Kids + Graffiti = Arrest, Beatings

In a normal country, kids who do graffiti get in minor trouble. In Chinese-occupied Tibet, it can mean incommunicado detention and being beaten bloody.

According to a new report by Human Rights Watch, seven Tibetan high school students are being “detained on suspicion of writing pro-Tibetan independence slogans on buildings… One of the detainees, aged 14, is reported to have been badly beaten during or after the arrest and was bleeding profusely when last seen by relatives.”

HRW continues:

police detained some 40 students on or around September 7. The students were alleged to have written slogans calling for the return of the Dalai Lama and a free Tibet the previous day on the walls of the village police station and on other walls in the village…

[...] The students’ arrests are the latest example of an increasingly harsh response from Chinese authorities to the slightest hints of dissent over issues as diverse as cultural and religious policies, forced resettlement of Tibetan herders, environmental degradation, replacement of Tibetan cadres with ethnic Chinese ones, and increased migration of ethnic Chinese settlers to traditionally Tibetan regions. Several incidents in recent months have involved clashes between Tibetan residents and police forces.

Is China so insecure in its rule over Tibet that it feels threatened by children’s graffiti? Apparently so.

And for good reason. Even Tibetan children who have never seen the Dalai Lama, and who only know life under Chinese rule, are speaking out for Tibet’s independence and the Dalai Lama’s return. These sentiments are so widespread, including in the younger generations, that China has no hope of stamping them out. Unfortunately, these children have to suffer while China continues to fight a hopeless battle.

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.

Bush to China: “I’ll Keep Quiet”

George Bush, the president who committed his administration to the promotion of freedom, has agreed to censor himself when he attends the Beijing Olympics next year.

After President Bush accepted an invitation from Chinese president Hu Jintao, a White House aide said that Bush would be attending “for the sports” and not to make any political statement.

Let’s recall the words of Bush’s second inaugural address:

it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world…  All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.  

Which leaves us a little confused as to why the president would proactively agree to take all political statements off the table before even getting to Beijing.  Is this simply a sudden case of excessive politeness?  Does he think that the Chinese and Tibetan people don’t count when he promised that the United States would stand with the oppressed and not the oppressor?

Former White House official Michael Green suggests that Bush’s very presence in Beijing “in subtle ways raises pressure on the Chinese to perform.”  So subtle, in fact, that it sounds like a prefabricated excuse for lacking the conviction to act.

Mr. Bush should consider the case of Runggye Adak, the brave Tibetan political prisoner who personifies the president’s professed ideals of liberty.  Adak peacefully called for Tibetans’ religious and political freedom, and then the same government that will host President Bush at the Olympic Games imprisoned Adak for “subversion.” 

Moreover, after arresting Adak and his relatives, using tear gas and shock grenades against hundreds of protesters, and intimidating Tibetans with thousands of armed police, now the Chinese government is kicking out Tibetan officials in Adak’s home region and replacing them with loyal Chinese ones. 

When President Bush enjoys the hospitality of the Chinese government at the Beijing Olympics, will any of this matter to him?  Will he have the courage to stand by his professed convictions in a clear, black-and-white case?  Or will he allow himself to be censored, making all his words just hypocritical rhetoric?

A Taste of Things to Come

The Tibetan Students Association of Madras warmly welcomed the Chinese national field hockey team at the 7th Asia Men’s Hockey Tournament in Chennai (Madras), India.

As you can see from the photo below, the students formed “FREE TIBET” with their bodies.  They also shouted “Free Tibet” in English and Chinese, and sang “We shall overcome” and the Tibetan national anthem.

The protest made it onto the televised broadcast of the games.

Congratulations to the Tibetan Students Association of Madras.   Tibetans and their supporters all over the world are ready for the Beijing Olympics.

This is a reminder to the Chinese government: as long as your occupation of Tibet continues, this issue will continue to shame you. 

Chinese Anti-Olympic Activist Arrested

The Chinese government, showing again how the Olympics are bringing more human rights abuses to China, has just arrested a Chinese activist for gathering over 10,000 signatures on a petition.

Land rights activist Yang Chunlin had gathered this impressive number of signatures on a petition entitled “We want human rights, not the Olympics,” according to the AP. 

Watchdog organization China Human Rights Defenders said that the case against Yang points “to the nervousness and political sensitivity with which the government views efforts to link the Olympics and human rights.”  

As the AP also notes, “Land seizures have become a particularly sensitive issue ahead of the Olympics. Some activists have accused Beijing of forcing more than 1 million people from their homes to make way for new sports venues.”

So much for the Chinese government’s promises that the Olympics will bring human rights to China (which the IOC gullibly believed or cynically parroted).  Rewarding or “engaging” the Chinese government only  makes it bolder in oppressing its own people and the people of Tibet.

From Burma to Tibet?

Tibet and Burma are linked in many ways: their peoples and languages are related, and they share a deep faith in Buddhism and the misfortune of being under brutal regimes. Tibet and Burma also both saw widespread protests for freedom in the late 1980s, which their respective regimes crushed violently.

Could a new wave of technology-enabled protests in Burma right now presage a fresh era of resistance in Tibet as well?

As the New York Times reports, small but persistent protests have erupted across Burma for the past two weeks, in one of the biggest challenges to the dictatorship since the 1988 demonstrations were brutally crushed.

The protests … do not appear to be centrally organized and have continued despite the arrests of a number of activist leaders.

[...] “A week and a half ago people were saying the protests didn’t have that much future,” said Dave Mathieson, an expert on [Burma]… “But they are starting to spread, and they are continuing in Rangoon.”

What has changed to give the protests added power against the ruthlessness of the military government? Technology in the hands of individual citizens.

The protests may also be spreading because of transmissions through the Internet of photographs and video that have slipped past government controls.

[...] The readily accessible visual images have given the small demonstrations a disproportionate impact both abroad and at home.

“That’s the big difference from 1988,” said Mr. Mathieson. “The technology is completely different. Even though the military’s power may be the same, the ability of the protesters to get their message around the country has grown.”

It’s far too early to know how much impact the Burmese demonstrations will ultimately have. Their biggest “success” so far is simply happening, given the authoritarian environment.  The junta is not afraid to use coercion, and is relatively impervious to outside pressure thanks to China’s protection. But despite these challenges, these tech-enabled protests give hope to people who support Burmese democracy.

Is something similar happening in Tibet?

SFT effectively used new communication technology to spread around the world dramatic photos and video from our protests on Mount Everest and the Great Wall. Our messages and images were picked up by global media, and we also know they made their way into Tibet and China (Tibetans inside Tibet have communicated to us how inspired they were).

What about actions that originate in Tibet, where the stakes are even higher?

We’re already seeing how mobile phones and digital cameras have allowed word to spread about the crisis in Lithang (where Runggye Adak’s inspiring act of free speech led to his arrest, demonstrations by hundreds of Tibetans, a violent crackdown by Chinese security forces, and an ongoing tense standoff).

Tibetans in other parts of Tibet know about, and are being inspired by, this bravery — despite China’s best efforts at censoring the internet and jamming radio. It’s also possible that the Chinese government feels constrained knowing that almost instantaneous information about its actions will get out. Did the People’s Armed Police use tear gas and shock grenades instead of live ammunition, as they did in Tibet in the late 1980s, because the world is watching?

What would have happened if the internet, mobile phones, and YouTube existed during the massive pro-independence demonstrations in Lhasa from 1987 to 1989? Would they have spread even more? How would things have changed if the world saw shocking, immediate images of the brutality of China’s initial occupation of Tibet in the 1950s? Would more have been done?

Technology wouldn’t have changed everything, but it would have changed some things — and some things could have made a big difference.

The brave Burmese protesters are showing that when a group of people stand up to the most brutal regimes, technology can give them more impact than ever before. Maybe protests in Rangoon or Lithang won’t bring down the respective regimes (this time), but they will shake the leadership in ways that wouldn’t have happened before. Now, citizens have a new power to document and spread what is happening, tipping the balance in the battle over information. The rise of tech-empowered protesters means that for repressive regimes, things will never be the same again.

Channel 4 TV (UK) Reports From Tibet

SFT’s Everest and Beijing actions continue to impact news stories about the Olympics, China, and Tibet. 

In the latest example, the UK’s Channel 4 News ran a TV story on August 28 about how the Chinese government is exerting socio-economic control over Tibet.  The anchor started out the broadcast mentioning SFT’s “free Tibet” banners, and said that Tibet has “been under Chinese control for more than fifty years.”

Mentioning that journalists rarely get access to Tibet, the story then follows Channel 4 reporter Lindsey Hilsum as she visits Tibet, always accompanied by Chinese government minders.  Despite the tight control over her reporting, the story she filed is well worth watching. 

Highlights include:

• An interview with the Tibetan writer Woeser, describing how the Chinese government forces its development policies on Tibetans. (“We’re forced to take something, told it’s good, that we’re being treated kindly.  This is colonialist.”)
• A patronizing Chinese official claiming Tibetan culture is an “exotic flower among Chinese cultures.”
• The negative social impact of the forced settlement of nomads, including welfare-dependency and making it easier for the government to control Tibetans.

(Click here and click on “Watch the Report”).

Lithang Update: Runggye Adak Charged With Subversion

Runggye Adak, the brave Tibetan whose act of free speech set off the Lithang crackdown, has been charged by the Chinese authorities with subversion.

The AP reports:

Prosecutors … indicted him on the charge of “provocation to subvert state power,” the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said. China often uses vaguely defined subversion laws to punish government critics, sometimes with long prison sentences.

Showing how threatened the Chinese government is by Tibetan protests, the official response has been swift and harsh. Reuters reports Chinese forces using tear-gas and shock grenades to violently disperse hundreds of Tibetans supporting Runggye Adak. According to the AP,

Runggye Adak’s outburst, which prompted clashes between Tibetans demanding his release and security forces, has been labeled a “major political incident” by China’s central government…

Other monitoring groups say additional riot troops have been ordered into the traditionally Tibetan area, which remained tense for several days after the clashes in which at least three Tibetans were badly injured.

We are extremely concerned for the safety of Runggye Adak, his family members arrested with him, and the people of Lithang, where the tense standoff continues.

SFT is coordinating a campaign to call for Runggye Adak’s release and to let Chinese provincial authorities know that the world is watching their actions with great concern. Please join in by clicking here now.