The Tibet Post International Online Newspaper

Russian and Mongolian celebratesBuddhists festival

Buddhist Festival Page1 Tibet and Paper Tigers Page 2 Dalai Lama Page 3 Pictures from Tibet Page 4 Canadian beauty is Miss Earth 2007 Page 5 GERE’S NIGHT TO REMEMBER Page 6

EU Urged to promote Political Dialogueon Tibet’s Autonomy

European Parliament adopts Resolution on the Environmental Situation in Tibetand the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics

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World

Dharamsala, November 9:The newly elected President of the TibetanYouth Congress (TYC), Mr Tsewang Rigzintoday announced Administrative-memberportfolios of the newly formed 13th CentralExecutive Body (CENTREX).

Miss Tibet 2007, Tenzin Dolma with Miss.Taiwan and Miss. Hong Kong

more details see page 5

W e e k l yB o d - K y i - P h o - N y a

I n t e r n a t i o n a l

Rs.5Vol. 01, Issue 02, 15 November, 2007

The Tibet P stT P I S h o rt s Ta k e s

Humanitarianaids awarded to Richard

Gere, page 6

Dharamsala: 10thNovember: His Holiness the DalaiLama addressing the gathering, page 4

www.thetibetpost.com

T i b e t

Dharamsala, November 10: Tibetans and tour-ists today enjoyed cultural songs and dancesof Tibet, Mongolia and Russian Republics ofBuryatia, Kalmykia and Tuva in a very re-

laxed presence of His Holiness the DalaiLama here this afternoon.Today’s celebration marked the conclusion ofa five-day Buddhists Festival of Mongolia and

the three Russian Republics in Dharamsalathat began Tuesday.For Russian Buddhists and Mongolians, it wasan occasion to celebrate the revival of Bud-

Tibetan Woman

Russian and Mongolian are waiting for H.H the Dalai Lama in-front of main temple. Photo: TPI

Monday, 12 November 2007Dharamshala: Kalon Tripa Samdhong Rinpochewill leave this afternoon for a 9 day visit to NewDelhi, Uttarakhand and Nagpur from 13 to 21 No-vember.On his arrival in New Delhi tomorrow, Kalon Tripawill attend the Satyagraha Centenary Internationalconference. He will deliver a key-note address on“Globalisation of the Gandhian Way: Sociology, Poli-tics and Science of Satyagraha between 1906-2006.”During his two-day visit to Uttarakhand from 14 to15 November, Kalon Tripa will attend the children’sday function at the Tibetan Homes’ Foundation inMussoorie and Rajpur.

On 15 November,Kalon Tripa willleave for a two-dayvisit to Nagpur.From 17 to 18 No-vember, KalonTripa will deliver aspeech on “Per-ception of realityfrom the Buddhistpoint of view” dur-ing the annual reli-

gious study camp at the Institute of GandhianStudies in Nagpur.During his two-day visit to New Delhi, on the re-quest from the Acharya Kirpalani’s Memorial Trust,Kalon Tripa will give a key-note memorial lecture.Next day, Kalon Tripa will attend a function onLord Buddha’s Mahaparinirvana in Gargi collegein New Delhi. He will deliver a lecture on the “Con-temporary relevance of Buddha’s message.”Kalon Tripa will return on 22 November. Photo: TPI

Kalon Tripa to visit Delhi,Uttarakhand and Nagpur

D h a r a a m s a l a

by Tibet IntergroupNovember 12th, 2007.The European Parliamentarian Conference onTibet in Brussels today expressed deep concernabout the continuing violation of the rights ofTibetan people by the Peoples Republic of China,and unanimously called upon the EuropeanUnion (EU) and national governments ofEuropean countries to push for a politicalsettlement of the long standing Sino-Tibetanissue.More than 200 participants from 20 countries -Members of the European and Nationalparliaments, Members of the EU Commissionand the Council, Ambassadors, Human Rightsand Environmental activists and Olympic gold-medallists - attended the conference at the

European Parliament in Brussels. They wereinvited by the European Parliament’s TibetIntergroup.The conference was opened by President of theTibet Intergroup, Mr. Thomas Mann and thePresident of the European Parliament Hans-GertPoettering and comprised two workshops on theTibetan Environmental Situation and on theBeijing 2008 Summer Olympics. In a statementto the conference, Mr Poettering welcomed therenewed contact between the government of thePeople’s Republic of China and the envoys ofH.H. the Dalai Lama, but urged the Chineseleadership to embark upon earnest and sincerenegotiations with the object of finding a just andlasting political solution on Tibet’s Autonomysituation.

TYC’s 13th Executive Bodyportfolios announced

Monks at Drepung before the whitewashing of the wallwas broken up by People’s Armed Police on October 17.The image shows the celebratory mood at Drepung onthe day of the Congressional Gold Medal award – themarks on the monks’ robes indicate that tsampa (roastedbarley flour) was being thrown in honor of the day. Al-though it is clear this was a celebration and not a protest,the group was soon broken up by armed police. Pictureobtained by the Tibetan Center for Human Rights andDemocracy, India, www.tchrd.org

China Mobile sets up onMount Everest

BEIJING - China’s largest cell phone service providersuccessfully tested a transmission station on MountEverest on 11, November, making it possible for climb-ers and those on next year’s Olympic torch relay tomake calls, the Xinhua News

Photo: TPI

15 November, 2007 Dharamsala THE EDIT PAGE The Tibet Post

Why are Arab-World issues andTibetan issues treated differently?

‘India should be given voice in UN’

The danger in Chinese impunity

2

Press of Tibet,Room # 306

Nechung Hostel, Gamru VillageP.O. Dharamsala - 176215

Distt. Kangra, H.P., INDIA

Advicer Mr. Thomas KeimelAdvicer Dr. Vincent BrosselEditor Mr. Yeshe ChoesangSub Editor Mrs. Rigzin WangmoReporter Mr. Palden GyatsoReporter Miss. Dolma LhamoCircular Mr. Tenzin SangpoPublisher Mr. Tenzin Kunga

I n t e r n a t i o n a lThe Tibet P st

Tele: 0091-1892-224641E-mail: [email protected]

www.thetibetpost.com

1 Nov, 2007, PTI

WASHINGTON: India, which has“special significance” as an emerg-ing power, should be given a biggervoice in regional and internationalinstitutions like the UN, HillaryClinton, the Democratic frontrunnerfor the upcoming US Presidentialelection has said.

”....India has a special significanceboth as an emerging power and asthe world’s most populous democ-racy. As co-chair of the Senate In-dia Caucus, I recognize the tremen-

dous opportunity presented byIndia’s rise and the need to give thecountry an augmented voice in re-gional and international institutions,such as the UN,” Clinton, who ac-cording to polls is leading in the raceto become the next USPresident,said.

The former first lady also said ter-rorists are increasingly finding safehavens in Pakistan, its staunch allyin the war on terror, and called for“redoubling” of efforts in the SouthAsian country.

”Terrorists are increasingly findingsafe havens in the Federally Admin-istered Tribal Areas of Pakistan,”Clinton wrote in an Essay in the re-spected Foreign Affairs Magazine.She also said America’s relationshipwith China will be “the most impor-tant bilateral relationship” in theworld.

”The US and China have vastly dif-ferent values and political systems,yet even though we disagree pro-foundly on issues ranging fromtrade to human rights, religious free-dom, labor practices, and Tibet,there is much that the US and Chinacan and must accomplish together,”Clinton said.

The Democratic senator slammedthe Bush administration for “squan-dering the respect, trust, and confi-dence of even our closest allies andfriends.”

After 9/11, Clinton said the world ral-lied behind the US and “we had ahistoric opportunity to build a broadglobal coalition to combat terror, in-crease the impact of our diplomacy,and create a world with more part-ners and fewer adversaries.”

PTI. 13. November.The closer we get to the BeijingOlympics, the more China re-sembles global warming: We’re allaware of the problem, it threatensevery one of us and we can all dosomething about it. But we choosenot to.

The evidence of Beijing’s derelic-tion continues to pile up. From toysthat can have the same effect asa “date rape” drug if swallowedto the systematic detention of dis-sidents of all stripes to the armingof gross violators of human rightsabroad, China remains an irrespon-sible stakeholder with relative im-punity, thanks partly to interna-tional acquiescence to its demandthat no one meddle in its affairs.

When a state acts irresponsibly inthe 21st century, everybody is atrisk. As China expands its inter-actions with the global economy,domestic matters can no longer betreated in isolation from the out-side world.

Problems stemming from the tradein dangerous goods, criminal neg-ligence, lack of official oversightand mere incompetence pose athreat to consumers of Chineseproducts. But because China islikely to remain a manufacturer’sparadise for some years to come,it is not unreasonable for the in-ternational community to give it a

certain amount of time to makenecessary adjustments.

Where the world should be lesspatient, however, is on matterswhere adjustments need to be im-mediate. Human rights and espio-nage come to mind.

Despite commitments it made asa future host of the Olympics,Beijing has continued to violatemedia freedoms. As Human RightsWatch reported last week: “For-eign correspondents routinely faceharassment, detention and intimi-dation at the hands of Chinese se-curity forces and plainclothesthugs who appear to operate atofficial behest.”

Nothing underscores this realitybetter than a BBC correspondentwho spent a day in detention forcovering simmering unrest, only tofind that in the meantime the boltsholding the wheels of his car to thechassis had been tampered with.

The International Olympic Com-mittee is fully aware of thesetransgressions, but Beijing will notbe rebuked. And if it is allowed toact in such a manner with foreigncorrespondents, one can only imag-ine how the government must betreating people far from the gazeof journalists and cameras of theinternational press.

By giving Beijing a free hand toharass and endanger foreign jour-nalists, the international commu-nity condones repression in China.

With regard to espionage, US Di-rector of National IntelligenceMichael McConnell told a Houseof Representatives hearing in Sep-tember that Chinese espionage ac-tivities against the US were“reaching Cold War levels,” whilein April the Canadian Security In-telligence Service said Chinesespies were stealing US$1 billion intechnological secrets every monthand that almost half of its counter-intelligence efforts were againstChina.

Given Beijing’s close and some-times inseparable relationship withthe private sector, the recent dis-covery of spyware on Chinese-made portable hard drives —which collects information on com-puters and beames it to servers inBeijing — also points to the possi-bility of state involvement in thegathering of intelligence throughexporters. As China sells moreelectronics abroad, opportunities touse such technology to conductespionage can only multiply.

Failure to hold Beijing accountableon these serious matters will onlyencourage it to amplify its repres-sion in areas where the interna-tional community has less say.

Ongoings at the 61st general assembly of UN only show member nations in anunending scramble for power - power to occupy, power for war, power for weapons.

Of course, there are talks about religion, nonviolence, good will, environmentprotection, global warming, etc. So-called peace makers see the same problems in

Tibet, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East. But there is no voice rising for humbleand occupied Tibetans. All attention gets focussed on Iraq, Afghanistan and MiddleEast, only for material gains like oil or increasing terror or political power. Why is

there no resolution for the Tibetans?

Peace is but a meaningless word, in a world competing for weapons, economic powerand political advantages. The world saw the war on Iraq and Afghanistan, can we

count of the people killed? The war on terror is on, can we count the people that havebecome terrorists? In 1959 China occupied Tibet, killing 1.5 million Tibetans from 6millions Tibet population, the victims were only Tibetans. The Tibetan government-in-exile has estimated at least one million Tibetans have died under Chinese rule and

around 80,000 refugees have fled the country. The death toll is comparable to theJewish deaths from Nazi attrocities. It is common belief that involving paper heroessuch as UN, USA, EU, ARAB world and SAARC etc can be helpful. But, unfortu-

nately, a Paper Tiger never bites, will never bite.

For the Tibetans, the dilemma is clear exclusion from political stake holding, whichradicalizes and legitimizes violence of red Chinese. Which is why there is no effort to

solve the Tibetan crisis. Isn’t that how Iraq, Afghanistan and Middle East aredifferent? We must take the first difficult steps on that road of equality. An equalitythat has so far evaded the snow people since the 1950s. The Chinese are still huntingdown Tibetans like rats in the snow. I say, Tibetans can’t trust the world that doesn’t

care about Tibet. Tibetans are losing hope to resolve their issues.

A huge banner, with the humble character for way or road painted on it, hangs abovethe main hall of the assembly to constantly remind the more than 450 to 550 senior

religious and political world leaders attending many conferences, to find ways tofulfill the stated aims of confronting violence and advancing shared security of peace

in this world. Tibetans are escaping from their home, without a single weapon, gettingkilled by heavy arms of Chinese military in Tibet and its neighboring borders. Big eats

small, even in animals, the bigger ones become friends, UN is one of them. Smallerbecome victims, like Tibetans are.

UN, EU don’t have any old or new proposals for Tibet and its people’s sufferings.The Chinese occupation since 1959 sent thousands of Tibetan refugees into India,

Nepal and abroad. The bodies, however, never considered any welfare, security, aidand support for Tibetans inside and outside Tibet. Neither was there any effort to call

for an active participation of all Asian states. Hardly are there any press conferenceaddressing Tibet issues, but many leaders have commented that attempts at peace

were not successful at creating peace between Tibet and the China for the reasons thatChinese secular efforts were not enough to solve the problems between people of

different faiths.

Mediations may be necessary in the Utsang province (Western Tibet), Khamprovince Eastern Tibet, Amdho province (Eastern Tibet)’ from western country.

Thousands of Tibetans from occupied Tibet, they cried out to the world to help theHoly Land regain freedom of all and peace. There has been too much bloodshed over

Snowland, particularly the recent murder of 7 Tibetans between Tibet and Nepalboundary. China can claim no victory after killing innocent Tibetan women (Nun) and

children.

No official international Committee ever invited the spiritual leader of Tibet, TheDalai Lama on a platform of the International Inter-religious and Political Affairs forTibet. The reason is clear, he is known to the world as a peacemaker. Many current

anti-peace men dwelt on the causes of violence in the name of religion. When ouridentities are threatened we seek to defend them. As an ancient scholar once explained

the reality of future, “All scholars are thieves; I am the leader of the thieves.”

One of my friends, Mr. Dhardho Karma said because religion is so profoundly relatedto identity, when people are hurt they fall on their religious traditions to give them asense of purpose and seek self-justification in a way that disregards and stigmatizesthe other. This way, he continued, politicians come to the conclusion that for peace

building must be kept away from religion. He said, he would have urged the assemblyto acknowledge that terrible things have been done in the name of religion and would

refer to the Holy Land as an area where conflict resolution has failed because redpoliticians did not work together with religious leaders. I know that he is trying toremind me how many holy places were destroyed by Chinese in Tibet since 1950s.

“Tibet and Paper Tigers”

Tibet Post

15 November, 2007 DharamsalaTPI DALAI LAMAThe Tibet Post 3

dhism in their country andreconnection with Tibetan peopleand meeting with His Holiness theDalai Lama,whom they equally revere as theirspiritual leader in the world.It was a celebration unfoldingTibet’s long shared ancient histori-cal ties with the people of the Bud-dhist regions before the relationshipwas briefly cut off during the reignof Communism which affected thespiritual and cultural lives of thepeople in all the Buddhists states.

Senior officials of the Tibetan Gov-ernment-in Exile based here inDharamsala, including TibetanPrime Minister Prof. SamdhongRinpoche, Speaker of the TibetanParliament Mr Karma Choepheland Tibetan Chief Justice Commis-sioner Mr Namgyal Tsering at-tended the concluding function ofthe Buddhists Festival.Some 400 people from the threeRussian Republics and Mongoliahave been in Dharamsala, the ex-ile seat of the Dalai Lama, to par-ticipate in the Buddhists Festival,

Russian and Mongolian cel-ebrates Buddhists festival

Tibet.net, 12,November 2007.

Dharamshala.On the margins oftheir 5-day Buddhist festival here,some 400 Buddhists devoteesfrom Mongolia and Russian Re-publics including Kalmykia,Buriyatia and Tuva offered a longlife prayer (Tenshug) at a cer-emony held at Tsuglagkhang, themain temple on 10 November.Thousands of Tibetans and devo-tees from other countries alsojoined in the prayer ceremony at

Mongolian and Russian Buddhists offerlong live pujas to His Holiness

a packed main temple courtyard.Dignitaries including KundelingRinpoche, justice commissioners,speaker of the Tibetan Parlia-ment-in-Exile, Kalon Tripa, mem-bers of Kashag and other officialsof the Central Tibetan Adminis-trat ion at tended the prayerceremony.In his brief address,His Holiness the Dalai Lama re-counted the long-standing reli-gious and cultural ties betweenTibet and Mongolia, build overhundreds of years ago.Later in

the evening, the Kashag hosted adinner reception to the visitingdignitaries including KalmykiaPresident Kirsan Illumjhinov andothers delegates from the RussianRepublics and Mongolia. On 9November, at the request of Mon-golian and Russian Buddhists, HisHoliness conferred a one-dayteaching on the ‘Three PrincipalPaths’ (lamtso namsum) by JeTsongkhapa to a large gatheringof thousands of devotees at theTsuglagkhang.

11-15-2007, 08h41NARITA, Japan (AFP)Tibetan spiritual leader and Nobellaureate Dalai Lama gives a bless-ing upon his arrival at Narita Air-port, outside Tokyo, 15 November2007. Dalai Lama is in Japan tomeet Japanese Buddhists.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leaderthe Dalai Lama arrived in Japan onThursday for a week-long visit atthe invitation of a Buddhistgroup.The Dalai Lama flew intoNarita airport east of Tokyo earlyThursday on a commercial flightfrom India.A small crowd greetedhim, with many bowing their headsto show respect as he walked by.

During his stay in Japan, which helast visited a year ago, he will go tothe ancient Shintoism shrine of Isein western Japan and give a speechat a forum on religion in Yokohamanear Tokyo.He will also visit localschools in Tokyo.China has opposedvisits to Japan by the Dalai Lama,whom Beijing accuses of being adangerous figure agitating for Tibetanindependence. Japan allowed him tocome on the condition he avoid po-litical activities.Appearing at a func-tion in New Delhi last week to cel-ebrate him being awarded the top USCongress civilian honour this month,the Dalai Lama said accused Chinaof what he called “demographic ag-gression.”

Dalai Lama arrives in Japan

www.chinaview.cn 2007-11-15

BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) —China has expressed regret overJapan’s permission of a visit byDalai Lama, said Foreign Ministryspokesman Liu Jianchao on Thurs-day. “We have reiterated manytimes our opposition to any coun-try providing convenience or plat-form for Dalai Lama’s activities

aimed at separating China. We ex-pressed our regret over Japan’spermission of Dalai’s entry into Ja-pan and his visit to the country,”said Liu at a regular press confer-ence. He said Dalai Lama has longbeen engaged in activities aimed atseparating China, and no countryor people in the world that upholdsjustice would support such activi-ties. Editor: Yangtze Yan

China expresses regret over Japan’spermission of Dalai Lama’s visit

Tibet: The first Inde-pendent Weeekly

the first of its kind ever held here.The festival is led by TeloRinpoche the spiritual head of theKalmyk Buddhists.The visiting Buddhists communi-ties made a grand long life offer-ing to His Holiness earlier thismorning before the cultural showresumed in the Tsuglagkhangcourtyard in the afternoon draw-ing in hundreds of crowd.The groups also had an opportu-nity to listen to a special day-longon teaching by His Holiness on Fri-day.

Photo: TPI

Photo: TPI

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15 November, 2007 Dharamsala TPI TIBET The Tibet Post

EU Urged to promote Political Dialogueon Tibet’s Autonomy

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“The EU must ensure that the EU andits member States implement effectivepolicies to promote an end to the tragicoppression of the Tibetan people,”said Mr. Mann.The European ParliamentarianConference on Tibet adopted tworesolutions. The first one highlightedongoing risks to the health andsustainability of the Tibetanenvironment, resulting from Chinesegovernment policies, includingreckless resource extraction andtimber harvesting, social re-engineering that interferes withtraditional livelihoods, rapidurbanization and the radical increaseof Chinese settlers into Tibet. Theresolution raises awareness about thespiritual, cultural, economic, andhealth significance of the Tibetanenvironment for the Tibetan people,as well for the people of China, forTibet’s immediate neighbours and forthe world at large.“The Tibet Intergroup appreciates thatChinese President Hu Jintao has madecommitments to addressingenvironmental issues during theOctober 2007 17th Party Congress.But there must also come theacknowledgement that it is the Chinesegovernment’s own failure toimplement genuine autonomy for theTibetan people that denies them localcommunities the opportunity toparticipate meaningfully inenvironmental decision-making and tocontest environmental projectsTibetans regard as detrimental to theircultural, religious and/or economicinterests”, said Thomas Mann.“We must investigate and utilise NGO,governmental and internationalenvironmental programs that can beapplied to Tibet and that will provideTibetans with the opportunity toparticipate in the management of theirenvironment”, added Mr. Mann.In its second workshop, theconference participants discussed theupcoming Summer Olympics inBeijing 2008 and the role that previousOlympic Games have contributed tosocial and political change, and thatthe 2008 games in Beijing can alsorepresent an opportunity to contributeto positive change in China and Tibet.They underlined that His Holiness, theDalai Lama has consistentlysupported the Chinese people’s desireto host the 2008 Olympics.Dolma Gyari, Speaker of the TibetanParliament-in-Exile, called upon theEP to reaffirm its support for thedialogue between representatives ofHis Holiness the Dalai Lama and theChinese government, and itsexpectation that this dialogue will leadto tangible progress towards anegotiated settlement on the issue of

Tibet within the framework of thePRC.”Speaking on the Sino-Tibetan dialogue,the envoy of the Dalai Lama, KelsangGyaltsen said, “the pursuit ofinternational recognition, respect andadmiration is a top priority of theChinese leadership. Without thecooperation, acceptance anddeference of the members of theinternational community this ambitioncannot be achieved. World opinion isfar from being immaterial to theChinese leadership.”Mr. Vincent Metten, EU PolicyDirector for the InternationalCampaign for Tibet, said thatpolicymakers should call upon theirgovernments to ensure that China’sactions and deeds actively contributeto the realization of the UN OlympicsTruce, as passed by the UN GeneralAssembly on 31 October 2007.The conference participants alsocalled on China to promote thefreedom of press and independentreporting for international anddomestic journalists. This shouldinclude all travel to and reporting fromTibetan areas.“We intend to sign an official petitionto President Hu Jintao urging that allrights to free expression, free religiousbelief and free association berespected in the run up to the BeijingGames and beyond”, added Mr Mann.Other speakers at today’s conferenceincluded:· Isabel Hilton (UK), columnistfor british newspapers, author of “theSearch of the Panchen Lama”, editorof a website devoted to climatechange and environment;· Penpa Tsering, Member ofthe Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, Di-rector of the Tibetan Parliamentaryand Policy Research Centre;· Peter Stastny MEP, partici-pant of 4 Olympic Games (Winter);· Dieter Baumann, Germanathlete (1500 m and 5000 m distance),Olympic Medallist, gold medal win-ner of 5000 m at the 1992 SummerOlympics.“This conference has provided an in-spiring platform for supporters of Ti-bet to meet and discuss the challengesfacing the Tibetan Issue”, said Ms.Tsering Jampa, Director of Interna-tional Campaign for Tibet Europe.“We appreciate the engagement ofpolicymakers all across Europe on theTibet issue and for adopting the strongresolutions that encourage the Tibetanpeople to continue their non-violentstruggle towards freedom”, sheadded.The conference was organized by theEuropean Parliament’s Intergroup forTibet, in association with Bureau duTibet, Brussels, and the InternationalCampaign for Tibet Europe.

Pictures from Tibet depicting strictvigilance in Drepung Monastery

by Chinese authorities

Armed troops gather at Drepung on October 17, the day the Dalai Lama received the Congres-sional Gold Medal. Photo: The Tibet Express

Picture obtained by the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy, India, www.tchrd.orgNew images just received from Tibet show troops gathered outside Drepung monastery in Lhasa in a show offorce after monks whitewashed a wall to commemorate the Dalai Lama being honored with the CongressionalGold Medal on October 17 in Washington, DC.Drepung monastery was sealed off and surrounded by armed troops after police stopped an attempt by monksto peacefully mark the honor to the Dalai Lama in the week of October 17. The images confirm the reports ofa buildup of armed police at the monastery, depicting troops in the hills outside the monastery as well as gatheredoutside in riot gear. One observer reported: “The woods and hills around the monastery were full of police andtroops.” During the same week, there were checkpoints on roads out of Lhasa, and an order to Lhasa citizensnot to carry out any religious or celebratory activities.People’s Armed Police troops moved in to stop the monks from whitewashing the walls on the morning of theCongressional Gold Medal ceremony. The Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao reported that one monk was hit onthe head with a baton, while a Tibetan source reported online on a Chinese language website that a monk whohad just picked up a tool for stirring the whitewash was hit by a police officer and “then pummeled by punchesand kicks.” According to the same account, the monks then left the scene, and a large number of People’sArmed Police troops entered Drepung, with others doing military exercises in the monastery parking lot.Pilgrims and tourists were not allowed to enter the monastery, and monks were not allowed to leave. Most ofthe monks were not even allowed to go to the dining hall to eat or boil water for several days.According to one report, on October 26, a few pilgrims were allowed into Drepung for the first time since themonastery had been sealed off. The same report, online in Chinese on a blogsite and informed by individuals inLhasa, stated that on November 7, monks were finally allowed to leave the monastery, but only for a limited timeperiod. The atmosphere at Drepung is reportedly still tense, with monks under continued surveillance.Celebrations in Lhasa to commemorate the honor to the exiled Tibetan religious leader were more quietlydevotional in Lhasa compared to those that took place in parts of eastern Tibet, where Tibetans set off fireworksand fire crackers. Several Tibetans were detained temporarily after celebrations with fireworks and prayerswere held at Labrang (Chinese: Xiahe in Gansu province) monastery in the Tibetan area of Amdo.

Police and soldiers were seen gathered on the hillside beside Drepung on October 17

Photo: The Tibet Express

15 November, 2007 DharamsalaTPI WORLDThe Tibet Post

AP: 11-11-2007: A 22-year-old Cana-dian was crowned Miss Earth 2007 ina televised pageant at the Universityof the Philippines Theater in Diliman,Quezon City, early yesterday morning.Jessica Nicole Trisko bested 87 othercandidates from around the world inthe pageant that focused on advocacyfor the protection and care for the en-vironment.Trisko, who stands 5’10" and weighs135 lb., was crowned by Chile’s HilHernandez, last year’s Miss Earth.She said that the ozone depletion andglobal warming are the most seriousthreats to the environment.Trisko added that she will create aneducational program to teach indi-viduals about caring for the environ-ment.Miss India Pooja Chitgopeker, 22, wasnamed Miss Air, while Miss VenezuelaSilvana Santaella, 23, was crownedMiss Water. Miss Spain Angela Gomez,22, was chosen Miss Fire. They woncash, scholarships, jewelry, among oth-ers.Miss South Africa Bokang Montjane,21, won a special award called “BeautyFor A Cause.”

PAKISTAN PRES. PERVEZ MUSHARRAFRECONFIRMS ELECTIONS

The four semi-finalists impressed thejudges on the final common question,“How would you describe the beautyof Mother Earth to a blind child?”Special awards went to Miss Lebanon,Miss Friendship; Miss Lithuania, MissTalent; Miss Thailand, Best in NationalCostume; and Miss Venezuela, Best inLong Gown and Swimsuit. Miss Phil-ippines Jeanne Harn, 25, was MissPhotogenic.Miss Venezuela was also named MissPsalmstre New Placenta 2007 during apre-pageant rite at the Airport CasinoFilipino in Parañaque City last Nov. 5.The award was presented by TV per-sonality Jaime Acosta, president of

Psalmstre Inc., maker of New Placentasoap and other beauty products.In the preliminary round, the delegatescompeted in fashion, national cos-tume, and long gown.The 88 candidates were narroweddown to 16 semifinalists. Others whomade it to the semi-final cut wereMisses Peru, Martinique, Georgia, Ni-geria, Romania, Switzerland, Czech Re-public, Thailand, Lebanon, Sweden,and the Dominican Republic.The 16 finalists were later trimmed toeight — Georgia, Peru, Canada, Swit-zerland, India, Venezuela, Thailand,and Spain.Former beauty queen turned ac-t r e s s Evange l ine Pascua l waschairperson of this year’s board ofjudges. Other judges included ac-tress Dawn Zulueta, Manuel Roxas,Architect Nestor Mangio, JoseRamon Olives of ABS-CBN, HongJin, among others.The event was hosted by VJ Utt, 2004Miss Earth Priscilla Mereilles, andGinger Conejeros.Miss Tibet 2007 Tenzin Dolma haslanded in Manila, the capital of thePhilippines, to participate in the MissEarth pageant. She is among eighty-six young ladies from different coun-tries around the world

Canadian beauty is Miss Earth 2007

Tenzin Dolma, Miss. Tibet 2007 participates in Miss Earth 2007

Fri Nov 16, 2007 4:25 AMBy Jack KimSEOUL (Reuters) - North and SouthKorea on Friday agreed more massiveprojects to help rebuild the North’sbroken economy, including freighttrain services over their heavily armedborder that had been severed since the1950-53 Korea War.The agreements, which came duringthe first talks in 15 years betweenprime ministers of two countries tech-nically at war, also envision SouthKorea building shipyards along NorthKorea’s west coast, the scene of na-val clashes in recent years.But the three days of talks betweenthe prime ministers resulted in littleimmediate or tangible change to aneconomic relationship long marked bythe hermit North’s preference for aidfrom its prosperous neighbor withoutthe risk of actually opening itself upto a flood of outside investors.“The agreements set the stage for ourcompanies to expand investment in theNorth and substantially contribute toits economic development,” South

Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo’s office said in a statement.The meeting focused on how to imple-ment pledges made at only the sec-ond summit of their leaders last monthand comes as impoverished and iso-lated North Korea begins to roll backits nuclear arms program under a dealwith regional powers.Trade between Asia’s fourth-largesteconomy and one of its poorest isbarely $1 billion a year, most of it tiedto aid from the South and two enclavesit operates — one industrial and theother for tourism — just inside theNorth.That could get a boost after freightservices across the Demilitarized Zonebegins on December 11, more than halfa century after the tracks were sev-ered.South Korea will help repair the 170-km (105-mile) stretch of highway be-tween Pyongyang and the North’sborder city of Kaesong, about 70 km(45 miles) northwest of Seoul, as wellas rail tracks between Kaesong andthe North’s border with China.

Two Koreas agree on aid projects for North

North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong-il (L) signs joint declaration documentswith his South Korean counterpart Han Duck-soo during their meeting at a hotel inSeoul, South Korea, November 16, 2007. The text on the wall translates as “FirstPrime Ministers Meeting of South and North Koreas” REUTERS/Lee Jin-man/Pool

AFP.Last Updated: 2:24am GMT 05/11/2007

Nicolas Sarkozy embarks on his first offi-cial visit to Washington today amid claimsthat he has replaced Tony Blair as Presi-dent George W Bush’s “poodle”.MrSarkozy, arguably the most pro-AmericanFrench president ever, wants to end thebitterness caused by the opposition of hisimmediate predecessor, Jacques Chirac, tothe Iraq war when he meets Mr Bush to-morrow. “The aim of this trip is to seal therenewal of ties between France and theUnited States following the crisis of 2003,”said the French presidential spokesmanDavid Martinon. After talks at the WhiteHouse, Mr Sarkozy and Mr Bush are tomeet again at the Mount Vernon home ofGeorge Washington, who used French mili-tary might to help defeat the British in theWar of Independence.Mr Sarkozy willspeak on Wednesday to a joint session ofthe US Congress, a rare honour, in whichhe will “send a message” of friendship toAmericans.But opposition Socialistsrounded on the president yesterday, call-ing him a “poodle” — a label once reservedfor Mr Blair.”I am not saying that Francehas become a satellite of the United States,”said Pierre Moscovici, the French Social-ists’ spokesman on international affairs.“But Sarkozy is playing a dangerous gamein abandoning any duty to take stock, anycritical dialogue with Washington. What willhe do if George Bush decides to bombIran?” Mr Bush and Mr Sarkozy met forthe first time at the G8 summit in Germany

in June. They then shared a barbecue lunchduring the French leader’s summer holidayin New Hampshire. Mr Sarkozy’s prom-ises that he will bring a “rupture” with thepast, introducing Anglo-Saxon reforms suchas tax cuts and longer working hours, haveconvinced many that he is more interestedin a liberal, US-style economy than the tra-ditionally paternalistic French model. MrSarkozy never ceases to highlight “the his-toric friendship” between France and theUS and, speaking about his growing rela-tionship with Mr Bush, Mr Sarkozy saidlast month: “The trial has started, I will bea friend of the Americans. Oh yes, it’s true.Don’t torture me, I confess. “Here is a coun-try, one of the few across the world apartfrom Poland, with which we have neverbeen at war. It is really not a reason for usto hate each other.”

Nicolas Sarkozy to cement close-ness to USA

Pakistan’s President Gen.PervezMusharraf speaks to the media at apress conference at the presidentialpalace in Islamabad, Pakistan on Sun-day, November 11, 2007. Musharrafreconfirmed plans for parliamentaryelections though the country wouldremain in emergency rule.Former Pakistani prime ministerBenazir Bhutto gestures as she ad-dresses a news conference in Lahore,Pakistan on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007.Bhutto guardedly welcomed PresidentPervez Musharraf’s announcement ofgeneral elections by January 9 as a“positive step.”

In Santiago, Chile, Ven-ezuelan President HugoChavez had a harsh meet-ing with Spanish Chief ofGovernment Jose LuisRodriguez Zapatero at17 th La t in Amer icanSummi t in San t i ago ,Chile on November 10,2007. Chavez claimedtha t h i s coun t ry “ re -

serves the right to replyany agression under anytone, at any place ands i tua t ion , ” a f t e rRodriguez Zapatero de-manded due respect toSpanish former chief ofgovernment Jose MariaAssnar. (Marcel Garces/N o t i m e x / W P N )**Mexico Out**

CHILE 17TH LATIN AMERICAN SUMMIT IN SANTIAGO

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15 November, 2007 DharamsalaTPI VARIETYThe Tibet Post

Tibetan issue key to Indo-China ties: Dalai Lama

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Tibetans convicted for wildlife trafficking

GERE’S NIGHT TO REMEMBER

For the Daily NewsACTOR RICHARD GERE returned to thecity of his birth last night, receiving the cov-eted 2007 Marian Anderson Award for hisartistry and deeply felt humanitarian effortssupporting Tibet, Amnesty International andAIDS awareness, among other causes.The evening had the red-carpet feel, withGov. and Mrs. Rendell, Mayor Street andmany attending dignitaries at the concertfollowing a gala dinner in the KimmelCenter’s Commonweath Plaza.Gere has used his clout and influence toraise the world’s awareness of the repres-sive and brutal treatment of Tibetans bythe Chinese government, to push for re-search to combat HIV/AIDS, to supportSurvival International, and to championnumerous other causes through his GereFoundation, founded in 1991.Gere acknowledged family members in at-tendance, and brought his proud father,Homer, on stage. “I appreciate the honor,”he said, “but I am not worthy of it in anyway. One thing I know is that we do noth-ing on our own, not one thing! Love andcompassion, like Marian Anderson, is ourjob. I saw the Dalai Lama in that Capitolrotunda a few months ago, and consideredhim an essential American, an embodimentof selfless love and the revolutionary spiritof what we can become.”The popular actor, who sat with his actresswife, Carey Lowell, spoke at the annualPhiladelphia Orchestra tribute concert at theKimmel Center. Thomas Wilkins conductedthe finale to Stravinsky’s “Firebird” and astring arrangement of Beethoven’s Op. 132String Quartet, a favorite of the honoree,who listened with eyes closed.Hosted by ABC-TV’s Cynthia McFadden,the program featured three numbers oftrademark hysteria by Philly’s Patti LaBelleafter her shoes were placed on the Steinway.One audience member jumped onto thestage to speak to her, upsetting LaBelle un-til an enormous security man removed him.Jazz trumpet virtuoso Jon Faddis dazzledwith his quartet and rising star sopranoMeasha Brueggergosman was brilliant inStrauss and Gershwin before a spiritual.Dr. Helen Gayle, president of Care Interna-tional, spoke, and the evening was bright-ened by the appearance of a radiant DianeLane in red strapless dress, who first workedwith Gere in the “The Cotton Club” (1984)and just wrapped their third film together,“Nights In Rodanthe.” Lane said Gere “em-bodies the Buddhist wisdom, and his tena-cious advocacy has manifested into publicrespect.”“Since his earliest days as a successful artist,Mr. Gere gave a voice to people with novoice,” said Patrick Moran, the tireless ex-ecutive director and engine behind theMarian Anderson Award. “His philanthropyis aimed where the need is, rather than wherethe spotlight is. We wouldn’t even be asaware of Tibet if he hadn’t become involvedin advocating for their cultural autonomy,for their large émigré populations in India,for keeping indigenous people on their triballands in Africa and South America.“When he was contacted about receivingthe award,” Moran said, “his reaction was,‘Why me?’ He was responding to social con-ditions long before it was fashionable, and

has become the champion of those withouta champion.”An announcement was also made about themusical winners of the Marian AndersonAward, who will all perform at a concertjointly held with Astral Artistic Services atthe Kimmel Center on Dec. 7. The winnersand their prizes are baritone Jonathan Beyer,26, a Curtis Institute graduate, $6,000 firstprize; soprano Joyce El-Khoury, a fifth-yearstudent at the Academy of Vocal Arts, $3,000second prize; soprano Layla Claire, 25, aCurtis student, $1,500 third prize, and so-prano Janinah Burnett, 28, an EastmanSchool graduate, $1,500 Marian AndersonLegacy Award.The Marian Anderson Award carries with ita $100,000 unrestricted prize, which willbenefit the Gere Foundation. Last night’sprogram will soon be aired on WPVI-TV(Channel 6). Last year’s telecast, honoringSidney Poitier, came in second in local rat-ings only to the NBA finals. Mayor Streetpledged $250,000 to the Anderson Awardendowment, which he said would bematched by Rendell.The recently opened $4 billion railway fromBeijing to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, ac-cording to Gere, signals an ominous state ofemergency. Tibetans are now a minority inLhasa, and since the Chinese invasion inwhich hundreds of thousands were killed,education is still meager and Tibetans’ landhas been taken. It is even a criminal offensein Tibet to display an image of or to haveone’s photograph taken with the Dalai Lama,who received the Congressional Gold Medalfrom President Bush last month.Because of his strong belief in Buddhismand enthusiastic support for the TibetanIndependence Movement, Gere is perma-nently banned from China. He is also bannedfrom being an Academy Award presenterafter he used that platform to condemn theChinese government, and even pleaded forthe boycott of next year’s Olympic Gamesin Beijing to put pressure on the Chinese.Since its inception in 1998, the MarianAnderson Award honors the memory andthe inspiration of the inspiring “Lady FromPhiladelphia,” whose magnificent voice andserene bearing made her an internationalsymbol of grace. During those years, sup-ported by more than $2.7 million fromWachovia and other sources, the award hasgiven more than $450,000 toward free pub-lic programs, residencies, commissions andgrants to young artists.Gere, whose 30-year career has led to morethan 40 films, has scored in “An Officer anda Gentleman,” “Pretty Woman,” “Unfaith-ful” (with Lane) and “Chicago,” to name onlya few. But only a year after his first greatperformance in “Days Of Heaven” (1978),Gere began championing the cause of Tibet-ans driven from their homeland by the Chi-nese and persecuted ruthlessly through cul-tural genocide.He took a few years off from a budding ca-reer to become involved in a fact-findingmission in Central America. And, just a fewyears later, he also turned his advocacy to-wards addressing the scourge of those withHIV/AIDS.On three screens, the audience last night sawa retrospective of his career and those ofMiss Anderson, kindred spirits on this night.

Actor/activist receives Marian Anderson Award

AP. Delhi, November 12: Three for-eigners were convicted today in acase involving a landmark seizureof a huge number of leopard andotter skins in the Indian capital.They wi l l be sentenced la te r.

The trio, two Tibetans, Anand aliasTashi and Lobsang Phuntsok, and aNepalese citizen Jeet Bahadur were ar-rested on April 6, 2005 with 45 leopardand 15 otter skins. They are the firstTibetans in Exile to be convicted of awildlife crime.

The Additional Chief MetropolitanMagistrate of Delhi, Alok Agarwal,pronounced the conviction in one ofthe shortest trials under the WildlifeProtection Act that was investigatedby the Central Bureau of Investiga-tion (CBI) following orders of the Su-preme Court in a petition filed byAshok Kumar, vice-chairman Wild-life Trust of India (WTI). The pros-ecution was led by Rajan Dahiya ad-vocate for CBI and assisted bySaurabh Sharma of the WTI.

The Delhi police, reacting on the infor-mation provided by WTI started watch-ing the old Tibetan Camp at Majnu KaTilla in old Delhi and were able to ap-

prehend the trio red-handed. Despitetrying four times in the higher courtsthe accused did not get bail for the pe-riod of the trial, being ably opposed bythe CBI counsel, Harish Gulati.

Coincidentally, this happened on thevery day His Holiness the Dalai Lamalaunched the anti-wildlife trade cam-paign of the Care for the Wild Interna-tional and WTI with the statement that‘the law of the land has to prevail’.

During the investigation the accusedhad disclosed that they were workingfor a person called Tchhwang TashiTsering, a notorious wildlife trader fromNepal. He paid Lobsang Puntsok andJeet Bahadur Rs 1000 each to store theskins and transport them to Nepal.Tashi was Tchwwang’s point man andwas assigned to conceal the contra-band that he received from SansarChand, a well-known trader of Delhi,now in jail

3 Nov 2007, 1713 hrs IST ,PTINEW DELHI: Maintaining thatresolution of Tibetan issue was vi-tal for betterment of Indo-Chinaties, the Dalai Lama on Saturdayfavoured “genuine friendship” be-tween the two Asian giants, re-kindling the ‘Hindi-Chini bhai bhai’spirit.

Addressing a function from whichall Union Ministers kept away, theTibetan spiritual leader attackedthe Chinese government for con-tinuing the policy of “suppression”in Tibet and warned that use of“gun” and “force” would onlyspew “more resentment and an-ger”.

”Resolution of issue of Tibet is rel-evant for India-China relationship.I really wish to see a genuinefriendship between India and

China,” he said after being felici-tated by some NGOs and religiousleaders here.

”I want to see the rekindling ofthe spirit of Hindi-Chini bhai bhai,”said the Dalai Lama who just re-turned from a visit to the US.

Making it clear that he did not as-pire to hold any “political position”if a local Tibetan government isformed, he quipped that he was al-ready in the “semi-retirement”phase and would contribute to theTibetan cause as a “senior ad-viser”.

Union Ministers kept away fromthe function following an advisoryby the Cabinet Secretariat, appar-ently not to ruffle feathers in Chinawhich had voiced strong objectionto the US honouring the Tibetan

leader recently.Lashing out at China for follow-ing the “policy of suppression” inTibet, the Dalai Lama said “genu-ine harmony should come from theheart and not from the gun”.

The Dalai Lama also voiced hisconcern over the “demographicaggression” of the Chinese in Ti-bet. “Out of the 300,000 peoplenow residing in Lhasa, 200,000 areof Chinese-origin”.Chinese authorities are also try-ing to prevent Tibetan studentsfrom taking lessons in Tibetan,saying that learning the languagewould be of no use, he said.

”There is a degeneration of the Ti-betan way of life and culturalgenocide is on the rise in variousinstitutions and monasteries,” hesaid.

China convicts Tibetan of subversion

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at06:00 EST HONG KONG — AChinese court has convicted a Ti-

Lama, a human rights monitor saidMonday.Runggye Adak, 53, was foundguilty at the Ganzi Tibetan Autono-mous Prefecture IntermediatePeople’s Court on Oct 23, the In-formation Center for Human Rightsand Democracy said in a statement.During an Aug l ceremony in LitangCounty of Sichuan Province heldto commemorate the 80th anniver-sary of the establishment of thePeople’s Liberation Army, Adakgrabbed a microphone on the stageand called on people to support thereturn of the Dalai Lama, the HongKong-based center said. Adak wasarrested immediately.

betan for subverting state authorityby calling for the return of Tibet’sspiritual leader in exile, the Dalai

Tibetans and Tibet national flags in-front of White-house