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| Wu Yingjie meeting the 'masses' |
I briefly mentioned the Case of Nagchu on this blog a couple of months ago.
I then wrote that Wu Yingjie, one of the TAR's Deputy Party Secretaries had been camping for weeks in Nagchu.
This exercise was part of the 'massline' campaign initiated by Xi Jinping, the Party's General Secretary (and Central Military Commission’s Chairman).
For months, Xi has been hammering ‘massline' slogans, reminiscent of Mao’s days: "a important guideline that defines the relations between the Party and the people".
The idea of the new President is a ‘thorough cleanup of undesirable work styles’ such as formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance, by going to the masses and listening to the masses'.
The Politburo of the Communist Party had supported the launch of the campaign ‘to boost ties between CPC members and the public’.
Xi Jinping and his colleagues are undoubtedly aware that the Party has lost touch with the ‘common men’ (the ‘masses’ in Communist jargon).
Wu Yingjie in the Book of Records?
Wu Yingjie may soon enter the Chinese Book of Records for having been posted, as a Party's Regional Deputy Secretary, for the longest period of time in the 'countryside'.
In Mao's times, being sent to the countryside was the supreme punishment, the ultimate demotion (Xi Zhongxun, Xi Jinping's father experienced it in the 1960s and early 1970s). But now it is just a 'deputation' to meet the 'masses' and convince them that the Party wants good and does good for them.
The propaganda apparatus fully back Wu’s ‘work’.
An article on the website of the TAR government says: “Wu Yingjie: put the spirit of the Third Plenum [of the CCP’s Central Committee] on massline into a lively practice.”
The article explains: “After the Third Plenum of the Party's 18th Congress, the [Tibetan] region had an upsurge for studying and implementing the spirit of the Plenum. For the purpose, the Party selected massline pilot units at the grassroots level for practical implementation.”
Nagchu Prefecture has apparently been selected for this experiment.
The article continues: “how to study and implement the spirit of the Third Plenum and make it a ‘conscious action’, particularly for 'educational' activities?”
The article probably refers to the political education of the masses.
It is the justification for sending Wu Yingjie for several months in a row to Nagchu; he is said to have visited Party’s branches of each and every county of the prefecture, he went to all monasteries and villages, “he met with the cadres and masses of all ethnic groups”; he had encounters “face to face with the local cadres and the masses” and he could “preach the spirit of the Third Plenum” and “conduct research on topics such as harmony in educational activities”.
The Chinese website gives an example: “Wu Yingjie came to the village; he sat with everyone in the village and discussed stability and development.”
He said: “I came to visit you, first to convey the cordial greetings of the regional Party's Committee [in Lhasa], of the Tibetan Autonomous Region’s government, of Chen Quanguo [Tibet Party’s] Secretary and of Lobsang Gyaltsen, the Chairman of the TAR government; I came to convey the Third Plenum ‘learning spirit’; how to implement it by listening to your advice. Do you have any difficulties, problems? I want to help you solve these problems? What about the village economic development? Do you have any good suggestions to offer me?”
The villagers interviewed by the government publication are said to have replied: “After Wu Yingjie opening remarks, we suddenly stopped worrying. We were eager to speak, to talk about the change in the village.”
At the end of Wu Yingjie’s speech, people were very happy, says the article. When Wu asked them if they had watched the Third Plenum on TV, they said ‘yes’. "What was your deepest experience”, asked Wu.
"Reform and opening up” answered the villagers.
“Such a powerful short answer,” commented Wu Yingjie who praised the villagers: “Xi Jinping, our general secretary told the Third Plenum to focus on economic reform, on a comprehensive deepening of the reforms; in the final analysis, it will help the people to live a more stable, peaceful and happy life. The Party’s endeavor is to benefit all people, only the Communist Party of China can think of the people that way, the interests of the people is always on the top [of the Party’s agenda]”.
The propaganda article said the villagers were convinced.
Well, the events reported by the TCHRD keep occurring, people are jailed because their opinions differ from the Party line.
Looking at Nagchu, the massline campaign seems a failure.
The Party has probably not yet realized the depth of the Tibetan resentment against a regime which has ignored the ‘masses’ for more than 60 years.
Wu may enter the Book of Records, but the issue is not going to be solved soon.
Only one person could help healing old wounds: the Dalai Lama, but the Chinese leadership is not ready to speak to him, they don't even want to hear his name.
Writer among nine Tibetans sentenced to prison in Diru
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
China’s ongoing crackdown in enforcing the government’s ‘mass line’ policy has resulted in the sentencing of nine Tibetans in Shagchu (Ch: Xiaqu) town in Diru (Ch: Biru) County, Nagchu (Ch: Naqu) Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). All three identified so far have been charged of maintaining contacts with “Dalai clique” and for “engaging in activities to split the nation.”
Among the nine sentenced to varying terms is Topden, a nomad and a writer who writes under the pseudonym Dro Ghang Gah. Topden, 30, was arrested on 28 October 2013 and sentenced to five years in prison on 30 November 2013, according to information received by TCHRD. He hails from Village No. 4 in Shagchu town and has a wife, Dakar, and three young children.
Sources say Topden was imprisoned for “keeping contacts with Dalai clique and for engaging in activities to split the nation”. Some who have contacts in Diru contend that he might have been punished for writing a poem detailing the atrocities faced by local Tibetans in Diru County since early this year. TCHRD has received a copy of this poem, a translation of which is provided at the end of this report. The poem encompasses events during the early years of Chinese rule in Tibet particularly Nagchu area during 1969 when thousands of Tibetans were starved, imprisoned and killed. It also contains details on some of the recent crackdowns in Diru County including the beating and continued incommunicado detention of lay man Dayang, 69, in Dongla Rudo Village in Tsachu Township. The writer also mentions the sacred Naglha Dzamba Mountain where hundreds of Tibetans protesting mining activities at the holy mountain have clashed with armed police in recent years.
Two other Tibetans, lay man Tenzin Rangdol and monk Kunchok Choephel, were among the nine sentenced in Shagchu town. TCHRD has earlier reported on the arrest of Tenzin Rangdol, 32, a self-employed father of three. Rangdol’s arbitrary arrest had led to an overnight protest the next day on 19 October 2013 by Tibetans outside the government office. He was arrested on 18 October 2013 and sentenced on 30 November 2013 to five years in prison for the same charges as Topden. Rangdol hails from Village No. 4.
Kunchok Choephel, a monk, has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Sources also reported to TCHRD that Lobsang Tashi, a monk from Rabten Monastery was arrested while he was doing his daily meditation. The arrest occurred at around 4 pm (local time) on 23 September 2013 when local Public Security Bureau officers also seized the monk’s personal cellphone and “other electrical gadgets”, according to sources. Lobsang hails from Village no. 8 in Dathang Township and has since disappeared. There are no additional details on Lobsang Tashi. TCHRD had earlier reported the violent suppression of local protest in Dathang Township by People’s Armed Police force.
The identities of six others sentenced are not known immediately due to extreme government censorship and surveillance in Diru and neighbouring counties in Nagchu Prefecture.
Below is a translation of the poem written by Topden who was sentenced to five years in prison:
Sad Song of Diru
by Dro Ghang Gah
Beautiful landscape of Kham, [one] of the three provinces of Tibet
Majestic Naglha Mountain and its surroundings
Rich village inhabited by nomads and farmers
It is called Nagshoe Diru
Old and new history of these villages
When I remember them from the depth of my heart
With each and every heart beat [I experience]
Tears wet my dark eyes
In the year 1969
For the sake of Tibetan freedom
Hundreds of brave souls
Were massacred by the Chinese
Then the blue river Drulchu
Shrouded by a storm of red blood
Amid melancholic sound of the falling river
Merged with the great river Ngulchu
The carrier of our brethren’s blood
If river Ngulchu had a heart
Enveloped by the darkness of suffering
Tears of broken heart would overflow indeed
Looking up at the vast blue sky
[I could] see vultures hovering
The narrow space and group of widows
Is there a time more miserable?
After such painful and dramatic karma
Chinese oppress us
In the flow of blood
We wait for our suffering to end
In the year 2012
For the cause of Tibet
Many heroes like Gudrup
Offered their bodies to fire
When the heroes sit
In the red burning flame
Tears of sadness flow
From six million Tibetans
Truth-tellers of this land
Have destroyed ignorance from its root
By arresting all knowledgeable Tibetans
Freedom of mind, body and speech is denied
More than terrors of oppression
Naglha Mountain is on the verge of destruction
The inhabitants of the villages are massacred
Monasteries have turned into empty houses
In the year 2013
Old man Dayang
Who called on his supreme lama
Was brutally punished by repressive law
Turning deaf ears to honest appeals
They beat up hundreds of people
This body has no freedom
This land has no democracy
Many heroes like Dodrak
Sentenced to prison
No freedom to express a few words
Is there a karma more unfortunate than this?
Yellow and dark armored vehicles
Roll down [the streets]
Pointing their blazing gun barrels
At helpless masses
Beneath fluttering red flags
Violent decrees are issued
Visiting upper and lower parts of villages
They destroy all their happiness
Walking three steps forward is illegal
Waving hands three times is a crime
Speaking out three words is criminal
Is there a place more wretched than this?
Alas, oh The Wish-fulfilling Jewel
The protector Tenzin Gyatso
Please bestow us the moment
To wipe out tears and blood of this land
Alas, oh Lobsang Sangay
Leader of the Tibetan people
With heroic strength and power
Cut the final [chain] of this suffering
In this extensive universe
They say just laws exist
If these laws have power
Just look at the fate of Land of Snows.
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