Reports coming out from Ngaba in Amdo region of occupied Tibet that today a Tibetan named as Yonten carried out a self-immolation protest against the brutal and illegal occupation of Tibet by the Chinese.
Image: made available by courageous Tibetans
That news of this latest sacrifice has managed to get out is testament to the bravery and determination of Tibetans whose land has been placed under a suffocating totalitarian black-out. They took immense risks in making sure information on Yonten’s action reached a global audience.
Like all the Tibetan heroes who stand up against the brutal tyranny of Chinese rule, his sacrifice will not be forgotten.
* Our appreciation to Jigme Ugen for sharing information on this protest.
A Tibetan rides past one of the many propaganda displays in Rebgong (Amdo region of Tibet) exhorting Chinese dictator Xi Jinping
Image:ap
Thanks to the immense courage of local Tibetans who take a genuine risk in making such information available reports have emerged during the past few days of Tibetans living in Rebgong རེབ་གོང་, རེབ་ཀོང་ located within Amdo region of occupied Tibet being subjected to intensified oppression. With movements restricted, increased surveillance and musicians and beggars banned from streets. These measures are a response from China’s regime to suppress any show of dissent against its illegal and violent rule, particularly during the month of March, which on previous occasions has witnessed Tibetan uprisings and mass protests.
Let’s get this right from the get go! It’s global knowledge that China is run on two principle operations, the generation of fear and corruption. Arguably the latter has more impact and effect, but that’s a story for another time. For now we’re going to highlight a case where these factors combine, one giving rise to the other. To begin let’s take you to the eastern region of Amdo, Tibet, to an area near the border with Southern Mongolia. At this location is situated a vast lake called in Tibetan Tso Ngonpo (Koko Nor in Mongolian).
Like every area in which China’s toxic presence has been felt since Tibet was invaded in 1950 its environment has suffered the impacts of mass tourism, mining and unregulated fishing. Now we need to take a short diversion here. For Tibetans fish are not regarded as a food resource, but a sentient life that’s respected and considered something like a water spirit. Especially those living in the sacred waters of Tso Ngonpo.
Local Tibetans Confiscate Illegal Fishing Nets From Chinese Colonizers
Image: made available by courageous Tibetans in occupied Tibet
Imagine then the profound sense of sadness and concern for Tibetans seeing, not only the once pristine shores of the lake become trashed by the unending flow of Chinese tourists and colonizers, but also witnessing the large scale nettting of fish. Despite the propaganda claims that Tibet’s is being protected this is tolerated by the occupying Chinese regime, whose local officials benefit from financial inducements!
With immense courage some Tibetans are taking direct action against this fishing, yet when they confiscate nets and hand them over to occupying Chinese officials it is they who face arrest!
Updated 12/14/18-Reports from Ngaba area of eastern Tibet’s Amdo region of a further self-immolation protests.
Image: via courageous Tibetans inside Tibet
Two 16 year-old Tibetan boys named as Gendun Gyatso and Choekyi Gyatso self-immolated Saturday December 8th against China’s violent and illegal occupation of Tibet.
In that tragic land, once a free and peaceful nation, reports today of a Tibetan who self-immolated in protest of China’s illegal and violent occupation of Tibet. Details are few at the time of this post. A Tibetan youth, named as Dhorbo, set himself ablaze on November 4 2018 in Ngaba region of eastern Tibet’s Amdo region self-immolation.
Image: courtesy of the bravery of Tibetans inside occupied Tibet
Thanks to those immensely courageous Tibetans for getting news of this to the wider world.
Where would we be without the lithium-powered technology which has become such a feature of daily life for millions around the planet. If you are a Tibetan witnessing the poisoning of your land, water and air such a question must seem a touch self-interested and callous. For in the scramble to profit from the lithium market Chinese mineral and mining companies are transforming Tibetan areas such as that around Golmud in Amdo region into toxic wastelands. Tibet and its people are paying a very heavy price for technology which have become such a social and economic necessity in the laughingly named developed world.
UPDATE: Now confirmed that a sixteen year-old Tibetan male, named as Mr Chagdor Kyab from Bora Amdo, self-immolated in the vicinity of the local monastery, shouting, (according to a source quoted by Radio Free Asia) “Tibet wants freedom” and “Let His Holiness the Dalai Lama come back to Tibet” while engulfed by flames, It remains unclear if he survived, as he was swiftly taken away by Chinese paramilitary.
A report from VOA Tibetan today confirmed that an as yet unidentified Tibetan man self-immolated on May 2nd in Bora, a town within Tibet’s Amdo region. According to sources he was swiftly taken away, leaving it is reported people in the town unaware that the protest took place. We shall post further details as they emerge.
Images showing Lobsang Sangyal before (left) and upon release (main) from a Chinese prison.
Image: photos taken by a courageous Tibetan inside occupied Tibet/graphic via @tibettruth
According to the Tibetan Center for Democracy and Human Rights (TCHRD) “On 12 November, a Tibetan monk named Lobsang Sangyal was released from Mianyang prison near the provincial capital of Chengdu, Sichuan Province in People’s Republic of China”.
Unfortunately due to an editorial policy of TCHRD we do not share or post their reports, why so? Well for some curious reason this Tibetan staffed and managed organization, based in the exiled Tibetan community of Dharamsala, India, consistently repeats and promotes propaganda terminology used by the Chinese regime to support its bogus claims that Tibet is an inalienable part of China. The result is that what are clearly Tibetan towns, villages, and territories are regularly described using cynically fabricated Chinese-sounding terms.This is a gross misrepresentation of the facts regarding Tibet’s geographic and territorial status as a distinct land and culture whose people enjoyed prior to invasion by China in 1950 national freedom with their own government. The TCHRD appears unconcerned by the reality that within international law Tibet remains an independent nation under an illegal occupation. Nor does it appear aware that in employing China’s disinformation it misleads those who regard its publications as a trusted source of information on Tibet. Furthermore its tainted reports, which conform in regards to Tibetan geography with official Chinese descriptions and titles, are effectively endorsing China’s rule over Tibet.
As we have noted before if TCHRD wishes to present itself as a balanced and neutral source, then surely it could, without too much effort in its reportage, describe places accurately as Tibetan (city, town, village, region) and then add in parenthesis the politicized Chinese version. But it does not do so, preferring to emphasize such locations as being in Chinese provinces within China, that is a political decision on its part. Which we oppose!
This is why we choose not to spread reports from TCHRD and prefer to rewrite their content to more accurately inform those who may have little knowledge on Tibet, which we do so below concerning this latest release of a Tibetan political prisoner.
‘Lobsang Sangyal was a monk at Kirti Monastery in Ngaba, Amdo region of occupied Tibet (Chinese: Aba) County in Ngaba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province). Chinese authorities restricted the monk’s family members from receiving him outside the prison. Compared to his pre-prison picture with the present, Lobsang Sangyal appears very weak and is said to suffer from memory loss, according to exile Tibetan sources.Previous information released by TCHRD indicates that the monk was detained soon after the self-immolation of his cousin Lobsang Kelsang, also a monk at Kirti Monastery, on 27 August 2012. However exile sources claim that Lobsang Sangyal had been detained several times before his imprisonment in 2012. The reason for 2012 detention that led to his four-year sentencing was due to the sale and distribution of Dalai Lama’s photos and records of the teachings of the Tibetan spiritual leader. TCHRD is unable to verify the exact charges although Lobsang Sangyal has been released. The charges and sentence term imposed on him still remain vague because of the extreme restrictions imposed by the Chinese authorities inside Tibet. Lobsang Sangyal is believed to have returned to his monastery.’ (Source: TCHRD 11/18/2016-Amended to include accurate Tibetan locations)
We wonder how Lobsang Sangyal would feel upon hearing that the TCHRD described him as coming from Sichuan Province in China?
There’s a been a number of reports coming out of Tibet’s eastern regions of Kham and Amdo about Tibetans protesting against Chinese mining corporations that are causing environmental pollution and destruction of ecology. One such company is mining for gold at a mountain considered sacred by Tibetans, now it has attracted the attention of Anonymous hacktivists who have been all over social media in the past few days to notify folks that the website of that Chinese company is to be targeted. Today our Twitter account received further information on this and what’s been called ‘Operation Goldfucker’ has been launched. Many thanks to @AnonymousTibet and @teamriddler for sharing updates on this ongoing action.
TIBET, ACTIVISM AND INFORMATION 