Tibetans

The Dalai Lama exhorted Taiwan to safeguard its democracy, interspersing prayers for the victims of Typhoon Morakot with a challenge to China. The Tibetan spiritual leader's call Monday appeared to contradict assurances that his five-day visit to comfort the victims of the worst storm to hit the island in 50 years would steer clear of the political -- a concern for President Ma Ying-jeou's administration, which is seeking closer ties with mainland...

The Dalai Lama is expected Monday in Taiwan for his first visit in eight years, injecting a volatile element into the political fallout from a killer typhoon. Tibet's exiled spiritual leader -- reviled as a separatist by Beijing -- was invited to Taiwan by officials in southern communities hard hit by Typhoon Morakot. Despite having staked his presidency on closer ties with the mainland, Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou had little choice but to agree to the visit because of the uproar against his government for its sluggish reaction to the storm.

Chinese health officials have cordoned off a remote western town after three deaths caused by the rare but deadly pneumonic plague. The victims lived in Ziketan, a town of 10,000 in Qinghai province, which is mostly populated by Tibetans. The first victim was a 32-year-old herdsman who died Thursday, four days after falling ill with a fever and cough. State radio reported that the man contracted the illness from his dog, which apparently was infected by a flea.

"Unmistaken Child" does more than take you inside a closed culture in an almost unreachable part of the world. It bears witness to a strange and mysterious process, the search for the childhood reincarnation of a recently deceased and revered Tibetan master. Its privileged glimpse deep into unfamiliar spiritual territory has the strength of revelation.

The Dalai Lama, in a ringing denunciation, declared Friday that the ailing global economy is the result of "too much greed, and lies and hypocrisy." "These are some of the factors behind the global crisis," he said at a news conference at UC Santa Barbara. "Those people who feel that money is the most important thing in life, when economic crisis hits, learn that it is only one way to be happy. There is also family, friends and peace of mind."

A court handed down death sentences to two Tibetans accused of starting deadly fires in last year's anti-government riots in Tibet. It was the first report of death sentences in the March 2008 violence in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, which Chinese officials say killed 22 people. The violence led to the most sustained uprising against Chinese rule in decades. The official New China News Agency said one man was sentenced to die for burning two clothing shops, killing a shop owner. A second man was given the death penalty for his role in the burning of a motorcycle shop that killed five people, it said.

Hundreds of Tibetans surrounded a police station and government offices in a remote enclave of western China after the apparent suicide of a monk who had been taken into police custody. The protests near the Rabgya Monastery were the largest this year and show how volatile the situation remains despite the deployment of tens of thousands of paramilitary troops.

In a speech marking the 50th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising that forced him into exile, the Dalai Lama invoked unusually harsh rhetoric against Chinese authorities, highlighting the widening gulf between Tibetans and China. Among the Dalai Lama's comments during the speech Tuesday in Dharmsala, India, and to reporters afterward: "These 50 years have brought untold suffering to the land and people of Tibet . . .

The Chinese government has a New Year's greeting for Tibetans: Celebrate, or else. The Tibetan New Year, or Losar, is normally the most festive holiday of the year, when Tibetans burn incense, make special dumplings and set off fireworks. But this year, Tibetans have declared a moratorium on celebrating their own holiday, saying they will instead observe a mourning period for people killed last year during protests against Chinese rule.