By Tsering Choephel
DHARAMSALA, 28 August: New Chinese school textbooks for primary and junior school students are set to be introduced from the autumn semester beginning next week. With increased content dedicated to ‘national security and traditional culture,’ it is Beijing’s latest move to step up ideological propaganda and control, says a report by the South China Morning Post today.
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DHARAMSALA, 28 August: Christopher Elms, spokesperson for the US Embassy in New Delhi, emphasized that a long-term solution to bring stability to the Tibet-China dispute will come through negotiations between the Dalai Lama or his representatives and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), rather than from US statements. Elms made these remarks on Tuesday while visiting the Tibet Express bureau as part of his three-day visit to Dharamsala, the exile headquarters of the Tibetan people.
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By Tsering Choephel
DHARAMSALA, 28 August: Taiwan’s Kaohsiung branch of the High Prosecutors’ Office on Monday charged three Taiwanese individuals with ‘developing a spy network to infiltrate the Taiwanese military,’ taipeitimes.com reported on Tuesday.
DHARAMSALA, 9 August: In a significant development, the American Bar Association (ABA) has passed a historic first resolution calling on the US and the United Nations to investigate China’s human rights violations in Tibet. The resolution calls out Beijing for its continued violations of the human rights of Tibetans inside Tibet, marking a significant step towards potential investigations and accountability measures against China.
Read moreBy Tsering Choephel
DHARAMSALA, 8 August: Ancient stone artifacts discovered in western Tibet, identified as stone sewing needles, are said to be 9,000 years old, making them the oldest of their kind on record, according to a study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports by a group of Chinese archaeologists, as reported by science.org.
By Tsering Choephel
DHARAMSALA, 8 August: Pro Tem Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha and BJP MP Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab was appointed Convener of the All Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet (APIPFT), while Shri Tapir Gao, BJP MP, was appointed Co-convener on 7 August, according to tibet.net, the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the Tibetan government in exile.
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By Tsering Choephel
DHARAMSALA, 7 August: Tsering Tso, a Tibetan tour guide and outspoken critic of Chinese authorities’ racial discrimination of Tibetans, was detained again on 29 June and subjected to a 10-day “administrative detention” under charges of “endangering social stability” and was later released on July 8, reported the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), a Dharamsala-based rights group on Monday.
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By Tsering Choephel
DHARAMSALA, 5 August: Controversy erupted at the Paris Olympics 2024 when a Taiwan supporter was forcibly removed from the arena for displaying a pro-Taiwan banner during the men’s doubles badminton final between the geopolitical rivals Taiwan and China on Friday. The incident, which occurred amid Taiwan’s victory over China, has reignited debates over the island’s representation in international sporting events and the freedom of expression for its supporters.
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By Tsering Choephel
DHARAMSALA, 1 August: US congressman Rep. Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, tweeted on X in response to China’s imposed sanction on him that he would wear it “as a badge of honour”.
By Vijay Kranti
Repeated claims by the senior most Tibetan exile leadership about ‘back channel’ talks being in progress with Beijing are an indication of a new round of Dharamshala-Beijing dialogue taking shape to settle the seven decade old conflict between the two sides. In his recent media statements Penpa Tsering, the ‘Sikyong’ (Tibetan title for the elected ‘President’ of the exiled Tibetan diaspora) has revealed that some behind the scene talks are being held with the Chinese leaders with the help of a third country. It’s understandable that the Sikyong refused to divulge either the name of the ‘third country’ or the identity of officials involved from either side. But his claim that these talks started with the initiative of the Chinese side deserves serious attention and calls for a deep clinical scrutiny of what prompted President Xi Jinping to restart these negotiations after having rejected every single point on which the Dalai Lama side has been resting its case for settlement of the Tibetan issue with Beijing.
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