Tibet News Roundup during President Hu’s US Visit

The world’s media was on hand last week to cover the historic state visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to Washington, D.C. Human rights was a hot topic and Tibet was a central theme in the media’s coverage of China’s human rights failures.

Tibetan and their supporter also gave the media lots to cover with 7 protests over 3-days, including a coffin march around the White House and giant skeleton puppets symbolizing how Tibet is a skeleton in Hu Jintao’s closet.

News roundup of the protests in Washington, D.C:

President Hu Jintao’s ‘Skeletons’ Dance Outside White House in Human Rights Protest (ABC News): http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-obama-hu-jintao-china-human-rights-record/story?id=12650071

Barack Obama risks China’s ire with human rights remarks (Guardian): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/19/barack-obama-china-human-rights

Obama publicly raises human rights with China’s Hu (Reuters): http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70C12520110119?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Reactions to Hu’s visit highlight a stark divide among Chinese Americans (Washington Post): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/19/AR2011011903925.html

China’s President Begins U.S. Visit (CBS): http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7259576n&tag=contentMain;contentBody

US and China Agree Human Rights Dialogue (Sky News – watch first video for Tibet coverage): http://is.gd/aGom99

White House defends Hu state visit invite (AFP): http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110118/pl_afp/uschinadiplomacyrights_20110118193102

CNN Footage Captures Tibet Chants as Hu Arrives for State Dinner: http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/politics/2011/01/19/vo.state.dinner.arrivals.cnn

Associated Press Footage of Protest in front of Chinese Embassy: http://video.ap.org/?f=AP&pid=Os0b6lLIYFwvhGDXAF2clBViwJ4WwMx4

International Campaign for Tibet’s Statement on U.S.-China Summit: http://savetibet.org/media-center/ict-press-releases/ict-statement-us-china-summit-positive-development-human-rights-and-tibet

Tibet Haunts President Hu in Washington, D.C.

Last week, Chinese President Hu Jintao was confronted by the skeletons in his closet.

Tibetans and their supporters dogged the Chinese leader everywhere he went during his 3-day visit to Washington, D.C. Giant skeleton puppets representing Hu’s failed leadership and decades of repressive policies in Tibet haunted him in the streets of the U.S. capital. 
Watch a video roundup and view photos of the colorful protests.

From implementing martial law in Tibet in 1989 to his ongoing crackdown against pro-Tibet protesters, Hu Jintao has pursued policies that brutalize and marginalize the Tibetan people. Read the press release by Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) and the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) denouncing Hu Jintao’s failed leadership on Tibet and highlighting the Tibetan people’s enduring spirit of resistance.

SFT and TYC also jointly projected pro-Tibet images onto the Chinese embassy in D.C. during Hu’s visit.

On Wednesday, SFT’s Executive Director, Tenzin Dorjee (Tendor), spoke at a coalition rally in front of the White House alongside representatives from the Ugyhur, Taiwanese, Burmese, Chinese democracy and human rights communities. Each speaker echoed the call for long overdue change in Tibet and in China; Beijing must respect universal values of human rights and freedom if China is to be truly accepted as an equal among nations and a leader on the world stage.

Our Pressure is Working! Thanks to the consistent pressure on the Obama administration over the past two years, Tibet was raised as a central issue in the United States’ human rights agenda with China. President Obama pressed his Chinese counterpart to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama and his representatives.

Through our continued efforts, we can ensure that our government leaders collectively stand up to China and press for an end to its illegal occupation of Tibet.

In the coming months, Tibetans and their supporters around the world will take part in what has become an annual Lobby Day for Tibet. On this day we visit our elected representatives, update them on the situation inside Tibet, and ask for their support of the Tibetan people’s nonviolent struggle for freedom.

If you are interested in taking part in the Lobby Day events, please contact: grassroots@studentsforafreetibet.org and we’ll send you more information pertaining to your country.

Support SFT’s hard-hitting actions for Tibetan freedom:
https://secure3.convio.net/sft/site/Donation2?df_id=1345&1345.donation=form1

Coalition Urges President Obama to Raise Tibet During US-China Summit

STUDENTS FOR A FREE TIBET

January 13, 2011
For Immediate Release

Contacts: Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director, +1 646-724-0748

Kate Woznow, Deputy Director, +1 917-601-0069

Coalition Urges President Obama to Raise Tibet During US-China Summit

New York – A coalition of 39 Tibetan organizations and Tibet support groups across the United States sent a letter today to President Barack Obama asking that Tibet be a substantive part of the agenda during his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on January 19th.

“President Obama and his administration must publicly and vigorously raise Tibet and human rights when he meets Chinese President Hu Jintao,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet.  “Human rights and freedom for Tibetans – and indeed all people – are universal values that Americans hold dear and want championed when our leaders talk to China.”

The letter states that the United States’ “long-standing history of supporting the Tibetan people creates an incumbent duty on this Administration to continue to raise the issue with Chinese leaders at the highest levels.” The visit comes at a time when Chinese leaders are escalating their violent and repressive policies in Tibet, including a full-scale attack against Tibetan writers, artists and intellectuals.

The letter argues that China’s failed policies in Tibet have consequences far beyond Tibet’s borders. China’s wide-scale construction of dams on the upper-reaches of Asia’s largest rivers originating on the Tibetan plateau that flow into India, Cambodia and other neighboring countries, are fast becoming a potential source of regional instability.

Students for a Free Tibet, along with the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress of New York/New Jersey and Washington D.C. and the Capital Area Tibetan Association, is planning a series of protests from January 18th-20th in Washington, D.C. to coincide with Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit. A full schedule of the protests is available at: http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/hujintao

The text of the letter and list of signatory groups are as follows:

January 13, 2011

The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We, the undersigned Tibetan Associations, organizations and Tibet support groups, are writing to ask that you make Tibet a substantive part of the agenda when President Hu Jintao visits Washington on January 19.

You have spoken often of the universality of fundamental human rights, most recently to mark the awarding of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned Chinese writer and democracy activist Liu Xiaobo.

As you are aware, for the past six decades, the Tibetan people have been denied their fundamental human rights.  President Hu Jintao’s visit to Washington is a unique opportunity to engage him meaningfully on the Tibet issue and showcase the ideals and values cherished by Americans, including openness, democracy and individual liberty.  These principles underlie your remarks about rights that are universal to all human beings.

The United States has a long-standing history of supporting the Tibetan people and their peaceful struggle for human rights and freedom.  This support has become institutionalized within the U.S. government through the development of policies and programs designed to help Tibetans preserve and promote their culture, identity and dignity.  You have commended His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s tireless efforts to negotiate a resolution for Tibet with the Chinese government, a position consistent with long-standing U.S. policy.

Tibet is an integral part of the U.S.-China relationship for moral, historical and strategic reasons.  The position the United States has adopted on Tibet creates an incumbent duty on this Administration to continue to raise the issue with Chinese leaders at the highest levels. Tibet must be on the agenda of your summit with President Hu.

The recent protests by Tibetan students objecting to the central government’s plans to subordinate the Tibetan language to Mandarin as the language of instruction are emblematic of China’s policy failures in Tibet.

Moreover, there is a growing recognition of the potential impact China’s infrastructure projects on the Tibetan plateau will have on access to water in downstream countries, as Secretary Clinton noted during her visit to Cambodia.  The role of Tibet, also known by scientists as the “Third Pole,” in global climate change is further evidence that developments in Tibet are anything but the exclusive internal affairs of the People’s Republic of China.  Without a multilateral framework to address these issues, Chinese policies in Tibet could exacerbate regional instability.  A just and lasting solution for Tibet that includes Tibetans as integral stakeholders will bring greater stability for China, its regional neighbors and indeed the world.

These points underlie the central message that we ask you to convey to President Hu – that the United States has, and will continue to have, a strong interest in Tibet and will remain committed to facilitating a just and lasting resolution for Tibet.  This commitment comes with an expectation that Tibetans must be freely able to exercise their basic human rights and freedoms, preserve their distinctive culture, and address the ecological, educational, political and economic consequences of the Chinese government’s failed policies in Tibet.

The U.S. government should continue to press China’s leadership for results-oriented negotiations to achieve a political solution for Tibet and engage China in topical areas, including education policies pertaining to Tibetans and regional discussions on water security.

Your proactive approach will demonstrate to the Chinese government that Tibet is an integral part of the U.S.-China relationship as are basic universal values of human rights and dignity.  Again, we thank you for your public expressions of support for the Tibet issue and for your leadership in raising it with Chinese leaders, and look forward to your continuing to exert this leadership when you meet with President Hu.

Sincerely,

Association Cognizance Tibet, North Carolina
Capital Area Tibetan Association
Indiana Tibetan Association
Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association
Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota
Tibetan Association of Boston
Tibetan Association of Charlottesville
Tibetan Association of Colorado
Tibetan Association of Connecticut
Tibetan Association of Idaho
Tibetan Association of Ithaca
Tibetan Association of New York and New Jersey
Tibetan Association of North Carolina
Tibetan Association of Northern California
Tibetan Association of Ohio and Michigan
Tibetan Association of Santa Fe
Tibetan Association of Philadelphia
Tibetan Association of Southern California
Tibetan Association of Washington
Utah Tibetan Association
Wisconsin Tibetan Association
Bay Area Friends of Tibet
Boston Tibet Network
Committee of 100 for Tibet
International Campaign for Tibet
International Tibet Independence Movement
Los Angeles Friends of Tibet
Regional Tibetan Youth Congress of New York and New Jersey
San Diego Friends of Tibet
Santa Barbara Friends of Tibet
Seattle Friends of Tibet
Sierra Friends of Tibet
Students for a Free Tibet
Tibet Committee of Fairbanks
The Tibet Connection
Tibet Justice Center
Tibet Online
U.S. Tibet Committee
Western Colorado Friends of Tibet

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Actor Richard Gere Joins Tibetans, Chinese at United Nations to Honor Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel Prize

NY SOLIDARITY EVENT FOR LIU XIAOBO AT UNITED NATIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS DAY (12/10)

SFT will join a coalition of organizations and actor Richard Gere at a press conference and event in support of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo  on December 10th in front of the United Nations in New York (9am, Ralph Bunche Park at the corner of 1st Ave & 43rd Street). Tibetan & Chinese artists will display a collaborative portrait of Liu Xiaobo and Richard Gere will read excerpts of Liu Xiaobo’s writings. Check out SFT’s media advisory for more details.

The coalition has released a statement (see below) calling on the Chinese government to immediately release Liu Xiaobo from prison, along with all those detained by China for exercising their rights.

JOINT STATEMENT

Freedom for Liu Xiaobo and All Imprisoned by the Chinese Government for Exercising Their Rights

Students for a Free Tibet, Human Rights in China, Amnesty International, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, International Campaign for Tibet, International Federation for Human Rights, Tibetan Youth Congress

DECEMBER 8, 2010

Students for a Free Tibet, Human Rights in China, Amnesty International, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, International Campaign for Tibet, the International Federation for Human Rights, and Tibetan Youth Congress congratulate the independent Chinese intellectual, scholar, and activist Liu Xiaobo for being awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, and call on the Chinese government to release Liu from prison unconditionally.

In the award ceremony in Oslo on Friday, December 10, neither the Nobel Laureate nor his family members will be present to receive the honor, because Liu Xiaobo is serving an 11-year prison sentence for what the Chinese government calls “inciting subversion of state power”; his wife, Liu Xia, is under house arrest; and his brothers have been barred from leaving China.
In awarding Liu Xiaobo the Peace Prize, the Nobel Committee has acted courageously, especially in light of China’s growing global political influence and of the pervasive perception that no country in the world can afford to disagree with or antagonize China.

While some heads of state and international organizations lower their heads and voices, the Nobel Committee, with this Prize, has declared, loudly and clearly, that a common bond connects the Chinese people with all the world’s people. This common bond is a set of universal values that include the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, and the right to freedom of opinion and expression. For this strong act of engagement with the Chinese government on fundamental principles, we commend the Nobel Committee.
In addition to releasing Liu Xiaobo, we call on the Chinese government to demonstrate through its actions that it respects the rights protected by international human rights law and Chinese law. It can begin by releasing all individuals who have been imprisoned for exercising these rights.

Full statement in Chinese

Contact:
•    Students for a Free Tibet: Kate Woznow, kate@studentsforafreetibet.org, +1 917 601-0069
•    Human Rights in China: Mi Ling Tsui, miling.tsui@hrichina.org, +1 917 859-0765
•    Amnesty International: José Luis Díaz,joseluis.diaz@amnesty.org, +1 917 972-1073
•    Human Rights First: Brenda Bowser Soder, bowsersoderb@humanrightsfirst.org, +1 202 370-3323
•    Human Rights Watch: Minky Worden, wordenm@hrw.org, +1 212 216-1250
•    International Federation for Human Rights: Antoine Madelin, amadelin@fidh.org, +32 485 22 22 87
•    International Campaign for Tibet: Kate Saunders, kate.saunders@ictibet.co.uk, + +44 (0) 7947 138612

•    Tibetan Youth Congress: Ngawang Tashi, ngawangtashirutog@yahoo.com, +1 917-500-4570
•    Uyghur American Association, Alim Seytoff, aseytoff@uyghuramerican.org, +1 202-478-1901

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