How about elections in Tibet?
following is a letter to the editor published in some newspapers in South Africa
While the international community celebrates with the Palestinians their recent elections, we should not forget that the sovereign Tibetan nation, which has been illegally occupied by the People’s Republic of China for over 50 years, is unlikely to ever experience such freedom in its own country.
There are calls for the Palestinian group Hamas to develop credibility as a stakeholder of the democratic context by renouncing its agenda of violent protest against the Israelis. Ironically, the Tibetans’ freedom struggle has no such problem: indeed, it is more than likely due to their steadfast adherence to peaceful protest that has resulted in their freedom movement largely being ignored by the world, and easily quashed under the boot of Chinese officialdom.
Will the Chinese government ever allow the Tibetan people to freely express their political wishes through the ballot-box, under observation by international election monitors or the media?
Will the world’s civil society bodies and governments ever commit as many resources as they have for the Palestinians, towards assisting the Tibetans in their pursuit of justice?
Will South Africa ever be called upon to pay reparations to the remains of the Tibetan nation, to account for its blinkered alliance with China and for willingly and knowingly trading with a country that blatantly flouts international law and human rights?
Will we ever know a time when China will be brought to book for the genocide of and ongoing atrocities against the indigenous people of Tibet?
Renato Palmi (South Africa)
January 26, 2006
