I found this article this morning and found it interesting that China is not only detaining and deporting foreign Pro-Tibet demonstrators but actively seeking out anyone in Beijing with Pro-Tibetan ideals. A group of "citizen journalist" and Pro-Tibet bloggers have been added to the many activists who have been deported for demonstrating. Below is an excerpt from Reuters. Read it and let me know what you think.
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To the left is the facade and to the right is truth. Simple as that!
-Wylwyn Reyes-Campaign Tibet
photo from http://www.freetibet.net/
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photo by IndyMedia UK
by Wylwyn Reyes
So If you have been following the news recently you probably have noticed a number of Free Tibet demonstrations being held around the world. Most recently in Beijing at the Birds Nest Stadium where the 2008 Summer Olympics are being held.
There were the three Tibet independence activists that scaled the Golden Gate Bridge and unfurled a large protest banner reading “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 08” during spring's Olympic torch relay.
There was Nyendak Wangden, who had rappelled from the roof of the consulated wearing a monk's robe & hood and simulated a hanging while holding a sign reading "Stop the Killings in Tibet.".
And now there are the 2 Britain's that scaled an electric Pylon and unfurled a sign reading: "One World, One Dream: Free Tibet" in Beijing last Wednesday. You can read my article about it here.
All of these protests were demonstrated by members of an organization called "Students for a Free Tibet" a non-profit whose vision is for an independent Tibet and to create a just and equitable world, free of oppression, in which there is respect for the earth and all living things.
Their mission statement:
"Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) works in solidarity with the Tibetan people in their struggle for freedom and independence. We are a chapter-based network of young people and activists around the world. Through education, grassroots organizing, and non-violent direct action, we campaign for Tibetans’ fundamental right to political freedom. Our role is to empower and train youth as leaders in the worldwide movement for social justice."
This group of freedom fighters have been making headlines on a global scale and I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully these amazingly selfless people inspire not only us who fight for Tibet's Independence but for all people, globally, to speak up and take action for those who cannot protest themselves without fear of imprisonment, torture, or even death. I have compiled a list below of links you can check out to either learn more about "Students for a Free Tibet" or to start taking action yourself. Remember the Olympic Opening Ceremony is tomorrow and the whole world is watching Beijing right now. We have a little more than two weeks until the Olympics are over so now is the time to step it up!
Follow the links below to take action!
studentsforafreetibet.org
Activist Toolbox
Start a Chapter
Become an individual Member
Internships
Action Alerts
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15/07/2008 1:13:00 PM. | by Dominic Brock livenews.com.au
Australia’s Olympic athletes are being offered a Tibet protest kit to wear in Beijing, including badges, stickers, temporary tattoos and a T-shirt bearing the words “I support human rights” in English and Chinese.
The Australia Tibet Council will offer the kits to athletes bound for Beijing, with the packs designed to avoid Olympic bans on controversial political statements by making no explicit reference to China’s record in Tibet.
Campaign co-ordinator Simon Bradshaw told Reuters the Council had wanted to take action since Chinese authorities suppressed massive demonstrations in Tibet in March.
"Going right back to March, people have been approaching us and asking how they can help Tibet in Beijing," Bradshaw said.
But he also warned that China could confiscate the kits, and could take action against athletes who join the protest.
“[There is] no doubt that athletes who choose to make public statements over Tibet may face consequences,” he said.
Mike Tancred from the Australian Olympic Committee has recommended athletes do not take the kit to China in order to avoid antagonising other competitors.
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LEVITTOWN, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - President George W. Bush should boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympics if China does not take steps to help stop genocide in Darfur and improve human rights in Tibet, U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Wednesday.
But Obama qualified that by saying any decision should be made closer to the date of the Olympic Games in Beijing in August.
"If the Chinese do not take steps to help stop the genocide in Darfur and to respect the dignity, security and human rights of the Tibetan people, then the president should boycott the opening ceremonies," Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois, said in a statement.
"I am also deeply concerned about China's failure to support efforts to halt the genocide in Darfur. Regarding the Beijing Olympics this summer, a boycott of the opening ceremonies should be firmly on the table, but this decision should be made closer to the Games," he added.
Obama, who holds a lead over his rival Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York in the race to become the Democratic presidential nominee, did not go as far as Clinton in his statement on China and the Olympics. Clinton's call for Bush to weigh a boycott did not include any qualifiers about making the decision at a later date.
Clinton and Obama are vying to become their party's nominee to run in the November election to pick a successor to the Republican Bush.
Bush plans to attend the Summer Olympics opening ceremonies in Beijing in August and so far has resisted pressure to change his plans in response to a violent crackdown against protesters in Tibet by Chinese authorities.
China has also been accused of refusing to use its influence on the Sudanese government to get it to stop what the United States calls a genocide in Sudan's Darfur region.
At a rally earlier in the day, Obama was asked about China and said the United States needed to take a stronger and more consistent stance toward Beijing when it comes to human rights issues.
"In our policy toward China, we have not been consistent enough and tough enough in pushing them to deal with Tibet properly but also (on) their continued support of Sudan, a country that has been engaging in genocide against the peoples of Darfur," he said.
But Obama also said the United States lacked leverage with China because the country holds so much U.S. debt.
"It's very hard to tell your banker that he's wrong," he said. "And if we are running huge deficits and big national debts and we're borrowing money constantly from China that gives us less leverage."
(Reporting by Caren Bohan, editing by Patricia Zengerle)
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