h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Students for a Free Tibet has a online movie about Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, the Tibetan buddhist leader who is facing execution. Please take a moment to have a look (it's short) and join in their campaign to save his life.

http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/downloads/tenzin_content.html

JTG

I've seen it!

It's a great piece of work. So much so that I am thinking of turning the predominant image from the piece (the styalised face of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche) into a piece of stationary for Outlook. Coupled with a short message at the bottom - a link to the site, for example, it becomes quite an effective tool for raising awareness.

I'm going to drag out Paint Shop Pro and see what I can do.

Hi Gradient,

I have the image of Tenzin Delek Rimpoche available as a jpeg. If you send me your email address, I can email it to you. Mine is:
antodob(at)oceanfree(dot)net.
Cheers,

Chaiwallah

aka Tibet Support Group Ireland

That mail is on the way, and thanks for the offer!

Students For a Free Tibet has a pdf version of the image:

http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/downloads/TDR-face.pdf

They also have stencils, stickers, and so on available for a donation of $25 (or multiples thereof):

http://store.yahoo.com/students-for-a-free-tibet/savtendel.html

JTG

I am writing to let you know that the Tibetan Youth Congress, the largest Tibetan membership organization, has begun an indefinite hunger strike outside the United Nations headquarters in New York. The three hunger strikers, Mr. Sonam Wangdu, Ms. Dolma Choephel and Mr. Gyatso have not eaten since Friday, April 2nd, and will not eat until their demands are met by the United Nations.

The three are in good spirits, but are losing weight every day. We are very concerned about their health, but they are determined to continue and so we are asking for your help in order to make sure the United Nations hears their voices and takes action for Tibet.

Please send an email to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan urging him to visit with the hunger strikers and speak out for Tibet.

Just go to: http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/hungerstrike

We will keep you updated on the situation here in New York.

Thank you for your continued support and solidarity.

Sincerely,

Lhadon Tethong
Executive Director
Students for a Free Tibet

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin will meet the Dalai Lama when He visits Canada next week, despite strong protests from the Chinese embassy, which has threatened that any sort of meeting between His Holiness and any Canadian official would harm trade realations between Canada and China. Martin will be the first Canadian Prime minister to meet with the Dalai Lama.

Hi JtG,

How did you find out about that? Where did you hear the news? That's really good, at last people are beginning to stand up to Beijing.

Cheers,

Chai

Well, I don't know about standing up to Beijing; that may be giving him too much credit. As far as I can tell he stood up to some junior mouthpiece at the Chinese Embassy, who said a lot of embarrassingly daft things about Tibet being like Quebec and the Dalai Lama being neither a political nor a religious leader, merely a splittist troublemaker.

I got a notice from Canada Tibet Committee (Quebec) last night, and Babelfish made just enough sense of the French for me to get the gist.

Today's National Post ran this lead:

'PM to defy China, meet Dalai Lama

'Will discuss "spiritual issues": Martin ignores Chinese embassy warnings that trade could be affected'

http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=8b86d29a-0b72-4ba1-ac1d-770219671c45

The straw that broke the camels back and made Prime Minister Martin a hero (of sorts) was the suggestion by the Chinese embassy that Canada and China are kindred spirits because of our own rebellious separatists in Quebec. Canadians who may not otherwise have taken much interest are fuming.

An editorial in today's Globe and Mail sums it up nicely:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040415/ELAMA15/TPComment/Editorials

The following excerpt from the China State newspaper Xinhua crows over China's performance at the current UN Human Rights Commission:


<>

Isn't it sad that China should consider such a shaming charade a "victory," when it manages to engineer a "no-action" vote to prevent its abysmal human rights record from being publicised.

Excellent article! (link in post 90)

The Chinese are shooting themselves in the foot, attempting to co-opt allies like that!

Is a regime change possible in China? How soon?

Regime change is extremely unlikely in China any time soon. At the moment China is still dancing to Jiang Zemin's tune, via Hu Jintao, who is one of Jiang's cronies. Jiang still heads the military commission, and the army is still totally committed to the Party. The only thing that is likely to change things is the economy coming unstuck, which is not impossible, given that the Chinese have to find so many millions of new jobs each year just to keep up with the population.

And while China's economy is famously growth oriented, the cost of that growth has gone up hugely in the last few years, from $2 of investment per dollar of growth, to $4 investment per dollar of growth. It is a hugely wasteful economy, taking every advantage of cheap raw materials ( eg from Tibet ) and cheap labour ( labour camps, sweat shops, virtual slave labour in most cases.) It is also environmentally disastrous: over 80% of all domestic and industrial waste is dumped, untreated, into the water supply. Desertification is increasing at amazing speed. The dunes from the north-west are now within 70 kilometres of Beijing, and approaching fast.

Meanwhile the "rationalising" of the economy demands that the old State-owned Enterprises, which still hog a huge proportion of government spending just to stay afloat, must be allowed to go bankrupt, which will displace even more people into the unemployment figures. Add to that the 250 million or so wandering "surplus agricultural labour," in other words, the landless peasants who are drifting into the rich coastal cities to find work. The 800 million or so peasants who are still working the land still do not own their land, and have little motivation to improve it.

Public welfare, especially in the countryside, is virtually non-existent. Which is why the Chinese save every penny they can. Those savings count for 40% of China's liquidity. If the peasants got a scare, and there was a rush on the banks, China would collapse overnight. The majority of bank loans ( as the banks are basically the government's way of lending itself money ) are non-performing, especially those to the SOEs.

The newly rich are rapidly becoming a hugely advantaged middle class, and the gulf between rich and poor is deepening at an astonishing rate. There is much resentment of this. Who knows what the spark will be. There could well be massive civil unrest, but not much chance of a coup while the military and Public Security Bureau are still under Party control. Xinjiang's Uighur Muslims are being brutally suppressed as "terrorists" at present. Beijing is very wary of an Islamic uprising in the area. All sorts of tensions are pulling China away from Beijing's line, which is why the Party does its best to emphasise nationalism, Han chauvinism, as a force for stability and coherence. Which is why "splittism" is the ultimate crime.

Watch that space. Interesting times. Innit?

Interesting times indeed. What happened to all those rabid Red Guards? Why are they not trying to oust the nouveau riche generals? It seems hard to reconcile the fanaticism of the Cultural Revolution with the widening gulf between the wealthy elite and the increasingly disenfranchised rural poor. A lot's happpened, granted, but it wasn't that long ago. There must be some resistance to the hijacking of the revolution.

Hello everybody and thanks so much for all this information!

Me, I dislike the idea of 'revolutions' to change things because they usually just involve the replacing of one elite with another. It's a similar thing here in South Africa. There is now a new black elite, but the average black South African isn't doing much better than under Apartheid. And there are now lots of white Noveau-Povres. But I must say, I think that things are better here than in China and we *are* moving in the right direction, though slowly. There's more goodwill between the various population groups.

Anyways I don't like the idea of any country 'going down'. In China I would basically just like it if there were more goodwill between different groups and a really fair and *workable* economic system. The way I see it, the poor in China have never really been 'enfranchised' at all.

Nor are McDonalds likely to want to sell franchises to peasant collectives.

I'm not an advocate of revolutions either, really. Anything that you have to sign up for usually involves compromises that, sooner or later, you regret having to make. The revolution in communications technology, on the other hand, seems to be something worth feeling optimistic about. It has empowered the poor (to some extent) in many parts of the world, which is probably why Beijing is so wary of it. Let's hope that its evolution outpaces the capacity of foreign investors to help China block it.

On a lighter note, community artist Asteroid Lil (U81931) has very generously offered to design a badge for us.

JTG

I agree with you JTG - the Communications Revolution is one that could turn out very useful! It's a fairly 'peaceful' revolution as well. It could be very good for the whole world.

Well, thanks to the miracle of modern communications technology I might not feel quite so lost and alone if I ever find myself lost and alone in South Africa or Ireland, at least.

JTG

You will have known from previous messages that the USA proposed a resolution at the current UN High Commission for Human Rights in Geneva, which the Chinese yet again managed to evade via a "no-action" motion. However, to focus UN and media attention on the Tibetan issue, three members of the Tibetan Youth Congress are engaged in a hunger-strike-to-death outside the UN offices at Dag Hammerskjold Plaza in New York. This fast has now reached day 18, and the three hunger strikers, named Ms.Dolma Choephel, Mr.Gyatso, and Mr.Sonam Wangdu, are beginning to deteriorate physically.

Yesterday, at last, they recieved the letter, enclosed below, from Acting High Commissioner, Mr. Bertrand Ramcharan.


While it clearly falls short of the demands of the hunger strikers, this statement from the High Commissioner indicates a level of institutional support for Tibet that has rarely been seen before.



Best wishes,



Anthony OBrien

___________________________________________________________________________



United Nations

High Commissioner for Human Rights



April 13, 2004



Mr. Kalsang Phuntsok

on behalf of the

Tibetan Youth Congress Hunger Strikers



Dear Friends,



My colleagues in New York and Geneva have briefed me on your concerns and on the hunger strike currently underway.



Let me say, at the outset, that I am deeply moved by the sentiments and conviction that would lead human beings to undertake such a hunger strike. It is my sincere hope that the considerations set out below will meet with the satisfaction of the strikers and allow the conclusion of the hunger strike.



As you may be aware, the late High Commissioner, Sergio Vieira de Mello, addressed the cases of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche and Lobsang Dhondup in a letter to the authorities.



As such, I am pleased to report that your concerns are being given the highest level of attention by the United Nations Human Rights mechanisms. Indeed, these issues have received the dedicated attention of the 1503 procedure and, in 2003 alone, 8,226 communications signed by more than 15,000 individuals concerning the situation in Tibet were processed under this procedure (which was established to allow the Commission on Human Rights to examine consistent patterns of gross violations of human rights). These communications concerned the Panchen Lama, the death sentence of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche and the situation of other prisoners. In fact, your cause has garnered the widespread support of individuals and organizations throughout the world who have not ceased to draw these issues to the attention of OHCHR.



I also wish to assure you that the case of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche and Lobsang Dhondup is being addressed by the special rapporteurs of the Commission on Human Rights. In particular, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions sent a letter to the Government of China on 9 December 2002, expressing concern at the death sentence passed on Deleg Rinpoche and Lobsang Dhondup; this is reflected in the Special Rapporteur's report to the current session of the Commission on Human Rights in 2003 (E/CN.4/2004/3, paragraph 64), the Special Rapporteur emphasized her concern vis-à-vis this case, highlighting especially the circumstances of the trial.



Similarly, the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of religion or belief raised the case of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche and Lobsang Dhondup with the Chinese authorities (document E/CN.4/2003/66, paragraphs 19 and 20). In his 2003 report to the General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur reiterated his concern on this case (document A/58/296, paragraph 33).



Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers sent an urgent appeal to the Government of China on 9 January 2003 with respect to issues regarding Mr. Rinpoche's right to choose his counsel. In addition, a number of special procedures (namely the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of religion or belief, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention) have also raised with the Chinese authorities the case of the Panchen Lama as has the Committee on the Rights of the Child.



I would also like to inform you that the Special Rapporteur on Torture will undertake a mission to China at the end of next month and I will bring this matter to his attention for his consideration in connection with that mission.



Given these developments and assurances it is very much my hope that the hunger strikers will take heart that their cause is receiving the attention it duly deserves and that the strike might now be terminated. I would also like to assure you that we will remain seized of the matter and would welcome any further information or communications regarding developments in these cases that you may wish to bring to our attention.



Today, as Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, I wish to give you my assurances that I will exercise my good offices in encouraging the relevant United Nations human rights mechanisms, as described above, to once again follow up as appropriate.



Please accept the assurances of my highest consideration.



Bertrand Ramcharan

Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights

Is the hunger strike over now?