Bhaichung pulls out of Torch relay

Day 22 Update from the March

Today the marchers walked from Vishwas to Kurukshetra covering a distance of about 27 kilometers. The marchers were warmly welcomed at the Shasri Devi Ashram in Kurukshetra, where they spent the night.

“Flip” That Problem

Unlike the Gaza Strip or Baghdad, Tibet has only the occasional journalist passing through, and right now there’s no one there. If we want news footage of events in Tibet to reach the world we have to get it ourselves. Lugging around professional equipment or even a camcorder would be asking for trouble but a convenient solution seems to be at hand.

Financial Times endorses boycott of Olympic opening ceremonies

The Financial Times has endorsed boycotting the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony to send a message to Beijing that its brutal crackdown in Tibet is unacceptable to the world community:

Sanctions can work in the right circumstances. The sporting boycott and financial sanctions applied to apartheid South Africa are often cited as measures that helped drive South Africa’s white minority rulers to the negotiating table.[...]

A boycott only of the opening ceremony – essentially a boycott of the propaganda part of the proceedings but not of the sporting contest – is a more appealing idea.

Chinese leaders, who must be alarmed by the head of steam that is building up behind the boycott campaigns, should ease the international pressure (at least over Tibet) by swallowing their pride and talking to the Dalai Lama about real autonomy for Tibetans.

It is only with pressure that Beijing’s leadership has shown any real let-up in Tibet.  Those who say that China is somehow ”different,” and that losing “face” will only “provoke” China, should look at Xinjiang.  The effective lack of pressure and global concern there has given Beijing free reign to oppress the Uyghur people.  

Ultimately, Western political leaders are politicians accountable to their people.   They should ask themselves: “Do I want to be associated with the Chinese government’s massive propaganda display during the opening ceremonies?  Will my electorate like my presence being used by the Chinese government to legitimate its bloody crackdown in Tibet?”

The FT adds a note of caution, however.  The world should not do as US President Bill Clinton once did in linking China’s MFN trade status to human rights, only to back down.  That cave-in enormously set back human rights in China and Tibet, suggesting to Beijing that the West only gives lip service to human rights:

The worst outcome would be a bold call for a boycott followed by a humiliating climbdown, with western leaders meekly shuffling into their seats for a glorious opening ceremony; that would be a propaganda triumph for Beijing and undermine efforts to persuade China to improve its human rights record for years to come.

NO TORCH IN TIBET!

SFT has launched a new flash animation video to expose the true face of the Chinese government as it tries to hide behind its glossy Olympics propaganda.

Click here to view the Torch flash animation video.

Click here to send it to your friends and post it on your blog or website.

Click here to add the flash animation to your Facebook profile.

Click here to read SFT’s press release: 3/31/08

Visit www.torchrelaybeijing2008.org for more information on China’s tainted torch relay, where protests are taking place in the coming week, and how you can take action to help pressure the International Olympic Committee to remove Tibet from the relay route.