Burma remains the major source of news this week, what with major changes in U.S. policy toward the country, Buddhist temples destroyed in earthquakes, and reports that effectively nothing has changed for the sangha two years after the quashing of the “Saffron Revolution.” Plus: more on Thich Nhat Hanh’s community at Bat Nha Monastery in Vietnam and in the Sino-Tibetan saga. Also, a temple bounces back from arson and a Buddhist monk faces off with the DMV…
BHUTAN
A 6.3 earthquake in eastern Bhutan killed 12 people, injured another 15, and damaged more than 200 buildings. According to the Associated Press, “scores of government officials set out in vehicles and on foot to reach the earthquake zone to assess the damage and organize help.”
BURMA
Another earthquake also hit Burma this week. This one, a 5.6, “[caused] no casualties but [damaged] Buddhist temples believed to date to the 11th century, officials and residents said.”
But the big news this week was that the Obama Administration unveiled its new policy toward Burma when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the U.S. would “engage diplomatically with the country’s military rulers in a bid to promote democratic reform there,” and possibly ease or lift sanctions against the junta if some of those changes took place.
The “softening” of U.S. policy towards Burma was hinted at earlier in the week, when the U.S. allowed the junta’s foreign minister, Nyan Win, to come to Washington for the first time in nine years.
In addition, President Obama did not discuss the issue of Burma with Chinese President Hu Jintao when the two met this week.
To be fair, though, both Burma’s National League for Democracy Party and their leader, Nobel Peace laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, expressed support for the U.S.’s new approach. The NLD also recently welcomed the amnesty of several thousand prisoners in Burma, though only a small fraction of them were political prisoners.
Speaking of Suu Kyi, the junta’s court heard an appeal by her legal team over her recent criminal conviction for violating the terms of her house arrest.
Burma’s state television announced that the junta has “accused a [Burma]-born American who was secretly detained three weeks ago of seeking to incite political unrest.” Mizzima reports that the U.S. embassy in Rangoon only received consular access to detained Kyaw Zaw Lwin on Sunday—weeks after he was arrested.
The Financial Times reports on how the junta is trying to appeal to the “hearts and minds” of the population of Burma ahead of the 2010 election.
Lastly, Human Rights Watch reported this week that “[Burma’s] Buddhist monks face continuing intimidation, repression and severe jail sentences [today–two years after] the junta’s crackdown [on their countrywide demonstrations].”
CANADA
The Toronto Star reports that “more than 300 people filled the newly restored Toronto Mahavihara Buddhist Meditation Centre for its official reopening.” The temple was destroyed by arsonists angry about the resolution of Sri Lanka’s civil war back in May.
TAIWAN
In Penghu’s capital city of Makung, Buddhists joined with anti-gambling groups to call for voters to vote against a referendum allowing casinos into the area.
THAILAND
Earlier this month, I noted the end of the standoff between Cambodia and Thailand at Preah Vihear, the eleventh century temple on the border of the two countries. This week, about three-hundred Thai residents gathered at the Buddhist temple to “show their disagreement with the planned protest against Cambodia by the [Thai N.G.O.] People’s Alliance for Democracy.”
About two hundred exiled Burmese monks and nun demonstrated on the Thai-Burma border to commemorate the second anniversary of the “Saffron Revolution”.
TIBET
A government tourism official and travel agents said that “China has barred foreigners from travelling to Tibet until after sensitive October 1 celebrations marking the 60th birthday of communist China.” Liao Yisheng, spokesman for the Tibet Tourist Administration, was quick to clarify, though, that Tibet is currently closed only to individuals—tour groups are fine. He further denied that Tibet will be closed for the anniversary.
It wasn’t all fist-bumping for His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his recent visit to Memphis, TN: His Holiness also accepted the National Civil Rights Museum’s 2009 International Freedom Award, and visited the spot of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination on the museum grounds.
THE UNITED STATES
Only one this week: a cute story about a learned Tibetan khenpo in Tennessee struggled to obtain a driver’s license.
VIETNAM
- Trouble continues at Hanoi’s Bat Nha Monastery, where followers of the Very Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh were accosted by about twenty locals, “some carrying knives,” who destroyed their monastic robes and smashed windows in their meditation hall. In addition, “police searched the dormitory rooms of the nearly 400 monastery residents and took the identity cards of two monks, ordering them to attend a meeting with local government officials Tuesday morning.” As previously reported, the monastery itself is not affiliated with Nhat Hạnh’s Order of Interbeing, but rather the official Buddhist Church of Vietnam. The abbot of Bat Nha agreed to house some members of the Order in 2005, but locals began to aggressively protest their presence and violently harass them as Nhat Hanh continued to speak out in his travels on several “hot button” political issues. International concerns about religious freedom have long confronted Vietnam’s political leaders, who have responded to criticism about the situation at Bat Nha Monastery by saying they only want to “manage” Nhat Hạnh’s community at Bat Nha, not “control” it.
