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The Diplomat
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Diplomat
India's Dalai Lama Reincarnation Dilemma
The strategic implications of the Dalai Lama's reincarnation have been well known for years, but the changing international context has complicated India's plans. The 14th Dalai Lama announced his reincarnation plans on July 2 – and, in doing so, confronted India with the prospect of a huge crisis in its relations with China after his passing. For India such a prospect is hardly new. What is new, however, is the international context. It is this context that is likely to make New Delhi's policy choices after the Dalai Lama's reincarnation more difficult. The Dalai Lama's reincarnation plans, presented in his July 2 statement, and their strategic implications have long been expected. Despite years of public musings that he might not choose reincarnation or identify an external emanation to succeed him, there was little doubt that the Dalai Lama will be reincarnated. All other options would have undermined both the institution of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan movement he leads. His public musings about alternative plans likely sought to disorient Beijing and pressure it to negotiate. The only surprises in the Dalai Lama's announcement were its mildness, compared to his 2011 statement, and the fact that it did not say that he will be reincarnated outside China. These surprises might be part of an effort to seek a negotiated agreement with Beijing but are unlikely to change the big picture. Two claimants are likely to emerge after the passing of the current Dalai Lama: one supported by Beijing in China's Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and one supported by the Tibetan movement and the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in Dharamsala, India. This prospect presents New Delhi with a huge dilemma. If two Dalai Lamas emerge, the Indian government will have to recognize one of them, either officially or in practice. And India will have to choose the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala for moral, domestic, and strategic reasons. Not only is the Dalai Lama deeply revered inside India, with many Indians feeling that their country has a moral obligation to help both him and the Tibetan movement, but New Delhi likely recognizes that the Dalai Lama represents an important lever vis-à-vis China, India's so-called 'Tibet card.' However, supporting the Dalai Lama claimant in Dharamsala will be perceived by China as a direct challenge to Chinese sovereignty over Tibet. China's retaliation is likely to be severe and might involve provocations along the disputed border, increased support for separatists in India's unstable Northeast, or shifts in Beijing's position on the Kashmir dispute. Hence, the reincarnation dilemma for India is not which Dalai Lama to choose but how to support the one in Dharamsala without provoking a huge crisis in relations with China. Behind this dilemma lurk the bigger questions about the future of the CTA and Tibetan movement in India as well as the role of the Tibet issue in China-India relations. Fortunately, India has long prepared to confront the reincarnation dilemma. New Delhi has likely drawn plans or at least carefully considered how to handle the complex politics of the reincarnation, the possibility of mass instability in Tibet after the Dalai Lama's passing, and Beijing's policy responses to these and to India's positions. Unfortunately, the changing international context has complicated India's plans. There are four ways in which the international context of the Dalai Lama's reincarnation in recent years has shifted and, hence, made New Delhi's reincarnation dilemma more difficult. First, the rivalry between China and India has greatly intensified, raising the likelihood of conflict. While even in the best of times, the Dalai Lama's passing would have produced tensions, at present it might provoke a crisis that will deliver a heavy blow to the shaky foundations of the China-India relationship. In the worst-case scenario, it might even be the straw that will turn the two sides into full-blown adversaries. Second, the territorial dispute between China and India has escalated in recent years, particularly after the deadly Galwan clash of 2020. As there has long been an intimate connection between the Tibet issue and the territorial dispute, the reincarnation dilemma might easily scupper any chance for progress on the dispute or reignite military tensions. Importantly, as Beijing has historically used the territorial dispute to pressure India on Tibet-related issues, it is likely to do so again after the Dalai Lama's reincarnation. Third, the ongoing China-U.S. Cold War has reshaped the international environment. This environment has made Beijing more sensitive to external challenges, with the reincarnation likely to be one, and more willing to respond harshly to them. As the United States has consistently been a leading supporter of Dharamsala, the reincarnation might easily turn into a flashpoint in the China-U.S. Cold War, which would reduce New Delhi's ability to manage tensions around the reincarnation. The fallout of these tensions will affect India as Beijing retaliates against New Delhi, which it will suspect of colluding with Washington. Finally, the international position of the Dalai Lama and the CTA have weakened in recent years. Internationally support for them has declined under Chinese pressure, in tandem with the weakening of the Tibetan community on Indian soil, and the strengthening of Beijing's position in Tibet. Admittedly, this has slightly reduced Beijing's great sensitivity on the issue. But it also means that New Delhi will have to play a much bigger role in sustaining the CTA and establishing the Dharamsala Dalai Lama in the difficult times after the passing of the current one. This increased Indian role will antagonize China even further and invite its response. In sum, the Dalai Lama's reincarnation presents India with an old and very consequential dilemma, put in a new context which makes it harder. This does not mean that the reincarnation will certainly produce a huge crisis in China-India relations. After all, if the two sides communicate and manage the reincarnation carefully, tensions will remain within tolerable limits. Nevertheless, it means that New Delhi's reincarnation dilemma will be more acute and its policy responses to it will have to be more skillful. A version of this piece was previously published on the website of the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), National University of Singapore (NUS).
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Moment Of Truth – Regional Administrative Court To Make San Siro Constraint Decision As AC Milan & Inter Wait With Bated Breath
Moment Of Truth – Regional Administrative Court To Make San Siro Constraint Decision As AC Milan & Inter Wait With Bated Breath Today, the Regional Administrative Court will deliver a ruling on the San Siro constraint appeal as AC Milan and Inter await the decision. According to Gazzetta dello Sport via FCInterNews, today is a 'key day' for the future of the Milan clubs' joint project. Advertisement Milan and Inter are waiting with bated breath as the TAR prepares to decide whether to suspend the stadium sale. Indeed, a verdict could significantly impact the timeline of their new San Siro project. Meanwhile, the Meazza Committee filed the request to suspend the sale process due to the historic heritage. AC Milan & Inter Waiting for TAR Decison Over San Siro with Sale Hanging In the Balance MILAN, ITALY – APRIL 23: General view outside the stadium prior to the coppa Italia Semi Final match between FC Internazionale and AC Milan at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on April 23, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by) If the judges reject the appeal, the sale procedure will continue according to the timeline communicated by Beppe Sala. Therefore, the Serie A giants can expect to finalize the agreement by July 31 as promised by Milan's mayor. However, if the TAR accepts the appeal, the sale process will hit a standstill. As such, everything would go on hold, significantly compromising the progress of the project.
ABC News
29-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
China forces young Tibetan children to indoctrination boarding schools to push state propaganda
Distressed Tibetan children as young as four sent to Chinese state-run boarding schools for indoctrination have been beaten for praying and wearing Buddhist blessing cords, forced to sleep on sheepskins and taught only in Mandarin, a new report has found. Researchers and activists say the boarding schools have been used by authorities to suppress the local culture and language of people in China's Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR). Details of the violence and coercive indoctrination have emerged in a new report from the US-based Tibet Action Institute (TAI) titled When They Came To Take Our Children. Two Tibetans interviewed told the TAI that children were reprimanded for practising their religion. "Students are restricted from wearing any sungdue [Buddhist blessing cords] around their necks and wrists and chanting Tibetan prayers," the report says. A former student, who has left Tibet, told the TAI if school authorities inspected dormitories and "found that we had not kept it clean, we were beaten as a punishment". Along with the allegations of beatings, the report says Tibetan children are indoctrinated to praise the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and taught only in Mandarin. "It's an effort to move Tibetan children away from family and community … expanding its control over what they're learning and thinking," Freya Putt, the author of the report and TAI's Director of Strategy, says. The TAI said its research was based on rare firsthand accounts from people in Tibet, and with those who have recently fled — as well as Chinese news reports and research papers. Human Rights Watch Associate China Director Maya Wang said they too have gathered evidence of the CCP's enforcement of Mandarin instruction of Tibetan schoolchildren. "It's part of a bigger forced assimilation drive, where the intention is to punish any kind of expression of Tibetans that are not following the Chinese government script," she told the ABC. Chinese authorities have denied children have been mistreated, and have used state media to cast the schools in a far more positive light. TAI's previous research found that 800,000-900,000 Tibetan children aged 6-18 were living in state-run boarding schools. Fieldwork by educational sociologist Gyal Lo suggests another 100,000 aged four to six are also in boarding preschools. "Some people do not want to send their children to boarding school but they don't have any other choice," a Tibetan who recently fled is quoted as saying in the report. "Parents do not want their children to be illiterate, so with that hope they send their children to the schools. But when these children return home, they cannot speak in Tibetan with their family members, they only communicate in Chinese. Dr Lo said he had even seen this happen to his two grand-nieces. He described it as a "sort of cultural genocide", and that his grand-nieces seemed to be uncomfortable sharing the family's Tibetan identity. "They became a stranger at home," he said. "That's just the result of the three months in the boarding preschool." The TAI's report detailed terrible conditions in boarding preschools. A student teacher's online diary is quoted, describing how "children in the lower bunks were prevented from falling off by boards; children in the upper bunks were tied up with a strap. For nap time, children have to sleep with their heads on their desks". Another account from a Tibetan still in Tibet described how the young child of a friend was so distressed they had to be locked in a room so their parent could leave them at boarding school. "China is using Tibetan children as the final frontier on the battleground to eliminate the Tibetan identity language and the culture," Dr Lo said. Former UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Fernand de Varennes, described these practices as an "existential threat" to Tibetan people. "Within two generations, if this situation does not improve, the language, much of the identity [and] culture will be lost," he said. Tibetan-Australian Yangkyi Dolma Sangpo, 25, attended a boarding school as a young child. Yangkyi's parents fled Tibet when she was only four months old. "My father, he got in trouble with the Chinese government because he was bringing Tibetan scriptures and Tibetan political texts from India back into Tibet," Yangkyi said. Her parents could not risk taking her on a month-long journey through the Himalaya mountains to India, she said. So she was left in the care of her grandmother. Yangkyi remembers being taught in Mandarin at school in the village where she lived with her grandmother. She said they did learn Tibetan "on the side", but the school was closed down when she was about six. She was then told she would have to go to a boarding school. At that school, students were strongly discouraged from speaking Tibetan or keeping possessions tied to Tibetan traditions, like prayer beads, she said. "We received a lot of bullying from other students who were there a long time … they were looking down on us," she said. At boarding school, Yangkyi said they were only taught Chinese culture and language. "We were not practising Tibetan religion or any other type of traditions," she said. Yangkyi remembers the culture shock when she returned home. "Because my grandmother and my extended family … they don't speak Mandarin, and me coming home [I was] completely speaking Mandarin all the time and correcting little words," she said. "Like if they said 'socks' in Tibetan, I'd be correcting them to say it in Mandarin." Yangkyi said she had a kidney condition as a young child. Her family used that as an excuse to keep her at home in the village instead of returning to the state-run boarding school. She eventually went to another privately run boarding school that taught Tibetan language and traditions. Then in 2010, Yangkyi was reunited with her parents who had been relocated to Australia on humanitarian grounds. Even outside of Tibet, people like Yangkyi and Dr Lo put themselves at great risk by speaking publicly about their experiences and research. When Dr Lo was recently in India, his father died. "My brothers and sister could not directly inform me that my dad passed away because they're afraid of Chinese authorities' intimidation," he said. Accounts from Tibet have been extremely difficult to verify. Yangkyi tried for months to get documents or photos from family still there, to help the ABC verify her story. But it was not possible without putting them at risk. Even chatting briefly with Yangkyi spooked one of her cousins. "He left me a note saying: 'Hey, I'll be MIA for a while, I don't want to get in trouble,'" she said. There have long been accusations and documentation of religious and cultural suppression in Tibet. In 1950, the then-newly proclaimed People's Republic of China sent troops into Tibet. It was annexed by China and after a failed uprising in 1959 the Dalai Lama — Tibet's spiritual leader — fled to India, where he set up a government in exile that still exists. Tibetans living overseas say communication with relatives is limited, and there is great risk talking about anything political or controversial. People in Tibet are also routinely restricted from travelling and being issued passports, according to the Central Tibetan Administration, the India-based government in exile. Foreign journalists and officials are rarely allowed into the region. The US State Department's East Asia and Pacific bureau stated in May that five requests in 2024 and three in 2023 by American officials to visit were rejected. Diplomats visiting Tibetan areas outside the TAR are subject to "conspicuous surveillance to intimidate, monitor, harass, and restrict [their] movements", it says. It says the TAR is the only part of China its officials need to formally request permission to visit. The ABC has made repeated requests to visit Tibet to report on the devastating earthquake in January, which killed at least 120 people. They were all denied, with officials citing safety concerns. The CCP has mobilised its media outlets to portray the schools in a positive way. A video posted on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, by China Tibet Net — a state media outlet — shows children in class, playing outside, conducting chemistry experiments and dancing. The description emphasises that enrolment in the boarding school system was voluntary, and students received free food and accommodation with tuition in both Tibetan and Mandarin. There was another video posted by The Tibet Daily, the official newspaper of the CCP's Tibet Autonomous Region Committee. It features footage said to be from foreign media reports, accusing them of spreading fake information about boarding schools. In the video, two Chinese reporters visit a school in Tibet where a teacher tells them they give classes in Tibetan language, culture and dancing. The video says the boarding schools are the only way to provide high quality education in such a large and sparsely populated region. In 2020, China's State Council introduced measures aimed at "promoting and popularising the national common language and script", with policies encouraging teachers from other regions to support teaching in Tibet and improve Chinese proficiency among local teachers. There was no requirement for teachers to have Tibetan language skills, according to a 2024/2025 recruitment document issued by the Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau. Zoe Bedford from the Australia Tibet Council said her organisation had asked the Australian government to sanction Chinese government officials responsible for Tibet's boarding schools. "We get the reply back that the government raises the issue of these colonial boarding schools publicly and privately in their conversations with Chinese officials," Ms Bedford said. A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said they would not speculate about potential sanctions. "The Australian government has serious concerns about the erosion of educational, religious, linguistic, and cultural rights in Tibet, including through the boarding school system," it said in a statement. In October, Australia's ambassador to the United Nations, James Larsen, raised concerns about the "separation of children from families in boarding schools; and erosion of linguistic, cultural, educational and religious rights and freedoms". The ABC contacted China's Embassy in Canberra for a response. Professor de Varennes, the former UN special rapporteur, called on UN institutions and democratic countries to do more.
Time of India
23-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Your Singapore travel plan in jeopardy, six agents lose license over failure to submit documents
Failure to submit outstanding audited statements of accounts, annual business profiles or returns, resulted in the Singapore Tourism Board (STA) revoking the licenses of six travel agents. The agents whose licenses were revoked are Gemini Travel n Tours, Intersys, SGWanka, VS Travel, Wizfair Travel and Zayn Travels. In a statement, dated June 23, citing the Travel Agents Act, 1975, the STB justified its act of revocation. The Travel Agents Regulations (TAR), 2017, states that licensees must present their audited statement of accounts, annual business profiles or returns or both within six months after the close of the financial year. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like The Simple Morning Habit for a Flatter Belly After 50! Lulutox Undo Companies like VS Travel got its license revoked, because of not maintaining minimum financial requirements, based on the TAR regulations. The licensees are expected to have a minimum net value of $100,000 at all times, barring which the companies would be prohibited from carrying out any more activities, according to the STB. The agents are also supposed to refund the customers, and give out their licenses for verified travel agents, enabling business fluidity. Live Events 'STB takes a serious view against errant travel agents and will not hesitate to take necessary actions to protect the reputation of Singapore's travel industry,' the STB stated.
Straits Times
23-06-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
STB revokes licences of 6 travel agents
The revocations mean that the travel agents are no longer allowed to carry out any travel agent activities. PHOTO: ST FILE SINGAPORE - Six travel agents here have had their licences revoked over the failure to submit their outstanding audited statement of accounts, annual business profile returns, or both . They are: Gemini Travel n Tours, Intersys, SGWanka, VS Travel, Wizfair Travel and Zayn Travels. The revocation is in accordance with the Travel Agents Act 1975 , said the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in a statement on June 23 . These travel agencies have continually failed to submit their audited statement of accounts, annual business profile returns, or both. Under the Travel Agents Regulations 2017 (TAR), licensees must submit these documents within six months after the close of their financial year. One of the companies, VS Travel, also had its licence revoked for failing to maintain the minimum financial requirement. Under the Travel Agents Regulations 2017 , licensees must maintain a net value of at least $100,000 at all times. The companies are no longer permitted to carry out any travel agent activities, STB said. These travel agents must refund their existing customers, or transfer their existing obligations to licensed travel agents to fulfil. 'STB takes a serious view against errant travel agents and will not hesitate to take necessary actions to protect the reputation of Singapore's travel industry,' STB added. For the most up-to-date list of licensed travel agents in Singapore, visit this website. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
