Tibet Press Watch - Winter 2012

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You may flip through the Tibet Press Watch below or download the entire issue as a PDF.

Dear Friend of Tibet,

This edition of the Tibet Press Watch focuses on the self-immolations in Tibet. Since Tapey, a young monk from Kirti monastery in eastern Tibet, set himself ablaze in February 2009, there have been 16 additional self-immolations in Tibet.

These acts of protest have been remarkable in their extreme nature, but they represent a continuum of resistance against Chinese policies that effectively rob Tibetans of every other form of self-determination.

We are confronted at once by the tragedy and the strength of these acts, and we are compelled to reach. I believe the self-immolations wish to provoke an international reaction that moves China to back off its heavy-handed policies in Tibet and allow the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet.

During a recent memorial for the great Czech freedom fighter Václav Havel, my thoughts kept drifting back to the Tibetans who are sacrificing their lives for the cause of freedom in their own land.

So much of what Havel communicated about the struggle against Communist Czechoslovakia was intended to be universal in its experience and application, whether his writings on ‘the power of the powerless’ or ‘living in truth.’

In an essay, “Politics and Conscience,” written by Havel more than a quarter century ago, he embraces the notion of transcendent power, based on truth:

“…I think that is an experience of an essential and universal importance—that a single, seemingly powerless person who dares to cry out the word of truth and to stand behind it with all his person and all his life, ready to pay a high price, has surprisingly great power...”

The Tibetans who have self-immolated are challenging the Chinese party state and, indeed, all of us, to see their individual self-sacrifice as a means of discerning the truth in Tibet. And so our work at the International Campaign for Tibet goes beyond reporting on the self-immolations to raising the consciousness of those who are the intended audiences of the Tibetan self-immolators.

We are pleased that the United States government has been swift and direct in its response and appears to be leading an unambiguous international call for China to change course in Tibet.

At the same time, we are dismayed that the Chinese government chooses to respond with brute force in Tibet and with the tired accusations that foreign governments are meddling in its internal affairs. The articles reproduced in this Tibet Press Watch should give you a good sense of the international response.

I hope you will remember too that each of the men and women who set themselves ablaze is an individual with friends and family, and a unique personal store. We should get to know them as best we can, and we invite you to visit our website for this purpose.

There is so much that you can do to be a part of our work for Tibet—and you can also find ways to take action on our website.

Our obvious task right now is to share the truth of the self-immolations in Tibet. Please turn to page 15 to make a personal effort to help ICT spread the word. Thank you.

In solidarity,

Mary Beth Markey