Disturbing news from a Chinese blog(ger) I follow

I have no idea to what make of this...

Update on No Updates

This post is from Jie's webmaster.

Sorry there have been no updates to "Ecumenical Buddhism" lately. From what I have been told, Jie has been kidnapped by Tibetan seperatists who found out where he was traveling in Sichuan, and has been unable to submit updates to me. His family are trying to secure his release by directly negotiating with this secessionists, choosing not to involve the Chinese government in this. Updates will resume as soon as he can be freed from these terrorists. Even though these extremists have done this, Jie would be the first to say that such actions do not represent the Tibetan people or Tibetan Busshism as a whole, these individuals are extremists misrepthe true teachings of their supposed faith for secular reasons of power.

Update: Per request, here is a way to donate money to Jie's family to help gain his release...

The Dalai Lama, shown here inciting riots against the Chinese government

(Thanks to Danny Fisher for sharing this)

Tibetan Buddhism spreading in China

Geng Xiaozhen, 29, a Beijing resident who recently quit her job as an editor for a government-controlled Web site specializing in news from Tibet, said she learned about Tibetan Buddhism through her job...

"Many followers ask themselves how a person who studies and promotes Buddhism can instigate a riot," said Geng, the former Web site editor, referring to the protests last March. "I believe he is erudite and wise, and I will be lucky if I can see him in my lifetime. I don't believe he would ever drum up violence. He can't control people's minds."

Lu Xin, 67, a retired Chinese teacher who began to study Tibetan Buddhism in 1999, said she had recently visited monks in Aba prefecture, in Sichuan province, for a week. "Unlike people in Han Chinese areas, people there are very pure, kind and plain. As soon as I arrived, I felt I was in another world," Lu said. "Tibet is the only pure land left in the world, and I worry about its culture. For example, if we over-develop Qinghai Lake tourism, will the garbage and plastic pollute the environment? Will plain people be seduced by money? If I didn't study Tibetan Buddhism, I would know little about Tibet."

These quote are from an interesting article about the spread of Tibetan Buddhism among "Han" Chinese. Hope and irony intertwined like thorns on a rose bush.

On his 18th brithday the Panchen Lama is still missing

I am sure that this is not the kind of news that Chinese government wants the world to be focused on as the Olympic Games in Beijing draw ever closer. I am not a practitioner of any of the Tibetan Buddhist schools or an adherent of any of the lamas, but at heart this is a human rights issue...

Beijing, China -- Today, 25 April 2007, marks the 18th birthday of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima- the XIth Panchen Lama of Tibet who along with his parents has been missing for the past twelve years.


In the last decade numerous governments and independent organizations have pressed the authorities in Beijing to disclose the whereabouts and well being of Panchen Lama and his family. Regrettably, the authorities have so far given various excuses for denying access to the Panchen Lama and his family.


Last year in reply to questions submitted by Reuters, the State Council Information Office said China had not arranged meetings between the boy and foreign organizations or media out of respect for the family's wishes not to be disturbed. Similarly, since 1997, China has failed to provide written document as demanded by the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances of the Commission on Human Rights to support China’s claim that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family wished not to be disturbed by outsiders.
Moreover, in September 2005, Chinese authorities informed the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is in "good health and just like any other children is leading a normal, happy life and receiving a good cultural education".


A year later, in an official communication from China claimed to a UN rights expert that Gedhun Choekyi is not the Panchen Lama but "merely an ordinary Tibetan child" but China has persistently refused an independent expert to visit him in order to confirm his welfare and well-being.


In the latest initiative, human rights group, Amnesty International raised concern about the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama with the Chinese government and asked the Chinese authorities to allow him freedom of movement. In addition, this year during the UN Human Rights Council meeting a joint statement was made by 15 NGOs describing the disappearance of the XIth Panchen Lama of Tibet a continuous crime.


The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Louise Arbour, raised the case of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima to the Chinese authorities during an official visit to China from 29 August- 2 September 2005.


Likewise, the UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom and Belief, Ms.
Asma Jahangir, on 9 January 2005 raised her concern, “about the grave interference with the freedom of belief of the Tibetan Buddhists who have the right to determine their clergy in accordance with their own rites and who have been deprived of their religious leader...”


The Buddhist Channel

From the ICT-profile on political prisoner Dawa Gyaltsen

The latest from the International Campaign for Tibet --

Take Action for Dawa Gyaltsen!

Political Prisoner Profile

In 1996 Dawa Gyaltsen was arrested for distributing posters calling for a stop to patriotic education at Zhabten Monastery in Nagchu County (where his brother was a monk) and calling for Tibetan independence. He has been tortured for expressing his support for the Tibetan people and despite a 25 month sentence reduction, is serving 15 years of the 18 year prison term for 'counterrevolutionary' activities.

You can voice your support for Dawa Gyaltsen by signing this petition (you can also download a hard copy here) that will be sent to Dr. Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, calling on him to raise the case of Dawa Gyaltsen with the Chinese government.

Dawa Gyaltsen was arrested and tortured in 1996, after calling for Tibetan independence and an end to forced political education at monasteries. He continues to be held in prison today - Take Action Now!

Politically Motivated Arrest

After the incident, Dawa Gyaltsen fled to Lhasa in the hopes of avoiding arrest. However, he was detained and tortured in early 1996 and forced to admit his brother's involvement in putting up the posters at Zhabten Monastery. After his arrest, the Nagchu Intermediate People's Court convicted Dawa Gyaltsen and his brother on charges of "organizing or leading a counterrevolutionary group" and "counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement". He is currently serving an 18 year prison term and his brother is serving a 13 year prison term. Dawa Gyaltsen's sentence was reduced in 2002 and again in 2004, resulting in a 25 month reduction.

Testimony

Tibetan youth activist Tenzin Tsundue, who was once held in the same detention center as Dawa Gyaltsen, recently stated: "Once he showed me his wrists. There were clear scars of torture - a ring of white scar tissue ran around his wrists. He told me that when he was first arrested he was handcuffed and thrown into a dark room without food for ten days. To keep him alive, the jailors would splash water on him once a day. The handcuffs tightened around his wrists. They ate into his flesh, forming sores, and puss. After 10 days when they unlocked the shackles, the metal rings ripped off skin from his wrist. He said he was not given medical attention and it took many months for the sores to heal. In the cold prison cell, the wounds had healed, but the marks remained."

Despite having his sentence reduced, the case has yet to be resolved justly. Therefore, ICT calls for the immediate release of Dawa Gyaltsen.

Take Action!

Join ICT in supporting Dawa Gyaltsen by signing this petition calling on Dr. Manfred Nowak to raise Dawa Gyaltsen's case with the Chinese government.

In solidarity,

International Campaign for Tibet

There are others as well and you can read about them here. If you want to be kept up to date on such issues, you can
sign up here.