http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0624-25.htm

亲历堪培拉看守所9小时全记录 让更多的中国人知道发生了什么

 

4月23日
10：00pm 墨尔本出发 临出发前 大家把准备好的国旗贴纸贴在车上 一路队形整齐开往堪培拉支持祖国奥运圣火澳洲段传递
4月24日
05：20am 开了7小时 终于抵达 堪培拉 天色还是很暗 看了一眼车上温度表 外面只有5度 车停好 把带来的国旗展开 合影 开始前往火炬点火仪式现场
06：30am 广场上已经是国旗的海洋
07： 00am 对面 蓝色的疆独队伍里 开始不断有红色的 中国国旗冲入 但是马上就会被警察拖出去 看不下去了 跟cola 打了个招呼端起相机跑过去可恶的疆独分子拿着喇叭喊着分裂中国的口号 他们旁边有一位60多岁的老人 高举着五星红旗在跟他们辩论 疆独开始动手推搡老人并撕扯老人手中的国旗老人拼命保护着手中的国旗 下面的一幕在短短一秒钟内就发生了-- 一名澳洲联邦警察用他一只粗壮有力的手臂卡住老人的脖子另一只手扯掉老人手中的国旗丢在地上 把老人往后面硬拖 而我此时就站在他们旁边拍摄另外一名爱国的中国同学我回过头去拉住警察的手臂 对他说这名老先生年纪很大了 你们怎么能这么对他 这名警察根本不理睬我 我于是追着他一直对他说 放了这个老先生为什么你们不抓动手打人的疆独就在我说话的时候冲过来四名警察把我拖着 塞进了警车。 此时时间为7点零四分（后来警察给出的statement of acts里写的）至此我完成了人生中第一次 被捕…………………………………
以下事件发生的时间由于电子设备全部被没收 仅靠当时的推断得出

一同被没收的还有 眼镜（本人900度近视 不让戴眼镜等同于瞎子） 鞋 腰带 一枚5毛钱硬币 钱包 相机（AFP还检查了一遍我拍的照片）

07：10am 老齐也被送进来了 原因是老齐从藏独手里扯了一块 由5个手铐组成的奥运五环标志
07： 20am 老齐和我 正式被转移到警察局的拘留所 从大车换到小车的两步路上 老齐还摆了胜利的姿势给记者拍照 引来叫好声一片这一段很有意思又一轮的拍照还有搜身之后 等待的是分配房间问题 老齐走在我前面 警察问他 which team are you in………. 老齐没明白什么意思 警察指指身后的一块白板 上面需要填写新近关押人员的名单 似乎很早就已经准备好为今天使用 白板上分成了红色还有蓝色两个区域很明显 是留给中国人 还有藏独分子两派的 自然 老齐的名字被填进了 红色的方块里 由于我脸上 贴着五星红旗旗 自然也被分进了一个房间
房间的装修很美国监狱化 从这点也能看出澳大利亚是美国的狗腿子之一 房间的墙壁被涂成白色 地板是淡绿色有点像是语言中心的大会议室我在房间里面找到了 我心仪已久的东西------ prison break里的重要道具-----不锈钢质地整体焊接在墙壁上并且没有坐垫的抽水马桶！！！！！！！ WOW….. 办完了如监手续跟老齐握手互相祝贺入狱之后的 第一件事情就是 在这个马桶里爽爽的 放了次水（由于是不锈钢材质 所以水声很大）
07：40am 老齐第一次正式使用上面所提起的马桶 之所以说正式使用 是因为老齐上的是大号 相对与我上次的使用而言 老齐同志 更彻底的评测了 这款著名的电影道具 得出的结论是 在这款马桶上大便 会很着凉
07：40am—08：45am 这段时间是我跟老齐两人的互相自我介绍时间 由于第一次在监狱里交朋友 所以兴致很高 我们谈论了对今天警察做法的不满 以及对于所出境地的看法 这期间 是我们的低潮时期

09： 15am 江源 还有 王万军两位同志 一起入狱 江源因为把藏独还有东突骂了个狗血淋头 被抓王万军同志今天可谓称得上是用了特种部队的战法战术以及身手 秘密潜入 东突和藏独的方阵 将毒子们 悬挂在氢气球上的大型标语摘下 绝对英雄啊据说谋杀菲林无数 呵呵呵呵
他们两人进来之后 又是一番自我介绍 事迹share 的老套路 之后又是漫长的等待 大家都不清楚什么时间才可以被放出去 我也开始担心在外面等着我的朋友们 他们还不清楚我发生了什么事情 估计找我快找疯了
09： 30am 特种兵王万军同志 按下了 房间内跟狱警通话的按钮 语气相当严肃而且不容否定地朝狱警 扔下三句话译成中文的意思就是（之所以没写英文原句是因为只记得中文）“我头特别疼 你们给我拿三片药片过来 对了 还有一杯水 ASAP” 这里的ASAP 我记得绝对特别十分以及肯定 清楚 tmd实在是太DIAO了 哈哈哈哈哈 狱警估计听了都懵了

10：30am 再经过两次催促之后 万军同志order的药还有水 依然没有送来 可是医生却来了*&%……#@11
警察同志进来请 我们的万军同志出去看医生 哇靠 什么叫做潇洒 什么叫牛* 这时候全部体现出来了 为什么这么说呢 因为当警察来请万军同志 去看医生的时候 这英勇的哥们 说出了一句让在场所有警察气死的话 “我现在走不动路 你们找个东西把我抬出去”

万军同志去治病之后 房间人数立马降为了三人 其实当时我们很担心他的安全问题 因为警察把他到走廊上的 时候 我们听到了 他一声惨叫真的是一声惨叫都不清楚发生了什么情况 难道警察借机报复 之后的一个多小时内我们一直在讨论万军同志的安全问题 捎带着顺便 谈了谈以下几个问题越战对越自卫反击战 中印边界纠纷 藏独问题的由来 疆独问题如何产生 以及拘留所会不会有午饭提供 等 呵呵 万军同志我们当时真的非常担心你真的我们甚至想了一套营救你的方案……………………………………………….真的 哈哈哈
你没事就好 其实我一直想问 你当时干嘛 惨叫一声啊

11： 45am 江源 我 老齐 我们三人用简短 热烈而且 很别致的 方式 迎来了 最后一名被捕学生 张远志 我们握着他的手 说同志外面情况怎么样火炬传递顺利么 有没有人抢火炬 外面现在几点了(没有计时工具 我们是通过窗外太阳计算时间地) 这一幕场景 很像几部影片里的像是列宁在1918 红岩……… 张远志是在游行时 为了保护国旗 而被捕的 警方对他及其蛮横在警察扣留他的时候他眼镜被打掉在地他去捡眼镜竟然被警方称为 “妄图逃跑” 于是警察给他戴上手铐 脸向下用脚压在地上 说是为了防止他逃跑但是妄图抢张远志国旗的藏独疯子却逍遥法外…………… 张远志在被拷起来按在地上时 依然没有忘记我们的五星红旗 发现红旗被警察扔在地上后因为手被拷在身后 他就用最把国旗捡了起来 好让国旗飘扬 ！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！这一幕我相信很多很多的朋友都看在眼里我回到墨尔本以后也看到留园上已经有人发了张远志的照片寻问这是谁 那么大家请记住他是一名从悉尼赶来的留学生名叫张远志！！！！！！！！！！！！！ 我们为他骄傲

至此 被捕留学生的人数上升到5名而大家一定想知道 藏独疯子 还有 东突厥斯坦那帮臭不要脸的东西 被抓起来几人么？ 在sbs channed7 channel9上面都报道说抓了很多 西藏的示威者 但是 但是 我想让大家知道 直到 我们这五名被抓中国人 全部被释放时整个拘留所一共只关押了 一名藏独 跟另外一名 东突

张志远 成为我们的牢友之后 不知过了多久（7点被关到现在 时间观念淡薄了）
午饭送来了 三文治 我们每人拿了一个 警官倒是很客气的让我们多拿几个 其实当时我很想拿四个的 因为实在是太饿了……………哈

午饭后的时间过的很慢 我们四个人也陷入了一种 莫名其妙的不安情绪中 因为午饭前有警官来说 可能过几个小时 会放我们出去 但是 澳洲人说的 “几个”小时 谁知道会是多久 会不会关押我们24小时 那么外面等待我的朋友们怎么办 他们现在还在找我么
一旦被判有罪会不会对将来造成影响 会不会遣送 这些问题在脑子里面 一遍遍 出现 但又不想让这些问题成为我们饭后讨论的话题 索性不管这些了 考虑下晚上有可能会送什么吃的 会不会发被单枕头 之类的话题

经过饭后热烈的讨论 张志远同学还有江源同学找到了他们的共同点 就是都做过阑尾切除手术 我跟老齐也找到了共同点 就是我的妈妈跟老齐的爸爸都是山东人老齐的妈妈跟我爸爸 都是上海人 呵呵呵 而我们被关进来的5个人都犯了同一条法律 什么狗屁section 15（一条临时授予联邦警察的法律）

03： 35pm 确切时间是事后得知的 警察打开房门指了指我 领了出去 当时相当紧张 连跟其他哥几个打个招呼都忘了也没有带走打算留做纪念的午餐三文治盒警察叫我站在一条黄线后面 对我宣判 “你被判终身监禁 服刑地点foxriver！！！！” 哈哈 玩笑了这是我在警官给我念我的罪名之前 想象的

之后的事情就是拍罪犯照（胸前双手扶着一块标着号码 还有你姓名的板子 站在一块背景是高度测量尺的 面板前面 拍的大头贴——罪犯照解释）取指纹签字画押 领回属于自己的私人物品 然后警察给我一张纸 上面告诉我5月2号要在 堪培拉出庭接受法庭的审判 一位警察mm问我还有没有问题我问了一个我这辈子问过的最傻的问题 “可不可以坐飞机来” mm警官没有回答我 其实巧的很 这位帮我拍大头贴 取指纹发还没收物品没有回答可不可以坐飞机来 的问题的警官mm 我被拘留之前曾拍到过的

紧接着就是她带领我走到警察局的后门 指着外面正在缓缓关闭的大铁门对我说 ur released

至此 正式走完了生命中第一次 被捕-入狱-出狱 全过程



老齐 江源 王万军 张志远 分别于之后两个小时内 被释放
之前提到过 另外一间房间所关押的 一名藏独 一名东突厥斯坦白痴 先于我们一个小时被释放

出来之后 很欣慰的是 朋友们都在警察局外等待着我 他们已经找我找了好久 手机打开 收到的短信 还有语音信箱 都是关心还有询问状况的朋友 在这里 真心谢谢你们

朋友随后跟我说 电台里面听到的广播说一共有6名中国暴民被逮捕 难道在澳洲这个一天到晚指责中国人权问题的 人权国家里阻止警察对老人使用暴力扯掉恐怖组织宣布分裂国家的标语 对着藏独骂几句 奋力保护自己国家的国旗 这样就被冠以暴民的头衔 反观之藏独分子焚烧我们国旗在点火现场把我们的同胞打伤 却没有把他们逮捕 关进拘留所 难道未经审判直接释放了？？？？？ 实在是荒谬之极

希望大家看完这篇东西将它转载 让更多的中国人 知道发生了什么



————— 一名墨尔本留学生
郑乃瑞

 

 

Some figures:

The cost of the Tibetan Program for FY 1964 can be summarized in approximate figures as follows:

a. Support of 2100 Tibetan guerrillas based in Nepal--$ 500,000       

b. Subsidy to the Dalai Lama--$ 180,000

c. [1 line of source text not declassified] (equipment, transportation, installation, and operator training costs)--$ 225,000

d. Expenses of covert training site in Colorado--$ 400,000

e. Tibet Houses in New York, Geneva, and [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] ( 1/2 year )--$ 75,000

f. Black air transportation of Tibetan trainees from Colorado to India--$ 185,000

g. Miscellaneous (operating expenses of [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] equipment and supplies to reconnaissance teams, caching program, air resupply--not overflights, preparation stages for agent network in Tibet, agent salaries, etc.)--$ 125,000

h. Educational program for 20 selected junior Tibetan officers-- $ 45,000

Total--$ 1,735,000

http://picasaweb.google.com/PnSDExh/Chicago0424
http://picasaweb.google.com/xuchaopku/20080424ChicagoRelay

 

You might find it very different from what you thought

 

but it never hurts to know more for an independent and educated human being, right?

 

 

 

 

 "I do attempt to find out from Tibetans and people how have recently visited
Tibet.

There are two classes of Tibetans. The Buddhist Priest/Monks and some
aristocratic land owners who were about 3% of the Tibetan population and who
mostly now all live in Dharamsala in India, and the Serfs and salves of
Tibet who made up the 95% of Old Tibet's population. Their stories will of
course be entirely contrary to one another. Most of the sites on the Web are
sites supported by the Dharamsala Tibetans. I am more interested in the
views of the 95% Tibetans, the backbone of Tibet who are now no longer serfs
or slaves and now can attend schools and get hospital treatment, and to be
ablt to travel wherever they wished or to do as they liked, or even to write
books or to paint artistic works of art forbidden them before 1950. Yes, I
am not interested in the propaganda of the previleged Tibetan classes, but I
am extremely interested in the liberated serfs and their views. Time will
be the proof of whether there was a Tibetan Liberation or a Tibetan
occupation. I am building up data on this topic, and will continue to update
such information, with the appropriate verification."


http://my.telegraph.co.uk/elle/march_2008/myth_and_reality_of_tibet.htm
Myth and Reality

Tibet's isolation and unique religious practices have made it the focus of
many Western myths.
by Foster Stockwell

Western concepts of Tibet embrace more myth than reality. The idea that
Tibet is an oppressed nation composed of peaceful Buddhists who never did
anyone any harm distorts history. In fact the belief that the Dalai Lama is
the leader of world Buddhism rather than being just the leader of one sect
among more than 1,700 "Living Buddhas" of this unique Tibetan form of the
faith displays a parochial view of world religions.

The myth, of course, is an outgrowth of Tibet's former inaccessibility,
which has fostered illusions about this mysterious land in the midst of the
Himalayan Mountains -- illusions that have been skillfully promoted for
political purposes by the Dalai Lama's advocates. The myth will inevitably
die, as all myths do, but until this happens, it would be wise to learn a
few useful facts about this area of China.

First, Tibet has been a part of China ever since it was merged into that
country in 1239, when the Mongols began creating the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368
). This was before Marco Polo reached China from Europe and more than two
centuries before Columbus sailed to the New World. True, China's hold on
this area sometimes appeared somewhat loose, but neither the Chinese nor
many Tibetans have ever denied that Tibet has been a part of China from the
Yuan Dynasty to this very day.

The early Tibetans evolved into a number of competing nomadic tribes and
developed a religion known as Bon that was led by shamans who conducted
rituals that involved the sacrifice of many animals and some humans. These
tribes fought battles with each other for better grazing lands, battles in
which they killed or made slaves of those they conquered. They roamed far
beyond the borders of Tibet into areas of China's Sichuan and Yunnan
provinces, Xinjiang, Gansu, and Qinghai. Eventually one of these tribes, the
Tubo, became the most powerful and took control of all Tibet. (The name
Tibet comes from Tubo.) During China's Tang Dynasty (618-907), Emperor
Taizong improved relations with the Tubo king, Songtsen Gampo, by giving him
one of his daughters, Princess Wenzheng, in marriage. The Tubos, in
response to this cementing of relations, developed close fraternal ties with
the Tang court, and the two ruling powers regularly exchanged gifts.

The princess arrived in Tibet with an entourage of hundreds of servants,
skilled craftspeople, and scribes. She was a Buddhist, as were all of the
Tang emperors, and so Buddhism entered Tibet mainly through her influence,
only to be suppressed later by resentful Bon shamans. Some years later
another Tang princess was married to another Tubo king, again to cement
relations between the two rulers.

The fact that the Tibetans and the Chinese had united royal families and
engaged actively in trade (Tibetan horses for tea of the Central Plain) didn
't mean an absence of conflict between them. Battles occasionally occurred
between Tang and Tubo troops, mostly over territorial issues. At one point
in the 750s, the Tubos, taking advantage of a rebellion against the Tangs by
other armed groups in China, raced on horseback across China to enter the
Tang capital of Chang'an. But, they couldn't hold the city.

In 838, the Tubo king was assassinated by two pro-Bon ministers, and the Bon
religion was re-established as the only acceptable religion in Tibet.
Buddhists were widely persecuted and forced into hiding.

Trade between Tibet and the interior areas continued during the Five
Dynasties (907-960) and the Song Dynasty (960-1279) that followed the
collapse of the Tang, although relations between the two ruling powers were
limited. During this time Buddhism revived in Tibet as a result of the
Buddhists' willingness to accommodate some Bon practices. The form of
Buddhism that resulted from this merging of the two religions was quite
different from that of China and other countries in Southeast Asia, as well
as from the form that had been practiced previously in Tibet.

Tibetan Buddhism, often called Lamaism, appealed to the Mongols, who
conquered most of Russia, parts of Europe, and all of China under the
leadership of Genghis Khan. The Mongols, like the Tibetans, were tribal
herders who had a religion of animism similar to Bon.

When Kublai Khan, the first Yuan emperor, appointed administrators to Tibet,
he elevated the head of the Tibetan Buddhist Sakya sect to the post of
leader of all Buddhists in China, thus giving this monk greater power than
any Buddhist had ever held before - and probably since. Needless to say, the
appointment irritated the leaders of the other Buddhist sects in Tibet and
the much larger group of non-Tibetan Buddhists in China. But, they couldn't
do anything to counter the wishes of the emperor.

The Yuan Dynasty divided Tibet into a series of administrative areas and put
these areas under the charge of an imperial preceptor. Furthermore, the
Yuan court encouraged the growth of feudal estates in Tibet as a way to
maintain control there.

When the Yuan Dynasty collapsed, it was replaced by the Ming Dynasty (1368-
1644), which wasn't composed of persons of Mongolian heritage. Tibet then
became splintered because the Ming court adopted a policy of granting
hereditary titles to many nobles and a policy of divide and rule.

Although the Ming court conferred the honorific title of Desi (ruling lama)
to the head of one of Tibet's most powerful families, the Rinpung family,
they also bestowed enough official titles to his subordinates to encourage
separatist trends within the local Tibetan society. One of these titles was
given to the head of the newly founded Gelugpa sect, better known as the
Yellow sect. He later took on the title "Dalai Lama."

Tibet During the Qing Dynasty

The next and last dynasty, the Qing, came to power in 1644 and lasted until
1911. At the time of its founding, the most prominent Tibetan religious and
secular leaders were the fifth Dalai Lama, the fourth Panchen Lama, and
Gushri Khan. They formed a delegation that arrived at the Chinese capital,
Beijing, in 1652.

Before they returned to Tibet the following year, the emperor officially
conferred upon Lozang Gyatso (the then Dalai Lama), the honorific title "The
Dalai Lama, Buddha of Great Compassion in the West, Leader of the Buddhist
Faith Beneath the Sky, Holder of the Vajra." (Dalai is Mongolian for "ocean"
; lama is a Tibetan word that means "guru.")

The fifth Dalai Lama pledged his allegiance to the Qing government and in
return, received enough gold and silver to build 13 new monasteries of the
Yellow sect in Tibet. All successive reincarnations of the Dalai Lama have
been confirmed by the central government in China, and this has become a
historical convention practiced to this very day.

A later Qing emperor suspected the intentions of the seventh Dalai Lama, so
he increased the power of the Panchen Lama (also of the Yellow sect). In
1713 the Qing court granted the title "Panchen Erdeni" to the fifth Panchen
Lama, thus elevating him to a status similar to that given to the Dalai Lama
(Panchen means "great scholar" in Sanskrit, and Erdeni means "treasure" in
Manchu.)

The largest part of the Tibetan population (more than 90 percent) at that
time was composed of serfs, who were treated harshly by the landlords and
ruling monks. All monasteries had large tracts of land as well as a great
number of serfs under their control. The ruling monks' exploitation of these
serfs was just as severe as that of the aristocratic landlords.

Serfs had no personal freedom from birth to death. They and their children
were given freely as gifts or donations, sold or bartered for goods. They
were, in fact, viewed by landlords as "livestock that can speak." As late as
1943, a high-ranking aristocrat named Tsemon Norbu Wangyal sold 100 serfs
to a monk in the Drigung area for only four silver dollars per serf.

If serfs lost their ability to work, the lord confiscated all their property
, including livestock and farm tools. If they ran away and subsequently were
captured, half their personal belongings were given to the captors while
the other half went to the lords for whom they worked. The runaways then
were flogged or even condemned to death.

The lords used such inhuman tortures as gouging out eyes, cutting off feet
or hands, pushing the condemned person over a cliff, drowning and beheading.
Numerous rebellions occurred over the years against this harsh treatment,
and in 1347 alone (the seventh year of Yuan Emperor Shundi's reign), more
than 200 serf rebellions occurred in Tibet.

Foreign Aggression
Foreign nations made numerous attempts to invade Tibet and take it away from
China. These were repulsed by Chinese troops and Tibetan fighters. The
first such invasion took place in 1337 when Mohammed Tugluk of Delhi (in
what is now India) sent 100,000 troops into the Himalayan area.

During the second half of the 18th century, troops from the Kingdom of Nepal
invaded Tibet twice in an attempt to expand Nepal's territory.

During the 19th century, Britain competed with Russia in pouring large sums
of money and many spies into a struggle to see which of the two might
eventually occupy and control Tibet. When the British finally invaded Tibet,
first in 1888 and again in 1903, the Russians were so involved in conflicts
at home that they couldn't stop the British troops from pushing all the way
to Lhasa. And the Qing government, having recently lost the Opium War to
the British, did nothing either.

The Tibetans, using spears, arrows, catapults and homemade guns, fought
valiantly but to no avail against the invading British army and its big
cannons and machine guns. The British withdrew after imposing "peace" terms
and before the harsh winter began because they feared the Tibetan resistance
would prevent supplies from getting through to the occupying troops,
thereby causing them to starve to death.

The British signed a Convention with China in 1906, the second article of
which stipulated that the British would no longer interfere with the
administration of Tibet and that China had sovereignty over Tibet. But, they
conveniently forgot the terms of this agreement when, the very next year,
they signed a Convention with Russia that specified British "special
interests" in Tibet. It would probably fill a book to detail the many ways
the British from that point on tried to take over Tibet and make it a part
of their colony of India.

Yet, something needs to be said about the conference held at Simla, India,
in 1914. Conference participants included representatives of the new
Nationalist government of China that had overthrown the Qing Dynasty just
two years before, plus Tibetans, and British-Indians. The British had
blackmailed the Chinese into attending by threatening to withdraw their
recognition of the new nationalist government and by saying they would work
out an agreement with the Tibetans alone if the Chinese didn't participate.

The Simla Conference failed because the Chinese and the 13th Dalai Lama both
opposed the British plan to divide Tibet into two parts (Inner and Outer
Tibet). The conference, however, did produce one document that since has
caused dissension -- a map drawn by the British representative Arthur H.
McMahon that never was shown to the Chinese, although it was revealed
secretly to the Tibetan delegates.

McMahon's map showed a new boundary line that included three districts of
Tibet -- Monyul, Loyul, and Lower Zayul -- within the territory of British-
India. This so-called "McMahon Line" first became public 23 years later when
it appeared in a printed set of British documents related to the conference
and other diplomatic matters. The McMahon Line became the basis for India's
failed attempt to take over this part of Tibet in 1962. The British, who
made a great show of their desire to have "independence for Tibet" at the
Simla Conference, in drawing this map were adding 90,000 square kilometers (
an area three times the size of Belgium) from Tibet's natural territory to
their own Indian colony.

During and after World War II and shortly before Britain's departure from
India, the American Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S., the forerunner of
the C.I.A.), operating under Cold War guidelines, joined the British Foreign
Office as the instigator of the Tibetan "freedom movement."

Much of what the O.S.S. did in Tibet remains hidden in secret files at C.I.A
headquarters near Washington, D.C., but one of their plots has been widely
reported. It involved a smear campaign launched against the regent who had
been appointed to act for the young 14th Dalai Lama after the 13th Dalai
died in 1933. The regent was hostile to U.S.-British intrigues in Tibet, so
the O.S.S. spread rumors about his alleged incompetence and criminal
activities. Eventually these charges led to the regent's arrest and murder
in a Tibetan prison. The 14th Dalai Lama's father subsequently was poisoned
because he was a friend and supporter of the regent.

Tibetan Buddhism

Before considering Tibet today, some words should be said about Tibetan
Buddhism as a religion. The accommodations it made with Bon resulted in its
becoming very different from other forms of Buddhism, particularly from the
more common and much larger Chan Buddhism of China (called Zen in Japan).
Images found in Tibetan Buddhist temples are much fiercer than those found
in other Buddhist temples, and some Tibetan ceremonies that once used human
skulls, human skin, and fresh human intestines clearly reflect the animistic
elements of Bon.

Also, Tibetan Buddhists rely a great deal on prayer wheels, which most other
Buddhists scorn. These are mechanical devices with prayers written on them
that are constantly turned by water or wind so the forces of nature do the
work of sending prayers to heaven.

The reincarnation of Living Buddhas, which is unique to this form of
Buddhism, began as early as 1294 with the Karma Kagyu sect, a sub-sect of
the Kagyu sect (known as the black hats). It then spread to all of Tibetan
Buddhism's other sects and monasteries, but it didn't reach the Gelugpa sect
(the one that includes the Dalai and Panchen Lama lines) until after 1419.

From the beginning, the system of selecting Living Buddhas was open to abuse
because it was easy for clever members of the monk selection committee to
manipulate the objects presented to potential child candidates in order to
make sure a particular child was chosen. In the case of the fourth Dalai
Lama, the child selected was the great-grandson of the Mongolian chief Altan
Khan. He was chosen at a time when the Gelugpa sect badly needed the
protection of the Altan Khan's followers because the Gelugpa were being
persecuted by the older Tibetan sects, who were jealous of the Yellow sect's
rapid growth.

Tibet Since 1949

In 1949, the Chinese Communists won the revolution and overthrew the
Nationalist government. But they didn't send their army into Tibet until
October 1951, after they and Tibetan representatives of the 14th Dalai Lama
and 10th Panchen Lama had signed an agreement to liberate Tibet peacefully.
The Dalai Lama expressed his support for this 17-point agreement in a
telegraphed message to Chairman Mao on October 24, 1951. Three years later
the Dalai and Panchen Lamas went together to Beijing to attend the first
National People's Congress at which the Dalai Lama was elected vice-chairman
of the Standing Committee and the Panchen Lama was elected a member of that
committee. After the People's Liberation Army (PLA) entered Tibet, they
took steps to protect the rights of the serfs but didn't, at first, try to
reorganize Tibetan society along socialist (two words omitted) lines. Yet, the
landlords and ruling monks knew that in time, their land would be
redistributed, just as the landlords' property in the rest of China had been
confiscated and divided among the peasants.

The Tibetan landlords did all they could to frighten the serfs away from
associating with the PLA. But, as the serfs increasingly ignored their
landlords' wishes and called on the Communists to eliminate the oppressive
system of serfdom, some leaders of the "three great monasteries" (Ganden,
Sera, and Drepung) issued a statement, in the latter half of 1956, demanding
the feudal system be maintained. At this point, the PLA decided the time
had come to confiscate the landlords' property and redistribute it among the
serfs. The landlords and top-level monks retaliated by announcing, in March
1959, the founding of a "Tibet Independent State," and about 7,000 of them
assembled in Lhasa to stage a revolt. Included were more than 170 "Khampa
guerrillas" who had been trained overseas by the O.S.S. and air-dropped into
Tibet, according to a former C.I.A. agent. The O.S.S. also gave them
machine guns, mortars, rifles and ammunition.

The PLA put down the revolt in Lhasa within two days, capturing some 4,000
rebels. The rebellion had the support of the Dalai Lama, but not of the
Panchen Lama. After it failed, the Dalai Lama, along with a group of rebel
leaders, fled to India.

The most disruptive event of recent years was the "cultural revolution,"
which lasted from 1966 to 1976. It turned most of Tibet's farm and herding
areas into giant communes and closed or destroyed many monasteries and
temples, just as it did elsewhere in China. At its end, the communes were
disbanded and the temples and monasteries were repaired and reopened at
government expense.

The idea that most Tibetans are unhappy about what has happened in Tibet and
want independence from China is a product manufactured in the West and
promoted by the dispossessed landlords who fled to India. Indeed, to believe
it is true stretches logic to its breaking point. Who really can believe
that a million former serfs - more than 90% of the population - are unhappy
about having the shackles of serfdom removed? They now care for their own
herds and farmland, marry whomever they wish without first getting their
landlord's permission, aren't punished for disrespecting these same
landlords, own their own homes, attend school, and have relatively modern
hospitals, paved roads, airports and modern industries.

An objective measure of this progress is found in the population statistics.
The Tibetan population has doubled since 1950, and the average Tibetan's
life span has risen from 36 years at that time to 65 years at present.

Of course some Tibetans are unhappy with their lot, but a little
investigation soon shows that they are, for the most part, people from
families who lost their landlord privileges. There is plenty of evidence
that the former serfs tell a quite different story.

You will find some Tibetans who hate the Hans (the majority nationality of
China) and some Hans who hate the Tibetans, a matter of ordinary ethnic
prejudice something any American should be able to understand. But, this
doesn't represent a desire for an independent Tibet any more than black-
white hostilities in Washington, D.C., Detroit, or Boston represent a desire
on the part of most African-Americans to form a separate nation.

Tibetan Culture Today

The final part of the Tibetan myth has to do with Tibetan culture, which the
Dalai Lama's supporters say has been crushed by "the Chinese takeover of
Tibet." Culture is an area that requires great care because it is fraught
with biases and self-fulfilling judgments. The growth of television in
America, for example, is cited as killing American culture by some and as
enhancing it by others.

Regarding the field of literature, prior to 1950 Tibetans could point with
pride to only a few fine epics that had been passed down through the
centuries. Now that serfs can become authors, many new writers are producing
works of great quality; persons such as the poet Yedam Tsering and the
fiction writers Jampel Gyatso, Tashi Dawa, and Dondru Wangbum.

As for art, Tibet for centuries had produced nothing but repetitious
religious designs for temples. Now there are many fine artists, such as Bama
Tashi, who has been hailed in both France and Canada as a great modern
artist who combines Tibetan religious themes with modern pastoral images.

Tibet now has more than 30 professional song and dance ensembles, Tibetan
opera groups, and other theatrical troupes where none existed before 1950.

No, Tibetan culture is not dead; it is flourishing as never before.

Foster Stockwell is an American writer who grew up as the son of
missionaries in southwestern China (Chengdu) near Tibet, and has visited
China many times in recent years. His several books include Religion in
China Today (New World Press) and Mount Huashan (Foreign Languages Press)