> On Jun 15, 5:29 pm, visualseep...@yahoo.com wrote:
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>> one wonders what sillyness china will think of next.

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>> this only proves the tibetans are slaves in their own land.

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>> -------------------

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>> Tibet monks put to 'patriotic test'
>> 14 Jun 2008, 0044 hrs IST,REUTERS

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>> GANNAN PREFECTURE (CHINA): Three months after demonstrations flared up
>> in Tibetan towns and monasteries across China, monks say they now have
>> to pass a patriotic test, possibly in September, to be allowed to
>> remain as monks.

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>> Tension runs high in Gannan, a heavily Tibetan area in Gansu province,
>> which was convulsed by marches and attacks against government
>> buildings and some non-Tibetan shops, after demonstrations turned
>> violent in Lhasa on March 14.

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>> Monks now struggle to pay fines and master texts on “patriotic
>> education,” while armed paramilitary units guard access to main
>> monasteries. Work teams have moved into monasteries to supervise study
>> sessions that are supposed to break monks’ allegiance to the Dalai
>> Lama who China believes is responsible for the unrest.

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>> The slim, pastel-covered textbooks, in Chinese and Tibetan, cover
>> Chinese law and chapters condemning Tibetan independence and the Dalai
>> Lama.

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>> Another textbook, titled “propaganda material”, has chapters on “What
>> happened during unrest in our prefecture” and “The history of how
>> Tibet became part of China”.

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>> A tall young monk sighed and buried his face in his hands when asked
>> how he would answer the questions.

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>> “They have no choice but to take the test. This is what is called ‘not
>> free’,” a Tibetan said. “We Tibetans have no right to say anything.”

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> In China, the government financially supports and thus controls all
> these Tibetan temples.  Thus anyone  who wants to get a job inside as
> a career monk has to do what
> pleases the boss, in much the same way that the employees in a large
> organizations have to pass an aptitude test.  If private temples were
> allowed, they would do away with this formality.  But then again, why
> do these people don't get out to get a job but instead want to be a
> monk in the government-owned temple?