Source:tibet.net

DHARMSALA, India (AP) — Upcoming Tibetan New Year’s celebrations appear poised to bring more bloodshed to the troubled Himalayan region, the head of Tibet’s exile government said Tuesday, warning that China has sealed off the regions ahead of a crackdown.

Already facing nearly two dozen self-immolations, many by Buddhist monks and nuns calling for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama, China is sending thousands of extra security forces to Tibetan areas to prepare for expected protests.

Source:phayul.com

DHARAMSHALA, February 15: Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay formally inaugurated the Tibet Policy Institute, a new policy and research think tank under the Central Tibetan Administration, earlier today at a small ceremony held at the Kashag Secretariat, Dharamshala.

In line with other think tanks, Tibet Policy Institute (TPI) carries a mandate to function as a research-oriented intellectual platform and look into the various issues and challenges facing the exile administration.

Speaking at the inaugural function, Dr Sangay said TPI will conduct research on the overall position of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in the next five to 50 years, the state of Sino-Tibetan relations as well as the welfare of the Tibetans in exile.

“As the exile administration is engaged in its day-to-day administrative responsibilities, a separate institute is needed that will look far into the future and carry definite policy study based on thorough analysis and research,” Dr Sangay said.

Source:phayul.com

DHARAMSHALA, February 15: Coinciding with the White House meeting between US President Barack Obama and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, the Chairmen of the bipartisan US Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) in a release yesterday called on Xi to recognise that the Dalai Lama “remains the best hope for restoring stability to Tibet”.

"Instead of condemning the Dalai Lama, Vice President Xi should recognise that the Dalai Lama remains the best hope for restoring stability to Tibet and guaranteeing the genuine autonomy that is the right of Tibetans," Cochairman Senator Sherrod Brown said.

Representative Chris Smith, Chairman of the Commission and Cochairman Brown noted at least 20 Tibetan self-immolations reported to have taken place since March 2011, ongoing repression against Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and controls on freedom of religion.

Source : phayul.com, 07-02-2012

The Central Tibetan Administration is deeply concerned and alarmed over the recent news of three more self-immolations in Serthar (Sichuan) on Friday, February 3, 2012.

Unconfirmed reports state that three Tibetans were involved, two of them aged in the 60s and 30s respectively. All three have sustained injuries, but their exact condition and whereabouts remain unknown.

DIIR Kalon Dicki Chhoyang addressing the Press at DIIR Auditorium.

We also hear reports of build-up of security forces and police in and around the city of Lhasa, and its key monasteries, Ganden, Sera, and Drepung. Furthermore, draconian measures to restrict movement of Tibetans in the capital could further aggravate the tense situation in Tibet. With Tibetan New Year on
February 22nd and the March 10th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising coming up, we fear there will be further bloodshed and loss of lives. The Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan community’s democratically-elected representative, urges the international community to directly and immediately engage the Central Chinese leadership to assert its control over local authorities and forbid police violence and shooting of unarmed citizens.

Source: phayul.com

DHARAMSHALA, January 21: Three Tibetan school students began a cycle rally for Tibet from the Tibetan settlement of Bylakuppe in the south Indian state of Karnataka to the Indian capital New Delhi, yesterday.

Tselo Gyal, Lugoen Thar and Gyaltsen, all students of the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) School, Gopalpur in north India have voluntarily organised the rally coinciding with their two-month winter vacations.

In a press statement, the three students said they were undertaken the “Cycling for Tibet” campaign to highlight the “plight of Tibetans suffering under China’s repressive rule” and to appeal for support in the resolution of the Tibetan crisis.

“The suffering and the injustice meted out to Tibetans in Tibet must end soon if truth, freedom, and peace are to sustain this world,” the release said.

In the past 11 months, 16 Tibetans have set their bodies on fire in Tibet demanding the return of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama from exile and protesting China’s continued occupation of Tibet.