Mao Tsetung once said, “Where there is oppression, there is resistance” and in 2008, Tibetans risked everything to speak out. The Uprising in March has been the strongest message to the outside world from Tibetans inside Tibet since 1959.
The special meeting in Dharamsala from November 17th - 22nd that has been called by His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a unique platform to revitalize the movement. Thus, we Tibetan students in the UK would like to voice our suggestions at this crucial time to the international Tibetan community and the public. Read the rest of this entry »

by Josh Schrei

“I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was “well timed”. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see… that justice too long delayed is justice denied.”
– Martin Luther King, writing from jail in Birmingham Alabama, 1963

As a non-Tibetan, I know for a fact that I will not be present at the upcoming meetings in Dharamsala to discuss the future of the Tibet movement. Nor should I be. The future direction of the Tibet movement does — and should — rest solely on the shoulders of the Tibetan people. But as someone who has supported Tibet for many years — 2008 in fact being the 25th anniversary of when I, as a wide-eyed child, had the great fortune to meet His Holiness in Bodh Gaya — I hope Tibetans will permit me a few words on the subject. An outsiders words, yes…. but I hope they can provide something of value.
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London 14/11/08

Tibetans and supporters gave Zhu Weiqun, Vice-Minister of the United Front Work Department which oversees Sino-Tibetan talks, a noisy reception when he visited London. Having visited the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) earlier this morning, Zhu Weiqun headed for Chatham House in St James Square, London for a ‘round-table’ discussion on the recent failure of the eighth round of talks since 2002.

On 10th November, Zhu Weiqun delivered a stinging attack on the Dalai Lama in a televised press conference held in Beijing. Despite the Dalai Lama making explicitly and plainly clear that he seeks ‘meaningful autonomy’ for Tibet, not independence, the Dalai Lama has been repeatedly criticised by Chinese government officials who seem to have no intention of sincerely pursuing dialogue. Referring to the Dalai Lama's 'Middle Way' approach the Vice-Minister asserted, "We will not accept independence, half independence or covert independence." The dialogue seems to be in tatters following Zhu's statement that the current Chinese administration in Tibet is "perfect," adding, "there is no other way."

Tibetans, dismayed by the Chinese government’s continual refusal to approach the dialogue process in good faith gathered and angrily shouted slogans throughout the duration of the ’round-table’ discussion. A passing Chinese FedEx employee briefly disrupted the protest when he stormed towards the Tibetan protesters in search of a confrontation. Failing to provoke a reaction, he took one Tibetan man’s national flag and snapped the flagpole, receiving a police caution for his provocative behaviour. However, the biggest surprise for Zhu and his entourage was provided when a Padma Dolma, a Tibetan student walked out into the road with a Tibetan flag, in front of the Chinese diplomats. Simultaneously, three other Tibetans covered the windows of the van in blood (tomato ketchup), banging on the glass and shouting slogans such as ‘Zhu Weiqun, liar, liar!’ The Tibetans then left the scene to the applause of many of the nearby British public. One of the protesters, Pema Yoko explained; ‘Tibetans will not stand down to the Chinese government and today we Tibetans in London showed them this, just like our brothers and sisters in Tibet. We showed the London public that the Chinese government is responsible for the bloodshed and death of hundreds of Tibetans in a brutal crackdown after the protest in Tibet in March this year.’

Tibet supporters also condemned the Chinese government's latest wave of hard-line rhetoric. "To spuriously blame the Tibetan side for the collapse of talks was patently false, but to accuse the Dalai Lama of plotting 'apartheid' and 'ethnic cleansing' in Tibet is both ludicrous and deeply offensive to all Tibetans," said Terry Bettger, Campaigns Coordinator of Students for a Free Tibet UK, "rhetoric like this only serves to embarrass Chinese diplomacy on the world stage, and exposes the absolute lack of sincerity the Chinese government have shown to talks with the Dalai Lama's envoys.

To see a video of the action please go to: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eSswiWovIE4

In the final analysis I think the proponents of the Middle Way are looking at developments in a glass half-empty and not in a glass half-full sort of way. They are making a big mistake by emphasizing only the “negotiation” and the “autonomy” component...

The military stranglehold on Lhasa by day is maintained with one chilling addition -- snipers are installed on rooftops around the city's most holy site, the Jokhang Temple, ready to train their guns on the hundreds of Tibetan pilgrims praying in Barkhor Square below.

In the light of these pronouncements from China, the chance to reach at a negotiated settlement of the Tibet Issue has completely disappeared again. Given such developments, the Special Meeting of the Tibetans in the free world, where even some Tibetans from the occupied Tibet might be present, becomes really "historic"

From Alice Walker

November 5, 2008

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear.

And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about. Read the rest of this entry »