 English version  Voor een duidelijke grote poster Naar aanleiding van Europalia -China, dat binnen enkele uren van start gaat met als thema's "Hedendaags China", "Kleurrijk China"," Onsterfelijk China" en "China en de Wereld", willen we, samen met de andere vertegenwoordigers van de minderheden in China, van de gelegenheid gebruik maken om ook de andere kant van de Chinese cultuur in de kijker te zetten. Ongetwijfeld een kant die de Belgische bevolking niet te zien of te horen zal krijgen. Sinds het begin van de illegale bezetting van Tibet door China in 1949, werden duizenden Tibetanen omwille van hun politieke overtuiging gevangen genomen, gemarteld en geëxecuteerd. Het "dak van de wereld " werd door de Chinese overheid verbouwd tot één grote gevangenis. China is de onbetwiste koploper op wereldniveau wat het schenden van de mensenrechten en het aantal executies betreft. Tot op vandaag is Tibet een zwaar gemilitariseerde zone en is nog steeds,naar aanleiding van de 60 ste verjaardag van de oprichting van de Chinese Volksrepubliek, afgesloten van de buitenwereld . Géén pottenkijkers op het dak van de wereld ! 
Het " Hedendaags China" is een China waar voor ons Westerlingen " gouden zaken" te doen zijn, een China waar mensen omwille
van onze steeds maar grotere honger naar méér…, uitgebuit worden. Sociale rechten zijn in vele bedrijven quasi onbestaande
en kinderarbeid vormt hoegenaamd geen obstakel voor het maken van massale winsten en economische groei. In het "Hedendaagse China", worden minderheden nog steeds zeer zwaar blootgesteld aan discriminatie, zowel in het onderwijs als op de werkvloer. Op de scholen is het Chinees de algemene voertaal geworden, wat vooral de Tibetaanse kinderen en jongeren belemmert om middelbaar of hoger onderwijs te volgen. Zodoende wordt hun positie op de arbeidsmarkt verzwakt en is er sprake van een groeiende economische kloof en een grote discriminatie tussen Tibetanen en Chinezen. De hoge bijdrage voor het onderwijs maakt het héél moeilijk voor de ouders om hun kinderen naar school te sturen. Recent onderzoek heeft uitgewezen dat 73 % van de etnische Tibetanen (semi)analfabeet is en hierdoor dus onder de absolute armoedegrens leeft en bijgevolg nooit zullen kunnen deelnemen aan de moderne samenleving. Burgers die opkomen voor een vrije meningsuiting, die opkomen voor hun filosofische overtuiging worden nog steeds gearresteerd en langdurig opgesloten zonder vorm van eerlijk proces. Het "Hedendaags China" is een China dat nog steeds leeft in een onderdrukkingscultuur. 
Het "Kleurrijke China" is grijs en grauw van pure menselijke ellende. Alles wat enigszins afwijkt van de opgelegde standaarden
én in onze Westerse maatschappij als "warm, divers en kleurrijk " wordt aanzien, wordt in het Kleurrijke China in de kiem gesmoord
en wordt aanzien als een bedreiging van de stabiliteit van het land. Minderheden ondergaan al 60 jaar een ware culturele genocide.De Chinese overheid dwingt tegen 2010, 100.000 Tibetaanse nomaden om hun oude culturele traditionele levensstijl op te geven en zich te vestigen in dorpen en steden. Tibetaanse boeren werden verplicht hun boerderijen en graslanden af te staan. China is bezig één van Tibets eeuwenoude en traditionele levensstijlen te vernietigen. Tibetanen zijn zwaar gedesoriënteerd, vinden geen werk omdat ze, ten gevolge van hun eeuwenoude typische levensstijl,niet beschikken over een aantal belangrijke basisvaardigheden. Het kleurrijke China ziet ROOD, rood van de folteringen en de vele executies. Het "Onsterfelijk China " is een China dat wij Westerlingen niet WILLEN of durven zien. Terwijl het Westen zich blindstaart op de enorme economische groeisuccessen van de Chinese industrie gaat er een enorme troef van China stilaan verloren met name het ecologisch erfgoed dat we oa. op het Tibetaanse hoogplateau kunnen vinden. Nucleaire afval wordt massaal gedumpt, de grote rivieren die een groot deel van Azië voorzien van drinkbaar water, worden daardoor zwaar vervuild. De vervuiling door de nucleaire en chemische afvalbergingen, naast de toenemende erosie, bedreigen de watervoorziening van een groot deel van de bevolking van Azië. Het gaat hier bij benadering om 2 tot 3 miljard mensen die afhankelijk zijn van de Tibetaanse rivieren. Nu al heeft 80% van de Tibetaanse bevolking géén toegang meer tot zuiver drinkbaar water. Méér en meer worden mysterieuze sterfgevallen bekend van Tibetanen die in de nabijheid van nucleaire sites wonen, er is een stijgend aantal van kankers en misvormingen bij geboorte. De manier waarop Peking de economische ontwikkeling van Tibet aanpakt, sluit de Tibetanen uit en marginaliseert het land. Dit ontwikkelingsbeleid is gebaseerd op, en afhankelijk van de winning van mineralen en grondstoffen, die met gigantische hoeveelheden ontgonnen worden en vervoerd worden naar China. Tibet is rijk aan borax, uranium, ijzer, chroom, zout, koper, steenkool en goud. In China ontstaan tekorten en de Tibetaanse reserves worden verwacht binnen een tiental jaar uitgeput te zijn De verminking van het landschap dat daarmee gepaard gaat, is onnoemelijk groot. 50 % van de bossen die Tibet rijk was, zijn gekapt. Ontbossing heeft een nefast effect op het milieu, op het fragiel ecosysteem van het hoogste bergplateau van de wereld, op de bodem en het weer. De bodemerosie wordt verantwoordelijk gesteld voor talrijke overstromingen in aangrenzende landen in Azië. Het Onsterfelijk China is met andere woorden het China van de vernietigingscultuur. . "China en de wereld" gaat voor de Vrienden van Tibet over een China dat graag indruk maakt en overal de grootste en de sterkste wil zijn. Dat graag imponeert en verstoppertje speelt over de manier hoe het aan die successen komt en ten koste van wat. "China en de wereld" gaat over een China waar censuur nog steeds tot de dagdagelijkse gewoonten van een dictatuur horen, waar géén persvrijheid getolereerd wordt . De wisselwerking van China met de wereld is zéér selectief en berust maar op één ding, zoveel mogelijk monopolies verwerven en het westen proberen in zijn greep te krijgen (voor zover dit op sommige vlaken al niet het geval is.) De Vrienden van Tibet zullen met grote ernst en volharding de rol spelen die het tijdens de Europalia-China evenementen als Tibet support Group van hen verwacht wordt, namelijk de Belgische bevolking inlichten over de andere bittere en onmenselijke kant van de Chinese Cultuur. Tijdens het tweede semester van 2010 zal België het voorzitterschap van de EU waarnemen. Hier liggen kansen te wachten om óók op dit niveau deze "schande" aan te kaarten. Met de aanstelling van onze landgenoot Alex Van Meeuwen als Voorzitter van de Mensenrechtenraad van de Verenigde Naties hebben we met België méér dan één troef in handen. Een mogelijke voortrekkersrol voor België ligt klaar. Tot slot nodig ik ook namens de Vrienden van Tibet, iedereen hier aanwezig, uit,om zaterdag 10 oktober in Antwerpen op onze eerste demonstratie van een lange reeks, de sfeer van grote droefenis, frustratie en neergeslagenheid bij de verschillende minderheidsgroepen van China te komen proeven, te komen kijken hoe zij de Chinese cultuur moeten ondergaan en ook dit verhaal aub te verslagen naar de buitenwereld toe. Inge Hermans Voorzitter Vrienden van Tibet Please sign the petition below calling for the case against Tenzin Delek to be re-opened and, if no credible evidence is presented, for his release.  When the dragon swalowed the sun Een film met medewerking van Thom Yorke van "Radiohead", Philip Glass en Damian Rice  Why hasn't Tibet been freed? Who is keeping the movement from going forward? When The Dragon Swallowed The Sun is a ground breaking documentary that takes a closer look at these questions in a quest to understand why the world is still dealing with unsettled issues like the Tibetan cause and what can really be done to eradicate them. Seven years in the making, When The Dragon Swallowed The Sun shows for the first time an inside perspective on the Tibetan movement to free Tibet from Chinese occupation, its internal conflicts and contradictions. The combination of full HD footage from India, China, Tibet and the US along with a prologue narrated by Dennis Haysbert and an original soundtrack by Philip Glass, Thom Yorke and Damien Rice make this the first film that presents the complexity of the struggle with such emotional impact. The film features Richard Gere, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the 14th Dalai Lama, some of the most prominent Chinese contemporary artists and all the key figures of the exiled Tibetan freedom movement and their followers. Defiant Obama to meet Dalai Lama despite China anger, 3 feb 10 Dalai Lama’s envoys to arrive in China tomorrow for ninth round of talks Phayul January 25, 2010 By Phurbu Thinley Dharamsala, Jan 25: The envoys of the exiled Tibetan leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, are to arrive in China tomorrow to hold the much awaited ninth round of talks with representatives of the Chinese leadership, the Office of the His Holiness the Dalai Lama said in a statement today. "His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy Lodi G. Gyari and Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen will arrive in China tomorrow for discussions with the representatives of the Chinese leadership. This is the ninth round of dialogue," the statement said. "The Envoys are visiting China after a gap of 15 months in the process that began in 2002," it added. According to the statement, the envoys will be accompanied by senior assistants Tenzin P. Atisha, Bhuchung K. Tsering, both members of Tibetan Task Force on Negotiations, and Jigmey Passang from the Secretariat of the Tibetan Task Force. The statement said the preparations for the talks to be held in Beijing were finalised during the two-day meeting of the Tibetan Task Force held last week in Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in north India. The envoys also briefed His Holiness the Dalai Lama and sought his guidance, the statement said. The delegation is expected to return to India at the beginning of next month, the statement said, but gave no further detail. The two sides had met for eight rounds of talks, the last one being in November 2008, days before the exile Tibetans met for a “Special Meeting” to discuss the future of their freedom movement. The meeting was the largest of its kind in 60 years and was called by the Dalai Lama in response to lack of any signs of progress in the dialogue process and the worsening state of affairs within Tibet following widespread anti-China protests that broke out in the region in 2008. Talks between Dalai Lama's envoys and Beijing came to a standstill after a ""Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People” submitted by the Tibetan side at the eighth round of talks met with Beijing’s derision with the Chinese side calling it a demand for ‘half-independence’ and ‘disguised independence’ or ‘covert independence’.” Tibetan side, however, maintains that the articles of the proposed memorandum were prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the PRC and its laws on National Regional Autonomy, and claims China has rejected the proposal without providing any “legal and rational explanations". Following the eighth round of talks, the Tibetan Prime Minister Prof Samdhong Rinpoche, who also heads the Task Force, said at a public gathering in 2008 that the “Tibetan side had already made all the required clarifications and brought a process of dialogue that began in September 2002 to its logical conclusion.” The Tibetan exile government in its statement on the 20th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's Nobel Peace Prize last month said it was committed to resume talks with Beijing on the basis of the "memorandum". Earlier this month, the Tibetan prime minister told Asia Times Online that his government was ready to sidestep the blame game with China and would seek the earliest resumption of talks. "The dialogue process may hopefully take a new shape this year," Rinpoche said. "I will not say that I have great expectations, but I would say that we have hope that some improvement will come in the process. We only demand people's support and unity regarding this issue and hope it will be resolved.” "I do not need to say anything else, whatever is in progress is going good, and things will be resolved," Rinpoche said of the deadlock in the talks. "The Tibet issue needs to be resolved through dialogue and negotiation between the Tibetan and People's Republic of China leadership," the Tibetan PM said, adding "I wish Tibetans' hopes will become a reality." back to top MIGRATIE, INTEGRATIE EN IDENTITEITSBELEVING IN EEN TRANSNATIONALE TIBETAANSE DIASPORA Een narratief van negotiatie en herinterpretatie in Dharamsala en Antwerpen Noord aangeboden tot het verkrijgen van de graad van Master in de Sociale en Culturele Antropologie door Ellen SPIESSENS Pdf bestand, ook bij pdf China appoints former soldier as new governor in restive Tibet, (Phayul, jan 15) Google dreigt zich terug te trekken uit China, (uit de morgen woensdag 13 jan.2010 Top Chinese leaders meet to discuss Tibet’s stability: state media Phayul[Monday, January 11, 2010 12:40] Dharamsala, Jan 11: Senior Chinese Communist leaders on Friday met in Beijing to discuss “long-term stability” in Tibet, Chinese state news agency has reported. The meeting was presided over by none other than Chinese President Hu Jintao. The meeting “stressed the system of regional autonomy of ethnic minorities and a development path with Chinese characteristics and suited to Tibet's regional conditions,” Xinhua said. Members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee attended the meeting and agreed that Tibet's stability was vital to the “fundamental interests and long-term development of the Chinese nation”, the report said. Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee is a group of 19 to 25 people who oversee the Communist Party of China. The current (17th) politburo has 25 members, including President Hu Jintoa, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice President Xi Jinping. At the meeting, among other things, the leaders “underlined ethnic unity” and stressed that “efforts should be made to protect Tibet's ecosystem”.  We Wish All Beings a happy X- mas, and a warm heart for Tibet Parliamentarians call for global action on climate change crisis in Tibet Phayul,Tuesday, December 15, 2009 By Phurbu Thinley  The Chinese government has been implementing policies of settling Tibetan nomads, confiscating their land, and fencing pastoral areas. Environmental activist groups say the involvement of Tibetan nomads is essential to sustaining the long-term health of the ecosystems and water resources that China depends upon. (Photo: ICT) Dharamsala, December 14: Thirty-five Parliamentarians from 16 different countries have sent an open letter to the head of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen urging negotiators to take into account the global implications of climate change in Tibet. The Chinese government has been implementing policies of settling Tibetan nomads, confiscating their land, and fencing pastoral areas. Environmental activist groups say the involvement of Tibetan nomads is essential to sustaining the long-term health of the ecosystems and water resources that China depends upon. (Photo: ICT) The Copenhagen Climate Change conference has been billed by organisers as the “last best chance” to save the planet earth, and the Tibetan plateau, also known as the 'Third Pole', is bearing the brunt of climate change. In the Open Letter to UN Climate Change Conference, the International Parliamentary Network on Tibet has recommended "Tibet's role in climate change solutions." The joint action is part of the Rome Declaration on Tibet adopted in the 5th World Parliamentarians' conference held in Rome last month. On November 18-19, parliamentarians from 30 countries met in Rome for the Parliamentary Convention on Tibet and drafted a declaration to raise awareness on this critical issue. The letter calls on the governments to explore multinational mechanisms to work collaboratively on the challenges of climate change in Tibet, including with the direct participation of Tibetan stakeholders. “We write to urge that the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen give serious attention to the ‘Third Pole’, as Tibet is known for being the largest repository of glacially stored water outside of the Arctic and Antarctic,” the parliamentarians for Tibet wrote in the letter. Chinese meteorologists have said temperatures on the Tibetan plateau are rising twice as fast as the rest of the earth, and that Tibet is becoming an increasingly important barometer of global climate change. “Glaciers are melting, exposing dark rock and soil, and increasing the absorption of solar radiation. Due to resultant variations in the monsoon cycle, many areas on the Tibetan plateau are drying out and desertifying,” the letter says. The letter says the Chinese government’s land-use policies are contributing to the acceleration of global warming and environmental destruction, including degradation of the grasslands, on the fragile high-altitude Tibetan plateau, and calls for independent, international scientific assessments of the changes in the Tibetan plateau's ecosystems, water resources and China’s land use policies. “These land-use policies include the construction of infrastructure, an emphasis on urbanization despite a predominantly rural population, and the settlement of nomads, which is threatening one of the last examples of sustainable pastoralism on earth. Tibetans are being deprived of the stewardship of their land at a time of environmental crisis,” the letter said. The letter insists that the participation of scientists and relevant stakeholders from Tibet and from those nations that depend on Tibet’s water is necessary for rigorous examination, analysis and interpretation of conditions on the plateau. It argues that such an initiative will “facilitate an equitable and durable” approach in adapting to and mitigating the affects of climate change in the region. “Tibet is central to a global climate change solution, and the Tibetan people must play a critical role in the implementation of solutions,” the letter said. The signatories of the letter members of Parliament representing their Parliamentary Intergroups in Italy, Canada, Iceland, Australia, India, European Parliament, France, the UK, Sweden, Belgium, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Poland, Scotland and the Tibetan Parliament in exile. “The issue of the environmental degradation of the Tibetan plateau and the impact of climate change there should be addressed specifically by the Copenhagen summit,” Matteo Mecacci, President of the Tibet Intergroup of the Italian Parliament, said in a press statement issued yesterday. “The policies of China toward Tibet are undermining not only the livelihood of Tibetan nomads and stakeholders, but also the preservation of natural resources that matter not only for Tibetans, but for hundreds of million of people in Asia and beyond” “Therefore, we urge the negotiators in Copenhagen to address the issue of climate change in Tibet,” Mecacci said. back to top 
Onze petitie voor de "onvoorwaardelijke vrijlating van alle politieke gevangenen in Tibet" werd zojuist afgesloten.De online versie en de papieren versie leverden ons 4089 handtekeningen op! De Vrienden van Tibet samen met enkele bestuursleden van de Tibetaanse Gemeenschap, hebben vandaag 10 december ,. internationale dag van de mensenrechten, de petitie overhandigd bij Ambassadeur Michel Tilemans, directeur mensenrechten van het Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken. Een persbericht hierover volgt eerstdaags. In naam van de vele Tibetanen danken wij iedereen die onze petitie heeft gesteund. De Vrienden van Tibet hopen met dit resultaat toch enkele deuren te kunnen openen, teneinde een constructieve dialoog te hebben met de beleidsmakers van ons land. België staat binnenkort voor enkele grote uitdagingen oa. Het voorzitterschap van de EU in de tweede helft van 2010. Voor de Vrienden van Tibet moeten de mensenrechten een écht cruciale rol gaan spelen in het besluitingvormingsproces. De Vrienden van Tibet zullen alles héél nauwgezet blijven opvolgen, dit is nog maar het begin….. Inge Hermans Voorzitter Vrienden van Tibet foto vlnr: Tupten Phegyal, Tamara Foubert, Inge Hermans, Ambassadeur Michel Tilemans, Philippe de Mûelenaere, en Lieke Biesemans Directie Mensenrechten, vooraan: Tamdin Youtsa Tibetans defy security crackdown to demonstrate in support of imprisoned Tibetan lama ICT report, December 17, 2009 Security has been stepped up in of the Tibetan area of Kham, part of present-day Sichuan province, and dozens of Tibetans have been detained and beaten after peaceful demonstrations in support of the imprisoned Tibetan lama, Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, a highly respected religious teacher serving a life sentence. Increased numbers of armed police and troops have been stationed in towns and villages where protests occurred - in an area that is already tense since demonstrations against Chinese rule spread across Tibet in March 2008. The movement of people in protest areas is now restricted and in one area soldiers have warned local people that they will shoot to kill if necessary. Following peaceful protests involving hundreds of people on December 5, 2009, a group of local lamas appealed to the county government to allow local people to see Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, fearing that if this request was not granted, Tibetans in the area might ³rise up in protest,² according to a Tibetan in exile who is in contact with several local Tibetans. The authorities offered some concessions as a result although it is not known if they will be implemented. At least 20 Tibetans remain in detention and according to sources in the area, all detainees were ³mercilessly beaten,² leaving many injured and hospitalized. The risks that Tibetans in Kham continue to take during a time of crackdown in Tibet are indicative of the influence and popularity of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche among both the Tibetan community and many Chinese Buddhists - and what he represents. Before his detention in 2002 on alleged bombing charges which he denies, Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche founded schools for nomad children, set up elderly people¹s homes, worked with local officials to protect forests and was well-known for his efforts to preserve Tibetan culture. Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche is being held in Mianyang Prison in Sichuan and there are fears for his welfare as his health is poor. One report indicates that his life sentence may have been reduced to a fixed term sentence of 20 years, which means there is a possibility of a reduction in the sentence, but this could not be confirmed. Update on protests in support of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche The demonstrations in Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche¹s home area are the latest in a series of bold representations to the authorities in support of the Tibetan lama over several years. Towards the end of November 2009, a group of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche¹s relatives and friends traveled to Beijing to request the central government for a further review of the case. It is not known how the authorities responded to this appeal. A further Tibetan source states that having been assured by officials in Beijing that the case would be looked at, the petitioners were urged to return to Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan. A government official confirmed that petitioners had been to Beijing and Chengdu to appeal to the authorities, but said that all of them had been ³persuaded home² and ³no one was detained.² (http://china.globaltimes.cn/society/2009-12/490861.html, December 10). Local people in his home area heard about the visit to Beijing, according to several sources, and decided to take action themselves on Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche¹s behalf. On December 5, 2009, a group of around 90 people, men and women, from various villages in Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche¹s home area of Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan began to travel towards Nyagchuka (Chinese: Yajiang) county town in cars and on motorbikes to call for the release of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, according to several Tibetan sources. The Tibetans in the group were stopped at different points on the way, although some were able to reach the office of the county government building in Nyagchuka itself. A Tibetan source with contacts in the area said: ³They [the Tibetans] told officials that without the presence of Tulku [a reincarnate lama] Tenzin Deleg, there were more thieves, trouble makers, hunters and alcoholics in their region and it was going downhill. Without him, there was nothing the government could do to improve the situation, and so he should be released. When many of these people made their request on bended knees and with their palms joined, the officials said that it would be alright to give them permission to visit Tulku [Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche]. At that, the older people said that that was fine and made ready to return home, but the young people lay down blocking the main road, saying that if they were to be permitted to visit, they should be allowed to go that very day, because they did not believe the promise would be honored if deferred. They said that their Lama was innocent, that he had been falsely accused, that if the government had any proof that he was involved in a bombing, they should produce it. After that, many police came and beat them severely, many people were seriously injured, and the ground turned red with blood. Five people had broken arms and legs, and many of their motorcycles were trashed. They were 56-year old Lhamo Choedrup, Ashar, Dukar Tsering, Dondrup and Jinpa, all from Bardrong. One of them was said to have had his ribs broken.² A second Tibetan source said in a Chinese language blog: ³The Tibetans were beaten extremely cruelly, and there was blood on the ground and their hair was torn out, and some even had their teeth knocked out.² Around 70 people in the group, both men and women, were detained in a newly built detention facility at Gara, approximately four kilometers from the town, according to the same source. Several hundred people from villages including Orthok, Khalo and Tségon, from Tar-ngoe, Drépadé, Gyasho, Détsa and Golo in the Nyagchu valley, and from villages nearby the county town then gathered in their support outside the county government building, calling for Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche¹s release, according to the same source, backed up by other Tibetan sources. These Tibetans sat outside all night, some outside the police station, despite the severe cold. The same Tibetan source said: ³Their main demand was to meet Tulku Tenzin Deleg in person, wherever he is, and for the unjust life sentence passed on him to be justly reviewed.² Tibetans in the area say that there should be a new hearing on the basis of three points: that there is no proof against Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, that he refuses to admit any guilt, and that he was framed by an official plot. A petition presented to the authorities and signed by thousands of Tibetans, often with a thumbprint, in Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche¹s home area, concludes: ³There does not exist any proof with regards to A¹an Zhaxi¹s [Chinese transliteration for Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche¹s lay name] sentence, there exists no confession, it is only an act of retaliation of the local authorities against A¹an Zhaxi. It is a set-up, a frame-up and an entirely fabricated case. If you are out to condemn somebody, you can always find a charge. If this case is not solved justly, our Zirui region, A¹an Zhaxi¹s relatives and all the people who follow him, regardless of whether the poor turn into beggars, whether men or women, they will definitely not stop appealing for justice. Thus, we sincerely hope that the impartial law of the central government will make its way into this place which is shrouded in the dense fog of conspiracy.² (The full text of the petition, translated into English by the blog High Peaks Pure Earth is included below). Locals interviewed on the telephone by Associated Press on December 7, 2009, confirmed that the protests had taken place, and confirmed that there was a greatly increased paramilitary police presence in the area. Sources who spoke to Tibet Post, a newspaper run by Tibetan exiles in India, said residents of the area insisted they were not ³anti-China² and had no political agenda, but without Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche¹s guidance and authority in the community, people were ³like children without parents. ² Imprisoned in December 2002, Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche was convicted amid concerns he had been tortured to extort a confession and following a trial that was condemned around the world for falling far short of minimum fair trial standards. Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche¹s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment following a statutory two-year period of suspension, but his co-defendant, Lobsang Dhondup, was executed in early 2003 moments after his appeal was rejected. Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche Œframed¹ according to petition The petition in support of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche dated July 15, 2009 asserts that he was framed by local authorities because his work and his standing in the community were sidelining local government authority, as well as impeding deeply unpopular government-backed enterprises such as large-scale logging operations in the area. The petition also recalls how prior to his eventual detention in April 2002, Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche had twice gone into hiding fearing he was about to be detained by aggrieved local officials. The petition, reproduced below, details the respect and reverence that Tibetans in Nyagchuka and the surrounding areas have for Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, in particular for his religious and social teachings in the community including his efforts to build and rebuild monasteries destroyed prior to and during the Cultural Revolution. Scans of several pages apparently taken from the petition or possibly from one or several more petitions circulating in support of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche have been posted on the Internet. The images show pages in handwritten Tibetan headed with ³Tenzin Deleg is innocent. We hope to appeal,² beneath which are columns of thumbprints followed by handwritten statements clearly identifying individuals and their families. Attempts to convince authorities at the local, provincial and national levels to re-examine the case against Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche have been ongoing since at least April-May 2007, when according to sources there was a small demonstration by people in Lithang demanding permission to visit him in prison. It is understood that previously, no one had been allowed to visit him in prison at all at that point he had already spent over five years behind bars. People¹s demands to visit him were initially refused, although members of his family were eventually allowed to see him. In April 2007, according to a Tibetan source with contacts in the area, nine women from Horlung township in Nyakchuka county, led by Apa Pumo, staged a sit-in outside the government office, and presented a petition. Following this action several of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche¹s relatives were allowed to visit him. Government officials had told the Tibetan lama that no one in the community or his relatives had wanted to see him. According to Tibetan sources, Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche re-affirmed his innocence and said that he had been told to denounce the Dalai Lama. In July 2007, several thousand local people signed a further petition to be taken to Beijing in an attempt to lodge an appeal against Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche¹s sentence. A small Tibetan group planning to take the petition to Beijing was stopped and detained, which led to a further protest by people in Horlung township for their release. According to the same Tibetan source, ³They said that Tenzin Deleg was a lama who had the people¹s trust, that he could not possibly have planted a bomb, he had been falsely accused, and the matter had to be rectified.² Armed police broke up the protest and later there was a buildup of troops in the area. Local people were told by officials that if there was a popular protest, it would be crushed. The Tibetan woman involved in the protest, Apa Pumo, was held for several weeks and became very ill in prison. Following the latest protests, last weekend a group of local Tibetan lamas appealed to the county government to grant the people¹s wish to meet Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche. The local authorities apparently stated that some Tibetans would be allowed to visit Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche each month, that those wounded during the demonstrations would be treated, and that compensation would be given for motorbikes that had been destroyed during the breaking up of the protests by police. According to the Tibetan source in contact with people in the area, among around 20 Tibetans still in detention are Tsering Dondrup, Sherab Drolma, Tenzin Trinlé, Tsering, Losang Wangchuk, Jinpa and Jamdro. Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche tortured while in detention Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche and at least four other monks were taken into detention on April 7, 2002, four days after Lobsang Dhondup¹s detention. According to several reports, the PRC authorities denied both men access to visitors and legal counsel, and subjected them to coercive methods of interrogation including beating and torture during the ³investigation² phase of detention at the Kangding Police Detention Center. According to Tibetan sources, among the torture he endured was being suspended in the Œairplane¹ position where a person is hung from the ceiling or door frame by their arms extended out behind them. The PRC authorities had assured a U.S. government delegation headed by Lorne Craner, the then Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, that the Supreme People¹s Court would undertake a Œlengthy¹ judicial review of Lobsang Dhondup¹s death sentence. But instead Lobsang Dhondup was executed soon after his death sentence was approved by a Sunday session of the Sichuan Province High People¹s Court. Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche maintains that he did not confess to any of the charges against him. During his sentencing, which was attended by two of his family members, he reportedly declared the trial unfair, rejected all charges against him, and proclaimed his innocence before being removed from the court. In a tape smuggled out of prison in January 2003, whilst he was awaiting the outcome of an appeal, he said, ³Whatever [the authorities] do and say, I am completely innocent. I was wrongly accused because I have always been sincere and devoted to the interests and well-being of Tibetans. The Chinese did not like what I did and what I said. That is the only reason why I was arrested. I have always said we should not raise our hands at others. It is sinful. I have neither distributed letters or pamphlets nor planned bombs secretly. I have never even thought of such things and I have no intention to hurt others.² Following the trial, Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche appealed his conviction. Police apprehended Tibetan residents of Nyagchuka County who were raising funds to pay for Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche¹s legal defense or who were otherwise seen as being closely linked to Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche. The Chinese authorities have not provided any information about the evidence underlying the convictions or the manner in which such evidence was obtained. When Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche was detained, tried and convicted over the six-month period from April to December 2002, a member of the PRC¹s eight person Politburo, Zhou Yongkang, was serving as Party Secretary of Sichuan province. Zhou went on to serve as Minister for Public Security, and he currently chairs the Central Politics and Law Committee, the main Party instrument for overseeing implementation of the law throughout the PRC. A full translation of the petition signed by local people in support of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche is at http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2009/12/from-woesers-blog-people-of-yajian g-in.html We Do Not Recognise the Verdict Against A¹an Zhaxi: We Want to Have a New Hearing with Regards to the Charges in the Explosion Case A¹an Zhaxi (A-ngag Tashi, Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche) was born in 1949 in the village of Degu, Lithang County in the Ganzi Prefecture. In 1983 he was identified as the reincarnation of the Yajiang County¹s Orthok Monastery¹s Lama Adong Phuntsok. Starting in 1987, he constructed Orthok Monastery, Nyagchu Jamyang Choekhorling, Tsochu Ganden Choeling, Golog Tashikyil, Tsun-gon Dechen Choeling and many more monasteries. A¹an Zhaxi always taught people not to kill, not to steal, not to tell lies, not to shoot animals, not to gamble, and he also formulated religious tenets. This embodied a great benefit for the people in the monasteries and in the area. Hence, in comparison to other Lamas, the local people particularly trusted and respected A¹an Zhaxi. On 7 April 2002, A¹an Zhaxi was arrested by Ganzi Yajiang County Police accused of being one of the hidden instigators responsible for the explosion on Tianfu Square in Chengdu. On 2 December 2002, Ganzi Prefecture¹s Intermediate People¹s Court sentenced A¹an Zhaxi to death with the sentence suspended for two years. Two years later, some said that his sentence had already been changed to life imprisonment and others said that there was no sentence at all, opinions were widely divided. But his family and religious followers had never seen the official court verdict or any notice concerning his case. Hence, there was no way of verifying the details. The case against Lobsang Dhondup installing the explosives on Tianfu Square and A¹an Zhaxi being the wirepuller is a set-up, it is an act of retaliation by the evil officials and lacks any proof or confessions. Nowhere and at no time have there been any witnesses confirming that A¹an Zhaxi actually worked out a plan for Lobsang Dhondup to set off an explosion, and neither has there been any witness who has heard anything about such plans. Moreover, Lobsang Dhondup has never admitted or confessed that A¹an Zhaxi worked out a plan for him to set off the explosion. The reason for this is: one of Lobsang Dhondup¹s fellow prisoners, who used to share a cell with him, recalls Lobsang Dhondup once saying to him that A¹an Zhaxi has never planned anything for him and he has also never officially declared or confessed that A¹an Zhaxi had worked out a plan for him. The reason why Yajiang County accused A¹an Zhaxi is because they say that he excavated a cave to store the explosives and they also came up with groundless accusations such as that he is not a real monk but they have not provided the people with anything proving his guilt. A¹an Zhaxi himself refuses to admit his guilt Although there have been many false stories claiming that A¹an Zhaxi has already candidly confessed everything, it is still rather obvious that he does not at all admit his guilt. On 2 December 2002, when the Ganzi Prefecture¹s Intermediate People's Court spoke the verdict, in the presence of all, A¹an Zhaxi shouted out ³don¹t say that I set up explosives, I have never ever thought about this sort of thing². Afterwards, A¹an Zhaxi wrote in a letter to Zirui¹s people and his close relatives: ³I am not guilty, please appeal for justice for me². Moreover, at the end of 2008, when A¹an Zhaxi¹s younger sister Dolkar Lhamo together with Zengtar and Tsering Dekyi went to pay him a visit in prison, they also heard him say: ³I absolutely did not work out any plans; I don¹t even know of any explosion, it would be very kind if you can appeal for justice.² Especially on 11 July 2009, when Apapumu went to see A¹an Zhaxi, he said: ³I am not responsible for these explosions or any other illegal actions, they have pinned this on me, I have always taught people that one should not harm any life, not even that of an ant, how could I then possibly be responsible for such an action? If it is possible to appeal, there is hope that I may be cleared of all charges. When you leave please go to Zirui for me, tell my relatives and all people of the six Orthok groups, tell everyone that I hope to be cleared of all charges. So, you are in charge, call all people together and do everything possible to help me overturn the verdict. Officials plotted to frame Even before the verdict in the case of the explosion, Ganzi Prefecture and Yajiang County had often arrested A¹an Zhaxi. For example, from 1998 to 2000, twice in a row A¹an Zhaxi had to flee to the remote mountains to take refuge. In the very beginning when he first established Orthok Monastery and Nyagchu Jamyang Choekhorling, some officials of the Ganzi Prefecture, Yajiang County and Lithang District deliberately made things difficult and obstructed the construction of the monasteries, but because A¹an Zhaxi went directly to the great Panchen Lama for help, the prefecture, county and district authorities had to give permission. Also, during the time when A¹an Zhaxi fled to the mountains for refuge, thousands of people signed or put their fingerprints on a petition to the authorities to prove his innocence. The appeal went all the way to the county, even to the central government and in the end the authorities¹ attempt to arrest him failed. When A¹an Zhaxi returned to his home town he was happily welcomed by thousands of people, who could not be pushed off the stage by local authorities. Through this, mutual apprehension sharpened by the day, the local authorities harboured more and more resentment against A¹an Zhaxi, he became the thorn in their side waiting for an opportunity to retaliate. One 2 April 2002, they then arrested A¹an Zhaxi accusing him of being the mastermind behind the explosions on Tianfu Square in Chengdu, but it is obvious that this is not true. In conclusion, there does not exist any proof with regards to A¹an Zhaxi¹s sentence, there exists no confession, it is only an act of retaliation of the local authorities against A¹an Zhaxi. It is a set-up, a frame-up and an entirely fabricated case. If you are out to condemn somebody, you can always find a charge. If this case is not solved justly, our Zirui region, A¹an Zhaxi¹s relatives and all the people who follow him, regardless of whether the poor turn into beggars, whether men or women, they will definitely not stop appealing for justice. Thus, we sincerely hope that the impartial law of the central government will make its way into this place which is shrouded in the dense fog of conspiracy. 15 July 2009 By the people of Yajiang County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province Kate Saunders Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet email: kate.saunders@ictibet.co.uk Tel: + 44 (0) 7947 138612 back to top Horror goes on in China 
Since Friday the 4th of December, more than 100 people arrested, by Chinese police, in Golok region Nyachu distrcit in Lithang.Lots of people got injured by the police, blood spread on the ground everywhere. But since yesterday morning, more than 1000 people, woman man and children, went peacefully together for the police station, asking for releasing the 100 prisoners. But 1 km. before they arrived, police and army soldiers, came to beat them, and arrest most of them. but some ran away, and after a few hours, another 1000 Tibetans came anyway to join with them, and asking at the police station, to release our Tulku Tenzin Gelek Rinpoche together with the other political prisoners. If you dont release them we are going for hungerstrike until we die. This morning al the jails are full with our people in Nyachu district, and they are trying to keep the prisoners somewhere else. One police station, beat a lot of the Tibetans until unconsciousness, and transported them in a big truck to somewhere. The Khaze Tu organised a number of army arround our Golok valley, and of course round Nyachu district. Nobody can enter into the dsitrict, if anyone does,then they got arrested and beaten severely until they lose consciousness. So please what should we do to help them? Yours sincerely Nyima  page from the petition that several Tibetans in Nyakchuka County have signed calling for the release of Tulku Tenzin Delek. Blood marks are also seen on it. The situation in the County is said to be extremely "volatile" and "tense" since Dec. 5 as the authorities pull in more troops to crush any form of dissent in the area. A similar more elaborated story on Phayul: Tibetan youths protest for monk's release, several arrested: - www.phayul.com Australia not standing up to China, Tibetan PM says Phayul,Tuesday, December 08, 2009 Dharamsala, December 8: Australia and the rest of the world lack the courage to stand up to China on human rights abuses, Australian media reported Tibetan Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche as saying. 
In this file photo, Tibetan Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche addresses during a public function in Dharamsala, India.
(Photo: Phayul.com/file)Rinpoche, who is currently on a five-day visit in Australia at the invitation of the Parliament
of the World's Religions conference, said countries merely appeased China out of fear or greed."The small countries appease China due to fear, the bigger countries appease China due to greed,'' AAP quoted Rinpoche as saying in Melbourne today. "The human rights and democracy is not important. The market is more important. "So we are not satisfied with the behaviour of outside states and powers,” he said. Rinpoche, however, said that no grudge is held against leaders who do not meet with the exiled Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Dalai Lama is towards the leg of his 11-day tour of Australia and New Zealand. Leaders of both the countries have decided not to meet Dalai Lama during the exiled Tibetan leader’s visit. "Not meeting, or not welcoming the Dalai Lama, we have no grudge,'' Rinpoche said. "But what we are disappointed with is the entire human approach as far as human rights is concerned." The problem was not confined to China, he said. Little progress was being made by the international community to stop human rights abuses in other countries, including on the African continent. But China, with one of the world's largest populations, was one of the worst offenders. "But the world has no courage to stop it, or to improve it," Rinpoche said. Rinpoche, who became the first directly elected Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile based in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala in 2001, is currently serving his second consecutive term in the office after being re-elected in 2006. As the elected head of the government, his two main objectives have been to find a solution to the Tibet problem and to look after the welfare of the Tibetan community in exile, particularly those living in India, Nepal and Bhutan. His government is pursuing the Middle-Way policy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama that advocates patient negotiations with China for meaningful autonomy rather than outright independence for Tibet. When Rinpoche was elected, talks between the Tibetan community and China had broken down eight years earlier. The dialogue was restored in 2002 and since then eight rounds of talks and one informal meeting were held between the Tibetan and Chinese representatives, but without yielding any positive outcome. "We are not seeking separation, we are not seeking restoration of independence," Rinpoche said. "We are only seeking the constitutional provisions of the national autonomy for the Tibetans. That is within the constitutional framework of the PRC (People's Republic of China)," he added. At the last round of talks held in Beijing in October 2008, a memorandum was handed to China on how to implement the constitution to give Tibet cultural and spiritual autonomy. China categorically rejected the memorandum and the talks came to an abrupt halt since then. But Rinpoche said the Tibetan community, in exile since 1959, must be patient. In Melbourne, the Tibetan Prime Minister, who is a highly recognised Buddhist scholor himself, will adress the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions, supposedly the world’s largest inter-faith gathering held after every five years. Rinpoche will deliver a talk on “Compassion: A Buddhist Approach” on Wednesday morning. During the inter-faith conference, Rinpoche will also take part in a panel discussion on 'Compassion as a human value – Global food crisis as a spiritual challenge'. back to top  Melting Himalayan glaciers threaten 1.3 billion Asians AFP[Monday, December 07, 2009 10:40] KATHMANDU (AFP) - More than a billion people in Asia depend on Himalayan glaciers for water, but experts say they are melting at an alarming rate, threatening to bring drought to large swathes of the continent. Glaciers in the Himalayas, a 2,400-kilometre range that sweeps through Pakistan, India, China, Nepal and Bhutan, provide headwaters for Asia’s nine largest rivers, lifelines for the 1.3 billion people who live downstream. But temperatures in the region have increased by between 0.15 and 0.6 degrees Celsius (0.27 and 1.08 degrees Fahrenheit) each decade for the last 30 years, dramatically accelerating the rate at which glaciers are shrinking. As world leaders gather in Copenhagen this month for a crucial climate change summit, campaigners warn that some Himalayan glaciers could disappear altogether within a few decades. “Scientists predict that most glaciers will be gone in 40 years as a result of climate change,” said Prashant Singh, leader of environmental group WWF’s Climate for Life campaign. “The deal reached at Copenhagen will have huge ramifications for the lives of hundreds of millions of people living in the Himalayan drainage systems who are already highly vulnerable due to widespread poverty.” The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN body regarded as the world’s top authority on climate change, has warned Himalayan glaciers could “disappear altogether by 2035” and experts say the effects of global warming are already being felt in the region. In Nepal and Bhutan, the receding glaciers have formed vast lakes that threaten to burst, devastating villages downstream. Nepalese mountaineer and environmental campaigner Dawa Steven Sherpa said he first became interested in climate change after a close call when part of the Khumbu icefall above Everest base camp collapsed during an expedition in 2007. Sherpa, who has scaled Everest three times, was walking on the glacier minutes before the collapse, and said his near miss alerted him to the dramatic toll that global warming is already taking on the Himalayas. “Every time I go to the mountains the older Sherpas tell me this is the warmest year yet,” Sherpa, who will take part in a special “summiteers’ summit” in Copenhagen, told AFP. “Initially it struck me how much more dangerous mountaineering would become. But then I realised it was much bigger than that. Entire villages could be wiped out if one of the glacial lakes burst.” In China, studies have shown that the rapid melting of the glaciers will result in an increase in flooding in the short term, state news agency Xinhua has reported. In the longer term, it said, the continued retreat of glaciers would lead to a gradual decrease in river flows, severely affecting large parts of western China. Dissidenten China teleurgesteld in Obama (omroep Brabant)19 nov 'Kleurrijk China is bloedrood' uit Het Nieuwsblad Foto's van de manifestatie zaterdag geleden aan de stadsschouwburg Demonstratie aan de stadschouwburg, voor De Tibetanen, Uygoeren, Falun Gong, reactie van "De morgen" 14 nov Demonstratie aan de stadschouwburg, voor De Tibetanen, Uygoeren, Falun Gong, reactie van "Gazet van Antwerpen" 14 nov  Voor een grote poster back to top His Holiness the Dalai Lama gets ceremonial welcome at Tawang DANK U INDIA !  De Vrienden van Tibet zijn zéér verheugd over het bezoek van de Dalai Lama aan de noordelijke provincie van India,
Arunachal Pradesh.Tevens bewonderen ze de consequente houding en de standvastigheid van de Indiase regering door niet te zwichten voor de valse politieke spelletjes van de Chinese Overheid. De Vrienden van Tibet hopen dat het westen vlug een voorbeeld zal nemen aan deze houding en de nodige lessen zal trekken 50 years exile Inge Hermans Voorzitter Vrienden van Tibet Overwhelming support for the Tibetan cause Why is China picking on India about The Dalai Lama's visit to Aruanchal Pradesh? After all he's been in India for fifty years now and this is his fifth visit to the state. Is it because of a growing support for the Tibetan cause in the border state? source: NDTV  His Holiness the Dalai Lama, center, and Arunchal Pradesh state Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, left, wave to media as they arrive at the Tawang monastery in Tawang, in the northeastern Arunachal Pradesh state, India, 8 November 2009/Photo:AP/Manish Swarup/India The US Congressional-Executive Commission on Dharamshala: Thousands of people in the Buddhist town of Tawang accorded ceremonial welcome to His Holiness the Dalai Lama as he arrived Sunday morning for a week-long visit to the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived by helicopter at Tawang, perched at an elevation of approximately 3,048 meters (10,000 feet) in the northwestern part of Arunachal Pradesh.  foto: Phayul His Holiness was received at the helipad by State Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and other ministers. Sound of gongs and cymbals resonate as His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived at Tawang, Indo-Asian News Service reported. His Holiness the Dalai Lama greeted the devotees, who were dressed in traditional costumes and had lined on both sides of the eight-kilometre road leading from the helipad to the Tawang monastery. At the 400-year-old monastery, about 800 monks gave His Holiness the Dalai Lama a religious welcome amid chants of Buddhist hymns as a strong aroma of burning incense wafted through the air. Giant gongs were played by monks dressed in new robes, while priests of the monastery prostrated as His Holiness the Dalai Lama alighted from the vehicle.  foto: Phayul Indian and Tibetan prayer flags fluttered alongside, while banners and life-size posters of His Holiness the Dalai Lama adorned the streets and rooftops with the entire Tawang town of about 35,000 people wearing a festive look. Hundreds of devotees from Nepal and Bhutan have also converged for His Holiness the Dalai Lama's visit. His Holiness the Dalai Lama will give religious discourse at Tawang, Dirang and Bomdila during the week-long visit, which ends 15 November. His Holiness will inaugurate a museum, containing historic scriptures of the Buddhist religion, and unveil a library of the monastery school at the Centre for Buddhist Culture Studies. His Holiness will also inaugurate a super-speciality hospital at Tawang. terug naar boven back to top Brussels 8 october 2009 pressconference Europalia 2009 This press conference is in reaction to: "Europalia-China", which will begin in few hours promoting themes such as, "Modern Day China," "Colorful China," "Immortal China," and "China and the World." We want to take the opportunity to expose the other, darker, side of China to public scrutiny in the name of the numerous minorities and dissenters in China whose voices are now stilled due to repression. Since the illegal Chinese invasion and occupation of Tibet in 1949, thousands of Tibetans have been imprisoned, tortured, martyred and executed for their political and religious convictions. The "roof-top of the world," once a haven of kindness, spiritual enlightenment, brotherly love, and environmental purity has been reduced to a vast and brutal prison by the Chinese regime. China is the undisputed world-champion of violating human rights and in the number in executions on political grounds. Because of the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Republic, Tibet currently endures a heavy Chinese military presence and it has been nearly completely cut-off from the outside world. No observers are permitted that might compromise the self-serving and rose-colored propaganda that China circulates about the political conditions in Tibet. What few observers have been allowed in, have been under armed guard and been tightly controlled as to their movements and what they are actually permitted to see. 
Chime Lhamo was sentenced to 10 years in jail photoTibet.netThe "Modern Day China" is a China where westerners can "line their pockets", a China where people are exploited to fulfill the West's ever growing hunger for more goods. This exploitation leads to corporations obliterating social rights, where child labor is rampant, all in the interest of extreme profit margins. In "Modern Day China," minorities are increasingly exposed to discrimination in education as well as in the work place. Citizens who dare to exercise free speech or who have non-mainstream convictions or beliefs are still being arrested and imprisoned for long periods without the benefit of due and fair process of law. "Modern Day China," is a China that still has a culture of suppression of human rights. "Colorful China," is wide varieties of the color gray, silhouetting great human misery. Everything that fails to conform to the party line and which in our Western society is seen as "warm, different and colorful," is nipped in the bud in China because it is perceived as a threat to the economic stability of the country. Minorities have endured virtually genocidal practices for 60 years now. "Colorful China" is actually red from the blood of so many tortured or unjustly executed people. The "Immortal China," is a China that people from the West simply don't want or dare to see. While the West is blinded by the enormous economic growth in China and the chance for excessive financial gain which that growth represents for a few individuals and corporations, the greater treasure of China, her ecological heritage, is rapidly being lost forever, including the Tibetan high plateau. Massive quantities of nuclear waste are being dumped. The pollution due to the waste dumping, alongside the increasing erosion, threatens the water supply of a great proportion of the population of Asia. There are from 2 to 3 billion people dependent on the Tibetan rivers. Ironically, at this moment 80% of the population of Tibet has no access to clean water. There is an increasing incidence of mysterious deaths occurring among Tibetans living in the vicinity of nuclear waste dumps, and there are a growing number of cancers and birth defects. Beijing's approach to the economic development of Tibet either marginalizes the Tibetans or excludes them entirely. This development plan is motivated by the desire to strip Tibet of her considerable natural resources. The "Immortal China" is a China of "ecological destruction." "China and the World" means to the "Friends of Tibet," a China that longs to be perceived as the greatest and strongest in the world; a China that hides its dark side and is not open about the devastating human and ecological cost its short-sighted economic success represents. "China and the World," means a China where China's people still have to pretend to conform to the thinking of a dictator, where no freedom of speech is allowed. The influence of China in the world is very selective and is based on one goal: to create as many monopolies as possible and attempt to get the West in its clutches (where it hasn't already succeeded in doing so). The Friends of Tibet will play a serious and persevering role during the Europalia-China events. That role will be to inform the Belgian people about the other, bitter, dark and inhuman side of the Chinese culture. The "Friends of Tibet" demand that our political leaders take their moral and ethical responsibilities very seriously and stop sticking their collective heads in the sand during their contacts with China. It is the standpoint of Friends of Tibet that Belgium is going to get a very real opportunity in the near future to "walk the walk, not just talk the talk." During the second semester of 2010, Belgium will assume the Presidency of the EU. This will provide ample opportunity to expose the shameful state of affairs in Tibet. With the appointment of our fellow Belgian, Alex Van Meeuwen as President of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations, Belgium will have more than one trump card in her hand. Belgium has a great opportunity to become a pioneer for human rights for Tibet. The Friends of Tibet are presently circulating a petition demanding the immediate release of all political prisoners in Tibet. The Friends of Tibet are counting on a ground swell of support from the citizens of Belgium and shall deliver the petition to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on December 10th, the International Day of Human rights. . In closing my comments, I invite everyone that is present here this evening, to join us this coming week-end in Antwerp. On October 10th, we will carry out our first a long series of demonstrations. We hope to give voice to the enormous frustration, sadness and discouragement that is the daily lot of countless millions of Chinese citizens. We invite you all to come and look how minorities and dissenters who dare to speak freely, must suffer in China-we want to report this story to the world outside of China. Inge HERMANS President Vrienden van Tibet terug naar boven Phayul Tibet (Phayul betekend: vaderland) Nieuwsberichten, dagelijks ge-update |