All things tibet
CHINA’S NEW IMAGINARY OF TIBET #4 IN A SERIES OF 4 BLOGPOSTS ON CHINA’S NEW TIBETAN ROMANCE FOUR: ENGINEERING TIBET FOR THE MASS TOURIST GAZE The intrusive tourist gaze is problematic worldwide. The eye behind the camera captures all, but gives nothing. The camera has licence to enter even private spaces, and sacred places, and […]
WHY ARE TIBETANS PREDISPOSED TO BE POSITIVE? The immediate response of my Tibetan friends, on hearing that a brand new Potala has been built over the river from the original, positioned facing north to look at and interrogate the historic Potala, is that this is good. It matters little that the geomantic positioning is all […]
THE LAST FRONTIER OF THE MEAT EATERS? Of all peoples, Tibetans might seem the least likely to take to a vegetarian diet. The altitude of the Tibetan Plateau averages four kilometres above sea level. The land is ideally suited to yaks, hardy sheep breeds and goats; but vegetables grow only in sheltered valleys. Yet Tibet […]
‘Spoiling Tibet: China and Resource Nationalism on the Roof of the World’ – coming soon from Zed Books Twenty six years ago Zed published a book on Tibet, which quickly became controversial. The Making of Modern Tibet by Tom Grunfeld made the case for China’s revolutionary modernising project in Tibet. Not surprisingly, many Tibetans found this apologia for […]
COMPARING MONGOLIA AND TIBET Mongolians, on the brink of abundant mineral wealth accumulation find themselves torn between doing it with the multinational giants of global mining, and going it alone. Mongolia’s deal with global major Rio Tinto, to exploit the massive Oyu Tolgoi deposit of copper, gold and silver is at last about to […]
Hewlett Packard is to publish a list of all the smelters worldwide which supply it with the metals used in HP products, according to the New York Times. HP is one of the first big companies to buckle under the global push to ban the use of “conflict minerals” dug from the earth by coercion, […]
JUST UPSTREAM FROM LHASA……… The disastrous waste of 83 human lives at China’s copper and gold mine in Tibet, at Gyama, is a reminder of China’s plans for intensive extraction of Tibetan wealth, for China’s lowland factories. So big was the landslide down the steep terrain of Gyama, the 83 mine workers may never be […]
Naming the key environmental issues in Tibet: a reflective blog on categories we use. What would you say are the key environmental issues in Tibet? Many say rivers: Chinese dams threatening huge populations downstream. Many would say railways that cut the earth, cause erosion and interfere with the annual migrations of wildlife. Many would say […]
SACRED SITES, WILDLIFE & BIODIVERSITY Blogpost 3 of 3 PRESENTATION TO TIBETAN YOUTH WORKSHOP ORGANISED BY TIBET INFORMATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA, JANUARY 2013 Each of the seven key challenges facing Tibet is a major problem, but solutions are possible. While the ultimate solution would be to restore actual autonomy, agency, and permission for Tibetans to form […]
CLIMATE CHANGE, MINING, POVERTY & INEQUALITY PRESENTATION TO TIBETAN YOUTH WORKSHOP ORGANISED BY TIBET INFORMATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA, JANUARY 2013 blog #2 of 3 Each of the seven key challenges facing Tibet is a major problem, but solutions are possible. These ideas were discussed by a new generation of Tibetan Australians gathered at a Tibetan retreat […]