TYC declares 2013 ‘International Year of Tibetan Independence’

[Ensapa]

2013? Its just 4 more months. With so much fervor for independence but very little substantial actions such as being nice to the Chinese so that they will actually listen when you talk to them, and do something drastic like lift the Dorje Shugden ban or at least preach tolerance towards Dorje Shugden practitioners would at least, generate the energy to help them with their independence. If they can lift the Dorje Shugden ban, they can lift China's rule over Tibet...but seems like they cant.

Phayul[Tuesday, August 28, 2012 16:14]

TYC President Tsewang Rigzin (l) and Vice-President Dhondup Lhadar (r) addressing a press conference at the TYC head office in Dharamshala, north India on August 28, 2012. (Phayul photo/Phuntsok Yangchen)
DHARAMSHALA, August 28: Tibetan Youth Congress, the largest pro-independence group in exile, has declared 2013 as the ‘International Year of Tibetan Independence’ and announced a series of activities to commemorate 100 years of the 13th Dalai Lama’s ‘Proclamation of Independence.’

Addressing a press conference today in their office headquarters in Dharamshala, TYC president Tsewang Rigzin said the year-long activities will begin with an ‘International Rangzen Conference.’

“The International Rangzen Conference will be held in Dharamshala coinciding with the actual date of the proclamation of Independence by the 13th Dalai Lama 100 years ago on February 13, 1913,” Rigzin said.

TYC in a release stated that the Conference is aimed at strengthening the “conviction and determination of rangzen advocates for the restoration of Tibetan independence.”

Thubten Gyatso, the 13th Dalai Lama, who was forced to take refuge in British India from 1910–1912, following the Manchu invasion of Tibet, returned to his country after Tibetans expelled the Manchu forces from Tibet, marking the restoration of Tibet’s independence.

The 13th Dalai Lama declared Tibet’s independence on February 13, 1913 (8th day, first month, water ox Tibetan year) by making the ‘Tibetan Proclamation of Independence,’ a five-point public statement reasserting Tibetan Independence.

TYC said four preliminary regional Rangzen conferences have also been planned in North America (December, New York); East Asia and the Pacific (Taiwan, October 27-28); and India, Nepal and Bhutan (New Delhi, November 24-25); with the Europe regional meeting already concluded last July.

Rigzin said the main aims of the conferences are to “assert the essential purpose and goal of restoring the independence of Tibet” and to “develop plans and strategies to restore Tibetan independence.”

TYC will also hold a competition for the creation of a ‘Rangzen Emblem’ that can be used by any organisation or individual supporting the Rangzen Movement. The winner will receive INR 50,000.00 as cash prize.

“While creativity is an important component of this competition, we encourage candidates to come up with an Emblem, which will be easy to emulate yet, powerful enough to elicit fervent emotion,” TYC said.

During its recently concluded 43rd Working Committee Meeting, TYC resolved to launch an indefinite hunger strike campaign in solidarity with the ongoing wave of self-immolations inside Tibet and to amplify the demands of the self-immolators.

Three Central Executive members of TYC; Dhondup Lhadar, Vice-President, Penpa Tsering, Organisational Secretary, and Jigme (Sholpa), Cultural Secretary will be sitting on the indefinite fast beginning September 3 in New Delhi.

Rigzin urged Tibetans and supporters to join a ‘Global Day of Protest’ on September 18 to call on the United Nations to “immediately intervene and pressure China to douse the fiery protests inside Tibet.”

The Tibetan Youth Congress also urged Tibetans and supporters to take part in a ‘Global Day of Action’ on September 24th by contacting the United Nations, European Union, world leaders and parliamentarians through email, phone and fax for concrete support to resolve the issue of Tibet.

[Tenzin Gyatso]

Great celebration!!

[harrynephew]

Much as I wish that Tibet would be free one day but..... 2013???

Let's be practical, lift the Dorje Shugden ban, free those suffering from the ban and dedicate it towards the Free Tibet cause!

cause = effect, no?

[WisdomBeing]

This whole Tibetan independence thing which I have been hearing for years is – sorry to say – quite ridiculous to me. The Dalai Lama has already said that he is asking only for autonomy, not independence, yet there was still no dialogue between him and the Chinese government.

Does the TYC really think that if they start protesting and demanding independence, China is going to say, oh dear, we made a mistake, sure you can have independence?? If over 50 people have set fire to themselves and China hasn't given an inch, does the TYC think that a few people going on a hunger strike will do anything? Stupid.

Rigzin urged Tibetans and supporters to join a ‘Global Day of Protest’ on September 18 to call on the United Nations to “immediately intervene and pressure China to douse the fiery protests inside Tibet.”

This is another stupid statement. China WANTS to stop the protests, why do you think they clamped down on the areas where there were immolations???

This whole statement is so sad because it shows how intellectually challenged and backward the Tibetans are. They really need some wisdom – and Dorje Shugden is the perfect practice for them to gain some!!!

[Ensapa]

This whole Tibetan independence thing which I have been hearing for years is – sorry to say – quite ridiculous to me. The Dalai Lama has already said that he is asking only for autonomy, not independence, yet there was still no dialogue between him and the Chinese government.

Does the TYC really think that if they start protesting and demanding independence, China is going to say, oh dear, we made a mistake, sure you can have independence?? If over 50 people have set fire to themselves and China hasn't given an inch, does the TYC think that a few people going on a hunger strike will do anything? Stupid.

Rigzin urged Tibetans and supporters to join a ‘Global Day of Protest’ on September 18 to call on the United Nations to “immediately intervene and pressure China to douse the fiery protests inside Tibet.”

This is another stupid statement. China WANTS to stop the protests, why do you think they clamped down on the areas where there were immolations???

This whole statement is so sad because it shows how intellectually challenged and backward the Tibetans are. They really need some wisdom – and Dorje Shugden is the perfect practice for them to gain some!!!

I believe that the CTA wants to believe that China will cave in to their demands if they demanded hard enough, like a child begging the parents. But this approach is far from realistic, and neither it is something that is logical. As we have discussed in another thread, the "magical" mentality where they believe that they will get what they want just by praying for it that is stopping them from their independence. If they were respectful to China, China would have listened to them and they would have gotten what they want or need from then onwards. Instead, they choose the hard way by giving in to their wild urges instead of applying the Dharma in their attitudes. What else can result from so much hatred and chaos? More hatred and chaos, and this is precisely what they are getting from China.

Dear CTA, please take a step back and think: would you cooperate with a country that constantly berates, belittles, denies, insults you and gives you large amounts of accusations? If not, why do you do it to China, then when they refuse to enter in talks with you, you blame them? Would it make more sense to calm down the people in Dharamsala first before you guys engage in talks to show that you are serious in the talks with them?

[Vajraprotector]

I agree with Ensapa. If extremes like self-immolation doesn't have much effect on China, I doubt any protest will.

However, there has been some news about the possible shift towards a better future.

Dalai Lama sees “encouraging signs” of shift in China
By John Chalmers and Frank Jack Daniel

DHARAMSALA, India (Reuters) - There are encouraging signs that attitudes towards Tibet are shifting in China, the Dalai Lama said on Wednesday, adding that the exiled Tibetan leadership is ready for fresh talks on his homeland if there was a genuine change of heart in Beijing.

“I can’t say for definite, but according to many Chinese friends, they say the new, coming leadership seems more lenient,” the Dalai Lama, 77, told Reuters in his audience room in the Indian Himalayan foothills town of Dharamsala.
 
“If their side … for their own interest are thinking more realistically we are ready for full cooperation with them.”
 
His comments were more upbeat than just a few weeks ago when he declared that resuming formal negotiations – frozen since 2010 – was futile unless China brought a more realistic attitude to the table and that it was useless trying to convince China that he was not seeking full independence for Tibet.

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/08/29/uk-tibet-dalai-idUKBRE87S0NS20120829?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews


There is also speculation that relations might become better because His Holiness once had a special relationship with the father of Xi Jinping, the man in line to become China's next president.

Does China's next leader have a soft spot for Tibet?
(Reuters) - For decades, Beijing has maintained that the Dalai Lama is a separatist, but Tibet's exiled spiritual leader once had a special relationship with the father of Xi Jinping, the man in line to become China's next president.

Few people know what Xi, whose ascent to the leadership is likely to be approved at a Communist Party congress later this year, thinks of Tibet or the Dalai Lama.

But his late father, Xi Zhongxun, a liberal-minded former vice premier, had a close bond with the Tibetan leader who once gave the elder Xi an expensive watch in the 1950s, a gift that the senior party official was still wearing decades later.

The Dalai Lama, 77, recalls the elder Xi as "very friendly, comparatively more open-minded, very nice" and says he only gave watches back then to those Chinese officials he felt close to.

Read more from: http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/09/01/china-tibet-xi-jinping-idINDEE88002I20120901



Not everyone thinks so though, and this is perhaps a more pragmatic one. Whatever it is, I do not believe that 2013 is the year of Tibetan Independence. Sorry to say, Tibetan Independance is not possible.

Xi Jinping: China will 'smash' Tibet separatism
19 July 2011

The man expected to be China's next president has promised to "smash" any attempts to destabilise Tibet.

Xi Jinping, who is due to succeed President Hu Jintao in 2013, said he would fight against "separatist activities" linked to the Dalai Lama.

He was speaking in Lhasa as part of a trip to mark 60 years since the communists took over Tibet.

Analysts say the speech suggests Mr Xi is unlikely to veer from the policies of his predecessors.

Beijing has for years been critical of the Dalai Lama, regularly denouncing him as a "splittist" in official media.

At the weekend, Beijing was highly critical of US President Barack Obama's decision to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader.

The communist government says Tibet has always been an integral part of China, and that their policies have brought economic development to a chronically poor area.

But many Tibetans accuse Beijing of cracking down on free speech, suppressing their religion and culture, and encouraging the immigration of many Han Chinese to the area.

The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959, has publicly said many times in recent years that he wants more freedom for Tibetans, not necessarily independence.

Mr Xi, who is currently vice-president, made his speech in front of the Potala Palace, which is the Dalai Lama's traditional seat.

"[We] should thoroughly fight against separatist activities by the Dalai clique by firmly relying on all ethnic groups... and completely smash any plot to destroy stability in Tibet and jeopardise national unity," he said.

"The extraordinary development of Tibet over the past 60 years points to an irrefutable truth: Without the Chinese Communist Party, there would have been no new China, no new Tibet."

Little is known about Mr Xi's political leanings, because China's leaders-in-waiting are rarely allowed to make major speeches in the run-up to changes in the Communist Party's highest echelons.

Mr Hu has often pushed the idea of a harmonious society depending on the sharing of wealth between the country's industrial powerhouses on the east coast, and its rural areas in the west.

From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14205998

[Ensapa]

from how I see it, it is very simple: if the self immolations continue, and if the badmouthing against China continues, China will not entertain CTA any longer. The "possibilities" here can be easily overturned by a few more self immolations or a few more accusations (which are unwarranted) against China. CTA has to realize that their relationship with China now is barely a thread hanging and it is extremely fragile. They have to handle it with much care and not allow it to deteriorate further if they are truly serious about the talks with China and it is not just something they say to look good but they do not plan to follow up with it sincerely. I personally dont think that CTA is sincere in their talks with China: in Dharamsala, accusing someone of being a Chinese spy is the worst derogatory remark there is for them. How do you enter negotiations with someone that you hate? what logic is there behind this? Should CTA not praise the good qualities of the Chinese? I know many Tibetans can be hot headed and may hate the Chinese, but trying is better than nothing at all. When China sees this effort, they will soften their wall and resume negotiations.

But, what are the chances of CTA doing just that? they are more interested in things that do not help such as enforcing the ban on Dorje Shugden and printing flyers against it. The money and paper can be better spent on educating the masses on current issues.