A Brief Brochure of Tibet - cssauh.com
10
A Brief Brochure of Tibet Tibet Welcome You to Visit by taking train/airplane, or self-driving
Transcript of A Brief Brochure of Tibet - cssauh.com
A Brief Brochure of Tibet
Tibet Welcome You to Visit by taking train/airplane, or self-driving
The
Fact
s of
Tib
et a
nd th
e D
alai
Lam
a A
Pam
phle
t for
Bet
ter U
nder
stan
ding
H
isto
ric B
ackg
roun
d of
Tib
et a
nd It
s St
atus
with
in C
hina
1.
In
theT
ang
Dyn
asty
, the
prin
cess
Wen
chen
g (T
ibet
an M
ung-
chan
g Ku
ng-c
o) m
arrie
d th
e ki
ng o
f Ti
bet,
Son
gtsä
n G
ampo
(604
-650
AD
) in
641
AD
. 2.
In
120
6, G
engh
is K
han
incl
uded
Tib
et in
his
em
pire
. In
the
mid
-160
0's,
the
Mon
gols
allo
wed
the
Dal
ai L
ama
(mea
ning
“a m
onk
fille
d w
ith w
isdo
m”)
to h
ave
polit
ical
pow
er w
ithin
Tib
et. T
his
was
do
ne a
fter h
e w
as n
amed
the
head
of t
he G
elug
pa s
ect o
f Tib
etan
Bud
dhis
m in
the
15th
cen
tury
. Ev
er s
ince
then
, Tib
et h
as b
een
inco
rpor
ated
into
the
terri
tory
of C
hina
’s fe
udal
dyn
astie
s, th
e M
ing
and
the
Qin
g.
3.
From
191
1-19
50, C
hina
’s c
ontro
l of t
he T
ibet
regi
on w
as lo
osen
ed b
ut n
ot lo
st d
ue to
the
civi
l war
an
d an
ti-Ja
pane
se in
vasi
on w
ar (W
orld
War
II).
The
gove
rnm
ent,
Rep
ublic
of C
hina
(191
1-19
49),
neve
r gav
e up
the
terr
itory
of T
ibet
and
nev
er re
cogn
ized
Tib
et a
s an
inde
pend
ent r
egio
n.
4.
In 1
950
the
14th
Dal
ai L
ama
appo
inte
d N
ga-B
ou N
ga-W
ang
Jig-
Me
as th
e le
ader
of a
del
egat
ion
to
Beiji
ng to
neg
otia
te w
ith th
e ne
w C
hine
se g
over
nmen
t and
mad
e Th
e Se
vent
een
Poi
nt A
gree
men
t (w
ikip
edia
: Sev
ente
en P
oint
Agr
eem
ent f
or th
e P
eace
ful L
iber
atio
n of
Tib
et) w
hich
was
the
sam
e as
wha
t hap
pene
d in
his
tory
sin
ce th
e tim
e of
Gen
ghis
Kha
n es
tabl
ishe
d Yu
an D
ynas
ty. T
hus,
Ti
bet w
as p
eace
ful l
iber
ated
in 1
951.
Pr
e-19
59 T
ibet
-Ser
fdom
H
isto
rical
ly th
e pe
riod
whe
n D
alai
Lam
as ru
led
Tibe
t bef
ore
1959
-ref
orm
s, h
as b
een
deem
ed a
La
mai
st (B
uddh
ist)
theo
crac
y, a
ccom
pany
ing
serfd
om. C
ompa
rabl
y, in
the
mod
ern
wor
ld, t
he T
alib
an
stat
e in
Afg
hani
stan
(199
6-20
01) w
as a
lso
theo
crat
ic g
over
nanc
e.
Spe
cific
ally
the
maj
ority
of t
he ru
ral p
opul
atio
n w
as s
erfs
in 1
953.
Tie
d to
the
land
, the
y w
ere
allo
tted
only
a s
mal
l par
cel t
o gr
ow th
eir o
wn
food
. Ser
fs a
nd o
ther
pea
sant
s w
ere
illite
rate
and
gen
eral
ly w
ent
with
out s
choo
ling
or m
edic
al c
are.
The
y sp
ent m
ost o
f the
ir tim
e la
borin
g fo
r the
mon
aste
ries
and
indi
vidu
al h
igh-
rank
ing
lam
as, o
r for
a s
ecul
ar a
risto
crac
y th
at n
umbe
red
not m
ore
than
200
fam
ilies
. In
effe
ct, t
hey
wer
e ow
ned
by th
eir m
aste
rs w
ho to
ld th
em w
hat c
rops
to g
row
and
wha
t ani
mal
s to
ra
ise.
The
y co
uld
not g
et m
arrie
d w
ithou
t the
con
sent
of t
heir
lord
or l
ama.
A s
erf m
ight
eas
ily b
e se
para
ted
from
his
fam
ily s
houl
d th
e ow
ner s
end
him
to w
ork
in a
dis
tant
loca
tion.
Ser
fs c
ould
be
sold
by
thei
r mas
ters
, or s
ubje
cted
to to
rture
and
dea
th.
(http
://en
.wik
iped
ia.o
rg/w
iki/E
xam
ples
_of_
feud
alis
m#T
ibet
_.28
13th
_cen
tury
_unt
il_19
59.2
9)
Tibe
t afte
r 195
9 In
195
1, w
hen
Chi
na re
gain
ed e
ffect
ive
cont
rol o
f Tib
et a
nd th
erea
fter i
n 19
59, r
efor
ms
wer
e ta
ken
to
free
Tibe
tan
serfs
(N
ote
for c
ompa
rison
: in
the
sam
e ye
ar, H
awai
i was
adm
itted
to th
e U
nion
on
Aug
ust 2
1, 1
959,
m
akin
g it
the
50th
sta
te o
f US
A. A
fter s
tate
hood
, Haw
aii q
uick
ly b
ecam
e a
mod
ern
stat
e w
ith a
co
nstru
ctio
n bo
om a
nd ra
pidl
y gr
owin
g ec
onom
y. In
rece
nt d
ecad
es, t
he s
tate
gov
ernm
ent h
as
impl
emen
ted
prog
ram
s to
pro
mot
e H
awai
ian
cultu
re.).
Th
is li
bera
tion
of s
erfs
in T
ibet
was
the
sam
e m
ovem
ent a
s th
e A
mer
ican
Civ
il W
ar (1
861-
1864
) to
end
the
slav
ery
in th
e U
nite
d St
ates
und
er th
e Li
ncol
n pr
esid
ency
. Tib
et, a
s pa
rt of
Chi
na, i
s eq
ually
tre
ated
as
the
rest
pro
vinc
es, t
he s
ame
way
as
US
fede
ral g
over
nmen
t tre
at C
alifo
rnia
, Tex
as a
nd
Haw
aii e
qual
ly to
New
Eng
land
13
stat
es a
nd a
ll th
e re
st s
tate
s.
Tibe
tan
exile
s tra
ined
in a
CIA
cam
p in
Col
orad
o cl
ashe
d w
ith C
hine
se fo
rces
in 1
959
durin
g th
e ce
lebr
atio
n of
the
Tibe
tan
New
Yea
r, af
ter w
hich
the
14th
Dal
ai L
ama,
with
CIA
hel
p, w
ent i
nto
polit
ical
ex
ile in
Indi
a. A
fter 1
959,
the
CIA
trai
ned
Tibe
tan
guer
rilla
s an
d pr
ovid
ed fu
nds
and
wea
pons
for t
he
fight
aga
inst
Chi
na. T
he s
o-ca
lled
“upr
isin
g” in
Tib
et w
as a
ctua
lly a
ttem
pts
by th
e se
rf ow
ners
to tr
y to
re
stor
e th
e se
rfdom
in T
ibet
. In
196
5, th
e ar
ea th
at h
ad b
een
unde
r the
con
trol o
f the
Dal
ai L
ama'
s go
vern
men
t was
rena
med
to
the
Tibe
t Aut
onom
ous
Reg
ion
or T
AR
and
cha
irmen
of T
AR a
re T
ibet
ans.
Th
e C
IA's
sup
port
to th
e Ti
beta
n ex
iles
stop
ped
whe
n R
icha
rd N
ixon
dec
ided
to s
eek
rapp
roch
emen
t w
ith C
hina
in th
e ea
rly 1
970s
. Ken
neth
Con
boy
and
Jam
es M
orris
on, i
n Th
e C
IA's
Sec
ret W
ar in
Tib
et,
reve
al h
ow th
e C
IA e
ncou
rage
d Ti
bet's
revo
lt ag
ains
t Chi
na a
nd e
vent
ually
cam
e to
con
trol i
ts fl
edgl
ing
resi
stan
ce m
ovem
ent.
The
New
Yor
k Ti
mes
repo
rted
on O
ctob
er 2
, 199
8 th
at th
e D
alai
Lam
a's
adm
inis
tratio
n ac
know
ledg
ed th
at it
rece
ived
$1.
7 m
illio
n a
year
in th
e 19
60s
from
the
CIA
. (Fo
r mor
e de
tail:
http
://en
.wik
iped
ia.o
rg/w
iki/H
isto
ry_o
f_Ti
bet)
Terr
oris
m, i
n th
e m
oder
n se
nse,
is v
iole
nce
agai
nst c
ivilia
ns to
ach
ieve
pol
itica
l or i
deol
ogic
al
obje
ctiv
es b
y cr
eatin
g fe
ar.
A gr
oup
calle
d th
e Ti
bet Y
outh
Con
gres
s ha
s be
en g
radu
ally
dev
elop
ed in
to th
e A
l-Qae
da-li
ke
orga
niza
tion.
The
riot
in L
hasa
, Tib
et, o
n M
arch
14,
200
8, w
as n
ot a
pea
cefu
l dem
onst
ratio
n, b
ut a
te
rroris
t atta
ck a
gain
st c
ivili
ans
on th
e Lh
asa’
s st
reet
s.
The
Dal
ai L
ama,
a fr
ont m
an fo
r "no
n-vi
olen
ce",
had
refu
sed
to c
onde
mn
the
viol
ence
initi
ally
and
la
ter e
ven
thre
aten
ed to
hav
e m
ore
seve
re v
iole
nce,
i.e.
the
mili
tant
win
gs o
f his
gro
ups
laun
ch
terro
rist a
ttack
s ag
ains
t inn
ocen
t civ
ilian
s an
d in
frast
ruct
ures
. Th
e D
alai
Lam
a ag
rees
that
“Tib
et is
a p
art o
f the
Peo
ple'
s R
epub
lic o
f Chi
na. I
t is
an a
uton
omou
s re
gion
of t
he P
eopl
e's
Rep
ublic
of C
hina
. Tib
etan
cul
ture
and
Bud
dhis
m a
re p
art o
f Chi
nese
cul
ture
.” (w
ww
.tele
grap
h.co
.uk)
Whi
le th
e U
S g
over
nmen
t rep
eate
dly
urge
s C
hina
to h
ave
dial
ogue
with
Dal
ai
Lam
a, th
e lo
ng-n
egle
cted
fact
rem
ains
: the
Dal
ai L
ama
need
s to
dis
mis
s th
e Ti
beta
n go
vern
men
t-in-
exile
in D
hara
msa
la, I
ndia
, alo
ng w
ith it
s pa
rliam
ent a
nd o
ther
gov
ernm
enta
l org
aniz
atio
ns a
nd a
bolis
h its
con
stitu
tion,
in o
rder
to s
uppo
rt hi
s cl
aim
s.
Te
n Fa
cts
You
May
Not
Kno
w A
bout
the
Dal
ai L
ama
and
Tibe
t Fa
ct #
1: T
ibet
bec
ame
part
of C
hina
in th
e 14
cen
tury
, 130
yea
rs b
efor
e C
olum
bus
disc
over
ed
Am
eric
a.
Fact
#2:
Tib
etan
s su
ffere
d se
rfdom
und
er th
e re
gim
e of
the
Dal
ai L
ama
befo
re 1
959.
The
Dal
ai L
ama
and
the
rulin
g cl
ass
who
mad
e up
of 5
% o
f Tib
etan
pop
ulat
ion
owne
d al
l the
land
, whi
le th
e re
st 9
5%
of T
ibet
ans
wer
e sl
aves
, tre
ated
as
“thin
gs” o
r pro
perty
by
the
Dal
ai L
ama
and
othe
r sla
ve o
wne
rs.
They
eve
n ha
d le
g-iro
ns o
n th
eir b
odie
s to
be
prev
ente
d fro
m fl
eein
g.
Fact
#3:
It is
not
inva
sion
. Chi
na p
eace
fully
free
d Ti
bet (
1951
) and
Tib
etan
sla
ves
(195
9) fr
om a
long
-tim
e se
rfdom
regi
me
thro
ugh
a ne
gotia
tion
proc
ess
with
the
Dal
ai L
ama
and
his
repr
esen
tativ
es. T
ibet
ha
s si
nce
then
re-c
ontro
lled
as p
art o
f Chi
na, X
izan
g (T
ibet
) Aut
onom
ous
Reg
ion
(TA
R).
Fact
#4:
The
Dal
ai L
ama
was
app
oint
ed b
y th
e C
hine
se g
over
nmen
t as
the
Vice
Cha
ir of
Nat
iona
l Pe
ople
’s C
ongr
ess
in 1
954
and
cont
inue
d to
exe
cute
the
auto
nom
ous
pow
er in
Tib
et u
ntil
1959
. Fa
ct #
5: F
or o
ver f
ifty
year
s, T
ibet
, as
the
“Xiz
ang
(Tib
et) A
uton
omou
s R
egio
n (T
AR)”
of C
hina
, is
tota
lly ta
x-fre
e! C
hina
nev
er le
vied
a p
enny
on
Tibe
tans
’ bus
ines
s or
inco
mes
or a
ny p
rope
rties
. Fa
ct #
6: F
or o
ver f
ifty
year
s, C
hine
se g
over
nmen
t has
fund
ed in
frast
ruct
ures
incl
ude
road
s, ra
ilroa
d,
brid
ges,
ele
ctric
ity li
nes,
wat
er a
nd s
ewer
sys
tem
s, p
ublic
sch
ools
, hos
pita
ls a
nd c
linic
s, a
nd
recr
eatio
nal f
acilit
ies,
man
y of
whi
ch a
re to
tally
free
to T
ibet
ans.
Fa
ct #
7: E
ver s
ince
200
1, C
hina
has
laun
ched
a “H
elp
Tibe
t” P
artn
ersh
ip P
rogr
am to
enc
oura
ge
busi
ness
es a
nd o
ther
loca
l gov
ernm
ents
in w
ealth
ier p
art o
f Chi
na to
inve
st in
Tib
et a
nd to
hel
p pr
omot
e th
e ec
onom
ic g
row
th in
Tib
et. T
he c
apita
l inv
estm
ent t
otal
ed o
ver $
900
mill
ion
dolla
rs in
the
past
sev
en y
ears
. Fa
ct #
8: T
ibet
ans
are
prot
ecte
d by
the
Con
stitu
tion
of C
hina
to p
ract
ice
thei
r rel
igio
ns. T
he
over
whe
lmin
g m
ajor
ities
of t
hose
Tib
etan
s w
ho v
entu
re a
cros
s th
e H
imal
ayas
eac
h ye
ar to
Indi
a ar
e N
OT
refu
gees
, but
are
pilg
rims,
and
mos
t of t
hem
do
so w
ith th
e in
tent
ion
of re
turn
ing.
Fa
ct #
9: T
he D
alai
Lam
a co
ndem
ns th
at th
e C
hine
se g
over
nmen
t cau
ses
"gen
ocid
e". I
s re
al?
Rat
her,
the
cost
of v
iole
nt ri
ots
sinc
e M
arch
14t
h, 2
008:
5 h
ospi
tals
, 7 p
ublic
sch
ools
, 908
loca
l bus
ines
s st
ores
, 120
hom
es, 6
4 ca
rs, a
nd 1
8 P
RE
CIO
US
LIV
ES
of c
ivili
ans.
Fa
ct #
10: I
t is
CIA
who
has
bee
n fu
ndin
g, tr
aini
ng a
nd a
rmin
g th
e Ti
beta
n pr
otes
tors
sin
ce fi
fty y
ears
ag
o. A
nd y
ou k
now
whe
re th
e C
IA m
oney
com
es fr
om, d
o yo
u?
List
en to
this
per
son
who
figu
red
out t
he tr
ue T
ibet
by
him
self:
"B
efor
e I c
ame,
'fre
e Ti
bet'
seem
ed to
be
such
an
obvi
ous
idea
...no
w I
have
bee
n he
re a
nd h
ave
talk
ed to
so
man
y Ti
beta
ns, I
am
not
at a
ll su
re w
heth
er T
ibet
nee
ds to
be
an in
depe
nden
t sta
te a
nd I
am n
ot a
t all
conv
ince
d th
at m
ost o
f the
Tib
etan
s ev
en w
ant t
hat."
---
Joh
n M
oge,
Pro
duce
r of T
ibet
Dia
ry:T
ibet
in T
wo
Am
eric
ans'
Eye
s(Vi
deo)
. Av
aila
ble
at: h
ttp://
new
sche
cker
.blo
gspo
t.com
/200
7/12
/tibe
t-dia
rytib
et-in
-two-
amer
ican
s-ey
es
(Not
e: A
ll th
e ab
ove
info
rmat
ion
was
col
lect
ed/e
dite
d by
stu
dent
vol
unte
ers.
Acc
urac
y ha
s be
en s
trong
ly s
ough
t.)
For additional references, see: • Explorations in Tibet, National Geographic, Sept 1903 • Goldstein, Melvyn C., A History of Modern Tibet: 1913-1951, 1989, p239 • Grunfeld, A. Tom, The Making of Modern Tibet, M.E. Sharpe, 1996, p245
Tibet: Myth and Reality Myth 1: Tibet was a de facto independent nation after 1911 and before the 1950s. The Chinese communist government invaded Tibet. Fact : “Tibet has been a part of China ever since it was merged into that country in 1239, when the Mongols began creating the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). ...China's hold on this area sometimes appeared somewhat loose, but neither the Chinese nor many Ti-betans have ever denied that Tibet has been a part of China from the Yuan Dynasty to this very day.” - Stockwell , Foster, Tibet: Myth and Reality In 1941, the world community, including the U.S., acknowledged that Tibet was a part of China.
Map of Asia (A.D. 1892) This historical map is maintained by the University of Texas at Austin and is available for download at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/
Outline of Post-War New World Map by Maurice Gomberg, 1941
Source: Library of Congress Geography and Map Di-vision Washington DC.
The whole map is available online http://images.asc.ohio-state.edu/is/image/eHistory/world/images/maps2/1942world1600.jpg?qlt=100&wid=1600
Myth 2: Tibet had been free during Dalai Lama's reign. Fact : “Before the Democratic Reform of 1959, Tibet had long been a serfdom soci-ety under the despotic political religious rule of lamas and nobles, a society that was darker and crueler than the European serfdom of the Middle Ages. At that time, more than 90 percent of the Tibetan population was made up of serfs. They had no land or freedom, and their survival depended on estate holder's manors. Normally, the serf owners had penitentiaries or private prisons on their manorial grounds, as did large monasteries. Punishments were extremely savage and cruel, including gouging out eyes, cutting off ears, hands and feet, pulling out tendons and throwing people into water. Before the 1950s, Tibet was one of the regions witnessing the most serious violations of hu-man rights in the world. “ - The Tibet Myth Condensed from Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth by Dr. Michael Parenti. http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html
For additional references, see:: A. Tom Grunfeld, The Making of Modern Tibet pp12-15
Tibet: Myth and Reality
During Dalai Lama's reign, Tibetan serfs were commonly punished by mutilation.
Serfs routinely deprived of personal liberty during Dalai Lama's reign.
Less than 10% of the ethnic Tibetans lived with extrava-gance prior to 1959 while the remaining 90-95% were serfs.
Myth 3: Tibet is under government suppression today and must be freed. Fact : “A FIVE DAY visit to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in July 2000 pro-vided me a rare journalistic opportunity to attempt some reality testing of Dharmasala's main campaign themes... Here, the reality testing is not against what the protagonists and victims of the 'independent Tibet' campaign feel or believe, but against what is sys-tematically put out by the campaign as defining themes. Even if they have little formal official backing, these themes have acquired some kind of cult status on the world stage and shaped the perceptions of considerable numbers of people who have no con-tact with the realities of Tibet.” • N. Ram, Regarding the Tibet Reality, Indian’s National Magazine “Frontline”
Volume 17 - Issue 18, Sep. 02 - 15, 2000 • http://www.flonnet.com/fl1718/17180040.htm
Tibet: Myth and Reality
The Potala Palace, the holiest site for Ti-betans, after renovation. Beijing poured millions of dollars into the renovation of Potala as part of its efforts to promote Tibetan culture and religion. Potala was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1994.
Photos source: http://www.carto.net/neumann/travelling/china_tibet_2001/17_potala/
The Potala Palace welcomes tens of thou-sands of domestic and foreign tourists each year and remains the symbol of the thriving Tibetan culture and religion.
“Who really can believe that a million former serfs - more than 90% of the population - are unhappy about having the shackles of serf-dom removed? They now care for their own herds and farmland, marry whomever they wish without first getting their landlord's permission, aren't punished for disrespecting these same landlords, own their own homes, attend school, and have relatively modern hospitals, paved roads, airports and modern industries.” - Foster Stockwell
Tibet: Myth and Reality Myth 4: Thousands of Tibetan refugees flee China each year. Fact : The vast majority of the some 3000 “refugees” claimed by the Tibetan Govern-ment-in-Exile did NOT cross the border into India/Nepal for cultural or political rea-sons. They should properly be classified as student migrants or religious pilgrims. Many went to India in order to receive a secular education in English with possible career prospects overseas. Others wanted an op-portunity to receive a blessing from Dalai Lama, perceived by religious Tibetans as a living God. Just as Muslims and Catholics have thrown aside other considerations when their religious duties call, Tibetan Buddhists respond similarly. In fact, many of the 3000 Tibetans who cross into Nepal/India every year eventually return to Tibet after receiving a personal blessing from the Dalai Lama. Yet the Tibetan Government-in-Exile fraudu-lently claims that all these Tibetans who arrive in Dharamsala are “refugees.” In order to maintain
sympathy and finan-cial support from Western patrons, it needs to maintain a constant influx of arriving "refugees". To that end, it enticed poor Tibetans to make the jour-ney to India by financing their trip, promised to provide their children with an education as well as religious blessings from the Dalai Lama him-self. For further reading, see The Problem with ‘Rich Refugees’: Sponsorship, Capital, and the Infor-mal Economy of Tibetan Refugees (Modern Asian Studies, 2006), by Audrey Prost, of the Department of Anthropology, University Col-lege London.
Tibetan pilgrim in Dharamsala, In-dia. Photo by Jack Chang.
Tibetan pilgrims near the Potala Palace in Lhasa, China. Photo by Phillip Roelli
Myth 5: The Dalai Lama advocates for religious freedom. Fact : To the Dalai Lama, religious freedom means the freedom to worship only in what he believes. He used his position as the political and religious leader of the Ti-betan Government-in-Exile to suppress the growing influence of Dorje Shugden wor-ship, a rival branch of Tibetan Buddhism, in Dharamsala. The following are excerpt from Dorje Shugden Society's Letter to Indian Prime Min-ister pleading for survival on March 7, 2008:
“Dorje Shugden devotees have already been de-nied many privileges accorded other Tibetans in exile. Shugden devotees have been denied access to higher education in Tibetan Buddhist monas-teries in India, as well as the jobs controlled by the Tibetan Government in Exile. New refugees from Tibet have also been turned away from the monasteries on the grounds that they refused to recant their religious belief.” “As the result of the Dalai Lama’s speech in January 9, 2008.. The biased referendum was ini-tiated for monks not to worship Shugden…” “We love and practice peace, harmony and toler-ance. This distinctly demonstrates in the ongoing tense scenarios in the monasteries. And a single word of the Dalai Lama can completely solve
the ongoing Shugden Issue.” “With utmost respect, we appeal to your government to send notice to the concerned offices to end the discrimination, abuses and new Buddhist apartheid against Shugden devotees, and let these Buddhist monks live peacefully and enjoy their religious freedom as enshrined in the noble constitution.” The complete letter could be found under http://dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=187.0
Tibet: Myth and Reality
Obligations To The Truth & Discipline of Verification -principle of Journalism The Tibetan Government-in-Exile and the Western media were quick to brand the recent arson, looting, and random killing by the rioters in Lhasa and other parts of China in March 2008 as yet another “a peaceful protest” that was subject to the “violent crackdown” by the Chinese government. When it became apparent that the riot was anything but peaceful and that the Chinese riot police exercised re-straint, the Western media modified its rhetoric to “brutal crackdown of a protest that began peacefully” that was “framed by China as a law-and-order issue.” The Tibetan Government-in-Exile went further and had the following to say: “The Tibetans were non-violent from the beginning to the end. From the Tibetans’ perspective, violence means doing harm to human lives...The Hans could run away after being beat up. It was beating only, not harming their lives. Those killed were due to accidents...The Han Chinese didn’t run away; instead, they hid; so they were accidentally burned to death. And those who set fire on the buildings didn’t
know there were people hiding upstairs, and both Tibetans and Hans were burned to death. All of these were acci-dents, not massacre.” -- Dawa Tsering, Chief of China Affairs, Tibetan Government-in-Exile, during an interview by Radio France International, recording and translation available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cp6l6yTi9M.
Lhasa, China—March 2008 Monks were attacking riot police who were shielding themselves and the stores. Photo was taken by a by-stander.
Lhasa, China—March 15 2008 Mobs were burning flags on the street., some carry-ing knifes and chains. Photo was taken by a by-stander.
Lhasa, China—March 2008 An innocent civilian was attacked by mobs on the street. Photo was taken by a bystander.
Principles of Journalism require news or-ganizations to commit loyalty to citizens. The coverage should not be slanted for friends or advertisers and should represent all constituent groups in society. This book-let hopefully could be served as a supple-ment to the mainstream media coverage on Tibet issue and the 14th Dalai Lama, so you can make a sound judgment without being misled and misinformed.
We seek peace, knowing that peace is the soil of freedom.
Truth: To See, or Not To See The beginning of wisdom is found
in doubting; by
doubting we
come to the question, and by seek-
ing we may come upon the truth.
—Pierre Abelard
Wisdom?
How much com-
passion have
slave masters
given to those
from whom they
took the skin,
bones, limbs
and eyes?
Compassion?
