Han Chauvinism and Stability on the Indian Border

Senior Colonel Gawa

As the Two Meetings (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference - CPPCC and National People’s Congress - NPC) are taking place in Beijing, a Tibetan lady-delegate from Qinghai province used strong words about the ‘prejudice against ethnic minorities’ rampant in the Middle Kingdom since the unrest in Lhasa a decade ago.
It was much older, but few have said so in public.
One was Bapa Phuntsok Wangyal, the 'first' Tibetan Communist.
Read an earlier post on the subject.

Sr Col Gawa
During a CPPCC session’s panel discussion, Guowa Jiamaoji (Gawa Jamyang?), a PLA singer, born in the Tibetan-inhabited area of Qinghai province, affirmed that the discrimination shown by the authorities against people from her ethnic group (‘Tibetans’) was ‘detrimental to national unity’.
According The South China Morning Post, the army soprano, who served the PLA for more than 20 years, “appealed to China’s central government to stop treating ethnic Tibetans as if they were separatists”.
Gawa said: “I don’t think they [Beijing] should impose measures intended to deter separatists on the whole Tibetan race …It’s like there’s an order from above [for all] to follow.”
Gawa first witnessed the prejudice after the March 2008 incidents, when riots and clashes broke out in Lhasa and spread across the plateau.
She clearly remembered “the prejudice she experienced in the aftermath of the unrest. …One time I led a group of performers to Beijing, everyone checked in to their hotels, but I wasn’t allowed to, because I was Tibetan.”

It is extremely rare that, what is known as Han Chauvinism, is admitted at official meetings.
The fact that it is being reported, is even rarer
Gawa told the panel that despite her military rank (Senior Colonel) and status as a CPPCC member, “the hotel staff simply refused to let her in. I showed them my CPPCC membership ID and my military ID but still wasn’t allowed to check in. I had to stay at a friend’s place.”
She added that the incident was not an isolated one; she had witnessed numerous examples of prejudice against Tibetan cadres, especially in Han-dominated areas.
She cited examples of discrimination: “The mainland has a 4G network already, but in many parts of Tibet and Xinjiang, the network is still only 2G,” the PLA soprano said, “of course, it might be deliberate that the networks there are not so strong.”
According to her, one solution would “to increase the number of people from minority groups in positions of authority: “Native cadres will stay here forever. But cadres sent from the mainland only stay for two or three years before they are promoted to higher office.”
It is a fact that the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) has never had a Tibetan Party Secretary.
It is interesting that Gawa was allowed to speak on this ultra-sensitive topic.

Inspecting the border areas
In the meantime, the authorities are nervous with the approach of March 10; in 1959, the entire population (‘the masses’) of Lhasa rose to protect the Dalai Lama’s life. Ultimately, he escaped to India.
Since then, the day is celebrated by the Tibetans as their national Uprising Day.
The Global Times, the mouth piece of the Communist Party of China (CPC) mentioned the visit of a ‘stability maintenance supervision group’ to Ngari prefecture of Western Tibet and …on the China-India border.
Three senior officials of the (TAR) visited police and armed police posts. The delegation was headed by Penpa Tashi, a member of the TAR Standing Committee in charge of propaganda; other members were Tenzin Namgyal and Wang Yalin.

Penpa Tashi

The local Tibet Daily affirmed: “The [officials] received reports from police officers about the security situation and emergency preparedness.”
Xiong Kunxin, a professor at Tibet University in Lhasa told the tabloid: “Ngari is an undeveloped prefecture in a high-altitude area with tough living conditions, and it's really close to the border with India. This lends foreign forces and Dalai Lama secessionist criminal gangs the opportunity to permeate into the region and conduct illegal and violent activities."
This is clearly a pretext as no Tibetan living in exile is allowed to approach border areas in Ladakh or Uttarakhand.
Why is Beijing so nervous?
Penpa Tashi asserted that “maintaining stability is really tough and the anti-secession and counter-terrorism struggles are intense and complex.”
The border police was encouraged to safeguard the ‘sustainable stability and security’ of the prefecture, located north of Uttarakhand and Himachal and east of Ladakh.
Tibet Daily further quoted Xiong saying that the “tough local topography makes it hard for the local government to boost economic development in the region, but promoting development is still the main goal for the local government to maintain stability. Ngari is a main battleground of the 1962 Sino-Indian border conflict.”
It is not completely true; the battles in NEFA were as tough as the ones in Ladakh.
The Tibet Daily also said that the officials visited a gas station and a security inspection station in the town of Shiquanhe (Ngari) where regular safety checks are conducted.”
The police was ordered to maintain stability and ‘prevent any security-related incident from happening.’
One of the officials, Tenzin Namgyal and his inspection team went at Geji County. Geji (Gegye Dzong in Tibetan) is located northwest of Mt Kailash.
Tenzin Namgyal inspected the area and ‘guided’ the work of the local officials; a Chinese website remarked: “The cold weather did not stop the pace of the inspection and the guidance work.”
Tenzin Namgyal is the deputy head of the District Supervision and Guidance Group.
During the inspection, Namgyal went “deep into the grassroots to maintain the first-line stability.” The group visited the Gegye County Public Security Checkpoint, the Command Center of the Public Security Bureau, the poverty alleviation relocation site in other places.
Namgyal emphasized that the victory of the first meeting of the 13th NPC is a major event in the political life of the Party and the country.
Did he mean the amendment of the Chinese Constitution giving Xi Jinping the possibility to rule China for more than two terms?
Namgyal also hoped that everyone will have “a hundredfold Enthusiasm, with a hundredfold effort to complete all kinds of work, …work style should be rigorous and meticulous; one should be determined to make every effort to stabilize the [Ngari] area during the ‘Two Meetings’ and the sensitive period of March [10] and ensure that the area keeps a sustained stability, long-term stability, and comprehensive stability.”
These words are dear to the New Emperor Xi.
But the fact that 'stability' is the leitmotiv of the Chinese leadership may be an indication that all is not that stable on the plateau.

A more optimistic note
According Zhang Xinmin, a senior researcher at the institute of high energy physics in the Chinese Academy of Sciences affirmed: “China has almost completed building the world's highest cosmic ray telescope in Ngari prefecture.”
The chief scientist told The Global Times: “At an altitude of 5,250 meters, the Cosmic Microwave Background polarization telescope project will start operations in 2020."
The Academy's program in the TAR is designed to probe the primordial gravitational waves created by the first tremors of the Big Bang.
Ngari is the place to watch in the coming years, perhaps not for the ancient Big Bang, but for a new one.

Why French President Macron's India visit may make Justin Trudeau feel snubbed

My article Why French President Macron's India visit may make Justin Trudeau feel snubbed appeared in Mail Today and DailyO

Here is the link...

Over the last two decades, the partnership has grown steadily, with no major political differences darkening the sky between Paris and Delhi.

It is not easy to guess in advance how successful will be the visit of the head of a state in another country; there is, however, no doubt that the forthcoming visit of President Emmanuel Macron of France will be the opposite of Justin Trudeau’s, the Canadian prime minister, and this for many reasons.
First, the French President and his charismatic wife will certainly not waste their time parading around religious places or bringing along known separatists. But more importantly, the Indo-French relations are based on a twenty-year-old strategic partnership signed by the former French President Jacques Chirac and then Indian Prime Minister, Vajpayee; the latter then declared: “Both countries share a perspective that the new world order has to be a genuine multi-polar world order. Our bilateral relationship is poised to grow in the coming months in a multifaceted manner.”

No differences
Over the last two decades, the partnership has grown steadily, with no major political differences darkening the sky between Paris and Delhi. France has constantly been supportive of India, particularly for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council and has shown more comprehension than others in the nuclear domain. Though in recent years, the term "strategic partnership" has been devalued by the multiplication of such accords with all and sundry, in the Indo-French case, the 1998 momentum has been regularly sustained by new initiatives.
Then in September 2016, there was the Rs 59,000 crore deal for 36 Rafale fighters; though criticised by some political parties, it will soon prove to be a game changer, especially due the offset clauses. But there is more.
In October 2017, in an interview, the French defence minister Florence Parly stated that she had come to Delhi because India is "our major strategic partner in Asia". She noted that the relationship was “the fruit of a long, shared history, grounded in an unshakable trust,” adding “our partnership is continuing to develop even more, including in very sensitive areas.”
These "sensitive" areas make the difference. Macron’s visit was delayed for a few months due to the importance of an important joint initiative, the International Solar Alliance (ISA). Launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in November 2015, the ISA wants to create a coalition of solar resource-rich countries and address each participant’s special energy needs.
On January 25, 2016, the ISA’s interim Secretariat was inaugurated at the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) in Gurgaon by Modi and Hollande. A total of 56 countries have now signed the ISA Framework Agreement and 26 nations have ratified it. The ISA founding conference, co-hosted by India and France, will take place on March 11 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
It was significant that the French defence minister travelled to Nagpur to launch a joint production facility between Dassault Aviation and Reliance to fulfill the Rafale deal’s offset obligation. Around Rs 20,000 crores need to be invested by the French. Madame Parly, along with Dassault Aviation chairman Eric Trappier and Reliance chairman Anil Ambani, laid the foundation stone of an aerospace park for the manufacture of aircraft components.

New offer
The Dassault–Reliance Joint Venture (JV) has already shortlisted a large number of vendors, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises, to be part of an indigenous supply chain for the Rafales; in other words, the "Make in India" programme.
During the forthcoming presidential visit, a deal should be signed between India and Safran (one of the partners of Dassault in the Rafale deal) to develop an M88 engine for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. A report in The Tribune recently hinted that “the M88 engine would be used as the base engine to adapt it for the LCA programme or it would be an altogether new development using Safran technology to create a new engine from the ground upwards.” Safran has now offered to collaborate on the Kaveri engine programme as part of the 50 per cent offsets for the Rafale deal.

Futuristic research
Florence Parly’s visit was followed by foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s trip. Again a launch pad in several fields; the minister mentioned common bilateral interests such as “combating terrorism, maritime security, cooperation in the Indian Ocean.”
Another highpoint of Macron’s visit could be a logistics accord allowing India access to the strategically important French base in the Reunion Islands near Madagascar. Another possibility is the opening of the French facilities in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa where India’s rival China has already a military base. This is part of India’s new maritime strategy.
It might also make economic and strategic sense for India to partner with France in more futuristic research projects like a fifth-generation combat plane or an armed drone.
It might not be for this visit.

Our relations today are better than ever before...

Fifty-nine years ago, the Dalai Lama arrives in India

I have been quoted by three newspapers on the recent controversy created by the circular sent by the Cabinet Secretary to ministers and officials regarding a function to be held on April 1 to celebrate the beginning of the 60th anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s exile in India.
The Tibetan leader is to bless the occasion.
If The Indian Express is to be believed, instead of just informing the officials concerned of the 'sensitivity' of the coming months, the Cabinet Secretary, on the advice of the new Foreign Secretary, issued a circular to all officials.
This raises many questions: first of all, how was the circular ‘leaked’?
Was it 'leaked' on purpose? Just to please China?
It is a possibility.
More importantly why was a circular needed?
Later the spokesperson of the ministry of External Affairs denied any change in Tibet policy.
What is the point to change the policy to deny it later?
While trying to answer these questions, a note from N. Raghavan, the Indian Ambassador in China addressed to the Indian Prime Minister, at the end of the talks for the infamous Panchsheel Agreement (I am in the process of writing a book to show why it was ‘infamous’), is worth quoting.
It is an eye-opener (it was for meat least)

Here are the articles quoting me:

• In the New Indian Express by Ramananda Sengupta: No change in India’s stance on the Dalai Lama, says MEA after caution note 

• In The Times of India by Indrani Bagchi: India, China try to reset ties ahead of Modi’s SCO trip

• In The Wire by The Wire Staff: Decoding the Puzzle of the Indian Govt Circular Distancing Itself From Dalai Lama Event

A guard of honour by the Assam Rifles in Tawang

Note from N. Raghavan to Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, New Delhi

Raghavan noted: “For security reasons, I have not dealt with this aspect in my Annual Report for 1953.”
One understands why.
The Annual Report had a large distribution while the Note was secret.
The Panchsheel Agreement, which eventuality sealed the fate of Tibet, would be signed eleven days later. The Dalai Lama's government was not even informed of the 'Tibet' negotiations.

[Covering message]

Embassy of India in China
Peking
March 18, 1954.

Jai Hind.
I feel it my duty to send you a brief Note on Chinese attitude towards India.
It was drawn up on the basis of my own observations and experience as also of my study of Chinese relations with us since the advent of New China.
I have tried to take as objective a view as possible. The Chinese unlike our warm-hearted people, are not emotional by nature, and while the Indian people often display an emotional approach towards China, the Chinese themselves have none such towards India.
They are friendly no doubt, but their attitude is forthright and matter of fact.
Any friendship is evaluated from the standpoint of its usefulness to China.
Only towards the Soviet Union an attitude of emotionalism is cultivated; and that, perhaps for reasons of ideological affinity as well as utility.
[N. Raghavan]

Note on Sino-Indian Relations

What is the attitude of the Government of New China towards India? This is a vital question, the answer to which it is the duty of India's accredited representative at Peking to find out if possible. After a careful examination and objective analysis of the various trends, express and implied, observed for about 18 months, one cannot but help coming to certain conclusions. That there is a definite policy towards India is certain. Whether it is a settled one or subject to changes, it is yet difficult to say. The period, November 1952 to December 1953, the period of India's active participation in the settlement of the Korean question, was not only an extremely trying time in Sino-Indian relations, but was, to some extent, a period of revelations. China's attitude towards India was occasionally discernible without the usual trimmings or diplomatic window-dressings. However, in the examination of Chinese policy as such towards India and her Government, one has to discount statements and expressions of opinion made by Chinese Government spokesman and official journals in the heat of controversy due to dissatisfaction.
As far as observations go, the answer to the question as to what really is the attitude of the Chinese Government towards India is briefly as follows:

1. To remain correct and friendly, without being warm and cordial, in their relations with the Government of India.
2. To prepare the way for the cultivation of warm and cordial relations with the 'People of India', as distinct from the Government of India. (The publicity line is such as to lead one to think that the Chinese Government enjoy the confidence and admiration of the Indian people to a greater extent than even the Indian Government!)
3. To wait for the emergence (in which the Chinese are Led to believe) of a "People's Government" of India and to do what they can to advance and accelerate such emergence.
4. Until then, to 'play down' India and belittle the achievements of her present Government (including their contribution to world peace and progress) or at least to keep the Chinese nation in ignorance of them.
5. To the extent possible, without offending India or her Embassy at Peking, to project India as a capitalist country, suffering from all the economic and political ills of capitalism, colonialism and feudalism; and as such, still not free, but awaiting ultimate liberation by her people (meaning the Communist Party).
6. To make use of India and her independent role in international affairs, but to see as far as possible that by doing so, India does not increase her stature in the international fields so that China's ultimate role as the leading Asian Power will in no manner be affected or threatened.

New India is considered an anachronism, a half- way house at best, in the transition from capitalism and semi-colonialism to Communism and "Popular Democracy".
As a corollary to the Chinese attitude it was observed that China gave publicly no credit to the Indian Government for its impartial assistance in the solution of the Korean problem because, to the Chinese mind, no credit was due. It was thought that the Indian Government could not have pursued any policy other than one of utmost assistance to China as the Indian people would not have allowed anything else to be done.
While the Chinese let no occasion pass without singing peans of praise of the Soviets and their contribution to Peace, and while no opportunity was missed to acknowledge the deep gratitude of the Chinese people and Government to the fraternal Soviet people and Government, not a line was publicly uttered or published in praise of India and no word of acknowledgement or thanks has so far appeared in the Chinese Press for the great and universally acclaimed contributions of India and her Government to a Korean Armistice.
India had more than her fair share of blame, criticism and condemnation in the Press and at Party meetings whenever she did not adopt the Chinese line, but little or no approbation or appreciation evenwhen India did something palatable to the Chinese.
The only public reference to India's great role in the Korean Armistice negotiations was a reference by Prime Minister Chou En-lai at a reception to a team of visiting Indian Artists in July, 1953, when he acknowledged with thanks the assistance given by the Indian Ambassador at Peking; but even this was blacked out from the Press Reports of the speech. Since the friendly policy of the Indian Government is not placed to its credit but is ascribed to public pressure which it cannot possibly withstand, it is not surprising that the Chinese Government did not - as even President Eisenhower did - send any formal letter of appreciation on the work of the Indian Custodian Force or of the Indian Chairman of the NNRC, to the Government of India.
Even during the days of 'the illegal Indian Resolution' as well as the 'illegal handing over of the Prisoners to the detaining sides' the Chinese line was to show that the objectionable steps taken by India were against Indian opinion.
The view of the Chinese Government that while the Government of India endeavours to remain neutral, it is not a free Government but is subjected to direct influences of Britain, and indirectly of U.S., is also occasionally visible. It was significant that according to a report that reached the Embassy of a speech delivered by one of the leading Chinese statesmen at a Secret Session of the Government Council in February 1953, the Chinese view was, more or less, as follows:-

Indian Government, as it is today, is a capitalist Government and to that extent, not reliable; India, as she is today, cannot be considered a friend, but is useful, as she is more or less certain to remain neutral in any conflict. As such, friendly relations are to be carefully maintained.

If China has a policy or programme of immediate or long-term friendship with India, one would naturally expect to see some signs of it. At least the people of the country would have been prepared. The tendrils of the gigantic Publicity Octopus of the Government of China would have tried to reach all parts of the country in a programme of kindling friendly interest in India and her people. It is true that for centuries China remained self-centred. No other country seemed to exist for China. The same tradition might, to some extent, be persisting even today.
But people are taught about Soviet Russia and Sino-Soviet relations with meticulous finesse, day in and day out. For all the protestations of Asian patriotism by Chinese leaders in private conversations, there is absolutely nothing done to stimulate the interest of the Chinese people in other countries of Asia or to educate them on China's affinity, or at least friendliness towards them. India is no exception. At best, she might be occupying a special position in Chinese policy - neither friend, nor foe.
At times, one is led to wonder whether there exists a lurking feeling in some Chinese circles or rivalry - even of jealousy - a fear that India may be a threat to Chinese leadership of Asia, a role which China aspires one day to play. It is curious to observe that even references to ancient connections between India and China or to India's past contributions to Chinese culture are studiously avoided (except in unreported speeches at banquets to visiting Indian delegations).
Not only nothing is done to popularise India, but anything that might enhance her prestige is not very happily received. The anniversary of India's Republic Day usually passes unnoticed. No news paper or other journal ever mentions names like Gandhi or Tagore.
No Indian happening appears to be of the slightest interest, unless it be a C.P.I. Congress or election victory, a Lucknow students strike or a 'Peace' Committee Resolution. India, apart from pro-Chinese extracts from Indian newspapers and especially from the Commsunist journals, remains practically blacked out in the Press of this country.
None of the thousands of bookshops in China sells any book on India - whether cultural, political or economic.
While delegations of a particular colour are invited from India, invitations by the Government of India or public bodies for Conferences held in India are not welcomed or accepted. Uninvited Indian tourists do not appear to be welcome. Exchanges of students and scholars between the two countries are discouraged. Indian film publicity (Indian Information Service documentaries) has never been in demand as in other friendly countries.
Though there was little or no adverse publicity against India for the last year or so, except in so far as India had failed to toe the Chinese line concerning Korea, no information was vouchsafed to the public concerning the great strides that the Indian people under the leadership and guidance of their Government had been making in various fields.
Perhaps it is felt that any publicity concerning Indian achievements would not be helpful to the new regime in China in its propaganda to establish Chinese superiority in all fields. The Chinese people should be made to feel superior.
The only country that can do better than China is the Soviet Union. The studied silence on major happenings in India and visible indifference to India's domestic and international achievements were, therefore, understandable.

A few significant features of the situation are, however, encouraging. They are:

1. That India's Prime Minister is now deemed a sincere friend, and a reliable Asian Statesman, though the line adopted is that he should not be confused with the Government of India.
2. Indian Government's opinion is valued and the present tendency is not to estrange the Government of India, but to welcome its cooperation and assistance. It was significant and indicative of China's anxiety to retain the goodwill of the Indian Government, that a hostile contribution that appeared in a Symposium issued by the Chinese Foreign Affairs Institute, a semi-official publication, in May, 1953, was withdrawn in 3 days, on an informal protest by the Indian Embassy to the Asian Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
3. In the arid of desert of impersonal relations, the personal cordiality and confidence occasionally extended by the Prime Minister of China to successive Ambassadors of India in their dealings might be considered of some value for the improvement of Sino-Indian relations on a long term basis. In a country governed from the top, this relationship has been found to be of paramount importance.
4. Though little, favourable to India, is publicised, there seems to be an inner conviction gaining ground among the people that India is an agency for good in world affairs, that Indians are peaceful and peace-loving and that they should be encouraged not only in their good neighbour policy, but also in their efforts at world Peace.
5. Our relations today are better than ever before.

[N. Raghavan]

Xi Jinping: Chinese Emperor for life?

My article Xi Jinping: Chinese Emperor for life? appeared in the Edit Page of The Pioneer.

Here is the link...

A dictatorial system may help Beijing bring some stability to its giant ambitions, but it may not solve the real issues — be it international politics, Doklam or internal talk points

Emperor for Life’ it is what many commentators concluded after the announcement of the proposed removal of the limit in the presidential term in China. At the end of the forthcoming National People’s Congress session, to be held early March, the Constitutional barrier on the presidential term of office would be lifted, opening the door for President Xi Jinping to stay for many more terms as President of the People’s Republic of China, ‘just like other authoritarian potentates’, wrote an analyst.
According to The South China Morning Post, which extensively covered the issue: “The bold move would send a message that Xi and his initiatives were here to stay and cement China’s ambition to fill the global leadership vacuum left by US President Donald Trump.”
But at what cost? There are indeed risks of backlash over Beijing’s foreign and domestic politics. The Hong Kong newspaper noted that the general feeling is that “the next few years could be volatile for China and frictions over controversial moves such as the military build-up in the disputed South China Sea would remain.”
For Michael Kovrig, senior adviser for China and North East Asia at International Crisis Group: “While an all-powerful Xi could build on the strength of China’s centralised party-state system and make for a bold and decisive China …whether that is good for China and the world, depends on whether that one man makes the right decisions.”
That is exactly the issue. Right now, trends are extremely worrying, whether it is in international politics, like in the South China Sea or Doklam or in internal issues, for example, the ever-more sophisticated repression in places like Tibet and Xinjiang, using the latest technological advances such as facial recognition.
Of course, the move could bring some stability to the so-called Chinese Dream. As Orville Schell, the veteran China watcher and director of the Centre on US-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York put it: “By enabling planners to project China’s ambitions abroad with more long-term certainty and continuity, the large-scale, global projects it has already launched — such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Belt and Road Initiative, the occupation of the South China Sea, and even its undeclared intention to become hegemon of the Asia-Pacific — now suddenly gain a new presumption of being successfully carried out.”
But Schell added: “Xi’s enthronement as its new Napoleon could have some salutary consequences, as did the reign of the French emperor, even as he led France in catastrophic wars.”

The Napoleonic example
If one follows the Napoleonic example, Xi might finish his days on a St Helen island (in the South China Sea?) or worse for him, in Qincheng Prison, the maximum-security prison located in the Changping District of Beijing Municipality. One can’t forget that there have been many turns of fate in the history of the Middle Kingdom; nobody really knows what would be in stock for the Emperor if Heaven decides to withdraw its Mandate.
What does an unlimited term for the presidency mean? First, it is necessary to note that the role of President in China is rather nominal, even though the Head of the State usually represents his country in world fora; something Xi is certainly keen to preserve.
In the Communist system, the real power lies with the party’s General Secretary and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC); the presidency is considered the least important of these three hats that Xi is presently wearing.
With no fixed limit on the tenure of the party’s boss and CMC’s Chairman, Xi could theoretically remain in power if he refuses to relinquish his two main jobs: “But he would not be able to represent China as the Head of State without the presidency,” observers told the Hong Kong newspaper.
The removal of the term-limit is also a message to his possible successors; they better abandon their hopes and stop jockeying for the post of next Emperor; saying ‘yes, yes, Mr President’, while waiting him out.
David Shambaugh, author of China’s Future remarked: “He could have stayed in power as both party General Secretary and Chairman of the CMC, but without changing the presidential statute, he would technically not have been able to represent China on the world stage. This is a clear indication that Xi plans to stay in power indefinitely.”
But there is another aspect. Though not always apparent, the Chinese state is terribly instable; the change from a totalitarian to a quasi dictatorship should be seen in this perspective.
Tellingly, the BBC reported that the new controversial move “has ignited discussion on Chinese social media and pushed online Government censors into overdrive.” It cited several key terms which had suddenly been subjected to strict censorship on Sina Weibo, the Chinese Twitter.
It quoted The China Digital Times, which noted that the following words/phrases were censored as soon as the new amendment was announced; banned were: “I don’t agree; migration; emigration; re-election; election term; constitution amendment; constitution rules; proclaiming oneself an emperor; Winnie the Pooh (a derogatory nickname used in the social media for Xi); what’s going on?”
The BBC added: “But many observers have been alarmed at the prospect of Mr Xi becoming an ‘emperor for life’, so it’s not surprising that overtly critical posts [are banned]”.

Another grim issue is corruption.
According to a commentary which appeared in huaglad.com, which is reporting on Chinese affairs from Australia, Ding Xuexiang, director of the CCP’s General Office and Xi Jinping’s close collaborator, recently spoke to the party’s senior cadres; Ding admitted that almost all those who have been investigated after the 18th National Congress in 2012, had ‘political issues’; some of them even had the intention to ‘usurp the party and seize power’.
Ding’s speech was a warning to the Jiang Zemin’s faction: “According to statistics, over the past five years, over 440 provincial level officials were the subject of investigations, including six officials who had the highest rank.”
They all belong to the Jiang faction and had planned to have Bo Xilai promoted to the Politburo Standing Committee before ousting Xi Jinping from his post. At the 19th Congress in November last year, Sun Zhengcai, another heir-apparent, was removed for the same reason.
Even more worrying is the fact that Xi’s anti-corruption campaign has so far had little impact “…even though Xi has conducted the anti-corruption effort over the past few years, the corruption has been getting worse in China.”
Apparently, corruption has “penetrated all levels of the party structure and has become part of the party culture, which will eventually drag down economic growth. Xi is facing a tremendous challenge in dealing with his corrupt party and the problems can’t be fixed simply with an administrative order or an anti-corruption campaign.”
It is doubtful that adopting a dictatorial system will help solve the real issues facing China. It is worth watching.

'May Auroville serve as a beacon to the world'

My article 'May Auroville serve as a beacon to the world' apperead in Rediff.com


Here is the link...

'May it be the guardian which calls for breaking down narrow walls of the mind.'
'May it continue to invite everyone to celebrate the possibilities of humanity's one-ness.'
Claude Arpi salutes 50 years of Auroville, a Grand Experiment in Living.


Old timers will remember the famous journalist and editor Russi Karanjia who founded Blitz, a national weekly.
Started as early as 1941, India's first tabloid focused on investigative journalism and 'hot' news; sometime the frontier between 'investigative journalism' and fake news was tenuous.
Sometime at the end of the 1970s, Blitz published a double-page article entitled 'Auroville, the Snake Pit. It was full of 'news' about the bunch of forengi hippies living near Pondicherry (now Puducherry).
The reporter (I don't remember his name) spoke of drug addicts and peddlers who were trying to create a new sect, in the form of a city with Vatican-like status. It was the worst place on earth.
All of it was obviously absolute fake news.
Those of us who lived in rather rustic conditions on the arid plateau were understandably, deeply, upset, but we soon decided to continue doing our work and did not even contact the editor to make a fuss about the article.

The prime minister in Auroville
On Sunday, February 25, the prime minister of India arrived on the now afforested plateau to celebrate the golden jubilee of the project, the Blitz title flashed in my mind. The times had certainly changed.
Speaking in the Bharat Nivas auditorium, Narendra Modi declared: "Sri Aurobindo's vision of India's spiritual leadership continues to inspire us even today."
"Indeed, Auroville is a manifestation of that vision. Over the last five decades, it has emerged as a hub of social, cultural, educational, economic and spiritual innovation."
The prime minister described Sri Aurobindo, the Rishi of modern times, as "A man of action, a philosopher, a poet, there were so many facets to his character. And each of them was dedicated to the good of the nation and humanity."
He spoke of the five high principles for Auroville, beginning: "Auroville belongs to all humanity, a reflection of India's ancient credo of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam -- the world is one family."
"The very fact that Auroville has brought together such a huge diversity of people and ideas makes dialogue and debate natural," Mr Modi continued. "Auroville showcases the ancient Indian tradition to the world by bringing together global diversity."
He spoke of a "Yagna" for unity performed 50 years ago: "Men and Women brought soil from all parts of the world. In the mixing of the soil began the journey of one-ness."

The Ancient Yagna
On February 28, 1968, some 5,000 people gathered on a barren plateau of red laterite, north of the former French establishment in Pondicherry.

That day marked the birth of a 'Dream' which had rarely been attempted; to bring people from different countries, races, religions, backgrounds in one single place to build a city together, 'a Tower of Babel in reverse', in the Founder's words.
Perhaps the most astonishing part is that the 'dream' still exists; and nobody today thinks to call it a 'snake pit'.
On the contrary, the prime minister prayed, "May Auroville serve as a beacon to the world. May it be the guardian which calls for breaking down narrow walls of the mind. May it continue to invite everyone to celebrate the possibilities of humanity's one-ness."
What a journey it has been. Not always an easy one for the early settlers.

The First Years
In 1968, as the world was churning (it was three months before the May 1968 students revolution in Europe), the utopia of a universal city began to take shape.
Instead of destroying 'an old world', the idea was to construct a 'new' one; it was undoubtedly far more difficult, because it meant building new men and women.
Indeed, this apparently crazy 'lab' had all chances to explode under the pressure of human egos.
The person who had this 'strange' utopian idea was the French-born Mother, Sri Aurobindo's collaborator, who had set up the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1926.
Young couples -- representing 124 countries and 23 Indian states -- placed a handful of soil from their respective countries or states in a lotus bud-shaped foundation urn at the centre of the future city.
In the midst of this barren area, the banyan tree nearby would become the geographical centre of the city.
From her room in Pondicherry, the Mother announced: 'Greetings from Auroville to all men of goodwill; are invited to Auroville all those who thirst for Progress and aspire to a higher and truer life.' She later read the Charter of Auroville through an All India Radio broadcast, giving, in her frail voice, the first direction to the new project: 'Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville, one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.'
The fact that it received the unanimous endorsement of the general assembly of UNESCO did not change the lives of the pioneers, who had to 'survive', often on millet, during the scorchingly hot summer of South India, living in rudimentary thatch huts.

In many ways, life is today easier than during the first years of the City of Dawn.
At first, only a couple of hundreds heard the call, to what the founder called a 'Great Adventure'.
However, after the Mother passed away in November 1973, life changed drastically. The Aurovilians were then left to stand on their own feet, materially and spiritually.
But they knew that they had to carry on the mission given to them by their mentor, to build the 'City the Earth Needs', a smart city before its time.
The task was immense, but the most immediate need was down-to-earth, to create shade from the scorching sun.
Aurovilians started to rejuvenate the arid land. They planted trees, built bunds and dams to stop the soil being washed away with the cyclonic monsoon rains and constructed the first primitive houses.
It is how the first pioneers became 'experts' in the environment, giving Auroville the reputed expertise it has today.
But the problems began accumulating and with recurrent shortage of funds, the Mother's words came back to everybody's mind: 'Auroville wants to be a self-supporting township.'
She had also said that in Auroville 'money would be no longer the Sovereign Lord, individual merit will have greater importance than the value due to material wealth and social position.' Money had nevertheless to be generated for the project to survive and develop.
It is JRD Tata -- a great supporter of the concept of Auroville since its early days -- who thought that Auroville crafts could become Auroville's best ambassadors.

In 1980, the Tata Group sponsored an exhibition Auroville Today which toured the major cities of India through the year. The exhibition was a tremendous success.
Nobody could have guessed then that just over three decades later, Auroville would be visited by thousands of people every day.
Auroville may not yet have succeeded in all its objectives, but the way of life chosen by the pioneers is today acknowledged by many, including the senior-most functionary of the Indian State.
The fact that Mr Modi was accompanied by the governor of Tamil Nadu, the lieutenant governor of Puducherry, as well as the Union Territory's chief minister and other dignitaries, was a homage to Auroville's founders and to the settlers, old and young, who have made the Dream the beginning of a reality.
For me, one of the best compliments Auroville received over the years came from an official at the Controller and Auditor General, which annually goes through Auroville's accounts. Having read too fast the Charter, he wrote in his report (later filed in Parliament), that Aurovilians are the 'living survivors of the Divine Consciousness'.
'Survivor' had replaced the original 'servitor'. An apt description indeed.
Let us hope that Auroville continues to survive, and the 'survivors' remain true to the Dream.

Tailpiece: I am grateful to Mr Karanjia for having given me my first chance as a journalist to write for Blitz on China affairs in the early 1990s. This is called the 'Irony of Life'!

(Photos twitted by the PMO)

The Experiment called Auroville

My article The Experiment called Auroville appeared in The Mail Today.

On the last day of February 1968, some 5,000 people, young and not so young, gathered on a barren plateau of red laterite, some ten kms north of Pondicherry, the former French Establishment.
It would have been a very special moment for those present that day; it was like the birth of a ‘Dream’ which had rarely been attempted; to bring people from different countries, races, religions, backgrounds in one single place to build a city together, ‘a Tower of Babel in Reverse’, in the Founder’s words.

The Dream exists

The most astonishing part is that the ‘dream’ still exists; it is celebrating its 50th anniversary and the Prime Minister of India will acknowledge this remarkable achievement by gracing the occasion with his presence.
As the world was churning (it was three months before the May’ 68 students’ revolution in Europe), this utopia began to take shape; instead of destroying ‘an old world’, the idea was to construct a ‘new’ one; it was undoubtedly far more difficult, because it meant building a new men and women. Indeed, this apparently crazy ‘lab’ had all chances to explode apart under the pressure of human egos.
The person who had this ‘strange’ utopian idea was the French-born Mother, Sri Aurobindo’s collaborator, who had set up the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1926.
This time, the experiment was to be more ‘universal’ in its approach; to symbolize this, young couples representing 121 countries and 23 Indian states placed a handful of soil from their respective countries or states, in a lotus-shaped foundation urn at the centre of the future City. In the midst of the red desert, the banyan tree nearby would become the geographical center of the City.
As not all countries could send two representatives for the event, those missing physically were replaced by boys and girls from the Ashram (years later, I was told that a Tibetan girl had placed the Afghan earth in the urn, as no one from this country could come; already a powerful symbol of Human Unity).
From her room in Pondicherry, The Mother solemnly announced: “Greetings from Auroville to all men of good will; are invited to Auroville all those who thirst for Progress and aspire to a higher and truer life.” She later read the Charter of Auroville through an All India Radio broadcast, giving, in her frail voice, the first direction to the new project: “Auroville belongs to nobody in particular. Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole. But to live in Auroville, one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness.”
The Soviet translators faced immediate problems to find a politically correct equivalent of ‘Divine Consciousness’, but never mind, this was part of the game. The Charter, the ‘Constitution’ of Auroville, had four such articles; the fourth one reads: “Auroville will be a site for material and spiritual researches for a living embodiment of an actual human unity".

The Great Adventure
Having spent 43 years of my life in Auroville, I can say that the miracle is that this utopian project, dedicated to human unity and international understanding, still exists.
The fact that it received the unanimous endorsement of the General Assembly of UNESCO did not change much the lives of the pioneers, who had to ‘survive’, often on millet, during the scorchingly hot summer of South India, living in rudimentary huts.
In many ways, life is today easier than during the first years of the City of Dawn. At first, only a couple of hundreds heard the call, to what the founder called a ‘Great Adventure’. However, after the Mother passed away in November 1973, life changed drastically. The Aurovilians were then left to stand on their own feet, materially and spiritually. But they knew that they had to carry on the mission given to them by their mentor, to built the ‘City that Earth Needs’; a smart city before its time.
The task was immense, but the most immediate need was down-to earth, to create shade from the scorching sun. Aurovilians started to rejuvenate the arid land; they planted trees, built bunds and dams to stop the soil being washed away with the monsoon rains and constructed the first primitive houses. It is how the first pioneers became ‘experts’ in environment, giving Auroville the reputed expertise it has today.

The Highest Ideals
But the problems began accumulating and with recurrent shortage of funds, the Mother’s words, came back to everybody’s mind: “Auroville wants to be a self-supporting township…” She had had also said that in Auroville “money would be no longer the Sovereign Lord, individual merit will have a greater importance than the value due to material wealth and social position”; money had nevertheless to be generated for the project to survive and develop.
I remember that in the early eighties, very few in India knew about Auroville; the project had the reputation of a place with strange foreigners roaming around. What were foreigners or even Indians doing in this wilderness, when most dreamt of America?
It is JRD Tata, a great supporter of the concept of Auroville since its early days, who thought that Auroville crafts could become Auroville’s best ambassadors. In 1980, the Tata Group sponsored an exhibition Auroville Today which toured the major cities of India in 1980. The exhibition was a tremendous success.
Nobody could have then guessed that just over three decades later, Auroville would be visited by thousands of people every day. Auroville may not yet have succeeded in all its objectives, but the way of life chosen by the pioneers is today acknowledged by many.
One can only hope that Auroville will continue to strive towards its highest ideals; it would be good for the earth.

Is India opening up? Some good signs

My article Is India opening up? Some good signs appeared in The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle

Here is the link...

The media has often mentioned the report prepared by Lt. Gen. Henderson-Brooks on the October-November 1962 debacle.

Is India changing? Political pundits will probably have diametrically opposite views on the subject.
It is a fact that India is rapidly emerging as an important economic pole; the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos and the hosting of the 10 Asean Heads of State or government  for Republic Day are symbols of this new emergence.
India has reached some maturity in certain fields but not in all. One can cite the poor ranking of Indian universities on the global stage and the lack of serious R&D in the defence sector among areas that are lacking. But the fact that the government continues to confiscate the history of modern India is not only immature, but also shows lack of self-confidence.
The media has often mentioned the report prepared by Lt. Gen. Henderson-Brooks on the October-November 1962 debacle. Fifty-five years after it was presented to the Government of India, the report is still kept in a locked almirah in the defence secretary’s office with only a few having had the privilege to go through the pages written by the Anglo-Indian general. The babus running the largest bureaucracy in the world seem keen to keep history under wraps. Will their mindset ever change?
I personally believe the study of the history of the subcontinent could be one of the keys to disentangle difficult problems such as the Kashmir issue and the border row with China. Unfortunately, it is difficult to access this information.
One has to admit that things have changed in the past few months, and it is certainly a positive sign. Take the National Archives of India (NAI), for example.
I have been visiting its research room for years, and it has been nothing less than an ordeal. First, I had to re-register every two years and “prove” that I was “still” a scholar. Whenever I asked why I could not be a “scholar for life”, I was invariably told: “Sir, it is not like that in India”. This statement itself shows the mindset of those supposed to be assisting the researcher.
Then, while going through the catalogues, it took ages to search for a keyword as the software was extremely slow. That was not all: thousands of spelling mistakes were made at the time of entering the data. I remember a specific instance — the day I was searching for a file on Maj. S.L. Chhiber, who served as the Indian consul general in Lhasa (Tibet) at the end of the 1950s. I could get nothing on “Chhiber”. Fortunately, probably by the grace of the “archive” god, I chanced on a Maj. Children. It was the file!
When I wanted to photocopy some documents for my research, I was told that only 25 per cent of the document could be copied. I once had a document of nine pages, my request to copy three pages was rejected and I was allowed to have two pages only.
On another occasion, I visited the archives six weeks after my previous trip and I was told that the rule was clear; I could not take photocopies again. A delay of several months had to take place between two requests: “In any case, why do you need the photocopies so often?” When I tried to explain that I was trying to write a book based on Indian archival material, it made the person even more suspicious. This has serious implications — and scholars find it easier to write on India using foreign archives.
As the NAI was doing me a favour in letting me consult “their” material, no discussion was possible!
Many things have changed in the past one year or so.
A new web portal Abhilekh Patal was recently launched with advanced (and quick) search facilities (a new version 2.0 is even online since January 12). It has a powerful search engine, real-time filters on search results and even digitisation “on demand”. Scholars need only to login using their registered email ID and a password. This is a great achievement. And if you find a misspelling, you can even suggest changes to the webmaster.
But perhaps more than the technological “smart” aspects of the portal, it is the change in the attitude of the staff posted in the research room — they are now ready to “facilitate” your research. During my recent visit, it was a pleasant surprise to find professional staff willing to help and not just protect “their” archival material. Each scholar has a personal monitor enabling him/ her easy access to all the catalogues.
Similarly, great progress has been made in the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) where the famous JN Collection (also known as the Nehru Papers) has been opened to study for researchers. Though not indexed, it is an extraordinary mine for the study of the history of post-Independence India. At both the places, the number of scholars has increased manifold. An encouraging sign indeed!
Unfortunately, while some progress is taking place at the NAI and NMML, not much is happening on the declassification front; both the ministries of external and home affairs are hard nuts to crack. Bureaucrats make sure that you don’t access the dusty files: India’s security and integrity will be endangered if these precious documents are opened to the public, they say.
Is there really a question of India’s national security interests? In fact, the opening of some archives (after a due professional declassification process is undertaken and documents are “sanitised” if necessary), would greatly enhance India’s position in most cases; but in most cases the babus themselves have not read the files — they have no time.
Two other factors come into play. First, bureaucrats always prefer to “block” everything instead of making an effort of going through the proper process; and second, the MEA and other ministries do not have knowledgeable staff to do the job.
For this, I admire the United States of America: Official documents are scrupulously made available to the public. A couple of years ago, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the US official organ, posted some 320,000 declassified cables online. The most impressive aspect is that the text of declassified diplomatic cables, superbly indexed, is retrievable from the NARA website. Even the secretive CIA has posted lakhs of documents on its electronic reading room.
Some may argue the United States or France is a “developed” nation that can “afford” the cost of sifting through historical documents and the process of declassification, but it is the  wrong argument.
While bureaucrats do not see any good reason to open up the “old” files, Indian politicians see their own interests in the continued closure of the archives. Opening them up could make them accountable.
But if India wants to become a great power, why should Indians and all others not be allowed to know about its recent past? Is that not the hallmark of a mature nation?

Dalai Lama, China and the homecoming urge

My article Dalai Lama, China and the homecoming urge appeared in the Edit Page of The Pioneer

Here is the link...

It has been a lifetime wish for the Lama to visit Wutaishan. But he must follow his own saying: Look at situations from all angles. It is unwise for him to go on pilgrimage in China right now

At the end of 2017, Prof Samdhong Rinpoche, former Chairman of the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala and now, the Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy, went to China to ‘negotiate’ an eventual visit of the Tibetan leader to Wutaishan in Shanxi Province of northern China.
Mount Wutai is said to be one of the four sacred mountains in Buddhism. Each of the mountains is viewed as the abode of one of the four great bodhisattvas. Wutai is the home of Manjusri, the Bodhisattva of wisdom.
Since decades, the Dalai Lama has expressed the wish to visit Wutaishan in his lifetime. While in China, Samdhong Rinpoche is said to have met senior officials of the United Front Work Department in Kunming and Wutaishan to discuss the proposed visit, which would exclude Tibet, as Beijing does not want to see the Dalai Lama returning to his native land, where he is immensely popular.
Beijing believes that China could benefit from the visit by extracting a ‘statement’ from the Dalai Lama. But can the Tibetan leader ‘admit’ to Tibet always ‘belonging’ to China?
In his Five-Point Peace Plan speech in Washington DC in 1987, which heralded his Middle Way approach, the Dalai Lama stated: “The real issue …is China’s illegal occupation of Tibet, which has given it direct access to the Indian sub-continent. The Chinese authorities have attempted to confuse the issue by claiming that Tibet has always been a part of China. This is untrue. Tibet was a fully independent State when the People’s Liberation Army invaded the country in 1949/50.”
The Dalai Lama knows history can’t (and shouldn’t) be changed. In 1987, the Lama stated: “China’s aggression, condemned by virtually all nations of the free world, was a flagrant violation of international law. …China’s military occupation of Tibet continues.”
The recent secret, though formal, contacts between Beijing and Dharamsala, could make the public believe that there was a relaxation of the Chinese position. It is not the case.
On February 11, The Global Times reported: “The public security bureau (PSB) in Southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region has released details on how the public can provide tips on activities of criminal gangs connected to the separatist forces of the Dalai Lama.”
Practically, it means that the Tibetans, who worship, or even simply respect, the Dalai Lama could now be termed criminals?
The mouthpiece of the Party continued: “[the circular] warns local people to be on the lookout for the ‘evil forces’ of the Dalai Lama that might use local temples and religious control to confuse and incite people against the Party and Government.”
The circular asked people to report on the activities of ‘foreign hostile forces’. Interestingly, a few weeks ago, Beijing announced the nomination of three Han cadres in the 20-member Tibet delegation to the National People’s Congress (NPC).
One of the delegates is Zhao Kezhi, the Minister of Public Security, responsible for the dreaded PSBs; he will ‘represent’ Tibet at the NPC. Probably wanting to show the leadership his efficiency, Zhao acted fast; the PSB’s circular said: “Criminal gangs are cancers on the healthy economic and social development, and gangsters are a chronic disease that severely disgusts the public”.
It listed 22 illegal activities to be reported to the PSB; three of them mention the ‘Dalai’s clique’: “The Dalai Lama has been in exile for decades but still holds the ambition to split China’s Tibet from the Chinese territory.”

Mt Wutai in China

Dai, a professor at Public Security University of China told The Global Times: “Collusion with criminal gangs is a tactic the Dalai group uses to spreading its message of separatism. These kinds of gangsters were involved in the Lhasa rebellion in the 1950s and the violent incident in 2008 in Tibet.”
Dai added “the spread of separatist gangs in Tibet is rampant. Only a campaign against the ‘gangsters’ would deter secessionist activities by the Dalai.”
Wang Xiaobin, a Chinese scholar at the Beijing-based China Tibetology Research Center, explained that the primary task for Tibet is “to maintain national and ethnic unity”. He cited a few groups in China “closely connected with the Dalai group…The Dalai group always interferes in national affairs by controlling temples, including lamas and living Buddhas, and by spreading a kind of ‘middle way’ to the world.”
Xinhua had earlier reported that the campaign would involve targeting “protective umbrellas of gang crime — the officials who shelter the criminals.”
This explains another Han nomination in the NPC’s Tibet delegation, Jing Hanchao, who is currently Vice-President of the Supreme People’s Court. Jing will make sure that the ‘criminals’ caught in the nets of Zhao Kezhi are heavily sentenced.
All this comes at a time when Beijing has just introduced sophisticated facial recognition softwares on the plateau. The circular promised that the PSB informers’ identity and safety will be protected: “The targets are gangsters who threaten political stability and infiltrate politics, or encourage the public to go against the Party.”
Beijing has also taken the campaign against the Dalai Lama internationally; there too it has been ferocious.
On February 8, The People’s Daily Online titled: ‘Mercedes-Benz: Don’t dare challenge China’s core interest’ while announcing that the German car company had apologised for quoting the Dalai Lama ‘in an extremely wrong message’. What did Mercedes-Benz do so wrong?
Next to one of its luxury cars, the German firm had quoted the Dalai Lama: “Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.”
You may think that it is a nice quote, but Beijing is not amused: “The post not only hurt the feelings of the Chinese people, but also challenged their bottom line on national sovereignty.”
The challenge is clear: If the firm, which sold 600,000 new cars in China in 2017, wants to continue to do business in the Middle Kingdom, it has to follow the paranoid regime’s diktats. The same misadventure had recently happened to the US hotel chain Marriott, who had to profusely apologise for wrongly marking Tibet and Taiwan as independent countries.
President Xi Jinping would have said in 2015 that foreign interference in China’s domestic affairs is intolerable: “Country, enterprise, or individual should not challenge the core interests of China, and [have] any activity to split China.”
Even after due apology by Mercedes-Benz, the Chinese newspaper said that “the apology lacks sincerity and reflects the German carmaker’s lack of understanding of Chinese culture and values. China’s core interests cannot be challenged.”
The paper even compared the Dalai Lama to Hitler: “How will the German people react if a foreign enterprise speaks highly of Adolf Hitler.”
It seems definitely unwise for the Dalai Lama, considered by Beijing as the ‘head of the gangsters’, to go on pilgrimage in China right now. Let us hope that the spiritual leader will not accept the diktats of the bully regime in Beijing.

Did Xi taste Tibetan butter tea?

Tibetan butter tea for Xi or just photo opp?

Days ahead of the Spring Festival (which falls on February 16), Chinese President Xi Jinping, who also Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), visited the satellite launch site located at a military base in Sichuan Province.
Accompanied by Gen Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of the CMC, he extended festival greetings to all officers and soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Armed Police Force (PAP), as well as all militia and reserve personnel.
Interestingly, the next day, President Xi prepared Tibetan butter tea in Yingxiu.
Yingxiu is a small town of Wenchuan County of Sichuan province.
It is located on the marches of the Tibetan plateau, in the southern corner of Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture; 47 kilometres south of the county’s main urban centre and just 14 kilometres of the city of Dujiangyan. It was the epicentre (and one of the worst hit areas) of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake; 80% of the town was destroyed. The town has been rebuilt now.
It is not said if Xi taste the Tibetan tea.

Xi trying his hands at Tibetan khapses?

Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, also known as Aba, is an autonomous prefecture of northwestern Sichuan, bordering Gansu to the north and northeast and Qinghai to the northwest.
The main city is Barkam; it has an area of 83,201 km2 and in 2013, it had a population of 919,987.
It is one of the most restive Tibetan prefecture on the edge of the plateau.

The Panchen Lama Gyaltsen Norbu
The Season’s Greetings is going on full swing in China.
In Beijing, You Quan, the new head of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) met Gyaltsen Norbu, the Chinese-selected Panchen Lama.
According to the Chinese media: “You extended new year greetings to Panchen Lama ahead of the traditional Spring Festival and the Tibetan new year, and Panchen Lama presented You with a traditional silk cloth to express his best wishes.”

The Chinese Panchen Lama was encouraged by You “to continue [his] progress in Buddhist research and cultural and ethical areas [sic].”
You asked Gyaltsen Norbu “to make new contributions to safeguard national unification and ethnic unity and adapt Tibetan Buddhism to socialist society.”
The media said that the young Lama agreed with You.
Before taking over the UFWD, You Quan was Party Secretary of Fujian province.
You Quan joined the Communist Party of China in March 1973.
In June 1995, he started working in China’s State Council; rising through the ranks, in December 2006, he became Chairman of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.
In March 2008, he was appointed Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council, a minister-level post, working under Ma Kai, a member of the Politburo.
In December 2012, You Quan was nominated Party Chief of coastal Fujian province, succeeding Sun Chunlan who was transferred to Tianjin municipality.
In 2017, You Quan became UFWD Head.
He is a full member of the 19th Central Committee.
If any talks take place in the future, between Beijing and the Dalai Lama or his envoys, You will be the official responsible.
You is said to have facilitated/arranged the November visit of Prof Samdhong Rinpoche to China.