Please go to sfttv.org to watch SFT’s press briefing from earlier this week.
Students for a Free Tibet’s leadership speaks out one week before the opening of the Beijing Olympics updating members of the press on current conditions inside Tibet, and SFT’s plans to continue to use Beijing’s Summer Olympics to shine a spotlight on China’s brutal occupation of Tibet.
Good morning and thank you everyone for joining us for our pre-Beijing Olympics press briefing.
My name is Lhadon Tethong and I am the Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) International based in New York City. As many of you know, Students for a Free Tibet is a grassroots network of students, youth and people of conscience in over 100 countries working in solidarity with the Tibetan people in their struggle for freedom and independence.
For the past 8 years we have played a leading role in the international campaign to first stop China from getting the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and then to bring awareness to the Chinese government’s use of the Olympics as a political tool to whitewash their human rights record and legitimize their illegal and brutal occupation of Tibet.
Over the past two years we have helped to organize and support young people of conscience in the carrying out of high profile nonviolent direct actions at the base camp of Mount Everest, the Great Wall of China and during China’s global torch relay from Ancient Olympia in Greece to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
Today, I am joined by my colleague Kate Woznow, SFT’s Campaign Director, who is here with me in Asia. We are also joined by Han Shan, Students for a Free Tibet’s Olympics Campaign Coordinator and Tenzin Dorjee, our Deputy Director in New York as well as Tsering Lama, the National Director of Students for a Free Tibet Canada from Toronto.
Han was in Beijing in August 2004 at the time of the closing ceremonies for the Athens Olympics where he participated in a groundbreaking press conference of Tibet supporters and was detained and deported for holding up a banner reading “No Olympics for China until Tibet is free.”
Tsering Lama, along with two others, was recently denied entry into Hong Kong in May at the time of the torch relay where she was meant to speak at a press conference of Tibetan activists and supporters.
The three of us will speak for approximately 25 minutes and then take questions via web chat and phone. If you would like to ask a question please * 9 and the moderator will present those questions to us.
I will speak first about the latest news and information on the situation inside Tibet and the status of Tibetans living in China. I will also outline Students for a Free Tibet’s plans for global action during the Games.
With just eight days to go until the opening of the Beijing Olympics, the situation inside Tibet remains extremely tense and critical. In order to hide their brutal military crackdown in the wake of a popular Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule that began in March, the Chinese authorities have essentially sealed Tibet off from the world.
Tibetans continue to live in an overwhelming climate of fear following the popular uprising that started in March and spread across all 3 of Tibet’s historical provinces of U-Tsang, Amdo & Kham.
We now know of at least 125 incidents of protest that took place between March and June, with the vast majority occurring outside of what China calls the Tibetan Autonomous Region, or TAR, and in traditionally Tibetan areas now administered under the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan.
At this moment Tibet is locked down by the Chinese military and it is extremely difficult to get information about the situation on the ground. All internet communications and phone calls are strictly monitored and the passing of information about protests or the ensuing crackdown to outside sources and journalists is being treated almost as harshly as participating in a protest itself.
Most recently a 20-year-old woman in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, was brutally beaten in her home by the Chinese authorities and in front of her parents less than an hour after speaking by phone with contacts outside of Tibet. Others have been given harsh prison sentences for passing information to foreign journalists.
What little information that is trickling out from Tibet paints picture of brutal repression and state sponsored violence that is reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution. In fact, many Tibetans have described the repression they are experiencing as like the darkest days of the Cultural Revolution.
At least one thousand Tibetans remain unaccounted for by the Chinese authorities’ own numbers and there are continued reports of people being taken from their homes in the middle of the night.
The condition of Tibetans who have been released from detention indicates they have faced severe brutality. Many have emerged unable to walk or stand up, many have severe psychological damage and trauma and incredible number of reports indicate many Tibetans have been released with broken arms and legs. There are numerous reports of detention leading to death and suicide.
As has now been reported by several sources, there are over 1,000 monks missing from Drepung and Sera monasteries, two of the most important monasteries near Lhasa. According to reliable sources these were sent to detention camps in isolated areas in eastern Tibet, in Golmud (Ch: Qinghai), some in Xining (Ch: Qinghai) and possibly as far as Lanzhou (Ch: Gansu) and will be held until after the Olympics.
Numerous eyewitnesses in Lhasa reported that in March and April hundreds of monks were included in groups of prisoners being rounded up and sent by train to remote areas of northeastern Tibet or what China calls Qinghai province.
The present situation in Tibet’s monasteries and the religious restrictions being implemented at this moment are some of the harshest seen in decades.
A document dated June 28th and recently published on an official Chinese government website “dealing clearly with participants in illegal activities aimed at inciting the division of nationalities, such as shouting reactionary slogans, distributing reactionary writings, flying and popularizing the ’snow lion flag’ and holding illegal demonstrations”.
According to the new measures, specified in an official document from Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province (the Tibetan area of Kham):
* Monks who express dissent or refuse to ‘conform’ can be expelled and their residence demolished
* Reincarnate lamas could be ’stripped of their title’ if they communicate with foreigners or engage in protests against the Chinese authorities
* Buddhist practice will be suspended in monasteries where a specific percentage of monks have engaged in protest or dissent
* Senior religious teachers could face public ‘rectification’ or imprisonment if they are shown to have even ‘tolerated’ peaceful protest activity
Only a handful of foreign tourists and even fewer foreign journalists have been allowed to visit Tibet following China’s reopening of the region on June 25th.
Tibetans from across the social spectrum living in China are also facing increased restrictions and harassment in the lead-up to the Games.
At the popular Wu-Tai Shan Mountains near Beijing, we’ve received reports that many of the Tibetan hermits living there to have been expelled. We’ve also heard that the Chinese custodian of the hermitages was expelled and many of the hermitages have been destroyed.
Tibetan businessmen across China have also been targeted with harsh restrictions. Reports from Beijing indicate that as many as 300 Tibetans in Beijing’s Sunday Market have been told to sell their homes and leave Beijing in the lead up to Olympics, implying that they’re being kicked out for good.
And now China is preparing to host the world at the Olympics in Beijing while at the same time violently crushing the Tibetans inside Tibet and doing everything in their power to silence any and all voices in support of the Tibetan people’s fundamental human rights and freedom.
Students for a Free Tibet’s global network of students, young people and people of conscience will join thousands of Tibetans and Tibet supporters around the world in a festival of protest and nonviolent direct action starting next week on the eve of the Games’ Opening Ceremonies.
Protests and peaceful acts of civil disobedience are being planned in dozens of cities worldwide and will continue throughout the duration of the Games.
A few cities globally will be convergence areas including New York, San Francisco, Toronto, London, Paris and New Delhi.
The Chinese authorities have said there will be three protest zones. We believe and see this is as nothing more than a cynical public relations ploy. We’re quite sure Hill & Knowlton and some other public relation firms probably had their hand in advising the Chinese authorities to set up such protest zones. We don’t believe that anywhere in the world, free speech belongs in a zone. There is no one place, and no one restriction for a fundamental human right like freedom of expression, especially peaceful freedom of expression and I think that’s the point in China and in Tibet. We know the reality for Tibetans and Chinese who dare to speak out, who have the courage to speak out in favor of their rights and freedoms, and there is simply no way these Tibetans and Chinese could apply for a permit to protest and truly be allowed to do so if it challenges the state. And, in our case we simply do not recognize this and the world sees and recognizes that this is a cynical public relations ploy on the part of the Chinese leadership.
Students for a Free Tibet’s global network of activists will be working with thousands of Tibetans all around the world, people of conscience and young people in a festival of protests throughout the games and this will include vigils and nonviolent direct action starting next week on the 7th, on the eve of the opening ceremony. Outside of China, these activities will largely target Chinese embassies, consulates and very high public, high traffic areas in cities like New York, London, Paris, Ottawa and Vancouver. There will be convergence areas in New York and San Francisco, Toronto, London, Paris and New Delhi. There will be global actions throughout the games. And this of course for, tens of thousands of Tibetans in exile is a really important and critical moment as the Tibetan population is watching and hearing what’s happening inside Tibet. The Tibetan population living in exile, many with close ties, still with family, friends, and loved ones in Tibet is truly a traumatized population right now, living in great pain, watching what’s unfolding inside Tibet and so this is an important moment and Tibetans globally have every right to speak and should speak loudly and clearly in the coming days.
Many people have been wondering about our plans for the games. We can’t say much, but what I can say is that people of conscience, good people from around the world are committed to speaking out for Tibetans at this time. China’s invited the whole world to Beijing for the Olympics which belong to the world, and at this moment the Chinese leadership is carrying out one of the most brutal campaigns of oppression that we’ve seen in decades inside Tibet and we simply cannot tolerate this and through nonviolent peaceful demonstrations, simple dignified protests, Tibet supporters will speak in Beijing. Exactly what that will look like, we can’t say, as you know the restrictions in place in Beijing are extremely thorough and tight and we just can’t say exactly what it’ll look like. But certainly people of conscience from around the world will be there to speak and to do everything they can in a peaceful manner to make sure that the world does not forget Tibet at this moment, that Tibet is at the fore-front of peoples minds as an issue for the Chinese leadership and so future generations of Chinese leaders learn and understand in this moment that the Tibet issue must be addressed meaningfully and they must work to resolve what is clearly a serious issue for China and China’s place in the world.
Now I’d like to pass it over to our colleague Tsering Lama in Toronto will be speaking about SFT’s Athlete Wanted Campaign
Thank you Lhadon
I am now going to talk a bit about Students for a Free Tibet’s Athlete Wanted Campaign:
Right now, Students for a Free Tibet, along with several Tibet Support Organizations are appealing to athletes competing in the Beijing Olympics to take a stand for freedom.
In March, the entire world saw a glimpse the true reality of Tibet under Chinese occupation and in response, ordinary people of conscience made an incredible outpouring of support for Tibetans.
And now as athletes from every corner of the globe enter Beijing, we appeal to them to also stand in solidarity with Tibetans. As ambassadors of the world during the Olympics, they are in the most significant positions to speak, and be heard, when it comes to Tibet in the next weeks.
As part of our campaign, we’ve launched a website, www.AthleteWanted.org - resources and educational materials, suggesting simple yet powerful ways that athletes can show support for Tibet during their stay in Beijing.
We have also handed out thousands of leaflets and packets to athletes at the U.S. track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon, at the U.S. Olympic processing center at San Jose State University. In Canada, we met with the head of the Canadian Olympic Committee, we sent out packages to their board of directors and also outreached to athletes.
Students for a Free Tibet placed a full-page ad in Tuesday’s edition of the New York Times. The text of the ad read quote: At every Olympics there is one athlete who ends up inspiring the world with their courage and character. We hope that athlete is reading this.
Of course, we realize that athletes have been working their entire lives to compete in the Olympics – we are not asking them to sacrifice this opportunity – but any symbolic show of support to the Tibetan movement would be heard not only around the world, but also in Tibet and China.
We are appealing to athletes because they represent and embody the Olympic spirit – the best of humanity –and this of course includes human rights and freedom.
As well - much has been made, in the lead up to the Games, about the restrictions stated in the Olympic charter, restrictions which forbids the use of Olympic venues a forum for making political or religious statements.
Situation where IOC and the Chinese government have trapped people of conscience around the world – saying that it’s inappropriate to politicize the Olympics.
Yet the Chinese government has clearly used the Olympics as an excuse to clamp down on the Tibetan people’s desire for freedom – while the IOC has done little to nothing.
The most blatant example of the Chinese leadership’s political use of the Olympics in Tibet came in May when the Olympic Torch was paraded through Lhasa.
Zhang Qingli, China’s top ranking official in Tibet used the occasion to reassert Beijing’s hard-line position against the Dalai Lama, stating, “The sky above Tibet will never change. The red five-star flag will always fly above this land … We can definitely smash the separatist plot of the Dalai Lama clique completely,” the IOC’s response was to send a letter of concern to the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games. No further action was taken.
The IOC has proven time and time again that it is incapable of holding China’s leadership accountable for its backsliding in human rights and blatant use of the Olympics to further its political propaganda on Tibet as we saw in Tibet in May.
We are appealing to athletes to stand up in this moment for what they as individuals believe in – it also just as important for government leaders and reps, especially those who will be attending the Games to push the Chinese leadership to immediately end the brutal clampdown in Tibet.
Tomorrow, Tibetans and their supporters will deliver letters to global leaders around the world, especially those who plan to attend next week’s opening ceremonies calling on then to step in where the IOC has failed and raise the issue of Tibet and push the Chinese government towards a meaningful resolution to the issue.
As Lhadon said, this is a historic time, one of the most controversial Olympics – and government leaders will be remembered for their position.
I will now pass it over to Han Shan in New York.
Hello everyone,
I’d like to tell you about a few logistical things; our online video channel and where SFT will be during the Games, and how to stay in touch with us.
First, our online TV channel, Free Tibet 2008 Television, or FT08.TV
While we are looking forward to staying in good communication with all of you and other members of the international press, we are also creating our own platform for breaking reports about the efforts of Tibetans and their supporters during the games in Beijing as well as analysis and background on the situation in Tibet.
Presented by SFT - Free Tibet 2008 Television [ FT08.TV ] will be a 24-hour online TV station, something we hope will serve as a one-stop resource for Tibetans, Tibet supporters, and others concerned about human rights connected to the Beijing Olympics, but we also hope it will serve as a resource for members of the media in Beijing, and around the world.
FT08.TV will go live August 8th and broadcast through the end of the Games on August 24th. FT08.TV will be co-produced by from several different cities, with a central production hub in London.
FT08.TV will be broadcasting:
• breaking reports about Olympics and Tibet-related protests and pro-Tibet efforts in Beijing
• a moderated daily roundup – basically our own Tibet-centric evening news – with reports about protests and other efforts by Tibet supporters around the world
• newsmaker interviews and profiles of Tibetans and Tibet activists that we hope will provide an interesting and entertaining look at the Tibetan community and free Tibet movement that mirrors the kind of human interest coverage we expect to see in official coverage of the Olympics
• skype/chat/call-in talk shows, video press releases and statements from Students for a Free Tibet
• original mini-documentaries about a number of Tibet and Olympics-related issues
FT08.TV will be actively inviting video submissions from Students for a Free Tibet’s grassroots membership and others interested in these topics, and we’re also working to create a platform for discussion, comments, and feedback so that in essence this channel will be a counterpoint to the lack of media openness we’re seeing in Beijing as the Games approach, and of course in Tibet.
Lastly, FT08.TV will be the place where we’ll make our own hi-res photos and video of protests and other events available for media.
Now, on to spokespeople, locations and logistics for contacting SFT during the Games.
As has been noted, Students for a Free Tibet and the Tibet movement have been actively planning and working toward this moment for many years. We’ll have grassroots activists supporting protests in cities and Tibetan communities around the world and you can count on being able to reach SFT leadership and spokespeople from now until the end of the Games, 24 hours a day.
As a global network, SFT will be coordinating and participating in efforts worldwide. This network will have a hub in Asia on the same time as Beijing, as well as hubs in London, New York, Toronto, and San Francisco. In addition, we’ll have grassroots leaders and people available for press comment in Delhi and Dharamsala and other cities in India, in cities throughout Europe, and in cities throughout North America.
To reach us anytime, you can find our contact information at: http://freetibet2008.org/media center/
You’ll see there are numbers for the U.S., U.K, and Hong Kong. You can also always email us at [email protected]
I’d like to conclude by going back to one piece of analysis regarding the Olympics and the situation in Tibet. As Lhadon noted, the Chinese government has for years been using the Olympics in an attempt to whitewash its human rights record and legitimize its rule in Tibet.
More recently however, as Lhadon pointed to with some specific anecdotes, we’re seeing the Chinese authorities actually using the Games as a pretext for waging a brutal campaign of repression against Tibetans. This should be a challenge to the conscience of the world, and be at the forefront of global consciousness during the Olympics.
Our challenge of course is not about whether we will or will not be able to protest in Beijing, or whether we will be able to stage dramatic and compelling nonviolent actions.
Our challenge is to ensure that our efforts serve to turn a spotlight on the crisis in Tibet. During the Games, we will be doing our best to keep the attention on the plight of Tibetans in Tibet, who continue to cry out for human rights and freedom.