How will the world respond? How will we respond?
Filed Under Tibet, Human Rights, China | Posted on March 15, 2008
Chinese violence against the Tibetan people is escalating. Beijing Wide Open provides the following report from a phone call from within Tibet:
“The Chinese shot at everybody in sight and blood and piles of corpses are lying around the main temple Tsuglakhang in Lhasa. Many people have been put into prison where they are being beaten. Tibetans are being forced to beat up their own countrymen. Many Tibetans are refusing to do so.”
The same article reports on protests and sometimes violent responses in other countries, including the U.S., across the globe.
I’m struggling against a feeling of helplessness as I watch such brutal and senseless violence unfold again against a peaceful and compassionate people who want only to live in peace and practice their religion as they have for over a thousand years.
What can I do to help? What can you do to help? We can at least make our voices heard by writing our congressional representatives to let them know that, in the words of Richard Gere (in a very articulate and thought-provoking CNN interview, available at the end of this post), “The U.S. response should not be measured; it should be unequivocal. This cannot happen … China … cannot behave this way.”
For those of us who might think that writing letters is a feeble effort, Sidney Burris offers the following:
While it sometimes seems as though writing letters is an ineffective method of protest, the question of motivation is an important one for us. His Holiness’s long-term, middle-way approach to the Chinese problem is designed to alter the world’s consciousness about human rights and Tibetan sovereignty. Letters of support, offered up as examples of this changing consciousness, leave a subtle trace even when Tibet remains China’s captive and even when Tibetans around the world still live as exiles.
… we are witnessing a gradually growing consensus that Tibetan suffering has reached a tipping point. Who is responsible for this [consensus]? … those of us who are deeply heartened by the success of a non-violent campaign in a world saturated by violence; and so too are those of us who have been curious about the integrity of indigenous cultures anywhere and saddened when those cultures have been compromised.
Writing a letter is evidence of this sadness, and it makes a difference.
The International Campaign for Tibet provides a form that allows you to easily locate the names and addresses of your elected representatives. Find your legislators here.
James Ishmael Ford joins the growing movement to boycott the Beijing Olympics, and encourages us to let the Chinese government know directly that their behavior is unacceptable.
But, please object to this terrible tragedy to the Chinese embassy.
Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong
Chinese Embassy
2133 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington, DC 20007Tell them we won’t reward genocide.
You can also contact Chinese Communist Party Chairman Hu Jintao directly:
Chinese Communist Party Chairman of the People’s Republic of China
Hu Jintao
Guojia Zhuxi
The State Council General Office - Yongneixijie
Beijingshi 100017
People’s Republic of China
Salutation: Your Excellency
Email: info@cppcc.gov.cn and info@china.org.cn
You could also consider boycotting Chinese products, and letting your local retailers know of your decision. It’s not always easy — it took my wife 3 months to find a non-Chinese spatula — but I sleep better at night knowing that my hard-earned dollars are not funding Chinese murder, torture, and repression.
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