International Day of action for Tibet....is TODAY!! :-)

Today the one year count down to the 2008 Olympics in China begins.  It is also, the International Day of action for Tibet.

Today there will be world wide protests by supporters to FREE TIBET.

 Yesterday, three Americans, two Canadians, and one British citizen Unfurled a huge 450 foot banner on the Great Wall of China.  The banner read:

 "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008"

 It was taken off by Chinese authorities within two hours, and the six were arrested.  Their status, like all Chinese Govt detainees, is unknown.

The names of the people arrested are:

Leslie Kaup of Saint Paul, Minnesota

Nupur Modi of Oakland, California

Duane Martinez of Sausalito, California

Pete Speller of Cambridge, UK

Melanie Raoul of Vancouver,Canada

Sam Price of Vancouver, Canada

According to Tenzin Dorjee, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) "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!"

Earlier this year, Dorjee and four other Americans from SFT, performed a similar protest on Tibetan side of  Mount Everest, at base camp.  They were held for a period, and deported.

"We're appealing to the international community to shine the light of scrutiny on China in the coming year. 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," said Dorjee in his public statement.

According to SFT, yesterday's protest was also directed at the IOC for failing to fulfill its commitment to hold the Chinese government accountable  to its human rights record.


     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," Whitticase said.

For a ongoing blog-sphere of the Olympic protests see Lhadon Tethong's webpage at: http://www.beijingwideopen.org/.  Lhadon is a very articulate, brave, and effective spokeswoman of Tibetan lineage.  Many ex-patriots of Tibet live in Canada, as do their children and grandchildren.

Below are some quotes by Lhadon, from her webpage, used with permission:

Some Quotes from Lhadon:

"The Olympics is an opportunity to push China for change, and it's our responsibility to take the mask off the face of the Beijing regime," says Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet in Katmandu. "These four detained activists are just the beginning of a wave of protest" leading up to the 2008 Games.

- "The Olympic Effect", Newsweek International, July 2007 (on the Everest protestors)

"The Chinese government hopes to use the 2008 Olympic Games to conceal the brutality of its occupation of Tibet and win the international community's acceptance as a modern power on the world stage," Lhadon Tethong of the Kathmandu-based Students for a Free Tibet said on Wednesday.

"The International Olympic Committee has no business promoting the Chinese government's political agenda by allowing the torch to be run through Tibet," Lhadon Tethong said.

- "Olympic Torch for Everest, but doubts over Taiwan Leg", EBCN, May 2007

Lhadon Tethong of Students for a Free Tibet spoke of the urgency Tibetans feel as their population dwindles and their culture is chipped away and the U.S. government goes along with it, claiming that China will change once in the WTO and subject to the pressures of globalization. " 'Constructive engagement with China' is Clinton's buzzword," said Tethong, "but China has a strike-hard campaign in which people are arrested for any infraction—having a photo of the Dalai Lama, or participating in silent prayer."

Lhadon confronted Jacques Rogge, the president of the IOC, on August 7th outside of his hotel. The SFT is asking the IOC to immediately oppose propaganda efforts by the Chinese government to underscore its false claim to Tibet; and use its influence to bring a resolution to the illegal occupation of Tibet, and the resulting human rights violations against Tibetans.  

To find out more about the worlwide protests being held today, go to SFT's website at:

http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/article.php?list=type&type=15

What do you think about Tibet, the Dalai Lama, and their efforts to resurrect the Tibetan Buddhist World?