February 24th, 2012 by Alex Ortolani

Earlier this week a Tibetan monk became at least the 22nd person in the past year to commit self-immolation in protest at the Chinese government’s rule in Tibet. Robert Barnett, Director of the Modern Tibet Studies Program at Columbia University, says this is a new type of political protest for Tibetans, one that looks like it may become an ongoing form of dissent if the Chinese government does not change some of its policies in the region.

Asia Blog spoke to Barnett by telephone.

By the Editorial Board of The Tibetan Political Review Feb 21, 2012 6:23 PM
 
In a strange coincidence, February 14 saw articles on both Lobsang Sangay, the Tibetan prime minister in exile, and Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, making statements on the self-immolation crisis in Tibet. We take a close look at how the words chosen by both prime ministers reveal insights into their approaches on the issue.

BBC news, 24 February 2012
 
A Chinese Communist Party official has warned Tibetans in an area at the centre of recent anti-China protests to oppose separatism and obey the law.
 
Sichuan Communist Party chief Liu Qibao visited a monastery and villages in Aba and Ganzi counties of the province.
 
He was quoted by the state-run Sichuan Daily newspaper as telling monks to support the Communist Party.

Reporters Without Borders 23 February 2012

Reporters Without Borders is alarmed at the blackout imposed by Chinese authorities on the provinces of Sichuan and Qinghai, as well as the autonomous region of Tibet, preventing all media coverage of protest movements there.
 
To this we must add disinformation activities such as the recent hacking of the French-language weekly Courrier International by Chinese propagandists.

by Louisa Lim February 22, 2012

Wednesday marks the traditional Tibetan New Year, but many Tibetans won't be celebrating. They'll be mourning the almost two-dozen people who set themselves on fire in the past year as a protest against Chinese rule. Eyewitnesses say the town of Aba, site of many of the self-immolations, resembles a Chinese military camp, with soldiers and riot police every few feet. NPR's Louisa Lim traveled elsewhere on the Tibetan plateau to cover the story and sent this dispatch.

By Moni Basu, CNN, 22 February 2012
 
Wednesday marks Losar, or the Tibetan New Year, but there will be no music, chanting, spectacular costumes or pageantry this year. Instead, Tibetans across the world plan to observe Losar with the solemnity their government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India, has proclaimed it deserves.
 
Lobsang Sangay, the Tibetan prime minister-in-exile, issued a statement asking Tibetans to refrain from celebration.

From Sara Sidner, CNN, February 22, 2012
 
On the Nepal-China border (CNN) -- The smell of incense burning and the sound of deep-throated chants greet you at the gate of one of Kathmandu's massive stupas, a Buddhist holy place where Tibetans gather to pray. For decades, Nepal has been a safe haven for Tibetans who escape China. But Tibetan activists say their people's peaceful existence here is being disturbed because of China's growing influence in Nepal.

Saturday 25 February 2012

André Alexander, who has died aged 47, was the leading figure in the effort to preserve the old city of Lhasa in Tibet.
 
He was born André Teichman on January 17 1965 in Berlin, where his background did little to suggest a future as a scholar. His father was a chimney sweep, while his mother had until her marriage been a hairdresser; although André studied History and then Architecture at university in the city, he did not complete his studies. Instead he was more interested in comic books, and even hoped to become a comic book artist himself. A favourite character was the sailor Corto Maltese, and throughout his life André dressed like a cross between a naval captain and a flower-shirted hippy.