As you’ve seen here, the Chinese authorities finally detained Paul and me yesterday afternoon. I guess they couldn’t bear the idea of us running around Tiananmen Square during their one-year countdown bash. Well, what happened next confirms my suspicion that China has been feeling the heat in a big way. They reunited us with our friends, the “Great Wall Six,” (ha ha!) and flew us all to Hong Kong, where we were met at the airport by friendly faces and TV cameras. We’re here. We’re safe. We’re proud. We’re really, really tired. More soon.
Update: I’ve posted a short video below, recorded just after our arrival in Hong Kong, that shares some of my quick thoughts on our detention, the reality of “openness” in China, and my hope for the impact of our efforts… much, much more to come.
Yay!!! I’m so happy. I’ve been checking here all day to see the news. So good to see you safe and even smiling. Safe journeys on your next venture.
Freedom lovers around the world! Tibetans youngsters!
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Amazing. The courage of everyone who pulled this off is an inspiration. Thank you!
[...] According to their weblog, the two detained bloggers have been brought to Hong Kong now and are free, safe and well. These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can [...]
An hour ago, this happy news appeared in online edition of Toronto Star:
Three Canadian protesters in Hong Kong
Aug 08, 2007 06:46 PM
Canadian Press
Three Canadians detained in Beijing for protesting against the Chinese Communist government’s rule in Tibet have been released and have arrived in Hong Kong, a New-York-based pro-Tibet group said today.
“They are still in the terminal . . . the detainees are all calling their families, they seem to be doing fine, probably exhausted,” Heather Reddick of Students for a Free Tibet said in a telephone interview from New York.
The group’s executive director, Lhadon Tethong of Victoria, was the third Canadian detained when she was taken into custody earlier today.
“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,” Tethong said in a statement 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.”
Tethong had been visiting Beijing and writing on her blog and posting videos and photos online about what the group calls China’s “propaganda campaign” in the year leading up to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Two other Canadians – Melanie Raoul, 25, and Sam Price, 32, both of Vancouver – were detained Tuesday.
They were among six protesters who unfurled a 42-square-metre banner from the Great Wall of China reading “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008″ – the slogan used by the group to focus attention on Tibet during the countdown to the Olympics.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said officials from Foreign Affairs were trying to gather more information on the incident.
“We’ll be doing everything we can do to help and of course pointing out to the Chinese government – as we’re entitled to do – that such expressions of opinion are a natural part of the human rights that Canadians do expect in this country,” Harper said.
Tethong, 31, was on her first visit to China.
Her sister, Deyden, said she had avoided going to the Communist country because of her family’s pro-Tibet activism. Also, they still have relatives in Tibet and worried for their safety.
Deyden Tethong said she spoke with her sister when she first arrived in Beijing.
“In the beginning, she had about two or three minders with her,” she said from San Francisco, referring to plainclothes security officers following her sister.
“By the time just before they were picked up, they had close to 15 minders following them . . . They were being watched very closely and had this tail that kept growing.”
In New York, Tenzin Dorjee, a spokesman for Students for a Free Tibet, said Tethong had been a little nervous about her visit.
“She was definitely a little worried about her safety,” said Dorjee, 27, who himself was detained for three days in China last April for holding up a banner with the same slogan at the base camp on Mount Everest.
“I talked to her (Tethong) about my own experience, my greatest fear and in the worst darkest moment how you can overcome your fear by going to a particular place in your spirit where no one can touch,” said Dorjee.
“This kind of sharing really helped them.”
In one of her video postings, Tethong called on everyone who believes in a free Tibet to “get into the streets with a global uprising over the next year” for the sake of the Tibetan people.
“If you can go to Beijing during the games, engage in simple, but strong and powerful peaceful protest,” Tethong said.
“We will challenge the Chinese leadership to truly once and for all resolve the Tibetan issue and improve the life of the people living there on the ground.”
Soon after the her blog started to receive attention, plainclothes security officials began following her, Dorjee said.
Tethong called her group’s office from her cell phone as she was being detained around 2 p.m. local time.
The detention came just hours before the beginning of China’s official Olympic countdown celebration in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Tens of thousands were on hand, including dignitaries from the International Olympic Committee.
Dorjee said the crackdown shows China is not yet ready to host the Olympics.
“On the one hand the Chinese government is trying to proclaim to the world that they are ready to host the Olympics and China is a modern and free nation that should stand alongside the rest of the world,” he said.
“But even as they say all that and talk about the progress they have made in freedom and human rights, what actually happens is completely the opposite.”
Tethong was born and raised in Victoria to a Tibetan father and Canadian mother.
Dorjee said Tethong’s father spent years working for the administration of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader now based in India. Tethong herself has worked for Students for a Free Tibet for eight years and has been the group’s executive director for four.
The detentions have not deterred the group from launching similar actions in China.
“In the future what we’re looking at is a number of different people and different groups co-ordinating, but not necessarily executing the actions together and the Chinese government has no way of stopping this from happening,” said Dorjee.
The Chinese government says Tibet has been part of China for centuries, but many Tibetans say their homeland was essentially an independent state most of the time.
Chinese Communist troops moved into Tibet in 1951, and the Dalai Lama went into exile. Tibetans regard China’s presence as an occupation and say Beijing rules the region with a heavy hand.
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What a relief!
Can’t wait to see you guys back here. I’m sure the interrogations were fun and the detention food was vegetarian.
Here is to you… for a mission - actually two missions - executed to perfection. Thank you all for not only kicking CCP in the ass but doing it in style.
[...] Tethong reports on the blog this evening that she and her activist compatriots have landed and are free and safe in Hong Kong:As you’ve seen here, the Chinese authorities finally detained Paul and me yesterday [...]
So glad you are safe. I have admired your courage.
Congratulations to you all for a job well done. You are an inspiration to all of us who share your goals. Now it’s up to the rest of us to build on your momentum and carry this campaign forward.
Great job , I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Three cheers for our “ONE WORLD, ONE DREAM, FREE TIBET” victory over great wall and red star. I am an ardent reader of your updates in http://www.beijingwideopen.org I got up early in the morning to know what happened to you all. Felt lot better to see you all free with great task fulfilled. Very inspiring move undertaken and successfully completed. Big round of applause for all you there.
Great to see this. Well done and a bug hug to all of you from me. You have helped shine the spotlight on China’s appalling human rights again.
Absolutely incredible! Keep it up.
So glad you’re okay!
What an emotional day! I woke up to hear your voice on NPR and then ran to check the blog when I learned you had been detained. What an awesome action! Keep up the great work and let us know what more we can do!
In solidarity, M
We are so so relieved to see this photo of you all. Thanks everyone. You are one amazing bunch. You dared what China never imagined you would ever do. You truly truly inspires us. Words cannot express how much gratitude and pride we feel for you all. Bravo guys! Well Done! SFT Rocks and will continue to rock China till it let Tibet free. Free Tibet!
You are all very courageous, and your actions have been inspiring. Way to go!
Thank you all for a very couragous and well organized action, Great work! So happy to see you all together safe ‘n sound in the pic. Take care and have a safe trip coming home:)
I’m glad everyone of you is released. Great Job well done.. Thank you all for everything…
thank god! u al r safe. congratulation to urs success mission. take care n may peace prevail on earth. once again thank u so much for supporting the tibetan.
long live Dalai Lama
Free Tibet
Congratulations! You all did us proud!! Bravo!
Can’t thank you all enough……great job!!
Those sure are some beautiful smiles! Thank you for your perseverance and dedication! The world has been watching, and you have made a difference.
So great job done by so great people! i am sad and happy at the same time. i am sad because i am a Tibetan and i live in Tibet but have no right to say what i want to say and do what i what to do. Even though China is trying hard to fool the world that we Tibetans are happy under her, but here i am and telling the world that i am not a free human being under China. In fact, I have never felt safe here in China. Since I am little kid they tried to put all their ideologies into my mind and once I was so proud of standing under the red flag. However, history can’t be washed and now I know what that red flag means to me, its blood, my great grandfathers’ blood, my fellow Tibetan’s blood. This blood has been continuing and will be continued if the Tibetan issue is not solved.
If China finds out i have sent this comment i will be …….tortured, killed ….i can’t imagine this.
What ever comes to me, i am over happy today that why i am making this comment. I have read Lhadon and her friends’ news and feel so proud of them. I thank you all for what you did, I and millions of Tibetans both inside and out side Tibetans will remember this moment of history deep in our heart! You are so brave people and i am sure you made a difference on history.
I don’t know how long my life will last if i continue to make comments, but i will be brave whatever comes to me and i will hold up my head high until the last the moment of my life on the earth. I call for all Tibetans, all human beings of the world to save Tibet! If this problem is not solved, killing and blood will be continuing in Tibet!
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said officials from Foreign Affairs were trying to gather more information on the incident.
“We’ll be doing everything we can do to help and of course pointing out to the Chinese government – as we’re entitled to do – that such expressions of opinion are a natural part of the human rights that Canadians do expect in this country,” Harper said.
I am so happy that you are safe and done great job. I would like to meet you soon.
big hug and love in true.
Thank you all for your incredible achievement !
China’s scheme to paint a flowery picture of Tibet under their brutal occupation is just a whitewash. You guys beat them at their own game with the media. Very well planned and executed ! Thank you ! We are grateful !!!
TSE RING !
RANGZEN!!!
Great job guys! You’ve definately made everyone proud! During our protest today in Ottawa, everyone we passed was worried about you and wishing you all well for a safe return!
What a great news and I’m so happy for all of you brave heroes and I couldn’t thank enough for your courage, bravery, and heroism. Hugs and kisses!!!
good to know u all are safe.. Great work guys and keep up the good work. We got truth on our side
Job well done! I am glad that you guys have done the job! Its overwhelming to see you guys are free now. You have touched the heart of million Tibetans! And IOC will have to do something sooner or later..
free tibet and bho gyalo!
you just got too high to know what you are doing
CTV had a former sociology professor, Hari Sharma, on TV claiming that Tibet always had been a part of China and criticizing SFTs non-violent action.
I googled his name and found a scary article written in 2006 (!) posted on a website following the ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, full of communist jargon and nostalgia for maoism!!
Take a look at a declaration he signed where he celebrates Mao’s 100th year birthday .. Sick!!
http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/cpa/Theory/Gdmzt.html
Welcome home. Well done. What a relief to know you guys are safe! And what a mark you made while you were in Beijing. Looks like an all-around success to me.
With great admiration and vicarious pride - Camis
Today, i am not only happy but proud to be a Tibetan….you guys showed the Chinese that we Tibetans will not take their toture lying down. We’ll fight back untill we see the Colourful Tibetan Flag Flying High on the Potala Palace…And that day doesnt seem too far thanks to you guys…keep up the good job and Youth of Tibet shall follow…”Bho Gyalo”
You lasted more than most people anticipated and brought a lot of attention to the Games via your site. Job well done.
Thank you very much for your great job. i am so happy to hear you guys are safe and done great job.
I am glad to hear you all are safe now. You all did a great job.
On behalf of all the Tibetans around the World, I would like to thank you all for you courageous move in bringing TIBET’S issue on the World stage.
Your support and determination makes a difference in TIBET’S CAUSE. GOD BLESS YOU ALL…
ONE WORLD
ONE DREAM
FREE TIBET 2008
Lhadon and group - we are so proud of you! Way to go, girl! I am so relieved that you are safe, and to see you all smiling is a truly heart-warming thing. You are the talk of the town out here in little Victoria, BC - and can’t wait for your “documentary” on how you helped Tibet be free. Three cheers for you all!
With best wishes for a safe return,
Stephanie
Wonderfull to know you are free and safe!!! All of you!!
Wonderfull to see your eight smiling faces, you’re great and brave!
A big hug. Let’s keep on working for Tibetan Freedom!
are you guys just morons or what? you think this is a free country? 怎么有这个想法？ 我们不是你外国那么疯的啊。
Glad you’re all safe and well! You’ve been an inspiration to myself and a great many others.
Oh.. Great news finally and we are so relieved to see this group photo of you all. Thank you so much every one doing such a great job for our cause. You guys are one amazing group and thank you once again for this success.
Lhadon La, please take care as we need you to lead our younger generation for coming years.
Bhod Gyalo.
Hi Lhadon la, its good to hear that finally you guys have been released although after bit of mental torture..I think that this act or yours really need a courage and i appreciate for the fact that you went to china to protest.kudos and i pray that our problem will atlest try n look to get solved . bhod gyalo
We need more people like this as the Olympics draw nearer. China will be under more media scrutiny than ever, and this will be a great stage to showcase such messages.
Cheers for you being back! No doubt the chinese government and IOC Rogge, did not want you around, even in jail, during their 100 days countdown festivities. It’s interesting you are in Hong Kong, technically that is China still. Are you going to test the waters there, see how far democracy goes in Hong Kong? Best to all of you guys, rest and eat. Peace.
I hope people inside Tibet and China were able to hear the news of your protest. You sent a message that we will not be silent bystanders at the Chinese Government uses the Olympics for political purposes!
I am so proud of all of you and I think your message was heard loud and clear. The Chinese Gov’t must be pretty pissed because as far as I can tell their Olympic Party did not get nearly as much good press as they expected.
Be safe and to all those living under the oppressive Chinese Government- We have not forgotten you. And we will continue to highlight your struggle!
Rangzen
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hi all, really appreciate ur achievement! please keep up the good work! we r all with you! SAVE TIBET!
Good luck on your continuing peaceful protests for human rights.
I hate to say this but I think you guys are hypocrite of the highest order. If your definition of Tibet as occupied territory is true then the legitimacy of the country like Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand all goes in doubt. The culture, language, religion of First Nation people of theses countries have been decimated, not to mention tens of millions being killed. Have you ever spoken to the tribal nation people? If they could have it their way they would want all their land back. The Tibetan in China still have their culture, language, religion. I am a Canadian and I don’t support granting more special rights to the First Nation and prefer maintaining the status quo. If you guys are who you profess to be you would speak out. Unfortunately, I don’t think you guys would ever speak out for them, if you do, no international press would carry the news. Canada is now staking the claim on Artic. Well, isn’t there Eskimo people living there? Screw them, Canada has guns and warships, and that’s all it count.