Date for Tibetan ‘Serfs Emancipation Day’ set
Lawmakers in Tibet have approved March 28 as a day to mark the freeing of serfs in the troubled region, a move that a Dalai Lama representative said Tuesday did not address problems facing the area “realistically and seriously.”
The bill approved by legislators on Monday will mark the date that China says about one million people were freed from serfdom 50 years ago in the Himalayan region, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The legislation was aimed at “reminding all the Chinese people, including Tibetans, of the landmark democratic reform initiated 50 years ago,” said Pang Boyong, deputy secretary general of Tibet’s regional parliament, Xinhua reported.
While Tibet is technically autonomous from the central Chinese government, its current government is directed from Beijing. The Dalai Lama, traditionally the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan Buddhists, lives in exile in India.
The “Serfs Emancipation Day” falls near the 50th anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Beijing’s rule that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.
“March 10th will be the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan national uprising and actually we would consider this an opportunity now for the Chinese to show to the world what a great upcoming power they are in being able to come to terms with accepting that there is a problem inside Tibet and with committing themselves to finding a realistic solution that would bring about stability and unity, and which would be mutually beneficial to both parties where Tibet would also remain with the People’s Republic of China,” Tenzin Taklha, joint secretary of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, said.
“It’s best not to avoid the situation, that we accept the reality that there is a problem inside Tibet and that was clearly demonstrated by the demonstrations we saw that took place in March of last year. So I think the Chinese, instead of trying to hide this fact by declaring these new holidays, they should address the issue realistically and seriously,” he added.
Tibetan Buddhists say they resent the slow erosion of their culture amid an influx of Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in China.
Resentment against the Chinese in Tibet spilled over last March, when Buddhist monks initiated peaceful anti-Chinese protests — on the anniversary of the failed 1959 uprising — in the regional capital of Lhasa.
The protests soon turned violent, with demonstrators burning vehicles and shops. Some protesters advocated independence from China, while others demonstrated against the growing influence of the Han Chinese in the area and other regions of China with ethnic Tibetan populations…
Related Posts - As Americans Stop Buying, Trade Deficit Declines WASHINGTON — Dire warnings about the need for Americans to save more and spend less didn’t work. Nagging China, Japan and Germany to buy more American products didn’t work. No...
- China and India: Contest of the century | The Economist A HUNDRED years ago it was perhaps already possible to discern the rising powers whose interaction and competition would shape the 20th century. The sun that shone on the British...
- Why China is the REAL master of the universe By ANTHONY BROWNE - Cecil Rhodes, the businessman-imperialist of Africa, the creator of Rhodesia, suffered no flicker of doubt about who...
- China Favors Euro Over Dollar as Bernanke Alters Path China, whose $2.45 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves are the world’s largest, is turning bullish on Europe and Japan at the expense of the U.S. The nation has been buying “quite...
- The Truth About TibetLindsey HilsumThe last thing China wanted, in the year it is to host the Olympic Games, was the world watching its army brutally suppressing protestersThings are not...
- Dalai Lama: China makes life 'hell on Earth' for Tibetans The Chinese government has made life "hell on Earth" for Tibetans during the half-century since a failed uprising against its rule in 1959, the Dalai Lama said Tuesday. "These 50...
Related Websites - Interview With Warren Buffett Addison Wiggin at Agora Financial sat down with Warren Buffett for an interview. He published that interview in his brand new book, I.O.U.S.A â One Nation. Under Stress. In Debt. On the whole, Buffett seems pretty optimistic. Here's an excerpt: On our national debt problems... We're transferring small bits of......
- Intruder shot at home of Danish cartoonist [/caption] Danish police have shot and wounded a man at the home of Kurt Westergaard, whose controversial cartoons of the prophet Muhammad sparked a storm of Muslim protest five years ago. Danish media reported last night that Westergaard, 74, was at home near the city of Aarhus with his wife......
- Hohner Marine Band Harmonica, Key of G User Reviews Send this to a friend Hohner Marine Band Harmonica, Key of G Manufacturer: HOHNER Customer Rating: List Price: $43.00 Sale Price: $26.95 Availibility: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Now Product Description The Hohner Marine Band harmonica has been in use by harmonica players since 1896.......
- 250,000 Tibetans Forced From Their Homes Per Order Of Chinese Government. Oh, the giant hand of Big Brother...seems the Chinese Government has decided that the rural Tibetans would better serve China in newly created "Socialist Villages", so they are making them move...at their own expense. This way they can have more control over these people, and its aim is to present......
- What Happens When Demand for US Debt Dries Up? Over a year ago, I wrote about China threatening to stop buying US Treasuries. According to an article in the New York Times, it now looks like China is losing it's appetite for US debt : In the last five years, China has spent as much as one-seventh of its......
- SF gay pride event celebrates 40th anniversary [/caption] SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco's 40th annual gay pride weekend drew thousands to Civic Center Plaza, with even more expected Sunday for a parade, a Backstreet Boys concert and comments from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Organizers kicked off the event Saturday in front of City Hall where thousands......
Short URL: http://www.internationalnetworknews.com/?p=1456
Posted by John Malloy
on Jan 20 2009. Filed under Uncategorized.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
