CIA

As the commemoration of the Lhasa Uprising on March 10 draws near we thought it a good opportunity to address a common perception of Tibetans as a peaceful people whose Buddhist culture is dedicated to non-violence. This view has taken hold in parallel with the global popularity and respect of the Dalai Lama. While there’s much truth in that understanding it’s less well known that Tibetans were engaged in a bloody war-of-resistance against Chinese rule in Tibet from 1956 to 1974. A very different story indeed to the narrative pushed by China’s regime of a failed uprising in Lhasa in 1959!

The Tibetan resistance was born from the unimaginable tryanny and horrors China’s so-called reforms had brought to eastern Tibet, in its first year tentative contact was made by the nephew of Gombo Tashi (who headed the guerilla movement) with US officials in Calcutta, India. The CIA was to begin its role in supporting and training Tibetans, with the last airdrop of supplies falling into the Tibetan border region of Mustang in 1965. By 1971 President Nixon had reached an accord with Chairman Mao, the brave fighters of Tibet were abandonded.

The limited support was always conditional to the political interests of the United States, it no longer served the agenda of Nixon, Kissinger and the State Department to offer aid to the armed struggle against China. It was though not a fatal demise, the hope of Tibet’s national freedom continued and today still fuels Tibetan protests against Chinese rule. March 10 is a day on which those brave Tibetans, who sacrificed their lives for Tibet’s independence are honored.

Image: courtesy of @tibettruth

In the English county of Somerset, a massive construction site is giving birth to a new nuclear plant, called Hinkley C. There’s lot of reasons to be concerned, not least environmental issues and operational safety. While the media may have moved on from the radioactive nightmare of Fukushima, the wider public remain justifiably anxious at the prospect of another meltdown. Not to worry claims the UK Government, who are entirely satisfied that the project will operate to the ‘highest standards’, after all folks there can relax knowing its being built and heavily funded by China’s General Nuclear Power Group. Right?

Apart from the specter of a nuclear incident there have been other objections, notably that allowing China such control and ownership over a UK power plant may compromise areas of national security. Such fears have been dismissed by the authorities. However with the head of the CIA today citing China as a major threat to US and European interests, and declaring that Chinese espionage is a serious issue, should the British government be complacent on such a vulnerability?

They should consider recent discoveries made at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the $200 million building was gifted by China and included a computer system which it turned out had servers programed to transfer sensitive and classified information directly to a server based in Shanghai! Report here