Thursday, December 24, 2009

Nepal - China - Tibet


Buddha statue looking out at the Himalayan range from behind (Tindal)

Nepal PM to visit Tibet as China seeks closer ties
BEIJING/KATHMANDU (Reuters, Dec. 24, 2009) - Nepal's prime minister will visit the Tibetan capital of Lhasa during his upcoming trip to China, as China tries to forge closer ties with its southern neighbor in order to control a restive minority at home.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal's six-day trip, beginning Saturday, highlights his administration's strategic balancing act between giant rivals China and India, and his efforts to show domestic opponents he too commands China's support.

Beijing in turn seeks more support from the Nepali government in controlling 20,000 Tibetan exiles based in the Himalayan nation. Exile groups in Nepal stepped up protests against Chinese policies in their homeland after widespread Tibetan demonstrations against Chinese rule in March, 2008. More>>


Glaciers, Bome County, in southeastern Tibet's Nyingchi Prefecture, 9/20/07. China's Tibet Autonomous Region has been hit hard by global warming, and it's set to get even harder (Xinhua). PHOTOS

Climate Change Threatens Tibetan Plateau
BEIJING (Xinhua, Dec. 6, 2009) -- The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is the Earth's third largest store of ice after the South and North poles. But that store is rapidly melting amid the onset of climate change. It will affect the water supply for up to a billion people and the atmospheric circulation for more than half the planet. Xie Zheng, meets the people living on the plateau and enduring its changes. More>>

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