Tibetan monk writes to Ken demanding strong public statement on China’s occupation of Tibet
London: Free Tibet Campaign (FTC) and Tibet supporters will protest tomorrow outside a key note reception given by London’s Mayor, Ken Livingstone, for senior Chinese officials.
The protests follow a letter to the Mayor in which Tibetan monk and human rights defender, Dewatsang Sangye demanded the Mayor end his public silence on Tibet by making a strong and public condemnation of China’s brutal occupation of Tibet.
Continued public silence and self-censorship with regard to China’s appalling human rights record only emboldens the Chinese Government to continue its human rights abuses in Tibet and elsewhere. To date, there has been no response from the Mayor.
Matt Whitticase of Free Tibet Campaign said: “Last year Ken cosied up to China’s dictators by attempting to play down the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989. The Mayor must abandon his politically expedient policy of brushing human rights under the carpet and only talking trade with China’s leaders. Instead, he should address China’s appalling human rights record in Tibet and China. A good place to start would be by telling the Chinese Ambassador tomorrow that President Hu Jin Tao must meet the Dalai Lama to negotiate an end to China’s 57 year occupation of Tibet.”
