On Wednesday night, a lone Tibetan, with two supporters at his side, flew the Tibetan flag near the Bird’s Nest stadium as the men’s 200 metre dash finals were ending. Norbu, a Tibetan from Germany, raised the flag while two American men, John and Jeremy, raised their fists in the air and bowed their heads in an act of defiance modeled after John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s protest at the Olympics in 1968 in Mexico City after the same event. Nearby, Briton Mandie McKeown observed and tried to document the simple action with her camera.
It was all over in a matter of seconds. Norbu, John and Jeremy were tackled to the ground by plain clothes police. The police descended on Mandie almost immediately, taking her camera and her phone. This is one of only two photos we have to document this powerful action: the Associated Press photographers on the scene were detained and roughed up and their memory cards were confiscated.
We just received news that these four individuals are likely to be sentenced to ten days in Chinese detention. Like the artist James Powderly, and the five citizen journalists, bloggers and activists detained on August 19th, Norbu, John, Jeremy and Mandie have been sentenced to jail for nothing more than peaceful expression and documentation of political views that differ from those of the Chinese leadership.
But the treatment of our friends and supporters is far from the worst of it. Yesterday, two elderly Chinese women in their late seventies, Wang Xiuying and Wu Dianyuan, were told they could spend one year in a labour camp for daring to apply for permits to protest in the Olympic ‘protest zones’ about their eviction from their homes.
This might seem shocking to some but this is the true face of the Chinese government. This is the China that I know best. All this talk of ‘protest zones’ and ‘permits’ to express dissent was at best a big PR scam facilitated by the International Olympic Committee and Hill & Knowlton. Just a shiny polish painted on the same old authorities to make them appear more friendly and welcoming to the world. But now, the polish is wearing off and the true colours of the Chinese authorities are shining through. It was all for the Olympics and it was a lie.
Thankfully, in moments of deceit and oppression like this there are individuals and people of conscience who refuse to be silent and are willing to push for change. The action of Norbu, John, Jeremy and Mandie on Wednesday night is one example. And then there are exceptional characters of Mrs Wang and Mrs Wu. Apparently they have staged many protests over the past few years and have been arrested five times. But they have refused to back down. Even after being threatened with one year in a labour camp one of them was on CNN today saying, “you cant be afraid, if you are they come to bully you.”
If only more people in this world had their courage.
Thanks for the excellent window which reveals the deceipt, which has been, and still is being perpetrated by the “Official Chinese Government”. SFT is doing an admirable job of revealing the facts rather than the fictions of One World One Dream - actually the IOC should be ashamed for ever awarding the Olympics to Beijing - I wonder who they thought they were impressing?
What a bunch of retards! What the Chinese government should really do is to invoke its Anti-Secession Act and lock these idiots up for 10 years (Does Guantanamo ring a bell?). I am very curious how many of you then would be willing to rot in a Chinese prison in exchange for a few seconds of “glory”. The Chinese government is way too lenient!!!!
I’m glad Aragorn isn’t in charge! If you’re anger is in anyway due to a belief that supporters of a Tibet with religious freedom and improved human rights are anti-Chinese, then please let me in this small way, assure you that “Pro-Tibet” supporters are not anti-Chinese. They are simply pro freedom. Us pro-tibet people often get angry about what the Chinese government are doing, but that’s just it. The “Chinese government”. Not the nation of China. The two are separate. Not that you probably care, but I think it’s possible to be pro-your own nation but still disagree with what it’s own government are doing. I’m from the UK, but I hate what our last leader decided to do in Iraq. That doesn’t mean I get upset if someone from another country rants about the UK being oil hungry just like the US. It’s true. It’s nothing personal. It doesn’t mean they hate the UK it means they hate the UK government. And that’s the same with pro-Tibet people and China. I’m sure the vast majority of Chinese are beautiful people. However, I’m afraid in my own, and millions of other people’s opinion, your government are too harsh on others who don’t share their view. Threatening little old ladies with labour camps because they spoke their minds (and even did so through recognized lawful channels) is just plain ridiculous. And what harm does waving a flag do? I’ve never seen a flag hurt anyone.
I really hope times will change when compassion and patience are virtues shared by all governments.
My two cents: I really don’t think that China is an evil country, nor do I think that the CCP is an evil institution. The CCP is a one party system that dominates China, while the two-party system in the US dominates the political system in the US. And even a democratic country, and a country that likes to call itself the greatest country in the world is capable of such horrendous activities such as the Iraq war, and other horrors of the past. I read somewhere I think that said that Governments don’t have heart, and isn’t that so true. Governments act out of self interest, whether it is oil or land. We all know that the CCP will not just let Tibet become an independent country. Generosity and integrity, which are characters that are attributable to human beings, are not characteristics that best define the actions of Governments. Governments by nature are the very antithesis of what they describes themselves to be, and they do the very opposite of what they want their populations to do. China wants to be know as the giant that welcomes the world at the the Olympics. Their heart-warming slogan of “One World, One Dream,” is a slogan that it wants the Chinese people to believe and the rest of the world to believe, while it goes on its explorations in Africa, and ignores and violates basic Human Rights in Tibet and China. Similarly, America likes to call the War on Iraq as the War that brings Freedom to the Iraqis. “Spreading Democracy,” is the slogan that America wanted its people to believe. If a Government were a person, it would be the Devil, if you believe in the Devil. Let’s not expect any good out of Governments, and by that what I mean is that we should not expect the CCP to have compassion on Tibet or the Tibetan people. That would be going against the grain of what Governments are supposed to be. Is there any wonder we have nuclear weapons, and an arsenal of other destructive weapons. Wars are the last form of communication that Governments resort after other means have failed. Should Tibetans expect to soften the heart of the CCP? Probably not.
Here is why the Tibetans will be fighting for their freedom for a while. I heard that the CCP will be in power for another 30 or 40 years; which sound about right, maybe. And with the Olympics, this commentator said that the CCP has put itself in the good graces of the Chinese people and bought itself more time. I recently realized that we need to only think about the CCP. Just think for a second: all this violation of human rights in Tibet, and the issue of the independence of Tibet, at the heart of the issue is the CCP. It is not China, but its ruling party , theCCP, that is responsible for the plight o f the Tibetans. China right now maybe an economic superpower with great things in stpre in its future, but politically it is still a communist state. The opening up of China has all been economic, and its political system is pretty much the same repressive one. So, in a lot of ways you can say that China is far from a democratic nation, and what stands in the way of China becoming a democratic nation is the CCP. All the political and religious repression in Tibet is because of trhe CCP. Once China becomes a democracy, it will not be able to do what the CCP is doing today. It is similarl to the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union fell, all the different states within it gained independence. The same will happen with the CCP losing power in China. Once the strangle-hold of the CCP is gone, there is no force holding Tibet back from becoming free. What we can definitely say for sure right now is that as long as the CCP is there, there is not much hope for Tibetens living everywhere.
The CCP is around mainly to develop the economic reasons. And the Chinese economy has a long ways to develop before it touches the vast majority of the country. The CCP has to have repressive control in Tibet for two reasons.
1. So that Tibet will be a part of China. The issue of Tibet for China is one of national security since what might happen in Tibet not only affects the rest of China but it also influences other minority autonomous regions.
2. With the introduction of Chinese language and the migration of millions of Chinese in Tibet, it is attempting to assimilate Tibet into China over a period of many decades and over many generations. Tibetan religion is a major hurdle for the CCP.
So, essentially my point is that the situation in Tibet is like the former Soviet Union. With the collapse of Communism in the USSR, nothing kept the distinct states to become independent. The same is true for the CCP and China. Once the CCP is gone, the hope of Tibet becoming an independent nation goes up exponentially. Because a democratic regime in China will not be able to subjugate and repress Tibetans in a similar fashion. But someone on tv once said that China might become a unique blend of governmental systems. It is right now a blend of free-trade and old communistic system. What kind of a government China will have in the future without becoming a true-democracy is anyone’s guess.