Dharamsala, October 9 – As journalists from various countries gathered in Beijing yesterday for a three-day World Media Summit the Association of Tibetan Journalists (ATJ)based here appealed the participants of the summit to be “mindful of the lies and propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party.”
The group, comprised of reporters and editors of various Tibetan news media, urged the participants to raise the issue of media censorship and violation of freedom of speech and expression in China and Tibet at the summit organised by the state run Xinhua news agency.
In its statement issued yesterday, the ATJ said the summit is a guise to “influence the international media opinion on China, which has always undermined the freedom of expression by crushing the voices that came in its way to authoritarianism and rule of tyranny.”
Tashi Wangchuk, President of ATJ, reiterated his hope that the Tibetan journalists in exile should be allowed to visit Tibet for an independent investigation of the situation there. “If China is true to its words and claims of stability and prosperity in Tibet, it should let us visit Tibet and witness the situation in Tibet for ourselves.”
The association made references to Passang Norbu, a 19 year old Tibetan youth arrested on August 12 this year for watching prohibited Internet contents and Paljor Norbu, 81 year old Tibetan sentenced in October last year to seven years in prison for allegedly printing the banned Tibetan national flag at his printing press.
“The true face of China’s tolerance to freedom of expression was flashed across television screens last year when monks of Lhasa’s Jokhang openly spoke against the Chinese government and expressed their loyalty to the exile Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama before a visiting group of international journalists in a state monitored tour,” the statement said.
The Chinese government, ATJ says, impose strict restrictions on internet, telephone and cellular networks making it difficult to verify reports of arrests and torture. “This is exactly the reason why there is a considerable time-lapse in the information we receive and the actual time of the incident.
