Jigme Langjia or Jinme Langjia (晋美朗嘉) isn’t world-famous. Actually, noone seems to know who he is. But his name isn’t unknown when Tibet is the topic. Jigme Langjia is apparently a Tibetan living in Beijing, sometimes referred to as an analyst or scholar by websites like Boxun. On April 12, Xinhuanet’s reference materials section published some views by a certain Jigme Langjia on the propaganda work concerning Tibet. I’m not at all sure if the article on propaganda and one demanding an early return of the Dalai Lama and an end to his demonization were written by the same man – but I have a hunch that they are. In section two of his article on propaganda work he also advises the media not to refer to the Dalai Lama simply as Dalai.
In general, there seem to be efforts by the Chinese leadership to modernize its propaganda tools.
Woeser’s Blog quotes a request by 108 Tibetans residing in mainland China, apparently as a contribution to the current Dharamsala General Debate. At the core is the wish for an early return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet, but in all, the paper contains five items. While 108 Tibetan scholars in China seem to have passed it, it is Jigme Langjia who put his name to it. Woeser’s, like all other articles I’ve seen quoting Jigme Langjia, isn’t sure either who exactly he is.
The proposals were apparently drafted in April of this year. Underthejacaranda has published a translation.
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Tags: blogging, CCP, China, Dalai Lama, diplomacy, imperialism, media, national minorities, negotiations, religion, Tibet
November 22, 2008 at 9:08 am
Let me add some ingredients to thicken the pot of mysterious broth, just for taste and for nutrition:
The hottest question at the moment is: who is Bi Hua? Why is she being sacked?
The forever tongue-in-cheek commenter John Smith at The Time China Blog suggested that a computer hacking incident might be at the centre of dispute: http://china.blogs.time.com/2008/11/21/on-the-scene-in-dharamsala/#comments. To be honest, I sometimes I don’t know how seriously I should take JS’s jokes. So I’ll leave it to you to decide.
Meanwhile some commenters at the phayul forum seem to have a different set of theories: http://forums.phayul.com/index.php?showtopic=9160.
Or are they different?
November 22, 2008 at 10:41 am
Yeah, mysterious. Reuters was told by a source that “The Party has placed her on probation…but she is convinced she has not done anything wrong”. How degenerated is that? Don’t they write self-criticisms any more? Btw, she’s also referred to as a researcher in some articles. Maybe she became to informed about facts. Methinks that Zhang Danhong of the Deutsche Welle should start collecting solidarity signatures for Bi Hua immediately.
November 22, 2008 at 12:20 pm
[...] by C.A. Yeung on 22 November, 2008 As I was having a discussion with JR at Just Recently’s Beautiful Blog about the Bi Hua scandal, Reuters India released a news [...]
January 4, 2009 at 11:53 am
[...] mishandled within the CCP bureaucracy. For more information about Jinme Langjia, please consult a post our friend JR published on 21/11/2008 at JustRecently’s Beautiful [...]
January 24, 2009 at 10:52 am
[...] – Tibetans in China, Dharamsala Debate, Nov. 21, 2008 » [...]