WOESER: (Through translator) Now, a lot of young Tibetans living in
the West are adopting Western forms of popular music, such as rap.
These kinds of songs may gradually become a stronger voice in the
exile community.

(Soundbite of song, “No Next Time”)

Mr. NAMGYAL YESHI (Rapper): (Singing) The time is running and
running, I am getting older and older…

KUHN: Straight out of Queens, New York, Namgyal Yeshi raps about an
onslaught of beggars, thieves and migrants flooding into Tibet from
other parts of China, and of birds, fish and trees disappearing from
the land.

(Soundbite of music)

KUHN: But even before digitized music and cell phones arrived in the
Himalayan highlands, there was already a tradition of protest music.
In 1989, protesters took to the streets of the Tibetan capital,
Lhasa. Many sang this tune about the need for Tibetans to unite,
regardless of their place of birth or religious beliefs.

Woeser says the whole idea of slapping political labels on music is
absurd.

WOESER: (Through translator) Just by categorizing these songs as
reactionary, we can see that the thinking of the authorities in Tibet
is still stuck in the Cultural Revolution. And the current atmosphere
in Tibet of captivity and terror is similar to that era.

KUHN: There’s no public list of banned tunes, Woeser notes. State
media reported that police in Tibet detained two suspects last month
for reactionary ringtones, but it didn’t say which ringtones.

Ultimately, a song’s reactionary tone may be in the ear of the
listener. On the other hand, to an aggrieved singer, even a mellow
ballad can blaze like an angry anthem.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Beijing.

(Soundbite of music)

Unidentified Man (Singer): (Singing foreign language)

Here is an interesting article by Woeser regarding Namgyal. Woeser does do her blogs in Chinese so the blog is in Chinese. We tried using Google to translate it into English but felt that the translation was not good to many errors. So we apologize for that.

http://woeser.middle-way.net/2008/12/rap.html

Thanks!
Namgyal

A little bird tells me that the “reactionary” music is possibly the recordings of a New York-based Rap singer Namgyal Yeshi. Here is how one of the songs No Next Time starts:

The rest of the lyric is in the Tibetan language. You can find a Chinese translation HERE. There is also a recording of the song performed at a pro-Tibetan demonstration in New York on 10 March 2008:

This is Dave Namgyal’s webmaster. Going to be away until the 27th so the blog will be updated when I return as it has been since we opened the site.

Thuje che for reading!
Dave

Dharamsala. May 18: Paola Pivi, an Italian performance artist, is lining up 1,000 volunteers to take part in a real-life, simultaneous howl of protest at Tate Modern in London.

While some participants will shout to free Tibet from Chinese rule, others may simply wish to scream as loudly as they can, the Sunday Times reported.

The Italian artist, who lives in Alaska, has so far found 700 recruits for the performance entitled “1,000,” which will take place next Monday (May 25) at 5pm, it said.

The volunteers, recruited from charities, community groups and campaign organisations, including Free Tibet, will congregate on a walkway 25ft above the floor of the gallery’s Turbine Hall to scream once in unison, the report said.

“I liked the notion of all these different people coming together to perform something completely unrehearsed,” the newspaper quoted Pivi as saying.

Pivi reportedly said her performance was not intended “to startle anyone” and did not have any “specific meaning”.

She maintained it was part of a four-day festival of public art at the London museum, starting on Friday.

To take part in the event, email paolapiviperformance@gmail.com

WASHINGTON, May 16 - US President Barack Obama on Saturday named the Republican governor of Utah to be the next US ambassador to China, a pivotal post in relations between the United States and a major emerging economic power. Jon Huntsman Jr., 49, a Mandarin-speaking former US trade official with deep personal and family business ties to China, takes on a delicate diplomatic role with a vital trading partner and one of the biggest sources of financing for the growing pile of US government debt. ”This ambassadorship is as important as any in the world because the United States will best be able to deal effectively with the global challenges of the 21st century by working in concert with China,” Mr Obama said at a White House ceremony with Mr Huntsman at his side. But Mr Obama also used his nomination of Mr Huntsman, a former ambassador to Singapore who has been mentioned as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2012, to send a message to China’s communist leadership. ”Improved relations with China will require candour and open discussion about those issues where we don’t always agree, such as human rights and democracy and free speech, and will require that each of our nations play by the rules in open and honest competition,” Mr Obama said.

Huntsman and Obama/ AFP/Getty Images

Mr Huntsman is the son of billionaire and philanthropist Jon Huntsman, and his family founded chemical company Huntsman Corp, which has operations in China including a factory in Shanghai. One of Huntsman’s seven children, daughter Gracie Mei, was adopted from China.

He quoted a Chinese aphorism as he accepted the nomination on Saturday, which he translated as, ”Together we work, together we progress.”

”This more than anything else, I think, captures the spirit of our journey going forward,” he said.

In a 2006 speech at Shanghai Normal University, Mr Huntsman urged bilateral cooperation to foster peace and economic prosperity on both sides of the Pacific, but also had some stern words about how environmental damage in Asia hurt wildlife in his home state of Utah.

”As leading stakeholders in the international community, the United States and China must be good examples and stewards of the Earth,” he said at the time. ”We must match economic progress with environmental stewardship. The effects of industrialization are felt worldwide.”

Eswar Prasad, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and previously head of the China division at the International Monetary Fund, said Huntsman’s diplomatic skills ”will be tested to the limit as there are many potential sources of conflict between China and the US, especially on trade, currency and environmental policies.”

”Once the world economy stabilizes and the worst of the (financial) crisis is behind us, these simmering tensions will come bubbling back to the surface,” he added.

Mr Obama’s administration has stopped short of accusing China of keeping its currency artificially low in order to boost exports, but some in Congress would like to see the United States formally accuse China of manipulating the yuan.

The US trade deficit with China hit a record $266.3bn in 2008, but both countries are feeling the pinch now because the global recession has clobbered world trade.

Mr Obama, like his predecessor George W. Bush, also has been mostly low-key in any criticism of China’s human rights record.

Washington is mindful of its need for Beijing’s cooperation in curbing the global financial crisis and in reining in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

Mr Obama’s choice of a Republican for such a key post could signal that the Democratic president has not abandoned his pledge to seek bipartisan cooperation. Since taking office in January, he has mostly relied on a Democratic majority in Congress to push through his legislation.

The ambassador post requires Senate confirmation.

Mr Huntsman served as deputy US trade representative in the Bush administration from 2001-2004, and was also US ambassador to Singapore from 1992 to 1994 when Mr Bush’s father was president.

China is among the largest buyers of US government debt, with $767.9bn as of March, according to Treasury Department data released on Friday. Washington is keen to maintain a strong relationship — particularly now as the $787bn stimulus package and $700bn financial bailout fund have strained public finances.

If China pulled back on its purchases of US bonds, it could drive up interest rates, making it more expensive for the government to finance its growing debt pile. It could also raise borrowing costs for a host of consumer and business loans, including home mortgages.

Dharamsala, May 16: His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Saturday said Buddhist nuns from Himalayan regions had an important responsibility in preserving Tibetan Buddhist traditions, which he said was facing an uncertain future in its homeland. The highly evolved Tibetan Buddhist tradition is facing an uncertain future in Tibet and it is time for the Buddhist nuns from Himalayan regions to also play an important role in preserving this rich and unique spiritual tradition, the Dalai Lama said. “So I always emphasize that people in the Himalayan regions now have a special responsibility to safeguard and preserve the ancient and rich Buddhist tradition that is deeply rooted in the Tibetan and Himalayan culture,” His Holiness added. The Tibetan spiritual leader was speaking at the Jamyang Choling Institute at Garoh near Dharamsala. His Holiness was attending a religious ceremonial function to consecrate and inaugurate a new Assembly Hall of the institute for Buddhist nuns, the majority of whom are from Himalayan regions of India, Nepal and Bhutan.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama leads a prayer during a ceremony to consecrate new Assembly Hall of Jamyang Choling Institute in Gharoh, Dharamsala, India, Saturday, May 16, 2009 (Photo: Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL)

Representatives from the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, including Kalon (Minister) Tsering Phuntsok, of Department of Religion and Culture, Minister for Department of Security Mr. Dhonchung Ngodup and Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile Gyari Dolma, attended the function.

Commending the works of the nunnery in imparting spiritual education for Tibetan Buddhist nuns from the Himalayan regions, His Holiness urged the centre to continue to strive for excellence in spiritual practice.

The Dalai Lama went on to insist that the primary focus of Buddhist monasteries and nunneries should be on the quality of the education and spiritual practice, and not on the number of monks and nuns in the campus.

“Quality should be the priority. Number is not important,” His Holiness said.

Jamyang Choling says one of its primary missions is to “train nuns as spiritual leaders, teachers, community workers and mentors for others in remote Himalayan regions and elsewhere when feasible.”

Prior to attending the inaugural ceremony, His Holiness paid a quick visit to Thösamling Institute for International Buddhist Women and Nyingtop Ling, a home for the physically challenged Tibetan children, both located in Sidhpur near Dharmsala, which serves as the base for Tibet’s Government in exile.

Dharamsala, May 16 - The Czech parliamentary group for Tibet has petitioned the Czech Presidential Office to bring the issue of human rights concerns in Tibet at the EU-China summit to be held at Prague on 20 May 2009, says Greens MP Katerina Jacques.

This summit is scheduled twice after China canceling it previously to show its resentment over French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s meeting with the Dalai Lama. China regularly opposes any decision by a state to receive the Dalai Lama or make any contact with him. The summit was originally scheduled for December 2008.

Czech Republic now holds the rotating presidency of the 27-member bloc. President Vaclav Klaus will chair the summit where EU and China plan to discuss their bilateral trade and co operation.

MP Jacques said, “None of the current global challenges that the world faces can be dealt without cooperation between the EU and China. But at the same time the EU cannot keep silent to the violation of human rights in China.”

The European Union can play an important role in bringing forth a constructive dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama, given the interdependency of the member nations and around the globe in general, analysts say.

However, China accuses the Dalai Lama and his proposal of “genuine autonomy” as seeking independence in disguise and the dialogue so far has resulted in a stalemate.

Tibetans and their supporters say that the condition inside Tibet is still worsening, where a slightest dissent against the Chinese repressive doctrine and human rights violation is met with ‘brutal suppression and violation of human rights’. Absence of international organizations, aid or free media has strengthened and encouraged the Chinese hardliners in Tibet, according to Tibetan right groups.

Kelsang Gyatsen, the Dalai Lama’s envoy, said that the EU must impress on China that the issue of Tibet continues to remain an important agenda in their bilateral relationship and the pressing need to properly address and resolve the issue through dialogue to provide the solution. “Failure to address the issue of Tibet will greatly undermine the credibility of the EU position on the issue of Tibet in particular and on human rights in China in general.”

The Green MP’s petition also included release of Aung San Suu Kyi from prison and the initiation of a dialogue among Suu Kyi, representatives of the ethnic groups and the Junta.

Dharamsala, May 16 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama will meet the Prime Minister of Denmark during his two day visit to the country at the end of this month, Voice of Tibet radio service reported yesterday, citing a ‘reliable’ source who did not want to be named. Lakha Rinpoche of Tibet Charity, which is one of the organizers of His Holiness’ visit, told the radio service that he received an email from a journalist indicating that the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen will meet the Tibetan leader at the former’s residence on May 29 but the exact time for the meeting is not known at the moment. During his two day visit to the Scandinavian country, the 1989 Nobel peace laureate will give teachings on Nagarjuna’s Commentary on Bodhicitta (jangchup semdrel) & Kamalashila’s The Middling Stages of Meditation (gomrim barpa). His Holiness will also give a public talk on Peace Through Inner Peace.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Lakha Rinpoche will lead a long life prayer offering to His Holiness the Dalai Lama (Tenshug) by the Tibetans residing in Denmark. His Holiness will also preside over a press conference and meet with members of the Danish parliamentary group for Tibet.

His Holiness will also visit Netherlands where he was invited to visit the Dutch parliament. China earlier warned Dutch MPs not to invite the Dalai Lama to visit parliament but Dutch MPs went ahead with the invitation despite the warning from China that the visit would harm relations between the two nations.

After Netherlands, His Holiness will visit Paris, France, where he is likely to receive the Paris citizen of honour. He will give a public talk on Ethics and Society