CHINA’S KEY METAPHORS OF TIBET’S ENVIRONMENT: Presentation given to TIBET POLICY INSTITUTE seminar 29 March 2012-03-27 China has a set of slogans that define its approach to the environments of the Tibetan Plateau. These key metaphors, endlessly repeated, shape China’s thinking, limit China’s imagination, close Chinese minds to the complex circumstances on the ground that […]
PRESENTATION TO TIBET POLICY INSTITUTE SEMINAR 22 MARCH 2012 CHINA’S SECRET DECISION TO “DOWNPLAY THE NATIONAL QUESTION.” Zhu Weiqun, of the CCP United Front, has boldly proposed abolishing all reference to nationality on the identity cards all Chinese citizens must carry, and frequently produce for inspection. This latest step towards erasing Tibetan identity as a […]
西藏妇女在逐渐死去。每年有数百位藏族妇女死于临产。在把新生命带到这世上，赋予人类新生机会中死去让人震惊。西藏孕产妇死亡率每年大约4百人，或每10万个新生婴孩中有5百人死亡。但在中国，该死亡率为45人。
藏区资源之殇: 20世纪60年代，中国地质学家们到地貌复杂青藏高原进行考察，他们相信那里是一片矿产丰富的处女地。在荒僻的高山沙漠，科考队发现了由于长期气候变化，日渐干涸的湖泊。在西藏西部空旷的羌塘高原，队员们发现了已经干涸的湖泊，湖床闪闪发亮，变成了盐池。
China Dialogue website has published the first account of a new, hi-tech industry in Tibet -lithium mining- and its consequences for the environment. China Dialogue published an edited version, in Chinese and English, on 20 December 2011. Below is the full version. http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/4696-Tibet-s-resource-curse SALT PANS TO SMARTPHONES: A REMOTE TIBETAN LAKE IS INSIDE YOUR LATEST […]
NEPAL: THE NEW RAINBOW NATION? Kathmandu 6 December 2011 By Gabriel Lafitte Among Tibetans and their supporters worldwide, Nepal evokes dread. The news out of Nepal is invariably bad. The 20,000 Tibetan refugees in settlements are prisoners, unable to move freely, unable to obtain certification of their refugee status, unable to find employment or get […]
Return of Buddha Shobhan Saxena | Dec 4, 2011, Times of India Are Buddhist nations coming together to form a bloc that is as much religious as it is political? And is India ready to assume leadership of the group? If it is, China is clearly unhappy about it. But a churning has begun. Sunday […]
WHY DO SO MANY TIBETANS DIE GIVING BIRTH? IS CHINA FULFILLING ITS MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDG) PROMISES? by Gabriel Lafitte published by DOLMA magazine, November 2011, annual journal of Tibetan Women’s Association http://tibetanwomen.org/dolma-magazine/ WOMEN BLEEDING TO DEATH ALONE The women of Tibet are dying. Each year hundreds of Tibetan women die in childbirth. To die […]
On November 1 2010 repressive new regulations intruding into management of Tibetan monasteries came into force. In Kandze and Ngaba, even more prescriptive, detailed and restrictive regulations controlling all aspects of monastic life were brought into force in November 2011. In exile, these were denounced in 2010 by Kalon Tsering Phuntsok as “an evil design […]
Crisis? What Environmental Crisis? Finding an Authentic, Skilful Response to the Planetary Debate presentation by Gabriel Lafitte to Global Buddhist Congregation environment panel stream, Delhi November 29 2011 The first responsibility of a Buddhist, before anything else, is to know what Buddhism is, to understand and appreciate it, in its vastness and completeness, its capacity […]