Tibet
On December 16, 2004, Xinhua reported that the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee announced the previous day that Yang Chuantang will leave his post as the governor of Qinghai province and return to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) as secretary of the Party Committee. He will replace Guo Jinlong, who will become the Party secretary in Anhui province.
CECC Comment
The following translation was retrieved from the State Administration for Religious Affairs Web site on December 20, 2010. The Chinese text was retrieved from the State Administration for Religious Affairs Web site on February 9, 2011.
Decree of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China
No.426
Regulations on Religious Affairs, adopted at the 57th Executive Meeting of the State Council on July 7, 2004, are hereby promulgated and shall become effective as of March 1, 2005.
A November 24, 2004, story in The Telegraph, based in Calcutta, features comments made by the Dalai Lama on November 21 during an opening ceremony for a Tibetan school in northern India. According to the report, the Dalai Lama called for China to accept Tibetan cultural identity. “Tibet has its own historic background which cannot be erased. China is repeating that Tibet has no cultural identity. Now, the time has come when China should change its psyche about Tibetans.” According to The Telegraph, the Tibetan government-in-exile has disclosed that the Dalai Lama’s envoys sought permission for the Dalai Lama to visit China and a part of Tibet during their visit to China last September. Citing sources in the Tibetan government-in-exile, the paper reports that the request was turned down.
Human Rights in China has issued a press release stating that Tibetan writer, Wei Se (also known as "Oser" and "Oezer"), has lost her job, home, and freedom of movement because Chinese officials consider her writings overly favorable to the Dalai Lama. Citing unnamed sources, HRIC said that China's United Front Work Department and the General Administration for Press and Publication determined that Wei Se’s writings contained “political errors” due to their positive references to the exiled Tibetan leader. According to HRIC, as a result of this Wei Se has lost her job, and her former work unit, the Tibetan Cultural Association, has evicted her from her home and terminated her health and retirement benefits. She has also been prohibited from applying for a passport to leave the country.
Human Rights in China Press Release
October 27, 2004
Radio Free Asia reports on October 1 that a police officer named He shot dead the abbot of Topden Monastery, located in Dari County (Darlag) in Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Golog), Qinghai Province. The abbot, Shetse, had accompanied several other monks from the monastery to the county police station to seek compensation for medical expenses incurred after the monks had been detained, beaten, and released. According to RFA’s sources, “Police reinforcements have arrived from neighboring townships, and Tibetan civic and religious leaders have appealed for calm. They also asked local people to cancel or postpone planned protests.” The story does not provide detail on why the monks had been detained. Topden Monastery, according to the report, is located in Maqin County (Machen) near the county line with Dari.
The Tibetan government-in-exile, based in Dharamsala, India, issued a press release on Saturday announcing that the Dalai Lama's envoys, Mr. Lodi Gyari and Mr. Kelsang Gyaltsen, would depart on Sunday for China. The trip will be their third, following visits in September 2002 and May 2003. According to the announcement, the delegation "may visit some Tibetan areas" in addition to meeting with Chinese leaders. Lodi Gyari, based in Washington, and Kalsang Gyaltsen, the Dalai Lama's envoy for Europe, will be accompanied by senior aids. The Dalai Lama's quest for a resolution to the Tibet issue through direct dialogue enjoys broad international support, including from the U.S. Congress and Administration. The Dalai Lama has said that Chinese sovereignty over Tibetan areas is acceptable if Tibetans enjoy genuine autonomy.