Regional News Archives - fnvaworld.org

China includes CPEC in scientific expedition to Tibet

Team FNVA — Sun, 18 Jun 2017 12:34:04 +0000

www.thehindu.com

PTI

June 18, 2017

The last expedition of similar scale in Qinghai-Tibet plateau was conducted in the 1970s

China has included the controversial $50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in its second scientific expedition to the 4,000-metre-high Qinghai-Tibet plateau to study changes in climate and environment over the past decades in the region.

The expedition will take scientists to a pass linking to South Asia, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The expedition will also take scientists to the CPEC which passes through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) over which India has conveyed its protests to China. The area covers the Karakoram mountain ranges including the Siachen glacier.

The last expedition of similar scale in Qinghai-Tibet plateau, regarded as roof of the world, was conducted in the 1970s.

This time, the expedition will last five to 10 years and the first stop will be Serling Tso, a 2,391-square-km lake that was confirmed to have replaced the Buddhist holy lake Namtso as Tibet’s largest in 2014.

In the coming months, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) will take more than 100 scientists to the lake area and the origin of the Yangtze, China’s longest river. They will be divided into four groups and make a comprehensive survey of the plateau glaciers, climate change, biodiversity and ecological changes, Yao Tandong, an academician with the CAS, was quoted as saying by the report.

“Great changes have taken place in the plateau’s resources and environment since the first scientific expedition,” said Mr. Yao, director of the CAS Institute of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Research. “We need further research to find out ways to cope with these changes.”

China’s first comprehensive scientific expedition to the Tibet plateau began in the 1970s and covered more than 50 disciplines including geologic structure, prehistoric life, geophysics, climate, zoology and botany.

“The scientists reported major discoveries and filled many gaps in plateau research,” Mr. Yao said.

The new round of research, he said, will focus on changes.

Zhu Liping, a CAS researcher leading the lake observation team, said the surface of Serling Tso Lake, for example, had expanded 40% between 1976 and 2009.

Since 1990, water in the plateau’s 1,000 lakes has increased by 100 billion cubic meters.

“The volume is equal to three times the water in Three Gorges Dam,” Mr. Zhu said. The study will measure the impact on the ecology and its potential link to flooding and drought in the low-lying eastern monsoon region.

Mr. Zhu said data will be collected by scientists using automatic boats for the first time and a topographic map will be drawn.

“The plateau climate is becoming warmer and more humid,” said Xu Baiqing, who is leading another team to the glaciers.

The team will drill ice cores at three major plateau glacier groups. Buried in the cold interiors of glaciers, ice cores contain well-preserved and detailed records of climate change in a century.

The impact of climatic changes would be assessed and proposals for conservation and rational development of resources formulated.

On the archaeological front, scientists will look for evidence that can prove an earlier archaeological discovery of a Paleolithic ruins in the Serling Tso suggesting that humans might have been lived on this part of the world since some 30,000 years ago.

Archaeologists will try to answer why humans came to this plateau, where did they come from, and how did they adapt to high altitude living, according to team leader Deng Tao, deputy director of Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, under CAS.

A fourth team will research the biological diversity on the plateau and draw up a habitat map for preservation and tourism purposes.

A national park might be set up in Serling Tso, the report said.

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India speeds up road projects on China border

Team FNVA — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 11:42:20 +0000

www.asianage.com

June 4, 2017

While five stretches were completed last year, eight roads will be completed by the year-end, 12 by 2018, eight roads by 2019 and six by 2020.

New Delhi: In a very late effort to match up to China’s roads across the Line of Actual Control (LAC), road building is continuing at a frenzied pace on the Indian side of Arunachal Pradesh to complete “strategic” Indo-China border roads by 2020.

The objective is three-pronged. Firstly, to ramp up infrastructure to enable Indian troops to move quickly in crisis situations. Secondly, to connect remote areas with the towns and cities and, thirdly, to aid the socio-economic development in these areas where the border population has thinned considerably.

The target is well cut out: To complete 1,788 km of 27 “strategic” roads in the hilly state with a road quality that would enable easy transport of the Bofors artillery gun as well as of Ashok Leyland Stallion and Smerch/Pinaka vehicles.

While five stretches were completed last year, eight roads will be completed by the year-end, 12 by 2018, eight roads by 2019 and six by 2020.

The task is all the more critical in the backdrop of the ongoing effort to raise a Mountain Strike Corps where the high-altitude force will be equipped, among other military hardware, with the brand new American M-777 howitzers, the deadly Brahmos missile and Apache attack choppers.

The Arunachal Pradesh government has already constituted an empowered committee to resolve issues related to land acquisition, forest and wildlife clearance, allotment of quarries etc.

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Two Chinese Army choppers in Indian airspace, IAF probing matter

Team FNVA — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 11:41:35 +0000

http://indianexpress.com

PTI

June 4, 2017

Official sources said the choppers, which returned to the Chinese side after about five minutes, could have carried out aerial photography of Indian ground troops.

Two helicopters of the People’s Liberation Army of China hovered over Chamoli district in Uttarakhand Saturday, triggering concern in India’s security establishment about the PLA’s fourth such incursion into Indian airspace since March this year. Official sources said the choppers, which returned to the Chinese side after about five minutes, could have carried out aerial photography of Indian ground troops during what was possibly a reconnaissance mission. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is probing the incident, an IAF source said.

The choppers were identified as the Zhiba series of attack helicopters. On previous occasions, Chinese helicopters had entered 4.5 kilometres into Indian territory, an area that China claims as its own and recognises as Wu-Je. State and army officials have been reviewing the security along the 350-kilometre border with Tibet after China’s incursions into these areas, generally referred as the middle sector. Barahoti is one of three border posts in the sector, comprising Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where ITBP jawans are not allowed to carry weapons and are in civilian clothes under a unilateral decision taken by the Central government in June 2000.

In 1958, India and China listed Barahoti, an 80-sq-km sloping pasture, as a disputed area where neither side would send their troops. In the 1962 India-China war, the PLA did not enter the 545-km middle sector, focusing on the Western (Ladakh) and Eastern (Arunachal Pradesh) sectors. However, after the 1962 war, ITBP jawans patrolled the area with weapons in a non-combative manner, under which the barrel of the gun is positioned downward.

During prolonged negotiations on resolving border disputes, the Indian side had unilaterally decided in June 2000 that ITBP troops would not be carrying arms to three posts — Barahoti, Kauril and Shipki in Himachal Pradesh. Srikanth Kondapalli, Professor in Chinese Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, termed these transgression as “testing the nerves” of India and said “after violating the Line of Actual Control in the Western and Eastern sectors, Chinese troops now seem to be focusing on the middle sector. It’s a cause of worry for us”.

The professor said after the June 2000 informal agreement, India did abide by all conditions under the assumption that China would yield on the western or eastern sectors. “But that didn’t happen. Today the PAPF (People’s Armed Paramilitary Force) and PLA are enforcing China’s claims there,” he said.

Kondapalli referred to regional equations giving a China a boost. He recalled that Nepal and India had differences on the source of the Mahakali river and in the background of China’s forays in Nepal as well as the latter joining the China-led One Belt One Road (OBOR) project, and said, “There have been some moves by the PLA to test us”. He said there had also been “a concerted effort” by the PLA “to test India” against the backdrop of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a collection of infrastructure projects.

“So the latest intrusion is to test our nerves,” he said. He even said China could deploy Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in this region in “large numbers” to monitor Indian territory. “So the helicopter incident is a precursor,” he said. “A recce mission?” Security officials here felt that ahead of its transgression in the Barahoti area, the PLA could have conducted a reconnaissance mission using high class aircraft with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which provides broad-area imaging at high resolutions.

The officials said the PLA’s ‘TupolovTu 153M’ aircraft had carried out two or three reconnaissance missions last year in the middle sector. They said there was a possibility that the same aircraft, designed by Chinese companies on the basis of technology obtained from the former Soviet Union, could have been used this year, too.

The aircraft flies at an altitude of above 40,000 feet and can go up to 60,000 feet to avoid detection by radars and can take photographs and cyber and communication signatures from that height. SAR enables the taking of high-resolution pictures even in inclement weather or in the dark.

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US confirms new Ambassador to China who testified to raise Tibet issue

Team FNVA — Tue, 23 May 2017 11:14:43 +0000

Tibet Post International

Molly Lortie

May 23, 2017

Dharamshala — Terry Branstad was officially confirmed by the Senate as the U.S. Ambassador to China on May 22, 2017. Now Ambassador Branstad faced several questions on Tibet and human rights during his confirmation hearing befire the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In response to written questions posed by members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Branstad said, “If confirmed, I will urge Chinese authorities to engage in meaningful and direct dialogue with the Dalai Lama and his representatives without preconditions to lower tensions and resolve differences. ”

He further said he will raise concerns about the lack of regular access to Tibet and “will also continue to press the Chinese government to allow for the option to open a U.S. Consulate in Lhasa.”

Elaborating about the human rights situation in Tibet Mr. Branstad stated: “I remain deeply concerned about the lack of respect for human rights and rule of law in Tibet.” and that “I will engage the Chinese government regarding interference in Tibetan religious matters, particularly the selection and education of the reincarnate lamas who lead the faith.”

During the confirmation process of US Secretary of State, Mr. Rex Tillerson he also committed “to encourage dialogue between Beijing and representatives of Tibet’s “government in exile” and/or the Dalai Lama”, in response to questions from Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Below is the full text of the questions for the record on Tibet and the answers by Mr. Branstad

Question:
During the US-China Summit held on April 6-7, President Trump did not publicly raise the question of the lack of respect for human rights and the rule of law in China and in Tibet. Since 1997, all US Presidents have publicly challenged the sitting Chinese President to negotiate with the Dalai Lama or his representative to find a lasting solution to the Tibetan issue. If appointed would you commit to publicly raising with Chinese leaders the grievances of the Tibetan people and the need for them to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama? Do you plan to raise the issue of human rights in Tibet?

Answer:
Yes. I remain deeply concerned about the lack of respect for human rights and rule of law in Tibet. If confirmed, I will urge Chinese authorities to engage in meaningful and direct dialogue with the Dalai Lama and his representatives to lower tensions and resolve differences.

I will also call on China to provide meaningful autonomy for Tibetans and cease restrictions on Tibetan religious, linguistic, and cultural practices.

I will engage the Chinese government regarding interference in Tibetan religious matters, particularly the selection and education of the reincarnate lamas who lead the faith.

Question:
Will you commit to explaining to Chinese authorities that the United States will recognize and freely interact with the person chosen independently by Tibetans to succeed the current Dalai Lama, as a way of showing now that the U.S. will not accept a Chinese government-controlled selection process, and of encouraging Tibetans to pursue reincarnation in accordance with traditional practices?

It has long been the policy of the U.S. government, provided by the Tibetan Policy Act, to promote a dialogue between the envoys of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government toward a solution on the Tibet issue that guarantees the respect of the “distinct identity” of the Tibetan people, who continue to suffer under China’s oppressive rule. The dialogue is now at a standstill and, as we have seen, the lack of substantive progress toward a genuine resolution continues to be a thorny issue in U.S.-China relations. Would you personally commit to pressing the Chinese leadership for a resolution of the Tibetan issue through a speedy resumption of dialogue with the Tibetan side, without preconditions?

China requires American visitors to get a special permit to visit much of Tibet. American diplomats, journalists and NGOs have a difficult time visiting the region as do Tibetan Americans. Will you commit to ensuring that the Chinese authorities provide access to Tibet for American officials, journalists and citizens, just as Chinese citizens get access to the United States? Will you commit to pressing the Chinese authorities to allow for the opening of a U.S. consulate in Lhasa?

Answer:
I share your concerns about the lack of respect for human rights and rule of law in Tibet. If confirmed, I will urge Chinese authorities to engage in meaningful and direct dialogue with the Dalai Lama and his representatives without preconditions to lower tensions and resolve differences. I will also call on China to provide meaningful autonomy for Tibetans and cease restrictions on Tibetan religious, linguistic, and cultural practices. I will engage the Chinese government regarding interference in Tibetan religious matters, particularly the selection and education of the reincarnate lamas who lead the faith.

If confirmed, I will continue to raise concerns about the lack of regular access to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) for Mission China personnel, journalists, academics, and others. China’s refusal to grant regular consular access to Americans in the Tibetan Autonomous Region represents a failure by the Chinese government to live up to their international obligations. If confirmed, I will also continue to press the Chinese government to allow for the option to open a U.S. Consulate in Lhasa.

Question:
Will you commit to urging all visiting Cabinet members and Members of Congress to raise individual human rights cases or issues in China—with specific and meaningful asks—with their Chinese counterparts?

Answer:
Yes. If confirmed as Ambassador, I will work tirelessly to press the Chinese government on human rights cases and will encourage others to do so as well.

Question:
Will you commit to meeting in the United States with exiled dissidents and exiled critics of the Chinese government who cannot travel to China to ensure you have fullest possible perspective on both the human rights situation in China, and on what the U.S. government can do to effect positive change? If confirmed, will you commit to having the first of such meetings prior to departing for post?

Answer:
If confirmed, I am committed to supporting and meeting with civil society organizations and rights activists both in the United States and China.

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When It Comes to Renaming Places in Tawang, China Is Not Alone

Team FNVA — Tue, 23 May 2017 11:14:02 +0000

thewire.in

SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY

MAY 23, 2017

Since last June, members of the Monpa tribe have been restoring original names of native places from Sela Pass onwards through the Arunachal government’s Department of Karmik and Adyatmik Affairs.

The signboard put up on the way to Madhuri lake near Bumla Credit: Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty

Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh: After traversing for hours on mountainous terrain ringed with broken roads, it is a moment of absolute delight when you pass through the gateway to Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district, decorated with traditional Tibetan Buddhist festoons, to arrive at Sela Pass.

Tibetan prayer flags playing with the icy cold winds at the height of 13,700 feet make quite a racket in an otherwise silent, pristine setting. Bounded by the jagged mountains of the eastern Himalayas covered in a thin blanket of snow, the still azure waters of the Sela Lake is a sight to behold, reminding you of the legendary words of Verrier Elwin on Tawang: “If there is any paradise in NEFA, this is it, this is it”.

A green signboard, standing not too far from the lake, welcomes you to “Zela” and not Sela, as we all know it.

As you drive further towards the Tawang town, the last Indian district headquarters bordering China, more such green signboards with names written in white – in both English and Tibetan Bhoti language – pop up, adding to your curiosity. More so, because underneath the names, a little known department of the Arunachal Pradesh government finds mention – the Department of Karmik and Adyatmik (Chos-Rig) Affairs (DoKAA).

A signboard announcing the local name of the area near the district hospital in Tawang. Credit: Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty

A handful of boards, also in green and white, however, credit Buddhist Culture Preservation Society (BCPS), a locally-powerful civil society organisation which runs many academic institutions and monasteries, including the JangChub Choeling Nunnery in Lhou and the Gontse Gaden Rabgya Ling monastery in Bomdila, the headquarters of the West Kameng district adjoining Tawang.

BCPS has its head office in Bomdila, the headquarters of the adjoining West Kameng district. However, its secretary general Dorjee Norbu resides in Tawang town. It is not until you meet Norbu that you begin to understand the reason behind the signboard exercise being undertaken by the Monpas, the majority community of the Tawang and West Kameng districts, with the help of the government.

The initiative becomes particularly interesting when you think of the recent Chinese action of naming some places in the area.

“Don’t go by the spelling of those names given by China, read them aloud, go by their pronunciation. You will then find the similarities between the names of those we have and the ones they have given,” Norbu, a Monpa, told The Wire.

“The Chinese never ruled us, we were a part of an independent Tibet and then we separated from it, much before the Chinese could capture Tibet. So from that angle, they naming some of our places is plain absurd. But the question arises, where did then they get those names from? I would say, they must have picked them up from old official records in Tibet, from the time of the kings,” he added.

Though experts of strategic affairs in India have guessed six places in Arunachal to be the ones that the Chinese government has recently named, the exact geographical locations given by that country, however, do not quite match with them.

Norbu – and many elderly people of Tawang that this correspondent spoke to – are quite unanimous in their belief that Wo’gyainling has to be Urgelling gompa, a holy place for the Monpas which was the birth place of the sixth Dalai Lama, Bumola is certainly Bumla, the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China, Namkapub Ri is Namka Chu river, Mainquka has to be Mechuka in West Siang district, situated 30 kms from the LAC and Qoidengarbo Ri is none other than the revered Gorsam Stupa in Zemithang, the western end of Tawang district where India meets both China and Bhutan.

Follower of oral culture, the Monpas, Norbu related, never kept a written record of the names of their native places.

“But by word of mouth all Monpas know the places by their local names. In our everyday conversation too, many, particularly the old people, have continued to refer to them by those names. Since ours is an oral culture, some of the names have, however, undergone some changes over time,” he added.

“Problem began,” he said, when the Indian army and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which lays and maintains the roads of the Tawang and West Kameng districts, began expanding their presence in the area.

“After the Mon region joined India (in 1950), the BRO kept building roads, kept coming inside the Mon region and kept giving their own names to our places. They never consulted us. So on your way up to Bomdila and Dirang (Monpa-dominated areas), you will find names of places like, Munna, Sapper, Rama Camp. Then from Bomdila to Tawang, there are places like Baishakhi, Madhuri lake, Jaswant Garh, etc. even though we refer to them by different names,” Norbu pointed out.

While most of the places Norbu mentioned were named after camps set up by the security forces, a part of Nuranang was named Jaswant Garh, in memory of the soldier Jaswant Singh Rawat of 4 Garhwal Rifles, who showed exemplary courage in the Battle of Nuranang in November 1962 by defending the area from the advancing Chinese army for three days before he died.

The Zo Na Tseir lake, close to the LAC, began to be referred to, mostly by taxi drivers, army personnel and tourists, as ‘Madhuri’ lake, after the Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit danced by it to a song featured in the film Koyla.

Norbu said, “It is to correct some such anomaly that BCPS came up with the idea of renaming places with our names. Otherwise, the original names will vanish one day.”

BCPS was started by Lama Tsona Gontse Rinpoche in 1987. “Besides looking at preserving the other aspects of culture and language of the Monpas, Guru Rinpoche felt BCPS should also work to preserve the original Monpa names of their native places,” Norbu added.

“To do that, Guru Rinpoche began collecting names by discussing with old people. He thereafter compiled a thick catalogue of names of places in Tawang and West Kameng districts. We then began putting up boards in some places in Tawang,” he related.

A hugely popular figure, the Rinpoche, better known as TSR, the only lama to contest elections and become an MLA among the Monpas, was a direct political rival of yet another stalwart of Tawang, the former chief minister Dorjee Khandu.

Guru T.S. Rinpoche. Credit: BCPS

Sensing the popularity of TSR’s move to restore old names of places done through BCPS, Khandu, at the beginning of his second term as the state chief minister, installed the DoKAA and offered its chairmanship to TSR in August 2009.

Headquartered in Itanagar, the objective of DoKAA was set to be “protection, promotion, preservation, conservation and creation of awareness of the rich cultural heritage of these regions, which have become vulnerable to destruction for various reasons in modern era.” The popular annual Tawang Festival is also an initiative under DoKAA.

“We at BCPS agreed to be a part of Khandu’s move because by then we, under TSR’s leadership, were beginning to demand creation of an autonomous district council (ADC) for the Mon region. Though the state assembly passed the resolution for creation of the ADC during Dorjee Khandu’s time, the central government was yet to give its go ahead. TSR felt Tawang being a border area will take a while to become an ADC. There was also opposition to it from some quarters within the state. So he agreed to Khandu’s offer to head DoKAA,” stated Norbu, a founding member of BCPS.

In 2014, TSR died a “mysterious death” in New Delhi. Though the Delhi police termed it a suicide, BCPS members like Norbu “are still not satisfied with it.”

Meanwhile, though DoKAA embarked on other work, including renovation of old monasteries, protection of the Bhoti language in which the Buddhist religious scriptures are written, etc., it was only in June last year that it began to act on the name restoration exercise begun by TSR.

Inaguration of the pilot project of DoKAA at Tawang in June of last year. Credit: DoKAA website

“On June 6, 2016, DoKAA started a pilot project of christening regions with their original Monpa names by putting up a hoarding at the entrance of Tawang deputy commissioner’s office. It renamed the area from AIR Colony to the original name Zhitrotse,” present DoKAA chairman Jambey Wangdi told this correspondent. According to a report in Arunachal Times then, “The inaugural function was held at ZhitroTse, commonly known as Topovan Colony, with chanting of prayers.”

Though Norbu said BCPS handed over the catalogue compiled by TSR to DoKAA, Wangdi said, “We at DoKAA have held village council meetings, deliberated with panchayat leaders, district councilors, the elderly people, etc. to zero in on the original names.”

As a part of the pilot project, 33 prominent places of Tawang district have already been renamed.

“In the second phase,” he said, “DoKAA will start renaming places in West Kameng districts too.”

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Build tunnels under Brahmaputra river to outfox enemy forces, says Army

Team FNVA — Mon, 22 May 2017 11:19:25 +0000

HIndustan Times

Rahul Karmakar

May 22, 2017

Lt General DS Ahuja, commanding officer of an Army setup in Shillong, said enemies invariably target strategic bridges in a bid to snap communication and disrupt the movement of troops, supplies and weaponry.

The Army has asked the government to consider building tunnels akin to the English Channel under the Brahmaputra because bridges can be targeted by enemy forces.

This recommendation comes less than a week before Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the 9.15-km Dhola-Sadiya bridge over the Lohit – a tributary of the Brahmaputra – on May 26. Once opened, it will be the longest bridge in the country.

Lt Gen DS Ahuja, commanding officer of an Army setup in Shillong, said enemies invariably target strategic bridges in a bid to snap communication and disrupt the movement of troops, supplies and weaponry. “Bridges become primary targets during wars. We could do with tunnels under the Brahmaputra, which virtually divides much of the Northeast into equal halves,” he said at a two-day road show of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) in the Assam capital on Monday.

Constructing two tunnels near Guwahati and Dibrugarh would be ideal, he added.

India has witnessed a palpable straining of ties with Pakistan and China in recent times, and air chief marshall BS Dhanoa has already asked IAF officers to be combat-ready.

Naveen Verma, secretary of the Department of North Eastern Region, said the idea of building such tunnels had come up during an informal discussion. “It may be taken forward,” he added.

While India already has three bridges across the river, a fourth – Bogibeel – is under construction.

The IWAI is also focussing on reviving river shipping, which was the most popular mode of transportation in the Northeast before India’s partition in 1947. An agreement on passenger and cruise services along coastal and protocol routes between New Delhi and Dhaka has fuelled hopes of reviving river routes in the region.

“We are promoting business opportunities in areas such as dredging and cargo service on the Brahmaputra through Bangladesh. We are also negotiating with Bhutan to establish transport facilities on rivers such as Aie, Beki and Manas,” IWAI chairperson Nutan Guha Biswas told HT.

An 891-km stretch of the Brahmaputra, from Dhubri in the west to Sadiya in the east, has been designated as national waterway no 1. Southern Assam’s Barak river, which caters to Mizoram and Manipur, is another important national waterway.

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Pigeons with Chinese tags lead to a stir in Arunachal Pradesh

Team FNVA — Mon, 22 May 2017 11:08:49 +0000

asianage.com
Manoj Anand
May 22, 2017

The sources didn’t rule out the possibility of China using these pigeons for surveillance of frontier areas and townships.

Guwahati: In what has created a sensation in the frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh, some villagers on Sunday caught pigeons with number tags written in Chinese at Anjaw along the Sino-Indian border.

The villagers who spotted the pigeons with the reported the issue to the local police and handed over the pigeons trapped by them. While it is not known if the pigeons were fitted with transmitters or spying equipment, security sources told this newspaper it had come to their notice and they are examining the tags. The sources didn’t rule out the possibility of China using these pigeons for surveillance of frontier areas and townships.

It also comes close on the heels of India stepping up its defence preparedness along the Chinese border in Arunachal Pradesh following the frequent incidents of transgression by the People’s Liberation Army.

Pointing out that the security agencies had taken it very seriously and were examining all the possible aspects, the security sources said the Indian Army was prepared for any kind of eventuality along the border with China, and whenever there had been any Chinese Army transgression, the Indian Army has responded to it effectively.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh had on Sunday chaired the first-ever review meeting of Sino-Indian border infrastructure in Sikkim, that was also attended by the chief ministers and representatives of five Himalayan states bordering China, the sources said, adding the meeting was aimed at strengthening the infrastructure all along the Chinese border.

Arunachal chief minister Pema Khandu, who was at the meeting, raised serious concern over the migration of people away from border areas due to lack of basic facilities, and urged New Delhi to take effective steps to prevent it.

He, however, praised the Centre’s initiative to build frontier highways in the state to connect 11 districts bordering China. He said the highways would benefit the border people immensely, also defence personnel for movement along the border.

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Report: China cripples CIA operations, kills informants

Team FNVA — Sun, 21 May 2017 11:08:05 +0000

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com

May 21, 2017

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Chinese government “systematically dismantled” CIA spying operations in China starting in late 2010 and killed or imprisoned at least a dozen CIA sources over the next two years, The New York Times reported Saturday.

The newspaper cited 10 current and former U.S. officials, who described the intelligence breach as one of the worst in decades. They spoke on condition of anonymity.

The report said U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies scrambled to stem the damage, but were bitterly divided over the cause of the breach. Some investigators were convinced there was a mole within the CIA, while others believed the Chinese had hacked the covert system the CIA used to communicate with its foreign sources. The debate remains unresolved, the paper said.

The CIA, which declined to comment to the Times, also declined to comment Saturday to The Associated Press.

The number of CIA assets lost in China rivaled those lost in the Soviet Union and Russia as a result of the betrayals by both CIA officer Aldrich Ames and FBI agent Robert Hanssen, who were arrested in 1994 and 2001, respectively, the report said. As many as 20 CIA sources were killed or imprisoned in China over a two-year period, the Times said, citing two former senior U.S. officials.

Investigators suspected a former CIA operative of being a mole, but failed to gather enough evidence to arrest him and he is now living in another Asian country, the report said. Those who rejected the mole theory attributed the losses to sloppy American tradecraft in China.

By 2013, the FBI and CIA concluded that China no longer had the ability to identify American agents, the Times said.

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Be vigilant along China border: Rajnath Singh to forces

Team FNVA — Sat, 20 May 2017 12:03:20 +0000

imesofindia.indiatimes.com

PTI

May 20, 2017

GANGTOK: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday asked border guarding force ITBP and governments of Himalayan states to remain “very vigilant” against Chinese transgression along the Sino-Indian border saying such incidents take place due to perceptional differences.
Addressing a first-ever meeting of chief ministers of five Himalayan states, Singh also asked Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh governments to undertake developmental activities along the 3,488-km long Sino-Indian border so that people living in these areas do not have to migrate.
“Due to perceptional differences, there have been transgression by the Chinese PLA in the past. Such incidents have come down now. Sometimes armies of both the countries come face to face which we call face-off. Such incidents are resolved through the existing mechanism,” he said at the meeting.
Later, at a press conference, the home minister said India’s relations with China is “good” and all differences are being sorted out through bilateral discussions.
The meeting comes days after India refused to participate in China’s Silk road project ‘One Belt, One Road’ conference in Beijing and a month after the diplomatic tussle over the Dalai Lama‘s visit to Arunachal Pradesh.
Chief ministers of Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh Trivendra Singh Rawat, Pawan Kumar Chamling and Pema Khandu respectively and representatives of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh attended the meeting.
“As we are aware Indo-China border is undemarcated, we have to be very vigilant while guarding the borders. The ITBP has been guarding the Indo-China border since 2004. They are performing their duty with great courage and alacrity,” he said.
The home minister said inhospitable conditions near the border makes patrolling extremely difficult and in spite of these odds the security forces were doing a great job.
He hoped that future action plan on border security will be chalked out after analysing key outcome of independent patrolling along the boundary.

Singh said the problem of connectivity in border areas pose several challenges which needed to overcome.

The home minister said thinning of population and migration from the border areas is a cause of concern.
“We need to strengthen basic infrastructure in border areas so that people don’t migrate to other places looking for better opportunities,” he said.
The home minister described people living in border areas as “strategic assets” saying welfare activities for them must be carried out.

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Dalai Lama will pick successor “soon,” China has no say on issue: Tibetan President Lobsang Sangay

Team FNVA — Sat, 20 May 2017 11:02:19 +0000

http://www.firstpost.com

PTI

May 20, 2017

New Delhi: The Dalai Lama will himself pick his successor, which may happen “soon”, President of the Tibetan government-in-exile Lobsang Sangay said on Saturday, asserting China does not have any say on the issue.

The current Dalai Lama, while still very active, recently turned 81 but is yet to make a decision about his successor.

“As far as the next Dalai Lama is concerned it’s already on the table and he can come through reincarnation, selection or emanation. These options are on the table but not yet executed,” he said while speaking at the ‘Indo-Tibet Summit’ organised by the South and East Asia Foundation in New Delhi.

“He (the Dalai Lama) says that he will decide at the age of 90, but I think it should happen sooner and I think it is likely to happen,” he said.

In reincarnation, one has to die and reborn. Selection is when the high lamas meet and select the Dalai Lama and emanation is when the Dalai Lama designates his own successor before he passes away.

Sangay said that as per the procedure, selection of the next Dalai Lama by China would be “illegitimate”.

“The communist party says religion is poison. They don’t believe in religion. They destroy monasteries, disrobe monks and nuns. What is the basis of legitimacy they will have to select the next Dalai Lama? Not at all,” he said.

Drawing a parallel of Chinese picking the next Dalai Lama akin to a communist leader selecting a Shankaracharya he said, “Do you think the devotees will accept the Shankaracharya? Very unlikely! Hence, selecting the Dalai Lama is Dalai Lama’s business and no one else’s”.

Last month, China’s official think-tanks had announced that the next highest monk of Tibetan Buddhism must have the endorsement of Beijing. China has held the same positions for years now.

The Dalai Lamas have historically enjoyed considerable political and spiritual influence over Tibetans.

China is keen to pick up the successor to the current Dalai Lama to firm up its hold over Tibet, which it has kept under tight political, military and administrative control after it took over the area in 1951.

Sangay also said that the Tibet administration was adopting a middle-way policy in dealing with China, a view supported by the Dalai Lama.

“There are practical reasons because China says ‘One China’ cannot be negotiated. That’s a reality. And we say, OK, if that is non-negotiable then what is negotiable is genuine autonomy, which is written in the Chinese constitution and which should be given to Tibetan people,” the president said.

Sangay also expressed gratitude towards India for all the support shown by it towards the Tibetan cause over the years.

“India and Indian government has done the most work for Tibetan people. But recently, what has happened is that what was happening in closed doors is now being done out in the open,” he said.

He cited the Dalai Lama’s visit with President Pranab Mukherjee at the Nobel Peace laureates conference at the presidential palace, the International Buddhist Conference in Nalanda, where the Tibetan spiritual guru was the chief guest, and Sangay’s presence at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony as the proof that the Indo-Tibet ties have become more open.

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