Brief Highlights - Tibet Post International

Parliamentary delegation briefs Australian Parliament on Tibet

Canberra: A four member Tibetan Parliamentary delegation led by Speaker Penpa Tsering visited the Australian Parliament on Wednesday, 27 August and met with some members of the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet including its Chairman Hon. Warren Entsch MP.

According to a report by the Tibetan administration, Speaker Penpa Tsering briefed the six MPs and two Senators present on the current political, environmental and human rights situation inside Tibet. All the members showed keen interest and asked questions. It was a meaningful meeting.

Further, in the afternoon, Speaker Penpa Tsering was invited to brief the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade on the situation inside Tibet. The Joint Standing Committee chaired by Ms Teresa Gambaro MP. This briefing was very timely for the Committee to hear from the Tibetan side as the Committee was recently briefed by "Tibet experts" from China. These meetings were jointly organised by the Tibet Information Office and the Australia Tibet Council.

Regional Tibetan Youth Congress Taiwan elects new board members

Taipei: - Regional Tibetan Youth Congress Taiwan has elected its new board members on 13th July 2014 at His Holiness The Dalai Lama Foundation in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan.

The new board members are: - 1st Kunsang Lhundup President, 2nd Tenzing Chompel, Vice President, 3rd Dachompa, Secretary, 4th Wangdue, Secretary, 5th Nima Phuntsok,Treasury, 6th Kunchok Jimpa, P.R.O., and 7th Tsamchoe, P.R.O.

Tashi Dhondup wins Domey parliamentary bypoll

Dharamshala: - Tashi Dhondup of Golok Serta and resident of Nepal won the by-election for the Domey Parliamentary seat with 586 votes (57.17%).

Announcing the results of the final round of polling, the election commissioners said out of 3,986 registered voters, 1,025 cast their ballots with a voter turnout of 25.72%, the Tibetan administration official media "Tibet Net" reported.

Tashi Dhondup, native of Golok Serta and currently residing in Nepal, got the highest number of 586 votes (57.17%), followed by Tsangyang Gyatso of Golok and resident of Dharamshala with 317 votes (30.93%) and Karma Gelek of Jakhyung and resident of Bhandara with 113 votes (11.02%).

The final round of voting took place on 9 June.

Tibetans and supporters in Swiss rally for UN support

Dharamshala: - Hundreds of Tibetans and Tibet supporters to held a rally in front of the United Nation's building, urging for UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's intervention to resume dialogue between Tibetan representatives and China. The protest coincided with the UN Human Rights Council's 26th session,

Simultaneously, 17 Tibetans have held a sit-in protest in front of the United Nation's Human Right's Commissioner's Office and Palais des Nation (UNHRC Building) for the last four days to draw UN member's attention to the Tibetan cause.

As part of its yearlong campaign to urge UN Secretary General and member states to press China to resume dialogue to resolve the Tibet issue, the Tibetan Community of Swiss and Liechtenstein organized this rally. It also called for access to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Tibet at the earliest.

Tibet Bureau staff Dawa Gyatso addressed the rally as Mr René Longet, a long time supporter of the Tibetan cause, expressed his personal sympathy and solidarity with the Tibetan people.

Sikyong of Tibet meets Tibetan information hero

Dharamshala: - On the 2nd of June, Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay met with Golok Jigme, the Information Hero. Jigme escaped to India after he was imrpisoned and tortured by the Chinese authorities for helping film maker Dhondup Wangchen with his documentary "Leaving Fear Behind." He was listed in "100 Information Heroes", a list compiled by Reporters Without Borders.

During the two hour meeting, Golok Jigme told the Sikyong about his imprisonment, torture, and subsequent escape. He also told the Sikyong about the existing political conditions in Tibet.

Dr. Sangay expressed his happiness at Golok Jigme's timely arrival in India, and the release of Dhondup Wangchen, after six years of imprisonment. The Sikyong suggested that Golok Jigme should share his story with with the Tibetan people, and tell them about the conditions in Tibet, including students in Tibetan schools and colleges.

Uncle of Tibetan who stabbed to death in protest arrested

Dharamshala: - Local sources revealed that Jampa Choephel, the uncle of Phakpa Gyaltsen, who had jumped to death earlier this month in order to protest against Chinese mining works in the Tibetan county, has been detained by Chinese authorities.

Choephel was taken into custody on May 12 by police in Chamdo (in Chinese, Changdu, prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region), five days after his nephew committed suicide. In Chamdo County, eastern Tibet, he was looking after Phakpa Gyaltsen's children and other children who were attending school in the town.

The Chinese authorities have cited no reason for his detention.

Forced replacement of management at a monastery in Tibet

Dharamshala: - Chinese authorities have removed officials from Nyatso Zilkar monastery in Yulshul (in Chinese Yushu) prefecture's Tridu (Chenduo) , eastern Tibet who they suspect of opposing Beijing's rule and replaced them with monks of their own choosing, according to sources in the region.

According to a report by a report by U.S.-based news site RFA, the move is believed to be the first high-profile management change by Beijing of a monastery in Tibetan-populated areas in recent years. It has heightened local fears that the management wouild be functioning under exclusive Chinese control.

"This action has completely broken the tradition of the [monastery] managing its own discipline and activities," sources said,"With this appointment of a new management committee for Zilkar monastery, the monks are worried about their future."

Chinese authorities in recent months had increasingly interfered in the work of Nyatso Zilkar, "accusing the management team of the monastery in involvement in separatist activities and pressing for their removal from management positions," a source added.