A group of Tibetan Buddhist monks, living in exile in India, are doing a “sacred arts tour” this month in the US. They’re demonstrating an ancient artistic and spiritual practice, creating big, colorful sand mandalas. They say Buddhist traditions like this are under threat because of Chinese government policies in their historic homeland of Tibet.
Beijing-based Tsering Woeser has been documenting Tibetan self-immolation protests online for the past few years. But she says Facebook has now deleted one of her posts, and not for the reasons of graphic content that they’ve given her.
The recent agreement between the US and China to reduce greenhouse emissions made headlines — and rightly so. It was a big step for both nations. But, striking a balance between environmental protection and economic ascendance is much more complicated than that. In China especially, it seems, for every step forward, there are often two steps back. Its actions in Tibet are a prime example, according to a newly-published book.
American reporter Jocelyn Ford only set out to snag some contact in inaccessible Tibet. Instead, when she sat down to talk to a Tibetan woman named Zanta, she ended up as part of her own story, experiencing Zanta’s struggles and the deeply-ingrained sexism of Tibetan society.