GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Concern is growing, say UN and national authorities in three countries after a 6.9 earthquake shook remote Himalayan areas in India, Nepal and Tibet Sunday. The regions hardest hit by the earthquake that was centered in the northern Indian state of Sikkim are difficult to reach and mountain roads have been blocked by debris in several areas.
At least 70 people have died, including three in Nepal when a British embassy wall collapsed, and the death toll is expected to rise. Structural damage has been heavy in several areas and officials in India say at least 1,000 homes collapsed.
Links to other sites:
BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14967812
Times of India, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sikkim-earthquake-toll-climbs-to-66-rescue-work-hampered-by-landslides/articleshow/10041847.cms
Xinhuanet, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-09/19/c_131147529.htm
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Tenzin Yangki, 19 and a student in Zurich, was crowned “Miss Tibet” in Dharamshala, India, home to the Dalai Lama and his Tibetan government in exile. The Times of India reports that her reply to the judges’ question of how she would “contribute to the cause of Tibet” [ed. note: no clarification if this means exiled Tibetans or if it includes those in China] she replied “Tibetan women are educated and beautiful but role models are needed to ensure their effective participation in Tibet cause and Miss Tibet can be the role model to spread awareness.”
Exiled Tibetans, 49,000 of them worldwide, gave 55 percent of their vote to a Harvard professor, Lobsang Sangay, making him their new prime minister. The movement’s political responsibilities thus shift from the Dalai Lama, who remains their spiritual leader, to the 43-year-old professor of international law, signalling a shift in leadership to a younger generation.
Sangay has said he is committed to the Dalai Lama’s approach to meaningful autonomy for Tibet, a land Sangay has never seen, but there is speculation he may develop a new approach. He replaces Samdhong Rinpoche as prime minister, a monk of the Dalai Lama’s generation, who has been more in the background than Sangay is expected to be when he takes over in August 2011.
The new prime minister was born and raised in the tea region of Darjeeling, in India, and he graduated from Delhi University before going to Harvard to study law.
Links to other sites: AFP, Herald Sun, Australia, Indian Express
Dalai Lama in Lausanne, 2009
The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetans, said Thursday 10 March from Dharmsala, India, that he will propose amendments to the exile constitution, later in March. He has said for years that he will give up political power to an elected representative, but this is the first time he has put a date on actions to make this happen.
His real power extends well beyond the political sphere of exiled Tibetans, however, and as AP reports, “Just how much change will come, though, is highly unclear. While the elected parliament officially wields great power in the exile community, the Dalai Lama’s status means he overshadows everyone else.” The exile prime minister says the process is likely to be long and difficult.
Links to other sites: AP/The Globe & Mail, Bangkok Post, BBC, China Daily, Dalai Lama official site
Tibet roadside view (photo, Liam Bates)
The Chinese government is using the March anniversary of the Tibetan uprising in 1952 to underscore its commitment to better connecting the distant western province to the rest of the country by detailing its transport plans. A new rail line, as part of the 2011-2015 Five Year Plan, will link Golmud in northwestern Qinghai Province and Korla in Xinjiang, the vice-governor of Qinghai, Luo Yulin, said in Beijing 6 March. The new rail connection will cut 1,000 km from the current rail link between Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, currently a 4,000km journey.
The official notes that two other major railway lines are to be built in the west, between Golmud and Dunhuang in Gansu Province, and between Golmud and Chengdu in Sichuan Province, and local authorities are also considering lines linking Xining with Chengdu, and Xining with Kunming in Yunnan Province, reports Xinhua news agency.
A new highway programme for the Tibet Autonomous Region will increase roads in the vast area from the current 58,000km to 70,000km, and by 2015 all Tibetan villages should be accessible by blacktop road, Li Shenglin, China’s transport minister says. Xinhua reports that “an expressway network, or ’4-hour economic zone’, linking five major cities, Lhasa, Xigaze, Nagqu, Shannan and Nyingchi” will put the last four cities all within four hours of Lhasa by car.
All 22 passengers and crew on board a Twin Otter aircraft have been found dead in the remote Okhaldhunga district in eastern Nepal, after the plane went missing 15 December on its return to Kathmandu. The US embassy in Kathmandu has confirmed that one passenger was a Tibetan with US nationality. Passengers were initially believed to be all Nepalese, but most are reportedly Bhutanese who claimed to be locals to avail themselves of a cheaper airfare.
Eastern Nepal is not on the main tourist circuit but there are two religious shrines, a Buddhist monastery and Halesi, a Hindu temple. The plane’s passengers are believed to have been pilgrims from Bhutan.
Links to other sites: AFP, Himalayan Times
The city of Ngari, at 4,274 metres altitude in western Tibet, now has the world’s third highest airport, after those in Bamda Airport in Qamdo in eastern Tibet and Kangding Airport in Sichuan Province in China, reports Xinhua. An inaugural flight to the new airport from Chengdu took place Thursday 1 July. Air China will fly four times a week between Ngari and Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province and a major connecting point to Tibet, with a stop in Lhasa. Ngari and Lhasa have until now been connected only by road, a distance of 1,600 km, and the flight shortens the trip to the regional capital Lhasa to one and half hours from three or four days by car.
Crowd at the Malley sports centre in Lausanne waits for the Dalai Lama to begin Wednesday conference
Dalai Lama, listening to Tibetan music group in Lausanne
Update 14:20 Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Sellout crowds of 12,000 for two days of conferences offered by the Dalai Lama, in Lausanne and briefly in Geneva 5-6 August, heard the Tibetan spiritual leader talk about “Understanding our minds and the causes of happiness” but he reserved for the media, whom he met with at length, his appeals to have more light shed on the violence in Tibet in March 2008.
Liam Bates, aka Li-Mu, back in Switzerland
Update: Liam won third place in the 2010 competition
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Liam Bates arrived home to the Lake Geneva region in Switzerland from China 28 July with more than the six-month scholarship he won from the Chinese government as a finalist in its international university competition for Mandarin speakers: he had a broken leg plus damaged shoulder from a motorcycle accident and headed straight for the CHUV (university hospitals) in Lausanne, scheduled for an urgent skin graft.
He also had several hundred new fans from among the two million television viewers who watched the popular annual “Chinese Bridge” competition that rewards the world’s best students of China’s language and culture.
The competitor who hobbled onto the stage to give a speech four days after surgery on his leg, explaining why he wouldn’t be showing them wushu (kung fu) moves, caught the crowd’s eye.
But it was the large-screen background clip from a film of his travels across their country – a journey few Chinese have made – that sent his Chinese web site traffic zooming up by almost 10,000 percent in just days.
"Mao, Motorbikes and a Yak" film: the journey
Bates and three friends had completed a 7,000 km journey on motorcycles across China shortly before the competition, filming conversations with young Chinese about their dreams and hopes for the future.
Chinese president Hu Jintao abruptly left the G8 meeting in Italy 7 July and returned to China in order to deal with the deadly violence in the far western Xianjing region, which saw 156 people die 5 July. Hu was expected to join the meeting in Italy’s L’Aquila Thursday 8 July. Chinese authorities imposed a night-time curfew on the city of Urumqi, scene of the rioting and have massively increased the security presence on the streets in an effort to keep ethnic Han and Uighurs apart. Ethnic tensions in Tibet in July 2008 caused a worldwide outcry over Chinese handling of the situation. BBC, Reuters, Xinhua
YouTube, the online video service, has been reporting near-zero traffic in China since Tuesday 24 March but the reasons for it are unclear, sparking speculation that it might be linked to videos of Tibet or of an encounter between US and Chinese ships, but Google, owner of YouTube says it has no information on this and the Chinese government have not offered any information. CNN, PC World (Ed. note: Chinese media do not mention a problem)
South Africa has prompted criticism at home and abroad after refusing to issue a visa for the Dalai Lama to attend a peace conference linked to the first football World Cup to be held in Africa. He was invited by the conference organizers, along with fellow Nobel laureates Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Tutu and FW de Klerk. Tutu has said he will not attend, in protest, with reports conflicting about whether or not the South African government was pressured by China to refuse the visa. Al Jazeera, BBC, CBC
Tibetans in Switzerland, marching in Saint Prex in 2008
Tibet, like Switzerland, has mountains and lakes (photo: Liam Bates 2007)
Bern, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – Fifty years ago today the Dalai Lama fled Tibet, starting an exodus of refugees who today number 123,000 throughout the world. The second largest group of Tibetans in exile, outside Asia, lives in Switzerland. Some 2,000 marched in Bern today, to the Chinese embassy not long after the Dalai Lama made a speech in India that garnered world media attention.
The Dalai Lama left his palace in Lhasa, Tibet in 1959 disguised as a Tibetan layman, then rode out of town on horseback with his family and “officials” to India, where he has been based for the past 50 years. Former Reuters correspondent Peter Jackson, recalls his scoop to the Western world after an Indian journalist phoned him: “He told us that there had been riots in Lhasa and that the Dalai Lama had escaped and was heading for the Indian frontier. We broke the news in a Reuters report.” Reuters
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Tibetan religious leader the Dalai Lama met in Poland over the weekend at a gathering of Nobel peace prize winners organized by the Polish government. Media coverage has been mixed: with Yahoo/AFP focusing on quoting Sarkozy, Xinhua calling the meeting a “detrimental move,” and Al Jazeera making it clear the overall implications are too complex to put this in a two paragraph story.
Exiled Tibetan leaders agreed over the weekend to follow the Dalai Lama’s “middle way” and to continue seeking autonomy rather than independence for Tibet, but they warned that the talks with China have ended and Tibetan exiles might take a tougher stance if progress is not made in coming months. Sydney Morning Herald
The BBC has published a lengthy article on Tibet and Chinese rule there, pointing out that little media attention was given at the time to a statement by UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband 29 October when he said, “”Like every other EU member state, and the United States, we regard Tibet as part of the People’s Republic of China.” The BBC says “many observers” believe the statement has weakened the Dalai Lama’s position in talks with China.
The Dalai Lama and Tibetan leaders in exile from around the world begin a six-day meeting Monday in India, to decide on their strategy since talks between the Dalai Lama’s representatives and the Chinese government broke down in the past two weeks. AFP, IHT, and background Al Jazeera
TIBET, July 2008
Here is a little article I wrote after I witnessed a traditional Tibetan burial this July, a ‘Celestial Burial’ or ‘Sky Burial’. There are no photos of the ceremony included, taking photos is strictly forbidden. In fact it is not usually allowed for a non-Tibetan to watch the burial, but I was lucky enough to have several locals take me there. We initially watched from a distance of about 150m away (out of respect) and then moved to around 50m away. Anyway, here is the story:
On the morning of the 28th I pulled myself out of bed and clambered out through the darkness of a Tibetan youth hostel into the 4×4 waiting outside. A bumpy 15-minute ride later three Chinese guys, two girls and I began to drive uphill, climbing one of the small mountains on the outskirts of Lhasa. Ten minutes later we pulled over and got out of the car, the sky still dark.
We made our way up the rocky hillside, passing a monastery and following a rough-cut path in the rock. We hiked for a good 10 minutes, trying not to disturb the yaks sleeping by the roadside, and arrived at a rocky ledge with a great view of Lhasa, We sat perched on a craggy rock formation for several minutes, watching the sun slowly rise over the Tibetan capital.
Lamas wind up the mountain path
By this time we could see a faint light burning in the distance. It grew slowly in strength. The bodies were arriving, three of them today. A fire was lit in a clearing a couple hundred metres away and incense tossed onto it. A thick cloud of dark smoke now billowed from the fire. Monks and lamas clad in crimson robes worked their way up the winding mountain path in single file from the monastery towards the fire, arriving as the sky began to change colour.
Something caught my eye as I gazed into the now pinkish-blue skies. A group of dark specks was drifting in from over the mountain peak behind us. My companions began to turn their eyes towards the skies as several groups of vultures, or ?holy eagles? as the Tibetans call them, soared over. The birds came in groups of five to fifteen at a time, making a circle above us before gliding down onto the opposite peak, finally numbering around thirty or forty.
The lamas arrived. They were met at the fire by several men dressed in pure white robes, the burial masters. In a circle further behind stood the families of the deceased, and on the altar were the bodies. The altar was a rough circle with a diameter of about eight metres surrounded by rocks. Within the circle were several more large stones of various shapes and sizes, some almost in the shape of beds. The side of the altar that faces Lhasa was on a slight decline, and at this point partings in the low rock wall formed a sort of drainage system. The entire altar had a distinct white tint, as if someone had thrown a bucket of watered-down paint over the place long ago.
We put down our binoculars to creep closer.
One of the burial masters reached into the folds of his white robes and pulled out a large knife. It glistened silver in the sun?s early light. As I looked on, the other men in white followed suit, brandishing knives of all sorts and sizes. Nowhere did I see the intricate ceremonial knives my imagination had pictured: these were the rusty instruments one finds in an old butcher shop.
I saw no ceremony in what followed. One of the men in robes slashed into a body on the altar. Ignoring the red blood that had just splattered onto his pristine white robe he lifted the blade up again and brought it down, into the body. By this time all three men were hard at work, chopping the bodies up into little chunks. The strongest of the three men picked up a large steak-like slab of flesh and threw it onto the ground next to him for further cutting, the thud of meat being quite audible.
When one of the men had finished with his body he put down his knife and moved onto the next instrument, an enormous rock that must have weighed at least 20 kilograms attached to a short and bloodied white stick. With little effort the man lifted the hammer up, holding it high above his head for an instant before bringing it down onto what was left of the body. With an echoing thud and crack the now exposed bones were broken and smashed into shards.
The smell of human flesh
The rhythmic pounding of hammers continued for 10 minutes, and the burial masters turned three human corpses into a fine mash of bone and chopped flesh. The smell of human flesh had risen into the air and the eagles perched on the mountain opposite began to look restless. Suddenly, one of the eagles opened its wings and revealed its true size, an enormous wingspan, nearly three metres in width. With a strong beat of its wings the giant bird lifted itself off its perch and swooped down towards the altar below. The eagle was quickly joined by a couple more, and soon 20 birds were descending on the men in white. Clearly, they hadn?t yet finished their work. As the eagles attempted to reach their food, the burial masters, families of the deceased and even the lamas charged at the birds, shouting and brandishing knives. The eagles quickly decided to wait their turn and changed course, flying grudgingly back to their mountainside.
Soon the work was complete, and the burial masters brought out large sacks of flour, which they threw in handfuls over the flesh and bones. Thick white clouds of flour formed in the air before settling on what were, only 20 minutes earlier, three human bodies.
The smell of meat was too much for the eagles and the largest of the group beat his wings and took to the air, making for the altar again. This time he encountered no resistance as the men retreated from the stones. In a split second the eagles were in the air, swooping down on their meal. The sound of this spectacle was almost as terrifying as the sight, with 40 pairs of beating wings echoing down the valley.
A feeding frenzy
What ensued can be only be described as a feeding frenzy. The birds fought for a place on the stones, doing their best to get at the dinner prepared for them. They squawked and pushed and shoved and fought for scraps of meat and bone, too many birds for such a small altar.
Once the birds had eaten, the altar was left completely bare but for a few scattered feathers. Almost no trace of bones or blood could be seen, just a collection of dirtied knives and bloodied gloves. The air, however, was filled with the scent of flesh, a raw smell that wafted back and forth, making us gag.
The monks drifted back to their monastery and the families got back into their jeeps and drove to the grasslands near the city, where they enjoyed a post-funeral picnic on the grass, a Tibetan custom. The vultures made their way back onto the opposite peak where they stayed for some time, digesting their food. Several of the giant birds took to the air, but soon returned, weighed down by the meal they had just consumed.
Soaring with an eagle
We made our way over to the altar and walked clockwise around it once, observing Tibetan custom. All of us had come prepared for a gory scene, but we all left in a peaceful state of mind. Before leaving we spent some time standing by the altar, observing the giant birds with a certain sense of awe and appreciation. It was easy to understand why for a Tibetan, soaring up with an eagle at the end of life is a great honour.
Ed. note: “The day I saw eagles eat a man” is reproduced with permission from the blog, ChinaGold, Nuggets of information and experience from around China. Liam Bates is a graduate of La Chataigneraie, International School of Geneva, in Founex, Vaud, and he has written several travel stories for GenevaLunch (search GL site: Liam Bates)
Tibetan woman spinning the prayer wheels in a local monastery.
A yak skull I found sitting on a roof.
