From London to Lhasa

This blog is dead!

2006-05-27T01:33:00.000+01:00

This blog is dead - long live the new blog! As a result of the launch of the self-censored Google.cn this blog has moved. Read more about this and keep up to date with SFT UK news, views and action at the new blog - freetibet.blog.co.uk

See you there!

40 Years Since the Cultural Revolution Began

2006-05-16T10:50:00.000+01:00

May 16th 1966 marked the start of the Cultural Revolution, what would become one of the darkest and most destructive periods in the history of China and Tibet.

It began as a purge of Chinese Communist Party leaders by Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, but it quickly spiraled out of control into a mass denunciation of many of China’s leaders and academics and the rejection of everything associated with the past. Chinese youths in particular, under the guise of the Red Guard, took it upon themselves to punish officials and intellectuals they deemed to be opposed to the work of Mao and to physically destroy most of China’s historical and religious buildings.

In Tibet, the Cultural Revolution had appaling consequences. Across the country hundreds of thousands of Buddhist monks were forced to disrobe or were killed and more than 6000 monasteries were destroyed. Religious statues were melted down and the gold shipped to China for government use and sacred texts were burned or used as toilet paper. In a country where religion, culture and politics are intertwined, the loss of the monasteries also meant the loss of libraries that held centuries of learning, philosophy, poetry and art and it meant a loss of cultural centres and the focal point of communities across Tibet. The loss of human life during that period is unimagineable.

What little has been done to undo the damage of the Cultural Revlution in Tibet is mainly through the work of Tibetans themselves. To this day the Chinese government remains unaccountable for the killing and destruction that happened in the decade following 1966, their paltry attempts to restore Tibetan culture have mainly been gaudy stereotypes for the benefit of tourists. Even now public debate on the Cultural Revolution is banned, the government satisfied to just sweep it under the carpet.

But sadly, the atrocities of the Cultural Revolution are not confined to the past. Today Tibetans are still being arrested and tortured for practicing their culture and beliefs or for speaking out against the occupation. So today we remember those who suffered during the Cultural Revolution and those who suffer still.

Last Chance to go to Action Camp!

2006-05-15T17:25:00.000+01:00

There's only a couple of days left to apply for the best SFT event of the summer, Free Tibet Action Camp!

Action Camp is your chance to receive training on everything from fundraising, grassroots campaigning, climbing, media advocacy, teaching Tibet, non-violent direct action skills and more from some of the most experienced activists in the world, as well as have a great time with other young people who are passionate about Tibet.

It's happening at the beautiful Pauenhof Retreat Centre near Dusseldorf, Germany from the 20th-26th of June and costs just €75 (about £50), which covers all your food, training and your transport from Dusseldorf airport (DUS or NRN) or Duisburg railway station.

But time is running out, so if you want to have the time of your life at Action Camp this summer, fill in an application form here and send it to tendor@studentsforafreetibet.org by May 17th.

For more information visit www.studentsforafreetibet.org/actioncamp or send an email to tendor@studentsforafreetibet.org

Life Sentence for Choeying Khedrub

2006-05-15T15:31:00.000+01:00

It has recently been confirmed that Tibetan political prisoner Choeying Khedrub has been sentenced to life in prison for "inciting splittism".

According to official information passed on to the Dui Hua Foundation, Choeying Khedrub, a senior monk, was accused of printing and distributing leaflets calling for Tibetan independence, along with 3 other monks and 2 lay people. For the "crime" of endangering state security and "supporting splittist activities of the Dalai clique" (a Chinese name often used for the Tibetan Government-in-Exile), he was sentenced to life in prison on January 29th 2001 and was sent to Drapchi Prison, although he is now believed to be in Qushui Prison. The other men recieved sentences of between 3 and 15 years.

Until now little has been known about the case of Choeying Khedrub, but you can read the full report by the International Campaign for Tibet here.

Tibet on the BBC

2006-04-27T17:36:00.000+01:00

All this week the BBC news website has been running a series of articles about Tibet in their Asia-Pacfic section. There's some great stuff on there including:
A profile of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
An article on the possible future of the Tibetan cause
Tibet in pictures
The story of a monk who fled Tibet
Testimony from former policial prisoner Ngawang Sangdrol
A photo essay on the life of a Tibetan nomad
And a guide to Tibet's major issues, which includes a rather ridiculous Chinese propaganda film from the 1950s (according to which Tibetans weren't able to feed themselves before the Chinese came, which is interesting given that there wasn't a famine recorded in Tibet until the 1960s).

If you've got a few minutes, it's all worth a look, just click on the links.

UPDATE: A couple more items have been added since this was posted including an article discussing the likely consequences of the Golmud-Lhasa railway and the reflections of three Han Chinese migrants on life in Tibet

(Photo from "Life of a Nomad" on the BBC news website)

Monks from Tashi Lhunpo Monastery joined vigil for the release of Panchen Lama in London

2006-04-26T10:31:00.000+01:00

London, 25 April: Tibetans and human rights activists holds a candlelight vigil and protest outside the Chinese Embassy in London on the 17th birthday of one of the world’s youngest political prisoners - the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. The demonstration, organised by campaigns groups Tibetan Youth UK (TYUK) and Students for a Free Tibet UK (SFTUK), aims to highlight the lack of religious freedom in Tibet, and to free Gedhun Choekyi Nyima from China. Monks from Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, Bylakuppe, India, who are on tour to UK, joined a vigil for the immediate release of the Panchen Lama.

“For the past eleven years Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, has been detained in Chinese custody at an undisclosed location. As long as the Chinese government continues to deny all requests from the United Nations and international governments to see him, his well being cannot be confirmed. At the same time, and despite a constitution that claims to allow citizens freedom of religious belief, Tibetan Buddhists have been deprived of their religious leader and denied the entitlement to exercise their own rights,” said Alli Barnes of SFTUK.

Gedhun Choekyi Nyima has been missing since 17 May 1995, three days after His Holiness the Dalai Lama recognised the then six-year-old as the true reincarnation of the late 10th Panchen Lama, the second most important spiritual leader of Tibet.

Alice Speller, National Coordinator of SFTUK said, “The Chinese governments’ continued detainment of the Panchen Lama is a clear violation of both domestic and international law. It is part of a longstanding campaign to use religion to tighten control over Tibetan people, by a government that associates Tibetan Buddhism with separatist sympathies. Under Chinese occupation, religious practice has been severely restricted - monasteries and nunneries have been razed, expulsions from these institutions have been widespread and Tibetan people have been jailed and tortured for their loyalty to the Dalai Lama.”

Despite repeated appeals to gain access to him, no international agency or human rights organization has been granted contact with the young Panchen Lama or his family. But on the other hand, the Chinese government has always been trying to win the recognition for their appointed Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu, often called as the "Chinese Panchen". At the recent World Buddhist Forum, the first ever held in China since 1949, the Chinese government displayed of their chosen Panchen Lama is an attempt to gain support from the Buddhist communities.

“We are here, as Gedhun Choekyi Nyima turns 17 in confinement, to demand that China release the young political prisoner and meet its claims to respect religious freedom in Tibet. The young Panchen Lama must be free to receive his traditional and religious studies that befit him. The relationship between the institutions of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama has to be preserved as an established custom for the future of Tibet. So, the safety and future of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is of serious concern” said Karma Chura-Tsang of TYUK.

Students for a Free Tibet UK and Tibetan Youth in UK strongly demand the Chinese government for the immediately and unconditionally release of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. We also call upon the international community to step up their support and pressure the Chinese government for the release of the Dalai Lama recognized the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima.

Note: TYUK & SFTUK has submitted their appeal letters to the Chinese Ambassador in London, Hon'ble Foreign Secretary and Minister for Children, UK Government for the immediate release of the 11th Panchen Lama.

SFT India go online

2006-04-24T12:01:00.002+01:00

Check out SFT India's new webiste at www.sftindia.org - there are some great photos in the gallery!

Hu Jintao protests in Washington DC

2006-04-21T11:06:00.000+01:00

President Hu Jintao’s first state visit to the US has been marred by protests: a Falun Gong supporter disrupted the official welcoming ceremony at the White House while hundreds of Tibetan, Uighur, Taiwanese, Falun Gong and pro-democracy demonstrators massed outside to protest Beijing’s human-rights policies.

Check out the latest protest updates and photos on the SFT international blog

Meanwhile, in Exile House...

2006-04-10T22:51:00.000+01:00

Tibetan independence activist Tenzin Tsundue (in the red bandana) joined SFT India in the office earlier this week for a spot of campaign planning. Tsundue last hit the headlines for his protest from the top of a tower as Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao visited an Indian University. We saw some amazing TV news footage of the protest, including the moment when he gets hauled back onto the balcony by the police, which looked rather painful...

Anyway, the time in Dharamsala has been a really useful chance to do some planning and strengthen links with the SFT crew and SFT UK will definately be doing some international collaboration in the run up to Beijing 2008. Students for a Free Tibet seems to be increasingly popular in Dharamsala, at least judging by the numbers of shops that seem to be (voluntarily!) sporting SFT stickers and the number of travellers taking home Beijing 2008 "Games Over, Free Tibet" stickers. I'm also going to keep checking the new sftindia.org website, which is going live shortly, and promises to be the place to go for news of action in exile.

Free Tibet! Action Camp - June 2006

2006-04-01T11:48:00.000+01:00

The second SFT Free Tibet! Action Camp to be held in Europe will take place from 20-26 June near Dusseldorf, Germany. See the SFT website for details and an application form. It's an amazing week of training, workshops, action planning, meeting Tibet campaigners from around the world, and campfires! Don't take our word for it - here's what Rob Slinn said about last year's camp:

It was a great privilege to be part of such a fantastic event. I’ll never forget the experience I had, and would strongly urge anyone who has the chance to go on future action camps to do so! You’ll learn some great skills and meet some amazing people. SFT action camp rules! (read Rob's full article in our newsletter)

Word of warning - get your travel plans organised soon as apparently there are some wee football matches happening down the road... Check out Ryanair for flights to Dusseldorf or Eurostar for the greener option :)

Chinese propaganda spotted during the SFT UK Roadtrip!

2006-03-27T11:05:00.000+01:00

Well, not exactly roadtrip. My carbon-karma isn't looking too good after a severely diverted flight took me to Delhi via Bombay. Fiona and I are in India at the moment and will heading up to Dharamsala, exile home of The Dalai Lama, to catch up on the SFT India crew news. Fiona, who has been here for a few weeks already, had been filling me in on their grassroots actions. More on SFT India later.

Our first stop was in the Tibetan area of Majnu-ka-Tilla in the northern end of Delhi. Here we had the joy of watching a Chinese music-come-propaganda show on VCD in one of the cafes. Alongside Chinese pop (frightening flashbacks to the Chinese hour on Belfast Community Radio, which my mother co-hosted), the variety performance features Tibetan-style music with Chinese dancers dressed in polyester Tibetan-esque chubas and pulling some moves that look to have come straight from a communist military training video. Facinating, if a little disturbing, and still not quite sure why the cafe owners were watching it.

Edinburgh March 10th Action

2006-03-17T12:49:00.000Z

In rememberance of Tibetan Uprising Day and looking ahead to the 2008 Olympics in China we asked the people of Edinburgh to think about human rights during the Summer Games in two years time.

Two PLA officers flanked students with painted wounds and Tibetan dress chained to large Olympic rings to remind people that China contunues to disregard the rights of Tibetans and its own peoples, and will do so if we don't pressure it to keep its promises of improved media freedom before 2008.

It made an eye catching and disturbing scene that drew intersted crowds and had the petitions to the IOC and Hu Jintao filling up and the info leaflets flying. We managed 4 hours in some horrible weather. Still it was all worth it! We were seen by hundreds and even got into the local news. Read the press release at Phayul.com

Uprising Day in London

2006-03-14T14:15:00.000Z

SFT campaigners from across the UK joined with Tibetans and Tibet supporters for the 47th anniversary of the Lhasa Uprising. Two of the Drapchi 14 nuns, former political prisoners Namdrol Lhamo and Gyaltsen Drolkar spoke very movingly about there experiences, on the last stop of their UK speaking tour.

More pics on the Tibetan Youth UK blog (pics by TYUK).

Uprising Day in Dharamshala

2006-03-11T09:28:00.000Z

Upising day 2006 in the Tibetan capital in exile has been eclectic to say the least. The day started early with hundreds of people making their way to Tsuglakhang (the main temple) for the official 'commemoration function'. After the national anthem and a minutes' silence for the Tibetans who have died and suffered for their county, we listened to HH Dalai Lama's give his 10th March statement and a statement from the Kashag.

A large crowd then formed a march to Lower Dharamshala, chanting slogans in Tibetan, English and Hindi and distributing leaflet of HH statement to bewildered Indian shop-keepers. At the rally at the end of the march the statement was read and Hindi and SFT India led the singing of 'Longsho'. To read about how this compared to recent years, and the politics behind the songs sung and slogans shouted see Kalsang's article on phayul.

SFTers then headed to TIPA (Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts) to prepare for the evening event which was co-organised by SFT India and RTYC Sara. After deliberations as to whether or not it would start raining properly, we decided to keep the event outside, a wise decision in hindsight as hundreds of people turned up. The evening consisted of many singers and bands performing Freedom songs (many of which the audience joined in on), impassioned speeches and a brilliant slide show of Tibetan martys which had most of the audience in tears. There were frequent cheers of 'Bod Rangzen', lots of petition and postcard signing for the Panchen Lama, and considerable interest in SFT - especially as the SFT stall had representatives from India, Canada and UK! The atmosphere was amazing - passionate, nationalist and positive - Tibet WILL be Free!

Losar @ Warwick!

2006-03-05T23:25:00.000Z

We knew our hard work had been worth it as our newly-dubbed Losar Week started off with a bang – why celebrate one day when you can celebrate for a week, we thought ;) it all began on Tuesday, when Mr John Billington (former Chairman of the Tibet Society UK) came to speak to a packed auditorium. Complete with hundreds of photos, Mr Billington gave us an account of his travels in Tibet and spoke about why the West continued to ignore the situation in Tibet, before spending an hour and a half answering the many questions we put to him.

On Wednesday evening, we had a film screening of Seven Years in Tibet which proved popular with the ladies thanks to Brad Pitt ;) along with free popcorn and a pub quiz, there was plenty to keep the audience entertained. Thursday night saw us at our regular Tibet meeting, to give newbies a brief background to the Tibet issue. It was followed by a night-long session of cooking to prepare for the following day.

A week of events finally culminated in a stall on our beloved Piazza. After many delays, we finally assembled the stall. Ngawang, a Tibetan musician living in London, had graciously accepted to come and perform for us. The Piazza filled with music as we handed out free momos and banana fritters, asked people to sign petition forms and cajoled them in to buying Tibetan merchandise.

The food was well-received (much to the relief of a chuba-wearing Elena and a very cheerful Delaine!) and the number of signatures quickly grew, while we managed to raise 27 quid through sales. We could not have asked for a better day – the sun continued to shine throughout the afternoon, and it made it easy for us to complete our task of approaching every single person who stepped on to the Piazza. In this way, we managed to generate a lot of interest, and many people stopped to speak to us. More people yet volunteered to help us get the word out, including a guy with a megaphone shouting for students to vote in the Union referenda!

At the end of the day, tired but very happy, we packed up as we thought, "Bring on the new year!"

-Elena

On the road with the Drapchi Nuns

2006-03-02T19:17:00.000Z

For the past three days I've been on the road with Gyaltsen Drolka and Namdrol Lhamo, two of the 14 singing nuns of Drapchi prison, as they tour UK cities to talk about their experiencies as political prisoners in Tibet through their translator Tenzin.

Before I joined them on Tuesday they had already spoken at SOAS in London and at the University of Oxford, but next on their tour was the Take Five Cafe in Bristol at a talk organised by the Coalition for Tibet at Bristol University. The nuns gave a very moving account of their story to the packed cafe before taking some great questions from the crowd. As it was Losar (Tibetan New Year) we rounded off the evening with a party to lighten the mood, fueled by some great food courtesy of the Bristol students.

Next on our trip was Swansea where we were given a more intimate discussion in the surroundings of Govinda's restaurant. There the nuns spoke much more frankly about the torture they suffered in prison, having not wanted to spoil the mood on Losar the previous night. The next day we had a little time for sight seeing, so this is us with our very kind host Anna on a cold but beautiful beach in South Wales.

Today we headed north to the city of Leeds where the nuns spoke in front of a massive turnout of more than 150 people! But they went ahead undaunted and received great suport from the crowd with many queueing up to thank them afterwards. Now we're just settling down for some food and then it's on to Nottingham in the morning.

If you want to find out more about Namdrol-la and Gyaltsen-la please go to the Drapchi 14 website. You can also click here to see where else they will be speaking including at the annual Tibetan Uprising Day march through London.

Losar in Plymouth

2006-03-01T18:54:00.000Z

Plymouth have celebrated with a New Year celebration with a difference: an almagamation of Tibetan Tradition and our own crazy ideas thrown in!

The original idea was to have students write down any negative stuff, they are ashamed of or want to put behind them, and ceremoniously set fire to them, but of course that wouldnt be within the framework of health and safety so we opted for a less traditional option.....a shredder. Then they had the option of writing a message of hope, peace or love in a book which we hope to send to a school in India. They then received a complimentry stick of insence and a sweet Mo-Mo...mmm. PLUS a 10 minute Indian Head massage, kindly donated by The Plymouth School of Healing´s oragniser Jack Bedbrook. What a star!

It all went brilliantly, thanks to Kate 'n' Kylie, Plymouths newest volunteers. Their hard work was much appreciated. We had a brilliant response from the students and the Mo-mo´s went down a storm and we manged to raise 33 quid which will go toward a project in India. - Mark

"Dissident" Prince Charles "boycotted Chinese banquet"

2006-02-22T06:54:00.000Z

Looks like the king-to-be is one of us! According to Prince Charles' former private secretary, Mark Bolland, Chaz Windsor saw himself "as a 'dissident' working against the prevailing political consensus". In the statements made to the High Court, Bolland confirmed that the prince deliberately boycotted a state banquet with then Chinese president Jiang Zemin because of his support for Tibet. Not only that, but against the wishes of his press people, Charles set about making the reasons for his boycott known.

Bolland is quoted by the BBC as saying that Charles "did not approve of the Chinese regime, and is a great supporter of the Dalai Lama, whom he views as being oppressed by the Chinese."

Once the Queen pops her clogs and Charles takes the throne, he is expected to keep these so-called political views to himself and to be jolly nice to any visiting dictators, just like Her Maj did for Hu Jintao during the state visit in November. He may not be able to speak his mind in the years to come, but Charles has left the world in no doubt as to what he thinks of China's record in Tibet. (photo from BBC)

Tigers skins burn in Tibet

2006-02-21T17:24:00.000Z

Tibetans have been burning clothing made from endangered animal skins following a request by the Dalai Lama to give up the use of pelts from rare animals. China, which officially opposes the trade of endangered animals, has now banned the burning of skins and arrested paricipants for "colluding with the Dalai Lama".

The story has run in the mainstream press and you can also read about Tibetans in Nepal burning robes at whatabouttibet.com, the excellent website run by Luke at Leeds Uni Tibet Society.

More SFT-Google press coverage

2006-02-19T20:09:00.000Z

Another mention for SFT's Google campaign, this time in The Observer (and there's a photo of the New York 'break up with Google' action in the print version).

Update on No Luv 4 Google

2006-02-15T20:44:00.000Z

Here's a great little update on the No Luv 4 Google campaign. As some of you have noticed, there was an article in the Guardian's G2 magazine on the 14th that said "Did you know, for example, some are calling for people to boycott Google today - Valentine's Day?". It seems that SFT's No Luv 4 Google campaign has made it as the Guardian's campaign of the week!

Check out the full article here.

Edinburgh breaks up with Google!

2006-02-15T17:34:00.000Z

Here’s a little bit about our action yesterday, which even got some unexpected political support!

Braving being labelled romance cynics, we stood outside our uni library, home to a large selection of computers, and urged our fellow students to ‘Break up with Google!’. By showing copies of results from buzzwords such as ‘Dalai’ typed into goole.com and google.cn, and by handing out postcards, lists of alternative search engines, and helpful information, we persuaded a good number of people to join the boycott (for that day at least!). Our friendly local green MSP, Mark Ballard (who was only coincidentally canvassing for support in his bid to be elected university rector!), seemed inspired by our work and promptly set about putting forward an EDM (early day motion) through the Scottish parliament in support of the boycott Google campaign, as well as vowing to encourage as many MSPs as possible to give up on Google for the long term. Brilliant!

Google: You're Dumped!

2006-02-15T11:24:00.000Z

This Valentine's Day was also No Luv 4 Google Day and in London we took to the streets to tell Google that it's over.

As well as boycotting all of Google's services over their decision to help the Chinese government censor information on the internet in China and Tibet, dozens of people turned up at Belgrave House, Google's headquarters in London, to tell them we want nothing to do with them.

“Thousands of people are boycotting Google today and protests are taking place in over 16 cities around the world” said Alice Speller, National Coordinator of Students for a Free Tibet UK. “We want Google to end their partnership with the Chinese government and stand on the right side of history” she added.

As we shouted slogans like "Shame on Google" and "Google: you're dumped" we were seen by hundreds of people going to and from Victoria train station, which is just across the road. Passers by were really supportive, taking information and action postcards and even Lib. Dem. MP Martin Horwood turned up to back us.

The fact that Google had told their staff they didn't have to come in to work and had the police put up barriers in front of their building showed they had something to worry about, and with thousands of people from around the world showing their support on www.NoLuv4Google.com they should be scared.

Google shouldn't be condoning or supporting the Chinese government in preventing the spread of democracy and freedom in China by supressing free speech, so dump google and take action.

What a conference!

2006-02-15T10:50:00.000Z

Well, it was exhausting (so exhausting it's taken me a few days to recover and type this post) but the SFT UK/TYUK conference this weekend was fantastic! A big thank you to everyone who came from far and wide to take part and give workshops, especially to Tendor who came over from New York to tell everyone about the work of SFT, give us briefings on current campaigns and run the Tibetan Youth UK leadership training workshop, and all that with jetlag. Also, huge appreciation to Riki Hyde-Chambers of The Tibet Society, Rob and Tom from People and Planet, Tserin Topgyal of LSE and Katie Mallin from Free Tibet Campaign for their valuable training.

Despite the long day of workshops on everything from non-violent direct action tactics to working with your MP and how to run a successful group, everyone was still able to make it to Nelsons Bar for a great party in the evening before crashing out at the Kailash Centre for some well earned sleep.

Sorry I don't have any pictures to put up, but there's a few on the post below and a whole load on the Tibetan Youth UK blog, which I highly recommend everyone has a look at. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did and took away some new skills and inspiration.

first pics from conference 06

2006-02-12T15:06:00.000Z

Some pics from conference - Tendor explaining direct action to a "reporter", the conference crew and Riki's session on working with your MP.