Turning Point for Tibet?

This is an exciting time for Tibet. As the Beijing Olympics approach, it’s good to assess now and then where the Tibet movement is. More and more, the Tibet movement has been winning important victories — even as repression worsens inside Tibet.

Internationally, HH the Dalai Lama is receiving more honors than at any time since he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. This includes the US Congressional Gold Medal (America’s highest civilian award), honorary Canadian citizenship (an honor only shared with Nelson Mandela and Raoul Wallenberg), and unprecedented official meetings with the German chancellor and Canadian prime minister.

As Canada’s Globe and Mail says,

The Dalai Lama and supporters of a free Tibet have been winning a number of battles on the international stage in recent years, hoping to force the Chinese government to loosen its grip on the region ahead of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

In similar news, over two-thirds of Canadians, according to a recent poll, now believe their government should raise the issue of Tibetan human rights and freedoms with the Chinese government, regardless of its potential impact on trade with China.

In the global media, Tibet is being discussed more and more often. The issue is frequently linked with the Beijing Olympics, and also in the context of the Chinese government’s religious repression and economic colonization there. It seems that the Chinese government’s plan to use the media around the Olympics to spotlight its claim to Tibet has backfired. After China’s entire Olympic party was spoiled by a few Tibet activists with a banner, video cameras and laptop computers, you can bet that the Chinese government is worried about what it’s brought upon itself.

Even Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian recently declared that Taiwan will support “the Tibetan people in safeguarding their fundamental human rights and fighting for their right to self-determination.”

Inside Tibet, of course, religious and political repression is getting worse (although it is sometimes hard to believe that is even possible). But brave Tibetans like Runggye Adak, and the hundreds who called for his release, continue to surprise the Chinese government by showing that Tibetans’ resistance lives on.

Tibetans should also be inspired by the dramatic protests against the military government in Burma, being led by Buddhist monks. In Tibet too, monks have been at the forefront of the freedom struggle, which is why the Chinese government has struggled so hard to control Tibetan Buddhism. But try as it might, China has failed. The Burmese protests are a reminder that repression only temporarily constrains a people’s dissatisfaction — it can never erase it. This is equally true in Tibet.

So those of us on the outside should take heart from a confluence of factors. Outside Tibet, the Tibet movement has recently been piling on victories against the Chinese government, which must be feeling its grip over Tibet is more and more assailed. Inside Tibet, the Tibetan people have shown remarkable bravery in the face of an upsurge in repression. And the inspiring example of the Burmese monks show us that even when it appears that a dictatorship has completely won, a people can shake the government to its very core. When all these factors come together, we can see real change.

SFT TV Ep. 16

SFT TV: Log On. Tune In. RISE UP!!!

In todays episode:
**News**
-Patriotic Education Campaign in Litang
-St. John’s Mayor to Fly Tibetan Flag Over City Hall
-German Chancellor to Meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama
**SFT**
-Lhadon’s Interview With Jamyang Norbu (www.beijingwideopen.org)
-Help Support SFT By Using Goodsearch (www.GoodSearch.com)
-5th Annual Flying For a Free Tibet Fundraiser

Tibetan Students Used as Olympic Props

News flash: the Chinese government is using Tibetan school children as Olympic props. According to China’s official Xinhua News, 2,008 middle school students from Lhasa were made to act as “human dominos” in the shape of the Olympic rings to celebrate the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

We missed the article when it first came out, since it was overshadowed by worldwide media attention on SFT’s dramatic protests in Beijing and the Great Wall. But this is simply too outrageous to let go:

Tibet Welcomes Olympics With Domino Show (Xinhua, Aug. 9, 2007)

More than 4,000 people gathered on Wednesday at a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The celebration started with a creative performance in which 2,008 middle school students from Lhasa imitated the domino effect by gently falling to the ground one after another in front of the Potala Palace, forming the pattern of the Olympic rings and the number “2008″.

[...] More than 2,000 local residents and tourists watched the performance.

[...] Song Haiyan, sales assistant at the only souvenir shop in Tibet [really the only?], said trial sales since the shop was opened a month ago has been satisfactory, and she is optimistic about future business.

The Chinese authorities exploited Tibetan middle school students as human props in their Olympic propaganda. This is a perfect example of how the Chinese government is shamelessly using the Olympics to try to legitimate its occupation of Tibet.

Tellingly, there was apparently a one-to-one ratio of performers to spectators. We can conclude that this was a carefully stage-managed event, with Tibetans only grudgingly attending. Hardly an outpouring of support. This sort of silly, melodramatic spectacle is totally alien to Tibetan culture, and is clearly dreamed up by some communist bureaucrat.

The other ironic thing is that the “sales assistant” at the souvenir shop clearly has a Chinese name. What are the chances that this shop is Chinese-owned, employs Chinese, and sells goods imported from China? Given how the Chinese government is actively encouraging ethnic Chinese to settle in Tibet for political reasons, the chances are pretty good.

Sometimes Xinhua News reveals more than it intends to.

SFT TV Olympics Special Report

SFT TV Ep. 15

SFT TV: Log On. Tune In. RISE UP!!!

In todays episode:

-Dalai Lama In Germany (AFP)
-UN General Assembly Backs Indigenous Peoples Rights (AFP)
-SFT TV Shout Out! GYRAD, TENDOLMA, HEARTFORTIBET y’all rawk.
-Chapter Shout Out! Dechen from NJ RAWKS!
-Treasure Island Music Festival Announcement