April 26, 2010
In 2006, an impulsive, naïve young Tibetan nun and her best friend, both yearning for religious freedom from Chinese rule, joined a group of fellow Tibetans desperate to escape to India, where the Dalai Lama has lived since the 1950 annexation of Tibet by China. Kelsang Namtso and Dolma Palkyi embarked on the brutal journey over the Himalayas. Smuggled by illegal guides past Chinese border police, the group braved freezing temperatures and snow, the high altitude, and perilous crevasses. Green alternates the refugees’ trek with that of Luis Benitez, an American celebrity mountain guide leading a rich group of international clients to the Himalayan peak Cho Oyu. The two groups met on the peak as Chinese guards, alerted to the refugees’ presence, chased after the escapees with machine guns ablaze, and Kelsang was killed in full view of the Westerners. One of Benitez’s clients filmed the incident, which gained worldwide notoriety. Awkwardly written and poorly edited, freelance journalist Green’s earnest chronicle trumpets his disdain for the exploitation of the Himalayas by rich, macho mountaineering novices, his hatred of Chinese Communists for human rights violations, and his reverence for Tibetan culture.
April 1, 2010
The cold-blooded slaying of a runaway Tibetan teenager ignites worldwide concern about the violent oppression at"the roof of the world."
For three years, American journalist Green travelled to remote sections of Tibet to investigate the murder of a young nun who died at the hands of Chinese border officials. In clear, concise prose, the author deliberates over China's stranglehold on Tibet, its systematic dismantling of the indigenous culture and the terror tactics employed on families like Dolma's, who were frightfully roused in the night by the Chinese officials known for randomly inspecting the homes of native Tibetans for proof of"activities deemed'unpatriotic' to China and Mao Zedung's Communist legacy." Dolma fled Tibet alongside her fiery, impulsive best friend Dolkar. Both girls grew up close in Juchen Village, a mountainside hamlet, and became increasingly aware of the police-state atmosphere of their homeland, which only served to feed their dreams of crossing the Himalayan range into India. Dolkar's burgeoning spirituality was the impetus for the girls' escape in 2006 after she took vows to become a Tibetan nun and was rechristened Kelsang Namtso. As a spiritual exile from communism, Kelsang realized she was now a target of the aggressive Chinese government and must flee for her life. Green injects Kelsang and Dolma's great escape with anxious tension as their group of 75 refugees exhaustively traversed the Nangpa La, a treacherous, highly patrolled mountain passage, aided by an illegal guide."Minutes from the border," Kelsang was mercilessly shot by patrol guards, and the scene was observed by senior Everest mountaineer Luis Benitez, who was concurrently guiding a group nearby. China's relentless campaign of obfuscation and blamelessness ensued, and Tibetans continued to flee, unabated by the violence.
Green's steely, factually dense analysis of this unlawful conspiracy sheds light on a perennial human-rights crisis.
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