** TIBET [and non]. Glenn: I don't have a date for this subcommittee hearing,
but I believe it to be very recent. -mc
House Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee Issues Testimony From Radio Free Asia
The House Foreign
Affairs subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific issued
the following testimony
by Tenzin Tethong, director of the Tibetan
Service at Radio Free Asia, at a
hearing entitled "U.S. Policy Toward
Tibet: Access, Religious Freedom, and
Human Rights":
"First, I would like to thank Representatives Ted Yoho
and Brad Sherman
for this opportunity to testify today at this hearing on
"U.S. Policy
Toward Tibet: Access Religious Freedom, and Human Rights." As
Director
of the Tibetan Service at Radio Free Asia, I would like to focus
my
comments on the challenges we face as a news organization of
getting
news from the region and fulfilling our congressionally
mandated
mission of bringing this news to the Tibetan people. It's
extremely
difficult for any of our journalists to have normal access to
Tibet,
which ranks among the world's worst media environments after
North
Korea. Nevertheless, many of them maintain various levels of
contact
with vast networks of trusted sources inside who can provide
tips,
leads, images, video, and confirmation of events.
"Radio
Free Asia's Tibetan Service has had to double its efforts to
meet the
increasing challenges of bringing the Tibetan people reliable,
timely news
and information. During President Xi Jinping's tenure,
China has grown even
more strident in enforcing a comprehensive
censorship and propaganda
operation in Tibet. These tactics are
designed to keep the Tibetans in the
dark as Beijing has stepped up its
suppression of Tibetan identity and
religious freedom, continued to
seize land and mineral wealth from
Tibetan-populated areas in China,
and increased its attacks on Tibetan
cultural heritage by demolishing
holy sites and demonizing the Tibetan
people's spiritual leader, the
Dalai Lama.
"On any given day,
people in Tibet may wake up without access to the
Internet and unable to
make a phone call because authorities have shut
down all communications.
Tibetans can find themselves stopped and
searched randomly at roadside
security checkpoints, their phones and
electronic devices confiscated to be
probed for sensitive images, like
those of the Dalai Lama. Nuns and monks
from nearby monasteries may be
rounded up by police to be detained or
warned about the use of social
media. And entire families may be taken into
custody under suspicion
that one individual, or a close relative, has
communicated with foreign
media or NGOs.
"Beijing has always kept
a tight lid on Tibet, mostly to conceal the
extent of its abuses stemming
from its policies in the region. In 2008
an uprising in Lhasa spread
throughout all Tibetan regions within
China, culminating in the last
protests leading up to the Beijing
Olympics. In recent years, there has
been a new form of protest by way
of self-immolations against Beijing's
rule. Last week, RFA reported the
151st self-immolation protest since the
current wave began in 2009. It
was carried out by a 63-year-old monk from
Kardze who called out for
freedom in Tibet before he set himself aflame.
These self-immolation
protests have explicitly called for greater freedom
for the Tibetan
people and the swift return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet.
They represent
the deep frustrations and yearnings of the Tibetan people.
But each
time such a protest takes place, authorities intensify efforts to
clamp
down on the sharing of information. Entire prefectures and regions
can
be plunged into communications darkness in the wake of such protests
as
messaging apps like WeChat are shut down, along with the Internet
and
phone lines.
"Virtually all expressions of Tibetan identity -
including the practice
of religion and the teaching of the Tibetan language
-- online and on
social media are filtered, monitored or outright censored.
Those who
are considered to have violated what's deemed necessary by
authorities
to preserve stability often suffer severe consequences such as
jailing
and torture. Facebook and YouTube are blocked, and Chinese
telecoms
that control Chinese Internet access have been ordered by the
state to
ban the use of VPNs - removing nearly any possibility for Tibetans
to
access sensitive content on outside social media and websites.
China's
vast system of Internet filters and blocks, known collectively as
"The
Great Firewall," is tightly enforced in the Tibetan regions - where
all
online access and the Internet can be shut down at any given
moment.
Chinese state-sponsored hackers target the Tibetan diaspora
and
organizations outside China, using malware attacks to shut down
overseas servers and IT infrastructure.
"Weibo and WeChat, the dominant
social media platforms in China, are
heavily monitored and restricted.
Tibetans who use WeChat to keep in
touch with family and friends, but also
to discuss sensitive topics in
created groups, risk harassment and jail.
RFA recently reported how
Chinese authorities have begun to infiltrate
these groups to monitor
and crack down on individuals. This was especially
evident in the
lead-up to the recent 19th Party Congress. Authorities
ramped up
efforts to police WeChat and warn Tibetan monastery heads about
the
severe consequences their entire establishments would face if monks
and
nuns shared or discussed content deemed sensitive. These measures
follow on authorities tearing down satellite dishes on Tibetan homes in
Qinghai and Sichuan to prevent access to RFA and VOA radio
transmissions.
"Chinese authorities have also severely limited access
to foreign media
sending correspondents to the Tibetan regions, despite
assurances in
2015 that this could happen. The few correspondents who
obtain
permission are allowed to visit only under the condition of being
under
the constant supervision of state security handlers - making the
region, in one Washington Post reporter's estimation, as cut off to
foreign
outlets as North Korea.
"Chinese authorities also bring the heavy hand
of law enforcement down
on any Tibetan caught sharing information of events
inside the Tibetan
regions with foreign outlets. And their far-reaching
efforts to stop
the free flow of information extend well beyond the borders
of China.
Authorities harass Tibet-based families of reporters and
stringers
working for Radio Free Asia in Washington, D.C., as well as in
Nepal
and India. Chinese authorities even target Tibetans using WeChat
and
WhatsApp in the United States. A Tibetan-American in New York, a
regular listener to RFA who re-sends our programs out over social
media,
was somehow identified by Chinese security authorities.
Authorities tracked
down his family in Tibet, interrogating and
threatening them with
retribution.
"While Chinese journalists travel and work freely in the
United States,
no RFA Tibetan reporter can obtain a journalist's visa to
enter Tibet.
Even when applying for visas to visit family, RFA Tibetan
reporters are
subjected to extensive questioning by Chinese embassy
officials, while
parallel inquiries are made of family members back home by
local
authorities. Such a process can go on indefinitely, and, more
often
than not, results in a denial. Two months ago, one of our reporters
was
granted permission to visit his ailing brother after weeks of
pleading
for a visa, and was finally able to visit and spend the last few
days
with his brother before he passed away. Another reporter, who had
not
met his family members for 10 years, had to rendezvous in Hong
Kong
because he was repeatedly denied a visa to visit home. Yet another,
who
wanted to visit with relatives in China on a 72-hour,
non-visa-requirement transit privilege accorded to all U.S. passport
holders, was denied entry in August because he was identified as a
Tibetan.
"Beijing has recently directed increased resources to build up
its
state-sponsored Tibetan language media operations on radio, online,
and
TV, which offers audiences almost solely entertainment programming
punctuated with propaganda-driven news updates serving the CCP's
narrative.
All the while, they continue to try to deny access to RFA's
programming on
radio and online by jamming shortwave signals and
blocking access to RFA's
Tibetan news website.
"Despite these efforts, or maybe because of them,
Radio Free Asia has
earned the trust of many Tibetans inside China, who are
essential to
the effectiveness of RFA's journalism. These networks of
cultivated
inside sources enable the Tibetan Service to break news about
events
that would otherwise be ignored by or censored by China's state
controlled media. RFA was the first to report on the accelerated
destruction of Larung Gar, and broke the news about the vast majority
of
recent self-immolations. The Tibetan Service has also provided
exclusive
coverage on China's exploitation of mineral wealth and mining
operations in
the region, which have prompted large-scale protests. In
reporting these
developments in Tibet through the years, we have become
a reliable conduit
for citizen-journalists in Tibet who are keen to
inform the rest of the
world of what is happening in their country.
"The erosion of religious
rights and freedoms in Tibet may be best
illustrated by the accelerated
demolition and crackdown on Larung Gar
this year. Larung Gar is one of the
most prominent and vibrant Tibetan
Buddhist learning centers with monks and
nuns from all over the
country. We reported the forced expulsions and the
extensive demolition
of living quarters by the authorities, and how any
monk or nun not
officially certified as local was immediately expelled. We
were able to
cover these developments at Larung Gar because many of its
residents
sent us reports, photos, and video. Similarly, the year before,
local
activists in eastern Tibet informed us of mining activities in
their
region that was causing extensive environmental damage. When the
mining
was finally halted, the local Tibetans informed us that it was
outside
attention, especially the steady reporting by RFA, which had
forced
Chinese authorities to acknowledge the environmental damage and put
an
end to the mining.
"Trust is a two-way street for RFA with both
our sources and audiences.
We recently learned that a monk who was among
our sources at Larung Gar
was expelled from the center under suspicion of
helping us. He told us
that though he was devastated, he had no regrets.
People are prepared
and willing to take such great risks to inform RFA, so
we can in turn
inform the Tibetan people. Such feedback reaffirms the
importance of
our mission. As one Tibetan listener inside China recently
said, "RFA
broadcasts clearly about the conditions inside Tibet and where
His
Holiness the Dalai Lama is going to visit and what he is doing.
Because
they broadcast such true information, I strongly trust it." RFA
strives
to keep earning that trust and keep connecting the Tibetan people
with
the truth." (via Mike Cooper, DXLD)
