9781512601855
As we approach the sixtieth anniversary of China’s 1959 invasion of Tibet—and the subsequent creation of the Tibetan exile community—the question of the diaspora’s survival looms large. Beijing’s foreign policy has grown more adventurous, particularly since the post-Olympic expansion of 2008. As the pressure mounts, Tibetan refugee families that have made their homes outside China—in the mountains of Nepal, the jungles of India, or the cold concrete houses high above the Dalai Lama’s monastery in Dharamsala—are migrating once again. Blessings from Beijing untangles the chains that tie Tibetans to China and examines the political, social, and economic pressures that are threatening to destroy Tibet’s refugee communities. Journalist Greg Bruno has spent nearly two decades living and working in Tibetan areas. Bruno journeys to the front lines of this fight: to the high Himalayas of Nepal, where Chinese agents pay off Nepali villagers to inform on Tibetan asylum seekers; to the monasteries of southern India, where pro-China monks wish the Dalai Lama dead; to Asia’s meditation caves, where lost souls ponder the fine line between love and war; and to the streets of New York City, where the next generation of refugees strategizes about how to survive China’s relentless assault. But Bruno’s reporting does not stop at well-worn tales of Chinese meddling and political intervention. It goes beyond them—and within them—to explore how China’s strategy is changing the Tibetan exile community forever.
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Table of Contents
Preface • Acknowledgments • Introduction: The Tragedy of Exile • Blessings from Beijing • Crushing Little Lhasa • The Horse Man from Purang • To Kill a Goose, Cut Off Its Head • The Walmart of Little Lhasa • Beady Eyes and a Dead Lama • The Politics of Rebirth • Pala and the “Foreign” Plumber • A Fiery Split • Kingfisher Strong • Potshots at Phuntsokling • Moving On, Moving Out • One Last Walk with Pala • Epilogue • Notes • Bibliography • Index
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