All things tibet
REPRESENTING TIBETAN ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT: What do we mean by our ten top key phrases? A presentation to a TIBET POLICY INSTITUTE seminar 29 March 2012 So many people speak of Tibet, or for Tibet, with various agendas. The language used to represent today’s Tibet inevitably settles on metaphors which do a lot of work, […]
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。
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 […]
YARTSA BOOM TIME: THE CATERPILLAR FUNGUS ECONOMY OF THE GRASSLANDS Of all the medicines coming from Tibet, the most valuable, so costly it is an asset class of its own, is almost weightless, not at all suited to being measured by the ton. Yartsa gumbu is a bubble economy; a bubble that keeps on growing, […]
THE GOLDEN VISION OF TIBET’S COPPER- COLOURED MOUNTAINS IN CHINA’S CENTRAL PLANS [A shorter version of this detailed analysis was published by China Dialogue on 5 September 2011] Gold and copper are at the heart of China’s 12th Five-Year Plan for Tibet. Only tourism has a similar wealth-creating potential. Like tourism, intensive exploitation of Tibet’s […]
FINDING AUTHENTIC, SKILFUL BUDDHIST RESPONSES TO THE PLANETARY DEBATE Presented to Global Buddhist Congregation, Delhi, November 2011, convened by Asoka Mission Gabriel Lafitte [DISCLAIMER: This presentation makes a case for inner transformation as the foundation for effective action in the world to deal constructively with global challenges such as climate change. The author has not […]
西藏面临矿产开采的威胁: 中国政府认为，青藏高原是解决中国日益增长的重金属需求的关键所在。然而，推动这一计划并非是市场需求，而是资源民族主义情结。
CHINA IN FAIRY LAND: HUGE HOTELS, PROPERTY SPECULATORS & MASS TOURISM IN A REMOTE CORNER OF TIBET THE BACKSTORY BEHIND THE HOTEL CONSTRUCTION BOOM IN LHASA 2011 Gabriel Lafitte 2002 This is a story about the biggest tourism destination in Tibet, bigger than the holy city of Lhasa, even though few Tibetans know […]