This evening the 5th Norwich Tibet Week was formally opened with a letter of encouragement and thanks by Mrs Kesang Takla, His Holiness, The Dalai Lama’s Representative for Northern Europe, based out of Office of Tibet, London.
Tsering Tashi, (Secretary, Office of Tibet, London) and Alison Reynolds of the UK’s Free Tibet Campaign addressed a diverse audience from East Anglia on: Tibet – Past, Present and Future. Tsering Tashi outlined the changing fate of Tibet since Communist China’s invasion of the country under the pretext of “liberation” in 1949. He said that former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher in her book “Statecraft – Strategies for a changing world” not only stated that “The Chinese claim to Tibet is dubious on historical grounds” but also that “It is not just that the Chinese have convinced themselves that Tibet is part of historic China. Equally important is the fact that it is one of the principal locations of their nuclear weapons and missile arsenal.”
The regime under which Tibetans live mean that according to Tsering Tashi, “Even to this day Tibetans continue to escape from Tibet mainly through Nepal to avoid persecution at the hands of the Chinese authorities.” An estimated 1.2 million Tibetans have died as a direct result of China’s occupation either through mass starvation, execution or torture. Despite this desperate abuse of basic human rights Tibetan people both in and outside Tibet, under the leadership of his Holiness the Dalai Lama, have strived not only to keep alive their rich culture but also to promote the non violent Tibetan freedom struggle.
However, Tsering Tashi was most moving when he recounted his childhood in exile the the importance of those who were well wishers and generous supporters of Tibet . He also told a spellbound audience of the change in the attitude of many Chinese since the Tiananmen Square tragedy in 1989, saying that “(another) Chinese scholar told me over a farewell dinner (in the United States) that when he returns to China he would share his knowledge about Tibet with his family, friends and that this way Chinese ignorance about Tibet would be removed.”
Free Tibet Campaign’s Director, Alison Reynolds, described Tibet as “the Achilles Heal for China”, because each time that China embarks on international negotiations there is a pressure to bring her to the negotiating table with the exiled (Tibetan) leadership. Indeed, Ms Reynolds went on to say, since 2002 envoys of His Holiness The Dalai Lama have visited Beijing twice with a further visit likely in the next few months.
International pressure groups have, according to Alison Reynolds, been key in securing the release of many Tibetan prisoners of conscience, notably the nun Ngawang Sandrol who was released from the notorious Drapchi Prison. Letters and postcards to the Chinese Government mean that prisoners don’t “disappear” and campaigns by international Tibet support organisations like Free Tibet do make a real difference in the decision by Chinese authorities to release prisoners. Just such a campaign is under way to keep the eminent Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche in the public eye, he is currently held in Chuangdong Prison, Sichuan, under explosives charges based on a confession from Lobsang Dhondup, later retracted, when Dhondup stated he had been tortured. (An allegation which was never investigated. Lobsang Dhondup was subsequently executed in 2003.) Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche maintains his innocence but is being held with an impending death sentence which expires in December this year. Free Tibet is fighting to keep this case in the public eye and urge the Chinese authorities to allow a new and open trial.
The Beijing Olympics, Alison Reynolds continued, would give China the opportunity to show to the world it ability to resolve conflict; one of three elements of the Olympic Truce., “China has embrace this (Olympic Truce) what better way (for China to show her commitment) than for China to pursue dialogue with His Holiness.” She went on to say “It is only international pressure which ensures changes within China, this is not coming from the IOC (International Olympic Committee), so it must come from governments and the pressure on governments comes from organisations like Free Tibet Campaign.”
