Report on the 16th Tokyo Conference for the Promotion of Democratisation in Asia

On 26 September, from 2.00 pm, the 16th Tokyo Conference on Promoting Democratisation in Asia was held at the Kudanshita Conference Room in Tokyo. Approximately 50 people attended.
Following an opening address by Chairman Pema Gyalpo, Mr Tenzin Tsundue took the floor.Mr Tenzin, a second-generation Tibetan in exile, was born in 1973 in a tent by the roadside in Manali, India. He studied at a Tibetan school in Dharamsala and, after graduating from university in 1997, attempted to sneak into Tibet alone from north-western India, but was detained and forcibly deported as a ‘foreigner’.He holds a Master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Mumbai and is a poet, writer and activist for Free Tibet. His book *The Lone Reconnaissance Squad* has been translated and published in Japan by Shoshi Kankanbo.

Mr Tenzin began his lecture by showing a series of images. He first pointed out that the region of Tibet is situated, in a sense, at the heart of Asia, bordered by India, Nepal and Bangladesh to the south, China to the east and Mongolia to the west. He went on to explain that the rivers originating in Tibet form the headwaters of both the Indus River in India and the Yellow River in China, and that these rivers gave rise to the two great ancient civilisations.At the same time, he emphasised that rivers originating in Tibet flow into the Mekong, reaching Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and even Bangladesh; in other words, Tibet is truly the water source of Asia and has nourished the continent from the past to the present, thereby highlighting Tibet’s extremely important geopolitical position.

Mr Tenzin went on to point out that, whilst Tibet is currently occupied by China, there were times in the past when Tibet had defeated China and occupied its territory; furthermore, he noted that if one looks at a British map from the 19th century, Tibet is clearly marked as an independent nation. Accompanied by photographs of Tibetan landscapes and wildlife, he explained that although Tibet is known as the ‘Land of Snow’, having been born in India as the child of exiles, he had never seen those landscapes for himself,He recounted his attempt to enter his homeland, Tibet, whilst showing photographs of its beautiful landscapes.

Mr Tenzin went on to explain that Tibet is divided into Central Tibet, the Amdo region and the Kham region; he himself hails from the Kham region, and described the Kham people as a warrior people, noting that his own father had taken up arms to fight the Chinese invaders.He also pointed out that approximately 75 per cent of Tibetans are nomads, and that Tibet is famous for the yak—an animal closely related to cattle (the name ‘yak’ refers to the male; the female is called a ‘ri’, and its milk is said to be highly nutritious, as noted at )—and that, in fact, there are many stone circles and stone pillars in Tibet.

According to research by an American scholar, these stone pillars were erected approximately 60,000 years ago; if this is correct, they may predate the ancient civilisations of China and India. Furthermore, Tibetan stones feature depictions of animals, and Mr Tenzin presented a photograph of a snow leopard drawing believed to have been created some 6,000 years ago.Mr Tenzin went on to speak of the ancient civilisations and the long history of the Himalayas, noting that ammonite fossils have also been found in Tibet, revealing that even the Himalayas were once submerged beneath the sea.

Furthermore, in Tibetan mythology, humans are said to have been born as the children of apes. Whilst there is likely no such tradition in the world’s other mythologies—most of which hold that humans were created by gods—Mr Tenzin remarked that, although this may be a coincidence, it is actually closer to a scientific perspective.He also stated that Tibetan DNA bears a close resemblance to that of extinct human species, and that this makes it well-suited to life at high altitudes. Incidentally, this has been documented in the scientific journal *Nature*. I have included a link below.

‘A DNA region unique to Tibetans has been identified. This region shows a high degree of similarity to the Usti-Ishim people (modern humans who lived in Siberia 45,000 years ago) and to several extinct human species, including Neanderthals, Denisovans and an unknown group.This DNA region comprises eight genes, one of which is known to be essential for adaptation to high altitudes. Xu believes that a hybrid of all these human species was likely the common ancestor of the people who inhabited the Tibetan Plateau prior to the Last Glacial Maximum.” Translation: Mizuho Awagi, *Nature Digest* Vol. 14 No. 4