Losar 2010: Because I am Tibetan

Dear friends and supporters of Tibet,

Tibetans will mark Losar – the Tibetan New Year – on February 14th, 2010. In the Tibetan lunar calendar, this day marks the beginning of the Iron Tiger Year 2137, a time for change, hope, and renewal. On this day, we celebrate our history, our culture, our religion, and our future – because our history is great, our culture beautiful, our religion profound, and – in spite of our present suffering – our future is bright.

Since 2008, following the Tibetan uprising in all three historical provinces of Tibet, we witnessed an escalation in the imprisonment, torture and death of our fellow countrymen and women under Chinese rule. Because of this, last year, Tibetans united around the world and did not celebrate Losar.

This year, many Tibetans are planning to observe Losar for one reason only: because we are Tibetan. We will speak Tibetan language, wear Tibetan dress, and observe Tibetan customs, thus strengthening our identity and our spirit. Through this observance we will find new courage and opportunities to advance our struggle. In observing Losar with family and friends, Tibetans will reach for happiness, which, as much as suffering, is an integral part of a freedom movement.

Through all these years of occupation one thing is clear: the oppressor envies the spirit of the Tibetan people, which cannot be crushed by violence. This year Tibetans worldwide will nourish this spirit with the observance of Losar.

While observing this important cultural tradition, we ask Tibetans and supporters to light butter lamps and candles on their altars and in their windows on February 14th to honor the courage of the Tibetan people in Tibet who continue to resist the Chinese government’s illegal occupation of their homeland.

Tibet will be free.

With hope,

Tenzin Dorjee,                              Lhadon Tethong,
Executive Director,  SFT            Director, Tibet Action Institute

Please watch this inspiring video from Amdo, Eastern Tibet, where Tibetans, young and old, declare the myriad ways they are Tibetan.

Included in the video are these statements:
I am Tibetan because I love Tibet.
I am Tibetan because I learn Tibetan.
I am Tibetan because I love my culture.
I am Tibetan because I wear only Tibetan dress.
I am Tibetan because Tibetan blood flows in me.
I am Tibetan because my mother is Tibetan.
I am Tibetan because I sing Tibetan.
I am Tibetan because I am a Tibetan nomad.
I am Tibetan because I love my land.
I am Tibetan because I am a herder on the plateau.
I am Tibetan because I never forget Tibet.
I am Tibetan because I love my Tibetan brothers and sisters.

Chinese citizens share their thoughts about Google

The French website Aujourd’hui la Chine has posted candid interviews with two Chinese citizens who joined a group of Google supporters outside of the company’s headquarters in Beijing.

The interviews are in French but we’ve translated them below. It is quite striking how openly they speak about the significance of Google’s decision and the lack of freedom of expression in China.

Woman:
Today, I brought flowers to thank Google. I support them. I thank them for having spoken the truth and for having shown the reality of censorship. There are so many sites that we don’t have access to; the web is not free and this, no company ever says publicly. All the companies that are here make compromises with the government…either to access the Chinese market or to negotiate under the table. Google has spoken the truth.

Man:
Me, I’m a fan of Google. It helps me a lot with my work and my every day life. Baidu provides mostly the Chinese version of info, but because we now live in a global village, we also need international info…which isn’t the same as Chinese info. Frankly, Baidu isn’t the best.

Woman:
Baidu isn’t useful. It cooperates with the Chinese government and I don’t want this corporation to influence my day-to-day life. There’s no point in negotiating with the government. Freedom of expression isn’t negotiable, it’s a human right.

A Tibet supporter’s analysis of Google’s China stand

Josh Schrei, former SFT board chair and lifelong Tibet support posted a must-read analysis piece on Google’s decision to stand up to China in Huffington Post: The War Over Words: Why Google’s New Approach to China Should Be the Only Approach

He lays out the broader implications of Google’s move to take the power back in its relationship with China and encourages other western corporations and political leaders to do the same.

While I applaud Google for their brave decision, their “discomfort” around having to censor should have been taken more seriously the first time around, because there are very few good places such a decision can lead. Once you go down that road, it will inevitably lead to places of greater ambiguity, greater ethical dilemma, and greater concern. Luckily, free thinking minds prevailed, before the unthinkable ( for example, the company NOT disclosing China’s shenanigans in favor of keeping the relationship strong) happened. Over the next few weeks I encourage the Google-folk to maintain the firm stance they did yesterday. Bending on these issues is not an option. Too much is at stake.

Hopefully Google’s actions will start to show some US companies — and our good President, for that matter — that they do have influence with the Chinese, they do have power in that relationship…. and that we can make change by living according to principle. Moving forward, other companies MUST follow Google’s lead. Restrictions should be put in place on selling the Chinese government technology, software, or hardware that enables surveillance and digital privacy invasion. And when Beijing plays foul, in any circumstance, companies have a responsibility to call them out on it, as Google has done.

Read the full article.

Google reconsidering business in China over hacking

Google’s official blog announced this afternoon that Google has discovered “a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China.” Apparently this attack was not just targeting Google, but also a number of other large corporations in the Internet, technology, finance, and other sectors.

However, what is most disturbing is that when Google investigated the attacks, they learned that Google users who advocate for human rights in China were being singled out…”we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.”

After even further investigation, Google found evidence that in addition to these attacks, “the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China – and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties” – again from China.

In 2006, when Google announced that they were launching a custom-built version of their search engine platform to conform with the Chinese government’s strict Internet monitoring and surveillance requirements, SFT and human rights groups worldwide condemned the decision. SFT launched the NoLuv4Google campaign, collecting thousands of pledges from people worldwide to “breakup” with Google over their decision to collude with the Chinese government.

It appears that China has done exactly what we feared they would do with this advantage, but at least – and we hope this news is true – Google is doing something about it.

In their statement, they announced:

These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.

The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today. We are committed to working responsibly to resolve the very difficult issues raised.

This news has already hit social media sites and news media in a big way. Check out some of the coverage so far: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/12/technology/AP-US-TEC-Google-China.html?_r=2&hp

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/186781/google_could_leave_china_over_censorship_email_attacks.html

“Google has taken a bold and difficult step for Internet freedom in support of fundamental human rights,” said Leslie Harris, president of the Center for Democracy & Technology. “No company should be forced to operate under government threat to its core values or to the rights and safety of its users. We support Google for being willing to engage in this very difficult process.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/12/AR2010011203024.html?hpid=topnews

‘Beijing 6′ Brian gives Shout Out to SFT on PBS Idea Lab

Brian Conley, creator of the well-known videoblog, Alive in Baghdad, and one of the ‘Beijing 6‘ citizen journalist detained this summer in Beijing for capturing images and videos of pro-Tibet actions during the Olympics, was interviewed for PBS Idea Lab about his incredibly important new project Alive in Tehran.

During his interview, Brian gave the following shout out to SFT and our efforts to break through China’s Great Firewall. Read and listen to the fill interview.

Ryan: So while you weren’t on the ground in Gaza, you had connections who were, and were able to get information out, too.

Brian: Exactly, and then we used Twitter to pull in questions from people and enable people to sort of interact with our guy on the ground there. So then when Iran started happening it seemed like a natural fit to try and use the same tools for the folks there, to enable them to basically communicate out. The primary thing that we’re trying, that we’re pushing right now, is basically a phone number that people can call, get to a voicemail box and record whatever they would like to say, and right now I have a public voice mailbox available via an Alive in Tehran Facebook [group].

Also, people can message me via twitter.com/baghdadbrian and then for people who are more private or who have family, they just want to share one voicemail box…we can set up a specific number for any individual. Beyond that, we’re looking at other tools. I’ve learned a little bit about how Students for a Free Tibet have gotten video out of Tibet. So there’s one tool I’m sort of sharing with people privately. Then there on Alive in Tehran we have a list of tools Iranians can use to communicate securely. So basically, right now it’s a lot of organizing and working it.

BBtv (Beijing): interview with pro-Tibet videobloggers in hiding.

Last week, eight American citizens were detained in Beijing for participating in pro-Tibetan sovereignty protests near the site of the 2008 Olympics, with Students for a Free Tibet. Two videobloggers who documented those protest and guerrilla art installations evaded detention, and spoke to Boing Boing TV on Friday Beijing time about why they were there, what they witnessed, and why it mattered.

Jay Dedman and Ryanne Hodson of Ryanishungry.com spoke to us over Skype from a hostel in Beijing. One of the actions they documented in photo and video was the hanging of an “LED throwies” light banner, shown below, which read “FREE TIBET.” We agreed to hold this Boing Boing tv episode until after we received word that they’d safely left the country. They have returned home, so I am posting the piece today.

View the original post at http://www.boingboing.net/2008/08/25/bbtv-beijing-intervi.html

China Blocks iTunes for Tibet Album?

This is a screenshot of iTunes accessed from inside China:

As you can see, you can’t get onto iTunes from within China. The problem was identified in this thread on the Apple Support forum and it didn’t take long for iTunes inside China to put things together. User merrillks writes:

I live in Western China and use an american account and have the same problem. My guess is that China has blocked iTunes. How they do this I don’t know, but it’s the same way that they can block Youtube. My guess is that they probably blocked it due to the “Songs for Tibet” CD that came out on iTunes two days before the olympics. I think part of the money goes to Tibet and since they have very strong views on Tibet I’m sure that played a part in them shutting down iTunes.

User Sinoman adds:

In my 12-year China experience, I’ve seen a plethora of all sorts of “blockages” from the Chinese government, and if that’s what this is, it’s likely a “content” issue. I wasn’t aware of the aforementioned selection supporting Tibet, but that’s exactly the kind of thing that would spur a blockage of the site, since they can’t very well block a single song.

Another user points out that the same day iTunes was shut down, there were media reports that 40 Olympic athletes have downloaded “Songs for Tibet,” a musical compilation benefiting Tibetan independence, from inside Beijing. The album had been made available for free for Olympic athletes to download from iTunes. “Songs for Tibet” opened #4 on the Billboard charts and has been a huge hit on iTunes and other online sales sites worldwide.

A report on china.org.cn, which is the authorized government portal site to China, managed by the Information Office of the State Council, was critical of the iTunes download and spoke to angry Chinese netizen response:

According to Chinanews.com, the angry netizens are rallying together to denounce Apple in offering “Songs for Tibet” for purchase. They have also expressed a wish to ban the album’s singers and producers, most notably Sting, John Mayer and Dave Matthews, from entering China.

Many people have made remarks on online forums to express their anger, even those who have been fans of the artists in the past.

So it seems the table was set for an action on iTunes. Has it happened? It’s unclear but even bloggers who aren’t pro-Tibet think so and are outraged by it.

We don’t know for certain that iTunes has been banned because of “Songs for Tibet” or the popularity for this album amongst Olympic athletes. Both Apple and the Chinese government are silent so far. But it seems like a real possibility that China has shut down access to iTunes merely because it was selling an album supportive of the Tibetan people and their struggle for independence. Obviously if that turns out to be the case, it will be just another instance where the Chinese authorities show their true colors during the Olympics. They have not opened up. They have not become more progressive. They have not changed as a result of the Games. Rather, they’re the same repressive government that has only taken their illiberal tactics to new, more brazen levels with the whole world watching.

NY Times on NYC Projection Action

Jim Dwyer of the New York Times has a fantastic article about the New York City digital projection action on the Chinese Consulate. Dwyer covers how the action was done, what made it effective, and the ensuing battle with the IOC and YouTube to keep video of the action online.

The pictures were four and five flickering stories high. And for about 25 minutes on the night before the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Games, that video, produced by Students for a Free Tibet, looped against the wall of the consulate. The modern Olympics have always been a theater for sport, commerce and politics, tightly controlled by the International Olympic Committee and the host country. This year, there are stages everywhere….

For pure spectacle, it was hard to top the anti-Chinese video that was streamed onto the consulate wall. Giant projections have been used in other protests — in Los Angeles, for instance, critics of the Catholic hierarchy’s handling of sex-abuse allegations streamed pictures onto the cardinal’s residence. The tactic is a linear descendant of the rock and slingshot, with images catapulted into stinging view by a 5,000-lumen projector.

The article goes on to show how SFT pushed back on the removal of the YouTube video of the protest and how we were able to get the video back online.

A few hours later, Mr. Gulotta said, a friend sent him an e-mail message asking if he had taken down the video. He went to YouTube and saw that it had been removed by a “third party” — the International Olympic Committee — on the grounds that the use of the Olympic rings was a copyright infringement.

Mr. Gulotta struck back, filing an appeal to YouTube, arguing that the brief appearance of the rings amounted to “fair use” under copyright standards.

“The I.O.C. was safeguarding China’s image,” Mr. Gulotta said.

Representatives for the Olympic committee did not respond to a request for comment on Friday, but they had previously said that their request to YouTube was made automatically by a software robot that searches for unauthorized uses of the Olympic logo. (Normally, the use of the rings is limited to commercial sponsors who have paid for the right.)

In any event, the video was restored to YouTube this week. “That part of the operation got more attention than the action itself,” Ms. Nirankari said.

So far, no one has tried to prohibit such projections. Ingenious as the tactic is, it does involve hijacking someone’s property, if fleetingly. Mr. Gulotta agreed that the projections had to be used “responsibly,” but he said the Chinese government had it coming. “If any individual had done anything to the level of what the Chinese government has done in Tibet,” he said, “they would actually be inviting this onto themselves.”

This is great coverage and the sort of article that really shows how creative and innovative SFT has become in an effort to bring global attention to China’s brutal, illegal occupation of Tibet while the Olympics are going on. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention and you can be sure that SFT will keep finding new ways to bring Tibet into the international spotlight until Tibet is free.

Videoblogger Deported From China for Filming Tiananmen Square Protest

Many bloggers were very impressed with Lhadon’s efforts in Beijing last year, and wanted to support our work. They came to Beijing to support the Tibet issue, but also to support Chinese bloggers and free speech.

Now American videoblogger noneck has been deported from China for posting videos of SFT protests in Beijing. Here is one of the videos that the Chinese government found so offensive as to deport him for:

While he wasn’t “embedded” with SFT, he was always in the loop if a protest in progress, and since most of our protests were in central areas, it was easy for him to get there quick.

Our relationship with him and other bloggers is essentially the same as our relationship with professional journalists, and in fact, we consider citizen journalists such as noneck, to be just as legitimate and well suited as allies in our “this just happened” online media strategy

noneck is a supporter of SFT, but also a personal friend of Nathan Dorjee, SFT’s Digital Operations Director.

You can watch more of noneck’s video blog coverage on Qik and read his Twitter feed for his great microblogging during his time in China.

BlogSchmog has a great write-up of noneck’s deportation and what he’s been doing while in Beijing.

High Tech Action @ NYC Chinese Consulate

File this digital projection action onto the Chinese consulate in New York City as one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen…

Click here to view video of the action.