Dharamsala, September 23 – Tibet activists from the Students for Free Tibet projected live twitter messages to Wen Jiabao on the facade of the Waldorf-Astoria, where the Chinese Premier is staying during the UN General Assembly in New York. People from several countries including Tibet, China, UK, US, India, France, New Zealand, and Brazil sent messages to Wen Jiabao via twitter to @wjbny, while a live feed of the messages were projected onto the Waldorf and other buildings in the area.
“The Tibetan people’s voice is not heard by China’s leaders, and this is our way of amplifying their voice so that even the deaf leaders in Beijing might hear it,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet,. Tenzin said his organization’s action is in contrast with the recently introduced Direct Line to Zhongnanhai, a message board created by Chinese Communist Party’s mouth piece the People’s Daily inviting ordinary Chinese to submit comments to the government but forbidding 26 types of comments. “This is the real, uncensored Direct Line to Zhongnanhai,” said Tenzin.
One of the messages from an anonymous person in Tibet touched on China’s recent wave of arrests of Tibetan intellectuals and artists: “What we say about China’s disastrous Tibet policies and the suffering of our people routinely get ignored. Since 2008, they started targeting Tibetan intellectuals. So when Premier Wen in in the US, I urge you and all Tibet supporters to tell him to improve the situation in Tibet. If this repression continues, the people will be driven to repeat another uprising like 2008.”
Tibetans who communicate by phone or email about the situation in Tibet face arrest and harsh prison sentences, said Tenzin. “In spite of these draconian measures, there has been a resurgence in expressions of Tibetan identity across Tibet, especially by the younger generation who are composing songs and publishing poetry and literature calling for freedom, human rights, and the return of their leader, the Dalai Lama.”
“Premier Wen is China’s top spin doctor when it comes to presenting a kinder, gentler, face of the Chinese regime, but no amount of spin can hide the true reality of China’s brutal occupation in Tibet,” said Tenzin Dolkar, USA Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “Tibetans are taking great risks to vocalize their aspirations for human rights and freedom, and we urge President Obama and other world leaders to hear their calls and press Premier Wen this week to push for a just and lasting resolution for the Tibetan people.”
Some of the tweets that came in through this feed were serious while others were humorous. “WEN will you be the Chinese Gorbachev and free China, Tibet and other occupied countries?” wrote Tenzin Tsundue, a leading Tibetan independence activist based in India.
“WENever I see your face, I am reminded of the Freedom that Tibetans in Tibet are deprived of. Wen will you Free Tibet?” wrote Sangay Taythi of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress of Minnesota.
One of the more light-hearted tweets came from Chand Nkari of New York, “Good night WenJiabao. Hope all those skeletons in your closet give you nightmares. Sweet Dreams!”
The projection action, that started on Wednesday evening and ran into Thursday morning, followed a full day of rallies and vigil organized by the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Students for a Free Tibet, and US Tibet Committee to protest the Chinese Premier’s visit to New York.
