4/05/2008

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Tibet


Tibetan Refugees (AFP/Dibyangshu Sarkar)

Tibetan refugees in Bangalore protesting against the visit of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

Today, there are over 130,000 Tibetan refugees in the world, mostly in India.

Disproving China's claims of improving the lives of Tibetans, they continue to stream into India and Nepal.

The History of Tibet

Tibet MapSituated in the Himalayas, bordered by India in the south and west, Nepal and Bhutan in the south, and China in the north and east, Tibet sits on the highest plateau in the world, at an average of 12,000 feet.

Tibet has long been an independent country, dating back for centuries. It has its own unique culture, with its own spoken and written language, system of government, currency, postal system, its own style of Buddhism, costume, and architecture.

Tibet wished to live peacefully by itself, so much so that it became known to the outside world as 'Shangrila' - a mystical and magnetizing country to those people fascinated by its remoteness, inaccessibility, and tales of a people living in complete harmony with themselves and nature.

With the rise of the Communist Party in China and the formation of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese cast their eyes to the west and declared their intention to take Tibet for their own.

The invasion and subjugation of Tibet and its people and the subsequent flight of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to India in 1959 is well documented. The International Commission of Jurists charged the Chinese Government with genocide of Tibetans.

However, even after nearly 40 years of Chinese dominance, suppression and terrorism in Tibet, the Tibetan national spirit has not been broken. Tibetans both inside and outside Tibet have never given up hope of receiving the independence again, under the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The recent uprising in Lhasa, the Tibetan Capital, on 10 March to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the first uprising which led to the Dalai Lama's escape to India, is proof that Tibetans wish to rid themselves of the Chinese yoke.

On 10 December 1989, His Holiness The Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This award was given to him in recognition of his work towards a peaceful solution for Tibet's independence from China, who occupied Tibet by force.

We Tibetans outside Tibet and those who live under the Chinese in Tibet are very proud of this achievement by His Holiness, and hope and pray that the Free World will not let this Nobel Peace Prize be just a gesture, but will help towards finding a peaceful solution to the question of Tibet and will ultimately result in Tibetans returning to their homeland, as free and independent, and once again live in peace and harmony with nature.

We are at a critical stage of Tibetan history. Unless we can return to our homeland, as a free and independent nation, within the next 10 years Tibet will cease to exist as we know it. The Chinese have transferred many Han Chinese into Tibet, with the result that the Tibetans are becoming a minority in their own homeland, in fact in parts of Tibet it has already happened.

The world will lose a unique race of people. This must not be allowed to happen I., We therefore urge you to help the Tibetan race by asking your own government to help to find a peaceful solution to the Tibet question.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

About Tibet

The Tibetan Government in exile, headed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled Head of State and spiritual leader, has, consistently held that Tibet has been under illegal Chinese occupation since China invaded the independent state in 1949-1950. The People's Republic of China (PRC) insists that its relation with Tibet is a purely internal affair, because Tibet is, and has for centuries been, an integral part of China. The question of Tibet's status is essentially a legal question, albeit one of immediate political relevance.

A Tibetan breached security during a visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to an Indian research centre in Bangalore, shouting anti-China slogans and tossing down pamphlets from a tower which he had scaled. (AFP/Dibyangshu Sarkar)The PRC makes no claim to sovereign rights over Tibet as a result of its military subjugation and occupation following its armed invasion in 1949-1950. Indeed, the PRC could hardly make that claim, since it categorically rejects as illegal claims to sovereignty put forward by other states based on conquest, occupation or the imposition of unequal treaties. Instead, the PRC bases its claim to Tibet solely on the theory that Tibet became an integral part of China seven hundred years ago.

Although the history of the Tibetan state began in 127 BC with the establishment of the Yarlung Dynasty, the country as we now know it was first unified in the AD 700 under King Songtsen Gampo and his successors. Tibet was one of the mightiest powers of Asia for the three centuries that followed, as a pillar inscription at the foot of the Potala Palace in Lhasa and the Chinese Tang histories of the period confirm. A formal peace treaty concluded between China and Tibet in 821-823 demarcated the borders between the two countries and ensured that, "Tibetans shall be happy in Tibet and Chinese shall be happy in China".

As Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire expanded towards Europe in the west and China in the east in the 13th century, Tibetan leaders of the powerful Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism concluded an agreement with the Mongol rulers in order to avoid the conquest of Tibet. The Tibetan Lama promised political loyalty and religious blessings and instruction in exchange for patronage and protection. The religious relationship became so important that when, decades later, Kublai Khan conquered China and established the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), he invited the Sakya Lama to become the Imperial Preceptor and supreme pontiff of his empire.

The relationship that developed and continued to exist into the 20th century between the Mongols and the Tibetans was a reflection of the close racial, cultural and especially religious, affinity between the two central Asian peoples. The Mongo Empire was a world empire and, whatever the relationship between its rulers and the Tibetans, the Mongols never integrated the administration of Tibet and China nor appended Tibet to China in any manner.

Tibet broke political ties with the Yuan emperor in 1350, before China had regained its independence from the Mongols. Not until the 18th century did Tibet again come under a degree of foreign influence.

Relations with Manchu, Gurkha, and British neighbours

Tibet developed no ties with the Chinese Ming Dynasty (1386-1644). On the other hand, the Dalai Lama, who had established his sovereign rule over Tibet with the help of a Mongol patron in 1642, did develop close religious ties with the Manchu emperors, who conquered China and established the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 191 1). The Dalai Lama agreed to become the spiritual guide of the Manchu emperor, and accepted patronage and protection in exchange. This "priest-patron" relationship (known in Tibetan as ChoeYoen), which the Dalai Lama also maintained with some Mongol princes and Tibetan nobles, was the only formal tie that existed between the Tibetans and the Manchus during the Qing Dynasty. It did not, in itself, affect Tibet's independence.

On the political level, some powerful Manchu emperors succeeded in exerting a degree of influence over Tibet. Thus, between 1720 and 1792, Emperors Kangxi, Yong Zhen and Qianglong sent imperial troops to Tibet four times to protect the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people from foreign invasions by Mongols and Gurkhas or from internal unrest. These expeditions provided the Emperor with the means for establishing influence in Tibet. He sent representatives to the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, some of whom successfully exercised their influence, in his name, over the Tibetan Government, particularly with respect to the conduct of foreign relations. At the height of Manchu power, which lasted a few decades, the situation was not unlike that which can exist between a superpower and a satellite or protectorate, and therefore one which, though politically significant, does not extinguish the independent existence of the weaker state. Tibet was never incorporated into the Manchu empire, much less into China, and it continued to conduct its relations with neighbouring states largely alone.

Manchu influence did not last long. It was entirely ineffective by the time the British briefly invaded Lhasa and concluded a bilateral treaty with Tibet, the Lhasa Convention, in 1904. Despite this loss of influence, the imperial government in Peking continued to claim some authority over Tibet, particularly with respect to its international relations, an authority which the British imperial government termed (4 suzerainty" in its dealings with Peking and St. Petersburg (Leningrad). Imperial armies tried to reassert actual influence in 1910 by invading the country and occupying Lhasa. Following the 1911 revolution in China and the overthrow of the Manchu empire, troops surrendered to the Tibetan army and were repatriated under a Sino-Tibetan peace accord. The Dalai Lama reasserted Tibet's full independence internally, by issuing a proclamation, and externally, in communications to foreign rulers and in a treaty with Mongolia.

Tibet's status following the expulsion of Manchu troops is not subject to serious dispute. Whatever ties existed between the Dalai Lamas and the Manchu emperors of the Qing Dynasty were extinguished with the fall of that empire and dynasty. From 1911 to 1950, Tibet successfully avoided undue foreign influence and behaved, in every respect as a fully independent state.

Tibet maintained diplomatic relations with Nepal, Bhutan, Britain and later with independent India. Relations with China remained strained. The Chinese waged a border war with Tibet while formally urging Tibet to "join" the Chinese Republic, claiming to the rest of the world that Tibet already was one of China's "five races".

In an effort to reduce Sino-Tibetan tensions, the British convened a tripartite conference in Simla in 1913 where the three states met on equal terms. As the British delegate reminded his Chinese counterpart, Tibet entered the conference as "an independent nation recognizing no allegiance to China". The conference was unsuccessful in that it did not resolve the differences between Tibet and China. It was, nevertheless, significant in that Anglo-Tibetan friendship was reaffirmed with the conclusion of bilateral trade and border agreements. In a joint Declaration Great Britain and Tibet bound themselves not to recognize Chinese suzerainty or other special rights in Tibet unless China signed the draft Simla Convention which would have guaranteed Tibet's greater borders, its territorial integrity and full autonomy. China did not sign the Convention, however, leaving the terms of the joint Declaration in full force.

Tibet conducted its international relations primarily by dealing with the British, Chinese, Nepalese and Bhutanese diplomatic missions in Lhasa, but also through government delegations travelling abroad. When India became independent, the British Mission in Lhasa was replaced by an Indian one. During World War II Tibet remained neutral, despite strong pressure from the USA, Britain and China to allow the passage of raw materials through Tibet.

Tibet has never maintained extensive international relations, but those countries with whom it did maintain relations treated Tibet as they would have any sovereign state. Its international status was in fact no different, say, than that of Nepal.

Thus, when Nepal applied for membership to the United Nations in 1949, it cited its treaty and diplomatic relations with Tibet to demonstrate its full international personality.

The turning point in Tibet's history came in 1949, when the People's Liberation Army of the PRC first crossed into Tibet.

After defeating the small Tibetan army and occupying half the country, the Chinese government, in May 1951, imposed the so-called " 17-Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet" on the Tibetan government. Because it was signed under duress, the agreement lacked validity under international law. The presence of 40000 troops in Tibet, the threat of the immediate occupation of Lhasa, and the prospect of the total obliteration of the Tibetan state, left Tibetans little choice.

As open resistance to the Chinese occupation escalated, particularly in eastern Tibet, the Chinese repression, which included the destruction of religious buildings and the imprisonment of monks and other community leaders, increased dramatically. By 1959, popular uprisings culminated in massive demonstrations in Lhasa. By the time China crushed the uprising, 87000 Tibetans were dead in the Lhasa region alone, and the Dalai Lama had fled to India, where he now resides with the Tibetan Government in Exile.

In 1963 the Dalai Lama promulgated a constitution for a democratic Tibet. It has been successfully implemented, to the extent possible, by the government in exile.

Meanwhile, in Tibet religious persecution, consistent violations of human rights, and the wholesale destruction of religious and historic buildings by the occupying authorities has not succeeded in destroying the spirit of the Tibetan people to resist the destruction of their national identity. 1.2 million Tibetans have lost their lives (more than one sixth of the population) as a result of the Chinese occupation. But the new generation of Tibetans are just as determined to regain the country's independence as the older generation was.

In the course of Tibet's 2000-year history, the country came under a degree of foreign influence only for short periods of time in the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries. Few independent countries today can claim as impressive a record. As the ambassador for Ireland at the UN remarked during General Assembly debates on the question of Tibet, " [for thousands of years, or for a couple of thousand years at any rate, [Tibet] was as free and as fully in control of its own affairs as any nation in this Assembly, and a thousand times more free to look after its own affairs than many of the nations here. "

Numerous other countries made statements in the course of the UN debates that reflected similar recognition of Tibet's independent status. Thus, for example, the delegate from the Philippines declared: " [It is clear that on the eve of the invasion in 1950, Tibet was not under the rule of any foreign country. " The delegate from Thailand reminded the assembly that the majority of states " refute the convention that Tibet is part of China. " The USA joined most other UN members in condemning the Chinese "aggression" and "invasion" of Tibet. In 1959, 1960 and again in 1961, the UN General Assembly passed resolutions (1353-XIV, 1723-XVI and 2079-XX) condemning Chinese human rights abuses in Tibet and calling on China to respect and implement the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Tibetan people, including their right to self-determination.

From a legal standpoint, Tibet to this day has not lost its statehood. It is an independent state under illegal occupation.

Neither China's military invasion nor the continuing occupation by the PLA has transferred the sovereignty of Tibet to China.

As pointed out earlier, the Chinese government has not claimed to have acquired sovereignty over Tibet by conquest. Indeed China recognizes that the use or threat of force (outside the exceptional circumstances provided for in the UN Charter), the imposition of an unequal treaty or the continued illegal occupation of a country can never grant an invader legal title to territory. Its claims are based solely on the alleged subjection of Tibet to a few of China's strongest foreign rulers in the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries.

Source: www.dharmakara.net (Michael C Van Wait Van Praag)

Major Allegations On The Chinese Occupation

Tibetan MonkChina's invasion by 35,000 troops in 1949 was an act of unprovoked aggression. There is no generally accepted legal basis for China's claim of sovereignty.

Ten years later, 100,000 Tibetans fled with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual and temporal ruler.

In 1993, the UN High Commissioner for refugees handled 3,700 Tibetan cases.

To avoid detection many refugees, who are poorly clothed, are forced to use the 19,000ft. Nangpa-La pass below Everest. The Nepalese authorities have turned refugees over to the Chinese.

Chinese Administration of Tibet: By the 17-Point Agreement of 1951 China undertook not to interfere with Tibet's existing system of government and society, but never kept these promises in eastern Tibet and in 1959 reneged on the treaty altogether.

China has renamed two out of Tibet's three provinces as parts of the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan, and renamed the remaining province of Utsang as Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

There is no evidence to support China's claim that TAR is autonomous: all local legislation is subject to approval of the central government in Beijing; all local government is subject to the regional party, which in Tibet has never been run by a Tibetan. Some 20% of TAR Communist Party cadres are Chinese.

The Human Cost

Reprisals for the 1959 national uprising alone involved the elimination of 87,000 Tibetans by the Chinese count alone, according to a Radio Lhasa broadcast of 1 October 1960. Yet Tibetan exiles claim that 430,000 died during the Uprising and the subsequent 15 years of guerrilla warfare, which continued until the US withdrew support.

The International Commission of Jurists concluded in its reports, 1959 and 1960, that there was a prima facie case of genocide committed by the Chinese upon the Tibetan nation. These reports deal with events before the Cultural Revolution. Chinese justice: Protest and Prisons-

Exile sources estimate that up to 260,000 people died in prisons and labour camps between 1950 and 1984.

Unarmed demonstrators have been shot without warning by Chinese police on five occasions between 1987 and 1989. Amnesty International believes that at least 200 civilians were killed by the security forces during demonstrations in this period. There are also reports of detainees being summarily executed.

Some 3,000 people are believed to have been detained for political offences since September 1987, many of them for writing letters, distributing leaflets or talking to foreigners about the TibetansU right to independence.

The number of political detainees in Lhasa's main prison, Drapchi, is reported to have doubled between 1990 and 1994. The number of women political prisoners tripled. The vast majority of political inmates are monks or nuns. A political prisoner in Tibet can now expect an average sentence of almost seven yeras.

Detailed accounts show that the Chinese conducted a campaign of torture against Tibetan dissidents in prison from March 1989 to May 1990. However, torture is still regularly used against political detainees today. Such prisoners are held in sub-standard conditions, given insufficient food, forbidden to speak, frequently held incommunicado and denied proper medical treatment.

Beatings and torture with electric shock batons are common; prisoners have died from such treatment. In 1992, a monk who had been tortured by the Chinese for over 30 years, bribed prison guards to hand over implements of torture. The weapons, smuggled out of Tibet, were displayed in the west in 1994 and 1995.

The Chinese have refused to allow independent observers to attend so-called public trials. Prison sentences are regularly decided before the trial. Less than 2% of cases in China are won by the defence.

Control of Education

Chinese replaced Tibetan as the official language. Despite official pronouncements, there has been no practical change in this policy. Without an adequate command of Chinese, Tibetans find it difficult to get work in the state sector.

Secondary school children are taught all classes in Chinese. Although English is a requirement for most university courses, Tibetan school children cannot learn English unless they forfeit study of their own language. Many children are sent away to China for education. In 1992 there were 10,000 such children in China, cut off from their own cultural heritage.

Since 1994, the Chinese have strengthened their drive to re-educate young Tibetans about their cultural past at all levels of Tibetan education. They use a distorted history programme which omits reference to an independent Tibet.

Religious Intolerance

Religious practice was forcibly suppressed until 1979, and up to 6,000 monasteries and shrines have been destroyed.

The 1982 Constitution of the People's Republic of China guarantees freedom of religious belief and yet China seeks to curb the total number of monks and nuns entering monasteries. The restrictions in some areas prevent children under 18 from joining monasteries. The PRC Constitution is too vaguely worded to safeguard its citizens from such arbitrary action.

After serving arbitrary sentences imposed for pro-independence activities, nuns released from prison suffer double jeopardy when, frequently, they are banned from rejoining their nunneries. Chinese Immigrants Flood Tibet-

Beijing now admits a national policy of deliberately encouraging Chinese settlers into Tibet.

The influx of Chinese nationals has destabilised the economy. Forced agricultural modernisations led to extensive crop failures and Tibet's first recorded famine (1960-1962).

Resettlement of Chinese migrants has placed Tibetans in the minority in many areas, including Lhasa, causing chronic unemployment among Tibetans. In 1990, the Chinese admitted that there were 44,000 Chinese in Lhasa and around 80,000 in the whole of the TAR. But independent observers believe the figure is in fact far higher. In the east Tibetan border provinces of Kham and Amdo, the Chinese outnumber Tibetans many times over. Economic Development Plans-

Beijing wants to see 10% economic growth per year from the Tibetan region. New wealth is being chanelled into Chinese hands as shown by the 1994 announcement of a railway for Tibet. The rail project will speed both the influx of Chinese migrants as well as the extraction of Tibet's mineral reserves. The railway dwarfs all China's other economic development and aid plans for Tibet

Chinese traders are favoured by lower tax assessments and the dominant postion of Chinese in government administration.

China is pushing to incorporate Tibet into its new market economy by boosting agricultural output. Traditional barley farming, suited to the climate, is diminishing as new crops are intruduced (sometimes with foreign aid backing).

The Environment; the Military

Up to 60 fully-laden timber trucks an hour are leaving Tibet on the two major roads to China, according to tourist film shot in September 1988. This is proof of deforestation and on a large scale. This is in contravention of UN Resolution 1803 (XVII) 1962, which establishes the right of peoples to permanent sovereignty over their natural resources.

The Indian Government reports that three nuclear missile sites, and an estimated 300,000 troops are stationed on Tibetan territory.

All attempts to discuss Tibet are bedevilled by the Chinese redefinition of the country's borders since 1949. Tibet Support Group UK uses the term Tibet to refer to the three original provinces of Usang, Kham and Amdo (sometimes called Greater Tibet). When the Chinese refer to Tibet they invariably mean the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) which includes only one province, UUTsang (the TAR was formally inaugurated in 1965). In 1949 the other two provinces, Amdo and Kham, were renamed by the Chinese as parts of China proper and became the province of Qinghai and parts of Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan provinces.


















































STEPS TO END TORTURE IN TIBET



The China Tibet Information Center is a large online resource that provides data, news, and history about Tibet from the viewpoint of the People's Republic of China. From the main page, users can access sections on: culture; history; religion; folk tradition; and art. For example, the music section allows users to listen to traditional and modern music from Tibet using Windows Media Player, without the need to download extra files. There are also many visual sources, including online annotated photographic exhibitions from Tibetan artists. Since the resource is an official website from the Chinese government, it emphasises a view of Tibet as part of the Mainland. Users will find a separate feature on the 40th anniversary of the foundation of the Tibet Autonomous Region in 1965, and the history section emphasises Communist China's 'peaceful liberation' of Tibet, and its history of 'serfdom' before 1949. The resource would be of value to anyone with an interest in Tibetan culture, particularly in terms of its perception by Communist China. It contains a great deal of visual and multimedia material, including video documentaries on history, religion and culture, which can be downloaded and played using RealPlayer.
http://en.tibet.cn/
Type: Research related resources; Secondary source; Places; Sound; Images; Texts; Primary source; News; Collections Format: HTML Added: 2005-11-28
Hosted jointly by Cambridge University and Cornell University, Digital Himalaya is an online archive of material relating to the Himalayan region, covering journals, maps, photographs and film. Collections mainly relate to Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan. The Williamson Collection will be of interest to scholars of Tibetan culture, comprising photographs and film taken in Tibet in the 1930s by Frederick Williamson when serving as a British Political Officer. Williamson's fascinating 16mm films can be viewed online (users will need to install QuickTime), along with scanned images of the original film cannister notes. Full texts of journals are also available to view online. Materials relating to Tibet include: The Review of Tibetan Studies (in French); Kailash - Journal of Himalayan Studies; and The Journal of the Tibet Society. Users will also find online articles by members of Digital Himalaya staff in the publications section, featuring material on the purpose, aims and development of the digital archive. The website also acts as a gateway to related online resources dealing with Himalayan area studies and digital archives. Digital Himalaya would be of interest to any scholar or student of Himalayan life and culture. Although most materials tend to relate to Nepal, there is more than enough material to relate to Tibetan Studies.
http://www.digitalhimalaya.com/
Type: Collections; Secondary source; Primary source; Research related resources; Texts; Images; Projects; Places; Sound Format: HTML Added: 2005-11-28
The Digital Library and Museum of Buddhist Studies, from the National Taiwan University Library, is an online resource centre that supplies textual information on Buddhist scriptures, Buddhist teachings, and the languages used in them. Users can search an online database of bibliographies, online full-text publications, ejournals and ebooks using keywords or more specific search terms. The website provides online guides to the main languages used in Buddhist texts, including Sanskrit, Pali and Tibetan lessons. Those interested in the Tibetan language should note that its dedicated page is only available in Chinese (traditional characters). The main page acts as a gateway to Buddhist scriptures available online from international websites. Chinese scriptures can be downloaded directly from the digital library in PDF format. Scholars of Tibetan Buddhism will find the online tools section useful. This includes links to an online Tibetan to English translation tool, and to electronic text initiatives and dictionaries related to Buddhist studies. Scholars will also find a news section, containing dates of academic conferences and events around the world. The website as a whole would be of interest to researchers and students alike, although users with a solid grasp of written Chinese will have an advantage when using the resource.
http://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/
Type: Bibliographic databases; Datasets; Primary source; Projects; Reference sources; Research related resources; Resource guides and directories; Texts Format: HTML Added: 2005-11-28
Containing documents declassified prior to 2001, this section of the US State Department deals with America's contacts with Tibet (which was invaded by China in 1955) from 1964 to 1968). Comprising one main page, the website includes documents from American officials, the Nehru government and the Dalai Lama, covering: the CIA's relationship with Tibet; US contacts with India urging them to take a stronger political line over Tibet; and reports on the conditions in Communist-held Tibet in the 1960s. For example, the first document lists US financial aid to Tibetan exiles (including aid to buy armaments), and details of the CIA's help in training Tibetan rebels for a possible uprising. The documents also contain personal correspondence from President Johnson to the Dalai Lama, assuring the Tibetan leader of continued support for his exiled nation in the United Nations against Communist China. Although there are relatively few documents related to Tibet, this section of the State Department archive is a fascinating insight into America's interest in Tibet in their cold war against Communist China. It would be of interest to students of modern Chinese and Tibetan history, particularly in terms of foreign relations.
http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/vol_xxx/337_343.html
Type: Collections; Primary source; Texts Format: HTML Added: 2005-11-28
The PBS Frontline broadcast, 'Dreams of Tibet', aimed to uncover the American fascination with the 'Free Tibet' cause, which boasts influential converts in Hollywood and in the world of rock music. Concerned with Tibet's symbolic status as much as its political one, the programme's online resource provides a guide to Tibetan culture, outlines China's changing relationship with Tibet, and publishes interviews with those concerned with Tibet and its representation. The website reproduces extracts from publications by Peter Hopkirk and John Powers in order to explain the basic tenants of Tibetan Buddhism. Noted US China scholar Orville Schell recounts his experiences of sneaking into Tibet in 1994, while users can read about similar secret missions undertaken by explorers employed by British map surveyers over 100 years earlier. The online resource also covers Tibet's dispute over sovereignty with the People's Republic of China, reproducing book extracts, interviews and reports on: Chinese attitudes to the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama; human rights; Tibetan identity; and China's views on conservation in Tibet. Users can also access a complete transcript of the programme, a chronology of major events in Tibetan history, and a range of interviews on the question of Tibetan self-determination, including the views of famous advocates of Tibetan independence (including Richard Gere and Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys), Tibetan exiles, US officials (including Henry Kissenger), and China experts. Viewers' comments are also reproduced, often asking for more coverage of China's view of Tibet's status. However, on the whole, the website serves as an entertaining introduction to contemporary Tibet and its position in global politics, and would be of particular value to undergraduate students.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tibet/
Type: Primary source; Texts; Sound; Research related resources; Secondary source Format: HTML Added: 2005-11-21
Himalayan Art Resources is a huge online archive of painting, sculpture and textiles from the Himalayan region, assembled from collections around the world. Users can browse by type of art from the main page, or can look through particular collections, which include: museum collections; photography; private collections; images in publications; and art from particular sacred traditions (including the Bon religion, forms of Buddhism and Hinduism). When selected, each image is annotated with title and date information, along with soundfiles of titles in Tibetan and Sanskrit. Users can also zoom in on each image, and select individual areas for closer analysis. Textual information on Himalayan art can be found through a section on collected exhibits and in a books section. In the exhibits section, articles on art history are reproduced, including work on: Tibetan religious Thangkas; Buddhist art in Tibet; and myth and symbolism in the vajrayana. Users can also browse photographic collections in this section. The books section features a bibliography of books on Himalayan art, and the entirety of the 1894 book, Lamaism in Sikhim, which is available to download in PDF format. The online gallery is an excellent resource for students and academics alike. It is user-friendly, and provides a glossary of terms for anyone unfamiliar with Himalayan culture. It also boasts an extensive links page, which is organised by geographical region, and by 20 subjects.
http://www.tibetart.com/
Type: Primary source; Bibliographic databases; Places; Collections; Resource guides and directories; Research related resources; Images Format: HTML Added: 2005-11-28
Latse Contemporary Tibetan Cultural Library is a centre for research on modern Tibetan Cultural Studies. Its website introduces the aims of the library, outlines its collections, and gives notice of conferences and events. In addition to an extensive textual introduction to the library's collections (which include books, encyclopaedic works, blocks and prints), the website also features English and Tibetan versions of the library's publicity brochure. Two versions of its (bilingual) newsletter are also available to browse or to download in PDF format. Users can also search the library catalogue by logging in as a guest, and are able to consult the online Bya-ra database, which lists secondary research by Tibetologists based in the People's Republic of China. The resource also provides details of past conferences, special events and lecture series. Although full-text papers are not available to download, details of key speakers and lecture titles are provided. Users should note that the resource is in need of updating, and it is hoped that more recent details of events will appear soon. The Latse Contemporary Tibetan Cultural Library would be of value to any researcher of modern Tibet, particularly in terms of the way in which Tibetan studies can break away from the usual focus on traditional culture.
http://www.latse.org/
Type: Other organisations; Research related resources Format: HTML Added: 2005-11-28
The online resource from the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives introduces the activities of the library, located in Dharamsala, India, gives multimedia information on Buddhist philosophy, and describes its archives and collections of Buddhist works. From the main page, users can reach textual descriptions of the various collections in the library, which include Tibetan and translated texts, and photographic, architectural, and audio-visual archives. The website also includes textual information on the library's Tibetan language activities, its projects (including digitisation of texts, oral history and research into Tibetan vernacular language), and descriptions of its publications.

The library publishes several journals, and an archive of the contents of its English language journal, Tibet Journal, can be downloaded in pdf format. Users can also download recordings of past classes on Buddhist philosophy, using Windows Media Player, Quicktime Player, or Winamp Player. Although it is not possible to search the contents of the library online, the website provides a comprehensive introduction to the varied activities of the institution, and is a valuable resource for any researcher with an interest in Tibetan written culture.
http://www.ltwa.net/

Type: Collections; Other organisations Format: HTML Added: 2006-11-08
The online resource for the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, given to the Dalai Lama, provides transcripts of the Dalai Lama's acceptance speech, presents a detailed biography, and outlines the reasons behind the Nobel Committee's decision to honour the Dalai Lama. From the main page, users can access a transcript of the Committee's presentation speech, and can read a short press release related to the prize. Further information about the Dalai Lama himself is found in a separate section, which includes: a biography complete with a short bibliography of printed materials; the Dalai Lama's Nobel Lecture and acceptance speech; and a video of Dalai Lama's statement at the 2001 Nobel Symposia, which can be downloaded and played using RealPlayer. The website would be of interest to any researcher of modern Tibet and its perception by and cultural significance to Western nations. It also acts as a gateway to related websites, featuring a multimedia online resource from Harvard University.
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1989/
Type: Other organisations; Texts; Sound; Primary source Format: HTML Added: 2005-11-28
Skidmore College, New York, holds a collection of photographs of Tibetan monuments and culture, taken by the Tolstoy-Dolan Expedition of 1942-43 as they investigated supply routes from India to Chiang Kai-shek's regime. Photos of Tibet in the Early 1940s makes these images available online, along with a textual introduction to the collection and the original expedition. Images can be viewed according to themes, which include: mural painting; sculptures; Tibetan religion; the Nationalist Chinese army; and temples and architecture. Users will also find a postcard from Heinrich Harrer, the Austrian mountain climber and author of Seven Years In Tibet. The photographs are displayed with little annotation; however, they can be viewed in more detail by clicking on their thumbnail images. Users will find a print bibliography related to the Tolstoy-Dolan Expedition, which can by reached via a link from the main page, along with a short account of the progress of the journey through Tibet. Although the resource would be improved with additional textual comment and contextualisation, these photographs are a valuable primary source, picturing life in Tibet before the Communist takeover. The website would be of particular value to undergraduates and students in further education.
http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/asianstudies/TibetanPhotos/Snaps.html
Type: Bibliographic databases; Collections; Primary source; Images; Places Format: HTML Added: 2006-02-24
The Tibet Album brings together over 6,000 photographs from the extensive collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum and the British Museum. The images were taken by a small group of diplomats visiting Tibet on behalf of the British Empire between 1920 and 1950 and offer a unique snapshot of Tibetan culture at the point of contact with the wider world. Supplemented by contemporary maps, this is an important record of a culture now 'changed beyond all recognition', an historical reference document for scholars and aid for Tibetans conserving and reconstructing their own histories. The site has a specially designed interface for viewing the photographs, allowing users to zoom, compare and collect images in an album, which can be edited, shared and submitted to the site itself for inclusion. The database has a comprehensive range of search and browse options including by photographer, place, collection, people and date. Also of note is the supporting information about this Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project and its methodologies – a valuable and impressive template for the digitisation of photographic resources.
http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/
Type: Datasets; Images; Primary source; Projects; Research related resources Format: HTML Added: 2004-07-16
The website of the Government of Tibet in Exile reports the latest news from Tibet, provides textual information about Tibetan language and culture, and displays facts on Tibet's geographical location and population. From the main page, users can access links to current news stories, covering articles on the activities of the Dalai Lama, and developments on the political status of Tibet. Short pieces on Tibetan culture feature: music; women in Tibet; Buddhism in Tibet; Islam in Tibet; and the Dalai Lama. Users will also find sections on the political status of Tibet, and on guidelines for a future government of an independent Tibet. These sections reproduce exerpts from international resolutions on Tibet's status, outline negotiations between Tibet and Beijing, and provide images of stamps and bank notes from Tibet's period of independence before the Communist invasion. In addition, the website features a guide to Dharamsala, the area given to Tibetan exiles by Nehru in 1960. There is also a useful list of print resources for students of Tibetan language. Users should bear in mind that the resource comes from a firm pro-independence position. Nevertheless, it provides useful source material on Tibetan exile attitudes towards China for scholars and students.
http://www.tibet.com/
Type: Places; Texts; Primary source; Secondary source; Reference sources; News Format: HTML Added: 2005-11-28
The Tibetan Studies WWW Virtual Library is a guide to online resources for the study of Tibet, its culture, language, and literature. The guide lists over 200 online resources together with annotations. Sections include: art, music and theatre; electronic forums; politics; religion - including Buddhism; and also human rights; travel and tourism. The site was created, and is maintained, by T. Matthew Ciolek. The links on the rather confusing front page of this resource lead to long lists of sites and resources relating to Tibet. These lists are very thoroughly researched, all entries are annotated and reviewed and the site appears to be regularly checked, as very few of the links are broken. Dates given on the site, however, suggest that this process ceased in October 2007, so the current healthy situation might well deteriorate in the future.
http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVL-TibetanStudies.html
Type: Reference sources; Resource guides and directories; Texts Format: HTML Added: 2000-10-03
TibetInfoNet provides users with textual information and images on modern Tibetan current affairs, culture and society. From the main page, users can access selected news from worldwide press sources on issues in contemporary Tibet. TibetInfoNet is unaffiliated with any political organisation, and stories are selected on account of their relevance to contemporary Tibetan society. Users can browse news stories by date or by topic, which include: society and culture; economy and development; policies and leaders; education; prisoners and protest; and Tibetan issues abroad. Archives of online news stories date back to August 2005.

The website also includes an image library, which can be browsed by topic. TibetInfoNet is also partly available in simplified Chinese and Tibetan, as well as in Japanese and four European languages. The resource would be of value to anyone with an interest in contemporary Tibetan current affairs and society.
http://www.tibetinfonet.net/