Announcements

CSN announces six rallies,
reacts to new outrage by Chinese government,
upgrades web site, releases new rock song

March 27, 2008 (CSN) -- The China Support Network (CSN) and partners in the Freedom First, Olympics Second Coalition (FFOSC) are planning to co-sponsor six rallies in the northeast U.S. within the next month. These rallies center around the Human Rights Torch Relay (HRTR), a project of the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG).

"Everyone is piling on against the Olympics. The Human Rights Torch Relay is a counterpoint to the Olympic torch relay. The upcoming tour can be an excellent awareness-building measure," said John Kusumi, Director Emeritus of the China Support Network. The series of rallies will hear from leading Chinese dissidents and from a new rock band, Light Club, as well as from CSN's own Mr. Kusumi. The cities and dates are as follows:

• March 30, Boston MA includes speeches by John Kusumi and Yang Jianli, music by Light Club
  
• April 5, Providence RI includes speeches by John Kusumi and Xu Wenli
  
• April 12, Portsmouth NH includes speech by John Kusumi
  
• April 13, Manhattan NYC includes speech by John Kusumi, music by Light Club
  
• April 19, Portland ME includes speech by John Kusumi
  
• April 26 New Haven CT includes speech by John Kusumi, music by Light Club
  

The kickoff event will be this Sunday in Boston, Massachusetts. A marathon of runners will carry the torch to the Boston Common, arriving at midday. Then a march and a torch lighting ceremony will be followed by a rally (likely at 2p.m.) with speeches and music. The debut appearance of Light Club will include the first live performance of the new song, 'Freedom First (Olympics Second).'

Light Club is a new act assembled by Tim Britt, a songwriter and guitarist formerly with NoManZero. His new band will also play 'Remember Tiananmen Square,' the theme song of the China Support Network. 'Freedom First' will become the theme song of the Freedom First, Olympics Second Coalition.

New Outrage by Chinese Government

At Students for a Free Tibet, their blog is now reporting that Tibetan monks in beseiged monasteries are facing a new peril: death by starvation. Chinese troops have reportedly cut off water supplies to monasteries they surround, and are not allowing food to be brought to the monks.

The China Support Network suggests that everyone should hit the panic button. "If monks have gone two weeks without food, then they now have a humanitarian emergency and a serious threat to their health. The siege of the monasteries will be recorded as another crime against humanity, hopefully the last of the Chinese Communist Party dictatorship," said CSN's John Kusumi. The China Support Network calls upon all Western governments to use their influence to lift the siege of the monasteries. And directly to the Chinese government, CSN calls for a lifting of the siege and for supplies, humanitarian relief workers, journalists, and international monitors to be allowed access to the monks.

"In the latest Tibet crackdown, Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao are scaling the heights of evil, while also missing their last, best chance to have Tibet in a confederacy with China. If they don't talk to the Dalai Lama, history will record theirs as a missed opportunity," added Kusumi, who in the next speech (Sunday) will call for Communist China to negotiate with the Dalai Lama.

Briefly

• The web site at www.chinasupport.net has been upgraded. The "splash page" is now a quick read of the latest news, and has more introductory material forming an overview of China-related issues as seen from here. A new CSN podcast and YouTube videos mean that text, audio, and video are all available from the front page at chinasupport.net.
   
  
• The rock band Light Club has made its song 'Freedom First (Olympics Second)' freely available as an .MP3 file at www.lightclub.us. The first performance won't happen until Sunday, but you can hear the song now! Visit www.lightclub.us.

IFCSS issues statement on Tibet

Statement by the Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS) on the Tibet Issue

March 17, 2008

Since mid March, there has been a peaceful petition and demonstration by the monks and people of Tibet, which evolved into a bloody conflict between the Chinese Communist government and the Tibetans.

The IFCSS believes that

1. The Tibetan Buddhism is a treasure of human culture;
   
2. Tibetans have their rights to choose their religious beliefs and life style;
   
3. Tibetans should enjoy a high degree of autonomy;
   
4. The Tibetans' religious beliefs and culture rights should receive respect and protection;
   
5. When the Tibetans' rights of a high degree of autonomy and religious and cultural freedom are not respected and protected, they have the right to choose demonstrations to express their dissatisfaction.
   

The IFCSS strongly condemns the Chinese Communist government's indifference toward the Tibetans' request, and expresses its strongest protest over the Chinese government's violent suppression that followed. We ask the Chinese government to release those who have been detained; to open the foreign media to Tibet to report and interview, as well as permit international society to have an independent and fair investigation over this incident. Only an open China with human rights has the right to hold the Olympics.

Human rights has a universal value. The IFCSS feels what the Tibetans feel. We solidly support Tibetans' long-time struggle by means of peace and non-violence. We wish that democracy and freedom shall be realized in China, including Tibet.

-- The Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS)

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Editor's note: At the time of Tiananmen Square's massacre in 1989, America was educating about 40,000 students from China at U.S. universities. China's uprising had pitted Chinese college students againt the administration of Red China. In exile after the massacre, democracy-minded college students needed a student association to be independent of the Chinese regime. Thus the IFCSS was formed with the blessing of leading Chinese dissidents, who assigned it to represent those 40,000 Mainland students in the United States. In addition to fielding political issues as seen above, the IFCSS sponsors the yearly candle light vigil opposite Washington's Chinese embassy for every annivesary of Tiananmen Square's "June 4" massacre.

Three stories today

CSN Condemns Rising Tibetan Death Toll;
HRW Raises Fears of Detainee Torture;
JPK Calls Again for Condoleeza Rice to Resign


1. CSN Condemns Rising Tibetan Death Toll and Lies of China's Regime

Protests have wracked the Himalayan region of Tibet, beginning on March 10, 2008 which was the 49th anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day -- an occasion in 1959 when Chinese troops cracked down on a Tibetan uprising, and forced the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual and temporal leader, to flee into exile. Prior to the rise of communism in China, Tibet was historically a theocracy of Tibetan Buddhism. As the head of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama was or is the "god-king." With no separation of church and state, he was or is the head of church and the head of state for Tibet.

On March 14, protests turned violent, and Chinese "People's Armed Police" killed an estimated 80 Tibetans while putting down protests in Lhasa. Sympathy protests have recently spread to other parts of China, and the death toll has risen. The China Support Network (CSN) is a group established in the United States in 1989, and supports freedom for all regions afflicted by the dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party. Stated another way, we are anti-communist and we support the Tibetans as well as all of the religious denominations and ethnic groups who are persecuted by Beijing.

At this time, CSN estimates the death toll in a range from 110-117. The number of deaths will inevitably be matched by a number of wounded with injuries. A realistic number to match the death toll suggests 400-500 wounded. Arrests could be in the thousands. Further, this incident is not over and done with. There is every chance that another week brings another tragedy in the ongoing saga of China's brutal occupation and cultural genocide in Tibet. It is understandable that Tibetans are angry. They are dealing with a case of "Grand theft, country."

Even one death -- untimely and needless, by gratuitous government fiat -- is too many. From 1950 to the present, Communist China has killed over a million Tibetans, and destroyed some 6,200 monasteries. The Communist Premier, Wen Jiabao, held a press conference on March 18 and became the regime's point man for demonizing the Dalai Lama, whom he blamed for the violence. A Connecticut newspaper, the Hartford Courant, directly rebutted Wen's charge, saying "No, it was incited by unacceptable Chinese repression of Tibetan religious and cultural practices and aggravated by Chinese security forces too eager to attack."

On March 14, the dissident-controlled China Interim Government urged Tibetans to "drive out the CCP's representative in Tibet – Zhang Qingli, acting Party Secretary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region." On March 19, Zhang Qingli, said in a published editorial, "The Dalai Lama is a wolf wrapped in a robe, a monster with human face and animal's heart." The China Support Network denounces the statements by Wen Jiabao and Zhang Qingli. "History will remember the CCP as the epitome of evil. Civilian Tibetans would be unarmed, but for stones or homemade implements. The bullet holes can only come from triggermen on the side of the CCP. When evil people do evil things, it is not a valid excuse to say 'The Dalai Lama made me do it,'" observed John Kusumi at the China Support Network.

Kusumi underscored, "The killings are acts of commission, and the Communist Party is guilty. As for another regime lie, I would ask Wen Jiabao, 'If, as your propaganda says, Tibet was always a part of China historically, then why was there a need for Chinese troops to invade in 1950? Indeed, there are eleven earlier generations of Dalai Lama. It was they, not China, who ruled Tibet. Your propaganda is flat wrong -- and around the world, Tibetan Buddhism is known as a religion of non-violence. It reveals a political tin ear to be demonizing a man who holds a Nobel Peace Prize.'" The China Support Network condemns inaccurate propaganda which perpetuates the in-house myths of the Communist Party.


2. HRW Raises Fears of Detainee Torture, Calls for International Monitor Access

The Chinese government should immediately permit independent monitors to have access to the large number of Tibetans detained in Tibet and adjoining provinces in the aftermath of public protests, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should publish the names of all individuals detained and their places of detention.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that hundreds have been arrested. Chinese authorities have not specified the number of detainees. Human Rights Watch and others have previously documented torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Tibet, especially those accused by the Chinese authorities of “separatist” activities.

“Given the long and well-documented history of torture of political activists by China’s security forces there is every reason to fear for the safety of those recently detained,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Only by giving access to independent monitors can China give the world some confidence that detainees are not being tortured or mistreated.”

Chinese officials announced that those who had been involved in the protests must “surrender” to police by midnight on March 16 and that they would be shown leniency if they did so. The officials insisted that the detention of protesters was necessary to ensure public security.

The Chinese government has virtually sealed off Tibet, expelling or turning away foreign journalists and tourists. The Chinese government has long banned independent human rights observers from Tibet and punishes Tibetans who send information out of the country regarding the human rights situation.

“The exclusion of independent monitors and expulsion of foreign media from Tibet only suggest that China wants to retaliate against these protesters unfettered by global scrutiny,” said Adams. “China is in direct violation of its commitment to the International Olympic Committee to allow foreign journalists free access to the whole country, a point the IOC should be making publicly if it is to retain any credibility.”


3. JPK Again Calls for Condoleeza Rice to Resign

by John Kusumi

I've previously called for U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, to resign. The first time in late 2006, I said that it was "ludicrous, unwarranted and disconnected from reality" when the State Department removed Vietnam from its Countries of Particular Concern list in the area of religious persecution. Vietnam remains a regime with deadly religious persecution. To remove that designation was a display of incompetence, or of mere pandering to communists, dictators, tyrants and thugs, with whom the U.S. Government should not be smitten.

Now a more recent outrage prompts me once again to call for Rice to resign. The matter was well stated in an editorial by the Hartford Courant. "The United States, regrettably, has recently removed China from its list of the 10 worst human rights violators. China should go back on the list." My thanks to the Hartford Courant because they said it -- China should go back on the list. And, just as with Vietnam, this maneuver was ludicrous, unwarranted, disconnected from reality, and revealing of incompetence or pandering.

The fresh slaughter of Tibetans has made the case already, to support the return of China to the list. Indeed, the fresh slaughter of Tibetans is also making the case that the Summer Olympic Games and their advertisers should be boycotted, if the games will be under this same Beijing regime. On March 19, Wei Jingsheng published an op-ed in the Washington Post. It was aptly titled, "China's True Face: The Host of the Olympics or the Thug of Tibet?" Wei correctly excoriates the President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge.

Within his piece, Wei Jingsheng says, "The old lies and propaganda don't work anymore." That is an excellent point that is lost on out-of-touch world leaders, and even some newsrooms. Hooray for Wei Jingsheng! And boo hiss for Wen Jiabao, Zhang Qingli, and Condoleeza Rice!

China Interim Government responds to Tibet crisis

The following is a public statement issued March 14, 2008, by the China Interim Government (CIG). CIG was created late in 2007 and opened this year by Chinese dissidents. Its senior leadership includes Wu Fan, Jia Jia, Yuan Hongbing, and Tang Baiqiao.

It very much sounds like the China Interim Government agrees with any Tibetans whose goal is to chase the Communists out of Tibet!

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We are shocked to learn of the recent replay of the 1989 bloody suppression of Tibetan citizens in Lhasa. The regime has once again carried out a bloody massacre of Tibetan citizens. The China Interim Government strongly censures such evil crimes committed by the CCP and expresses deep respect for the courage displayed by the Tibetans in their protest against the Communist regime.

In the process of disintegrating the CCP, courage and sagacity are the basis for Chinese citizens to break free from the regime's slavery and become a dignified nation. The entire Chinese nation should follow the example of the Tibetans and continue to strengthen ourselves mentally.

Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has stated publicly on many occasions that they are not asking for Tibet's independence but are only seeking self rule and human rights. However, the CCP continues to twist the facts and initiated bloody suppressions against Tibetan citizens in 1956 and 1989 under the charge of "Tibetan independence." Still today, tens of thousands of Tibetan citizens continue to drift [homeless] from place to place. Needless to say, there is no guarantee of their rights. Half a century has gone by, not only is there no improvement in the human rights condition of Tibetan citizens, it is continuously deteriorating. Yet today, they are once again under brutal suppression by the violent Communist regime.

These crimes committed by the CCP have infuriated man and God. Hu Jintao being the leader of the Communist regime cannot be absolved of the crimes committed by the CCP. The China Interim Government insists that Hu Jintao end the massacre of Tibetan citizens immediately.

The suppression of Tibetan citizens is just the tip of the crimes committed by the CCP. The regime has suppressed the Tibetans' request for human rights in the name of "Tibetan independence," suppressed the request of Uighurs in Xinjiang for human rights in the name of "Xinjiang independence," threatened the citizens in Taiwan in the name an "independent Taiwan," and suppressed citizens in Mainland China seeking human rights in the name of "quelling unrest." This is the true face of the CCP. Furthermore, since the CCP gained power, it has massacred landlords, capitalists, intellectuals, Falun Gong practitioners, etc., one after another in the name of reforms and revolution. The regime has committed countless bloody crimes. Its brutal acts have sealed its fate — disintegration.

Only by disintegrating the CCP can the brutal crimes against humanity be stopped. Hence we hope that the mass of Tibetan citizens will make this their first goal, gather their power to drive out the CCP's representative in Tibet – Zhang Qingli, acting Party Secretary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region and break free from the slavery of the CCP as soon as possible.

The China Interim Government calls upon all Chinese citizens to support Tibetan citizens to stop the brutal massacre by the CCP. Use this battle for one's rights to initiate a new movement to disintegrate the CCP in 2008 and finally arrive at the strategic goal of ending the Communist Party rule in 2008.

China Interim Government Spokesman Tang Baiqiao will accept interviews from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Standard Time on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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Spokesman Tang Baiqaio, usually based in New York City.




Flag of the China Interim Government.

Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition Expresses Its Support to the Tibetans' Freedom Fight

March 14, 2008

We have closely watched the events evolving in the last a few days related to the Tibetans' freedom fight all over the world, especially in Lhasa, Capital of Tibet. Exactly 49 years after the brutal military crackdown and massacre of the Tibetans by the Chinese Communists' army, once again the brave Tibetan people, asking for freedom, especially freedom of religion, are staging a massive protest and demonstrations.

These demonstrations do not come as a surprise. Led by his holiness the Dalai Lama, the patient efforts of the Tibetans to seek freedom and true autonomy have continuously failed due to lack of sincerity from the Chinese Communist government. Once again, the calls for freedom and demonstrations in Tibet have been met with military force and bloodshed. This reaction by the Chinese Communists in Lhasa is similar to what happened in 1989 in Lhasa prior to the June 4 massacre in Beijing in front of the eyes of the whole international society, under the same leadership of Hu Jintao. As now the international society is eyeing the upcoming 2008 Olympics, the Chinese Communist government has once again chosen its iron fist as the way to answer a call of freedom and peace.

Here, we want to emphasize what Mr. Wei Jingsheng has repeated in the last several years:

1. The suffering of the Han Chinese and Tibetans are the same.

2. In 1959, the protests of the Tibetans were crudely suppressed by the Chinese Communist Party. The massacre lasted for more than one year, while almost one million Tibetans lost their lives. Meanwhile, the Han Chinese were also under the political persecution of the Chinese Communist Party, and several tens of millions lives were lost due to political persecution and starvation.

3. In 1989, it was the current Chinese Party leader HU Jintao who led the army to kill the Tibetans on the streets of Lhasa. Meanwhile, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and DENG Xiaoping massacred hundreds and thousands of people on the streets of Beijing.

4. In the last several decades, suppressed people are all against the Chinese Communist Party's tyranny. We must mutually support, mutually help each other. In the past, due to the lies and propaganda of the CCP, many Han Chinese did not know the suffering of the Tibetans, did not understand that the Tibetans' struggle against tyranny is the same goal as the Chinese. Now, more and more Han Chinese has learned of the suffering of the Tibetans, and are in agreement and support of the Tibetans' goal.

5. Due to the struggle and the pressure of the Tibetan people and international society, the CCP expressed that they are willing to solve the Tibetan issue via negotiation. However, just like before, they have no sincerity for negotiation, but play with international public opinion, in an effort to dissolve the determination of Tibetans' struggle. Thus, we must keep the successful approaches of the struggle from the past few decades, and maintain the pressure on the CCP both internally and internationally so we could get some real solid results from the negotiation. In dealing with reasonable parties, we could use reasonable manners for negotiation. However, in dealing with a hooligan government like the CCP, it is impossible to get some serious negotiation if there is not enough pressure.

Hereby, with all the freedom and democracy loving people of the world we want to express solidarity with the Tibetans' freedom fighters and ask the international society to not only put its attention but add more pressure on the Chinese government. We express outrage at the IOC chairman Mr. Jacques Rogge's disregard of the Olympic spirit and refusal to give a comment or stand on Tibetans' outcry, not to mention of express any will of effort to stop this tragic development. Nevertheless, we believe in and are thankful to the majority of the righteous-minded people on this world who support the freedom and human rights of the Tibetans.

The freedom and human rights of the Tibetans is the freedom and human rights of all the people.

-- Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition