Are Tibet Protestors' Messages Getting Through?

China deported Vancouver woman, other pro-Tibet protesters

Why is China trying to censor foreign media during the Olympic games?

by Wylwyn Reyes

Chinese police have been arresting and deporting pro-Tibet protesters like they were selling hotcakes. Well it looks like they have now moved on to reporters.
I thought China was offering free and unrestricted reporting during the games just as any foreign reporter would do in a democratic country. Well, just as suspected a free lunch never tastes as good as it looks.

John Ray, an accredited reporter for Independent Television News (ITN) was arrested near the "Bird's Nest" Olympic stadium and dragged to a nearby restaurant, where Chinese police threw his shoes in the corner and sat on his arms. This happened shortly after nearby foreign protesters unfurled a pro-Tibet banner. The reporter who had suffered mild abrasions and some bruising later said: "I wonder how this fits in with their solemn promise of free and unrestricted reporting... it was a wrestling match".

The pro-Tibet group Students for a Free Tibet, said two of its protesters who unfurled Free- Tibet banners were arrested while six other members were also detained for protesting nearby. They included six Americans, an Israeli-American and a Japanese National.

Beijing Olympic organizers said they were introducing three "protest parks" near the stadium where anyone could express their beliefs unless it would harm "national unity" and "national, social or collective interests of China".

Well, Ji Sizun, 58, a legal advocate from the coastal province of Fujian who came to Beijing to demonstrate against corruption was arrested after he applied for a permit in one of these designated "protest parks"to hold a protest that would call for greater participation of Chinese citizens in political processes.

So it would seem any speak of Tibet, Xinjiang, or even insinuating corruption in the Chinese government would result in a breif to 24 hour detainment followed by your foreign privileges getting revoked with an intensive interrogation and finally topped off with a sprinkle of deportation. Not to mention a little slam dancing with your new friends the Chinese police.

Imagine what happens to Chinese Nationals if they attempt to protest. Does anyone remember the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989?




More articles on protests during the games in China.

Tibet protesters deported from China
Protester hurt during pro-Tibet demonstration

For more on "Students for a Free Tibet" click here.
For more on John Ray click here.



photo from Tibet Will Be Free // A global blog by Students for a Free Tibet

Protestor Hurt During Pro-Tibet Demonstration

Tibet protestors deported from China

by Wylwyn Reyes


Lucy Fairbrother and Iain Thom were deported after Iain, an experienced climber, scaled a 120ft pylon outside the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing on Wednesday morning and unfurled a giant banner that read: “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet.”

When the two arrived back to the London City airport Lucy said: "We are only a very small part of this campaign and the ongoing struggle. There WILL be more protest." and Iain said:"It was definitely all worth it but expect there to be more. The job is not done."

Iain said he smuggled his climbing gear and banner materials in his suitcase.

“Airport security was tight but the equipment I brought in was standard climbing equipment,” he said. “We bought the banner in Britain, and we took it in blank and made it there.”

They were held by officials for 12 hours and interrogated for 5 until they were finally brought to the airport to be deported back to London.

I think the two are incredibly brave for making such a remarkable demonstration. I wonder if it will inspire other Tibet activist to take action. It did however bring more awareness to the cause.

The two are both members of the organization studentsforafreetibet.org you can find out more here.

You can watch a video of the homecoming here.

Photo form Views from North Britain

Olympic protest group promises more

Nepal stops exiles from marching to Tibet, 30 held

Mon Jul 28, 2008
From Reuters India



KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepali police detained 30 Tibetan refugees, including nuns and monks, marching to the Tibetan border to protest against crackdowns on anti-China demonstrators.

The exiles were picked up on Sunday from the northeastern Nepali village of Jalbire, close to the Friendship Bridge which lies on Nepal's border with China and is the only international gateway to Tibet open to tourists.

"They were trying to march to Tibet and see the situation there for themselves," said Tashi Dorjee, a refugee in Kathmandu.

The march on Sunday was the latest in a series of protests by exiled Tibetans in Nepal since deadly anti-government riots broke out in Tibetan capital Lhasa and other areas in China in mid-March, to mark the anniversary of a 1959 failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Nepal, where more than 20,000 exiled Tibetans live, is the second-biggest home for Tibetans outside Tibet after neighbouring India.

Police officer Suraj Khatri Chhetri said the refugees were being driven to Kathmandu, where they would be handed over to immigration authorities.

Nepali police broke up a similar march by Tibetans this month and detained 42 exiles in the same area.

Last week, New York-based Human Rights Watch said that China was putting pressure on Nepal to crack down on protests by the Tibetans, a charge Beijing has denied.
Nepal considers Tibet part of its influential giant neighbour China.

In India, six members of the Tibetan Youth Congress began a hunger strike on Monday in New Delhi to protest against the Olympic Games, which will open next month in Beijing.

"The Chinese people deserve to host the Olympic Games, but what the Tibetans and the Chinese people deserve more now is freedom," the organisation said in a statement.

"March for Tibet's Independence” Starting in Madison on July 25

FISHERS, Ind.-A 185 mile “March for Tibet's Independence” begins at 12pm at the Capitol Building (4 East Capitol Square) in Madison, Wisconsin on July 25 and concludes at China's Consulate in Chicago on August 8. The conclusion of the walk coincides with the opening of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Tibetans and their supporters from Wisconsin, other regions of the United States, and India will participate. The walk route proceeds east from Madison to Kenosha.

Wisconsin State Representatives Joseph Parisi and Spencer Black will be featured speakers at the 12pm kickoff rally being held at the Wisconsin Capitol Building.


Jigme Norbu (son of Taktser Rinpoche and nephew of His Holiness The Dalai Lama) will walk. Norbu stated, “We have not achieved my father's lifelong dream of restoring Tibet's independence. I will continue to do whatever is necessary to achieve his dream and to voice the desires of my 6 million brothers and sisters inside Tibet who only want independence and who continue to demonstrate this desire in spite of the brutal force they experience at the hands
of China's military and police.”

According to Lobsang Tenzing, President-Wisconsin Tibetan Association, “This walk will educate the citizens of our great State about the horrific conditions inside of Tibet, the cruelty of China's government, and the genuine desires of Tibetans to peacefully resolve the Tibet-China dispute. Our citizens will also learn the implications for the United States of China's rise as a super power.”

The Venerable Palden Gyatso, a Tibetan Monk, will also walk. Gyatso is in his late 70's and he served 33 years as a political prisoner of China. Since being released, Gyatso has traveled the world advocating for Tibet, and participated in many hunger strikes and walks. Gyatso will begin walking on July 27 and he will participate until the conclusion.

This is the 14th major 'March' or 'Bicycle Ride' for Tibet's independence organized by the International Tibet Independence Movement (ITIM) since 1995. ITIM walkers and bike riders have compiled 3,440 miles in more than 340 days!

The Wisconsin Tibetan Association and the Tibetan Alliance of Chicago are assisting with the coordination of this walk.

ITIM was co-founded in 1995 by Taktser Rinpoche and Professor Larry Gerstein to obtain Tibet's independence through non-violent methods. While ITIM is headquartered in Indiana, there are over 10,000 supporters of this organization worldwide.

Nepal police break up Tibet protests, 118 held

From Reuters.com Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:26pm IST


KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters calling for independence for Tibet protested in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu on Friday, and police said they took 118 demonstrators into custody for organising anti-China demonstrations.

Many were Tibetan exiles shouting "We want free Tibet" slogans. They burned an effigy of the Chinese President Hu Jintao near a consular office of the Chinese embassy in the Nepali capital.

They were then hauled into police vans and trucks and taken to detention centres. A police official said they would be freed later on Friday.

Tibetans have protested regularly in Nepal since the deadly Chinese crackdown on riots in Lhasa and other parts of Tibet in mid-March.

More than 20,000 Tibetans still live in Nepal since fleeing their homeland after a failed uprising against Beijing in 1959.

PRESIDENTS OF FIVE TIBETAN NGOs TRANSFERRED TO JAIL IN HARDWAR

Nainital - Five Presidents of the leading Tibetan non-governmental organizations in India, Tsewang Rigzin, B Tsering, Ngawang Woebar, Chime Youngdrung, and Tenzin Choeying, and one coordinator of the March to Tibet, Lobsang Yeshi, were transferred from Haldwani Police Station to Roshanabad Jail in Hardwar. They are being held under Indian Penal Code Section 151 and CRPC sections 106 and 107, according to which the Presidents, as organizers of the March to Tibet, are being accused of jeopardizing the lives of the 300 marchers.

“We are outraged that the peaceful leaders of a nonviolent march would be arrested and jailed,” said Choekyi, a Tibetan resident of Hardwar who broke into tears as she witnessed the six leaders being escorted through the jail gates. “They are not criminals; they are simply fighting China’s occupation of Tibet by using nonviolent means.”

The police have been meeting with the local village heads of Banspatan, encouraging them to create a list of complaints against the marchers. “They will use it as an excuse to remove us from here,” said Karma Sichoe, a member of the Organizing Committee. “The local Indians have been extremely welcoming and friendly, but the police are forcing them to help build a case against the Tibetan marchers.”

“Our fight is with the Chinese government, not the Indian government,” said Sherab Woeser, a main coordinator of the march. “We neither want to turn back nor do we want to stay here. We just want to walk peacefully to our ancestral homeland. Why would Tibetans need permission to return to our own home?”

Tibetans around the world have been alarmed by reports of continued repression in Tibet. Peaceful demonstrations for human rights and freedom have been consistently suppressed and monks and nuns have borne the brunt of the Chinese government’s crackdown in recent days.

According to the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy, in Kardze, Tibet (Ch: Sichuan Province), three nuns of Dragkar Nunnery and a female student were arrested by Kardze County Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials for staging a protest on May 28. After the first demonstration of the three nuns was broken up and the nuns taken away, 21-year-old female student Rigden Lhamo unfurled the Tibetan national flag and shouted slogans calling for freedom for Tibet, the release of political prisoners, and the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet.

According to an eyewitness, security forces fired gunshots during the brief protest by the student Lhamo. It was unclear whether Rigden Lhamo was shot or injured but another eyewitness reported bloodstains on the body of Rigden Lhamo as she was taken away. Rigden Lhamo is from Lhakey Village, Thingkha Township, in Kardze County. Her current whereabouts are unknown.

The March to Tibet started on March 10th from Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, and reached Banspatan after traversing through many states over the course of 74 days. On the fourth day of the March, the first group of 100 marchers were arrested and put under judicial custody for 14 days. However, a second group of 48 Tibetan exiles resumed the March two days after the arrest and were joined by the first group soon after their release.

Tibetans living in exile in India launched the March to Tibet as part of the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement. On the same day that the march was launched, monks from monasteries in Lhasa, as well as in eastern Tibet, led nonviolent demonstrations, shouting slogans supporting the Dalai Lama and independence for Tibet. Chinese authorities brutally suppressed peaceful protests that continued for days, leading to rioting in the capital and a wave of large public demonstrations that have rippled across the country.

The March to Tibet and the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement aim to revive the spirit of the Tibetan National Uprising of 1959, and engage in nonviolent direct action to bring about an end to China’s illegal occupation of Tibet.

Protest march by Tibetan exiles stopped in northern India

LUCKNOW, India — Authorities in northern India have again stopped a protest march by more than 300 Tibetan exiles heading for their homeland.
The demonstrators, including Buddhist monks and nuns carrying pictures of the Dalai Lama and "Free Tibet" banners, want their arrival to coincide with this summer's Beijing Olympics Games.
The marchers began their journey March 10 in the Indian city of Dharmsala, headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Indian police detained a group of the marchers for two weeks, but the protesters restarted their walk March 15 and were allowed to proceed.
Now they have been stopped again and authorities in Uttarakhand state say they are trying to convince them to return to Dharmsala.
Authorities in India fear the protest march would embarrass China, with whom New Delhi is trying to improve economic ties despite a lingering border dispute.
Tenzin Choedon, a spokeswoman for Students for a Free Tibet, one of the groups organizing the march, said the protesters are determined to continue their walk to Tibet.
"They are determined to carry on with this non-violent direct action," Choedon told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Nainital, one of the main towns of Uttarakhand.
India has generally allowed the Tibetan exiles to protest peacefully, but as anti-China protests gathered momentum before the Beijing Olympics, the government has said that it would not tolerate actions that embarrassed China.
India is home to the world's largest Tibetan exile community, with more than 100,000 exiles.

Tibet Will Reopen to Tourism After Protests.

Tibet will be reopened to tourists on May 1, a decision announced Thursday even as authorities showed no sign of lifting restrictions preventing foreign journalists from freely visiting Tibet and other Tibetan regions in western China to report on episodes of ethnic unrest.
Meanwhile, Communist Party officials in Tibet plan trials this month for people arrested in the violence. Wang Xiangming, a deputy Communist Party secretary in Lhasa, the capital, said more than 1,200 people would be prosecuted, according to accounts in the Chinese and Hong Kong news media.
Tibet has been closed to domestic and foreign tourists since March 16, two days after violent riots erupted in Lhasa.
Zhanor, deputy director of Tibet’s tourism bureau, said organized tours and independent travelers could return to Tibet beginning in May, according to China Daily, the official English-language newspaper.
Authorities in Lhasa attributed the tourism closing to safety concerns and property damage from the violence.
On Thursday afternoon, Xiao Youcai, an official from Aba County, a Tibetan region in Sichuan Province, said the area had largely returned to normal after a March 16 protest. State media have reported the police in Aba fired on Tibetan protesters after they tried to storm a police station. Overseas Tibetan advocacy groups have asserted that up to 20 Tibetans were killed.