 Inge Hermans over de vrienden van Tibet,van AVS oost vlaanderen, met het chinees nieuwjaar Dalai Lama Visits Italy (8 feb.) , Germany as UN Reviews Rights in China  Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s Buddhist spiritual leader, will visit Italy and France this week to receive awards, at the same time as the United Nations reviews human rights in China. The visit “comes at a time when the Tibetan people in Tibet are facing an increasing Chinese crackdown,” said Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa, the Dalai Lama’s representative for central and eastern Europe. “The crackdown has created great fear amongst the Tibetans.” His statement was published on the Tibet government-in-exile’s Web site yesterday. China’s report to the UN on human rights omits any references to abuses that are occurring across the country, London-based Amnesty International said yesterday. China prepared its remarks before a Feb. 9 review with the UN Human Rights Council, an assessment held every four years. The report failed to mention the crisis in Tibet, the crackdown on Uighurs in the western Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and the persecution of religious followers, including members of Falun Gong, Amnesty said. China’s Foreign Ministry said it expected to have a “constructive dialogue” with the UN council during the review. “We also hope that relevant organizations can objectively judge the development of China’s human rights situation,” spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters in Beijing yesterday, when asked to comment on the Amnesty statement. The Dalai Lama will arrive in Rome on Feb. 8 to receive honorary Italian citizenship and will travel to Baden Baden in Germany on Feb. 10. There he will receive the German Media Prize for his spirit of “reconciliation, tolerance, humility and respect” and for representing “the non-violent struggle for the rights of the Tibetan people,” the government-in-exile said. Tibet Crackdown China started a crackdown in Tibet on Jan. 18 in the run-up to the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule in March. Police had detained 81 suspects during operation “Strike Hard” by Jan. 24, according to Amnesty and Tibet’s government-in-exile. Last week, the government-in-exile called on China to immediately end the crackdown. The Dalai Lama, who fled to India after the uprising in March 1959, has campaigned for “genuine autonomy” for Tibet within the framework of the People’s Republic of China. China says it peacefully liberated Tibet(china killed over 100.000 Tibetans that day) and saved its people from feudal serfdom. Wang Chen, China’s minister in charge of the State Council Information Office, acknowledged in December that progress on human rights in the nation was “less than satisfactory,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported at the time. According to the exiled government, the Dalai Lama sent a message to the Chinese community on the eve of Chinese New Year on Jan. 25, saying: “I hope and pray that in the coming year the People’s Republic of China will be able to create a meaningful harmonious society by ensuring equality, justice and friendship among all its nationalities.” To contact the reporter on this story: James Peng in Hong Kong at jpeng7@bloomberg.net 4706…Het jaar van de OS !  
Het jaar van de Os zal zich volgens de oude Oosterse geschiedenis kenmerken door “inzet” en...”een positieve houding”.Dit laatste kenmerk wensen de Vrienden van Tibet vooral de dictators van China toe. Een jaar waarin ze misschien een eerste stap zullen zetten naar democratie en het respecteren van de mensenrechten. Hoop vanwege de Vrienden van Tibet dat er in het jaar 4706 stappen zullen gezet worden naar de Tibetaanse bevolking die héél erg te lijden heeft onder de onrechtmatige bezetting van hun land. Het jaar van de Os heeft ook de kenmerken van loyaal zijn, rustig, ambitieus en trouw zijn. Voor de Vrienden van Tibet zijn dit allemaal kwaliteiten die de Chinese leiders zich dringend eigen moeten maken ! Het jaar van de Os komt voor de Vrienden van Tibet géén dag te vroeg !  |