FDC Visits India To Support Tibetan Freedom Aspirations

FDC Visits India To Support
Tibetan Freedom Aspirations

As mentioned by the AFP newswire, the Federation for a Democratic China sent a delegation to visit Tibetans in Dharamsala, India -- the headquarters of the Dalai Lama's Tibetan Government In Exile -- in support of observances upon the 50th anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day. The anniversary was marked on Tuesday this week.

On the AFP wire, "At least 30 members of the Federation for a Democratic China will join our peaceful programmes," said Sonam Dagpo, spokesman of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

A speech was given by Chin Jin, a senior Chinese dissident. CSN has obtained a copy of his remarks as prepared. What follows is that transcript in full:

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Remarks of Chin Jin, Federation for a Democratic China, March 10 2009:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Tibetan brothers and sisters, my fellow Chinese democrats from different parts of the world, and all those who are present today to express your sympathy and support, 10th March 1959 is an unforgettable day for Tibetans.

10 March 1959 was the day marked the beginning of the uprising in Lhasa and eventuated the flight of H.H. (His Holiness) the Dalai Lama into exile and his 80000 followers. Today is the 50th anniversary of that tragic day and we, the Chinese democracy activists, are here to demonstrate our sympathy to our Tibetan brothers and sisters who have long lost their homes. Tibetan brothers and sisters, we are here to give you our full support to your movement of Free Tibet.

We have got to be fully aware that the Chinese Communist Party and its despotic rule are the roots of all problems across China including Tibet. It is the misrule of CCP that attributed to the loss of homes of Tibetans and their spiritual leader H.H. the Dalai Lama into exile for half century. It is also the counter historical trend of the CCP as a huge obstacle in the way of Chinese people for achieving their liberty, human rights and dignity. So we should say, the CCP and its misrule is the common fatal enemy of both the Free Tibet movement and Chinese democratic movement.

It is obvious that the Communist China does not have genuine intentions when it refers to dialogues with representatives of H.H. the Dalai Lama about entering into an agreement of meaningful autonomy for Tibet. The tactics they adopt is only a cat-playing-with rat game, which deceives the international community and the West.

Tibetan brothers and sisters, you had a rich and distinct history, language, culture and spiritual tradition, all of which form valuable parts of the heritage of humanity, so you want meaningful autonomy to preserve them.

We want freedom and democracy, fairness and equality. We want a democratically elected government to govern China. This is the political aspiration of the Chinese democratic movement. Our goals are therefore totally consistent with yours.

But we’ve got to be coolheaded. Well-meaning imploring for a change of stony heart of the stubborn mindset of the Communist China leaders will achieve little or nothing. They will not walk into the garbage heap of history by themselves. They can only be driven out of the historical podium by the justice and progressive forces we can gather.

That is why we Chinese democracy activists of the Federation for a Democratic China and other Chinese democratic organizations came to Dharamsala last November seeking to strengthen the solidarity of the Movements of Free Tibet and Chinese democracy. That is why we make another trip to be here today to continue this political route to support your movement in the hope of also receiving your support to our noble cause - so as to garner an unstoppable momentum to reshape China.

Democratic China is the unique solution for solving the problems in China, and the key to the meaningful autonomy of Tibet. Can we divert from this common goal of us? No. we can’t.

Historical change should be what happening in China. Can we indifferently look on? No. we can’t.

Time and tides wait for no man. Can we shift this historical mission to our next generation? No. We can’t.

The people in China, Han Chinese, Tibetans and any other ethnic minorities, should decide to act now. The time is now, after waiting for a very long time of sixty years; it is time for a fundamental change in China.

That is what we revisit Dharamsala is all about. Let us all work together.

Thank you.

U.S. House has Tibet resolution

The following news was also run by AFP, the newswire:

In the United States, a lawmaker on Monday introduced a resolution to Congress that would urge China to end its "repression" of the Himalayan region.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime supporter of Tibet, vowed that Congress would "overwhelmingly" approve the bill on Tuesday.

"If freedom-loving people do not speak out for human rights in China and Tibet, then we lose the moral authority to talk about it in any other place in the world," she said to loud applause....

China, however, rejected the US resolution and called for it to be withdrawn.

A Day of Shame

A Day of Shame

By John Kusumi, Director emeritus
the China Support Network

March 10, 2009 is the 50th anniversary of 'Tibetan Uprising Day.' It commemorates the 1959 occasion when Tibetans tried to push back against the 1950 invasion of Communist Chinese--and, as the uprising failed, the Dalai Lama was forced to flee into exile. China's crackdown then killed tens of thousands of Tibetans. Tibet was also the scene of an echo uprising, last year in 2008.

Last year's uprising began on March 14 -- Chinese authorities had detained monks when they observed Tibetan Uprising Day (March 10), and each day monks went out to protest and call for the release of monks detained the previous day. Chinese authorities continued to squeeze and "collect monks" until they were pushed into rioting on March 14. Riots and crackdowns killed 22 in Lhasa, and perhaps 200 elsewhere on the Tibetan Plateau.

We are now at the anniversary of both (1959 and 2008) uprisings. Recent news included word of China's "troop surge" into Tibet -- this year, they are ready with even more armed security forces, checkpoints, etcetera. In fact, the troop surge began just as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton travelled to Beijing -- a trip that should have promoted human rights, and instead shamefully "demoted" human rights. If Communist China engages in any violent behavior this year, Clinton has given it a green light.

Apparently, the Obama administration has a blessing for China's crimes against humanity -- and no complaints about China's earlier crimes against humanity. This makes the Obama administration a tacit accessory, both during and after the fact, to human rights abuses.

It is a day of tragedy in Tibet; of shame for Communist China; and of shame for China's best customer and most significant enabler, the United States.

In addition to the troop surge in Tibet, recent news told us of a Tibetan monk who set himself on fire in protest -- and the Chinese authorities responded by shooting the man while he was on fire! And, from early Monday morning March 9, we have word that a dispute with Chinese authorities at a traffic checkpoint escalated into a mob scene, with rioters throwing "several home-made explosive devices" according to the Times Online.

The Western world has turned upside down in its values since the election of former President Bill Clinton -- the husband of today's Secretary of State. After World War II, when the death camps of Nazi Germany were liberated, the world learned the horrors of the holocaust and swore, "never again." Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton, upon receiving word of a holocaust -- persecution endured by Tibetans and by Chinese religious believers -- has the Clinton name, and the Clinton policy: "Leave the Jews in the gas chambers."

Today's China policy is no better than that, and the Clinton name has become a trademark form of servicing and carrying water for communists, dictators, tyrants, and thugs. America might have hoped that the new President, Barack Obama, was above dignifying this kind of policy. But in that regard, America has already been disappointed by the new administration.

I happen to think of Clinton's (and now Obama's) China policy as akin to its very own crime against humanity. "Leave the Jews in the gas chambers" --?

In coming days, we can expect to get news from this year's anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day. We may learn of more atrocities that are being committed even now as I write, or as you read, this. It will be some time before we have a full record of this year's human rights abuses in Tibet. But, we know about the significance of this time of year. Crackdown season has begun.

Stay tuned for more jaw-dropping atrocities, and for more cowardly and craven U.S. diplomacy.