December 31, 2007 7:00 pm - January 1, 2008 1:00 am
Cedar & Bonita
Berkeley (click to see a map)
Working together in bringing a triumphant year for Tibet
Statement of Congressman Tom Lantos
Tibet Day, December 15, 2007
San Francisco, California
Just last week, the world community joined together to mark International Human Rights Day, an occasion that affirms the universal human rights of every man, woman and child. The goal of this annual event is to commemorate the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly nearly 60 years ago. Just like the powerful symbol of Amnesty International, which is a candle surrounded by barbed wire, this annual celebration demonstrates that even in the darkest corners of the earth, there are those who are willing to shine a powerful light on human rights abuses.
As we stand here today, we are approaching the 60th anniversary of the Chinese government’s forcible takeover of Tibet. Despite this stain on Chinese history, the government in Beijing is busily preparing for the 2008 Summer Olympics, which the International Olympic Committee has chosen them to host.
One more anniversary is especially important to me, and I believe to us all. 2007 marks twenty years since His Holiness the Dalai Lama first publicly presented his Five Point Peace Plan for Tibet. He made this presentation in Washington, D.C., after graciously accepting my invitation to attend a meeting of the bipartisan Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which I co-founded in 1983 and continue to co-chair.
As we approach these anniversaries, we must ask ourselves serious questions about China’s human rights record, and particularly their actions in Tibet. A review of this record is nothing short of appalling. We find cultural genocide, massive population transfer, and irreparable environmental damage through widespread plundering of natural resources in Tibet. To carry out these policies, while also maximizing economic benefit to its central government, China continues to exercise suffocating bureaucratic control, which prevents Tibetan religious and cultural expression and severely limits Tibetan educational and economic opportunities.
The newly built China-Tibet railroad further backs a pervasive Chinese military presence in Tibet, by which China suppresses each outbreak of non-violent protest with immediate arrest, torture, and prison sentences for those civilians, monks and nuns who have dared to protest.
China’s human rights infractions are not limited to Tibet. The government has made devil’s bargains with states like Burma and Sudan, adding to the suffering of populations already under siege.
Standing in stark contrast to these horrors is the record of peace and justice of my friend the Dalai Lama. His Holiness has tirelessly led efforts to care for tens of thousands of Tibetans who have risked their lives to escape occupied Tibet. He meets every refugee arriving in India, and the Tibet Government in Exile sees to their basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter while they become self-sufficient. Unaccompanied children receive support and academic and Tibetan cultural education in children’s villages or monasteries. Recently, His Holiness has encouraged more of these young people to return eventually to Tibet, to help Tibetans at home preserve their culture and their hope.
The Dalai Lama has devoted great effort to sharing Tibetan culture with a global audience, and has encouraged other Tibetan teachers to do the same. The result is that during the past sixty years, interest and understanding of kindness and compassion as primary principles for human affairs and government, taught in Tibetan culture, have spread throughout the world.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama continues to be exceptionally clear about his position on autonomy. Despite many false claims by the Chinese government to the contrary, he aims only for cultural and religious autonomy, and not full independence. These are basic rights of the Tibetan people, and I urge China to grant such autonomy without delay.
The past few decades have brought tremendous change for those of us dedicated to addressing the crisis in Tibet. The Dalai Lama has gone from an unwelcome guest at the U.S. State Department to a worldwide celebrity and Nobel Peace Prize winner. He is regularly received by heads of state and other dignitaries. Just this year, in one of the high points of my legislative career, I had the privilege of introducing and, in partnership with Senator Diane Feinstein and others, passing a bill to award the Dalai Lama the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow – the Congressional Gold Medal. These great strides would have been impossible without the constant support of the San Francisco Bay Area Tibet human rights community.
It is clear that despite real efforts by the Chinese government to suppress the truth, China is now well known around the world, in kitchens, coffeehouses, and government buildings, for its continuing egregious human rights violations against the Tibetan people and other minority groups. Increasingly, China also is known worldwide for its reprehensible enabling of the juntas in Sudan and Burma in genocidal acts and crimes against humanity toward their own people. Spreading this knowledge is an enormous accomplishment of the world’s Tibetan and wider human rights communities.
While we have much to be proud of, there is still much to be done, and we must look forward together. I do not pretend to have a crystal ball, but I can tell you that there is light at the end of what has been a very long tunnel. China is becoming engaged in the world community, and has played an increasingly constructive role in Six-Party negotiations to prevent North Korea from continuing its development of nuclear weapons.
Right now, today, we have a unique window of opportunity to pressure the Chinese government into reforming their reprehensible human rights record: the approach of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. It is of foremost importance to the Chinese to project a modern, enlightened image during its moment on the world stage, and we must demand real steps forward before, during and after this event.
There is real progress to be seen for all of us who have worked hard for twenty years or more to achieve human rights for the people of Tibet, China, and other countries whose crimes against humanity China supports. Yet we can always look for more ways, as the Dalai Lama has suggested, to engage in mutual enlightenment with the good scholars, environmental activists, governmental officials, and business people who can be found among the Chinese people.
We will go forward together in 2008. I can promise you that I will work tirelessly to encourage my colleagues in the United States Congress to focus on our human rights goals, and ensure that they never turn away from the people of Tibet.
Thank you very much.
Saturday, Dec 15, 2007, 11:00 am - midnight
St. Anne Events Center (Moriarty Hall)
850 Judah at Funston, San Francisco
Main Hall
Saturday, Dec 15, 2007, 7:00 pm - midnight
St. Anne Events Center (Moriarty Hall)
850 Judah at Funston, San Francisco
10 December, 2007 is International Human Rights Day celebrated all over the world. Every year, the Malaysia Bar had always held a peaceful Walk for Human Rights to celebrate the event. It had always been peaceful, caused no disruption to traffic and caused no one any harm. This year, the Malaysia Bar Council decided to have a 2.5 kilometre march in Kuala Lumpur (People’s Freedom Walk) on Sunday, 9 December, 2007, but was asked to apply for a police permit. The Bar Council felt it an affront to have to apply for a police permit for a peaceful event as the right to free speech, free expression and free assembly is enshrined in the Constitution. They decided to cancel the Walk instead. However, a group of determined lawyers decided to go ahead anyway and invited the public to join in. A group of lawyers plus supporters gathered in front of the Sogo department store in the normally congested Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman starting from 8am (it was early Sunday, so the road was practically free of traffic) in the presence of many police officers as well as a helicopter flying overhead.
The walk started peacefully at around 8.45am. Before the participants could reach their destination, the Malaysia Bar headquarter, five prominent lawyers and two arrested other demonstrators were arrested, but the march went on. Later, Edmund Bon, the Bar's Human Rights Committee Chairman was also arrested at the Bar's own private premises.
Join the candlelight vigil in protest against the violation of Human Rights in Malaysia, and at the same time also in support for those citizens of other countries where human rights are violated.
Peter Chen is a Chinese born Malaysian resident, who supports the Human Rights movement in Malaysia, and who now supports us in spirit.
Monday, December 10 2007, 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Jewish Community Center
1414 Walnut St. Berkeley
Join us, as TANC celebrates the award of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Human Rights Day 2007, at the Jewish Community Center in Berkeley.
All are welcome to offer Khatas to His Holiness' throne.
Tibetan Tea and Droma-Dresil will be served.
From Outlook India . Com, December 4, 2007: Olympian Worries
The government of India does not want any wrong signals to China that the supporters and well-wishers of the Dalai Lama in India are acting in tandem with those in the US.
B. Raman
China has been increasingly concerned over what it views as a US-inspired revving up of the Tibetan issue in the months preceding the Beijing Olympics of August, 2008.
This concern, which was there even before, has gone up ever since the recent high-profile visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the US and Canada and the honours given to him in the US--particularly the award of the Congressional Medal of Honour at a Congressional function, which was attended by President George Bush. Even though the Americans projected it merely as an expression of their respect and admiration for a spiritual and humanitarian leader with no political significance, the Chinese suspected that the honours concealed a desire to needle China on the Tibetan issue.
As the Olympics approach, what the Americans are up to in Tibet has become a more worrisome question for Chinese policy-makers than what the Americans are up to in Taiwan. Beijing has not treated the Congressional Medal of Honour as a one-event issue to be criticised and forgotten. It continues to express its concerns and unhappiness in various subtle ways. The recent Chinese refusal of permission to US naval ships transiting to and from Japan to touch Hong Kong--which was a significant departure from the post-1997 policy of allowing them to halt in Hong Kong-- is believed to be an outcome of the Chinese unhappiness over the Dalai Lama issue.
On November 21,2007, China cancelled a permission given months ago to the US naval aircraft-carrier USS Kitty Hawk and some support ships to dock in Hong Kong to enable the sailors to spend the Thanksgiving holidays on shore, but it reversed its cancellation, when it realised that it had already given permission months ago. By the time the refusal was reversed, the ships were already on their way to Japan and hence did not dock in Hong Kong.
Subsequently, Pentagon officials were quoted by the media as alleging that Beijing also turned away two minesweepers seeking refuge from a storm and a US military flight to resupply the US consulate in Hong Kong. They were quoted as claiming that the Chinese government has formally notified the Pentagon that it is refusing a request for a port call in Hong Kong over the New Year's holiday by the guided missile frigate USS Reuben James.
While neither US nor Chinese officials have connected these refusals to the Dalai Lama issue, non-governmental analysts have. The Washington Post of November 25,2007, has quoted Prof Shi Yinhong of the People's University in Beijing, as saying as follows: "The U.S. selling weapons to Taiwan is an old issue, and China expresses its dissatisfaction constantly on that. By blocking the warship (USS Kitty Hawk) and its support vessels, China just hoped to use its reluctance, changing its attitude, to tell the United States that China is unhappy with Bush over his decision to personally present the Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama."
The Chinese concerns have further increased following the pronouncements of the Dalai Lama over the selection of his successor. Just as the Chinese Communist Party has imposed a Panchen Lama of its choice on the Tibetan people, it is determined that when the Dalai Lama dies, his successor would be chosen by a religious process controlled by the party in which the Tibetan exiles would have no role.
To pre-empt the Chinese imposing a Party-selected Dalai Lama on the Tibetan people, the Dalai Lama has started discussing in public the various options available to him and the Tibetan people. During a visit to Japan in November, 2007, the Dalai Lama was reported to have told the Sankei Shimbun newspaper that the Tibetan people would not support a successor who was selected by China.He added: "If the Tibetan people wish to uphold the Dalai Lama system, one possibility would be to select the next Dalai Lama while I am still living. Among options being considered are a democratic selection by the high monks of Tibetan Buddhism, or the appointment of a successor by myself."
Subsequently, the Dalai Lama was reported to have told journalists in the margins of an inter-faith conference at Amritsar on November 27, 2007, as follows: "If my death comes when we are still in a refugee status then logically my reincarnation will come outside Tibet." He added that in view of the difficulties that could be faced in following the Buddhist tradition of choosing his re-incarnation, his successor could be selected by election, like the pope; by seniority, or could take over in the traditional way (reincarnation), but outside Tibet.
In a strong criticism of the Dalai Lama's views, a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said: "The reincarnation of the living Buddha is a unique way of succession of Tibetan Buddhism and follows relatively complete religious rituals and historical conventions.The Dalai's remarks obviously violated the religious rituals and historical conventions."
Beijing has strong reasons to be concerned over the fact that the Dalai Lama has started talking of other options after his recent visit to the US. It strongly suspects that the idea of a pre-emptive strike at Beijing on the succession issue must have been suggested to him by his followers and advisers in the US. Beijing seems to be worried that his US advisers might persuade the Dalai Lama to announce who would be his successor on the eve of the Olympics just to draw international attention away from the games.
The attempts of the critics of China and supporters of the Dalai Lama in the US to organise a boycott of the Olympics in protest against the continuing violations of the human rights of the Tibetans has not picked up momentum. They are now focussing on preventing the Olympic Torch being allowed to touch the US.The Olympics Organisers have reportedly chosen San Francisco as the US City where the torch will be taken in April,2008. The supporters of the Dalai Lama have started a campaign to pressurise the local municipal authorities not to agree to this. "The torch should not be permitted to be used as a propaganda vehicle for the communist dictatorship in China," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., who in August,2007, co-sponsored resolutions calling for the US to boycott the Olympics over China's role in Darfur and its human-rights violations at home. In a letter to Mr.Gavin Newsom, the Mayor of San Francisco, an organisation called the San Francisco Tibet Coalition has said : "Your welcoming of the Olympic torch would suggest ... that you are ready to turn your back on a unique opportunity to promote legitimate international concerns and ... take a stand for justice in Tibet and China."
Aware of the Chinese unhappiness over the award of the Congressional Medal of Honour to the Dalai Lama, the government of India was recently reported to have advised ministers of the government and senior government officials not to attend a function in New Delhi in honour of the Dalai Lama after his return from the US. The organisers of the function had reportedly notified that one of the objectives of the function would be to congratulate His Holiness on the US honour. The government of India does not want any wrong impression that the supporters and well-wishers of His Holiness in India are acting in tandem with those in the US.
We now have an online petition addressed to Mayor Newsom of San Francisco, courtesy of PetitionOnline. Please take a moment to view and sign the petition.
Tell Mayor Newsom what you think about San Francisco hosting this torch, that is now tainted with oppression and cultural genocide, and stands in complete opposition to the true spirit of the people of San Francisco and of the Olympic Games.
November 26, 2007
The Honorable Gavin Newsom
Mayor of San Francisco
Dear Mayor:
This letter is in follow up to our August 8 letter hand delivered to your office regarding a meeting request to discuss the upcoming Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay, expected in San Francisco next April, 2008. San Francisco Team Tibet members still look forward to discussing the withdrawal of your welcome of the torch and solicit your support of human rights in China and Tibet.
Enclosed, please find a November 11, 2007 petition signed by numerous individuals requesting you to oppose the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay and withdraw any official welcome of it in San Francisco. We expect hundreds, if not thousands of more concerned San Francisco and Bay Area residents to sign similar petitions to you within the coming months.
We look forward to your response.
With respect and sincerely,
Giovanni Vassallo
for the SF Team Tibet Steering Committee
sfteamtibet.org
President, Committee of 100 for Tibet
c100tibet.org
In San Francisco shouldn't welcome tainted Olympic torch, Bridget Johnson asks the question
So why in the world would a progressive city like San Francisco welcome the torch of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics?
The torch should not be permitted to be used as a propaganda vehicle for the communist dictatorship in China ... After the monks have been mowed down and slaughtered in the streets of Rangoon, (Myanmar), it has to be more difficult for people to accept that we have the Olympics in Beijing.
The mayor doesn't seem to quite get that when the torch passes through our fair city it will not be hailed as a symbol of international unity and sports.Laurel Sutherlin
We cannot allow the Chinese government to exploit the reputation of our city to advance their nefarious policies on the global stage.and Giovanni Vassalo, who waits for an answer to his letter to Mayor Newsom
Your welcoming of the Olympic torch would suggest ... that you are ready to turn your back on a unique opportunity to promote legitimate international concerns and... take a stand for justice in Tibet and China.
Saturday, Dec 15, 2007, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
St. Anne Events Center (Moriarty Hall)
850 Judah at Funston, San Francisco
Bay Area Tibetans and supporters will intensify their San Francisco leg of Tibetan campaign, against Beijing 2008 Olympics, at the 22nd Annual Tibet Day celebration in the city on December 15, 2007.
San Francisco is the only U.S. city through which will pass on April 9, 2008, the Beijing Olympics Torch, a symbol for international harmony and hope, which Tibetans and supporters say is misplaced because China continues to be the draconian architect of Tibet’s tragedy today as an occupied and bleeding nation.
San Francisco is also a host to a vibrant exile Tibetan community, whose members and supporters have for the last two decades celebrated Tibet Day to showcase the rich and ancient arts and crafts from Tibet and its neighboring Himalayan regions.
We are proud to call this beautiful city our home away from our occupied home.said Ngodup Tsering, President of the Tibetan Association of Northern California (TANC).
But it also pains us deeply that our elected authorities and officials agreed to let Beijing carry its Olympics torch through the city without asking them some tough questions about the human rights abuses and cultural genocide that China continues to orchestrate inside Tibet.
They will find this good man to be a man of peace and reconciliation.China responded by accusing the U.S. of meddling with China’s internal affairs and termed the award ceremony “a violation of international norms.” Inside Tibet, China ordered a new wave of arrests when Tibetans spilled out into the streets and monastery courtyards to celebrate the U.S. honor for their exiled leader.
Our political campaign against Beijing 2008 Olympics is part of a global effort to expose China’s attempt to deceive the world community into believing that it upholds the universal ideals of peace and justice, when China’s military regime inside Tibet continues to stifle all voices for political rights and religious freedoms with harrowing brutality.said Dawa Dorjee, President of San Francisco Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (RTYC).
Even in the run-up to the Olympics, Chinese soldiers continue to shoot down Tibetans like dogs.said Yangchen Chazotsang of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT). She was referring to an incident two years ago at a Mount Everest pass, Nang Pa La, when Westerner climbers played shocked witnesses to Chinese soldiers shooting at Tibetans trying to escape into Nepal.
Tibetans have so much to offer to the world. Their belief in peace and compassion bear its stamp on not just their way of living, but their arts and craft, and at this war-torn time, Tibet Day is a great way of celebrating our innermost and profoundest aspirations.said Giovanni Vassallo, President of Bay Area Friends of Tibet (BAFoT), the group behind the annual event.
While we appreciate what Tibet has given us, it is time we also gave hope to the Tibetan people.
November 11, 2007, 6:00 pm - 4:00 am
Temple Nightclub,
540 Howard St,
San Francisco
$15 before 11:11pm / $20 after
The event will start at 6pm, with light dinner w Techung La, followed by speakers and video and photo installations from exiled lives in Dharamsala.
Artist lineup:
Wisdom w/ DJ Cocheze & Seasunz (Temple of Hip Hop)
Kraddy (The Glitch Mob)
Anasia (3WS)
Lafa Taylor (Eugene/Tokyo)
Techung (World Renound Tibetan Singer)
Goddess Alchemy Project
Shimshai (World, Reggae, and Sacred Music)
Isis & Luz de la Musa (11:11 Ritual Prayerformance)
MJ Greenmountain (Hamsa Lila/Mojoi)
PoM (Dirt Rhythms/Rootabreaka)
Malarkey (the Juke Joint)
Delphi (Goddess Alchemy)
Taylor Maiden Space (Goddess Alchemy)
KnowOne (Cyphertown)
Sleepyhead (Cyphertown)
DJ Divinity (Deep Vinyl Records)
Goodfelllow (Cyphertown)
Sudeesh (Cyphertown)
Wasfia Nazreen (Dhasa Visions)
From SFGate . Com, Matier & Ross, November 5, 2007, in Feds go after wildly successful medical pot sellers:
Mayor Gavin Newsom is planning to jet off to China next month as part of a San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce-sponsored trip being put together by political powerhouse Rose Pak.
The trip's post-Thanksgiving itinerary includes stops in Beijing (site of the 2008 Summer Olympics), five cities in Guangdong province, Hong Kong, plus the gambling mecca of Macao - where Pak and former Mayor Brown helped Vegas tycoon and Brown friend Steve Wynn win a casino license.
SF Weekly, August 10, 2007 in Tibetans Say, "Go A's!" to Protest 2008 Beijing Olympics, reported
Around 60 Tibetan activists, wearing orange Team Tibet shirts, face paint, and some with the aforementioned beads, came out in force to share their message, while taking in the summer fun of a baseball game.
Americans love baseball, and we want to insert Tibet into the mainstream by being at the games.
With the A’s coming from behind, to beat the Angels 2-1 at the bottom of the 9th inning.
(Note): Pictures of arrival at SFO, of locals Duane and Nupur, are available on PoeticDream.
As the one-year countdown celebrations for the 2008 Olympics came to a close in Beijing, eight Tibetan independence activists were deported to Hong Kong. Six of the activists had been arrested yesterday for unfurling a protest banner on the Great Wall of China. The two others were Lhadon Tethong and Paul Golding, who were detained by Chinese police in Beijing at approximately 2pm Beijing time today. Ms. Tethong, a Tibetan and Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet, has been openly reporting for the past week on China's Olympics-related propaganda on her blog, Beijing Wide Open.
While I'm feeling relieved to be out of Chinese custody, my thoughts are with the hundreds of Tibetans rounded up just last week for a peaceful protest in Tibet,said Lhadon Tethong from Hong Kong.
I was detained and deported by Chinese authorities for just speaking my mind, a basic right that people in Tibet are systematically denied. Tibetans in Tibet suffer terrible consequences for this same simple act.
Under the glare of the Olympic spotlight, China is attempting to promote an image of itself as free and open, while the reality inside Tibet and China is far different,added Ms. Tethong.
I hope our actions have helped to pry open space for Tibetans and Chinese alike who hunger for freedom.
One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008in English and Chinese. During the two-day detention, the whereabouts of the British, Canadian, and American activists remained unknown.
With boundless gratitude, Tibetans everywhere applaud these activists for their courage and sacrifice,said Tenzin Dorjee, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet.
The tide is changing in our favor, and the Chinese government will soon come to realize that we will never give up until Tibet is free.
August 8th, 2007 marks the one-year countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and already protests are dominating next year’s Games. Six Tibet supporters, including two Bay Area residents, were today released from Chinese detention after unfurling a protest banner on China’s Great Wall two days ago. In Delhi, India, fourteen Tibetans entered the 32nd day of an indefinite hunger strike, aimed at pressuring the Chinese government to change its policies in Tibet. Tibetans and their supporters around the globe marked the one-year countdown with an International Day of Action, protesting under the banner of “Team Tibet” at Chinese consulates and embassies, from London to New Delhi, Mexico City to Cape Town.
The newly formed San Francisco Team Tibet coalition called on Mayor Gavin Newsom to revoke the city’s agreement to host the Chinese torch. San Francisco is currently the only city in North America scheduled to host the increasingly controversial flame.
If we stand by and clap as this tainted torch passes through our city,said Dawa Dorjee of San Francisco Team Tibet,
we become complicit in Chinese state propaganda and the brutal policies in my home country that they are trying to cover up with the glamour of these Games.
I think the mayor has gravely miscalculated his constituency by thinking that we are willing to ignore China's horrific human rights record and welcome this controversial torch with open arms,said Laurel Sutherlin, Martinez’s partner.
By accepting this torch, San Francisco is placing itself on the global podium: We're asking the people of San Francisco: is genocide and occupation what we want to stand for?
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»http://www.youtube.com/v/xp5mAMrfvI8
(Note): Video Content, and more information, is available at Video and Photos - Banner Hung On Great Wall Of China.
Duane Martinez of Sausalito and Nupur Modi of Oakland were among six Tibet independence activists from the UK, US, and Canada who were detained today after rappelling from the top of the Great Wall of China with a 450 square foot protest banner.
» More photos available at Flickr: GreatWallAction.
The dramatic action took place on the eve of the one-year countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Tibet advocacy groups assert that China is attempting to use the 2008 Games as a tool to legitimize its illegal occupation of Tibet. Chinese authorities removed the activists after two hours; their current whereabouts are unknown.
The Chinese government is exploiting the Olympics to gain acceptance as a world leader. By protesting at the Great Wall, the most recognizable symbol of Chinese nationhood, we're sending a clear message that China's dream of international leadership cannot be realized as long as it continues its brutal occupation of Tibet,said Tenzin Dorjee, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet.
We're appealing to the international community to shine the light of scrutiny on China in the coming year,added Dorjee.
The Olympic dream of Tibetans is freedom by August 2008, and we call on the IOC and the global community to help us make this a reality.
If ... human rights are not acted upon [by China] to our satisfaction then we will act.According to a report released by Human Rights Watch last week,
the Chinese government shows no substantive progress in addressing long-standing human rights concerns.
The IOC assured the global community that China's human rights record would improve as a result of staging the Games. Instead, we have seen the opposite with a hardening of China's position in Tibet, a sustained government-sponsored resettlement program of Tibetan nomads, increased social and economic marginalization of Tibetans following the launch of the China-Tibet railway, and the closing off of Tibet to journalists and media scrutiny. To stop the Chinese government from acting with impunity in Tibet, the IOC must publicly demand that journalists have unrestricted access to Tibet. By refusing to "act", as it promised, the IOC only helps China to cover up its lamentable human rights record in Tibet.
a fight to the death with the Dalai clique.
they (foreign journalists) can travel anywhere in China. There will be no restrictions(DPA, 28 September 2006), China subsequently announced that all foreign journalists must obtain a special permit prior to traveling to Tibet.
Lhadon Tethong, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet, is currently in Beijing at the time of the One Year Countdown to the '08 Olympic Games. She is testing the waters of liberty and freedom of press by travelling to significant sites around the capital and writing a daily blog to the world to follow her journey. She is now being followed by plain clothes men who track her movements as she broadcasts them to the world.
This is a bold and exciting chronicle of an inspiring Tibetan woman's travels in the heart of the Chinese empire, as she investigates, in person, the repressive society, in China, today. Check it out, and stay tuned for more to come!
You can participate.
Please join us for a march and rally in downtown San Francisco, on Aug 8th, to take part in an international Day of Action in support of Tibet!
August 8th marks the One Year Countdown to the opening ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. This is a symbolic moment for the Chinese government to promote its Olympics propaganda and mask the reality of life on the ground inside China and Tibet.
The Chinese government is using the Games to gain international approval for their cruel occupation of Tibet. San Francisco is the only US city hosting the Olympic torch, a symbol now tainted with genocide and repression, on its way to Beijing. Meanwhile, the Mayor of San Francisco has said that human rights are irrelevant to the Games. We would like to tell him otherwise, as we join Tibetans and supporters to help expose China's Olympics lies, and bring the message to Chinese Embassies and Consulates worldwide.
Free Tibet 2008
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It's time for China to wake up and take seriously the concerns of the international community about Tibet. Ideally, the Olympics symbolize the display of excellence in physical ability and mutual understanding between peoples and nations. The 2008 Beijing Olympics will take place even as China suppresses human rights in Tibet and refuses to accept the political aspirations of the Tibetan People.stated Professor Larry Gerstein, President of the International Tibet Independence Movement.
The Olympic Games cannot cover up China's brutal occupation of Tibet, but our efforts to expose the truth will only escalate over the next year as we push for concrete change inside Tibet. During this one year countdown, we are calling upon Tibetans and people of conscience worldwide to join us in taking a stand in support of the Tibetan people.said Tenzin Dorjee, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet.
www.flickr.comThis is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called SF Team Tibet - August 8, 2007. Make your own badge here.»Complete Slideshow
Tibet advocacy groups team up for one-year countdown to 2008 Beijing Olympics at baseball stadiums across North America
(Note): More information is available at Frequently Asked Questions. A Flickr slideshow, and several interesting videos, are also available for viewing.
FISHERS, Ind.--On August 4th, 2007, The International Campaign for Tibet, International Tibet Independence Movement, and Students for a Free Tibet along with 30 Tibet support groups will bring "Team Tibet" to baseball stadiums across North America. August 8th marks the 1-year countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Tibet support groups will use this period to focus international scrutiny on China's human rights record in Tibet to help influence policy change in China. The Associated Press reported on July 10th that China's run-up to the 2008 Olympics is "a marathon through a human-rights minefield." The action is meant to call attention to the 2008 Olympics and to stand on the side of Team Tibet, those who advocate for human rights changes in Tibet.
It's time for China to wake up and take seriously the concerns of the international community about Tibet. Sports fans traveling to the Beijing Olympics will expect nothing less than a free and fair playing field - inside and outside the Olympic stadiums. China needs to make the kind of progress on Tibetan issues that will register with an international sports audience before August 2008 when the Olympic games begin, said Jacob Colker, Campaigns Manager at the International Campaign for Tibet.
Ideally, the Olympics symbolize the display of excellence in physical ability and mutual understanding between peoples and nations. The 2008 Beijing Olympics will take place even as China suppresses human rights in Tibet and refuses to accept the political aspirations of the Tibetan People, stated Professor Larry Gerstein, President of the International Tibet Independence Movement.
The Olympic Games cannot cover up China's brutal occupation of Tibet, but our efforts to expose the truth will only escalate over the next year as we push for concrete change inside Tibet. During this one year countdown, we are calling upon Tibetans and people of conscience worldwide to join us in taking a stand in support of the Tibetan people, said Tenzin Dorjee, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet.
Look for Team Tibet in the stands of the following stadiums and sections:
(Note): For those affected by the Great Firewall Of China, this article may be available as
http://www.pkblogs.com/sfteamtibet/2007/07/frequently-asked-questions.html
... the Chinese government shows no substantive progress in addressing long-standing human rights concerns.
Less than a year ago, the World Tibet Network News: Chinese go further, faster and higher with media crackdowns two years before Beijing Olympics (RWB) reported
When the Summer Olympic Games open in Beijing two years from today, on 8 August 2008, neither the Beijing Organising Committee (BOCOG) nor the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be in a position to guarantee that the thousands of journalists covering the event will be able move about freely or write what they think, although the Chinese authorities promised they would.
Six years later, nothing has changed. But despite the absence of any significant progress in free speech and human rights in China, the IOC’s members continue to turn a deaf ear to repeated appeals from international organisations that condemn the scale of the repression.
The departments of propaganda and public security and the cyber-police, all conservative bastions, implement censorship with scrupulous care.
At the end of the long day, it was strangely comforting to return to our hotel and find no less than five plain-clothed security agents waiting for us in the lobby.
This blog is SF Team Tibet. This post is SF Team Tibet NewsFeeds, and you are looking at the blog itself. What you see is a lot easier for you to read, than for computers to do so. There's another copy of your blog, that's designed for computers to read.
The other copy is called the blog (site) feed. The site feed is read by a newsfeed reader. If you would like to be informed, automatically, when this site (or any of millions of other sites on the Internet) is updated with new and interesting articles, you get a newsfeed reader, and subscribe to one or more feeds.
You have several choices, for newsfeed readers. Here are a few examples.
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I think that this is the relevant policy information that will affect us on August 4.
Autographs:
Guests may request autographs from the players from the time gates open until 45 minutes prior to game time from either dugout; however, consideration should be given to guests possessing tickets for these areas.
Management reserves the right to remove any signs or banners at any time. Signs and banners may be hung during the A's games as long as:
- They do not obstruct the site line of another guest.
- They are not in the field of play.
- They do not cover up any existing signage.
- They are not commercial in nature.
- They are not paraded around the stadium.
- They are not in poor taste.
For the safety of our guests, brooms, sticks and poles are not permitted at the McAfee Coliseum. On days that the A's are going for a sweep, small whiskbrooms will be permitted. Brooms may not exceed four feet in height. No sticks, and/or metal poles of any type are permitted at any time.
These items are not permitted into the stadium at any time.
Cameras and videos are allowed in the Stadium during all regular season baseball games as long as they are not for commercial use. Both cameras and videos must be hand held; tripods cannot be set up in the seating areas or the aisles (monopods are allowed), and must not block the view of the ball game for other guests.
All bags must be no larger than 16" x16" x 8". All bags, including backpacks and purses, are subject to search. No cans, weapons, glass containers or alcohol are allowed into the Stadium at any time. No hard-sided coolers of any size are permitted. Diaper bags are permitted in regardless of size, for guests accompanied by their babies. Strollers must be small enough to keep out of walkways and aisles or be checked into the Security Office 125 or First Aid 109.
Guest cellular phones are allowed as long as they do not distract from the enjoyment of other guests. Repeated use may constitute a warning. Failure to comply may result in being asked to check the phone in at the Security Office.
Laser pointers and similar items are prohibited. Anyone who is observed using a laser pointer will be ejected from the stadium and the device to be confiscated. Any laser pointer, which is confiscated, will not be returned.
Noisemakers, cowbells, air horns, drums, cell phones, and all items that make a noise are allowed in the stadium. However, their use, frequency and location are at the discretion of management. If there are complaints about these items being used, their use should be stopped. If necessary, the item may be checked into the Security Office, behind section 126 on the Main Concourse, until the end of the game.
P. No person shall remain standing in or block any aisle or passageway beyond the time reasonably necessary to transit the aisle or passageway. Aisle or passageway shall mean those areas immediately adjacent to the seating areas that are intended as walkways leading to or from seats or exits. Aisle or passageway shall also mean the concourse areas when large crowds have gathered in sufficient numbers so as to block such aisle or passageways. (Ord. 12091 (part), 1998; Ord. 12003 § 2 (part), 1997)
Anyone wishing to distribute leaflets must receive written permission from the Vice President of Stadium Operations of the Oakland A's. Petitioners are allowed to seek signatures from guests in the parking lots away from all stadium entrances.
For a donation to the community fund, guests can send birthday, anniversary, and or special messages to family and friends on the Stadium's matrix board. The messages are limited in length and must be received 72 hours prior to being run. For additional information please email to Community@oaklandathletics.com or guests may call (510) 638-4900 ext. 2329 for an order form.
Guests may reserve Tailgate space during Oakland A's games. Tailgate space is available for groups of 50 people or more. Reserved Areas are available up to 2 1/2 hours before game time. Each Tailgate Area can accommodate a group up to 250 guests. There is an $85 fee to reserve each block in the Tailgate Area. Each vehicle associated with the group must pay the regular $15 parking fee for entrance. You may purchase Tailgate parking passes in advance for special entry. Any early entry for setup must be prearranged with A's Stadium Operations Department and will be charged an additional $25 early entry fee. Tailgate areas include portable restrooms, charcoal disposal bins, and garbage cans. Tables and chairs are also available to rent through the Stadium Operations Department. For more information or to reserve your space, call (510) 563-2339.
As a security measure, coolers, backpacks and other large bags are not allowed into the Arena. The Arena in Oakland will deny entry into the facility to those who carry any of the items mentioned until they are put away. The Warriors or the Arena will not assume the responsibility for the storage of any of these items.
No video, audio or professional lense cameras. Additionaly no digital cameras or laser pointers.
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