2006 Appeal Letter Against Mining in Amdo, Tibet, Resurfaces Online

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost and open letter related to mining and environmental destruction in Tibet. The blogpost was posted on a Sina blog on August 28, 2011 but re-posts an open letter from 2006 by villagers in the Gepasumdo (Ch: Tongde) county which is located in Tsolho (Ch: Hainan) in Amdo, part of Qinghai province today. The post also includes 15 photos of the damage in the region.

The blog owner himself admits, "I don’t know how much influence it will have putting this letter and photos on the internet" but it is interesting that these issues of five years ago are re-surfacing online. It would seem that the issues of 2006 need still to be addressed. At the end of July 2011, High Peaks Pure Earth translated an appeal letter by locals affected by serious water contamination in the Kumbum area caused by mining activities.

Mining and subsequent environmental destruction as well as health concerns have also been the focus of blogposts by Woeser, see "Impoverished Matö County", "Please Stop the “Development” of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar for Profit", "Avatar" in Tibet
 and "Songtsen Gampo’s Hometown Is About To Be Completely Excavated".

"Bad News" - Tibetan Bloggers Report the Arrest of Writer Therang

On 31st July 2009, a Tibetan blogger writing from Lhasa posted news of the arrest of Tibetan writer Tashi Rabten (bKra shis rab brtan) who writes under the pen name of Therang (the’u rang) which could mean demons or spirits.

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated the original post from Tibetan that was originally posted here: www.tibetabc.cn/u/cher/archives/2009/2009731165922.html (NB: www.tibetabc.cn is inaccessible at the time of writing)

Various Tibetan blogs have reported Therang's disappearance and express concern for him, one example is here: www.cmbod.cn/u/lzcljc/archives/2009/21503.html. The photos below are taken from the blogpost on www.cmbod.cn/u/ganglin/archives/2009/21496.html

More details about Therang and his writings can be found on the Tibetan language website Khabdha: www.khabdha.org/?p=3484



"Bad News"

Intelligent, wise and courageous brother from the land of snows named Tashi (bkra shes), also known as Therang (the’u rang), was secretly arrested by the enemy on July 26th. There are no traces of him left behind, just like a bird took off from a rock.

According to a few reliable friends, after the uprising in 2008, not only did the government interrogate him on many occasions, they also were closely monitoring his movements and making him report regularly on all his activities. At the end of 2008, thinking about the miserable fate of the Tibetan people, he wrote a book critical of the government titled "Written in Blood" (Khrag yig). By applying the meatphor of flesh and blood, the book revealed the oppression and crimes of the Communist government, therefore, he became a thorn in the eyes of the government. The brave and wise Therang is currently undergoing pain and suffering in a dark prison of the Communist government.

Isn’t it regretable for the Tibetan people to lose such a young brave person like him? If all the people with affection for our nationalities and the courageous youths are being disappeared like this, then what is the point of just shouting and raising our fists in the air? Are there able people amongst us Tibetans? Shouldn’t the Tibetan people be rising up when faced with such obstruction? How many people like Therang are there amongst us who are not afraid of talking about the plight of our people? How many people are there amongst us who are as intelligent and as brave as Therang? How many people are there among us who are so young and determined? Shouldn’t we be rising up behind this great thinker?

Written immediately after hearing the bad news from Lhasa on July 28th, 2009.

Heavy Rainfall and Serious Floods in Amdo Machu

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a Tibetan blogpost about the recent heavy rainfall and serious flooding in Amdo's Machu area (Tibetan: rma chu rdzong, Chinese: 玛曲县 maqu xian, Gansu Province) on the evening of July 20, 2009 that left five people dead.

Screenshot taken from Google Maps, A marks the county of Machu.
The nearest big towns are Lanzhou in Gansu Province and Xining in Qinghai Province.

The blogpost represents another example of citizen journalism in Amdo and official state media has only reported on the floods in Chinese and not Tibetan (or English). For dramatic photos and an official news report in Chinese see http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2009-07-22/084318272323.shtml.


High Peaks Pure Earth came across the blogpost (photo above) on a young Tibetan middle-school student’s blog.


The motto on his blog (the last three lines on the photo above) reads:

I am searching for a sky that will empower me,
I am searching for a sky under which there is equality and freedom,
I am searching for a sky under which there is no deception and hypocrisy.

The blogpost was written on the afternoon of July 21 and includes this photo:

The writing on the photo reads: Her name is Trakho (bkra kho). She is from Machu Tsho Ru. Her beloved children drowned in floodwater. Now, her hope rests with her simple, young, sick handicapped daughter and rents a room from the neighbours.

Read more accounts and see photos of the floods on the following Tibetan blogs:
http://www.tibetabc.cn/u/freedomfreedom/archives/2009/200972121548.html
http://www.tibetabc.cn/u/murchenchep/archives/2009/2009721222749.html

News from Machu

On the night of 20th July, a flood destroyed villages around Machu County (Dzong). Countless numbers of people’s houses have been washed away. More importantly, three children were carried by the floodwater. Although the mother was stricken with grief, she is searching for her children.

This morning when I arrived, the cries of families who lost everything and the mother of the three children filled my ears and this made me weep. Sadly, the family lost everything; the income earner is not only handicapped but is also of ill health. The family will face great difficulties in the future. Her beloved children and belongings accumulated through blood and sweat have been washed away by the floodwater. Now her life has been plunged into darkness.

I am only a poor student and lacking means to help people of my race. I appeal to brothers and sisters of the land of snows, to think and give support for the future livelihood of the mother and child .

Last Year I Was A Prisoner

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by a Tibetan blogger from Amdo who calls his blog The Cry of Thoring Karchen or The Cry of the Dawn Star (tho rengs skar chen gyi 'bod brda).


The original posting on http://www.tibetabc.cn/u/trgq/archives/2009/2009512193944.html was uploaded on May 12 2009 but has since been removed. Although the rest of his blog can still be accessed, instead of this particular posting, the following error message appears in Chinese:

High Peaks Pure Earth has therefore uploaded various screenshots of the blogpost, including the photos he uploaded showing how he was treated during his detention.

Last Year I Was A Prisoner

To my many friends and fellow bloggers. Last year I was a prisoner. I was expelled from Tso School (slob gtsos). I was detained in the Chinese town Hidren (hi krin) for one month and several days. On my return I was fined five thousand (yuan) and wasn’t allow to attend school. Here I am appealing to all the good-hearted people to offer me some money in order to pay my student fees.

The photo below was taken by a close friend and I wasn’t able to post it until today.