Verein der Tibeter in Deutschland e.V.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXx_VjLHlQM

By Mure Dickie in Beijing
Beijing, the Olympic motto of Citius, Altius Fortius – faster, higher, stronger – might have been intended as an inspiration for athletes but for this year’s Chinese hosts, it has also become a rallying call to suppress dissent in Tibet.

The Tibetan capital’s most senior Communist party official cited the 84-year-old motto to urge people to crack down on supporters of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, at an Olympic torch relay ceremony in Lhasa last week.

“Encouraged by the Olympic spirit of faster, higher, stronger, Lhasa people of all nationalities will . . . resolutely smash the Dalai clique’s scheme to destabilise Tibet, sabotage the Olympics and split the motherland,” said Qin Yizhi, Lhasa party secretary.

However, this use of the Olympic spirit to support Chinese rule in Tibet may prove to be a tactical mistake for Mr Qin and his comrades.

In the lead-up to the Games, when activists have tried to link the event with issues such as Tibet, human rights abuses and violence in Sudan’s Darfur region, China has insisted politics should be kept separate from the Olympics.

Yet this week, it was Beijing that was censured by the International Olympic Committee, whose charter bans any “political, religious or racial propaganda” from all Games areas.

“We have written to Bocog [the Beijing Games organising committee] to remind them of the need to separate sport and -politics and to ask for their support in making sure such situations do not arise again,” said the IOC.

Beijing remains unapologetic, however. Responding to the IOC letter, a foreign ministry spokesman said: “For the officials concerned to express their views on some issues is not a politicisation of the Olympics,” he said.

“It is a further effort to restore stability in the Tibet region and to create a benign and stable environment for hosting the Olympic Games.”

However, Beijing is unlikely to mollify critics with its insistence that it is political to criticise its policies on Tibet but not political to defend them.

The Beijing Olympics will hardly be the first to be marred by disputes over politicisation, of course. The huge budget and massive publicity power of the Olympics mean it can never be a simple sporting event.

And separating politics would be particularly difficult in China, where the head of Bocog is also Beijing’s party secretary.

www.ft.com/china

Wang Xianchang (???) writes an interesting essay (in Chinese) on the Hong Kong Ming Pao Daily, relating two major news events: Tibet unrest and the Wenchuan earthquake. Roland Soong translated the essay on his EastSouthWestNorth blog:
(CDT)After the Sichuan earthquake occurred, I wondered how affected were the Tibetans. After all, the heavily hit epicenter of Wenchuan was inside the Aba Autonomous Prefecture for the Tibetan and Xiang ethnic groups. Readers who are concerned about the Tibet issue will recall that there multiple large-scale protests that were suppressed in the Aba Prefecture after the Lhasa incident in March. So the two biggest news stories in China recently converged here. Although numerous reporters were out there, very few reports linked the two together. This was perplexing.

After waiting for a long time, I finally spotted a related news story in Ming Pao on June 1. The headline was striking, with each word about 3 centimeters big: “Armed Tibet Independence elements robbed disaster relief materiel.” This news story had originated from a mainland news and the Ming Pao reporter made an independent verification. But the report did not explain the basis by which the armed robbers were “Tibet independence elements.”

By Sudip Mazumdar | NEWSWEEK
Ogyen Drodul Trinley Dorje holds a special place among Tibetans: both Beijing and the Dalai Lama recognize his legitimacy as the Karmapa, Tibetan Buddhism’s third highest leader. He spoke to NEWSWEEK’s Sudip Mazumdar in Dharamsala. Excerpts:

Mazumdar:How do you view the Tibet protests?
Dorje: The main thing is that Tibetans in Tibet should have a good future. The protests have made the lives of Tibetans more difficult.

What about a boycott of the Games?
[The] Olympics are a chance for the Chinese people to show [their growth]. I am not for any boycott.

Can Tibetans live under Chinese rule?
It’s difficult to say. [Here] we always talk negatively about the Chinese. We need to think about the positive for the future.

Do you think you could be a bridge to Beijing?
Not that I want it, but if they give me a chance then I hope [so].

What have you learned from the Dalai Lama?
I hope I get some of his immense patience.

News week© 2008