And now, it’s 11. On Nov. 3, a Tibetan nun set herself on fire in a remote Tibetan-inhabited county of China’s Sichuan province called Tawu (or Daofu in Chinese), according to exile Tibetan groups. Nine Tibetan monks (or former monks) and two nuns have self-immolated this year, the despairing acts of a people who contend their …
Minorities
Firebombed French Paper Is No Free Speech Martyr
Okay, so can we finally stop with the idiotic, divisive, and destructive efforts by “majority sections” of Western nations to bait Muslim members with petulant, futile demonstrations that “they” aren’t going to tell “us” what can and can’t be done in free societies? Because not only are such Islamophobic antics futile …
Baaaad Behavior: What the Kidnapping of a Goat Says About the Switzerland’s Elections
The kidnapping of two goats may seem to have little relevance to politics. But then you realize the four-legged victims belong to the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which has built up massive support by scapegoating immigrants.
Zottel, the SVP’s official mascot, has come to symbolize the party’s anti-immigrant stance, and …
Another Tibetan Monk Sets Himself Ablaze—and the Karmapa’s Take on the Fiery Protests
Kham is on fire. This year, five Tibetan monks have set themselves ablaze in the ethnically Tibetan-dominated region of China’s Sichuan province that is part of an area called Kham in Tibetan. The most recent self-immolation was on Oct. 3 in a market in the town of Aba (in Mandarin) or Ngaba (in Tibetan), according to exile Tibetan …
Turkish P.M. Erdogan: We Cannot Deny Our Ottoman Past
Our interview with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, published earlier this week on Global Spin, dwelled mostly on the growing shadow cast by the charismatic premier across the face of Mideast geo-politics. One question edited out of the earlier transcript raised the legacy of the Ottoman Empire, whose dominion once …
Burma: Could a Small, Peaceful Protest Signal Real Reform?
Four years ago, as columns of burgundy-robed monks marched peacefully through Burma’s commercial capital Rangoon, security forces opened fire, slaughtering at least 31 people, arresting thousands more and extinguishing hopes that the ruling junta was receptive to political reform. On September 26, dozens of Burmese again gathered …
The Dalai Lama Promises To Clarify His Succession—When He’s Around 90
All will be clear when the Dalai Lama is around 90 years old. That was the message from the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader over the weekend, as he convened a conference of various Tibetan Buddhist sects in the Indian hill station of Dharamsala. Although the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 76, is in good health, the issue of what will …
Dagestan: As an Insurgency Rages, a Soccer Team Rises
The Washington Post ran a lengthy feature Tuesday on the violence in Dagestan, the restive Muslim-majority republic in Russia’s North Caucasus region whose troubles have long hovered under the radar as the world fretted over the Chechen insurgency and Moscow’s tensions with independent Georgia to the south. Yet, as this 2009 U.S. …
Looking to Invest? How About China’s New Frontier?
Looking for a place to invest in China? How about Xinjiang, or the “New Frontier,” as the northwestern autonomous region is known in Mandarin? Home to the Uighur people—a Turkic group that briefly helmed two self-proclaimed republics called East Turkestan in the 1930s and ‘40s—Xinjiang seethes with resentment toward the …
China’s Security Chief Goes on Tour—How Is Asia Reacting?
Over the past week, as I’ve traveled across Asia, I’ve discovered an unlikely partner in my continental peregrinations: China’s security chief Zhou Yongkang. The senior Chinese envoy’s travels have taken him to Nepal, Laos, Cambodia and Tajikistan. The final stop is Mongolia, where Zhou is expected to head on Tuesday.
In …
Prime Minister Obama: Would the U.S. Be Better Served by a Parliament?
Over at the GPS Blog, Fareed Zakaria asks a pointed and valuable question: “Does America need a Prime Minister?” Given the paralysis and farce that has gripped Washington in recent months, it’s worth considering. As Zakaria observes, presidential systems never resolve the “basic contest for legitimacy” between the power of the …
Tibetans in Exile Mourn Monk Who Set Himself Aflame
The Tibetan National Martyrs’ Memorial is a black obelisk in Dharamsala, the Indian hill station that serves as the headquarters of exiled Tibetans who have fled their Chinese-ruled homeland. Usually the slender monument is surrounded by a colorful tangle of Tibetan prayer flags. But on August 16, the base of the memorial was …
The Riots of Paris and London: A Tale of Two Cities
With the violence that broke out in London Saturday having spread to other English cities during a third straight night of rioting Monday, it’s tempting (and probably portentous) from the comfort of Paris to offer up lessons learned from the nearly three weeks of upheaval that rocked French towns in 2005. Yet while there seem to be …