Tibetan resistance in China

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 July 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Kate Adie introduces stories from China, Kenya, Australia, Bolivia and the USA.

Sichuan province in China is home to a long-standing Tibetan resistance movement. While Beijing views Tibet as an integral part of China – the allegiances of many Tibetans living in China lie with its exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama - voicing support for him can lead to arrest or prison. Laura Bicker visited the town of Aba, where she met monks practicing their faith under heavy surveillance.

Youth led protests erupted again in Kenya this week, with many young Kenyans angry at the lack of good job opportunities in the country - more than 30 people died in the demonstrations, and over 500 were arrested. Anne Soy has been following the story in Nairobi.

The small Australian town of Morwell will be returning to some form of normality this week, following the conclusion of the trial of Erin Patterson who was found guilty of murdering three of her relatives and attempting to kill another after serving them Beef Wellington laced with toxic death cap mushrooms. Katy Watson reflects on how the town was transformed by the visiting media circus.

Bolivia was once seen as an economic miracle, thanks to its huge natural gas reserves. But the energy exports on which the country once thrived have fallen sharply in recent years, pushing many people into poverty. Carolyn Lamboley reveals how the country’s economic woes are now affecting people from all walks of life.

And finally, we’re in the Zion National Park in Utah where Stephen Moss tells the story of the conservation campaign that helped bring the Californian Condor back from the brink of extinction.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling Production Coordinators: Sophie Hill & Katie Morrison Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello. Today we're in rural Australia, where the media circus has finally left town after a murder trial gripped the nation and the world.
0:15.8	In Bolivia, we hear the clever ways in which people are navigating the country's economic crisis.
0:22.1	In Kenya, youth-led protests over a lack of jobs turned deadly this week as the president
0:28.2	issued a warning to political rivals.
0:31.2	And finally, good news from the Beehive State of Utah, where an altogether bigger beast is thriving, as near-extinct
0:40.1	condors fly high once again.
0:43.5	But first, to southwest China, home to a long-standing Tibetan resistance movement.
0:50.4	While Beijing views Tibet as an integral part of China, the allegiances of many Tibetans
0:56.1	lie with his exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. His followers see him as a living God,
1:02.9	though Beijing views him as a separatist threat. Our China correspondent Laura Bicker
1:08.3	went to the town of Abba in Sichuan province, where she visited a monastery
1:13.0	challenging the restrictions despite heavy surveillance. The monk walked towards me, shrouded in his
1:19.9	crimson robes and moving his prayer beads rhythmically through his fingers. He's made a risky
1:25.4	decision. We're being watched by eight unidentified men, even
1:29.6	saying a few words to me in public, could get him in trouble. We're in a monastery in the town of Abba,
1:36.3	in China's southwestern Sichuan province, which sits outside the official border of the Tibet
1:42.2	autonomous region, but many Tibetans still consider it part of their homeland.
1:47.5	The monastery here has been at the centre of Tibetan resistance for decades.
1:52.4	Most of the 150 gruesome self-immolations calling for the return of the Dalai Lama have happened in this town.
2:01.3	Things are not good for us, the monk says quietly.
2:04.3	They do not have a good heart. Everyone can see it, he adds.
2:08.3	By they, he means the Communist Party of China,
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 27 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.