Washington, D.C. – The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) has started a Chinese-language journal on Tibet called Liaowang Xizang (“Tibet Observer,” “Bhoethon Taship” in Tibetan), a quarterly journal which aims to enhance and encourage the understanding of Tibet by the Chinese-speaking people. It is the only journal of its kind being published from the United States.

Liaowang Xizang provides a forum for the exchange and dissemination of information between Tibetans and Chinese, both in exile and in China and Tibet,” said Rinchen Tashi, ICT’s China Analyst and editor of the journal.

“With it we hope to build understanding and trust between Tibetans and Chinese, and to explore future relationships between the two peoples as responsible members of the international community,” Tashi added.

The first issue of Liaowang Xizang is being sent to individuals, organizations and think tanks, which have an interest in Tibet-China relations.

The Chinese communist government aggressively promotes the deep-seated official Chinese view that Tibet has always been part of China. Chinese propaganda has gone to the extreme of depicting Tibet before Chinese control as a feudalistic society and the Tibetan movement as one aimed at restoring this old society. The Tibetan freedom movement has engendered animosity or defensive postures from even the most progressive Chinese intellectuals.

Liaowang Xizang will enable the Chinese-speaking public to discuss the issue of Tibet objectively and to understand its different aspects,” said Tashi. “It is imperative that the Chinese community, a majority of whom know only the official Chinese perspective on Tibet, get both sides of the picture so that they can make considered judgment,” Tashi added.

The first issue contains, among other articles, the Dalai Lama’s statement on March 10, 2002, outlining his approach towards the resolution of the Tibetan issue; an essay by an eminent Chinese scholar Yang Jiaqi on his perspective on Tibet; and an excerpt from the life story of a Chinese military officer who crossed over to the Tibetan side when he was in the Chinese army in Tibet in the early 1950s.

The prominence of the Tibetan movement in the west, heightened by visible demonstrations inside Tibet, the awarding of the Nobel Peace prize to the Dalai Lama, and ongoing advocacy campaigns by the Tibetan government in exile and Tibetan NGOs in the free world, continue to challenge the views and assumptions officially promoted by the Chinese government and unofficially held by many Chinese organizations and individuals world-wide.

Liaowang Xizang will touch on the multifaceted nature of the Tibet issue and its implication on Tibet-China relations. We invite our readers to send us their views and comments on Tibet at the below address. Individuals interested in receiving Liaowang Xizang can contact us at the same address.

Rinchen Tashi
Editor, Liaowang Xizang
1825 K St. NW # 520
Washington, D.C. 20006
USA
Email: [email protected]