Remembering Juchen Thupten Namgyal and Donyo Jagortsang
January 24, 2012Two more veterans of the Tibetan resistance passed on in 2011: Juchen Thupten Namgyal on August 31, and Donyo Jagortsang on December 19. Both were from Derge, a kingdom in the Kham region of Eastern Tibet. And both were part of Tibet's underground resistance army backed by the CIA, the Chushi Gangdruk.
After fighting since 1956, Juchen Thupten Namgyal was part of the Dalai Lama's guard during the uprising of March 1959; following him to India as back-up security during his escape. He was later a key member in the Tibetan exile government. He led the first fact-finding delegation to Tibet in 1979, was part of the first negotiations with the Chinese in 1982 and '84, and eventually served as Prime Minister from 1985 to '90.
The son of a Derge Chieftain, Donyo Jagortsang was trained by the CIA in Camp Hale, Colorado. After being dropped with his team of 18 into Pembar, another area of Kham, he was caught in an unexpected siege by the Chinese in 1960. Over 10,000 resistance fighters and their families had gathered there, making them a clear target for the PLA. Few survived, and Donyo made it to India with only 4 others from his team. Soon after, he left the operation.
Including footage of Chushi Gangdruk soldiers from the CIA archives, this video is in memory of them both. May they rest in peace.
Thanks to Doma Norbu and Jamyang Norbu for help with translation.
Tashi Paljor on the Camp Hale Commemoration
December 12, 2011If you happened to see the video on the Camp Hale memorial that took place on September 10, 2010, you may remember Tashi Paljor, one of the Tibetan veterans who spoke that day. Born in Tibet, Paljor left for India in 1954 to learn English for an intended career as a trader. Living in Kalimpong, he became acquainted with Gyalo Thondup, an elder brother of the Dalai Lama and the main CIA contact for its Tibetan operation. Thondup arranged for Paljor’s English studies at St. Joseph's College in Darjeeling, then sent him to the CIA’s Tibetan training base in Camp Hale, Colorado. From May 1959 to the end of 1960, he worked there as an interpreter and also took part in training. Later he worked for Lhamo Tsering, Gyalo Thondup’s right-hand man, from 1962 to 1989 (including a transition to Indian intelligence after all CIA aid ended in 1974). He currently lives in Canada.
I interviewed Tashi Paljor on October 27, and among many other things, asked him about his feelings at the Camp Hale commemoration. Here's a short bit on that.
Thanks to Doma Norbu for the photo of 4 of the Camp Hale veterans that attended the ceremony. Left to right: Tashi Paljor (Noel), Sonam Wangchuk (Lee), Chime Namgyal (Conrad), and the late Tashi Chutter (Mark).
Bhusang: Surviving War and Prison
June 26, 2011In wake of the recent release of several Chinese dissidents from prison – artist Ai Weiwei, three of his associates, journalist Wen Tao, and activist Hu Jia – I thought I’d share a related story from one of the Tibetan veterans I interviewed, Bhusang. Imprisoned in Tibet from April 1961 to October 1978, Bhusang was a resistance fighter trained by the CIA at Camp Hale, Colorado and the only survivor of his team soon after they were dropped back into Tibet. For more background on him, see “Democracy for Breakfast: Ode to Bhusang” and "Battle for Lhasa".
The interview took place on the 8th and 9th of November, 2009, in his small room just below the Namgyal Monastery in Dharamsala, India. Bhusang passed away only four months later, so we were lucky and privileged to be able to record some of his stories while we could. I’m not yet able to subtitle this interview on video as I’ve had limited funds to get exact translations for most of Bhusang, as well as other Tibetan-language interviews that count more than 40 hours at this point. I’m planning on getting on that this summer, and will soon be starting a kickstarter.com campaign to raise funds to go towards finishing translations, a little more production, and post-production. As I have more translations done, I can start working with them in the feature editing, as well as share more bits on this blog. Look for an updated fundraising video and trailer coming up soon.
The transcription below consists of the questions I asked the interview’s interpreter, Tenzin Norkyi, and her translation at the time – a rough summary of Bhusang’s replies.
Bhusang after the interview, Nov 9, 2009
HOW DID THE CHINESE CAPTURE HIM?
He was part of seven Tibetans trained in the US [Camp Hale, Colorado] that fought and were killed in Markham [Eastern Tibet]. The only thing the Chinese feared is the Americans, and because they had trained with the Americans, they are their double enemy. After fighting a long time in Markham, they were outnumbered and surrounded by around noon on April 15th, 1961.
They had parachuted close to Markham on March 15th, 1961. First of all, they were dropped in the wrong place. From there, the problems started. One good thing is the team leader, Yeshi, was from the area. But the first people they met thought Yeshi was in India, and had no idea he was trained by the US so they didn’t believe him. The locals didn't trust that they weren't Chinese spies and wouldn't give them any food or sell anything to them. Soon, the Chinese heard about them.
Once the secret was out that they were there, after a few days they met the people they were looking for. They told them about how the Americans would supply weapons, money, and help them fight. They discussed plans for what to do.
Soon after, the Americans dropped weapons and supplies, so four of Bhusang’s team, plus six other teams, went to get them. By then the Chinese had already pressured the family they first met to give them all their details; that they trained with the US, and were there to fight. So the Chinese started coming to Markham.
When Bhusang and his team reached Markham, there were a lot of other groups there to fight the Chinese. They started fighting at 6am on April 15th and by the time they realized they needed to retreat, the Chinese had surrounded them; thousands and thousands, too many to count, herds like cattle. After most others were killed, he and three others were the only ones left of his team. They decided to each face north, south, east, west and keep shooting until they had no more bullets left, then take their suicide pills the Americans gave them in case of capture.
Two of the others took the cyanide pills. Bhusang put his in his mouth while the Chinese were shouting, “Surrender”. At the same time there were two girls crying a lot. They came to fight because their families had been killed and they had no one left. As the girls surrendered, Bhusang was knocked unconscious, hit on the head by a PLA soldier before he could bite down on the pill. Of his seven-man team, Bhusang was the only survivor.
He was kept in a Markham prison for a week after that. There was a big hall and you could see thousands and thousands other prisoners, many of which had been fighting that day. He was put into a black dark cell. He got better food than the rest; three times a day. The rest would get only a small amount of tsampa [Tibetan staple of roasted barley flour] in the morning and a little thukpa [noodle dish] in the evening. Other than that they had nothing else to eat and everyday were made to do hard labor building roads. After that he was transported to a prison in Chamdo. There was always a Chinese guard by his cell throughout the day and night. They beat him until he crumbled. Because of the medicine they gave him, he couldn't talk, and he was tortured often. On May 18th, he was taken from Chamdo to Lhasa. When he was transported from one prison to another, there was one Chinese jeep ahead of them, one behind and four policemen with him. They were very suspicious; thinking the Americans would do something, try to rescue him, since he was trained in America. He was stripped of all American clothes he had. All the time his arms and legs were bounded together.
When they got to the army camp prison in Lhasa, the police took off his shackles and the new prison guards put their own chains on him, and took him inside. There he saw that all the prisoners were abbots and lamas, no lay people. Since he had previously been a doctor in Lhasa's Tibetan Army, he knew some people there – one was an uncle.
Most of the time he was kept in a small room where he was with another inmate, a Chinese Kuomintang [Nationalist Party] who was captured trying to escape to India. In every cell there were eight rules. (1) Whatever work you do, you have to get permission from the officials. (2) You cannot move, you have to stay sitting down, you cannot get up and look around. (3) You can never talk to anyone, except when a Chinese officer talks to you. (4) You cannot give anything to others, and you cannot take anything from others. (5) You cannot draw or write anything on the wall, or even touch or make a scratch on the wall. (6) You cannot listen to anything happening around you. (7) You cannot look around when you are going out to work or whatever situation. (8) He can't remember.
There were 2 high lamas and a General, they were the only ones not made to work. All the other lamas had to work. Cleaning, or any sort of work. Guards would always be around watching them.
David Urubshurow on Geshe Wangyal
May 11, 2011One of the cool things about this blog is it introduces me to people I otherwise wouldn't know about. David Urubshurow is happily one of those people. We connected a few months ago after he saw the "The Escape of the Dalai Lama, Part 3". In it, a Kalmyk-Mongolian monk named Geshe Wangyal plays a part in helping the CIA translate the telecode for the radio messages between Washington DC and Tibet.
Urubshurow met and began studying with Geshe Wangyal as a young boy, and though he was like a son to him in many ways, he never knew about his work with the CIA. Not until the late '90s or so, long after his death in 1983, did anyone outside the operation begin to learn that this secret history included "Bakshi", as his students called him. (Or Geshe-la, a Tibetan way of giving respect.)
Many thanks to David for sharing his stories. I wish I had the time to include more here, but will do another video in the future that include some others. Thanks also to Joshua Cutler, who runs Geshe Wangyal's center with his wife Diana, for sharing some of the pictures.
Music by Joel Langley at Green Goose Music
White House documents on the Tibetan Revolt: March 1959
March 31, 201152 years ago today, after a landmark Tibetan uprising that ended with the final Chinese takeover of Tibet, the Dalai Lama arrived in India after a harrowing 14-day escape from Lhasa. For this anniversary, I've put together a few documents from the Eisenhower Presidential Library, including three memos from the Operations Coordinating Board (OCB); a committee under President Eisenhower responsible for integrating national security policies across several agencies (including the CIA). Discussed are strategies for how the Tibetan revolt should best be exploited for the Cold War interests of the US at the time. The final memo refers to two State Department press statements which are included at the end. All combined, it's a taste of what was going on behind the scenes and what was being made public during a tragic time that critically changed the course of history for Tibetans.
CLICK HERE to download the PDF.
Keep in mind these were written before the US had knowledge of the Dalai Lama's arrival -- the CIA didn't receive Athar's radio message until April 2nd. Last year's blog post has more on that if you're interested. It's also good to know a couple of abbreviations commonly used by the US government to distinguish the two opposing Chinese governments: "Chicom" = Chinese Communists (PRC), and "Chinat" = Chinese Nationalists (ROC, AKA Taiwan). And of course, "Peking" or "Peiping" is how the Western world referred to Beijing back then.
And a final document HERE. This one, "Peking Publicity for Tibetan Rebellion and Unrest", is from the US National Archives though it's not clear which government department it's from. Not so much related to this post's title as much as I had promised earlier to post it this month, it's nonetheless an insightful US documentation of Chinese reaction to the building Tibetan resistance. From August 7, 1956 to January 1, 1959, it reveals a hard-core China the world didn't become aware of until March 1959.
Gompo Tashi’s Letter to Eisenhower, 1959
March 10, 2011
CLICK HERE to download the 9-page letter, a list of gifts also given, and the US memo that acknowledges the delivery to the Embassy.
The term "Do-med" is used often in the letter, so I asked Jamyang Norbu, noted author and activist for Tibetan independence, for clarification. He explained that the term refers to the Eastern Tibetan province of Kham, where many of the fighters in the Chushi Gangdruk were from. Along with the letter -- delivered to the US Embassy in New Delhi, India on December 13, 1959 while Eisenhower was visiting India -- Gompo Tashi also offered a few gifts to the president which included a full traditional Khampa outfit; the exact one he's wearing in the photo above. (Tashi himself was from the Lithang region of Kham.)
According to Norbu -- who had briefly been a member of the resistance forces based in Mustang and knew some of the Chushi Gangdruk leaders close to Gompo Tashi -- the above picture was taken in a photo studio in Kalimpong, India to document the outfit just before he and others left for New Delhi to give it to Eisenhower. Norbu added, "The spectacles were a studio accessory meant to make the subject look more educated or refined". The photograph is printed in Gompo Tashi's memoirs Four Rivers, Six Ranges: Reminiscences of the Resistence Movement in Tibet, published posthumously in 1973 by the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Unfortunately the gifts weren't found at the Eisenhower Library. If anyone out there has any information regarding their whereabouts, please let me know through the "contact me" link in the right column.
Jamyang Norbu recently posted another significant archival letter on his blog, this one from the Dalai Lama to President Kennedy sent the following year.
Airborne Leaflet Propaganda Campaign 1960-1961
March 7, 2011As mentioned in the last post, propaganda played an important role in the CIA's Tibetan operation. To continue with that theme, I'm showing a bit of my interview with Ken Knaus from March 2008, when we headed up to his office to take a look at the propaganda booklets that were dropped into Tibet in 1960-1961. Knaus, author of "Orphans of the Cold War", began working on the Tibetan Task Force in 1958, was an instructor at Camp Hale, and the operation's project manager from 1961 to 1965. He oversaw the making and distribution of these booklets.
Psychological tactics of this kind have often been used in historical military operations. According to Wikipedia (quoting from "Cassell's History of the Wars Between France and Germany, 1870-1871"): “Airborne leaflets have been used for military propaganda purposes at least since the 19th century. One early example is from the Franco-Prussian War when in October 1870 during the Siege of Paris a French balloon coming from the city dropped government proclamations over Prussian troops that stated the following (in German): ‘Paris defies the enemy. The whole of France rallies. Death to the invaders. Foolish people, shall we always throttle one another for the pleasure and proudness of Kings? Glory and conquest are crimes; defeat brings hate and desire for vengeance. Only one war is just and holy; that of independence.’ ”
In recent news, reports say that the South Korean military has been dropping leaflets, DVDs and flash drives into North Korea, where communication is tightly controlled and leaves many citizens unaware of world affairs. The propaganda, dropped by balloons, apparently describes the pro-democracy movements in the Middle East and North Africa in a call for North Koreans to also rise up against their oppressors.
The objectives for the booklets dropped into Tibet -- in many ways like South Korea's reported campaign -- were primarily to spread anti-communist sentiment, counter PRC propaganda, promote reasons to fight for freedom against oppression, show how to conduct political and guerrilla warfare operations, and persuade more Tibetans to join the resistance against China. Here's the brief explanation written on the first page of Knaus’ copies shown in the video: "A collaborative effort by the Camp Hale trainees on a booklet which spells out the reasons why the Tibetans are rebelling against the Chinese efforts to destroy Tibet as a nation and a culture with examples of how other nations obtained their independence and of friendly countries which are supporting the Tibetan cause. It was dropped into Tibet at the authors' request when they returned there on their missions."
CLICK HERE to download some of the pictures that have been translated (in chronological order from one of the booklets). Many thanks to Ken Knaus for sharing the booklets for scanning and to Doma Norbu for helping with the translation. Click the picture below to watch Ken Knaus showing and discussing his copies.
Revolt & Propaganda in “Unconquerable Tibet”
February 25, 2011
As revolution fever whips through North Africa and the Middle East, I thought I’d post an archival film called "Unconquerable Tibet". It's also timely as we approach the 52nd anniversary of March 10th, a day the Tibetan exile community commemorates as Tibetan National Uprising Day. That landmark revolt against the People's Republic of China wasn't the first or the last display of Tibetan rebellion by far; protests continue today (albeit unarmed since the 70s) within Tibet and the worldwide diaspora.
Looking through some US government documents from the ‘50s, I came across an interesting memo titled, “Peking Publicity for Tibetan Rebellion and Unrest”. I’ll post it in full next month, but for now here’s the final passage, dated just a few months before the March 1959 revolt began: (Note: the opening paragraph is the US intro.)
January 1, 1959 – The Tibetans persisted in their opposition to Communist reforms and in their desire for independence; a New Year’s statement by a leading official of the Chinese Communist Party control committee for Tibet admitted continued Tibetan resistance which, as usual, he attributed to imperialist influence.
An energetic effort should be made to struggle against the enemy and to expose the schemes and subversive activities carried out by all the reactionaries and imperialists. This must be done for the defense of our country. Under the guidance of imperialism and some special service agents of the Chiang [then the leader of the Republic of China/Taiwan] clique, a small number of reactionaries are carrying out a series of subversive activities to deceive the Tibetan people under the flag of nationalism and emancipation. For this reason, we must heighten our vigilance against imperialism and all reactionaries and be prepared to deal a fatal blow to them.
While that has a familiar ring to it these days, the difference for Tibetans in 1959 is there was no world watching. There was no press allowed in Tibet then (and very little now, for that matter). Few Tibetans had cameras then to document what was happening. So no one was there, that I have record of, to film what sounds like a massacre from first-hand accounts. The men I interviewed who were there all tell the same story: the rebels were crushed with overwhelming force. By March 28, 1959, the PRC had claimed the Dalai Lama a fugitive and Tibet officially under China’s rule. The party line claimed they were liberating the Tibetans from imperialist influence. Their tune changed in 2009 when China began touting March 28 as “Serf’s Emancipation Day”.
Propaganda was also, of course, a significant part of the CIA’s Tibetan Task Force (as with all US operations). Today’s video is a good example of US anti-Communist propaganda, made in 1959 following the March revolt in Lhasa. Produced by the United States Information Agency (USIA), here is “Unconquerable Tibet”.
Interview with the Dalai Lama: 1960
January 17, 2011On this day of honor for Martin Luther King Jr, an iconic figure in the African-American civil rights movement and staunch advocate of non-violence, I was inspired to find a video clip of the Dalai Lama, another iconic man of peace and leader of human rights for his people. Searching through my archive footage, I came across a film made in 1960 called "Fifteen Minutes in India" where the Dalai Lama is interviewed by a man referred to by the (unknown) narrator as Prince Panu of Thailand. Unfortunately I have no information other than the title, the date, and that it was filmed in New Delhi, India. That said, the ten minute interview excerpted here is the essential part and is probably the first time it's ever been seen since then. In it, the Dalai Lama shares his feelings and wishes in the wake of his escape from Tibet and the atrocities done to his people under Chinese occupation.
Though he thanks the world for their attention to this tragedy, the oppression suffered by Tibetans — those under Chinese rule and the refugees who have lost their homeland — still exists today. While the CIA secretly funded the Dalai Lama's government in exile and continued to support the Tibetan resistance until the Nixon administration, no substantial political aid was given to Tibet by the US. In 1959, former CIA Officer Ken Knaus and the Dalai Lama's brother, Gyalo Thondup, helped get a resolution passed in the United Nations that called for the respect of fundamental human rights of the Tibetan people. They got two more resolutions passed in 1961 and 1965 that supported human freedoms in Tibet as well as their right to self-determination. But the US was never willing to openly support Tibetan independence; the one thing that would’ve made any real difference.
Leave it to say that the Tibetan issue has been off the table in US-China relations since the Nixon Administration, and the issue of basic human rights in China has essentially been sacrificed in favor of economic stability. In February 2009, when the question was raised whether Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would press the issue in her visit to China, she infamously replied, "We know what they are going to say because I've had those kinds of conversations for more than a decade with Chinese leaders. We have to continue to press them. But our pressing on those issues can't interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crisis." In anticipating Chinese President Hu Jintao's first state visit to the US this week, it's been reported that President Obama will make room for discussing human rights in his public appearance with Hu, as well as during private meetings. We'll see if that happens and what, if anything, comes from it.
As for any hope of political support for Tibetan rights — whether it be independence or genuine autonomy within China, as the Dalai Lama currently calls for — as long as China's power continues to be influential, they're likely to be on their own. Fortunately for Tibetans, the Dalai Lama continues to be a spiritual beacon that attracts worldwide, if not political, attention to his people's cause. In their ongoing struggle with what is now the second largest power in the world, there is no doubt that Tibet faces overwhelming odds. But Tibetans can look to history and find countless struggles similar to their own, and remember that whenever the people have kept fighting for their rights, they have eventually won them. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr, "Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle." And in the words of the Dalai Lama in this interview, "In the present circumstances, I have only my hope. It is a small hope, but it is indestructible. I hope that we can persist against overpowering might until justice at last prevails".
Interview Excerpts: Carole McGranahan
November 11, 2010Carole McGranahan is a professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. As an anthropologist and historian, she's lived off and on with Tibetan families in Nepal and India since 1989, focusing her study in 1994 on the Tibetan resistance to China. Her depth of experience with many veterans of the Chushi Gangdruk (the CIA-backed Tibetan resistance army) brings fresh insight into Tibet's history of armed resistance and how it's remembered (and not remembered) in Tibetan exile society today. In her recently published book "Arrested Histories: Tibet, the CIA, and Memories of a Forgotten War", she argues that the telling of this history has largely been put on hold, and while it's begun to be told over the past decade or so (through books and Tenzing Sonam's BBC documentary "Shadow Circus"), there are particular reasons why the story of Tibet's armed resistance to China is still little-known today, even within the Tibetan community.
For more on the subject, here's some of her interview from September (just after the Camp Hale ceremony that honored the Tibetan freedom fighters, the video of which also touches on this topic).
Interview Excerpts: Jamyang Norbu
October 13, 2010Jamyang Norbu is a noted author, blogger and activist in the forefront of the Tibetan struggle for independence from China. While he has many supporters, he is also controversial within the Tibetan community for criticizing the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration for eventually taking a "middle way" position of accepting Chinese rule, seeking only autonomy within it.
Norbu began working in the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in 1968, and was part of the Tibetan resistance in Mustang, Nepal from '71 to '72, just when the CIA was beginning to pull their aid. Mainly charged with getting intelligence on China, he also helped raise funds to keep the resistance alive until the Dalai Lama finally put an end to the Mustang base in 1974. Among other involvements in Tibetan activism, culture and academia, he was a president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, director of Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, and co-founder of the Amnye Machen Institute for advanced studies on Tibet.
He currently lives in the US, blogging on jamyangnorbu.com and rangzen.net (rangzen is Tibetan for independence), and writing his latest book, a literary history of Tibet's fight for freedom. Here are some excerpts from my interview with him on August 29.
Camp Hale Commemoration
September 30, 2010It's been busy since my last post. I've shot a few more interviews, which I'll post excerpts from in October. But the main story this month was the commemoration for the Tibetan freedom fighters and their CIA instructors at Camp Hale, Colorado on September 10. Ken Knaus, one of the instructors and project managers for the Tibetan Task Force, worked with Colorado Senator Mark Udall to install a plaque in memory of the Tibetan's training by the CIA there.
At almost 10,000 feet altitude, Camp Hale was originally used for training by the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division during WWII, then underwent preparations in 1958 for training some 265 Tibetans by the CIA which began in May 1959 and ended in November 1964. Many trainees were killed after returning to fight in Tibet. Perhaps 20 or so are still alive today, 5 of which were able to come to ceremony.
It was a remarkable day--an historic day actually-- the first time the US has ever officially acknowledged the CIA's operation with the Tibetans. Many flew in from all parts of the US and Canada to attend. Unfortunately there wasn't enough notice for those in India and Nepal to make travel arrangements, and many were sadly disappointed about that, including myself. Some who did attend expressed a wish that the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in Dharamsala, India would also commemorate the sacrifices their resistance fighters made. Since this subject is not politically correct for many in the Tibetan hierarchy, we'll see if that ever happens. If so, you know I'll have a camera crew there if I can.
It was a hard task compressing the whole afternoon into this 10 minute video. Some speeches couldn't be included, and I could only take short bits from those I showed. Basically I wanted to get the gist of the day, but if time permits, I'll try to post some more excerpts in the future. There's also a photo album of the event-- click here to view it on the Kefiblog Facebook page.
Below is the main list of attendees at the event.
Colorado Senator Mark Udall and staff: Jennifer Barrett, National Security Advisor/Deputy Legislative Director; Matt Sugar, Regional Director, Central Mountain Region
Camp Hale Translators/Trainees (including their American training names): Pema Wangdue (Pete); Tashi Paljor (Noel); Sonam Wangchuk (Lee); Tashi Chutter (Mark); Chime Namgyal (Conrad)
Camp Hale Instructors: Kenneth Knaus; Ray Starke; Don Cesare; (Roy Clarkston was represented by Command Sargent Major Harold E. Caldwell)
Descendants of Tibetan trainees/fighters: Doma Norbu, daughter of Athar Norbu, translator and instructor at Camp Hale; Karma Namgyal, President of NYC Chushi Gangdruk; Sonam Wangchuk, son of Pema Wangdue (listed above); Sonam Yangzom, daughter of Ratu Ngawang, Commander in the Chushi Gangdruk army
Descendants of CIA officers: Kevin McCarthy, son of Roger McCarthy; PJ Whelan, step-daughter of Roger McCarthy, and her daughter Chelsea; Julie Holober, daughter of Frank Holober; Lisa Cathey, daughter of Clay Cathey (also producer of this blog and the upcoming documentary "CIA in Tibet"); Kelly Witchey, daughter of Roy Clarkston, and her daughter Brianna
Authors/Scholars: Carole McGranahan, Author and Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder; Warren Smith, Radio Free Asia; Jamyang Norbu, independent Author/Blogger (also a member of the Mustang operation in Nepal)
Local Tibetan Americans: Nawang Sherap, Treasurer, Tibetan Association of Colorado, and other members
Forest Service: Dave Neely, District Ranger, Eagle/Holy Cross Ranger District, White River National Forest; Buck Sanchez; Bill Kite; Andrea Brogan
International Campaign for Tibet: Todd Stein, Director, Government Relations
CIA Impact on Tibet? Part 7: Mikel Dunham
August 4, 2010Mikel Dunham, author of "Buddha's Warriors: The Story of the CIA-Backed Tibetan Freedom Fighters, the Chinese Communist Invasion, and the Ultimate Fall of Tibet", shares his thoughts on the CIA's impact.
As part of his answer, he brings up a major intelligence find for the US, when over 1,600 Chinese documents were captured by Tibetan guerrillas in 1961. Showing classified information on the PLA's activities inside Tibet and China, the documents were published in 1966 as "The Politics of the Chinese Red Army", by Stanford's Hoover Institution. I'll eventually have a blog video going into more detail on this part of the story.
CIA Impact on Tibet? Part 6: Donyo Jagortsang
July 28, 2010AKA the Prince of Derge, Donyo Jagortsang was a Commander in the Chushi Gangdruk (the Tibetan resistance army) and CIA-trained in the US at Camp Hale, Colorado. After being air-dropped into Pembar late in 1959, he and his teammates unexpectedly encountered a massive air and ground attack by the Chinese PLA, which eventually killed tens of thousands of Tibetan fighters and families gathered there. Out of his Camp Hale class of 18, only 5 survived it. Jagortsang fought his way out of Tibet, and left the CIA operation after making it to India in 1960.
CIA Impact on Tibet? Part 5: Bruce Walker
July 21, 2010Bruce Walker was a CIA Case Officer and Training Instructor with the Tibetan Task Force from 1960 to 1968. Dedicated to preserving the memory of STCIRCUS, the operation's code name, Walker has donated archival material to the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and recently commissioned a painting for the CIA Museum's Intelligence Art Gallery, entitled “The Secret PLA Pouch Heads to CIA's K Building”.
In this video, he shares his viewpoint on the CIA's impact to the Tibetan resistance to China. While it essentially covers his feelings on the failure of the CIA-backed resistance, his opinion on more positive results from this history is reflected below in a statement written for our talk on March 21, 2008, soon after Tibetan protests and riots inside Tibet gained worldwide attention.
"In spite of its tragic ending, the resistance demonstrated to the world that the Chinese were committing genocide against the Tibetans and that the Tibetans were passionate about trying to preserve their God-King, their religion, and the integrity of their country. In attempting this, they were not afraid to die for the cause and did not hesitate to kill Chinese in the process. They did not go down supinely before the enemy. As events in Tibet this month show the world, generations of Tibetan patriots inside and outside Tibet still maintain this passion and spirit of resistance to the Chinese, 58 years after the Chinese invaded Tibet."
CIA Impact on Tibet? Part 4: Doma Norbu
July 14, 2010Doma Norbu is the daughter of Athar, one of six in the first team trained by CIA in 1957. Athar, along with his team partner Lhotse, were the two radio agents that caught up to the Dalai Lama's escape party in March 1959, kept the CIA informed of that perilous journey, and helped secure asylum for the Dalai Lama in India. From 1960 to 1962, they both served as instructors at Camp Hale, a secret CIA training base in Colorado. After that, Athar was involved with intelligence gathering within Tibet until the base in Mustang, Nepal was closed in 1974.
I met Doma in June 2008 when she was organizing the 50th anniversary of the Chushi Gangdruk, the CIA-backed Tibetan resistance army. At that time, she was President of the New York Chapter of the current Chushi Gangdruk, an organization that keeps the legacy of their fight for freedom alive through non-violent means.
As one who is dedicated to continuing her father's struggle for Tibetan independence, Doma shares her opinion about the CIA's impact on Tibet in part 4 of this ongoing series.
CIA Impact on Tibet? Part 3: George Patterson
July 7, 2010Scottish author George Patterson has a long history with Tibet. After a year in China as a missionary, he arrived in Tibet in 1947 and lived there until the Chinese invasion in 1950. Following that, he briefly served as a translator for US State Dept and the CIA, and began reporting on the Tibetan resistance throughout the 50s. In 1964, he collaborated on the BBC documentary "Raid Into Tibet", a documentary that nearly ended the CIA's operation after filming a secret raid by Tibetan guerrillas --the only known film ever taken of them actually fighting. Mr. Patterson has written "Gods and Guerillas", his account of the making of that film, among other books on Tibet.
In part 3 of an ongoing summer series, he gives his opinion on the CIA's impact on Tibet's resistance to China.
CIA Impact on Tibet? Part 2: Lhasang Tsering
June 30, 2010Arriving after the CIA had pulled their support, Lhasang Tsering was a member of the armed resistance force in the Mustang, Nepal operation from 1973 to 1974, its final year. Later in Dharamsala, India, he was the Principal of the Tibetan Children's Village, briefly served in the Tibetan Government in Exile, was President of the Tibetan Youth Congress, and one of the co-founders of the Amnye Machen Institute. Currently, he is a Poet/Writer, and owns a bookshop.
A passionate and outspoken voice in the Tibetan community, here he shares his viewpoint in a continuing series of answers to the question: "What impact do you think the CIA had on Tibet's resistance against China?".
CIA Impact on Tibet? Part 1: Clay Cathey
June 23, 2010"What impact do you think the CIA had on Tibet's resistance against China?" This is a question I ask everyone I talk to, and get an equal amount of interesting answers.
To begin a series of opinions on this question, I'll start off with my dad, Clay Cathey, who was the first one I asked. I'll post a different person's response every week or so over the next couple months.
Tsering Shakya Interview Excerpts
June 6, 2010In mid-May, I had the opportunity to interview the author of "The Dragon in the Land of Snows", Tsering Shakya. For more background on the issue of violence and the Chushi Gangdruk resistance army backed by the CIA, here's a few excerpts from that interview.
The Chushi Gangdruk Begins
April 29, 2010Here's a bit of background on the Tibetan resistance that began fighting against the Chinese occupation in the 50s. After the CIA started training some of the Tibetans in communications and guerrilla warfare, the many different groups of fighters eventually organized into one main army they called Chushi Gangdruk, made up mostly of Khampas from the Eastern Tibetan region of Kham.
Note: Other than Thupten Juchon in this video, the Tibetan interviews haven't been fully translated yet, so they aren't included here.
Many thanks to Doma Norbu and Mikel Dunham for lending some of the photos used here.
Music by Green Goose Music
Democracy for Breakfast: Ode to Bhusang
April 19, 2010I was sad to hear that Bhusang, one of the fighters trained by the CIA in the Tibetan resistance to China, died on March 25th. I had the opportunity to interview him in his tiny room last November in Dharamsala, and was struck by how kind and gentle he was for someone with such a tragic history. As the video says, a lot of his interview still needs to be translated, but this one story had stuck with me, and I thought it would be good to share as a memorial for Bhusang. 1930-2010. RIP.
Tenzin Norkyi, translation. Photos of Camp Hale, collection of Bruce Walker. Bhusang's photo in Lhamo Tsering's book "Resistance: Volume II: The Secret Operations into Tibet (1957 - 1962). Joel Langley, Green Goose Music.
The Escape of the Dalai Lama, Part 3
March 31, 2010It was on this day in 1959 that the Dalai Lama safely arrived at India's border, after a harrowing 14-day flight from Lhasa. His dramatic escape brought international attention to the Chinese capture of Tibet, a situation that Tibetans continue to struggle with to this day.
The news of his arrival was received by the U.S. on April 2nd, sent by CIA-trained radio operators, Athar and Lhotse. CLICK HERE to download that message.
Thanks to Doma Norbu for her help with Athar's translation (her father).
Music by Green Goose Music
The Battle For Lhasa
March 28, 2010About two days after the Dalai Lama fled Lhasa on the night of March 17, 1959, war began raging between Tibetan rebels and the Chinese PLA in Tibet's capital. The uprising was crushed by China by March 24th. Here's an account of those dark days from five Tibetans who were there, four of whom began working on the CIA operation after surviving the devastation.
According to Mikel Dunham's book "Buddha's Warrior's", it's estimated that over 15,000 Tibetans were killed in this battle, and tens of thousands imprisoned. I haven't found an estimated number of Chinese deaths, perhaps because the Chinese government has maintained that their takeover of Lhasa was welcomed by the Tibetans as a liberation from an oppressive Feudalist system, and was little more than a riot caused by a few troublemaking serf-owners.
On March 28, 1959, China announced the dissolution of the Tibetan government, and denounced the Dalai Lama as a fugitive--considering him an "evil separatist" to this day. In 2009, China appointed March 28th "Serf's Emancipation Day", something none of the Tibetans I've met would celebrate.
Thanks to Tenzin Norkyi and Doma Norbu for their help with translation.
Music by Green Goose Music.
3/31/10 ADDENDUM: I just heard that Bhusang, one of the men in this video, passed away March 25. Recruited into the CIA's Tibetan Task Force, he was captured at the battle of Markham, and imprisoned by the Chinese from 1961 to 1978. As with all the former fighters I've talked to, he was a hero of his country and its cause. Bhusangla will not be forgotten. --Lisa Cathey
Ratu Ngawang: We Must Never Forget March 10
March 10, 2010Ratu Ngawang is respected among many Tibetans as a former commander in the Chushi Gangdruk, the Tibetan resistance army that fought the Chinese PLA from the 50s through the early 70s. He was also the head of security in the escape of the Dalai Lama, which began one week after the Tibetan uprising began on March 10, 1959.
Here's a clip from my interview with him in November, 2009.
Meet My Dad
March 4, 2010Clay Cathey isn't your average retiree playing golf on a weekday. He's a former CIA retiree playing golf on a weekday, and he's got some interesting stuff to say. He's also my father, and the reason why I started the CIA IN TIBET project in the first place. In 2005, I found out Dad had worked on the Tibetan Task Force from 1958 to 1962. It had been declassified in 1997, so there were several books on the topic, as well as a 1998 BBC documentary by Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin. After beginning to learn about this history, I was amazed it was still so little-known, and felt compelled to add an updated perspective on it. Two years and over 30 interviews later, I'm just starting to get a handle on the scope of this story.
So even though this post isn't strictly on topic for 'March Month', I wanted the blog to start where the project started, and we'll take it from there.
3.19.10 CORRECTION: Regarding the statement I made that the operation was declassified in 1997: the operation itself has not yet been declassified, though the fact that the operation existed has been, as well as several related documents. --Lisa Cathey
