha and “The common aim should be the developing of another official, Xiao Jie, said though, the relations based on respect and values, which next Dalai Lama can only be chosen through 2 Slovakia as a member of the EU shares,” steps, namely ddrawing of lots from a golden Čaputová said. urn and recognition of the of the central “I informed the minister of foreign affairs that government. According to China, which wants protection of human rights is the main basis for to appoint the new Dalai Lama to protect our freedom,” she said. Tibetan Tibetan culture and heritage, the same However, she offered praise to China for process to find his has been followed since making steps towards reducing its greenhouse 1792, when the Qing dynasty introduced it to gas emissions. project its control of Tibet. In 2016, then President Andrej Kiska met with Similarly, the Lhasa-based director-general of Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who the information office of People's Government visited Slovakia as part of his trip across of Tibet Autonomous Region, Wang Neng Europe. Sheng, said the role of the central government The move prompted an angry reaction from central government had to be recognised. China, which has described the Dalai Lama as "Dalai Lama's personal moves will not be a “splitist” and a “wolf in monk’s robes” who recognised by Chinese government and advocates Tibet’s independence, religious followers in Tibet. It was with central Most politicians in post-communist Eastern government's recognition that Dalai Lama Europe have steered clear of criticising China’s became the 14th Dalai Lama," he said, adding record on freedom of speech, its treatment of that Tibetans who had been detained by religious and ethnic minorities and other social Nepal while trying to enter India had been issues. misled by the Dalai Lama. Economic cooperation in Poland Zha and Xiao also warned that Sino-Indian ties Wang Yi spent two days in Poland before could be affected by any attempt to change visiting Slovakia, but the atmosphere was much the status quo in Arunachal Pradesh, which different. China claims as a part of southern Tibet. In Warsaw, the focus of the ministerial "If there is a disputed area, according to meetings was on economic cooperation. Polish international law the 2 governments should sit Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz agreed together and discuss it. It is It is illegal for one on the need for stronger trade and China country to change the status quo," said Xiao, promised to increase investments in Poland. while responding to a query about Indian “We are open to Chinese investments, leaders' visit to Arunachal. especially greenfields, in the manufacturing and innovative sectors,” Czaputowicz said.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 68 Czaputowicz urged Beijing to invest more in Nepal bans spiritual events of Central Europe and to drop tariff barriers as his Chinese counterpart sought assurances that Tibetan refugees, further Warsaw would consider using Beijing’s undermining their rights controversial 5G technology. The Tibet Post International, July 9, 2019, Wang Weijing, a former executive of Chinese David Thomas technology giant Huawei, was arrested in January in Poland, on suspicion of espionage. “China invests a lot in Europe, but only five percent of its EU investments are in central and east European states. We appreciate China being ready to take actions for building more balanced economic partnership with Poland. We will continue dialogue with China on eliminating barriers to the access of Polish products to the Chinese market,” Czaputowicz commented following the meeting. China and Poland are also considering developing bilateral partnerships in transport, agriculture, tourism and finance. A Nepalese policeman torturing a Tibetan monk during a peaceful Wang’s last stop in his tour of the Visegrád protest in Nepal, many say that Nepal is just a puppet of the PRC. Photo: File Four is Hungary, which became the first European country to sign a bilateral Celebrations on the 6th of July 2019 for the agreement on the Belt and Road Initiative four 84th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, years ago. have been banned for Tibetans living in The Czech Republic is the only country from Nepal, this comes just few weeks after the US the group that was not on the visit list. Czech criticised Nepal authorities for their treatment President Miloš Zeman is known as a great of Tibetan refugees in the country. In addition supporter of Beijing and during his presidential to preventing the celebration, Nepalese police career has already visited China five times. gathered in riot gear at the Boudha stupa to His last visit to the country was in April, when block any gatherings of Tibetans at the he confirmed cooperation in the New Silk Buddhist pilgrimage site on that day. Road. Matteo Mecacci, president of the International Zeman has long pushed for closer ties with Campaign for Tibet, said: “The Dalai Lama is Beijing and has firmly supported Huawei in the revered in Nepal not just by Tibetans, but also furore that followed the allegations of by Nepalese Buddhists. While his supporters espionage. across the free world publicly celebrated his The Czech president has also defended 84th birthday over the weekend, it was China’s human rights record, telling Chinese notable that Nepal was the only country CCTV that he did not come to China to teach it besides China that prevented such about human rights. Later, he added: “We celebrations. The Nepalese and the Tibetan have to try to understand how China has people enjoy a centuries-old shared religious stabilised its society.” and cultural heritage in the land where the Buddha was born, and this action by the Nepalese government affects not only Tibetans’ civil liberties, but those of the entire Nepalese Buddhist community”. Footage of riot police at the Boudha stupa on the Dalai Lama’s birthday on July 6 combined with the prevention of a formal celebratory event by the community showed the impact of Nepal’s compliance with China’s agenda and demands with regard to Tibetans—particularly

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 69 evident since the Nepalese government signed around the Boudha Stupa, Swayambhunath, up to China’s global infrastructure project the and Jawalakhel. Belt and Road Initiative in 2017. Last month, apparently at the request of the It is a notable step back from previous years, Chinese authorities, airport immigration including last year, when the birthday authorities in Kathmandu refused to admit a celebration was not only permitted, but also US citizen of Tibetan origin and deported him. attended by the ambassadors of the USA and The Tibetan had the same name as Penpa France, as well as senior officers from the UK, Tsering, the former speaker of the Tibetan Japan, Germany, Switzerland, the European parliament-in-exile in Dharamsala. According Union and the office of the United Nations to the Tibet Sun, immigration officials said that High Commissioner for Refugees. the Chinese Embassy had written to Nepal’s The Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office, which Ministry of Foreign Affairs to restrict a person oversees Tibetan affairs in Nepal, issued a named ‘Penpa Tsering’ from entering the statement this weekend stating that the country, “labeling him a campaigner of the birthday event in Nepal’s capital had been Free Tibet movement, as well as a strong canceled by the local organizers after advocate of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the receiving strict orders against it from the Dalai Lama. The officials were unsure whether Nepalese government. In recent years, the the same person was the one black-listed by Nepalese government has varied in giving China or not. But wanting to be on the safe permission for such Tibetan community events, side they deported him to the US via Doha.” and Tibetans have adapted accordingly by A visit to Nepal by then-Chinese Vice Premier hosting only low-key events in areas outside Wang Yang in August 2017—the highest-level the Boudha stupa, for instance. Chinese visit to Kathmandu since Premier Wen In a further example of intensified pressure on Jiaobao visited in 2012—further strengthened the Tibetan community, Krishna Bahadur economic and political ties with the new Katuwal, assistant district administrator of Kathmandu government. Wang Yang, now a Kathmandu, was quoted by Reuters saying that Politburo member with broad responsibility for the government refused permission for Tibetans religion in his role as head of the Chinese to mark the Dalai Lama’s birthday because People’s Political Consultative Conference, the “infiltrators” could create trouble. Wang Yang, government’s top political advisory body, has a member of the Chinese Communist Party consistently emphasized tightening controls Standing Committee who has been over Tibetan Buddhism and has been a central prominently involved in maintaining high-level figure in the systematic political campaign ties with Nepal following a visit to Kathmandu against religious practitioners in Tibet. in 2017, has spoken recently about the need Combined with an agreement between Nepal for Tibetans to defend against “infiltration of and China to ensure cooperation in border law foreign hostile forces,” a reference to the Dalai enforcement, and Nepal formally joining Lama and the Tibetan exile diaspora. China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the Diplomats from the US, Germany and UK had developments point to a contracting space and reportedly planned to attend the birthday dangers for Tibetans in Nepal as Nepalese celebration in Kathmandu, with an unnamed authorities deepen their relationship with their diplomat quoted by The Himalayan Times on more powerful neighbor. The direct correlation July 7 as saying: “These diplomats have between the deepening investment and aid expressed serious concerns about the forced from China and the vulnerabilities of Tibetans cancellation of the event, which is a severe in Nepal was acknowledged openly by Beijing violation of the rights of people of the Tibetan when it described its investment as a reward to community.” Nepal for its “important role in guarding The atmosphere in the Tibetan community was against Tibetan separatists” according to tense over the weekend, with many choosing Chinese state media.[7] There has been a to stay at home rather than be at risk as dramatic decline in Tibetan refugee arrivals security was intensified in locations where and continued inaction on the status of Tibetan Tibetans live in Kathmandu, particularly refugees. Thousands of Tibetans remain stateless and in political limbo in Nepal.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 70 Prague mayor Zdenek Hrib defies haven for refugees and adopted liberal positions at odds with the hardline policies of Beijing with support for Taiwan Poland’s conservative Law and Justice party and Tibet government. SCMP.com July 3, 2019 Hrib has since gone further, demanding Beijing officials drop the clause stating Prague’s • Administration in March restored the support for the one China policy in the 2016 practice of flying the Tibetan flag from the deal and threatening to scrap the arrangement Czech capital’s town hall if they refuse. • Doctor, 38, who spent his medical “This article is a one-sided declaration that training internship in Taiwan, is Prague agrees with and respects the one challenging Czech President Milos China policy and such a statement has no Zeman, who has visited China several place in the sister cities agreement,” Hrib said times in an interview in Prague’s new town hall, Zdenek Hrib had been Prague’s mayor for close to the city’s historic tourist district, which little more than a month when he came face to draws an increasing number of visitors from face with the Czech capital’s complex China. entanglement with China. “The one China policy is a complicated matter Hosting a meeting with foreign diplomats in the of foreign politics between two countries. But city in January, Hrib was asked by the Chinese we are solving our sister cities relationship on ambassador to expel their Taiwanese the level of two capital cities.” counterpart from the gathering in deference to Hrib, a 38-year-old doctor who spent a Beijing’s “one China” policy, under which it medical training internship in Taiwan, is claims sovereignty over the self-ruled island of challenging the Czech President Milos Zeman, Taiwan. who has visited China several times, installed a Given recent Chinese investments in the Czech Chinese adviser at his office in a Prague castle Republic, which have included the acquisition and said he wanted to learn “how to stabilise of Slavia Prague football club, a major society” from the country’s communist rulers. brewery and a stake in a private television The dispute has catapulted the unassuming station, the fledgling mayor could have easily Hrib to household name status in Czech agreed. Prague city council had, under the politics, helped by Prague’s position as an preceding mayor, signed a twin cities international cultural draw and its outsize agreement with Beijing that explicitly share of national resources. recognised the one China policy. Hrib’s rise from obscurity is striking because Instead, Hrib refused and the Taiwanese Czech mayors, unlike their US and Polish diplomat stayed. counterparts, are not directly elected. He The episode is a rare case of a local politician became mayor of a coalition administration defying the might of a global superpower after his Pirate party, a liberal group with roots while making a principled stand against a in civil society, finished second in October’s national government policy that has promoted municipal elections. Chinese ties. He says he is merely adopting the policy of his It also adds him to the ranks of mayors who party and its two coalition partners in taking have confronted contentious national policies, decisions that are cooling Prague’s relations including US Democrats such as Bill de Blasio with Beijing. of New York and Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, In March, his administration restored the who have opposed the anti-immigration drive practice of flying the Tibetan flag from of US President Donald Trump and declared Prague’s town hall, reinstating a tradition their fiefdoms sanctuary cities. begun in the era of the Czech Republic’s first Closer to home, Hrib’s conduct invites post-communist president, Vaclav Havel, that comparison with the late mayor of Gdansk, was dropped by the previous city Paweł Adamowicz, after whom he renamed a administration. At the same time, in a move Prague street following Adamowicz’s murder tailor-made to infuriate Beijing, Hrib hosted the in January. Adamowicz offered his city as a

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 71 visiting head of Tibet’s government-in-exile, Jiri Pehe, the director of New York University Lobsang Sangay. in Prague, said Hrib was using the mayor’s An official visit to the Taiwanese capital, office to reassert the values of Havel, who died Taipei, followed. During the visit, Hrib criticised in 2011. Beijing for harvesting organs from political “Everyone in this country knows that when you prisoners belonging to the Falun Gong support Taiwan and Tibet, you’re saying movement. exactly what Havel used to say,” Pehe said. “This was intentional on the part of the Pirate party as soon as he took over Prague. They are saying that the Czech Republic has a special history of fighting against communism and you should respect it.”

UNESCO fails its mission to protect unique landscape of Three Parallel

Prague mayor Zdenek Hrib tweeted this image of himself on March Rivers in Tibet 9, 2019, raising the Tibetan flag at the Czech capital’s town hall. yubanet.com. July 1, 2019

Threats of retaliation came soon afterwards. A International Campaign for Tibet statement on planned tour of China by the Prague UNESCO’s draft decision on “Three Parallel Philharmonia in September is in jeopardy after Rivers of Yunnan” it rebuffed Beijing’s demands to repudiate the The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) is mayor. gravely concerned about the future of the Iva Nevoralova, the orchestra’s spokesperson, UNESCO World Heritage-protected site the likened the request to the actions of “Three Parallel Rivers,” which is facing Czechoslovakia’s former communist regime, numerous threats due to extensive hydropower which pressured artists to denounce Havel’s projects, mining activities that are opaquely dissident Charter 77 movement as the price for reported and expanding infrastructure projects being allowed to perform. connected to resource extraction and energy Speaking to The Guardian, Hrib questioned production. whether Prague’s arrangement with Beijing In addition, there are fears that a cascade of was a fair relationship and criticised its “social hydropower projects will lead to the eviction scoring” system for good citizenship. He and relocation of thousands of people, among suggested that investment from Taiwan, with its them Tibetans and other vulnerable groups. All Western-style democracy and record of of these threats, if they materialize, will technological innovation, offered greater contravene the UNESCO World Heritage benefit. Convention and international legal principles. The mayor has won praise for restoring the Instead of addressing these threats, the Czech Republic’s image as a champion of UNESCO World Heritage Committee, at its human rights and self-determination at a time upcoming session in Baku, Azerbaijan, will when its politics have been dominated by the discuss and likely pass a draft decision[1] on populist messages of Zeman and Andrej Babis, the state of this unique landscape that largely the anti-immigration billionaire prime minister. displays indifference toward the impact of “It is empowering to see that a mayor of these damaging projects. Drafted with the Prague can have a principled position, despite consideration of UNESCO and its expert large portions of the Czech political bodies, the decision in principle surrenders to establishment being co-opted by the narratives the Chinese government’s strategy of claiming spread by the totalitarian government of UNESCO protection for the region while China,” said Jakub Janda, executive director exploiting its natural resources at the same of the European Values think tank, which time. monitors anti-Western influence in Czech Gravely, both the draft decision and the politics and beyond. assessment by UNESCO’s expert bodies also

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 72 fail to call for a ban on relocations and convenient indifference by UNESCO may evictions. In light of the draft decision, ICT reflect UNESCO’s sensitive relationship with specifically calls for the following: organizations closely linked to the Chinese • Relocation prevention: UNESCO cannot state. become an accomplice to a thinly veiled For example, UNESCO’s International Water forced relocation scheme based on Conference in Paris on May 13 and 14 was China’s argument of “poverty sponsored by the Global Energy alleviation,” which is unsubstantiated. Interconnection Development and Cooperation ICT is thus calling for international Organization (GEIDCO), which is led by monitoring of the situation of the local Chairman Liu Zhenya, former president of the population in and around the UNESCO State Grid Corporation of China and alternate World Heritage site. member of the 17th Chinese Communist Party • Transparency and restoration of central committee. damaged sites: UNESCO should The World Hydropower Congress, held in Paris seriously consider investigating any immediately after the UNESCO conference, potential damage that may have resulted was organized by the International from legal or illegal mining sites. It Hydropower Association, whose executive vice should also clarify whether the Chinese president, Liu Chuxue, is also vice president of state previously informed the World China’s Three Gorges Corporation, which built Heritage Committee about any of these one of the world’s most notorious dams that sites in accordance with section 172 of displaced more than 1.2 million people and set the Operational Guidelines for the records for the number of cities and towns Implementation of the World Heritage flooded, corruption, human rights violations Convention. Most importantly, the and environmental degradation. UNESCO World Heritage Committee In light of these worrisome developments, ICT should urge China to restore those sites is calling on UNESCO to restore its credibility that have been damaged by mining. and fulfil its mission to protect sites of unique [2] The Committee fails to make this call. and outstanding value, such as the Three • Honesty about the impact of hydropower Parallel Rivers of Yunnan. Read ICT’s report “Damming Tibet’s Rivers: New Threats projects:[3] UNESCO should vehemently to Tibetan Area under UNESCO Protection.” counter the Chinese government’s claim Footnotes: that significant hydropower projects in [1] UNESCO, WHC/19/43.COM/7B.Add. the area would not have any impact on [2] See International Campaign for Tibet, ‘A Unique the sensitive ecosystem of the World Landscape Under Threat: The ‘Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan’’, in: World Heritage Watch Report 2019, June Heritage site because those projects are 2019, p. 53-57, A Unique Landscape Under Threat: The situated outside the protected area. The ‘Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan.’ site has been deliberately cut into a [3] See International Campaign for Tibet, ‘Damming cluster of areas to enable the Tibet’s rivers – New threats to Tibetan area under UNESCO protection’, June 2019, https://savetibet.org/ exploitation of natural resources on its damming-tibets-rivers-new-threats-to-tibetan-area-under- edges and in between. While UNESCO unesco-protection/. is failing to call out this act of bad faith by World Heritage Committee member China, the draft decision is calling instead to “ensure that the last remaining free flowing river Nujiang is not altered by hydropower development,” which appears to be a desperate plea and an expression of surrender to China’s strategies. UNESCO has not so far seriously confronted these worrying developments near the Three Parallel Rivers area. ICT is concerned that this pattern of Chinese government impunity and

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 73 the South China Sea along with multilateral Commentaries naval exercises with Japan, Australia, India and now even European Navies, building-up and relocating US military assets in Western Pacific. In addition to the military measures, United China’s Military White Paper 2019 – States concerted geopolitical initiatives to build strategic relationships with India and Vietnam OpEd seem to figure in China’s military notice. Eurasiareview, July 31, 2019 United States political outreach to North Dr Subhash Kapila Korea in the last year or so would also be disconcerting to China. Perceptionally, the Chinese Military White In China’s Military White Paper 2019, Japan Paper 2019 publicly released on July 24 needs and Australia seem to find special attention as to be viewed as a direct response to the China’s strategic concerns. Japan’s increasing United States generated geopolitical churning and assertive military profile and changed on China’s peripheries and putting United military outlook seems to get added to China’s States on notice primarily, that China’s military fears as a force-multiplication factor of the capabilities are fast reaching the point where United States against China. Australia’s China can seriously engage United States in greater proximate military relations with Superpower competition, if not confrontation. United States also upset Chinese military China has officially termed its Military White calculations. No wonder China’s geopolitical Paper 2019 as “China’s National Defense in overdrive in the Southern Pacific island nations. the New Era” and rhetorically lays stress in Implicit once again and in keeping with past true China’s fashion as aimed to send strong Chinese official declarations are China’s “Core signals of peace, not seeking hegemony and Interests” which in past years it declared that working towards building a world community China would not hesitate to go to war to for a sound future for mankind. protect its sovereign (?) hold on these Noble words, but China’s demonstrated territories. These are the ‘Three Tees”—Taiwan, military actions since 2013 when President Xi Tibet and Turkestan (Xingjian). Jinping assumed unparalleled control of China’s internal security fears centre on the China’s military machine, the rhetoric gets above three “Core Interests” which China outstripped by China-generated military perceives that in the event of a military turbulence. This military turbulence and showdown with the United States, these three confrontation extends from India’s Himalayan areas could be externally exploited. To the Borders with China Occupied Tibet and above three Chinese strategic concerns one extends to South China Sea and Taiwan. might now add Hong Kong also, the way Why is the United States emerging as the violent protests for restoration of democracy implicit target and cynosure of the China’s are being spearheaded by Hong Kong’s Military White Paper 2019? Simply, because young generation of the same racial stock? what stands in between China’s grandiose In this Paper one is not going to dwell on military ambitions revolving around realisation details of China’s defence expenditures, of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ‘Great China weapons and military equipment and strategic Dream’ is the United States recasting its forces as these are abundantly available in security architecture in Asia Pacific and open media. Suffice it to say that on these widening US strategic horizons to the Indo aspects the China White Military Paper 2019 Pacific concept. reiterates what is already known. China’s Military White Paper 2019 blames the Related to the perceived military threat from United States for generating turbulence both in the United States, the Chinese Military White the regional context and at the global level, Paper 219 takes great pains to emphasise the too. China’s perceptions underlying the above large number of Chinese military exercises strategic concerns can be analysed as conducted in ‘live war scenarios’ in virtually all emerging from the United States stiffening the Military Regions of China. The message Taiwan militarily, US intensifying FONOPS in

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 74 here is that China’s Armed Forces stand signalling of its intentions need to be studied in modernised and combat ready for modern microscopic detail by political masters not only informationalised warfare with China’s in Washington, but more importantly in New sustained emphasis on COMBAT READINESS Delhi. It is the political establishment that has and COMBAT ORIENTED TRAINING. to divine and read the intentions of a nation’s Remarkably, and it must be conceded to military adversaries. In India no pre-1962 China, that it has honed its vast military China Syndromes, please. machine in the last two decades learning lessons from RMA that arose from US two Gulf Wars and US military interventions thereafter. Inside China’s national defence However, it also needs to be recorded that White Paper despite these stupendous Chinese military Army Technology, July 29, 2019, Harry Lye achievements, China’s military machine is yet to be combat-tested in situations other than The white paper explores everything from limited wars. foreign military power to near-peer challenges Finally in terms of analysis, in this White Paper and the threat of “secessionists” to national China, has made known its intentions for a security. Split into various sections the greater effort to establish military bases document shows how the PRC plans to respond abroad to sustain its global power military to changing economic and military dominance. ambitions, perceptionaly, basically naval The document also serves as a check-up on the bases, to provide a network for enlarged progress of the People’s Liberation Army in Chinese Naval presence “in distant seas” terms of modernisation, reforms and mentioned in an earlier White Paper. effectiveness, promoting an image of a The above needs to be watched with care by peaceful nation that is also ready to stand up the Indian Navy and more so the Indian to adversaries at a moment’s notice. security decision-making establishment. International defence environment Taking off from this analysis, one has yet to see The document outlines the threats to some detailed responses from the United international security presented by cultural States on China’s Military White Paper 2019. hegemony – leadership or dominance – and Perhaps its implications are being studied continued “regional conflicts”. Like previous minutely in Washington. However, the United white papers, China insinuates that the US is States already in the last two years in its undermining “global stability” with its pursuit National Security Strategy and National of new space-based systems, renewed nuclear Defense Strategy have made their blueprint capabilities, and ever-increasing defence clear as to how the United States would budget. proceed to manage the evolving China Threat. The white paper also touches on Russia’s In this connection, it must also be recorded that shoring up of conventional and nuclear while China implicitly has aimed the China arsenals, to “safeguard its strategic security Military White Paper 2019 at the United space and interests”, but does not mention States, it somewhere does not go the whole Russian intervention in Eastern Europe and its length to demonise the United States. Leeway aggressive pursuit of cyber-attacks. has been left for future Chinese flexibility. The document cites the enlargement of NATO India perceptively does not seem to have and the alliances more visible presence across received detailed analysis in the White Paper, Eastern Europe in response to Russian actions. except in passing, listing the India-China The document also praises the strengthening of disputed border as conflict prone, along with military relationships between China and some others. This aspect would however Russia. require detailed analysis as more arising from Declaring that: “the military relationship geopolitical compulsions rather than China’s between China and Russia continues to military compulsions. develop at a high level, enriching the China- Concluding, it needs to be emphasised that Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of prudence and discretion are the better part of coordination for a new era and playing a military valour and that China’s military

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 75 significant role in maintaining global strategic PRC has been increasing pressure for stability.” reunification and tensions have increased in The document spends time discussing the the Taiwan Strait after the US agreed a large- setbacks of disarmament treaties across the scale arms deal with the state. world. With the US pulling out of the Iran The document adds: “The ‘Taiwan Nuclear Deal and the suspension of the independence’ separatist forces and their Intermediate Nuclear Forces Agreement. actions remain the gravest immediate threat to The security situation in the Asia-Pacific peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the The white paper spends a section looking at biggest barrier hindering the peaceful China’s relationship with its neighbours reunification of the country.” including South Korea and Japan to the east, The white paper also strongly asserts China’s India and Pakistan to the west and Australia to sovereignty over the waters that surround it. It the south. Again the white paper focuses its outlines ways in which the country can ensure attention on the US for “destabilising the its dominance on water, from declaring that region”. “The South China Sea islands and Diaoyu The report says: “Even as the world economic Islands are inalienable parts of the Chinese and strategic centre continues to shift towards territory” to writing of the country’s readiness the Asia-Pacific, the region has become a focus to deploy defence apparatus on islands and of major country competition, bringing reefs to bolster these claims. uncertainties to regional security.” China’s defensive priorities It identifies the US deployment of the Terminal The most notable aims are “to oppose and High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in contain ‘Taiwan independence’” and “to crack South Korea as a cause of unease, which, it down on proponents of separatist movements says, upsets the strategic balance of the such as ‘Tibet independence’ and the creation region. of ‘East Turkistan’”. These aims make clear that A key focus of this section is what China calls the PLA will be taking more steps to quell “regional hotspots”, like the Korean Peninsula unrest in regions already teaming with security and the ongoing India-Pakistan dispute over to stamp out what PRC sees as threats. the Kashmir region. India and Pakistan have In the case of Taiwan, China is pushing for a seen an uptick in border hostilities with an policy similar to its rule over Hong Kong – Indian fighter jet being shot-down after it One China, Two Systems. In a strongly-worded entered Pakistani airspace. section, China promises to “resolutely defeat The white paper compares the threat caused anyone attempting to separate Taiwan from by uncertainty in both areas this with the China and safeguard national unity at all relative stability of South Asia costs.” Threats to China’s national security China emphasises how its armed forces have Despite the ongoing persecution of ethnic never started a conflict while setting out their Uighurs in Northern China and ongoing pro- strength. The document states: “No matter how democracy protests in Hong Kong, The white it might develop, China will never threaten any paper describes how China “continues to other country or seek any sphere of influence.” enjoy political stability, ethnic unity and social This, however, contradicts the legacy of stability. There has been a notable increase in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s belt and road China’s overall national strength, global initiative expanding China’s influence on its influence, and resilience to risks”. neighbours. The chief security risks for China’s ministry of The project has seen Chinese investment flood national defence is that of “separatist” regions into poorer nations to build military bases in such as Taiwan, Tibet and East Turkistan. China Sri Lanka, ports in Pakistan and thousands of says pushes for independence are posing a infrastructure projects across the African threat to “national security and social continent to increase China’s trade dominance stability”. The white paper decries Taiwan, and enshrine its political influence. officially known as the Republic of China, for Modernising the People’s Liberation Army seeking ‘Taiwan independence’.” The white paper outlines how the PLA will keep pace with technology. The document declares

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 76 the Chinese Armed Forces’ intentions “to Rongla is in disarray. 22nd October 1962. generally achieve mechanisation by the year Brigadier John Dalvi, the Commanding Officer 2020 with significantly enhanced of the 7th Brigade is taken prisoner of war. The informationisation and greatly improved myth of the invincible Himalayas is over. The strategic capabilities” [sic]. Also “to Indian humiliation is complete and the national comprehensively advance the modernization psyche is scarred. of military theory, organizational structure, During the early 18th Century, Qing dynasty military personnel, and weaponry and held control over much of Tibet and had a equipment in step with the modernization of largely uninterrupted rule till the 19th Century. the country and basically complete the In India, the Sikh Empire under Maharaja modernization of national defence and the Ranjit Singh controlled a large area of North- military by 2035.” West India including Srinagar, Attock, And finally “to fully transform the people’s Peshawar, Bannu, Rawalpindi, Jammu, Gujrat, armed forces into world-class forces by the Sialkot, Kangra, Amritsar, Lahore and Multan. mid-21st century.” The white paper shows China’s ambitions to assert itself while not acting as an aggressor, preferring to highlight the country’s focus on quashing internal trouble’s rather than actively seeking to expand its influence. It declares the PLA a “staunch force for world peace, stability and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind”. However, the country’s foray into the South China Sea and ratcheting pressure on regions seeking autonomy paint a different picture.

Himalayan Blunder : When India Sikh Empire gave up on Tibet and what it needs Maharaja Gulab Singh (1792-1857) was the to do now first Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir and opindia.com, July 22,2019, Krishan Kant acted as a vassal to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Zorawar Singh (1786-1841) a General of 10th July 1962. Chinese troops surround an Gulab Singh’s Army planned an invasion of Indian Army post at Chushul, manned by the Ladakh. In 1841, he strung together a force of Gurkhas and have a heated argument. 10th 6000 soldiers and marched into Tibet. The October 1962, an Indian Army patrol is invading force swept across all the resistance ambushed by the Chinese Army & heavy and crossed Mansarovar Lake and defeated a mortar fire is exchanged between the two Tibetan force at Gartok. From here, Zorawar armies. There are heavy casualties on either Singh marched onwards and captured side. Back in New Delhi, Nehru’s ‘Hindi-Chini Taklakot. Alarmed by this, Tibetans and the bhai-bhai’, is slowly unravelling. But Krishna Maharaja of Nepal sent their envoys to Menon & his ‘boys’ are still convinced that Zorawar Singh to negotiate. Zorawar stayed China will never wage a war against India. All in Tibet and tried to maintain control. However, this is about to change shortly. in December 1841, the Tibetans joined a Han 20th October 1962. China’s People’s Chinese force and attacked the Sikh Army in Liberation Army crosses the McMahon Line the battle of Toyo. In the ensuing battle, and invades India. Namka Chu, Aksai Chin, Zorawar Singh was killed and the Sikh Army Nathula Pass become the theatre of intense retreated back to Ladakh with the Sino Tibetan fighting between the Indian & Chinese troops. force in pursuit. The two armies again faced An ill-prepared, ill-equipped Indian Army off each other at Chushul where the Sikhs suffers huge losses. The Indian 7th Brigade at defeated the Sino Tibetan army. The two sides

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 77 then signed a peace treaty which forbade any However, this treaty was redundant from day future military transgression from either side. one as China had already violated the terms During 1913-14, an accord known as the Simla of the Simla Accord in 1950! Accord was signed between the Dalai Lama Escapes to India representatives of British India, Tibet and In 1950, the Chinese Army invaded the China. The Accord divided Tibet into Inner and Tibetan area of Chamdo and quickly defeated Outer Tibet. The terms gave China sovereignty the Tibetan Army. After this, the Chinese sent over Inner Tibet but suzerainty over Outer their representatives to Lhasa to negotiate with Tibet which would continue to be governed by the Tibetan Government and the Dalai Lama. the Tibetan government at Lhasa. China was In 1951, the Tibetan government signed forbidden into interfering with the affairs of a Seventeen Point Agreement with China Outer Tibet. British India retained trading and which established China’s sovereignty over extraterritorial rights in Outer Tibet. As India Tibet. In 1959, Dalai Lama repudiated and China gained independence, the rights the Seventeen Point Agreement as having under the accord passed onto the Republic of been “thrust upon Tibetan Government and India.people by the threat of arms”. As armed clashes broke out in Tibet, the 14thDalai Lama and his retinue assisted by CIA’s Special Activities Division crossed over into India on 30thMarch 1959. 1962 : The Myth of the Himalayas is broken The escape of the Dalai Lama infuriated the Chinese. Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai publicly criticized Nehru and accused him of assisting “Tibetan rebels”and to “prevent China from exercising full sovereignty over its territory of Tibet” During a meeting with the Soviet Premier Simla Conference Nikita Khrushchev in October 1959, the Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai blamed Nehru and Declassified documents now reveal that as India for the unrest in Tibet. early as 1950, China was wary of the Things were coming to a boil. privileges which India had inherited from the Indian military commanders had convinced the Britishers and noted “India pretends not to political leaders that the Chinese posed no have any ambition on Tibetan Policies or land threat and “experience in Ladakh had shown but desires to maintain the privileges that were that a few rounds fired at the Chinese would signed in the treaties signed since 1906” cause them to run away” Consequently, the Post-independence a politically naive Pandit border was thinly manned with small arms and Nehru followed a friendly approach with the munitions. The troops didn’t have proper newly independent China and in 1954 signed clothing for an extended stay in the harsh & the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence cold weather. known as Panchsheel Treaty: “Non- On 20th October 1962, Chinese troops interference in others internal affairs and crossed McMahon Line and launched respect for each other’s territorial unity simultaneous offensives at Ladakh in West and integrity and sovereignty”. Despite at Tawang in East. The Chinese offensive reservations and objections from his own caught Indian Army unawares and they were minister’s, Nehru also recognized the Tibetan overwhelmed and retreated from Namka Chu Autonomous Region as being a part of China and even Daulet Beg Oldi. As fierce fighting and gave up the rights over Tibet which India continued, Indian formations continued to had inherited as part of the historical treaties retreat and massed at Se La and Bomdi La. In without any quid-pro-quo from the Chinese. November, China attacked these positions and Nehru didn’t even press China to recognize isolated 10,000 Indian troops. Some Indian McMahon Line as the de facto border between troops even retreated into neighbouring India and China.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 78 Bhutan. Tezpur in Assam was also under are real, as are the effects of water-related severe Chinese threat. disasters exacerbated by climate change.” However, by now the supply lines of the In 2014 Michael Buckley in his deeply Chinese were overstretched and the Indian researched book ‘Meltdown in Tibet’ Army had started putting up robust defence noted “Tibetans have experienced waves of and counter-attacks. On 19th November, Zhou genocide since the 1950s. Now they are Enlai claimed that China had met its objective facing ecocide. The mighty rivers of Tibet are and announced that they would “withdraw being dammed by Chinese engineering from their present positions to the north of the consortiums to feed the mainland’s thirst for illegal McMahon Line”. Indian casualties in the power, and the land is being relentlessly mined war numbered over 3000 killed. Hundreds of in search of minerals to feed China’s industrial troops had died due to the harsh exposure at complex. On the drawing board are plans for over 14000 feet than by actual combat.The a massive engineering project to divert water war effectively busted the Nehruvian myth that from Eastern Tibet to water-starved Northern China would not be able to traverse high China. Ruthless Chinese repression leaves altitude terrain over 5000 km away from Tibetans powerless to stop the reckless Chinese heartland and attack India. For destruction of their sacred land, but they are thousands of years, Tibet had acted as a not the only victims of this campaign: the natural buffer between India and China. It nations downstream from Tibet rely heavily on would no longer continue to be so. rivers sourced in Tibet for water supply, and Tibet: The Water Tank of Asia for rich silt used in agriculture. This destruction Climate Change, Rapid Industrialization, of the region’s environment has been Population surge across the world has led to happening with little scrutiny until now”. more stress on natural resources. Water is one In 2018, the Dalai Lama stated “This involves of them. more than the well-being of six million Tibetans Fresh Water is also known as Blue Gold is because, as a Chinese ecologist has observed, scarce across mainland China. With around Tibet’s influence on global climate is equivalent 20% of the global population, China has to that of the North and South Poles. That’s access to only 7% of the freshwater supply. why he referred to the Tibetan Plateau as the Clearly, a fresh source of freshwater was Third Pole. Almost a billion people across Asia required to support the state. Tibet offered the depend on water from rivers such as the Indus, solution. Ganges, Brahmaputra, Salween and Mekong, Known as the Water Tank of Asia, Tibet is the all of which rise in Tibet. If the snow on the source of 10 major rivers of Asia including the mountains of Tibet disappears, millions of Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, Salween, Indians will suffer the consequences.” Irrawaddy, Mekong, Yangtze, Yellow rivers According to China Water Risk, “The which feed more than 2 billion people across Himalayas are also said to be warming more India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, rapidly than anywhere else on the planet. Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. Outside of the Between 1970 and 2006, permafrost, the North & South Poles, Himalayan glaciers in permanently frozen layer of earth, shrank by Tibet hold the biggest reservoir of freshwater. more than 18 percent, and glaciers in China River basins formed by Himalayan rivers have shrunk more than 10 percent since 2000” including the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna, Clearly, who controls Tibet, controls the Indus, and Mekong basins serve a huge majority of Asia’s water resources. Chinese population chunk. strategists realized this and have strengthened As noted by a report in 2013 by Asian their hold over Tibet. Development Institute “Improving agricultural China, which has scant regard for any water productivity, achieving energy international law or treaty, has started off on a objectives, satisfying growing industrial water dam building spree in Tibet. The Three Gorges requirements, and protecting water quality and Dam which opened in 2013 is the largest vitally important natural ecosystems are power generating station in the world. The challenges we still face. The social, economic, Zangmu hydropower facility that opened in and political consequences of water shortages 2015 is the highest altitude power station in the

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 79 world. There are reports of China building insurgent groups during the visit of Dalai Lama other major barrages across major rivers in to Assam in 2017. China, however, has Tibet. dismissed such claims. Recent reports indicate China also remains a non-signatory of that Chinese agencies have tied up with the “Convention on Law on the Non-Navigational Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan to Uses of International Watercourses” passed by keep the North East on the boil. the UN General Assembly in 1997. Faced with such a threat, India is forced to India as a lower riparian state has major deploy lakhs of troops, equipment and pump reasons to worry. The Himalayas are in billions of rupees, to control the situation. ecologically fragile and the blasting of This would never be the case, had Tibet, not mountains can have a severe impact on their China had been India’s neighbour in North stability. Reduced water supply will impact the East. flow of the river silt and the lives of billions of A settled and peaceful North East would have people. freed up billions of dollars and resources, China fuels the insurgency in North East which could have been used otherwise for the A narrow strip of land; 23 kms wide, joins the progress & development of the Indian State. Seven Sister States (Assam, Arunachal Giving up on Tibet and Tibetans, in general, Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, has turned out to be a costly mistake beyond Nagaland, Tripura) with the rest of India. The the imagination of India’s strategic experts and strip known as the Siliguri Corridor has planners. enormous strategic importance to India. In an Talk Softly and Carry a Big Stick attempt to gain an upper hand in the border The historical blunder of giving up on Tibet in dispute with India, China has been trying to 1954 will continue to haunt Indian policy move closer to the corridor. The Dokalam makers. As an increasingly assertive and standoff in 2018 can be traced back to this. belligerent China seeks to advance its China also calls Arunachal Pradesh as South boundaries and claim the rights of its Tibet and claims it as part of its territory. neighbours, tensions will continue to spike in China has actively aided and abetted Asia. insurgency in these areas to bog down the With a GDP that has left India behind by leaps Indian State and keep it in a state of perpetual and bounds, China will continue to flex its conflict. Beginning from the 1960’s, when muscles and do everything in its power to harm Naga insurgents would freely move between India’s interests. From assisting Pakistan to India and China to the formation of ‘United running the One Belt One Road through PoK National Liberation Front of Western Southeast to not sharing hydrological information during Asia’ (UNLFW) comprising of groups such as monsoons to propping up Communist Party United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), the elected Dalai Lama, China will leave no stone National Socialist Council of Nagaland unturned to keep India boxed with regional (NSCN-K), the Kamtapur Liberation disputes, conflicts and insurgency. China wants Organization and the National Democratic to be the Numero Uno power in Asia and will Front of Bodoland (Assam), the Chinese hand use all its resources and clout to achieve that can be seen everywhere in fomenting unrest in goal. the region. China also brazenly defies international With a larger aim to gain access to Bay of treaties, decisions and agreements. It has Bengal and the Indian Ocean, China has also refused to honour the Simla Treaty with India supported unrest in Bangladesh and Myanmar. and recognize the McMahon Line. In 2016, it This fits in with China’s grand ‘two ocean’ plan also refused to comply with the South China whereby it plans to control the South China Sea Arbitration under the United Nations Sea and the Indian Ocean. During bilateral Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) talks between the security agencies of India & which had ruled that China has “no historical China, India has provided proofs of insurgent rights” based on the “nine-dash line” map. leaders being present in Yunnan in China. India needs to keep the dialogue open with Indian agencies also provided proof to their China to peacefully resolve all conflicts. At the Chinese counterparts that they were inciting same time, it needs to improve infrastructure

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 80 and augment capacity along its North Eastern What's at stake here is how long we have borders. It also needs to build bilateral and before climate crisis is irreversible. multilateral groups with a clear aim to deter England declared a Climate Emergency in Chinese bullying and protect its rights. India 2019. Followed by Ireland. The Pope declared also needs to effectively use its strongest lever a Climate Emergency. Some 7,000 universities against China i.e. Tibet by supporting the and colleges around the world have united to Tibetan cause and community. declare a Climate Emergency. During Rajiv Gandhi’s 1989 visit to China, China and India have not indicated any Deng Xiaoping had suggested: “Let both sides leanings to join in, as both nations are sitting forget the unpleasant period in our past on economies that depend on copious numbers relations and let us treat everything with an of coal-fired power-plants. Neither nation has eye on the future.”30 years have since passed, any intention of weaning-off coal. Both nations however, the future is yet to arrive in India, mention vague figures like reducing coal Tibet and China relations. consumption by 2030 - far too late. (This article has been co-authored by Ishita Third pole Sen) Lying between the world’s most populous nations, China and India, sits Tibet—an occupied region, under China’s iron-fisted rule Huawei Technologies’ Links to since 1950. Tibet is the forgotten part of the Chinese State Security climate crisis conversation. Christopher Balding Associate Professor Fulbright There is a lot of press about Arctic melting and University Vietnam Antarctic melting, but precious little about meltdown at ‘the Third Pole’, meaning the Abstract: Using a unique dataset of CVs, this Tibetan Plateau. paper analyzes the relationship between key This vast region does what the other two poles Huawei personnel and the Chinese state cannot—it supplies a dozen nations security services. Based upon an analysis of downstream with freshwater. In fact, the rivers this dataset, I find there is strong evidence that sourced in Tibet supply freshwater to over 1.5 Huawei personnel act at the direction of billion people downstream–which represents a Chinese state intelligence, and that there exists fifth of the entire global population. a deep and lasting relationship between That supply of water starts with dripping Huawei, its employees, and the Chinese state. glaciers in Tibet. Which are melting twice as This should raise questions within Western fast as originally thought, according to recent governments worried about Chinese access to research that compares spy satellite mapping domestic information. (full paper can be seen/ from the 1970s with satellite mapping from downlaoded from: Balding, Christopher, today. Huawei Technologies’ Links to Chinese State Tibet sits on the largest area of permafrost Security Services (July 5, 2019). Available at outside of the Arctic and Antarctic–and that is SSRN: https://ssrn.com/ rapidly thawing too, which could release large abstract=3415726 or http://dx.doi.org/ amounts of methane–a greenhouse gas that is 10.2139/ssrn.3415726 30 times more potent than CO2. Tibet’s vast swathes of grassland are highly effective carbon sinks–and these grasslands are under Climate emergency in Tibet attack from rampant Chinese mining ventures– theecologit.org July 19, 2019, Michael Buckley which have accelerated since the arrival of the train in Lhasa in 2006. This has led to The Tibetan Plateau, or 'third pole', is the encroaching desert taking over grasslands. forgotten part of the climate crisis Melting glaciers conversation. Why does this matter? In the short run, rapidly By some calculations, the planet has melting glaciers do not pose a threat, except twelve years left. By other calculations, just from major flooding. In the long run, melting seven years left. And according to Prince glaciers pose a threat that has never been Charles, we have just eighteen months left. seen before—never in thousands of years.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 81 If the glaciers vanish, the rivers of Tibet will run needs to be done to galvanize politicians and dry, only fed by monsoon rainwater. And the leaders into action to solve the issue of dozens of China’s megadams on the rivers of meltdown in Tibet. Otherwise, the planet faces Tibet will cease to operate. Billions will be a stark choice: our very survival is at stake. without river water. Across Asia, disasters like flooding and China and India have groundwater supplies, cyclones are becoming more frequent, but these have been tapped to the point where resulting in hundreds of thousands of climate precious little remains. Some scientific surveys refugees on the move. What happens in Tibet say that fifty percent of meltdown of is much more than an Asian problem: it will Himalayan glaciers is caused by CO2 have major impact for the entire planet. We no emissions, with China responsible for around longer have the luxury of procrastination: the thirty percent of the global total for emissions time to act is now. of this deadly greenhouse gas, and India responsible for around seven percent. The other 50 percent of meltdown could be due to The Increasing Security Focus in the rain of black soot on the Himalayas, from China’s Arctic Policy both sides—from the Chinese side and the The Artic Institute, July 16, 2019 Indian side. Heljar Havnes and Johan Martin Seland Black Soot, aka Black Carbon, is not a greenhouse gas, it is a rain of minute particles Two decades ago, China’s political leadership from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, wood, determined that developing the ability to and from sources like diesel engines. Minute access and exploit the Arctic is a diplomatic, black particles, the PM2.5 particles, are highly economic, and security imperative. Beijing’s hazardous to human health because they can interest in the Arctic has increased quickly in get into the lungs—and stay there. Deadly for the last decade, with the polar regions humans–and deadly for glaciers. included in China’s Twelfth Five-Year Plan (FYP) Black soot in 2011, the publication of China’s Arctic Policy Glaciers are adversely affected by the same in 2018, and the incorporation of the Polar Silk particles, whether PM2.5 or PM10 versions. Road as part of President Xi Jinping’s signature Black soot lands on the glaciers and stays One Belt, One Road (OBOR) program. there—which then attracts the sun. The ice and 1) Commercial development appears to be snow of glaciers reflect the sun, but the black China’s primary goal at this stage, and China particles absorb the sun, leading to more rapid has been steadily increasing its diplomatic and meltdown. Black soot is a totally solvable scientific efforts to support this aspiration in the issue. If the burning of fossil fuels in both China Arctic since 2006. This article contends that and India were to stop, black soot would China has, since at least 2014, been building disappear. Improved cookstoves, for instance, its capacity to defend its interests in the Arctic can greatly reduce the impact of billions of region through military means. people in China and India using wood, There are concerns about China’s Arctic charcoal and coal for cooking. strategy internationally, and it is often But neither China nor India has taken any perceived alongside Russian militarization of substantial steps to even reduce the output of the Arctic as a dual threat to the established black carbon from coal-fired power plants— international order. In a recent report, the despite both nations making pledges at the United States Coast Guard (USCG) names 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. China as a threat to American interests in the On this basis alone, it is time to declare a Arctic, labeling it—together with Russia— a Climate Emergency in Tibet. China has never challenge “to the rules-based international participated in any mass demonstrations order around the globe [causing] concern of targeting the Climate Crisis, such as those similar infringement to the continued peaceful sweeping Europe via school strikes for global stability of the Arctic region”, drawing action and Extinction Rebellion. parallels to Chinese conduct in the South China India has participated in such protest, with a Sea (SCS) and East China Sea (ECS).2) United number of NGOs involved. But a lot more States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 82 recently stated that the Arctic has “become an aligning with, Russia. Commercial development arena of global power and competition”, appears to be China’s main goal, but it is drawing similar parallels to China’s actions in evident that China is building its capacity to its regional waters: “China’s pattern of enforce its perceived rights and protect its aggressive behavior elsewhere will inform how interests through an increasingly security- it treats the Arctic”.3) The United States focused Arctic strategy that is backed up by recently published its updated Arctic policy, the military. building on these points and stating that China This article examines publicly available data and Russia “are […] pursuing activities and and documents from international capabilities in the Arctic that may present risks organizations; Chinese bureaucracy, to the homeland”, and that these risks may organizations and academic journals; media; constrain the United States Department of various national governments of Arctic Defense’s “ability to flow forces globally, and Countries; and Chinese academic output on more broadly to affect U.S. strategic objectives Arctic issues to analyze China’s evolving related to competition with China and Russia in approach on the Arctic. The article is divided the Indo-Pacific and Europe”, going so far as into three parts. First, it explains China’s to state that PRC and Russia causes the Arctic evolving view of the Arctic, shifting from a to be “vulnerable to ‘strategic spillover’ from focus on research to considering its presence tensions, competition, or conflict arising in […] in the region as a commercial, diplomatic and other regions.”4) security imperative. Second, the article Furthermore, Japan – a permanent observer provides an in-depth analysis of Chinese member of the Arctic Council, the principal official planning documents and research by multilateral forum for Arctic governance – has key Chinese security stakeholders to illuminate similarly identified China as a threat to the the increasing security focus in China’s Arctic rules-based order governing the Arctic. strategy. Third, it discusses interpretations of 5) Arctic nations such as Denmark, legal frameworks in the Arctic and its impact 6) Sweden7) and Norway8) have supported on China’s role in the region. China will have the US position or singled China out to balance its own stated adherence to unilaterally as a potential threat in the Arctic. mainstream interpretations of international law Despite Russia being a potential strategic in the Arctic with its revisionist interpretations partner for China in the Arctic, it is reportedly of the same legal framework in its regional another one of the Arctic countries expressing waters. concern about Chinese military buildup in the The Imperative behind China’s Growing region.9) In a recent white paper, an analyst Physical and Diplomatic Presence in the Arctic from USEUCOM Strategy Division & Russia After articulating its interests in the Arctic in Strategic Initiative states that mutual Sino- official statements and documents—namely the Russian scepticism in the Arctic can, and commercial development of resources and should, be used by the United States to trade routes—China used commercial ties to “counter what appears to be a growing Arctic states, multilateral diplomatic channels, alignment of Chinese and Russian strategic and scientific studies to justify its presence in interests”.10) the region, asserting its rights to commercial Chinese academics reacted to the criticism development and navigation as a non-Arctic posed by Pompeo by pointing to China’s goals state. In the Arctic Council, Beijing contended of developing its interests and building its ties its Arctic policy was first conceived in to Arctic nations – especially Russia – through 2015.12) However, there are clear signs that established multilateral forums and adherence the Chinese efforts to establish itself as a key to international law.11 ) player in the Arctic began much earlier, This article finds that the reality is a middle through scientific efforts in the 1990s and ground between how China describes its own through diplomatic channels from at least Arctic strategy and the most critical Western 2006. Mentions of the Arctic in state planning analyses. There is currently little available documents also preceded 2015. The Arctic was evidence to suggest that China will pursue a first mentioned in the Chinese Communist military course in the Arctic similar to, or Party’s (CCP) Twelfth FYP in 2011,13) and the

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 83 Arctic’s prominence in official documents has A scientific presence in the Arctic not only increased since then, culminating with the provides China with legitimate access to the region being included in OBOR under the region’s waters, but also the technical label “Polar Silk Road” in 2018.14) capabilities to map, survey and monitor the China’s increasing focus on commercial region.26) These research activities therefore opportunities in the Arctic15) has grown in have the potential to support both Chinese tandem with its efforts to contribute to the commercial and military activities in the Arctic. shaping of norms and rules in the region For example, the marine research voyage of through multilateral forums.16) As indicated in the Chinese icebreaker, ‘Xue Long’, westward its official Arctic policy, China states that it through the Arctic in 2017, provided the wants to play, “a constructive part in the Chinese with valuable information on the making, interpretation, application and viability of future trade through the region. development of international rules regarding 27) Similarly, the Annual U.S. Department of the Arctic”.17) While China has contributed to Defense report to Congress regarding China other multilateral forums, the Arctic Council is argues that: “Civilian research could support a the principal outlet for these efforts, where strengthened Chinese military presence in the countries’ scientific and academic capacities in Arctic Ocean, which could include deploying the Arctic play an important part. submarines to the region as a deterrent Scientific output and collaborations are what against nuclear attacks”.28) China’s gives countries a seat at the table in Arctic increasing civilian focus on mapping, Council working groups.18) China’s presence surveying, and navigation in the Arctic Council in the Arctic Council started in 2006, and could be seen in the same context. discussions about Chinese ascension to Arctic China’s increasingly Security-Focused Arctic Council permanent observer status coincided Policy with a significant increase in Chinese activity in Since 2014, the Chinese government entities overseeing military and maritime policy have the council.19) In China’s 2016 and 2018 been accumulating knowledge and capacities Arctic Council observer reports it stated that it for navigating and monitoring the Arctic. took part in most working groups20)21) and Furthermore, the region has gained an that it took part in every Arctic Council increasingly prominent place in official meeting possible.22) China’s efforts to lead in planning documents. Arctic science is reflected in a steady increase Five-Year Plans (FYP) of publications since 2006. According to a The Twelfth FYP from 2011 marked the first 2016 pilot study, China was “by far the nation mention of the polar regions in a CCP strategic with the highest relative growth (260 per-cent planning document. In the plan, the Arctic is increase)” since then, ranking 7th in terms of connected to the broader theme of maritime Arctic scientific publications.23) Statistics from management, security, and resource the China National Knowledge Infrastructure exploration. The Thirteenth FYP, from 2016, database indicates that this trend has expanded on the Arctic strategy and directed continued since then (see Figure 1.). the commitment of greater government Central staples of Chinese science diplomacy resources, outlining plans to build new are Arctic expeditions, substantial investment in icebreakers, contribute to international knowledge accumulation, and technical research and energy exploration efforts and to capacity supported by dual use high-end taking “an active role in formulating equipment.24) This approach is evidenced by international rules in … the polar regions”, its Arctic Council activities. In its observer 29) indicating a desire among the Chinese reports, China has stated its intent to increase leadership to take part in the shaping of Arctic expeditions, create nautical maps of the international norms and rules governing the Arctic for open use and take part in Arctic, underscored by China’s scientific and international meteorological efforts to map diplomatic efforts since 2006. Arctic ice levels and monitor the region from 2015 National Security Law space in 2018.25) China’s 2015 National Security Law explicitly references exploration of the Arctic. This is one

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 84 of the earliest mentions of the Arctic in a increased Chinese military capacity in the security context from the Chinese government. Arctic. Article 32 of the law presents arguments PLA Strategy and Capacity Building similar to those laid out in the white paper on China’s military has invested resources in Arctic policy, of the right to exploration and studying the military importance of the Arctic, use of the Arctic.30) resulting in numerous publications. One Research conducted by the now-defunct State military scholar sums up the security priorities Oceanic Administration (SOA)31) is one way of China in the Arctic, stating that, “the military of shedding light on Chinese strategic thinking has made knowledge accumulation and on the Arctic in connection with the National institutional improvement for the Arctic Security Law. SOA’s functions, supervising governance” a priority.35) Knowledge work connected to China’s maritime rights, accumulation is presented as the key to research and environmental protection, strengthening China’s capacity to safeguard its 32) are now placed under the new Ministry of interests in building up dual military-civilian Natural Resources, which has the responsibility capacities on navigation and meteorology for for the development and protection. the Arctic. For example, the state-owned China The First Institute of Oceanography, under the General Nuclear Power Group just completed auspices of SOA, posited in a 2018 paper, for their bidding process for the construction of a example, that the 2015 National Security Law nuclear-powered ice-breaker, which will be “expounds China’s interests in new territories China’s first nuclear-powered surface vessel if like the Arctic areas”, including “geostrategy completed.36) and military security, asset and personnel Our analysis of published research from China security, climate and environment security and provides an insight into some of the strategic resource- and energy security”.33) The paper thinking within the PLA on Arctic issues. proposes the deployment of Chinese military Navigation and Satellite Technology forces to protect its interests in the Arctic, Research conducted by PLA, both unilaterally specifically to protect Chinese ships passing and in cooperation with civilian stakeholders, through the region and to safeguard indicates that Arctic navigation and satellite construction projects connected to the Polar surveillance technology has been identified as Silk Road. The authors view the Arctic as a a priority by China’s military establishment. region which could potentially become an These knowledge and capacity-building efforts arena for a “new Cold War” between NATO have been identified as a security threat in the countries and Russia, which may hinder the Arctic by the US in its latest Arctic policy.37) development of China’s economic interests in In 2015, researchers from PLA and the China the area. Ship Development and Design Center The analysis presented underscores the published an article on maneuverability of argument that China has identified areas of ships in the region38). In 2016, The PLA interest in the Arctic that it aims to protect, with University of Science and Technology military means if necessary. However, China completed research on climate change and sees peace and stability as key requirements weather in the Arctic.39)Navigation is not for the successful development of its explicitly mentioned in the paper, but both commercial interests, as indicated in its official Arctic climate change and weather conditions Arctic policy, where China states that it wants are key elements of navigational possibilities in to play an active role in Arctic governance and the region. the shaping of rules and norms in the region, A joint paper by researchers from the PLA and with the end goal of maintaining peace and the National Ocean Satellite Application security.34) Avoiding conflicts in the region Center (NSOAS)40) in 2015 about ice levels, can thus be seen as the principal motivation for melting and the impact on ship navigation in China’s involvement in Arctic governance. The the Arctic concluded that global warming is acknowledgement of the potential for conflict decreasing ice levels to such an extent that in the region precipitates the need for navigating Arctic waterways will become possible as global temperatures rise (Shili, et

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 85 al., 2015). In 2014, the PLA undertook a joint China has previously shown an inclination research effort with NSOAS and Shanghai towards aligning itself with the US on Arctic Ocean University that confirmed that data issues, sharing the goal of open trade routes in provided by the HY-2 satellite, developed by the region and harboring similar concerns NSOAS in 2011, could be used for about the militarization of the Arctic. PLA “operational sea services” in the Arctic. scholars noted in 2016 that there were two 41) These research undertakings provide main “camps” in the future of the Arctic, early signs of PLA interest in Arctic ship namely Russia and the US.46) They navigation and the usage of military-civilian speculated that China was more likely to align cooperation on building up Chinese naval with the US on Arctic issues due to skepticism capacities in the Arctic. Satellite data has, towards Russian militarization in the Arctic and indeed, been identified as having military uses optimism towards the US stance on open in the Arctic, underscored by the recent access to shipping routes through the region. warnings from The Swedish Defense Research Public statements from the US, however, Agency, an affiliate of the Swedish Army and indicates a lack of interest in commercial Ministry of Defense, that Chinese investments opportunities in the Arctic, reducing the scope in, and cooperation on, Swedish satellite for commercial cooperation with China. technology could have military uses in the 47) The same paper argued that China can, Arctic.42) The PLA has reportedly been and should, play a part in the ongoing building up its Arctic navigational capabilities international resource grab in the Arctic. The since these research projects were undertaken. paper, written by researchers from five PLA 43) entities, and a meteorological lab under the Strategic Implications of a Chinese Arctic auspices of the Chinese Ministry of Education, Presence concludes that “countries around the world are Beyond the technical aspects of navigation and grabbing the Arctic resources through monitoring the Arctic, the strategic implications alliances, domestic legislation and military of a Chinese naval presence in the Arctic have exercises. China should, and can, play a also been the subject of PLA-affiliated part”. The paper especially views the research. increasing scientific consensus about the In 2014, a joint research effort between the coming availability of hydrocarbons as the PLA Dalian Naval Academy and two other Arctic ice melts: “the dependence of the Chinese universities detailed relations with – world’s economic growth on energy, especially and challenges concerning – Arctic countries’ on oil and gas, has made military and political interests and activities in the region.44) It leaders in many countries aware of the need describes the Arctic as a budding arena for to formulate political relations about the Arctic great powers to jostle for influence over trade as soon as possible and to coordinate all routes and resources “In view of the (…) important areas from the North Pole, scientific enormous shipping potential, the Arctic Circle research in the waters, peaceful use of the countries have been taking measures to get Arctic Ocean and to carry out large-scale more Arctic dominion, control the Arctic route military operations and (…) to promote [and] occupy all of the Arctic resources (…). national interests in the Arctic region.” The Therefore coastal states around the Arctic paper highlights dangers surrounding the militarization of the Arctic, noting that “the compete intensely”.45) This competition for pace of military training in the region is resources and influence could cause accelerated. The Arctic may become the “difficulties” for China’s “development and tipping point of new wars.” utilization” of the Arctic region, according to The identification of potential military threats to the authors. Such an analysis from PLA- China’s interests in the Arctic indicates China’s affiliated research further signals the increased awareness of the security identification of Chinese interests in the Arctic, implications of its Arctic presence, and the and the developing prerogative among need to devote resources to address them. China’s military establishment to secure and However, such a shift does not directly protect China’s interests in the Arctic. translate into China becoming an aggressive

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 86 player in the Arctic. Much of China’s naval Seen from Beijing, accepting the Canadian or capabilities remain tied to the South China Russian claims could push for an international Sea, and China does not claim sovereignty precedent in favor of Beijing’s own claims over any parts of the Arctic. Rather, the regarding the Qiongzhou Strait, between Chinese military will likely support Beijing’s southern China and the island of Hainan, trade and commercial ambitions in the region— connecting the Gulf of Tonkin to the South which remains dependent on cooperation with China Sea. Such a political move would also other countries. Military prerogatives thus likely set the stage for maritime cooperation operate in a fine balancing act alongside between Russia and Canada on one side and commercial goals. China on the other, helping to ensure the Looking Ahead: Contending Claims in the Arctic – A Chinese Balancing Act To cement China’s role in Arctic governance, balance its interests and implement its strategies in High North, China will be required to navigate the contending legal claims posited by the different Arctic nations. However, this represents a potential double- edged sword for Beijing, particularly regarding its own stated policies on other bodies of water closer to home. China’s interpretation of international law proposes that coastal states should have increased discretion to hinder foreign activity within their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).48) Currently, Russia claims that the North-East Passage, the development of the “Polar Silk Road”, and Arctic sea route eastward from the Atlantic to providing Chinese access to infrastructure such Asian shores, belongs to its waters, as fueling stations and search and rescue 49) whereas Canada contends that the North- services in the region.54) Indeed, it is West Passage, the opposite route, is within its important to note that control over internal waters is in general not contradictory to trade internal waters.50)51) The United States and, and shipping. However, as a growing maritime to a lesser extent, the European Union (EU) power, China is increasingly dependent on posit that the passages are international free waterways, and the precedent of waters open to navigation by all nations. countries bilaterally establishing agreements For China, its legal perspective on the Arctic is for the governing of straits could have founded on two primary legal documents; The ramifications in key areas such as the Malacca 1920 Svalbard Treaty and the 1982 U.N. Strait, where Malaysia and Indonesia jointly Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). claim sovereign rights, or Hormuz Strait, where Though no public statement has been made, Iranian sovereignty claims risks conflict with Beijing has hinted that it has the right to freedom of navigation in the Exclusive Oman.55) Both of these straits are vital Economic Zones (EEZ) of the Arctic coastal waterways, and potential chokepoints, for states and high seas, a right to fishing and international commerce in general, and seabed mining and the right to innocent especially concerning oil transport to Asia. passage in the territorial waters of Arctic China’s decision on Arctic claims is therefore linked to geopolitical dynamics and legal states.52) This viewpoint was clearly stated by claims beyond the Arctic. In other words, the Chinese Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo, in comments Arctic issue does not operate in a vacuum for relayed by the official China News Service: Chinese policymakers, but forms part of a “The Arctic belongs to all the people around bigger rhetorical and legal puzzle as Beijing the world as no nation has sovereignty over stakes its claims within and beyond its it”.53) immediate boundaries. Conclusion

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 87 China’s Arctic strategy is focused on achieving But many people don’t realize that two main goals: ensuring access to commercial convenience has cost them their privacy. As opportunities in the Arctic and building you flow through your daily routine on a capabilities to enforce its perceived rights and smartphone, you inadvertently share more claims in the region. Commercial development data than you realize. This trade off between seems to be China’s main goal, and China has convenience and privacy illuminates the case been increasing its diplomatic and scientific of WeChat with respect to Tibetans and the efforts to support this aspiration in the Arctic larger Tibetan issue. In my research, I have since 2006. It is evident that China has, since found that Tibetan netizens generally give up at least 2014, been building its capacity to privacy for the sake of convenience when defend its interests in the region through an using WeChat, operated by the Chinese increasingly security-focused Arctic policy that company Tencent. is supported by the military. WeChat, the world’s largest standalone Looking ahead, the Arctic presents China with messaging app, is constantly refining its important legal challenges. China’s legal technology to monitor — and censor — content stance on the Arctic, where it adheres to the from its more than 963 million monthly active majority-held interpretation of UNCLOS, users. But still, 70 percent of Tibetans in the contradicts its own stance in the SCS and ECS, diaspora use the application. Overseas where it maintains a minority-held Tibetans or anyone with family or relationships interpretation of the same legal framework to associated with Tibet tend to download the claim maritime territories. This contradiction messaging app to stay in contact, since other could become a double-edged sword global social media applications are banned in weakening China’s legal arguments in both the the region. Tibetans who want to communicate Arctic and in its regional waters. with their relatives have no other choice but to Increasing skepticism from Arctic nations makes use this means deepening ties to them more challenging for In the eight years since Tencent debuted China. Furthermore, China has to balance the WeChat, it has become the dominant social wish for increased cooperation with Russia—a networking platform in China as a whole, potential strategic partner—with its own including in Tibet. The app has grown into an skepticism of Russia’s militarization of the internet behemoth with o v e r 1 Arctic. billion registered users worldwide and 902 China’s future actions in the Arctic will provide million daily users. Last year, 45 billion valuable insight into how Beijing balances its messages were being sent on the platform role in international governance with its wider every day, 18 percent more than in 2017. The strategic interests, both within and beyond its reason behind this meteoric rise is the official immediate boundaries, as it increases its ban on global social media platforms in China, presence on the world stage. aided both by censorship of foreign apps – WeChat’s competitors — and subsidies from the Chinese government. This also means that How WeChat Conquered Tibet WeChat’s information technology services and The Diplomat, July 16, 2019, Tenzin Dalha software are fundamentally insecure. The Chinese government claims sweeping powers Tibetans know the surveillance risks, but many over any matter considered relevant to China’s choose to give up privacy for convenience. national security and pressures Chinese firms The digital revolution has emerged as a key not only to censor content but, when needed, factor in the rapid dissemination of news and hand over user data. broadcasting views. Within the last decade, Yet for many Tibetans, mobile apps like social media has replaced print media, WeChat have become indispensable in their signaling a paradigm shift in how we consume social life. News and information spreads like and convey information. Due to advances in wildfire on WeChat and Facebook feeds, even science and technology, sharing news and as the mainstream media struggles to catch up information has become less time-consuming, with the pace. more convenient, and more decentralized.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 88 In an interview with Tibetans recently arrived participated during the 2016 Tibetan election in India, one woman told me, “WeChat is set by airing my views. to become more obligatory in the daily lives of But I strongly believe that I am under many Tibetan people.” At the same time, there surveillance since the application is made in is scrutiny of WeChat, which has been linked to China. I rarely talk about and post any an alarming rise in arrests of Tibetans. That, political related messages and images on my combined with the implementation of the feed. recent cybersecurity laws, makes many Another Tibetan man I spoke to explained to Tibetans practice self-censorship on WeChat: me how his family in Tibet would talk with him discussing more about social matters and on WeChat almost daily. But surprisingly, one reposting and forwarding messages that are day he found that he had been removed from nonpolitical. the family group chat, and that his parents had This Tibetan told me that she realized her blocked him without any further explanation. phone was tapped, and her calls and text He was notified that they were changing their messages were under surveillance. Before she profile pictures and status on WeChat, but was left Tibet, the Internet Security Bureau unable to send a message or get in touch with surprised her with their ability to repeat her them thereafter. This incident has left him with words and voice messages precisely when they questions — he assumes that the Chinese cyber called her in for interrogation. police might have warned his family against WeChat in Exile contacting someone outside of Tibet. WeChat and Beijing Tencent has officially denied any government involvement in privacy matters several times. It is, however, an accepted reality that Chinese officials censor and monitor WeChat users. WeChat also states in its privacy policy that it may share users’ data with “government, public, regulatory, judicial and law enforcement bodies or authorities” to “comply with applicable laws and regulations.” On a technical level, thus, WeChat does not offer users much protection against government surveillance. Cases of Tibetans being arrested for circulating messages that have been deemed politically sensitive evince this. As a company based in China, WeChat is In Fig 1. The most popular social media subject to state laws on content control, and platforms among Tibetans. Data from author while WeChat claims to be end-to-end field survey. encrypted, there is a significant evidence to A Tibetan roadside vendor at McLodganj suggest that client-side censorship based on explains: keyword and surveillance is prevalent, My parents are in Tibet and calls are including erasing messages that are deemed expensive. Being deprived of formal politically sensitive issues. education, I was introduced to a software One Tibetan girl, who went from Lhasa to called WeChat by my friend in 2012. I found it study abroad in Europe, told me why she quit is just user friendly and does not necessarily WeChat. When she was at home, she created require a fast internet connection and literacy. a chat group and invited 30 of her classmates Since then I have been using this application. I on it for a dinner party. Soon after, to her can hold a button and talk to my family and horror, she was called in by government relatives in any way at any time. I can get officials for severe interrogation, and warned updates on many news and information. I even against creating any future chat groups for joined some chat groups and actively classmates. Later, out of frustration with the lack of privacy, she eventually quit WeChat.

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 89 She further explains, “I felt insecure after like WeChat and Facebook. These platforms the interrogation and became very cautious. I raise concerns surrounding the dissemination realized that the Chinese apps are absolutely of false or misleading information, as they lack not safe.” the gatekeeping and verification processes that The problem is larger than WeChat. In some traditional media have. The convergence of villages in Tibet, police are taking away traditional and new media as a means of people’s phones and secretly installing an app information dissemination has raised questions that extracts data from emails, texts messages, regarding where to draw the line between and contacts. The surveillance app searches regulation and censorship, and how to balance for information on a range of material, freedom of expression with inflammatory and including literature by the Dalai Lama and provocative speech. messages that are deemed politically sensitive. While enjoying the benefits of WeChat, we Tibet continues to witness a severe clampdown should be wary of the negative effects. In on WeChat, part of a broader crackdown on short, while WeChat has become and social media throughout China. Users face the continues to be a popular medium for social threat of imprisonment if they are found interaction and bridging private and public responsible for “online rumours.” China has lives, the safety of the application and security been cracking down hard on WeChat users of shared content remains a legitimate concern who demonstrate sympathy and support for for everyone. the Tibetan cause, and blocking any avenues every nook and corner of Tibetan cMelting for the spread of relevant information. glaciers could destabilize Asia Restrictions and fines have thus been on rise ommunities in India, a large number of for sharing “illegal” content on WeChat. Tibetans are becoming addicted to Tencent In addition to the notorious firewall, the apps, which they use extensively. People glued government can censor specific words to try to their phone screens are a common sight, and control the narrative of any given incident and many are sending voice or video by pushing their own agenda and restricting messages, playing PubG, or using other citizens’ freedom of expression. However, functions to communicate.་ The popularity of many Tibetan and Chinese netizens use images WeChat stems from the ease of use, as well as and memes in particular to portray a serious the fact that voice messages do not require topic in a lighthearted manner, and further literacy in Tibetan. This means that Tibetans increase the spread of information. who may not be able to read Tibetan can still “Fake News” participate in groups and share their views and The influx of information has led to a ideas confidently. preponderance of news about conditions in In a field survey with 550 participants from Tibet. However, the catch is that false rumors across India conducted by the author in 2018, are hard to tell apart from real news. Due to 70.90 percent of Tibetans reported using the the security risks involved, it is difficult to WeChat app extensively to connect with their validate news on Tibet, which primarily comes family in Tibet, diaspora and abroad. And by way of social media. WeChat is reportedly only gaining popularity The spread of “fake news” has become a in Tibetan communities in exile. global concern. False, misleading, or confusing online content created by fake accounts can harm the unity and harmony of any society. Melting glaciers could destabilize Unfortunately, lies and rumors are often taken Asia seriously, and baseless allegations among The Hill, July 13, 2019 JACKSON EWING Tibetans have the serious potential to affect the struggle to advocate the cause of Tibet. Hundreds of millions of people across South Through my research, I found that some of the and Southeast Asia depend on waters that key factors behind growing paranoia and originate in the long-frozen reaches of the possible divisions in the Tibetan movement are Tibetan plateau. Yet, a sobering study shows lies and unverified rumors created by many that the melting of Himalayan glaciers has fake accounts on popular social media outlets doubled in the last decade. The glaciers have

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 90 been losing the equivalent of more than 1.5 both life’s necessities and economic prospects. vertical foot of ice each year since 2000 — It can likewise push people from rural to urban double the amount of prior decades and the spaces in ways that exhaust the infrastructure latest signal that climate change is causing and services of receiving communities, creating rapid ice loss. The world’s latest warning sign new frictions along the way. We already see of our changing climate is a destabilizing force such unwieldy urbanization in cities like that can amplify existing development and Dhaka, where water-related challenges in security challenges. southern Bangladesh have added millions of Often referred to as the Earth’s “Third Pole,” users to the city’s fraying systems. the Himalayas hold approximately 600 billion Such challenges stand to amplify risks of tons of ice, making them the third largest conflict and violence, often in ways deposit of ice and snow in the world. Rapid that mask the underlying environmental factors melting could have devastating reverberations fueling discord. Downstream from the from origins in China to downstream Himalayas, countries have struggled with communities from India, Pakistan and violence and human insecurity that can be Bangladesh to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, partially tied to failures in shared river some of which will face the double challenge management. However, they are more often of flooding in the near-term and water scarcity viewed in the context of more proximate in the decades to come. causes. Discord in Assam and West Bengal Climate-induced melting is beginning to since the 1990s can be traced in part to converge with acute water management transboundary water issues, for example, but challenges already vexing the region. Dry has been traditionally understood along season flows are already struggling to meet cultural and group identity lines. Dry season demand in many downstream communities, water declines in Laos and Cambodia are leading to saltwater intrusion, erosion, impacting agriculture and fish catches, fueling declining fisheries and impeded transportation human insecurity and driving animosity toward and commerce. Upstream damming, water upstream neighbors — often viewed as a diversions and overuse on transboundary function of globalization and development rivers like the Mekong and Ganges make these deficits. These explanations are not wrong — dry season scarcities more pronounced. As environmental stresses always interact with glaciers recede, the margins for finding social contexts to cause impact — but they are enough water to go around during dry incomplete, and as water stresses in South and seasons is shrinking along with them. Southeast Asia become more pronounced so Finding water management solutions too will their ramifications. downstream from the Himalayas is no simple Growing discord in communities that depend prospect. Multilateral water management on the Himalayan waters is not predetermined. bodies such as the Mekong River Commission Enhanced water sharing diplomacy that have a mixed record, and China in particular considers basin level concerns even when continues to preference bilateral agreements pursued bilaterally or on project bases is over regional deal-making. As a result, essential. The vulnerable country’s leaders upstream water infrastructure is often should prioritize more efficient water use in developed without basin-level impacts in mind, agricultural and industry and ensure their leading to unintended consequences partners and benefactors invest accordingly. downstream that are difficult to manage — Movements away from water intensive crop particularly in the context of rapidly melting cultivation are urgently needed in places that glaciers. will face growing water scarcity, some of Water scarcity begets national and which will need to increase reliance on food international security challenges imports. Energy systems, from hydro-plants that in insidious ways. Diminishing resources that directly alter water systems to power stations lead to declining agricultural and fishery with large water-use footprints, must reckon production could accelerate friction — often with the water availability of the future rather among different identity groups domestically than the past. or across borders — over a shrinking pool of

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 91 There is also a role to play for the United instead with upbeat portrayals of life in China States, which counts many South and under Mr. Xi. Southeast Asian countries as key geopolitical Critics call it the “total censorship era.” allies ripe for growing economic partnerships. “We’re almost extinct,” said Liu Hu, 43, a U.S. agencies have bolstered multilateral reporter from the southwestern province of water negotiations in the past, and materially Sichuan who was detained for nearly a year supported institutions that seek to facilitate after investigating corrupt politicians. “No one such cooperation. Such efforts should be is left to reveal the truth.”Since rising to power redoubled, along with investment into in 2012, Mr. Xi has transformed China’s media infrastructure projects that can help the regions landscape, restoring the primacy of party- address their growing water challenges, rather controlled news outlets while than those that will accelerate them. silencing independent voices. He has said that In the longer-term, only aggressive greenhouse the mission of the news media should be to gas mitigation can save the icy foundations of spread “positive energy” and to “love the Asia’s major rivers. For now, the imperative is party, protect the party and serve the party.” to work within the shrinking boundaries that Mr. Xi’s crackdown on journalists has left are undoubtedly on their way. China, with its nearly 1.4 billion people, in what sometimes seems like an information ‘We’re Almost Extinct: China’s vacuum. At a time when world leaders are asking what kind of superpower China will be, Investigative Journalists Are public discourse within the country is Silenced under Xi’ remarkably monolithic. Instead of policy The New York Times, July 12, 2019 Javier C. debates, there are calls in the Chinese press to Hernández defend China’s socialist system. Instead of scrutiny of Chinese leaders and institutions, BEIJING — She was once one of China’s most there are paeans to Mr. Xi and the party. feared journalists, roaming the country “The government has made its citizens uncovering stories about police brutality, ignorant,” Mr. Liu said. “The public’s eyes are wrongful convictions and environmental blind, their ears are deaf and their mouths disasters. But these days, Zhang Wenmin have no words.” struggles to be heard. The police intimidate Ms. Zhang’s sources. The authorities shut down her social media The World Needs a Water Treaty accounts. Unable to find news outlets that will Common Dreams, July 11, 2019, Conn Hallinan publish her work, she lives largely off her savings. During the face-off earlier this year between “The space for free speech has become so India and Pakistan over a terrorist attack that limited,” Ms. Zhang, 45, said. “It’s now killed more than 40 Indian paramilitaries in dangerous to say you are an independent Kashmir, New Delhi made an journalist.” existential threat to Islamabad. The weapon China’s investigative reporters once provided was not India’s considerable nuclear arsenal, rare voices of accountability and criticism in a but one still capable of inflicting ruinous society tightly controlled by the ruling destruction: water. Communist Party, exposing scandals about “Our government has decided to stop our babies sickened by tainted formula and blood- share of water which used to flow to selling schemes backed by the government. Pakistan,” said Indian Transport Minister Nitin But under President Xi Jinping, such journalists Gadkarikin on February 21. “We will divert have all but disappeared, as the authorities water from eastern rivers and supply it to our have harassed and imprisoned dozens of people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.” reporters and as news outlets have cut back on India controls three major rivers that flow into in-depth reporting. One of the most glaring Pakistan. consequences of Mr. Xi’s revival of strongman If India had followed through, it would have politics is that the Chinese press is now almost abrogated the 1960 Indus Water Treaty (IWT) entirely devoid of critical reporting, filled

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 92 between the two counties, a move that could The Sunderbans — a vast, 4,000 square-mile be considered an act of war. mangrove forest on the coasts of India and In the end, nothing much came of it. India Bangladesh — is under siege. As climate bombed some forests, and Pakistan bombed change raises sea levels, upstream dams some fields. But the threat underlined a reduce the flow of freshwater that keeps the growing crisis in South Asia, where water- salty sea at bay. The salt encroachment stressed mega-cities and intensive agriculture eventually kills the mangrove trees and are quite literally drying the subcontinent up. destroys farmland. Add to this increased By 2030, according to a recent report, half the logging to keep pace with population growth, population of India — 700 million people — will and Bangladesh alone will lose some 800 lack adequate drinking water. Currently, 25 square miles of Sunderban over the next few percent of India’s population is suffering from years. drought. As the mangroves are cut down or die off, they “If the wars of this century were fought over expose cities like Kolkata and Dhaka to the oil, the wars of the next century will be fought unvarnished power of typhoons, storms which over water,” warns Ismail Serageldin, a former climate change is making more powerful and executive for the World Bank. frequent. Bilateral Strains The Third Pole While relations between India and Pakistan The central actor in the South Asia water crisis have long been tense — they have fought three is China, which sits on the sources of 10 major wars since 1947, one of which came rivers that flow through 11 countries, and distressingly close to going nuclear — in terms which supply 1.6 billion people with water. In of water sharing, they are somewhat of a essence, China controls the “Third Pole,” that model. huge reservoir of fresh water locked up in the After almost a decade of negotiations, both snow and ice of the Himalayas. countries signed the IWT in 1960 to share the And Beijing is building lots of dams to collect output of six major rivers. The World Bank water and generate power. played a key role by providing $1 billion for Over 600 large dams either exist or are the Indus Basin Development Fund. planned in the Himalayas. In the past decade, But the ongoing tensions over Kashmir have China has built three dams on the huge transformed water into a national security issue Brahmaputra that has its origin in China but for both countries. This, in turn, has limited the drains into India and Bangladesh. exchange of water and weather data, making While India and China together represent a long-term planning extremely difficult. third of the world’s population, both countries The growing water crisis is heightened by have access to only 10 percent of the globe’s climate change. Both countries have water resources — and no agreements on how experienced record-breaking heat waves, and to share that water. While tensions between the mountains that supply the vast majority of Indian and Pakistan mean the Indus Water water for Pakistan and India are losing Treaty doesn’t function as well as it could, their glaciers. The Hindu Kush Himalaya nevertheless the agreement does set some Assessment report estimates that by 2100, commonly accepted ground rules, including some two-thirds of the area’s more than binding arbitration. No such treaty exists 14,000 glaciers will be gone. between New Delhi and Beijing. India’s response to declining water supplies, While relations between China and India are like that of many other countries in the region, far better than those between India and is to build dams. But dams not only restrict Pakistan, under the Modi government New downstream water supplies, they block the Delhi has grown closer to Washington and has natural flow of silt. That silt renews valuable partly bought into a U.S. containment strategy agricultural land and also replenishes the great aimed at China. Indian naval ships carry out deltas, like the Ganges-Brahmaputra, the joint war games with China’s two major Indus, and the Mekong. The deltas not only regional rivals, Japan and the United States, support fishing industries, they also act as and there are still disputes between China and natural barriers to storms. India over their mutual border. A sharpening

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 93 atmosphere of nationalism in both countries is abstained. Only parties that signed it are not conducive to cooperation over anything, bound by its conventions. let alone something as critical as water. But the convention is a good place to start. “It And yet never has there been such a necessity offers legitimate and effective practices for for cooperation. Both countries need the data sharing, negotiation, and dispute “Third Pole’s” water for agriculture, resolution that could be followed in a bilateral hydropower, and to feed the growth of mega- or multilateral water sharing arrangement,” cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Beijing. according to Srinivas Chokkakula, a water Stressed water supplies translate into a lack of issues researcher at New Delhi’s Center for clean water, which fuels a health crisis, Policy Research. especially in the sprawling cities that By 2025, according to the UN, some 1.8 increasingly draw rural people driven out by billion people will be living in countries or climate change. Polluted water kills more regions with absolute water shortages, and people than wars, including 1.5 million two-thirds of the world’s population could be children under the age of five. Reduced water under “water stress” conditions. There is supplies also go hand in hand with waterborne enough fresh water for seven billion people, diseases like cholera. There is even a study according to the UN, but it is unevenly that demonstrates thirsty mosquitoes bite more, distributed, polluted, wasted, or poorly thus increasing the number of vector borne managed. diseases like zika, malaria, and dengue. If countries don’t come together around the Regional Pacts Won’t Cut It conventions — which need to be greatly South Asia is hardly alone in facing a crisis strengthened — and it becomes a free for all over fresh water. Virtually every continent on with a few countries holding most of the cards, the globe is looking at shortages. According to sooner or later the “water crisis” will turn into the World Economic Forum, by 2030 water an old-fashioned war. sources will only cover 60 percent of the world’s daily requirement. The water crisis is no longer a problem that The Dalai Lama is within his rights can be solved through bilateral agreements to visit Arunachal Pradesh like the IWT, but one that requires regional, The Week, July 6, 2019 Amrata Biji Ahuja indeed, global solutions. If the recent push by Interview/ Amitabh Mathur, former adviser on the Trump administration to lower mileage Tibetan affairs, MHA standards for automobiles is successful, it will Former Research and Analysis Wing special add hundreds of thousands of extra tons of secretary Amitabh ‘Tony’ Mathur had been carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which, in handling Tibetan matters for the Indian turn, will accelerate climate change. government till last September as adviser on In short, what comes out of U.S. auto tailpipes Tibetan affairs to the ministry of home affairs. will ultimately be felt by the huge Angsi In a first-time interview, Mathur spoke on the Glacier in Tibet, the well spring of the Dalai Lama’s importance, the future of Brahmaputra, a river that flows through China, Tibetans and how India messed up its dealings India, and Bangladesh, emptying eventually with the 17th Karmapa. into the Bay of Bengal. Excerpts: There is no such thing as a local or regional How do you see the future of the Tibetan solution to the water crisis, since the problem is community? global. The only really global organization The Tibetan community is at a crossroads. that exists is the United Nations, which will There are a few factors that are causing the need to take the initiative to create a dilemma. India does not have a refugee worldwide water agreement. policy, and the Tibetans are facing certain Such an agreement is partly in place. The UN restrictive procedures when they move around International Watercourses Conventioncame within the country and abroad. The into effect in August 2014 following Vietnam’s employment opportunities here are shrinking. endorsement of the treaty. However, China Settlements, which used to survive on voted against it, and India and Pakistan agriculture, are no longer able to sustain themselves or provide opportunities to the

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 94 Tibetans. Finally, the big question, where are Holiness and respect for him has been there they going to go? It has been 60 years, from throughout. I do not see any dilution. independence to a middle-way approach [as What role can India play in the ‘’middle-way’’ advised by the Dalai Lama] and the various approach advised by the Dalai Lama? organisations which are springing up. They are I don’t think we have ever officially expressed a little confused about their future. What binds a desire to intervene in the matter. But I think them is their unflinching faith in His Holiness the widely held view is that China should deal the Dalai Lama. with His Holiness, who has ensured that the Is the dwindling Tibetan population a concern? Tibetan struggle remains a civilisational one There has been a lot of migration out of India. and a peaceful one. One cannot say which The numbers are fewer than what they were direction it will take after the 14th Dalai Lama ten years back. This is largely because of and without his tempering hand. We just hope employment and other factors. How this will that it does not become a violent one, as the affect the Tibetan cause remains to be seen. It Uighurs who are struggling in China today. is something the Central Tibetan Administration China has always viewed the Dalai Lama’s has to see and analyse closely, and work with visits to Arunachal Pradesh as a provocation. Indian authorities on how to get over it. The The Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh other factor is their own style of managing is one of the largest monasteries outside Tibet. their settlement. If they think by knitting It has a special place for His Holiness as he sweaters or carpets or growing maize is going came to India via Tawang. Arunachal Pradesh to see them through, they are mistaken. Some is an integral part of India. So, given the reports have been written, commissioned by importance of the monastery and the following the CTA, on the way forward. But I don't think His Holiness commands in the Himalayan belt, much work has been done to implement the he is well within his rights to go there, and the suggestions. government is well within its rights to help him How do you see the way forward for Tibetans visit these places. I don’t see why the Chinese after the Dalai Lama? should see it as a provocation. It was not Clarity on this will only come after His Holiness intended to irritate the Chinese, it was spells out what his wishes are. He keeps saying intended to allow His Holiness to visit places it depends on the people whether they want to where he is worshipped. And, it is not just the continue with the reincarnation system. He has Dalai Lama. Earlier, the 17th Karmapa also been critical of it in the past, and sometimes went to Arunachal Pradesh precisely to fulfil supportive of it. The overall desire of the the wishes of the devotees there. Tibetan people is that he must be reborn. When President Xi Jinping visited India in Given this desire, will the Chinese prop up one 2014, there were reports that the Dalai Lama of their own? I think the next Dalai Lama, if was not allowed to meet him because the identified according to the wishes of His Ministry of External Affairs developed cold Holiness, will command respect and following feet. of the Tibetan people. But then there will be a I cannot comment on this because I was not big gap between the passing on of the 14th involved. But given the fact that the Chinese Dalai Lama and the coming of age of the 15th president visited India immediately after Prime Dalai Lama. That is where the rub lies—as to Minister Narendra Modi took office, it would how they will manage Tibetan affairs and keep have been a little odd for the focus to shift hopes alive during the interim. from that important visit in which the prime As adviser to the Union Home Ministry, what minister had invested much, to the meeting issues have you been tackling? Do you see with the Dalai Lama. So, if a request of this any difference between the BJP and the UPA sort was at all made, I don't think it would regime? have been entertained. I don't think in a similar I was advising the government on the overall circumstance, any country would have procedures that affect the existence of the entertained it. But I really don't know if a Tibetans in India. I am not sure whether there request was made or Xi Jinping had agreed, is any difference between governments' or the MEA said no. approach. I think their commitment to His

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 95 It has been 60 years since India gave refuge will be a tough task for the people to find a to the Dalai Lama. How do think it has moral beacon. There are many important affected India in the long run? Tibetan monks, high-ranking lineage holders India has historically opened its arms to who would have to come together to provide anyone who is fleeing facing persecution. Even moral leadership after His Holiness is not at the tender age of 24 when he came to there. I can't take all names but certainly the India, he commanded a lot of respect in the 41st Sakya Trizin, the 17th Karmapa Ogyen world among Buddhist followers. India would Trinley Dorje and other influential monks of certainly have looked bad had it turned its Nyingma school are some of the many who back on him. Over the years, whether this has command a lot of respect and following served us in good stead or not I don't know. among the Tibetans. Their views and opinions But this is one of the factors in our relationship are heard with respect. So, it is not that the with China. Even if the Tibet issue were to be void cannot be filled temporarily till the 15th sorted out, we have other issues with the Dalai Lama comes of age. These high-ranking Chinese. I think both countries are mature officials of the Sakya school and Kagyu school enough to put this aside to develop our are completely devoted to His Holiness. They relations. have made common cause with the Tibetan Why have there been no talks post 2010 struggle unlike those who have remained between the envoys of the Dalai Lama and aloof. China? Do you think India mishandled the Karmapa Yes, I do not think there have been any formal issue as Trinley Dorje has left India and has talks for some time, but informal talks continue taken up citizenship of another country? between His Holiness and the Chinese. Some India has dealt with him very badly. To accuse are completely informal when Buddhists from him of [being a Chinese spy was bad]. No one China are visiting India. China is the largest would entrust such a task to a 14-year-old in Buddhist country in the world with 300 million the first place. I think the reasons he gave for Chinese Buddhists, perhaps even more. So, coming to India—to get the best education, growth of Buddhism in China also leads to a religious teachings and learning from the better understanding. There have also been masters based in India and to be close to His informal contacts with people claiming to Holiness—are true and should be accepted as represent high-ranking officials of Chinese such. government coming over here. But the Chinese By subjecting him to unnecessary restraints and have taken a hard stand and the issue has curtailing his movements, we have only lost a become one between China and the Dalai good friend. He is the only important lineage Lama, and not China and Tibetans. In a recent holder who does not have a place of his own statement, a high-ranking Chinese official is to stay. New Delhi should convince him that his learnt to have said that the door to Dalai Lama return to India will be unimpeded and the is always open indicating that he can come circumstances of his return will be far better back to China but remain in China and not go than what it has been all these years. to Tibet. Attached are conditions which His So, the 17th Karmapa has not got a home in Holiness will not concede—that Tibet was India? always part of China among other things. He is a tenant in the Gyuto Monastery in Since it is a conditional offer, His Holiness is Dharamsala. We have dealt with him very tough on his stand and Chinese are tough on poorly. We have failed to acknowledge the their stand. The Chinese may also think that wide following he commands, cutting across after the 14th Dalai Lama, it will be easier for sectarian lines and the positive role he can them to sort out the issues. play in the future. As far as citizenship is Does the Tibetan struggle have a ray of hope? concerned, as I mentioned earlier about Certainly there will be a void because all Tibetans leaving India, if there will be hopes rest on the person of the 14th Dalai restriction on his movement, he is likely to look Lama. All the self-immolations that have taken elsewhere for ease of travel. And he is not the place in Tibet are for the return of the Dalai only one. Almost all the high-ranking Tibetan Lama and not for independence of Tibet. So, it monks are travelling on documents other than

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 96 the identity card issued by the Indian Neither should we press him to enter the government. political domain nor does he wish to do that. So, I don't think we should hold that against him. It is no indication of his loyalty or disloyalty to India or to His Holiness, or his Which way will the Tibet-Nepal commitment to the Tibetan cause. It is merely a railway go? document to enable him to travel. Whether he Nepali Times, July 5, 2019 is based permanently in India or not is also Ramesh Bhushal in Rasuwa irrelevant as long as he remains one with the Tibetan cause and I have no reasons to disbelieve that. He has, in fact, attended condolence meetings in Dharamsala organised by the Central Tibetan Administration for people who have committed self immolation in Tibet. On a visit to Arunachal Pradesh, he presented khatas (a traditional ceremonial scarf which symbolises purity and compassion) as a mark of respect at the war memorial for those who died in the Indo-China war. So, I don't think there is any more special guarantee of his commitments to India that can be expected. But why have we been so wary of the 17th Karmapa? Map showing the proposed alignment of the new Kerung- I don't know, it perplexes me too. Sometimes Kathmandu railway. overzealous mid-ranking officers keen on making a mark, goof up. In the instant case, Till not too long ago, a trans-Himalayan just before his departure from India that was railway sounded like science fiction. Now, with something that broke the last straw on the the proposed 100km long tunnel camel's back. Immediately prior to his under Langtang National park, it sounA pre- departure and immediately after his departure, feasibility study of a railway into Nepal from there were things said that had upset him Tibet carried out by a Chinese team in 2018 immensely which could have been avoided by suggests that it would be an engineering feat some more mature handling. and very expensive, but not an impossible What do you think New Delhi can do now to task. salvage the situation? “Technically this will be one of the world’s The 17th Karmapa is currently in strict retreat toughest railways to construct,” says Paribesh for several months now. I think there is no need Parajuli, the only train engineer at Nepal’s to initiate talks. What New Delhi need to do is Department of Railways, who was educated in to convince him that his return to India will be China and is a consultant for the study. unimpeded and the circumstances of his return Despite Nepali politicians making wild will be far better than what it has been for all promises about the imminent arrival of a Tibet the years he has been in India. More than the train and ensuing public anticipation, because return, it is the circumstances of his return that of the technical and cost factors the Chinese matter. Will he be subjected to same have sought to dampen some of the procedures, curtailing the freedom of his enthusiasm. movement? What we also have to recognise is The feasibility study has not yet been made that only His Holiness and the Central Tibetan public, but is said to list ‘six extremes’ that will Administration can comment on political be challenging: topography, weather, matters of Tibetans. So, unless the Karmapa is hydrology, tectonics, and cost. entrusted with political responsibilities by His And despite speculation that the railway Holiness, he is merely a religious teacher. alignment will follow the Bhote Kosi River across the Himalaya to Nuwakot, the study

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 97 actually lays out a much more adventurous the Kerung-Kathmandu railway in the next two course under Langtang National Park, below years.” Gosainkunda and Shivapuri National Park to The Chinese do not seem to be in such a rush. enter Kathmandu Valley at Tokha. Stations will The Qinghai-Tibet railway reached Xigatse in be located at bridge points where the tunnels Tibet in 2014. At the pace of construction, it emerge at Langtang Khola and Pati was scheduled to arrive on the border in Bhanjyang. Kerung by 2020, but the Chinese have The gradient required to descend from 4,000m reportedly pushed that back to 2025. on the Tibetan Plateau to 1,400m above Both the Chinese and Nepal governments have Kathmandu is so steep that engineers have denied that loan financing for the project will proposed drilling through the mountains with push Nepal into a debt trap, as the Americans 98% of the tracks on the Nepal side inside have been warning. tunnels. “The main thing is how projects are selected, Says Parajuli: “If the railroad follows the whether that is done on the possible rate of proposed tunnel route under the mountains, return, and the pay back plan,” says Foreign the towns along the existing highway to Minister Pradeep Gyawali. Rasuwa will not even be seeing trains.” he rapid strides China has taken in extending Although drilling under the mountains will its national railway network makes drilling minimise environmental impact in two national under the world’s highest mountains seem no parks, the tunnels will traverse the Main longer technically impossible, but is it Central Thrust faultline of the Himalaya. economically viable? Mitigating earthquake risk will push the total While the minister could not answer questions cost even higher than a normal tunnel project. about what Nepal would export to China by Preliminary estimates put the cost of just the train, Prime Minister K P Oli once speculated it 170km Kerung to Kathmandu section of the could be mineral water, for which he was railway at 38 billion yuan ($5.5 billion). Even widely ridiculed. Mineral water is already a though only 30% of the length from Menbu to multi-billion dollar industry in Tibet, so it would Kathmandu is in Nepal, it will account for be like coals to Newcastle. almost half the cost of the project because of Economic analysts say the railway makes sense the required tunneling. only if Nepal can fill the wagons with its goods Despite these challenges, Nepal’s railway for the return trip. While imports from China dream moved closer to reality after the project increased by about 40% in 2018, exports from was listed as one of the 64 to be considered Nepal to China fell by 30%, with the country’s under China’s BRI during the second Belt and trade deficit reaching about US$12 billion last Road Forum in Beijing in April. year – equal to nearly half of the country’s Nepal is now seeking a grant from China to total GDP. construct the railway, but Beijing is reticent, Ambassador Hou has tried to allay fears. “The hence recent comments by Chinese BRI is not a ‘debt trap’ that some countries Ambassador Hou Yanqi urging Nepalis not to may fall into, but an ‘economic pie’ that jump the gun. benefits the local population,” she wrote in a The Nepal government has not allocated any recent opinion piece in money for the Tibet railway in this year’s the Nagarik newspaper. budget. But officials at Nepal’s Infrastructure The real question is not just who will pay for and Transport ministry say just a detailed the railway, but also whether it will pay for engineering study for the Kerung-Kathmandu itself. The tunnel alignment will push up costs, section of the railway will cost and because it misses all major urban areas an estimated five times the Nepal’s total along the way like Trisuli and Syabrubesi, it is railway budget for next year. unlikely to benefit local populations. Even so, Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada Narayan Das Dongol, 76, plays with his seems upbeat. He has even announced the granddaughter in Tokha village on the date of the start of construction: “We will northern rim of Kathmandu Valley. His house complete the detailed project report and will be near the proposed terminal of the feasibility study and start construction work on Kerung-Kathmandu railway, and he has heard

TIBET DIGEST, JULY 2019 98 rumours about a train coming. There is still confusion about the exact route the tracks will New Publications take, but land prices here have already soared six-fold to Rs3 million for a 32 sq m patch in anticipation. In China Dream In Bidur of Nuwakot, Mayor Sanju Pandit By Ma Jian insists the train should go through his town, Vintage $21.95 adding: “I have heard that the railway will cross our town, but we have not been consulted or informed about it at all.” One worry is that regular cargo trains between China and Nepal will increase The State of Ecology of wildlife trafficking not just of endangered the Tibetan Plateau species from Nepal, but also India. Nepal By FNVA would be even more of a transit for Academic Foundation contraband like tiger skins, rhinos horns, pangolins, sandalwood. On the Nepal side, there are zero preparations in place for the Tibet railroad, but even the proposed east-west Tarai railway The McMahon Line: A does not seem to be going anywhere. In the Century of Discord decade since it was set up, Nepal’s By General (Retd.) J. J. Singh Department of Railways has yet to hire a HarperCollins fulltime railway engineer. The new 34km railway from Bihar to Nepal is supposed to start operations next month with a hired train and driver from India. But you China’s New Red cannot fault Nepal for dreaming big: the government plans to construct 4,000km of Guards: The Return of railways in the next two decades. Radicalism and the Timeline: Nepal’s BRI railway Rebirth of Mao Zedong. 2017 – Nepal and China sign MoU on the BRI By Jude D. Blanchette in Beijing. Oxford University Press 2018 – Nepal forms two committees headed by the foreign secretary and finance secretary to propose projects for China to fund under BRI. Will Tibet Ever Find 2018 – Nepal’s prime minister, K.P Oli, visits Her Soul Again?: India China and signs on 14 projects including in cooperation in railways. Tibet Relations 2018 – Pre-feasibility study for the Kerung- 1947-1962 - Part 2 Kathmandu rail by a Chinese team. By Claude Arpi 2019 – The Nepal-China railway listed as part USI, New Delhi of the Trans-Himalayan connectivity network at the second BRI Forum in Beijing in April. Tibet: When the Gods 2019 – In budget speech, government declares construction will start in two years without Spoke India Tibet allocating appropriate budget for a detailed Relations (1947-1962) study. Part 3 (July 1954 - February 1957) By Claude Arpi USI, New Delhi

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