On this day in ...... 1951, at a meeting in Beijing, China presented a 5-member delegation of the Tibetan government with a draft agreement. According to the Tibetan Government in Exile, the delegation "rejected the Chinese proposal in toto," and in any event did not have power to enter a pact with China; nonetheless, after undergoing "harsh and insulting terms" and being both "threatened with physical violence" and isolated from its Government, on May 23 the delegation signed the "Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet" to avoid "an immediate military advance on Lhasa," Tibet's capital. China's official news service, Xinhua, has an extremely different view of events. As we've posted, China's half-century presence in -- and the Dalai Lama's exile from -- Tibet sparked riots there last month. This month, there've been disturbances nearly everywhere the Olympic torch has been displayed.
.... 2008 (today), is celebrated the 6th annual International Dance Day. At this year's celebration at UNESCO headquarters in Paris will feature performances by South African and French dancers as well as delivery of the annual "Message" by dancer and choreographer Gladys Faith Agulhas, shown at right with Makhotso Sompane (photo credit) of Agulhas Theatre Works, Johannesburg. The date was set aside in order, as UNESCO put it,to bring all dance together on this day, to celebrate this art form and revel in its universality, to cross all political, cultural and ethnic barriers and bring people together in peace and friendship with a common language : Dance.
