Tibet-China-Olympics Update: April 25, 2008
Filed Under Tibet, Human Rights, China | Posted on April 25, 2008
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs holds hearing on the Tibet crisis
The subcommittee concluded a hearing to examine the crisis in Tibet, focusing on peaceful action that would be in accordance with international standards of religious freedom and human rights, after receiving testimony from John D. Negroponte, Deputy Secretary of State; Steve Marshall, Senior Advisor, Congressional-Executive Commission on China; Richard Gere , International Campaign for Tibet, New York, New York; Lodi Gyari, Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Washington, D.C.; and Lobsang Sangay, Harvard University Law School East Asian Legal Studies Program, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
For the transcript of Lodi Gyari’s testimony, visit ICT here.
153 Tibet Groups warn Coca-Cola of humanitarian disaster unless Tibet pulled from Torch Relay
More than 150 Tibet groups worldwide have signed a letter sent today to Coca-Cola stating that the key Olympics sponsor will be complicit in a humanitarian disaster in Tibet unless it uses its undoubted influence to force the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to drop Tibet from the Olympic Torch Relay.
Human rights groups to block torch relay in South Korea
As a sign of protest at China’s repressive policy in Tibet and against North Korean renegades, human rights groups in South Korea said they will disrupt the Olympic torch relay scheduled for April 27.
“We urge China, as a host of the Olympic Games, to abide by the common values of humankind and respect the human rights of the weak,” said Christian Accountability for Society, Save North Korea and Helping Hands Korea in a joint press conference held in front of the World Peace Gate at Seoul’s Olympic Park. “China must stop its forceful repatriation of North Korean refugees and its violent crackdown on Tibetan protestors.
Negroponte Urges China to Stop Vilifying Dalai Lama
The second-ranking diplomat in the Bush administration has urged China to stop vilifying the Dalai Lama and instead open talks with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.
Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte appeared before a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday. He said the United States is trying to convince Beijing that only by engaging the Dalai Lama in dialogue can it resolve the long-standing grievances of the Tibetan people.
Chinese spectators ‘attacked Tibet protesters at Canberra torch relay’
Mobs of Chinese supporters were accused of assaulting pro-Tibet campaigners on the sidelines of the Olympic torch relay in Australia today as scuffles broke out and at least seven protesters were arrested.
There was none of the violence or disruption that marred the torch relay in London or Paris, and the Olympic flame travelled uninterrupted through Canberra, the capital.
But observers said that behind the barricades Chinese nationals assaulted Tibetan activists and tore down their flags. Confrontations between an estimated 15,000 China supporters and about 3,000 pro-Tibet demonstrators reportedly flared all along the 16km route as the groups held aloft opposing banners and shouted competing slogans.
China launches renewed “Patriotic Education” Campaign across all sections in Tibet
The Chinese authorities in the “Tibet Autonomous Region” (’TAR’) and other Tibetan areas in neighboring provinces have launched a two-months renewed “Patriotic Education” campaign covering almost every sections of society beginning primarily with the monastic institutions, party cadres, security forces and government employees, farmers and private entrepreneurs, educational institutions and common people, to denounce the Dalai Lama and the “splittist forces” in the coming two months.
Chinese Military gather “Evidence” to frame TIbetans in future propaganda exercize
The Chinese military in TIbet are hard at work, confiscating everyday items and busily trying to portray them as weapons. At Rongpo monastery, Rebkong County, Chinese armed forces barged into the chamber of the protective deity (a small room where the monastery’s deity statue is housed). Often such rooms serve as a safe place where hunters and poachers give up their hunting weapons while vowing not to hunt animals any more. From the monastery chamber the Chinese armed forces took the knives, bows and arrows and placed them outside the monastery. Pictures were then taken which will be used for propaganda the purpose of which is presenting a false picture of Tibetans.
US government urged to enact an ‘action plan’ on Tibet
The Senate Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, chaired by Senator Barbara Boxer, on April 23 convened a hearing on “The Crisis in Tibet: Finding a Path to Peace”, where members of the committee discussed working with the Bush administration on an “action plan” on Tibet to highlight several key areas the US government should use as leverage for improving the human rights situation in Tibet, as well as encouraging dialog between the Chinese government and representatives of the Dalai Lama.
Compelled by the current crisis in Tibet, Senator Boxer convened the hearing and pursued a strong line of questioning, leading Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte - who heads the US-China senior dialog - to concede that US government attempts to address concerns over Tibet using “quiet diplomacy” had produced “results that are so far minimal at best” from the Chinese government.
The ‘action plan’ on Tibet discussed at the hearing included prioritizing the establishment of a US consulate in Tibet’s capital city Lhasa, pushing for US officials to attend and monitor trials of Tibetans detained during the recent unrest, encouraging President George W. Bush to travel to Tibet if he attends the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in August this year, exploring avenues of cooperation over Tibet with European governments, and pursuing other non-US governmental means of influencing the situation in Tibet, such as supporting UN human rights officials’ calls for access to Tibet, and even exploring what role the United States Olympic Committee could play in alleviating the immediate situation in Tibet.
Olympic torch relay hit by protests in Japan
Protesters Friday waved the Tibetan flag and denounced China’s rulers as the Beijing Olympic torch came to Japan for the latest leg of a worldwide relay marred by demonstrations. Japan, which is trying to repair uneasy ties with China, has promised tight security for the torch run on Saturday through the central mountain town of Nagano, the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics.
As torch-bearers rolled into Nagano, hundreds of Falun Gong supporters marched with a loud brass band through the city’s streets to condemn China’s leadership, which considers the spiritual movement an “evil cult.”
“Stop the mass murder by the Chinese Communist Party,” read a banner held by marchers in yellow Falun Gong T-shirts, who were closely watched by dozens of police.Separately, at least two demonstrators unfurled Tibetan flags as the Chinese torch delegation stopped at a highway rest area on its way to Nagano, 180 kilometres (110 miles) north of Tokyo.
As the crackdown deepens in Tibet and people continue to ‘disappear’ almost every day in Lhasa, preparations are underway by the authorities for a ceremony known as ’safeguard the torch and love one’s country’ to be held in the Potala Square to mark the torch’s ascent of Mt. Chomolungma (Everest) in early May. The ceremony, which is likely to be attended by thousands of Chinese people, is due to take place when the torch passes through Lhasa, according to a report published on a well-known and unofficial Chinese language website citing several sources. It will take place against the backdrop of the Dalai Lama’s former home, the Potala Palace, the political and religious center of Tibetan government before the Chinese invasion and the Dalai Lama’s escape into exile. The report stated that travel agencies in Lhasa had been informed about the ceremony.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama issues “An Appeal To All Chinese Spiritual Brothers And Sisters”
Today I would like to make a personal appeal to all Chinese spiritual brothers and sisters, both inside as well as outside the People’s Republic of China, and especially to the followers of the Buddha. I do this as a Buddhist monk and a student of our most revered teacher, the Buddha. I have already made an appeal to the general Chinese community. Here I am appealing to you, my spiritual brothers and sisters, on an urgent humanitarian matter.
The Chinese and the Tibetan people share common spiritual heritage in Mahayana Buddhism. We worship the Buddha of Compassion – Guan Yin in the Chinese tradition and Chenrezig in Tibetan tradition – and cherish compassion for all suffering beings as one of the highest spiritual ideals. Furthermore, since Buddhism flourished in China before it came to Tibet from India, I have always viewed the Chinese Buddhists with the reverence due to senior spiritual brothers and sisters.
China plans to meet Dalai Lama envoys
Chinese officials will meet representatives of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism whom China blames for a wave of unrest, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday, citing official sources. The move marks a change in tactics on the part of Beijing, which has stepped up its vilification of the Dalai Lama since anti-government protests hit Tibet and rippled across ethnic Tibetan parts of China in the past weeks.
”In view of the requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks, the relevant department of the central government will have contact and consultation with Dalai’s private representative in the coming days,” Xinhua quoted an official as saying.
A spokesman for the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, said he had not received any communication from China about a meeting and China’s Foreign Ministry said it had no details.
China Fails to Respond to UN Rights Expert’s Question on Panchen Lama
The People’s Republic of China has failed to provide a direct response to Ms. Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief of the UN Human Rights Council, with regard to a specific question she put to the Chinese authorities in a communication of last May on case of the Panchen Lama. The Panchen Lama turns 19 today remaining under enforced disappearance since May 1995.
In a document highlighting cases forwarded to governments that was submitted by Ms. Jahangir to the Seventh Session of the Council held here from 3-28 March, the Special Rapporteur said that she intervened on the case of the Panchen Lama by writing to the Chinese authorities on 9 May, 2007. In that communication, the expert asked: “… what measures the Government has taken to implement the concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, adopted on 30 September 2005, where the Committee recommended that your Government should “[a]llow an independent expert to visit and confirm the well-being of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima while respecting his right to privacy, and that of his parents.”
Ms. Jahangir’s communication observed that Gedhun Choekyi Nyima “was reported to remain in isolation and concerns were expressed about his whereabouts, well-being and fate. It was further alleged that the Chinese Government interfered in the identification and training of significant reincarnations in order to control the political loyalties of these important figures in Tibetan society, weaken the influence of the traditional religious authorities and use the reincarnates’ influence among Tibetans.”
One Response to “Tibet-China-Olympics Update: April 25, 2008”
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Hello, I’m Korean uni student who lives in seoul.
My english is not so good so I can’t read all of your writing. But I do know you are interested in human rights. So I just want to share with you what was happened in my country.
As you know there were torch seremony in Seoul, Korea. Almost 10,000 Chinese came to one place to watch it.
Thre were a few peoples who has a negetive opinion about chinese government. And chinese were very aggresive to them. Throw the stone, wrench, bottle,,,etc. One reporter was harmed seriously during the situation.
One of the best crazy moment was when chinese attacked one tibet man. So many chinese attaked the tibetan and korean police.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wT4scEwMIc
↑This is the video clips of the situation.
I just want to say chinese has to realize what they really doing now. This is not the right way to express their love to their country. And they need to know whay their government really doing to other country who doesn’t have power.