SFT Japan protests Wen Jiabao’s visit

SFT Japan helped coordinate protests marking the arrival of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Japan on Sunday. Check out the photos below:

SFT works to ensure that China’s leaders hear loud & clear from Tibetans and their supporters everywhere they travel around the world. While Beijing can use violence to silence the voices of Tibetans inside Tibet, they can not stop us from amplifying these voices in free countries.

Tibetan poet, writer and blogger Woeser’s Skype IDs Hacked

Tibetan poet, writer and blogger Woeser has reported on both her Twitter page and her blog that her two Skype IDs have been hacked.

Yesterday, May 28, 2010, Woeser tweeted the following:

Both my Skype IDs (boluoma+esse.wei777) have been hacked. Friends who need to contact me please use voice, don't trust chat or accept files.

Today on her blog, Woeser explains that not only have hackers been impersonating Tibetans to contact her on Skype and try to send her infected files, her Skype has also been contacting her friends to send them infected files.

Below is a screenshot of a hacker impersonating "Thubten (Sam) Samdup" trying to send her file:


In her blogpost, Woeser writes that she was out all day and not online on May 28, 2010. However, her Skype ID was contacting her friends. Below is a translation of a Skype chat between a hacker impersonating Woeser using her Skype ID "boluoma" and trying to send one of her contacts an infected file:

[5/28/10 4:30:57 PM] boluoma: hello

[5/28/10 4:32:00 PM] xxx: Hi Woeser, how are you？

[5/28/10 4:32:53 PM] boluoma: fine

[5/28/10 4:33:14 PM] boluoma / posted "t625146j fdp.scr"

[5/28/10 4:33:24 PM] boluoma: take a look at this article

[5/28/10 4:34:55 PM] xxx: ok

[5/28/10 4:36:32 PM] boluoma / posted "t625146j fdp.scr"

[5/28/10 4:37:19 PM] boluoma: try to accept again

[5/28/10 4:37:27 PM] xxx: am downloading

[5/28/10 6:35:23 PM] xxx: thank you

[5/28/10 6:51:27 PM] xxx: didn't go through again. Can you send to my email？

[5/28/10 6:51:44 PM] boluoma: ok

[5/28/10 6:51:55 PM] xxx: haha, are you there?

[5/28/10 6:52:12 PM] xxx: don't know why, there was a problem both times.

[5/28/10 6:52:28 PM] xxx: I'm going out. I'll look when I get back. Thanks!

[5/28/10 6:52:32 PM] boluoma / posted "t625146j fdp.scr"

[5/28/10 6:52:54 PM] xxx: Is this the same file?

[5/28/10 6:53:03 PM] boluoma: Yes

[5/28/10 6:53:10 PM] boluoma: I've written an article

[5/28/10 6:53:25 PM] xxx: Strange. Both times before I had to wait 15 minutes. Now it's really fast.

[5/28/10 6:53:51 PM] boluoma: My connection just now wasn't very stable

[5/28/10 6:55:03 PM] xxx: Can't open it!

[5/28/10 6:55:24 PM] boluoma: Aren't you using Windows?

[5/28/10 6:55:25 PM] boluoma: xp

[5/28/10 6:56:57 PM] xxx: I'm on a Mac but I should be able to open it. Hang on a minute. I'll try again.

[5/28/10 6:58:09 PM] boluoma: I sent the wrong file

[5/28/10 6:58:11 PM] boluoma /posted "t625146.pdf"

[5/28/10 6:58:17 PM] boluoma: It's this one

[5/28/10 6:58:31 PM] boluoma: OK, I'm going to cook now

[5/28/10 6:59:30 PM] xxx: ok.

In a curious coincidence, Woeser notes that it has been exactly two years to the day since she wrote an open letter to the company Skype. In 2008, Woeser came under cyber attack and her Skype ID "degewa" was hacked as was her blog. Read a Reuters article about that incident here. In 2008, Skype responded quickly by shutting down her "degewa" ID.

Below is a translation of the open letter that she wrote to Skype on May 29, 2008:

Dear Skype Company:

I am Woeser, the original user of the Skype ID "degewa". The good news that your company has quickly blocked the Skype ID "degewa" eased my very anxious mood. Because I am very worried that the hacker who stole my Skype ID. would deceive 171 contacts of mine in my name (As there is no other ways to contact many of my contacts, I am not able to notify them), which will result in their falling into the trap that they would be punished because of expressing their opinions. For this reason, I am deeply grateful to your company and would like to express my sincere respect for you all.
 

This incident has made me worry that even Skype, which is considered reliable, is not as safe as we think. Although I know that the problem may be more due to my own lack of technical capacity, which resulted in my Skype password and the list of my contacts being stolen, this matter is a reminder to us all. As the incident may have had serious consequences (fortunately nothing has happened so far), should Skype think about ways to prevent such incidents from happening? After all, for ordinary users, it is not possible for them to have the ability to deal with hackers, let alone the net police. Only companies with professional capacity will be able to tackle these problems.

I can at least make a suggestion to you: there is a problem with the current Skype setting as one can login in simultaneously on two computers with the same user ID. Computer B is able to see all the activities of the same user on computer A, but there is no alert or any reaction from computer A. One can imagine that if one’s Skype account and password have been stolen without the knowledge of the user, then due to his or her trust of the confidentiality features of Skype, the user will talk or chat without any preventative measures. Consequently, the other computer will record all activities, whether they are major or minor, they will be proof of crime. In China, the consequence can be very dangerous. I am a layman, so I do not know whether it is possible to change settings on Skype to prevent such incident from happening. Also to change the setting so that only one computer can be logged in with the user ID at one time, or if there is another computer using the same user ID, is it possible for Skype to alert the user? If there had been, a system would have been alerted and I would have responded appropriately.  

People living in a free society may not understand my cautiousness in this matter. However, the reason Skype has become many people’s preferred means of communication in China and Tibet is due to the user’s trust of its safety features. It can be said that they have entrusted their personal safety to such a trust in Skype. Freedom from fear should be the basic freedom enjoyed by all human beings but at present, it is regrettable that we do not have such freedom. In a society when people are facing the threat of fear all the time, new technology which guarantees one’s safety has become a comfort for one to rely on. 
 

Thank you.

Yours Sincerely,
Woeser

From Beijing
May 29, 2008

Lhadon Tethong’s Speech: Activism Through Tibetan Identity

March 10, 2010
In front of a crowd of hundreds of Tibetans and Tibet supporters in New York City’s Union Square, SFT’s former Executive Director and current Director to Tibet Action Institute, Lhadon Tethong gave an impassioned speech on March 10th, Tibetan National Uprising Day, about the significance of Tibetan identity around the world, especially recently inside Tibet. The following is from her speech:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak, on what is one of the most important days for Tibetans everywhere, for six million Tibetans around the world and for our supporters, for freedom loving people everywhere. Standing here in Union Square in New York city, it’s easy to feel for a moment like we are lost in the middle of a busy city doing important things, everybody leading their lives going about their daily business passing on the street and not necessarily understanding how much emotion and how much strength and courage there is right here in this little Union Square.

But if we could just stop for a moment and think what it is to lose a nation, what it is to lose your freedom, for that’s what has happened to the 6 million Tibetans, since China invaded and occupied Tibet in 1950 and then in 1959 our people inside Tibet lost their beloved leader the Dalai Lama because he had to flee into exile to escape for his life into India. And so in the middle of New York City where everybody has a story, our story might seem far away, distant. 1959 might even seem like a long time ago to the person passing by but 1959 for us is like yesterday, even for me, born and raised in exile. Even though I’ve never seen Tibet with my own eyes, I know what happened there, I know what’s happening there, I feel it acutely everyday. As do people here in this Square.

It’s amazing if you think about it, just look around, we know the stories that are in the Square. Every single person, every Tibetan whether it’s your personal story of escape, some people here are from the furthest most amazing and beautiful lands far on the other side of the Himalayan mountains and they made the journey to safety and to freedom on foot. They escaped and left their children behind or maybe their parents behind, their families, their land. But they have incredible…you have incredible individual stories of courage, of bravery but also of suffering and lost. And then there is those of us who grew up in exile and we’ve heard those stories time and time again in a way that we can’t ever forget them, even if we wanted to. Even if we wanted to go and live a normal life, we never can, we never could because it’s not just about our stories, it’s the people inside. All those Tibetans living everyday in Tibet without their freedom and under Chinese oppression but the other side of the story is not just one of suffering and lost, it’s of incredible, incredible, courage and of spirit of resistance so strong that the Chinese government, this rising super power, this massive nation has not been able to conquer us.

They have our land and our people there temporarily… But they have not been able to conquer the Tibetan spirit. Tibetans inside do not think they are Chinese, Tibetans inside Tibet don’t feel an allegiance to the nation that is China or to the Chinese flag. That is China’s ultimate failure and they know it and so they have to use tanks, they have to use the People’s Armed Police, the People’s Liberation Army, the Public Security Bureau, they have to use all of these violence and all of these force to keep 6 million Tibetans down. But everyday they are failing and we can see this now.

There’s a new movement inside Tibet, it’s sort of just coming clear. There’s a movement inside Tibet where people are saying, young Tibetans are saying, I am Tibetan and I am proud of that. It’s a simple statement to say I am Tibetan, it doesn’t sound very revolutionary but it is, because the Chinese government has spend the last 50, 60 years trying to make Tibetans inside Tibet either turn them into Chinese or snuff out all of their pride and all of their individual strength. And yet even after all these years there’s a generation of young Tibetans who have grown up in the Chinese system and they have not given up and now they are feeling a new strength and a new pride. They’re writing blogs, poetry, rap lyrics, books, they’re speaking openly on camera, in videos that are being made, amateur videos and they’re saying we’re Tibetan, we’ll never give up and that is for us- the light. There’s.. look around here there’s all the young Tibetans here, the young Tibetans here are also carrying the spirit forward, the young Tibetans inside are carrying the spirit forward and in actually hundreds of cities around the world today, young Tibetans are carrying the Tibetan flag, singing the Tibetan national anthem. There’s a new resurgence of the Tibetan language so all the things that China is trying to do over all these years, they’ve failed. They’ve failed so baldy.

There’s a new… hip hop song that has come out, it’s online, you can watch it. It’s by a group called the Green Dragon. Hear some of the lyrics, just to give a sense, any .. as Ngawang Sangdro la, the former Tibetan nun and political prisoner in Tibet was just saying, she sang a song, she went to jail for years in Tibet. But she said “Free Tibet.” She said it very directly, she said “Long live the Dalai Lama”, those are very political and dangerous statements to the Chinese government. Well now, there’s a new youth inside Tibet also taking strong and courageous action and speaking clearly but in a slightly more subtle way that any Tibetan who hears these lyrics will know how strong they are.

They say:
The noise of vehicles has woken us
Among the crowded tall buildings
Our dreams and belongings have all been packed

See the polluted sky and know
We can’t afford to wait for tomorrow’s sunrise
Now wake up…

It’s already time to walk on the road
It’s time to walk, time to think
Our bare shoulders wet with sweat
Our long hair tangled by the wind
Our faith and lives are adorned by freedom
Our collective path is determined by individual choice
As much sweat as you shed
That much result shall you reap

So said our great forefathers
But our forefathers are long gone
We don’t have to keep quiet

The owner of karma has left me like a toy
With strength and talent I need to somehow respond
Even the old lady neighbour says I’m spoiled
With power and ability I’ll prove them all!

The new generation has a resource called youth
The new generation has a pride called confidence
The new generation has an appearance called playfulness
The new generation has a temptation called freedom

The new generation has a resource called youth
The new generation has a pride called confidence
The new generation has an appearance called playfulness
The new generation has a temptation called freedom

At one time I thought that love was everything
Then love turned me into nothing
A girl I loved so much
Has given me a very beautiful gift
Now I haven’t lost her
The dream of love has not been lost

Deceit and cunning!
In a society where people are deceived by money, fame and power
Will I ever find a meaningful love?
Will i ever find a definite pledge?
Who among us will?

We are caught up in our thoughts of pain and of mere fashion
We wrote our own darkness and we’re scared of living
We embody the pride of youth and search for future aspirations with full willpower

Search!
Search!

We are the new generation of today

As I achieved what I wanted to achieve
My dreams don’t waiver in the night
As I said what I wanted to say
I didn’t turn into a mute
I did it for me only!

As I achieved what I wanted to achieve
My dreams don’t waiver in the night
As I said what I wanted to say
I didn’t turn into a mute
I did it only to represent myself!

Get used to me!
I am the decadent breath of your uncontrollability

Get used to me!
I am under your limitless uncontrollable watch

Get used to me!
I am the manifestation of today and the substance of tomorrow

I am very light, in your imagination
I am very small, in your vegetable patch

Does your advanced theory wish to blow up my head?
Does your forced bullet wish to shoot through my heart?

I am just an old and damaged vehicle
The horse of time departed early morning
The small flame under your saddle
The blood and bodies frozen in the ice are bound to fade

We are the sharp wisdom that your speeches and lectures haven’t reached
We are the smooth darkness that your flame and power hasn’t absorbed
We are the response with playfulness that makes your heart ache
We are the infection and fright to your livelihood!

The new generation has a resource called youth
The new generation has a pride called confidence
The new generation has an appearance called playfulness
The new generation has a temptation called freedom

The new generation has a resource called youth
The new generation has a pride called confidence
The new generation has an appearance called playfulness
The new generation has a temptation called freedom

Our story has not ended here
It’s just the beginning
We never fall asleep but are awake forever

Get used to dreaming
Get used to unlawful damage and uprisings
Get used to this way of living
Get used to moving forward

To our beloved and proud new generation

This new pride, this new force that we are seeing in the signs we have here because I am Tibetan, that in itself is a revolution. And one that the Chinese government has no power over. And as long as Tibetans inside move forward in this spirit and as long as Tibetans outside, keep walking the path that we’ve been on for all these years and never give up, the Chinese government will fail ultimately. They’re failing now and they’ll fail in the end, that’s the way it goes. That’s the lesson of history.

There are some things though that we have to do right here in our own city. You will see the Chinese government is attacking us, they are trying to take the support that we have gained for Tibet around the world, and they are trying to take that away. The Chinese government is going into even little cities like Portland, Oregon to the mayor’s office. Sending Chinese government representatives to tell the mayor of Portland, “You must not issue this symbolic Tibet day proclamation on March 10th.” Now the mayor of Portland told the Chinese government “We don’t care what you think, we’re gonna do this anyway”. That was a victory for us, the same thing happened in Minneapolis. The same thing happened in Saint Paul. But in the case of Saint Paul, in Minnesota, the mayor was almost going to give in but the Chinese government sort of came and threatened and the mayor of Saint Paul seemed like maybe he wasn’t going to issue a March 10th statement. He’s done it for the last two years, if he didn’t do it this year that for us is a loss, a symbolic one but it would have been a loss. So, what did we do? We rallied, we organized, we got everybody calling the mayor’s office. We told them the media wanted to speak to them, we started to put the pressure on them and suddenly the mayor’s office called and said, “Actually no, we are going to issue a March 10th statement, that was just a miscommunication”. We knew that wasn’t true but in the end it doesn’t matter. They issued that statement; the Chinese government has another loss on their hands. That for us is an important symbolic victory.

Again with President Obama, lets just talk for a moment about President Obama. He declined to meet the Dalai Lama. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a global symbol, respected man of peace, Nobel Peace Prize winner. Now back in the Fall, Obama said he wasn’t going to meet the Dalai Lama because he was going to go to China, and we all knew what that meant. He didn’t want to offend the Chinese government by meeting the Dalai Lama before he went…[inaudible]

They (Chinese government leaders) know in the end, their government will fall, things will change and as long as we have kept the support and kept the movement alive the time will come. There will be a reckoning and Tibetans will have a chance of freedom again. That’s why our job in the outside is to keep the movement alive to keep the political support strong and to fight the Chinese government and whatever battlefield we need to meet them in. Whether with our local leaders or national leaders or the global UN and other leaders.

The final thing I want to say and I’ll stop talking, is that there… From this point on many people wonder where now? What do we do? The situation inside Tibet is still bad, the military is in the street, have we really made any difference? And I would just ask that every single person here take time to reflect on how much has been achieved, in 51 years. Since His Holiness the Dalai Lama, first came over those mountains. In 51 years, six million people with one leader bearing no arms, no weapons has become one of the single biggest problems for the Chinese empire and for the leaders that rule in Beijing. And now Chinese people inside China know there’s a problem in Tibet. They might not agree with us, they might not change their minds, but they know there’s a problem. And that’s the beginning of the end. What we need is for people in China, for Chinese leaders to know, there is a problem and a problem needs a solution. And up until two years ago, most Chinese in China didn’t really even think about Tibet. It wasn’t an issue, we belong to them, and that was it. Now there is a problem, now there is tension and tension is good. Tension isn’t a bad thing because tension, that kind of friction, is where you get action that can lead to a resolution. So I think our job, Tendor said it earlier, our job wherever we are in the world, people inside Tibet is to keep moving forward. Keep that tension alive, be uncontrollable and in the end we will win. Thank you.

RENAISSANCE SERIES | Amplifying Everything that is Banned in Tibet

Episode 01 – Poetry in Resistance

FEATURING
- Reading of excerpts from Shogdung’s book, “The Line Between Sky and Earth”
- Reading of Dolma Kyab’s book, “The Restless Himalayas”
- Reading of Woeser’s poetry
- Original poetry by Tenzing Rigdol, Tenzin Dickyi and others
- Music by Tenzin Choegyal, Australia-based musician, singer and dranyen master
- Petition signing for the release of imprisoned artists and intellectuals in Tibet

WHEN: 7pm, Tuesday, June 1
WHERE: Shangri la Tibet Kitchen, Jackson Heights [ 74-15 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY]
WEBCAST: www.sfthq.org
SUBWAY: Address: to Jackson Hts-Roosevelt Ave-74th St-Broadway

RENAISSANCE SERIES is presented by SFT to promote the writings, poetry, music and other works of art and literature banned in Chinese-occupied Tibet. Since protests swept across Tibet in March 2008, the Chinese government has arrested and imprisoned numerous Tibetan writers and artists for criticizing its policies in Tibet. Despite this escalated repression, we are witnessing a cultural renaissance in Tibet, with an endless stream of poems, essays, songs and paintings flowing out from beyond the Himalayas.

We encourage people everywhere to read, watch and hear the poetry, films and songs that China tries to censor. By amplifying the voices that China intends to silence, we will shine the global spotlight on China’s human rights abuses and mobilize support for the release of Tibet’s political prisoners.

SFT Canada presents Dinner with Techung Friday May 28th!

Students for a Free Tibet Canada invites you to Dinner with Techung this Friday May 28th!

Come join us for a great evening of music, food, and conversation with acclaimed Tibetan singer/songwriter Techung.

Entry is $30 and includes dinner, and an evening of classic Tibetan songs performed by Techung. Seating is limited so get your tickets now!

Date: Friday, May 28, 2010
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Om Restaurant. 1439 Queen Street West, Toronto
Tickets: $30.00 Available at Om Restaurant, at the door, contact us to reserve your tickets, or purchase your tickets online below.
Contact: Jordhen C; 416.463.0402 or jordhenc@yahoo.com