Saturday, August 11, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
SF Weekly - August 4, 2007
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.
And quoted Kalsang Tashi, with
Americans love baseball, and we want to insert Tibet into the mainstream by being at the games.
and of course the high point of the afternoon
With the A’s coming from behind, to beat the Angels 2-1 at the bottom of the 9th inning.
Baseball, Beer and Buddha - Even if the beer cost $5 / glass, not a bad afternoon.
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Thursday, August 9, 2007
Eight Tibet Activists Released And Deported From China As Global Protests Mark 2008 Olympics Countdown
(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.
In many cities around the globe, Students for a Free Tibet members announced news of the activists' release to relieved Tibetans and supporters gathered for demonstrations that are part of an "International Day of Action" to mark the one-year countdown to the Beijing Olympics. Demonstrations are taking part today in at least fourteen cities, from Vancouver to New York, New Delhi to Cape Town.
The six activists were detained on the eve of the one-year countdown for unfurling a 450-square foot banner on the Great Wall of China that read
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.
Dorjee and four other Americans were held by Chinese authorities for two days in April after a protest on Mt. Everest against China’s plans to summit the mountain as part of the Olympic torch relay. Tibetans and their supporters have vowed more protests during the torch relay next year.
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Letter To Mayor Newsom - August 8, 2007
San Francisco
* San Francisco Tibetan Youth Congress * Tibetan Association of Northern California * Gyuto *
* Students for a Free Tibet * Nechung * Bay Area Friends of Tibet * Committee of 100 for Tibet *
* San Francisco Tibetan Youth Congress * Tibetan Association of Northern California * Gyuto *
* Students for a Free Tibet * Nechung * Bay Area Friends of Tibet * Committee of 100 for Tibet *
August 8, 2007
The Honorable Gavin Newsom
Mayor of San Francisco
Dear Mayor:
Allow us to introduce ourselves as the San Francisco Team Tibet Coalition, part of an international movement of Tibetans and Tibet support groups that is pressing for substantive and measurable improvements in the situation in Chinese occupied Tibet by 2008.
We are writing to express our opposition to San Francisco’s welcoming of the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay. You have been quoted as stating “We’re very proud and deeply honored to be part of the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay…As the only American city selected and also as the gateway to the Pacific Rim, I believe San Francisco truly reflects the diversity that is consistent with the Olympic Games.”
Beijing’s torch, however, does not represent any values consistent with those of the city of San Francisco, through which it is meant to pass on its way to Tibet, a contested land under military occupation. This Chinese Torch is tainted with oppression and cultural genocide and stands in complete opposition to the true spirit of the people of San Francisco and the Olympic Games.
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.
Chinese government officials promised reforms, including the protection of minority nationality rights, before winning the right to host the games. Recent reports on the situation inside Tibet, however, indicate the implementation of new constraints on religious freedom, the forcible relocation of nomads and farmers off their lands, exploitative resource extraction and ecological damage, and new restrictions on travel. In fact, the second most-revered Tibetan Buddhist religious figure has been held under house arrest since May 1995 and mere pictures of Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama are forbidden in Tibet. Just this past week, Human Rights Watch released a report, which states that “the Chinese government shows no substantive progress in addressing long-standing human rights concerns.”
The San Francisco Team Tibet Coalition is calling on the Chinese government to end its egregious human rights abuses in Tibet and to resolve the issue of Tibet through earnest negotiations with the Dalai Lama or his representatives. We also call on you, Mayor Newsom, to say “No” to Beijing’s torch in San Francisco, so long as the Chinese government continues its brutal reign in Tibet.
Since you took office, you have been known to take bold steps to further equality and justice. Your welcoming of the Olympic torch would suggest a real departure from that course and indicate that San Francisco is ready to turn its back on the cultural genocide in Tibet and ignore the continuing suffering of the Tibetan people. It 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.
We applaud your previous human rights efforts and solicit your support in pushing China to take the necessary steps toward ending Tibetan and human rights abuses.
We San Franciscans do not want to be used as a propaganda tool of the Chinese government. We call on you to decisively demonstrate your support for human rights and dignity by publicly withdrawing your welcome of the tainted Olympic Torch.
As Ben Blanchard from The Guardian has already reported: "Free Tibet activists on the Great Wall, a barrage of critical rights reports, a shroud of smog hanging over Beijing -- China's government must surely have imagined a more auspicious one-year countdown for the Olympics."
Surely you envisioned something different for our city as well.
Therefore, we request a formal meeting with you to discuss the cancellation of the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay through San Francisco.
We look forward to your response.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Giovanni Vassallo
for the San Francisco Team Tibet Coalition:
Tibetan Association of Northern California
Gyuto
Students for a Free Tibet
San Francisco Tibetan Youth Congress
Nechung
Committee of 100 for Tibet
Bay Area Friends of Tibet
Tibet Justice Center
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Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Bay Area Activists Protest One-Year Countdown To Beijing Olympics
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.
Local Tibetan community leaders, and the friends and family of Modi and Martinez, were among those calling on the city to rebuke the torch that is ever more associated with Chinese occupation and state-sanctioned repression. The colorful downtown demonstration featured young Tibetan women flying a large floating protest banner with helium weather balloons, and lanky stilt walkers dressed as Team Tibet athletes.
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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» Related Links
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Monday, August 6, 2007
Video and Photos - Banner Hung On Great Wall Of China
»http://www.youtube.com/v/xp5mAMrfvI8
- Other Views:
- Photos available at Flickr: GreatWallAction.
- More information available at Two Bay Area Activists Detained After Banner Hung On Great Wall Of China.
- Overall information available at Frequently Asked Questions.
- Economist magazine: A year to go
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Two Bay Area Activists Detained After Banner Hung On Great Wall Of China
(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.
Today's protest is also directed at the International Olympic Committee for failing to fulfill its commitment to hold the Chinese government accountable with regards to its human rights record. In 2002, IOC President Jacques Rogge said,
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.
Matt Whitticase, spokesperson for Free Tibet Campaign said,
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.
Lhadon Tethong, a Tibetan and the Executive Director of SFT, is currently in Beijing and will try to meet with IOC President Jacque Rogge today who is in Beijing for tomorrow's celebrations. Tethong is demanding the IOC immediately oppose propaganda efforts by the Chinese government to underscore its claim to Tibet, and use its influence to affect substantive progress on human rights in China and a meaningful resolution to the occupation of Tibet. In Beijing since Wednesday, Tethong has been openly blogging at www.BeijingWideOpen.org, exposing the reality behind China's blatant Olympics propaganda. To mark the Olympics one-year countdown, Tibetans and their supporters worldwide are organizing protests to demand a solution to the Tibet issue. Demonstrations will continue at China's historical landmarks, sports arenas, and at Chinese Embassies and Consulates around the world between now and the August 2008 Games.
Video Content, and more information, is available at Video and Photos - Banner Hung On Great Wall Of China.
NOTES:
(1) The detained activists are: Melanie Raoul (Vancouver, Canada), Sam Price (Vancouver, Canada), Leslie Kaup (South St. Paul, Minnesota), Nupur Modi (Oakland, California), Duane Martinez (Sausalito, California), Pete Speller (Cambridge, UK).
(2) President Rogge was speaking on the BBC's Hardtalk television programme in April, 2002.
(3) Human Rights Watch press release available at:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/08/02/china16560.htm.
(4) In November 2005 Zhang Qingli, previously hardline Party Secretary in Xinjiang, was appointed Party Secretary to Tibet. He has made increasingly vitriolic public denunciations of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, referring to
a fight to the death with the Dalai clique.
(5) Human Rights Watch report available at:
http://hrw.org/reports/2007/tibet0607/index.htm.
(6) The official People's Daily reported on 25 July 2007 that tourists traveling to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) in the first 6 months of 2007 reached 1.1 million, an increase of 86.3% over the same period for 2006, according to the regional tourism bureau. Xinhua reported on 9 May 2007 that the region is forecast to host 3 million visitors this year, a total that exceeds the population of the TAR.
(7) Despite a pledge by Olympics Press Chief, Sun Weijia, that
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.
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Adventures In China
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.
- Join the SFT Action Network (email participation), from the SFT Home Page.
- Join the SFT Rangzen Circle.
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Sunday, August 5, 2007
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