Brussels – 14 May 2007 – A huge Banner saying “Bring Tibet to the 2008 Games Support Team Tibet.org” was unfurled by members of Tibet groups from the International Tibet Support Network in Bruxelles today. The network announced the formation of a Tibetan Team for the 2008 Olympics and called for the support of the world to give Tibet a strong presence in Beijing.
Initial members of Team Tibet are from the exiled Tibetan National Sports Association, based in Dharamsala, India. Other Tibetan athletes will join Team Tibet in the coming weeks, and Tibet Groups intend to apply to the International Olympic Committee for permission to allow the team to compete in Beijing in 2008.
At the colorful launch event on Place de la Monnaie in Bruxelles, held in conjunction with the 5th International Tibet Support Group Conference, Lhadon Tethong, spokesperson of the ITSN Tibet Olympics Campaign and Director of Students for a Free Tibet said, “Tibet has been illegally occupied by China for nearly 60 years and so a team from Tibet is not currently allowed to take part in the Beijing Olympics. We want to bring Tibet to the 2008 Games; the members of Team Tibet want to fly the Tibetan flag and march alongside other young athletes into Beijing’s Olympic Stadium next August.”
Other activities of the Tibet Olympics Campaign will include a wide range of public awareness measures that will be carried out under the slogan “Bring Tibet to the 2008 Games”.
“China will try and use Tibet and Tibetan culture to portray the image of a united China during the Beijing 2008 Games”, said Freya Putt who was recently appointed the international coordinator of the campaign. Members of the International Tibet Support Network feel a strong moral obligation to inform the public about the real situation in Tibet and to expose China’s Olympics propaganda plan.
See: for more information www.supportteamtibet.org
Contact:
Chungdak Koren: +47 950204443
Lhadon Tethong: +1 9174184181
