MAY 1, 2008
On 31 March 2008, the Communist Party of Cuba released a newly penned essay by 90-year-old Fidel Castro. It was brought to my attention because, ironically, Castro cites my book, Buddha’s Warriors, to serve his ideological treatise. The essay, “Reflections on Tibet/China”, is a lengthy and ambitious work intent on proving that China’s rule over Tibet circumscribes thousands of years. Castro praises China for its “legitimate” presence in Tibet, as well as the communist party’s handling of the current resistance inside Tibet. Here is the excerpt leading up to and including Buddha’s Warriors:
When the People’s Republic of China
implemented the agrarian reform on Tibetan soil, the elite saw its
properties and interests undermined and opposed the measures. This led
to an armed uprising in 1959. Tibet's armed rebellion —as opposed to
those in Guatemala, Cuba and other nations, where fighting took place
under truly harsh conditions— was prepared for years by US secret
services, as these studies reveal.
Another book —which essays an
apology of the CIA— Mikel Dunshun's Buddha’s Warriors, tells the story
of how the agency took hundreds of Tibetans to the United States, led
and equipped the rebellion, parachuted armaments to Tibetan fighters
and trained them in their use. The rebels moved on horseback, as Arab
warriors once did. The book's prologue was written by the Dalai Lama,
who writes: “Though I am deeply convinced that the struggle of Tibetans
will succeed only through a long-term and peaceful process, I have
always admired these freedom fighters for their courage and their
unwavering determination.”
DUNHAM’S RESPONSE
In
two short paragraphs, the re-writing of history from Castro’s point of
view (no doubt informed by Beijing’s “One China” policy) is fairly
clear.
This led to an armed uprising in 1959.
The armed rebellion on Tibetan soil did not begin in Lhasa in 1959, but
rather in 1956 in the eastern provinces of Tibet – Kham, Amdo and
Golok. The uprising was spontaneous, exploding all over eastern Tibet
in reaction to the People’s Liberation Army bombing of major
monasteries, the desecration of holy objects, the humiliation, torture,
imprisonment and murder of monks and nuns, the fumbled attempt to
disarm Tibetans of their personal firearms (including the serfs, not
just the elite), and the introduction of “democratic reforms”, a
colonial euphemism to justify Mao’s ultimate goal of robbing all
Tibetans of their right to self-determination. By 1958 there was a
highly organized Tibetan rebel army concentrated in Lhoka, the area
located south of Lhasa leading down to the Indian border. Up until the
time of the Dalai Lama’s successful escape into India in March 1959,
the freedom fighters were successful in raiding Chinese garrisons --
some within 25 miles of the capital, Lhasa -- and held their own in
firefights with the PLA, even though the communist army greatly
overpowered the freedom fighters in number, arms and infrastructure for
intercommunication and mobilization.
Tibet's
armed rebellion —as opposed to those in Guatemala, Cuba and other
nations, where fighting took place under truly harsh conditions— was
prepared for years by US secret services, as these studies reveal.
If Mr. Castro honestly believes that fighting a guerilla war in the
most altitudinous area in the world – brutal winters without proper
food, clothing or medical supplies -- doesn’t qualify as harsh
conditions, I suggest that he go back to his reference library and dust
off topographical studies that were perhaps overlooked while doing
research for his essay. As for the notion that Tibet’s armed rebellion
was prepared and concocted by the US secret services, this is just
wishful thinking. The rebellion ignited well before the CIA came into
the picture in 1957. The reason why Eisenhower was persuaded to give
the green light to CIA operations was because it was clear that the
rebellion was and would occur with or without America’s assistance.
Many years later, members of the CIA Tibetan Task Force lamented the
fact that they weren’t allowed to assist the Tibetan resistance at a
much earlier time, before China built the roads, bridges and airports
that allowed the PLA to mobilize its massive armed force –- a
preponderance of power that sealed the fate of the Tibetans’ disastrous
and tragic struggle for self-determination.
Another book —which essays an apology of the CIA— Mikel Dunshun's Buddha’s Warriors…
Buddha’s Warriors was and is not an apology for the CIA’s involvement with the Tibetan Freedom Fighters (known locally as the Chushi-Gangdruk.)
In fact, I laud the efforts of the CIA’s Tibetan Task Force and bemoan
the Kissinger-Nixon secret meetings with Mao, which resulted in
rapprochement and, either directly or indirectly, closed the chapter on
Chushi-Gangdruk cross border raids from Nepal (Mustang) into southern Tibet in the 1970s.
THE QUESTION OF MIKEL DUNSHUN
Several
people in the last 24 hours have suggested that the reason Fidel Castro
misspelled my name was because of his advanced years. I’m not sure I
buy that. The length, the careful cross-referencing and other
manipulative intricacies of Castro’s argument in “Reflections on
Tibet/China” seem to belie that argument that he is feeble-minded.
Is it possible that the misspelling was intentional?
For
months now I have received evidence that “Mikel Dunham” is not a
welcome name in China. I know, from first-hand sources, that my website
is blocked in Beijing, Shanghai and Lhasa. The assumption follows that
throughout the country, my name has been blocked on the Internet. There
is also the incident of Buddha’s Warriors being confiscated at the Lhasa airport. (CLICK HERE for Beijing Bureau Chief for the McClatchy Company, Tim Johnson’s published account.)
If Castro and/or the Chinese communist party intended to circulate “Reflections on Tibet/China” on the Internet inside
China, the problem as to how to get around the censored “Mikel Dunham”
would have been considered. Would it not be efficacious to simply
misspell Mikel Dunham’s name?
I made a quick search on Google
for “Mikel Dunshun”. I found 716 entries for Castro’s essay, translated
in an impressive number of languages, including Chinese. CLICK HERE His article is being circulated freely in China as we speak.
Allow
me be the first to submit with ultimate authority that Mikel Dunshun
did not write Buddha’s Warriors. Mikel Dunshun is an impostor. He is a
phantom author. Like much of China’s version of its legitimate right to
subsume Tibet, Mikel Dunshun is an unpalatable fantasy.
To read Fidel Castro’s entire essay, CLICK HERE.
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