SFT’s March 10th Press Release: Global Protests Mark Tibetan Uprising Day

STUDENTS FOR A FREE TIBET

For Immediate Release:
March 10th, 2011

Contact: Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director, +1 646-724-0748
Kate Woznow, Deputy Director, +1 917-601-0069
Tenzin Dolkar, USA Director, +1 917-664-5530

GLOBAL PROTESTS MARK TIBETAN UPRISING DAY AS CHINESE FORCES CLAMPDOWN IN TIBET
New Generation of Tibetans Lead Nonviolent Resistance Movement in Tibet

New York – Thousands of Tibetans and Tibet supporters in dozens of countries will take to the streets today, March 10th, to commemorate the 1959 National Uprising when tens of thousands of Tibetans rose up to demand an end to China’s occupation. Chinese forces intensified security measures in Lhasa, Tibet’s capital in advance of the sensitive anniversary, barring foreign visitors and conducting late-night raids on hotels. In spite of China’s military stranglehold on their nation, a new generation of Tibetans is embracing nonviolent resistance tactics that defy Beijing’s authority, strengthen Tibetan identity, and inspire hope.

“50 years on, an entirely new generation of Tibetans – in Tibet and in exile – is rising up,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “Young Tibetans are taking leadership of our movement by engaging in bold political acts and expressing their desire for freedom through music, literature, and social media; this generation is determined to finish what began a half century ago.”

A homegrown grassroots movement has gained momentum in Tibet in the past year, as a growing number of Tibetans engage in simple yet powerful actions – speaking only in Tibetan, eating in Tibetan-owned restaurants – particularly on Wednesdays, a day believed to be auspicious for the Dalai Lama (1). Well-known Tibetan musicians and intellectuals have also been boldly asserting their political views, prompting Chinese authorities to ban popular songs and detain more than 60 Tibetan cultural figures.

“The recent uprisings in the Arab world, along with the growing dissent in China itself, has further galvanized a new generation of Tibetans committed to taking nonviolent action to end Chinese rule,” said Tenzin Dolkar, Students for a Free Tibet’s USA Director. “The Chinese government has tried – and failed – to crush the Tibetan spirit. As we see people around the world rising up for freedom and democracy, we know it is only a matter of time before change comes to Tibet and China.”

In advance of the sensitive anniversary, the Chinese government has heightened security measures in Tibet in an attempt to deter Tibetans from engaging in any form of dissent. Three years ago today, Tibetan monks marching for the release of fellow monks were violently stopped by Chinese forces, sparking the largest and most widespread demonstrations against Chinese rule in Tibet since 1959. Chinese troops have been permanently stationed throughout Tibet since.

“The Tibetan people’s struggle for freedom has long enjoyed the support of the global community and we urge our government leaders to follow suit by pressing China to commit to a just and lasting resolution for Tibet,” said Kate Woznow, Deputy Director of Students for a Free Tibet.

Tibetans and Tibet supporters in at least 100 cities worldwide today, including in the USA, Poland, UK, France, Germany, Canada, India, Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan, are demonstrating their support for the Tibetan freedom struggle through rallies, marches, candle light vigils, and government lobbying initiatives.

Note to Editor:

1) More information about the nonviolent resistance movement in Tibet can be found at http://www.Lhakar.org a website launched on March 9, 2011 by a diverse coalition of Tibetan writers, artists, and activists.

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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

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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Help Defend the Tibetan Language

Last month Tibetan students in Rebkong, Amdo boldly protested the Chinese government’s decision to replace Tibetan with Chinese as the language of instruction in Tibetan schools by 2015. In the following days, the protests spread as more than 8,000 students – some as young as 13 – took to the streets to defend their fundamental right to study in their mother tongue. Watch a compilation of Radio Free Asia’s footage of the protests.

Language forms the foundation of Tibet’s unique and vibrant culture; to deny Tibetans their language is an attack on their fundamental human rights. Overnight, language became a flashpoint of cultural resistance inside Tibet, and has sparked a solidarity movement worldwide.

Support SFT’s global grassroots effort to pressure China to respect Tibetans’ fundamental right to language by clicking here.

SFT’s Tendor and Ven.    Lobsang Monlam

This Wednesday, we hosted the fourth episode of the Renaissance Series, In My Mother Tongue: Freedom Through Language. Ven. Lobsang Monlam, the creator of the Monlam Tibetan Unicode, gave an inspiring presentation about new digital tools he has helped develop – including the newly released Tibetan keyboard for iPhone 4.2 – that are helping to elevate the global status of the Tibetan language.

SFT’s Renaissance Series was launched this summer to promote the writings, poetry, music, and other works of art and literature banned in Chinese-occupied Tibet.

 In spite of China’s escalated repression following the widespread protests in 2008, there is a cultural renaissance underway in Tibet. Writers, musicians, and intellectuals are boldly asserting their views as a form of resistance to China’s colonial occupation. Tibetans in Tibet and in exile are reclaiming their language as part of this renaissance. Through grassroots action and digital innovation, we can help ensure the Tibetan language flourishes, withstanding attacks from the Chinese government. Please help us to support this cultural renaissance, and amplify the voices of Tibetans inside Tibet that are calling for the protection of their language by donating today.

Students for a Free Tibet India Holds Solidarity Rally for Language Rights in Tibet

More than 350 people took part in a candlelight march and rally organized by Students for a Free Tibet India to support the recent protests for language rights in Tibet. 30 Tibetan students who recently escaped from Tibet led the march carrying banners in support of Tibetan language rights and each students displaying a letter of the Tibetan alphabet.

SFT members worldwide are taking action in support of the courageous protests by the more than 6,000 students in Tibet in recent weeks to protest the Chinese government’s newly announced language policy in the Tibetan province of Amdo (currently annexed into China’s Qinghai Province) designed to replace Tibetan language with Chinese by 2015.

Read SFT’s press release here:

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This is What 1,000 Tibetan Students Protesting for Equality Looks Like!

In the early morning hours of October 19th, thousands of brave students — as well as many teachers — in Rebkong, Amdo in eastern Tibet marched to the Mahlo Prefecture government office to demand “Equality of Race and Freedom of Language.” The students are protesting the Chinese government’s plan to replace Tibetan language textbooks with books in Mandarin, changing the medium of instruction to Chinese.
As of 2pm today, there were 20-30 police cars that arrived on site but no one had been arrested yet. No news has yet surfaced about how the protest ended or whether it’s still going on.

Radio Free Asia’s coverage of the protest.

Sydney Morning Herald’s coverage of the protest.

BBC’s coverage of the protest.

Global Outcry Over Nepal’s Disruption of Tibetan Election

Global outcry is building over the Nepali governments forced disruption of the Tibetan primary election. There have been protests in major cities like London , New York, and Washington DC. Thousands of ballots cast by Tibetans participating in the October 3rd preliminary round of elections to nominate candidates to the office of Prime Minister (Kalon Tripa) & Parliament (Chitue) were confiscated by Nepalese police from poling centers. As a result the US government has called on Nepal to “protect the rights of Tibetan exiles.” Nepal’s Home Ministry spokesman Jaya Mukunda Khanal responded by saying “The administration intervened in the…election because Nepal’s foreign policy does not allow any activities against any friendly neighboring countries.”People around the world are calling on the Nepali government to immediately return the ballot boxes and end its brutal harassment and mistreatment of Tibetans, especially those escaping persecution in Chinese-occupied Tibet.

Take Action: Send a Letter to the Nepalese Foreign Minister

Read SFT’s press statement.

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Tibetans, Supporters Protest Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in NYC

Rowdy protests were held on September 21, 2010 in front of the Waldorf Astoria hotel to greet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s arrival in NYC. Two Tibet protesters were able to get up close to his motorcade with Tibetan flags! Protests will continue through September 23rd, check out the full protest schedule. Join us in making sure Premier Wen hears our voices for Tibetan freedom loud & clear.

View photos from the Wen Jiabao protest: