August 8, Sydney – The Tibetan community of NSW, Tibetan support groups and supporters of Tibet, came out in force to protest at the gates of the Chinese Consulate in Sydney, as a show of support for the Tibetan hunger strikers, those fourteen Tibetans prepared to give their lives to draw world attention to the demands of the Tibetan people.
After a speech to honour the Tibetan hunger strkers in India, the crowd observed five minutes silence as a sign of respect for the hunger strikers, and in remembrance of the thousands of Tibetans who sacrificed their lives for the Tibetan cause.
After a strong and passionate voice from all attendees calling for a “Free Tibet”, “Release the Panchen Lama”, “Stop the Killing”, and “Stop the Olympics”, many of the crowd were moved to tears while shouting to convey their message to the Chinese leadership.
A copy of a letter sent to Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer (see below) was taken to the Consulate gates for hand delivery to the Chinese Consulate, but they refused to accept it. Security guards kept the driveway clear and the crowd was kept at a distance from the Consulate entrance.
The vigil concluded with a prayer for the truth “Dhentsik Monlam” and the Tibetan National Anthem.
The hunger strikers are seeking urgent answers to the Tibetan demands from the Chinese leadership:
- To produce concrete evidence that Gendun Choekyi Nyima, XIth Panchen Lama, is alive
- To produce convincing evidence that the judicial proceedings of Tulku Tenzin Delek and other current Tibetan political prisoners have taken place in a fair manner.
- To produce concrete evidence that the human rights of Tibetans are respected in Tibet.
- To produce evidence that the railway lines in Tibet benefits Tibetans economically.
- International Olympic Committee (IOC) to produce conclusive evidence that the human rights situation inside Tibet is acceptable
The following letter was sent by the Tibetan Community of NSW to the Hon Alexander Downer.
6 August 2007
The Hon. Alexander Downer, MP
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
Ministerial Office
Parliament House
Canberra
AUSTRALIA
Dear Honorable Minister Downer
I am writing to you in support of the Tibetan Youth hunger strikers in India. The Tibetan Community of NSW is very concerned about the well being of these dedicated Tibetans.
Deeply concerned and frustrated over the continued sufferings of the Tibetan people and human rights violations in Tibet, fourteen Tibetans from the Tibetan Youth Congress have been on indefinite hunger strike in Delhi, the capital city of India, since 8 July 2007.
The internationally documented and acknowledged Tibetan crisis under the PRC has not been resolved to date and so far there has been no program implemented by international leaders or human rights organizations to protect the Tibetans from potential cultural annihilation.
By claiming that the regional official language of Tibet is Mandarin, the PRC have successfully reduced the potential of Tibetan speaking Tibetans from being employed into positions of any prestige or power within Tibet. This leaves the majority of the Tibetan population financially disadvantaged therefore unrepresented in many of the politically powerful and financial growth areas.
Tibet is a human rights issue as well as a civil and political issue. Tibet has a precious culture based on principles of wisdom, compassion and a sense of interconnectedness, which is what the world lacks today. We need to protect it for the Tibetan people, but also for the rest of the world and our children.
The environmental destruction being wreaked across Tibet has far reaching global consequences. The deforestation around the Tibetan headwaters of the major river systems of Asia impacts on almost half of the world population. The resultant flooding downstream will cause untold suffering and cost many lives. Still nothing is being done to address this problem in order to protect this fragile and crucial area of our global environment.
The criminal killing of innocent Tibetans at Nangpa La pass in September 2006, carried out by the Chinese military as recorded on video, was emphatically denied by the Chinese, until irrefutable proof was made public. The international enquiry into this incident to date has provided no satisfactory explanation, and the matter appears to have been permitted to pass largely unquestioned by the international community. This issue speaks for itself about the hideous human rights situation inside Tibet, and why a growing number of Tibetans risk their lives trying to escape from Tibet.
These fourteen hunger strikers are sacrificing their precious lives in order to raise awareness and press the following demands on world leaders on behalf of the Tibetan people.
We would like to ask the Australian Government to put pressure on China to look into the following demands per the impassioned request of the fourteen Tibetan hunger strikers in India.
- Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, has been missing since 1995. The Chinese authorities have repeatedly stated publicly that he is alive. The Tibetan people demand concrete evidence that Gendun Choekyi Nyima, XIth Panchen Lama, is indeed alive.
- In 2005, Tulku Tenzin Delek was sentenced to life imprisonment on alleged charges of “endangering national security”. This appears to be the term used by the PRC for those who choose to publicly discuss their personal sorrow regarding the lack of human rights afforded to their fellow Tibetans under a repressive regime. Many other Tibetans have been imprisoned after allegedly engaging in political activity. The Chinese authorities have claimed that these people were sentenced by fair judicial process. The Tibetan people demand that the PRC produce convincing evidence that the judicial proceedings of Tulku Tenzin Delek and other current political prisoners have taken place in a fair manner.
- The issue of marginalisation of native Tibetans within Tibet, exploitation of natural resources, destruction of the environment, and near eradication of Tibetan culture is worthy of world interest. The PRC Government maintains the position that Tibetans enjoy human rights in Tibet, despite many reports of human rights violations, including freedom of religion. The Tibetan people demand that the PRC produce concrete evidence that the human rights of Tibetans are respected in Tibet.
- China’s new railway into Lhasa has resulted in a massive population influx of Han Chinese into Tibet, thus outnumbering the indigenous population and overwhelming them with a foreign Chinese culture. China’s stated rationale for this railway is to bring economic prosperity to the Tibetan people. The Tibetan people therefore demand that the PRC produce reliable evidence that the railway benefits the indigenous Tibetan community.
- The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has expressed their aim to improve the human rights situation inside Tibet and China by giving Beijing an opportunity to host the Olympics. The Tibetan people therefore demand that the IOC produce conclusive evidence that the human rights situation inside Tibet has been improved to world standards, per the Chinese commitment when awarded the games, and that the human rights situation inside Tibet is acceptable according to the Bill of Human Rights.
Yours sincerely
Jigme Dorjee
PRESIDENT
Australian Tibetan Community (NSW) Inc
cc
Mr Javier Valladares
Chairperson, International Olympic Committee
Ambassador Fu Ying
Chinese Consulate
Consul General Qiu Shaofang
Chinese Consulate
