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Pro-Tibet group to hold torch relay atop Yushan
　

HOPE OF FREEDOM: The Taiwan leg of the event will culminate at dawn on July 6 at a similar latitude to Mount Kailash, a Tibetan Himalayan holy mountain

STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
Thursday, Jul 03, 2008, Page 4

“Almost on a daily basis, we hear harrowing new accounts of the brutal crackdown on new protests, house-to-house searches, mass imprisonment, torture inside prisons and even executions.”－Rinzin Tsering, Taiwan Tibetan Welfare Association chairman

Several pro-Tibet non-governmental organizations announced yesterday they will hold a Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay on Taiwan’s tallest mountain, Yushan (玉山), on Sunday, as part of a worldwide campaign to demonstrate the hope of the Tibetan people for freedom, justice and dignity.

“The Tibetan Freedom Torch highlights the Tibetan people’s non-violent, peaceful struggle against more than 50 years of Chinese suppression and oppression in Tibet,” Rinzin Tsering, chairman of the Taiwan Tibetan Welfare Association, told a news conference.

Tsering said the torch relay will also highlight the current crisis in Tibet, at a time when China has imposed a virtual lock down on the entire region, preventing foreign journalists from entering other than on government-guided tours.

However, news still continues to trickle out of Tibet, Tsering said.

“Almost on a daily basis, we hear harrowing new accounts of the brutal crackdown on new protests, house-to-house searches, mass imprisonment, torture inside prisons and even executions,” he said.

Hundreds of people have died in a series of protests by Tibetans that have taken place across Tibet since March 10, Tsering said.

The Tibetan government in exile has confirmed last month that over 200 Tibetans have died, more than 1,000 have been injured and at least 6,000 are still detained, he said.

Initiated by the International Tibet Support Network, the Tibetan Freedom Torch relay began its worldwide journey in Olympia, Greece on March 10, commemorating the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

The Tibetan Freedom Torch has already traveled to more than 30 major cities in Europe, the US and Asia. It will be carried to more than 20 countries worldwide before finally reaching Tibet on the eve of the Beijing Olympic Games on Aug. 7.

Dhundup Gyalpo, a Tibetan student in Taiwan, said the torch relay also represents Tibetan opposition to Beijing’s exploitation of the 2008 Olympic Games for political propaganda.

The Taiwan leg of the Tibetan Freedom Torch relay will culminate at dawn on Sunday when the torch will be lit atop Yushan. The mountain is located on a similar latitude as the holy mountain of Tibetans, Mount Kailash, in the Himalayas.

Sunday is a particularly auspicious day for Tibetans as it is the birthday of the Dalai Lama.

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Tibet’s CCP boss blames Dalai Lama group for unrest

AP, BEIJING
Thursday, Jul 03, 2008, Page 5

China’s Communist Party (CCP) boss in Tibet delivered a fresh attack on the Dalai Lama yesterday, even as envoys of the region’s exiled leader met for a second day with Chinese officials for talks aimed at easing tensions following anti-government riots.

The official Tibet Daily quoted hardliner Zhang Qingli (張慶黎) as saying that supporters of the Dalai Lama were behind the violence that began with deadly rioting in Tibet’s capital Lhasa on March 14 and quickly spread throughout Tibetan areas of western China.

“The March 14 incident was a seriously violent criminal incident by the Dalai clique. The organized and orchestrated incident was created by Tibetan separatists after long-term preparation, with the support and instigation of Western hostile forces,” Zhang was quoted as saying.

He said the violence was timed for the run-up to next month’s Summer Olympics in Beijing.

“At a sensitive moment, they harbored the evil intention of turning the incident into a bloodbath, of disrupting the Beijing Olympics and destroying Tibet’s stability and political harmony,” Zhang said.

The remarks indicate no letup in Beijing’s relentless campaign to vilify the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, despite talks this week that followed widespread calls for dialogue from overseas

The self-proclaimed Tibetan government-in-exile has said two days of talks would be held in China’s capital, but Chinese officials would not confirm any details, including where the meetings would be held or what the agenda was.

China denies the India-based government’s legitimacy and doesn’t want such contacts portrayed as formal negotiations.

So far, neither side has commented on the talks. The Tibetan government-in-exile, based in Dharmsala, India, has said Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche was expected to comment only after the meetings end.

Calls to the Propaganda Office of the United Front Work Department, a body within the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, which is hosting the talks, were not answered yesterday.

The talks have particular importance in light of China’s hopes of hosting a flawless Olympic Games. Some experts believe Beijing agreed to the talks to ease criticism ahead of the games, in a nod to international opinion that broadly regards the Dalai Lama as a figure of moral authority.

Some leaders have said they might boycott the opening ceremony to protest the Chinese crackdown in Tibetan areas of China after anti-government. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said this week he would attend if the latest talks made progress.

China has governed Tibet since communist troops marched into the Himalayan region in the 1950s. The Dalai Lama, who fled to India amid a failed uprising in 1959, has said he wants some form of autonomy that would allow Tibetans to freely practice their culture, language and religion.

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Has Ma been hypnotized on defense?

Thursday, Jul 03, 2008, Page 8

If the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration ever intended to save face, it surely has not been getting any help from China, as the latter continues to upgrade its military in a threatening manner.

Two days before the launch of the cross-strait weekend charter flights, which President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has marketed as a sign of thawing cross-strait relations, reports emerged yesterday that Beijing recently upgraded surface-to-air missiles deployed along its southern coast.

Meanwhile, Xinhua news agency has reported that the Chinese military carried out its first parachuting exercise at Hebei Province’s Shijiazhuang Airport on June 18, in which eight civilian aircraft were involved.

In light of these developments, it appears that only one side — ours — still believes in the vows, made only weeks ago, to set aside differences and rebuild mutual trust.

Just because the KMT government chooses to set aside controversial issues does not mean that those issues do not exist.

US Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia James Shinn recently expressed concerns that the threat of a Chinese attack on Taiwan has markedly increased in the past few years, as the balance in the Taiwan Strait tilts toward Beijing.

Unless it has been blinded by wishful thinking, the KMT government must be aware of this. If it is not, then it needs to be reminded that China’s ultimate goal remains the same: annexation, whatever it takes.

Civilian flights could provide the Chinese military with the cover it needs to penetrate Taiwanese airspace and launch a strike against command-and-control infrastructure.

Such a scenario is feasible. On June 8, The Associated Press reported that two Russian fighter jets tailed a Finnair Airbus for several minutes over northwestern Russia en route from Helsinki to Seoul without the Finnish pilot being aware of it. As it turns out, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen was on that flight.

History shows us that such tactics have their uses. In August 1968, the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia using Soviet military transport planes with airborne troopers on board. By time the aircraft had landed at Prague Airport, the airport had already been occupied by a group of “tourists.” Soon afterwards, Czechoslovakian president Alexander Dubcek was removed from power.

The Soviets used a similar tactic for the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, using civilian aircraft to transport KGB units, who then occupied the airport, entered the presidential palace and killed Afghan president Hafizullah Amin.

The fact that the Straits Exchange Foundation failed to include cargo flights during its negotiations with its Chinese counterpart now seems to be a blessing in disguise.

In its haste to improve relations with Beijing, the KMT government has undermined national security and — despite his calls for military readiness yesterday — Ma has made it likelier that Taiwan will be added to the inglorious list of countries that play down feasible threats and suffer the consequences.

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 1992 ‘Nonsensus’

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is right when she asks why the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wants to resume cross-strait negotiations based on the so-called “1992 consensus” without clarifying what the consensus is (“Tsai rejects independence criticism,” June 4, page 3).

As a matter of fact, the whole notion of the “1992 consensus” should immediately be thrown on the ash heap of history. Not just because its meaning and content are unclear, but because the concept dates from 1992 — well before Taiwan became a democracy.

In 1992, Taiwan was still a one-party state. It was four years before its first direct presidential election took place, eight years before the first peaceful transfer of power in the nation’s history and only six years after the DPP was born. The so-called “consensus” therefore could not have had the backing of the people.

The moment Taiwan became a democracy, all previously concluded agreements had to be swept off the table.

The “1992 nonsensus” would be a more appropriate name for this so-called “agreement.”

COEN BLAAUW
Washington