Yeshe Choesang is an India-based Tibetan journalist, photographer and author who focuses on politics, Freedom of press, business, human rights and environmental issues in Tibet and China.

Biography

Yeshe Choesang (Tibetan: ཡེ་ཤེས་ཆོས་བཟང་། Chinese: 益西曲桑 Hindi: यीशि छोसं), pronounced �yeːshey ˈchoe: Zang, born in 1974 in

Lithang Litang (; ) is in southwest of Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China. Litang is part of Kham in the Tibetan cultural zone, and several famous Buddhist figures were born here, including the 7th Dalai Lama, the 10th Dalai Lama, the ...

Region in eastern

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

, is a Tibetan journalist, founder and editor in chief of The Tibet Post, an exiled Tibetan news Agency based in

Dharamsala Dharamshala (; also spelled Dharamsala) is the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh, India. It serves as administrative headquarters of the Kangra district after being relocated from Kangra, a city located away from Dharamshala, in 1855. The ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Mr Choesang was born on 18 August 1974 in the

Region in eastern

, (Currently administratively part of

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

province, China). He escaped to

in 1985.

Education

He completed his education in

Tibetan culture Tibet developed a distinct culture due to its geographic and climatic conditions. While influenced by neighboring cultures from China, India, and Nepal, the Himalayan region's remoteness and inaccessibility have preserved distinct local i ...

and

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

(The ''Rigne Rabjam'') in 1993 and a teacher training course of the Tibetan Education Department in 1995. He completed his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Tibetan

Buddhist philosophy Buddhist philosophy refers to the philosophical investigations and systems of inquiry that developed among various schools of Buddhism in India following the parinirvana of The Buddha and later spread throughout Asia. The Buddhist path combi ...

from the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics (IBD). In 2000, he was a member of the editorial board of ''How To Teach'', a bilingual teacher training book series in

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

for Tibetan teachers. For 4 years, he worked as a researcher in

World History World history may refer to: * Human history, the history of human beings * History of Earth, the history of planet Earth * World history (field), a field of historical study that takes a global perspective * ''World History'' (album), a 1998 albu ...

at the Research & Translation Centre (Lhaksam Tsekpa) of IBD.

Media career

Choesang wrote several articles in the past 10 years that were published by

Tibet Post The Tibet Post is an online publication founded by a group of Tibetan journalists with the primary goal of promoting democracy through freedom of expression within Tibetan communities both within and outside of Tibet. Introduction TPI's daily ...

CNN iReport iReport was CNN's citizen journalism initiative that allowed people from around the globe to contribute pictures and video of breaking news stories. It was similar to Wikinews in that it allowed, and encouraged, ordinary citizens to submit sto ...

Deliberation Deliberation is a process of thoughtfully weighing options, usually prior to voting. Deliberation emphasizes the use of logic and reason as opposed to power-struggle, creativity, or dialogue. Group decisions are generally made after deliberation ...

, and

World News Network World News (WN) Network (styled WorldNews (WN) Network) is a news aggregator founded in March 1995 and launched online in 1998. In 2003, Search Engine Watch praised the service for its "Special Reports", and called it "an interesting alternative" ...

. Choesang has written a book titled "Voice of An Exiled Tibetan: Hopes of freedom and struggle" was published in 2014. He is writing a second book, but title yet to be named. He was elected thrice as the General Secretary of the

Association of Tibetan Journalists The Association of Tibetan Journalists is a Tibetan organization in exile, that was founded in 1997 in Dharamsala, India. The organization's stated mission is to "Facilitate free, fair and accurate delivering of information regarding activities r ...

based in Dharamsala. He is the Tibet Correspondent for

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

since 2005.Plus de dix mille signatures en faveur du réalisateur Dhondup Wangchen
/ref> In 2007 Choesang founded The Tibet Post International (TPI), a daily Tibetan news agency based in

McLeod Ganj McLeod Ganj, also spelt McLeodganj, (pronounced ''Mc-loud-gunj'') is a suburb of Dharamshala in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is known as "Little Lhasa" or "Dhasa" (a short form of Dharamshala used mainly by Tibetans) because ...

. Other than this, he has also founded several other websites, like outlooktibet.com, shambalapost.com and lhasapost.com. The office of TPI was inaugurated on 11 May 2008 by

Franz Pahl Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

, a member of

South Tyrolean People's Party The South Tyrolean People's Party (german: Südtiroler Volkspartei, SVP) is a regionalist and autonomist political party in South Tyrol, an autonomous province with a German-speaking majority in northern Italy. Founded on 8 May 1945, the SVP ha ...

and President of the regional parliament of

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. In 2010, he also founded Himalayan Literacy Trust (HLT) in India.

Community development

With HLT and TPI Choesang aims to develop Tibetan media and education in a peaceful and non-violent manner. His organisations also function as a platform to enable future development of Tibetan journalism, doing so by coordinating a group of young Tibetan journalists with the primary goal of promoting

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

through

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

within Tibetan communities, both in exile and under occupation in Tibet. With TPI Choesang works in cooperation with

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s and individuals around the world as well as with the various departments of the

Central Tibetan Administration The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ), often referred to as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, is a non-profit political organization based in Dharamshala, India. Its organization is modeled after an elective parliamentary government, compo ...

while dealing at the same time with individuals and societies in various Tibetan settlements and schools.

References

External links

Tibet Post InternationalHimalayan Literacy TrustOutlook TibetReporters Without BordersShambala PostLhasa PostTibet Digital Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choesang, Yeshe Tibetan editors Indian media executives Tibetan journalists Tibetan businesspeople 1976 births Living people Writers from Garze Tibetan writers Newspaper reporters and correspondents Tibetan photographers Businesspeople from Sichuan