Behind the Tech of the Everest Protest

It has been just over a month since the fantastic action on Everest. After the initial excitement and adrenaline wore off, the deep significance of what was achieved began to sink in. While the focus at the time of the action was on the message and the people, there was another story not being told – that of the infrastructure that made it possible for this protest to be broadcast live from behind the (so-called) Great Firewall of China, at the very remote Everest Base Camp. An article published in Reality Sandwich, a new online webzine, is the first to cover that angle, revealing new details about the technology and tactics used. Information must be free, and our goal is to be transparent and share our knowledge with others who might need it.

Reality Sandwich is a web magazine for this time of intense transformation. We hope to spark debate and engagement by offering a forum for voices ranging from the ecologically pragmatic to the wildly visionary….


Here’s a little bit from the article. Click through to the link after it for the full story…

Jeff’s wireless received the video from Shannon’s camera transmission, and sent the signal through an analog-digital converter that output firewire into his MacBook computer…not much different from using a WII or Playstation or Final Cut. Quicktime Broadcaster downsized and compressed the video to a data rate the satellite connection could handle (220kbps at 15 frams/sec, compressed eventually to 100 kbps), and sent it via satellite (Inmarsat system using a BGAN Java program) to a Students for a Free Tibet computer, which was also running Quicktime Broadcaster. They immediately uploaded the three minute video to YouTube. As a backup, Flickr, YouTube, Pando and other accounts were set up on the computer to upload images and video in the event Quicktime Broadcaster failed to send video, but an Internet connection was still live.

Got that? A handful of everyday people broadcast live to a global audience from one of the most remote locations on the planet using consumer hardware and software from the center of one of the most controlled information economies. In some ways it was a very effective beta trial for an entirely new, technologically enabled form of protest. Control, no matter how brutal, can not hold. Communication throughout the action was handled on Skype.

Read the full article http://www.realitysandwich.com/node/178

Op-ed on Everest Action in Colorado Newspaper

The Boulder Daily Camera ran several stories about last month’s Everest action. Today the paper published the following op-ed by Kirsten Westby, a Boulder native and one of the five members of SFT’s Everest action team.

On politics and privilege: Protesting the Olympic Torch in Tibet

Boulder Daily Camera
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
By Kirsten Westby

Privilege is a complex subject. On the one hand, those of us who enjoy countless privileges often take them for granted, despite reminders to ‘be grateful for what we have.’ On the other hand, many of us who live in the land of plenty cannot help but question, ‘At what price do my freedoms come?’

If you are aware of the disparity of wealth and basic human rights around the world, than you are probably aware (or perhaps, like me, convinced) that, in order for true equality to manifest globally, those who benefit from such disparity must be willing to give up some of their resources and, when appropriate, use their privileged voices to speak for those who have been silenced.

Operating from this core belief, four colleagues and I traveled to Tibet last month and carried out a non-violent protest of China’s plans to carry the Olympic Torch to the top of Mt. Qomolangma (Everest). Many friends have asked if this action has made me more aware of privileges I enjoy here in the United States.

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True Colors

Despite the best efforts of the Chinese government (more precisely, the Chinese Communist Party that controls the government) to portray its control over Tibet as secure and stable, sometimes its true colors show through. Sometimes we see that over fifty years into the occupation, Tibet’s Chinese rulers remain insecure and afraid.

This happened recently on May 18, when the top Communist official in Tibet, the hard-line Zhang Qingli, gave a speech to Party members reported in the Chinese-language Tibet Daily:

We must have a more vigorous will to fight, a more tenacious style and do a more solid job of uniting and leading the region’s various ethnic groups and throwing ourselves into the struggle against splittism… From beginning to end… we must deepen patriotic education at temples, comprehensively expose and denounce the Dalai Lama clique’s political reactionary nature and religious hypocrisy.

What is most interesting is how vehemently Comrade Zhang urges “a more vigorous will to fight.” Fundamentally, he is admitting that China hasn’t been able to erase Tibetans’ desire for independence, even after decades of repression, coercion, and terror. He implicitly recognizes that Tibetans don’t see themselves as “united” with and “patriotic” toward China, and that given a choice they would opt for self-rule (“splittism”). To see how much the independence issue colors China’s paranoia in Tibet, ask ourselves: would the Party boss in Jiangsu Province ever feel the need for a similar rant?

Displaying a paranoia that the world is out to get him, he accused the Dalai Lama of:

ganging up with Taiwan independence forces, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, democracy movements, and the Falun Gong in an attempt to establish an alliance aimed at splitting the motherland.

(Remember, to a Party official, “democracy movement” is a terrible slur.) Now come on Comrade Zhang, how can you claim it is the eminently moderate and conciliatory stance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama that is the problem? As you implicitly acknowledge, your fundamental problem is that you’ve failed to crush Tibetans’ desire for independence. Why are you blaming anyone but your own government for the problems in Tibet? If you had succeeded there, no conspiracies could threaten your rule in Tibet.

But China knows it has no legitimacy in Tibet, which is why Comrade Zhang even feels afraid of … Students for a Free Tibet! That’s right, he must have been talking about SFT’s well-publicized action on Mount Everest when he claimed:

The Dalai clique has stepped up efforts to infiltrate (China’s) domestic territory and has schemed to move the center of its separatist activities into domestic territory.

Why is Comrade Zhang hopping mad about SFT’s Everest action? Because nonviolent direct action is an especially powerful way for oppressed peoples and their supporters to use their moral strength to overcome the superior coercive force of their oppressor. Five activists with a video camera could only be a threat if China’s rule over Tibet is shaky and illegitimate to begin with.

Trying to end on a bright note, Comrade Zhang asserted that:

The fundamental objective of international hostiles forces … is to change Tibet’s (political) colour… The (mandate of) heaven in Tibet will never change. The Dalai Lama clique’s pipe dream (of independence) will never prevail… the country’s rivers and mountains will remain red.

To a Communist audience, the comic irony of Comrade Zhang’s pledge that Tibet’s rivers will flow red is probably lost — a pity. I also wonder if it was a translation error or whether Comrade Zhang made a Freudian slip in referring to Tibet as a “country” instead of an “inalienable part of the great Chinese motherland.” Nevertheless, we can applaud Comrade Zhang for his plucky optimism in clinging to the belief that China can somehow eventually convince Tibetans that having one’s country stolen isn’t so bad after all. Meanwhile, Comrade, if you’re afraid of five activists with a video camera, your superiors in Beijing have a lot more to worry about leading up to the Beijing Olympics.

Ongoing Effect of the Everest Protest

Seems like the “Everest Five” have left a lasting impression on the Chinese government. From Andrew’s China Blog posted today, Tuesday May 8th:

Because of the politically sensitive nature of the Tibetan political status within People’s Republic of China, foreigners have to get a special permit – in addition to their Chinese visa – if they want to enter the province. Normally, Chengdu is a great place to get your hands on the permit, but in the past week a protest at the Chinese Mt. Everest Base Camp by some American activists caused the Chinese government to stop issuing permits all together. As a result, Tibet-bound foreigners are starting to pile up around here – nobody’s sure when or if they’ll be able to make it to Lhasa.

Curious how long this permit embargo will last….they can’t resist those tourist dollars forever!

Rep. Lantos Blasts China Following Everest Protest

Rep. Tom Lantos (Democrat, CA-12) during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on China:

Last week, the Chinese detained four Americans protesting for freedom for the Tibetan people – a salient issue as next year’s Beijing Olympics approach. China has charted a route for the Olympic torch that brings it to the top of Mount Everest, on Tibet’s horizon, as well as to Taipei. It is outrageous that China is using the very symbol of international unity and brotherhood to further grind down the Tibetans and the Taiwanese, who simply want to live their lives without interference from Beijing.

Well said Congressman!

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