[Buddha-l] Changing the subject to a stronger reality level--Tibetan culture vs Chinese regional invasions

[Jo]

China, imitating once-US foreign policy--using economic muscle to get in the
door by offering lavish infrastructure development (we are still trying to
do it in Afghanistan, including not objecting when ancient Buddhist ruins
get bulldozed for the mineral resources under them. I;d hoped that article
would stress that a lot of this China-hugging has come because of Nepal's
going Maoist.] 
Joannna

http://tinyurl.com/8ukmgv6 

Mustang vs China: A losing battle? 
In a former Tibetan kingdom a fierce debate is raging over how to preserve
their culture and to limit China's influence.  10/12/12

By Steve Chao 
[reporting on his Mustang trip in 2008 before the Chinese Olympics, and
making his film doc. which Al Jazeeraa will stream Oct 13th--see
announcement end of this article.]

It was the spring of 2008, just months before Beijing's proud moment hosting
the Olympics, and we were already well into a week of historic protests by
Tibetans. The demonstrations had started in Lhasa and were spreading to
outlying communities.
 Overnight we had found our way to a place called Bora, a small town nestled
in the hills of what China calls Gansu province, and Tibetans, Amcho.
 As we reached the monastery gate, we were met by an incredible scene: men
and women in animal skins and Tibetan dress, on horse and on foot, shouting
for freedom from 'oppressive rule'. Hundreds had come to charge a government
building, into which a unit of armed Chinese paramilitary police had just
moved.
 Paramilitary commanders had told villagers they were there to 'maintain
order'. To the people, that meant, arrests, beatings, torture and the
restriction of their ability to practice their religion, as experienced in
the past.
 With the world's attention soon to be on the Olympics, Tibetans in Bora
told us they believed this was their moment to speak out against decades of
repression.
 
The Olympics came and went. And since that spring of 2008, I watched as
Tibetans came under one of the heaviest clampdowns on political and
religious freedom in recent memory. Thousands have been jailed. Tens of
thousands have been forced into 're-education' programmes. An unknown number
have been executed.
 China's control over these communities is absolute. And with a constant
military presence, the government has made it near impossible for
international journalists to get close enough to document what is happening.
 'We now call Kathmandu little Lhasa'
 From that time in 2008, the Tibetans and their struggle has left a deep
impression on me. When I learned through contacts that China was moving to
extend its control of Tibetans into neighbouring Nepal, I decided I needed
to see for myself what was happening. And that is what this documentary is
about.

In June of this year our team travelled to Nepal's capital, Kathmandu. In
the cobblestone alleys around the Boudhanath stupa, the holiest Tibetan site
in the country, we learned of how effective China has been in getting the
Nepalese government to carry out its policy of control. 
Back in 2008, the protests in China, were followed by six months of street
demonstrations by the Tibetan exile community. (Some 20,000 Tibetans fled
across the border into Nepal when China seized Tibet in 1951.)
The protests embarrassed China. And ever since, Chinese officials have made
it a point to pressure Nepal's Maoist government to put an end to such
things. And it has.
 Tibetan demonstrations are now banned. Social gatherings of more than two
people are considered illegal.  And the community is no longer allowed to
celebrate the Dalai Lama's birthday. Even carrying 'His Holiness's' picture
around the Boudha stupa could land you in jail.
 "With all these new rules, we now call Kathmandu little Lhasa," said one
man. What is further troubling is that where once Nepal's government upheld
an unspoken "Gentleman's agreement", in which newly-arrived Tibetan refugees
would be handed over to the care of the UN Human Rights Commission on
Refugees (UNHCR), in recent months, there have been several cases where
Nepalese police forcibly returned Tibetans, some young teens, to China.
 In exchange, Nepal has received unprecedented funding for such badly needed
infrastructure projects as dams and roads; some $20mn is going towards
training the Armed Police Force (APF). The paramilitary unit was once tasked
with putting down the Maoist insurgency. Now that the insurgency is over,
and the Maoists are part of the government, some 10,000 members of the APF
are being deployed to guard the border with China. Jhala Nath Khanal,
Nepal's former prime minister, told me that keeping Tibetans from escaping,
and preventing unrest is the primary goal of the APF in these regions.
[..............]
[more...longish article]

Dear all: mark the documentary film dates and watch it please:
'Mustang: A Kingdom on the Edge' airs from Thursday, October 13, at the
following times GMT: Thursday: 2000; Friday: 1200; Saturday: 0100; Sunday:
0600; Monday: 2000; Tuesday: 1200; Wednesday: 0100; Thursday: 0600.