Tibet Analyst Robert Barnett on March 14th

You might wonder why I put up this video of what might seem like yesterday's news. But wait. What Dr. Barnett has to say about the events of March 14th is important for people to hear and understand today and in the future.  It helps tremendously to understand the events of that day, and why they unfolded as they did.  It is a video that tells you the story behind all those other videos.  It's only four minutes of your time, assuming you have your computer sufficiently equipped, so what are you waiting for?

Powerful Words from Women Writers on the Olympics

This blog entry is little more than a referral to two thought-provoking articles that I particularly enjoyed reading. And I think it makes very good sense to read them in the order in which they were published.

The first is by Anne Applebaum, Op-Ed Columnist for the Washington Post, "Olympic Fallacies." March 25, 2008.

The second is by Sally Jenkins, Sports Columnist for the Washington Post.  The title of her essay is "IOC Needs to Step in or Perhaps Move on." March 26, 2008.*

{*Update of April 21:  For another amazingly strong column by Sally Jenkins, entitled "A Torch Job to Liberty," see Washington Post, April 18, 2008.}

I'll let these two women speak with their own voices.  Loud, articulate, clear, thoughtful and fearless in the face of their opponents. Sportsman-like, truly.

The second article makes an interesting case for moving the Olympics to one of the cities that has already sponsored the games in recent years.  Something to consider, really.  They already have the necessary infrastructure.  The light of Truth is so much more important than who gets the Torch this time.

* * *

And lastly the latest welcome development:   Go here for the open letter to Hu Jintao drafted and signed by a group of academic Tibetan studies specialists.  In a word, Tibetologists.  This I am overjoyed to see.  They are asking that only professional Tibetologists with teaching and research positions, as well as graduate students in Tibetan studies, sign it, and then only if they agree with what it says.  People who do not fit the description should be able to find other petitions to sign.*

{*Update:  Chicago Public Radio, on April 1, 2008, did a story about the open letter, including an interview with Matthew Kapstein, Professor at University of Chicago and the Sorbonne.  The audio file is here.}

* * *

And one more thing.  This has just come in this very moment from the President of the IATS:

It is a cause for profound regret that tragic disturbances have shaken Tibetan regions in recent days, and that injuries, loss of life, and curtailments of freedom have ensued.  As an organization representing international scholarly cooperation with respect to Tibet, IATS has maintained a position of political neutrality since its inception in 1979, and this neutrality should be maintained in the present circumstances.  By the same token, the right of all members and officers of IATS as individuals to hold and to express opinions concerning these tragic developments should be affirmed, and members are strongly encouraged to make their voices heard.

Charles Ramble,

Oxford University

Hear, hear!

POSTSCRIPT: For still another of the few but growing number of intelligent analyses of the Tibetan situation, this one from a Tibet scholar with plentiful local experience to back him up, see Robert Barnett's "Seven Questions: What Tibetans Want," posted on the web exclusively, at the website of the journal Foreign Policy.  Among other things, he makes a clear distinction between the political demands of the global  exiled community, and those of local inhabitants in the Tibetan plateau, making a further distinction between Lhasa and the Tibetan countryside. All of it great thought food.  Read slowly and enjoy every bite. You don't know when you'll get another meal as good as this one.  Leaves me hungry for more.* 

(*Sorry about the food metaphors, but for some reason I can't get those starving monks out of my mind.)

PS of April 13, 2008:  Now we have to add a third powerful voice, that of Catherine Bennett, writing for The Observer: "At Least the Torch Tour Shone a Light on Olympic Hypocrisy."

A postscript, March 25, 2008

In retrospect, it seems that last Tibeto-logic blog entry might have given the impression that the demonstrations were over.  Hardly.  Although for the moment Lhasa may be silenced, as far as we know, demonstrations have been continuing almost without cease in different parts of Tibet. Today the visibly "hot" spots were in Kandze (in Tibet's Kham but China's Sichuan) and in Tsolho ('South [of the] Lake,' south of the Blue Lake of Amdo, the Koko Nor, the Tso Ngön). For a nice summary of the news with amazing testimonies of police deceptions and PhotoShopped photos, I recommend reading the blog called Agam's Gecko. Press here. And there are some encouraging signs today that at least a few more of the academic Tibetologists may be awaking from their seeming slumber. Let's hope so.

. . .

To gain insight into the reasons you don't hear anything about the Tibetan side of the story from Chinese news media, read this fascinating first-hand account by Mitch Moxley in The Globe and Mail.

. . .

Of course, bearing in mind that this is not a majority opinion, but that of a dissident, I'd also like to warmly recommend reading the words of Tang Danhong. When she says, "...have we ever heard the Tibetans' full real voices?" I couldn't have asked it better. If only more people in China would ask this question.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not insisting on one solution or another to the Tibet issue, not at the moment. All I am saying to people inside and outside China is this: Give Tibetans credit for being humans with their own subjectivity, with their own agency. If only you were familiar with them you would know that this is exactly what they are. Sinological spin insinuating that their actions are due to some exile Tibetan NGO, PRC officials blaming it all on His Holiness the Dalai Lama, foreign writers awarding all power to the spooks in the C.I.A., those who say their aim is to sabotage the Olympics... Either they just don't get it or they're deliberately hijacking the truth. They need to be set straight to the best of our abilities. Denying subjectivity and denying agency is just what imperialists do. Don't let them get away with it this time around.

I say don't just be an engaged Tibetologist. It's time to be an enraged Tibetologist. Make sure you can be heard above the roar.

Now Begins the Silence?

Like you, I've been following the news from Tibet with a very heavy heart, with much anxiety. Of course I'm mainly disturbed by the unfolding events, but another part of the reason for my distress is seeing the press distortions. The "spin" as it's called. It is supremely disheartening to see the reports that deny ordinary Tibetan people any local agency, the ones that refuse to see how people power can rise up and move mountains. That's right. Our minds are not in the control of those purportedly ruling over us, even when governments may attempt to limit our powers of expression. This is something we all know. Sometimes we need reminding.

I've been too busy following what people are writing (not to mention the photos and videos) that I haven't had a chance to write much of anything myself.

I never thought of Tibeto-logic as a current news site or an editorial page. It's supposed to be about human culture and its history, not politics.  Not really.

But today I'd like to steer you toward reading what I believe is a very significant story that you may have otherwise overlooked.  In most recent news we hear of huge convoys of elite paramilitary (probably PLA) troops headed for the Tibetan plateau.  Now it's been reported that the last two remaining foreign journalists have been forcibly evicted from Tibetan inhabited territories.

A story I just read helps explain why we may not be getting much news in coming days that has much to do with what is actually going on.  Or most of the stories will be about the lack of reliable information, about the frustration of the news people.

Read it, weep, and understand something about the nature of repression in a country that lacks several basic human freedoms, fair trials, freedom of expression, the ability to receive accurate information. Weep for Tibetans. Weep for Chinese. I'm thinking today would be a good day to curse the whole damned world we live in, perhaps curse ourselves for quite apparently wasting our feeble lives in unsuccessful efforts to make it better, more truth-full, more just, more equitable, more compassionate. Weep for us all. Just don't waste any more time weeping for yourself and your own personal concerns.

Authorities obstruct foreign journalists, step up controls and propaganda in Tibet

Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the methods being used by the Chinese authorities to obstruct foreign journalists trying to cover the situation in the Tibetan regions, and calls for the immediate and unconditional return of the foreign press to Tibet and to nearby provinces with a sizable Tibetan population.

Please do not hesitate to go to the full story by pressing firmly on this word.