|
Keep december 10 free; For in the evening there will be A candle Vigil. most likely from 18:00 until 20:00 hrs. we let you know as soon as possible. Tibetan Children Appeal To European Parliament Over China Language Policy This story is adapted from: NTD Television Sat 30 Okt 2010 Asia PacificTibetan Children Appeal To European Parliament Over China Language Policy 2010-10-28 About 40 children of Tibetan descent delivered a petition to the European Parliament on Wednesday, protesting against Chinese government plans to extend the use of Mandarin in schools. Calling for freedom of language to be respected, the children presented a letter listing signatures of Tibetan children living in Europe. One Tibetan boy read the letter aloud in English, calling on European lawmakers to preserve Tibet's cultural heritage. [Tibetan Child]: “Please speak for us, for the voiceless. Don't let Tibet die!" European Parliament Vice President Roberta Angelilli says language is a critical part of a child's education. [Roberta Angelilli, European Parliament Vice President]: "It's a fundamental right. It's a question of democracy. A question of human rights. So the European Parliament must guarantee this opportunity.” Authorities in China say Tibetans should become fluent in Chinese to benefit from wider education and job opportunities. But critics say the policy threatens Tibetan culture, and will leave students fluent in neither Tibetan nor Mandarin. [Tsering Lhamo, Spokesperson, Tibetan Children in Belgium]: "It is very important for us to keep preserving our language for the next generations to come. So I think that the Chinese government what they are trying to do is totally delete everything which is related to our own tradition.” The children closed the gathering by singing the Tibetan national hymn. According to the London-based campaign group "Free Tibet," student protests have taken place in Tibet and western China. Press Release of Central Tibetan Administration of Holiness the Dalai Lama Sat, October 30, 2010 Dear sir, Press Release Issued by the Heads of the Schools of Tibetan Buddhism and the Kalon (Minister) for the Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama The Constitution of the People's Republic of China states: Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief. No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion. The state protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state. Religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination. However, the State Administration for Religious Affairs of the People's Republic of China issued on 30 September 2010 a regulation on the administration of Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries called Order No. 8 which, it said, will come into effect on 1 November 2010. As well as going against the above provisions of the Chinese Constitution, it is a proof of the fact that the citizens of the People's Republic of China do not at all have religious freedom and that the country is ruled by man and not by law. The religious heads and scholars of Tibetan Buddhism as a whole are, currently, living outside Tibet. Hence, the lineage of the sacred Buddhist teachings and initiations can be said to be existing in the exile Tibetan community. This regulation is an evil design on the part of the Chinese government to obstruct the Buddhist teaching and its sacred transmissions inside Tibet and makes it extremely difficult for the monastic institutions to undertake their important religious activities. This is also a means employed by the Chinese government to not only destroy the tradition and study of Tibetan Buddhism but also uproot the monastic institutions and the transmission of Buddhist teachings in these centers of learning by diluting the spiritual bond between teacher and pupil. While, therefore, repudiating this injunction of the Chinese government, we express our strong opposition to it. 27 October 2010 Venerable Tsering Phuntsok Kalon (Minister) for Religion and Culture Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama Dharamsala India Contact: Thubten Samphel (Spokesperson) 98050 24973 / +91 1892 222510/222457 Lobsang Choedak (Press Officer) 981 63 53548 The US official in charge of Tibet met with the Dalai Lama VIP Newsroom Maria Otero, head of the Tibetan issue with the US government, on Monday met the Dalai Lama expressed his support for a peaceful resolution with China. ... Tibetan protester Lhakpa Tsering visits 22 countries on motorbike Washington Post Dalai Lama talks of retirement CNN International Tibetan Lhakpa Tsering visits 22 countries... Moose Jaw Times-Herald China Genocides Tibet's Language: Violating UN Law Tibet Post International The current genocide of the Tibetan language by the Chinese government aims to make Chinese children out of Tibetan children. Buddhism and culture depend on ... Nepal arrests 7 Tibetans, Nepalese press reiterates one China policy Phayul Tibet: Young democracy faces a big challenge Toronto Star Nepal President Arrives in Tibet, Festival Disrupted Friday, 29 October 2010 Dhardhowa, The Tibet Post International unfortunately, hundreds of security personals and police deployed in the city to disrupt the Prayer festival in Katmandu Hundreds sign petition for Tibet language: activists Wednesday, October 27, 2010,(AFP) http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101027/wl_asia_afp/chinarightstibeteducationprotest BEIJING — Hundreds of teachers and students in northwest China have signed a petition in support of the Tibetan language, a rights group said, after an official education reform plan triggered protests. Thousands of students demonstrated last week in Qinghai province over plans to institute Chinese as the main language of instruction, limiting use of Tibetan to language classes. Protests spread to a Beijing university on Friday. According to sources in the area contacted by the US-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), more than 20 students from a Tibetan school in Qinghai's Gonghe county have been detained following the protests. The petition, submitted to authorities, was signed by more than 300 teachers and students and calls for Tibetan to remain the main language for teaching. It says that if Chinese-language instruction is adopted for Qinghai's Tibetan students, "the outcome would be that the students would not understand what the teacher is saying, not to mention be able to actually learn anything." The petition -- a copy of which was emailed to AFP by ICT -- says that many Tibetans in the province come from farming and nomadic areas and have never been in a Chinese-language environment. While it acknowledges the need for Tibetans to learn Chinese, it compares the reform plans to instituting English as the language of instruction for ordinary Han Chinese school students. An official with the Qinghai education department told AFP on Wednesday that he was not aware of the petition. Many Tibetans accuse China of trying to water down their culture in a bid to increase its control over Tibetan regions, where resentment against Chinese rule runs deep, and the education reforms strike at the core of these concerns. A top official defended the plans on Friday, saying they aimed to boost both Chinese and the native languages of minorities. "The plan is aimed at strengthening whatever is weaker and the purpose is not to use one language to weaken another," Wang Yubo, head of the Qinghai education department, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency. Rights groups say last week's peaceful protests were the most significant in the area since March 2008, when violent anti-Chinese demonstrations that started in Tibet's capital Lhasa spread to neighbouring Tibetan regions. Demonstration of solidarity in front of the Chinese consulate in Zurich http://picasaweb.google.ch/105867345101708044419/SolidarityRallyAtZurich#slideshow/5532462548492540674 http://www.tibetswiss.com/tibweb/index.html Zurich, October 26th 2010: more than 350 people took part at today's demonstration of solidarity held for Tibet. They protested in front of the Chinese consulate and urged the authorities to unconditionally meet the freedom of language. More than 350 Tibetans and supporters marched from the Tessinerplatz to the Chinese consulate. They marched silently trying to shout in sign language as well as hold their banners and Tibetan flags in order to protest against the Chinese government decision to replace Tibetan as medium of instruction by Chinese language in Tibetan schools. Many of the attendees wore a mask to hide their mouth. Thus, they symbolically called attention to the prohibition of the Tibetan language in Tibet. The demonstration was held under the slogan 'Equality of People. Freedom of Language.' The goal of this was to support the Tibetans in Tibet as well as to show solidarity with their co-citizen. A banner with the aforementioned slogan has been created and signed by the demonstrators. At the end of the event, two representatives of the TYAE handed out the banner to the Chinese consulate. The demonstration was organized by a the following three Tibetan associations: Tibetan Youth association in Europe (TYAE), Swiss Tibetan friendship association (STFA) and the Tibetan Woman's organization in Switzerland (TWOS) Tibet organizations Swiss Tibetan friendship association www.tibetfocus.com Tibetan Woman's organization in Switzerland www.tfos.ch Tibetan youth association in Europe www.tibetanyouth.org Further information available on: www.tibetswiss.com China defends language reform after Tibet protests AFP - BEIJING — A top official in northwest China has defended an education reform plan that has sparked protests by Tibetan students over concerns that their ... China defends language policies in Tibetan areas The Associated Press - BEIJING (AP) — Chinese officials tried to defuse discontent following days of student protests in ethnically Tibetan areas, saying a plan to teach classes ... Tibetan student protests spread, The Guardian The Guardian Unusual protests by Tibetan school pupils in western China over plans to restrict the use of their language have spread, according to state media and a ... Tibet language protests spread in China: campaign group Sin Chew Jit Poh - BEIJING, Friday 22 October 2010 (AFP) - Protests by Tibetan students demanding the right to study in their language have spread to other areas of ... Tibetan Students Protest Language Plan NPR - by AP The march over unconfirmed plans to use the Chinese language exclusively in classes is an unusually bold challenge to Beijing that reflects a deep ... 'Tibet One' rides into city with a message of freedom' Hindustan Times - Crossing 22 countries in seven months, Lhakpa Tsering, a New York-based Tibetan-in-exile, vroomed into Mumbai on his grey BMW motorcycle on Wednesday. ... Language protests spread among Tibetan students 
BEIJING (AP) — Demonstrations have spread among Tibetan students angered by reports that Beijing plans to make Chinese the only language of instruction in schools, an activist group said Friday.The protest marches, which began earlier this week in the town of Tongren, have spread to nearby areas in the western province of Qinghai, which is home to numerous minority ethnic groups, including Tibetans and Mongolians, who retain their own languages. The London-based group Free Tibet said hundreds, possibly thousands, of students joined the demonstrations. No arrests or violence were reported. Qiang Wei, the province's Communist Party chief, was quoted last month by the party newspaper praising the use of a "common language" in school. Students fear that means that the current bilingual system will be scrapped in favor of the use of Chinese alone, except in language classes. A report on Qinghai's plans for educational reform over the next decade, was even more explicit, saying "the nations common language must become the language of instruction." The use of the Tibetan language is tied up with the region's political struggles: Many Tibetans argue they have traditionally been self-governing and that Chinese policies are wrecking their traditional Buddhist culture. But the issue is complicated because while many Tibetans feel threatened by development and Han migration, some hope also that their children master Chinese in order to obtain better jobs. Beijing defends its policies, saying they spur economic growth in the largely poor areas, but has used a heavy hand to enforce its rule. Traditionally Tibetan areas such as Tongren that lie outside the official Tibetan Autonomous Region have been under intense security following widespread anti-government rioting in the spring of 2008. They remain among China's most restive regions, with a heavy security presence keeping a close eye on residents. On Tuesday, students, joined in some cases by Buddhist monks, went from school to school in Tongren carrying signs and chanting slogans calling for equality among ethnic groups and the right to learn in Tibetan. Teachers at area schools had confirmed the protests and said classes resumed soon afterward. However, calls Friday to more than a dozen government offices, police stations and schools in Tongren and surrounding towns were answered by people who either refused to discuss the matter or claimed the marches didn't happen — a likely sign that the local government has ordered a news blackout about them. Free Tibet said the local governor and education department visited a teacher's college in Tongren on Wednesday and threatened to expel students who organize additional marches. Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Tibet language protests spread in China: rights group (AFP) – BEIJING — Protests by Tibetan students demanding the right to study in their language have spread to other areas of northwestern China, a London-based Tibet rights group said. Thousands of middle school students had protested Tuesday in Qinghai province's Malho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in anger at being forced to study in the Chinese language, Free Tibet said. But the protests have since spread to two adjacent Tibetan prefectures in the remote region, it said in a statement Thursday. About 2,000 students from four schools in the town of Chabcha in Tsolho prefecture marched on Wednesday to the local government building, chanting "We want freedom for the Tibetan language," the group said. They were later turned back by police and teachers, it said. Students also protested on Thursday in the town of Dawu in the Golog Tibetan prefecture. Police responded by preventing local residents from going out into the streets, it said. Local government officials in both areas denied any protests. "We have had no protests here. The students are calm here," said an official with the Gonghe county government in Tsolho, who identified himself only by his surname Li. Local officials in China face pressure from their seniors to maintain stability and typically deny reports of unrest in their areas. The protests were sparked by education reforms in Qinghai requiring all subjects to be taught in Mandarin and all textbooks to be printed in Chinese except for Tibetan-language and English classes, Free Tibet said. "The use of Tibetan is being systematically wiped out as part of China?s strategy to cement its occupation of Tibet," Free Tibet said earlier this week. The area was the scene of violent anti-Chinese protests in March 2008 that started in Tibet's capital Lhasa and spread to nearby regions with large Tibetan populations such as Qinghai. While Qinghai officially lies outside the borders China has set for the Tibet region, much of it is part of the traditional Tibetan homeland. Many Tibetans accuse China of a campaign to water down their culture in a bid to increase its control over the remote Himalayan region, where resentment against Chinese rule runs deep. China has established "autonomous" regions for some of its dozens of ethnic groups but many members of those groups complain that policy is aimed at merely giving the appearance of autonomy while Chinese control remains tight. Language Protests Spread to Beijing 2010-10-22 Tibetan students in China's capital take up protests against a Mandarin language education policy. 
Students at the Beijing National Minorities University protest the Mandarin language education policy, Oct. 22, 2010.Tibetan students protesting against China's education policies brought their campaign to the nation's capital, with some 400 of them holding demonstrations at the Beijing National Minorities University. The protests in Beijing on Oct. 22 came on the heels of demonstrations by thousands of Tibetan high school and college students this week in the remote western province of Qinghai amid fears they will be forced to adopt a Chinese-language-only curriculum. Chinese authorities had dispatched large numbers of security personnel to Tsolho (in Chinese, Hainan) and Rebkong (in Chinese, Tongren) in the province, where the demonstrations spread Friday. One Tibetan student who called in from Beijing to a RFA talk show Friday, said, "We all should support the ... struggle for freedom of the Tibetan language." "I personally went to a school where the medium of instruction was Mandarin Chinese and was left completely out of touch with the Tibetan language for three years. So the Tibetan language is very important and vital for the survival of the Tibetan race," he said. Protecting minority languages The students at the Beijing university carried a banner, saying "Protect the languages of minorities and the progress of China's education." In the demonstrations, some students expressed the importance of maintaining the Tibetan language as the main medium of instruction in Tibetan schools. “Language represents the identity of nationalities that is deeply rooted in the flesh and bone of ethnic minorities and cannot be wiped out,” one Tibetan student wrote to an RFA blog. “You [Chinese authorities] should provide us space to live. [If not] we will struggle for it till our deaths,” another student wrote. Tibetans fear their culture, language, and national identity in regions ruled by China will be further eroded by any new language policy. Authorities on Wednesday moved to calm tensions as the protests spread. A local governor addressed students and assured them that the Tibetan language would remain in the school curriculum even though an official document said the Chinese language would be the main language of instruction. An official who answered the phone at the Rebkong country education department earlier this week said that all the top-level officials were out dealing with the incident. Beijing has run a high-profile "patriotic education" campaign among Tibetans since unrest spread across Tibetan regions from Lhasa in March 2008, requiring local people to denounce the Dalai Lama, whom the government rejects as a "splittist." Qinghai protest spreads Meanwhile, protests in Qinghai province spread Friday as Tibetan students in Gepasumdo (in Chinese, Tongde) county staged a march, a Tibetan man said. “It began around 5:00 a.m. when about 500 to 600 students marched toward the Tongde county center,” said the man. “They shouted ‘Equality for all nationalities!’ and ‘Freedom for all languages!’ and carried a large banner reading ‘The Tibetan language will not disappear!’” Most were from the Tongde High School, a combined middle school and high school, which has about 2,000 students, the source continued. “Many had tried to take part, but only about 500 to 600 were able to leave the campus and march toward the Tongde headquarters.” When the students assembled at the county offices at about 8:00 a.m., “a group of teachers and Public Security Bureau officers arrived and surrounded them,” the man said. “They tried to calm the students by saying that the new policy will not be carried out in the county. Some county officials also appeared and promised that the students’ concerns will be discussed.” Original reporting by Luboom for RFA's Tibetan service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai and Richard Finney. Copyright © 1998-2010 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved. Top |