Fighter

Hillary Clinton Calls for Party Unity and Support for Obama

In the United States, Democrats have opened their national convention in Denver, Colorado to formally nominate Barack Obama for president.
Despite a drawn-out and divisive primary campaign with Obama, Hillary Clinton came out fighting for her former rival at a public appearance. (Www.hxen.com)
Speaking to New York delegates over a breakfast, Clinton said too much was at stake for the party to remain divided.
She also disparaged an attack ad on Obama by the McCain campaign.
“I’m Hillary Clinton, and I do not approve that message. We were not all on the same side as Democrats, but we are now. We are united and we are together and we are determined.”
The Obama camp has played down concerns about the impact of die-hard Hillary backers, even as a new poll showed 30 percent of her supporters said they’d vote for McCain, a third-party candidate or no one.
Clinton and Obama were working on a deal to give her some votes in the nomination roll call, but quickly end the divided balloting in unanimous consent for Obama.

China and Tajikistan Pledge to Advance Good-neighborly Cooperation

China and Tajikistan have pledged to push forward mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides.
During his first state visit to the Central Asian country, Chinese President Hu Jintao met with the Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon.
The two leaders promised to enhance cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, and safeguard regional peace and stability.(www.hXen.com)

President Hu Jintao said China highly values its relations with Tajikistan and will enhance cooperation in such fields as politics, economy, security and culture.

“Both China and Tajikistan highly appreciate the 16-year friendship between the two sides. We’ve agreed to increase high-level talks, enhance political mutual trust and support as well as advance mutually-benefited cooperation. And we will go on coordinating on international and regional affairs, contributing to the stability and development of central Asia.”
Rakhmon congratulated China on successfully hosting the Olympic Games.
He noted to consolidate and enhance the friendly relations with China is one of the priorities of Tajikistan’s foreign policy.
“We have exchanged views on regional affairs, and agreed to adjust our standpoints in some international and regional issues. Both China and Tajikistan call for strengthening the multilateral cooperation, and we all believe that the upcoming 8th annual SCO summit will play an important role.”
Hu Jintao is due to attend the annual SCO summit scheduled on Thursday in Dushanbe.
Founded in 2001, the SCO groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Jilin to Increase Annual Grain Output

China’s northeastern province of Jilin plans to increase its annual grain production by five billion kilograms over the next five years. The provincial governor says they will achieve this goal by creating 170,000 hectares of farmland, while maintaining ecological balance in the process. Our reporter Shuang Feng has more.
China is planning to raise its annual grain output to 40 billion kilograms by 2020. As an important grain production base, the northeastern province of Jilin has answered the call with a promise to increase its annual grain output by five billion kilograms, or 25 percent, over the next five years.
Provincial governor Han Changfu says the move would help to boost food reserves nationwide.
“Jilin generally provides 20 billion kilograms of grain every year. While maintaining food consumption within the province, we will take the extra grain as commodity grain. As the biggest grain producer in the country, Jilin will be sure to help strike a balance between food supply and demand. We will play an important part in meeting the nationwide goal of increasing grain output.”
The governor notes the extra five billion kilograms of grain would come from corn and rice.
Jilin will create 170,000 hectares of farmland in the coming five years. Han Changfu says the most important thing is to properly address the ecological problems in reaching this goal.
“We have problems of land desertification and basification in western Jilin, which is due to water shortages. So we will try to solve the water problem first. We are also planning to plant more trees to prevent more farmland from being harmed. Protection and exploration are equally important. The protection of wetlands and grasslands are being given top priority while the major task is to deal with saline land and explore wastelands.”
Covering an area of about 190,000 square kilometers, Jilin is currently responsible for 1/20th of the country’s yearly grain yield. (Www.hxen.com)
The province has conducted successful experiments by growing rice on saline farmlands, which the governor says has boosted their confidence in the plan to increase grain output

Obama Wins Democratic Presidential Nominee

In the United States, Barack Obama has been formally named as the Democrats’ candidate for the White House, the first African-American to be nominated by a major US party.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, the other person whose name was in the ballot, showed up at the convention as New York was to announce its voting result and send her acclamation to Obama, effectively ceasing the procedure and cancelling the prior voting results. (Www.hxen.com)
“On behalf of the great state of New York, with appreciation for the spirit and dedication of all who are gathered here, with eyes firmly fixed on the future, in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory, with faith in our party and our country, let’s declare together in one voice, right here, right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our president.”
Obama is scheduled to deliver an acceptance speech at the INVESCO stadium on Thursday, and start a tough, thorny road to the White House.
He is in a tight race with Republican John McCain, a veteran senator and former prisoner of war in Vietnam, who has attacked Obama for his lack of experience.
Also at the convention, Delaware Senator Joe Biden accepted the nomination as the Democratic vice presidential candidate.
The republicans will hold their convention next week to appoint McCain as their candidate.

Mainland Olympian Medalists Charm Hong Kong

A delegation of Chinese mainland Olympian medalists has shared their pride and joy with Hong Kong residents at the Hong Kong Stadium.
Singing the song “Invisible Wings” with pop star Joey Yung, diving queen Guo Jingjing and other mainland gold medalists revealed how they felt on their journey to Olympic triumph.
The 63 Beijing Olympic champions have also staged performances to showcase their skills, including gymnastics, athletics and diving.
On Saturday morning, table tennis champions have played the game with local citizens. Some of the medalists have also taken the opportunity to teach teenagers to play the game, sparking great enthusiasm among younger fans.
Liu Peng, director of the General Administration of Sports, says sports exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong will consolidate the bridge of friendship between the two sides.
The official also extended high praise to the Hong Kong government and its public for their efforts in successfully hosting the Olympic equestrian event. (Www.hxen.com)
“As a co-host city of the Beijing Olympics, Hong Kong has done a perfect job in holding the equestrian events and made a crucial contribution to the success of the Beijing Olympics.”
The delegation arrived in Hong Kong on Friday and will head to Macau on Sunday

Relief Work Pours in Following the Earthquake in Panzhihua City

Hours after a 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck Panzhihua City in southwest China, rescue workers and relief materials began to arrive in the stricken areas.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs has initiated a level-four emergency-response mechanism to deal with the aftermath.
Local authorities have also arranged immediate evacuations in light of safety threats triggered by the tremor. An initial 50-member armed police group has been deployed to the epicenter region to help with rescue work.
Hospitals in the Panzhihua city have done what they can to ensure timely treatment for the victims.
A doctor revealed the emergency work his hospital was conducting. (Www.hxen.com)
“After the earthquake, we immediately called our medical staff to gather and stand by for emergencies at the hospital. Now, all necessary relief materials and personnel have been put into place.”
The epicenter was about 50 km southeast of downtown Panzhihua in Sichuan province, which was hit hard by the devastating earthquake this May. It has also affected the neighboring Yunnan province.
The quake on Saturday has killed at least 32 and injured over 400 others, affecting over 600 thousand people.

Blog :Tibetan Folk Tales

Folk tales are an important component of the long and rich culture of Tibetan ethnic minority. Most of their contents have connection with Tibetan Buddhism, because such religion has become part of the Tibetans’ daily life.
The Tibetan folk tales can be divided into two types: stories handed down through oral narration, stories compiled and recorded in the written form. All these stories have been popular among people for a long time.
The Tibetan folk stories can be further divided into several subcategories: stories eulogizing wise people and describing the resistance against oppression and exploitation, myths and stories about fighting against nature, and stories describing love freedom and marriage, and fables that personalize animals to further reveal life philosophy to human beings.
As to the artistic expression of Tibetan folk stories, this kind of literature has diversified, flexible styles, including myths, legends and fables, etc. As to the artistic techniques, the folk stories adopted rich techniques. Folk songs and popular ballads are always added into the Tibetan folk stories, so storytellers can sing while telling a story to attract listeners and make stories more vivid. This is one of the major differences between the Tibetan folk stories and other folk stories.

Blog :Posterior Propagating Period of Tibetan Buddhism

The Posterior Propagating Period of Buddhism is another important period in the history of the Tibetan Buddhism.
From the beginning of the 10thcentury, Buddhism was revived in Tibet because of continuous efforts of the remaining monks’ and the popularization of Buddhism by the Guge Dynasty. Guge Kingdom was located in Ngari region in the western part of Tibet in the 10thcentury. The King Kho-re (Ye shes vod), the second king of the Guge Dynasty, handed his throne to his brother and became a monk (Dharma Name: Yeshes’od).
Yeshes’od revived Buddhism with the support of the royalty. He dispatched many monks to India to get Buddhist canons and study Buddhism, organized people to establish and repair monasteries and translate Buddhist canons. When he heard that there was a great master named Atisha inIndia, he decided to invite him to propagandize Buddhism inTibet. In order to raise the fund needed to invite Atisha, he disregarded his seniority and led troops to attack the neighboring nationality that believed in Islam. But he failed and was captured by his enemy. The victorious ruler said that it would take gold equivalent to his body weight to trade back his freedom. Therefore, Yeshes’od’s grandnephew Byang Chub ‘od tried his best to collect the gold needed. However, when his grandnephew brought enough gold to trade him back, Yeshes’od declined the offer. Instead, he asked Byang Chub ‘od to take the gold toIndiato invite the great master Atisha to propagate Buddhism in Tibet, and before long he himself died of illness in jail.

Blog :Lang Darma Destroys Buddhism

During the period when Lang Darma destroyed Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism suffered severe attack and persecution. When Buddhism was introduced intoTibet, it was resisted by the local Bon religion at the very beginning, and the struggle between the two sides lasted for more than 200 years.
The famous King Tritsug Detsen Ralpachen gave his great support to the development of Buddhism in the early years of the 8thcentury, leading to strong indignation among aristocrats. They therefore actively planned to destroy Buddhism inTibet. After the death of Tibetan King Trisong Detsen, his son Muni Tsangpo also advocated Buddhism and was poisoned by his mother in 798. His younger brother Khri Ide srong btsan assumed the throne, but this new ruler still respected Buddhism. Khri Ide srong btsan had five sons. His eldest son became a monk when he was young. After the death of King Khri Ide srong btsan, his fourth son Lang Darma strongly opposed Buddhism. Under the leadership of Lang Darma, the royal aristocrats opposed Buddhism first targeting the monachal eldest brother. They assaulted him saying that though as a monk, he did not follow the Buddhists’ conventions, and thus banished him to a remote place. These aristocrats executed many other aristocrats that believed in Buddhism, staged a coup and finally made Lang Darma the ruler ofTibetin 838.
The destruction of Buddhism by Lang Darma was the second Buddhism-banning campaign in the history of Tibetan Buddhism. It was even bigger in scale than the first one, and launched more violent attacks to Buddhism. Lang Darma first stopped the construction of monasteries, closed Buddhist temples and destroyed relevant facilities. Then, he burned sutras and suppressed Buddhist monks. Although the period of Lang Darma’s destroying Buddhism didn’t last long, it caused heavy damage to Buddhism, so the period of about 100 years after Lang Darma was called Buddhism Destructing Period.

Blog :Development

The previous period of Buddhism is an important period in the history of the Tibetan Buddhism.
The Tibet King Trisong Detsen was a believer of Buddhism in the 8thcentury. In order to spread Buddhism, he invited Santarakshita and Padmasambhava, two Buddhism masters in India, to promote Buddhism in Tibet (referred to as the Tufan in ancient times). After their arrival, they began to establish the base of Buddhism, and the first monastery, Samye Monastery, was thus constructed for tonsured monks. After the establishment of the Samye Monastery, Trisong Detsen specially dispatched people to India to invite 12 monks to hold the ceremonies of tonsure and commandment for seven young aristocratic Tibetans. This was an extremely important event in the history of the Tibetan Buddhism.
After King Tritsug Detsen Ralpachen ascended the throne in Tibet at the beginning of the 9thcentury, he ordered his people to translate a lot of Buddhist canons with the amount exceeding that had been finished by the Han Nationality. He also stipulated that every seven families should sustain one monk’s life and monks were allowed to take part in events and issues of the court. Buddhism was therefore thriving thanks to the support of the Tibetan king.
However, the measures of King Tritsug Detsen Ralpachen gained no popularity and favor among the aristocrats and the common people. Before long, the aristocrats plotted to murder King Tritsug Detsen Ralpachen, and a large-scale campaign was carried out against the Buddhism. The Samye Monastery and other famous monasteries were closed, and monks were forced to believe in Bon Religion, a local religion in Tibet. This Buddhism-banning campaign heavily attacked Buddhism, so the period of about 100 years after the Lang Darma was called Buddhism Destructing Period, and the period from the reign of King Srongtsen Gampo, when Buddhism was introduced into Tibet, to the Lang Darma reign was called the Anterior Propagating Period of Buddhism in the history of Tibetan Buddhism.