Mao and the Tibetan National Flag

Even Mao Zedong had heard about the existence of the Tibetan national flag. In his address to the parliamentarians at the 4th World Parliamentarians' Convention on Tibet held from 18 to 19 November 2005 in Edinburgh, His Holiness said, "Let's now come to the Tibetan national flag. I think some of the present Chinese officials when they see this flag (pointing at the Tibetan national flag) they become angry. They feel it is the sign of a splittist. When I was in China, on one occasion, Chairman Mao asked me whether we have a national flag or not. With a little hesitation, I said, 'Yes'. Then, Chairman Mao encouraged me by saying, You should keep the Tibetan national flag along with the red flag."In his biography, A Tibetan Revolutionary: The Political Life and Times of Bapa Phuntso Wangye, the founder of the Tibetan Communist Party, touches on this incident. He recounts, "Mao perceived that the Dalai Lama was concerned by his question and immediately told him, "That is no problem. You may keep your national flag."

Nepal Police detain 100 Tibetan separatists in Kathmandu after anti-China rally

Kathmandu, July 19 (ANI): Nepali Police have detained about 100 Tibetan separatists who were involved in anti-China activities in Kathmandu. The separatists were apprehended after they tried to throng the Chinese Embassy’’s visa office. In the process of doing so, they blocked a street that was already choked with heavy traffic. According to China’’s official news agency Xinhua, Nepal Police had to step in and disperse the rally, when the demonstrators shouted anti-China slogans and reiterated demands for a free and independent Tibet. During the ensuing melee, some Tibetan leaders of the rally climbed the wall of a nearby cinema, and instigated others to ignore the police’’s attempts at dissuasion. Xinhua quoted the Kathmandu Police Control Center as saying that the detainees were supposed to be released after being questioned in various police stations. The Government of Nepal has repeatedly said that Tibet is an inalienable part of China, and that it will not allow any anti-China activities on its territory.Tibetan separatists have staged frequent anti-China protests in Kathmandu since mid-March. The activities often turned ugly, leading to disruptions of city traffic and clashes with police which injured Nepali policemen. Chinese Ambassador Zheng Xianglin said last month that there were criminal acts of beating and smashing by Tibetan separatists in Kathmandu against other Tibetans who either refused to take part in anti-China activities or held different positions from the separatists.

MICHAEL STIPE - STIPE JOINS FREE TIBET CAMPAIGN

R.E.M. rocker MICHAEL STIPE and British actor JEREMY IRONS have voiced their support for Tibetan independence by appearing in a poster campaign on behalf of the Free Tibet organisation.The stars are among a host of celebrities who have taken part in the T for Tibet initiative, which features them making a 'T' sign with their hands in the photographs.And Anne Holmes, the Acting Director of Free Tibet Campaign, hopes the hand gesture will catch on ahead of the summer (08) Olympics in Beijing, China.She says, "We are confident the campaign and the T hand signal will go global quickly. Now all we need are some brave athletes who are willing to show they care about human rights by making the T sign in Beijing."Tibet lost independence to China in 1951, and Chinese authorities have come under fire in recent months over their human rights record in the region.
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/stipe%20joins%20free%20tibet%20campaign_1074916

Exiled Tibetans to go on hunger strike from July 28

July 21st, 2008 - 8:11 pm ICT by ANI - Email This PostDharamsala (Himachal Pradesh), July 21 (ANI): The Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) will go on a hunger strike from July 28 in New Delhi against the 2008 Beijing Olympics.The protest would be a part of the ”Tibetan People’’s Mass Movement” programme.Tsewang Rigzin, the president of TYC, told reporters in Dharamshala on Monday that they were demanding the “immediate end to the gruesome suppression of Tibetans inside Tibet and the unconditional release of all Tibetan political prisoners.”“We are also demanding convincing evidence to prove the well-being and the whereabouts of his holiness Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet, and to allow independent and neutral international fact finding delegation media and humanitarian organisations to assess the current situation in Tibet,” added Rigzin.China resumed fence-mending talks with envoys of Tibet’’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on July 1st in a move that could burnish its international image weeks before the Chinese capital hosts the Olympics.It is the second closed-door meeting between the representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government since rioting erupted in Tibet in March and heaped international pressure on China to deal with the Nobel laureate, who fled into exile in India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against the Chinese rule.About 134,000 Tibetans live in exile, a vast majority of them in India or Nepal. Of them less than half were born in their homeland.
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/exiled-tibetans-to-go-on-hunger-strike-from-july-28_10074257.html

TYC to launch second “Tibetan People’s Mass Movement”, vows protests during Beijing Olympics

Tibetan Youth Congress readies to launch its second phase of the Tibetan People’s Mass Movement ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and vows series of protests before and during the Games and reiterated its call on International community to “Boycott Beijing 2008 Olympics”, saying “No Olympics in China until Tibet is Independent”Dharamsala, July 21: With 2008 Summer Olympics due to begin in Beijing in less than three weeks, Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) today announced it would launch the second phase of its “Tibetan People’s Mass Movement” ahead of the Games to highlight the issue of Tibet and its people’s plight.The Tibetan youth body, which struggles for the restoration of Tibet’s independence and decisively opposes Beijing’s right to host the prestigious international sporting event because of its “appalling Human rights record” and its ongoing oppression on Tibetan people in their homeland, also vowed to stage series of protests worldwide before and during the Beijing Games.“We have consistently stood by ‘No Olympics in China until Tibet is Free’ right from the start when China was given the right to host the Games in 2001,” TYC president Mr Tsewang Rigzin said during a press conference at the organisation’s head office here.The organisation, which claims over 30,000 members worldwide, plans to first launch an “Indefinite Fast for Tibet – without Food and Water” on July 28 in New Delhi before formally launching the second phase of the “Tibetan People’s Mass Movement” on August 7, on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.“To protest against the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the continuing colonial occupation of Tibet by China, Tibetan Youth Congress will launch and “Indefinite Fast for Tibet – without Food and Water” on 28th July, 2008 at New Delhi as part of the Tibetan People’s Mass Movement”, Mr Rigzin said.The youth congress leader, however, insisted that his organisation’s activities would be based on the “principles of nonviolence and Gandhi’s tradition of ‘satyagraha’ (Insistence on Truth)”.“TYC will begin Tibetan People’s Mass Demonstration on 7 August, 2008 based on the principles of nonviolence and Gandhi’s tradition of ‘satyagraha’ (Insistence on Truth)” Mr Tsewang said, however, declining to give specific details of the number of participants and the exact venue for the entire protests. He said the details would be revealed later at an “appropriate time” for specific campaigns..“TYC will also organise many other campaigns throughout the Olympics”, Rigzin said, adding “With the start of ‘Indefinite Fast for Tibet – without Food and Water’ in New Delhi, all regional chapters of TYC will organize campaign against Beijing Olympics in their respective regions throughout the world”.According to Rigzin, TYC’s decision to carry out the second Phase of the movement before the Beijing Olympic Games was made according to the resolutions passed during the organisation’s General Body Meeting held in September 2007 at Dharamsala and the Annual Working Committee Meeting in July 2008 at Manali.TYC’s first Tibetan People’s Mass Movement against China was launched in the Indian capital, New Delhi, on August 8 last year to mark a one-year countdown to the Beijing Olympics. Over 25,000 Tibetans from India, Nepal and other countries are said to have taken part in it. The movement somehow turned out to be the single biggest protest gathering of Tibetans in exile and largest since the Tibetan uprising in Lhasa, Tibet’s capital city, in 1959.The first phase of the Movement, marked by a day-long peaceful demonstration, was disrupted, however, with the then TYC president calling on Tibetan demonstrators for its immediate end. With it an indefinite hunger strike by 14 Tibetans that began earlier on July 8 and continuing on its 33rd day was also ended.The then TYC leaders described the People's Mass Movement as an "effort to bring about a renewed vigour and vitality in the Tibetan movement” and called it a “departure from the traditional approach of appealing to the international community for support” by “putting direct pressure on the Government of People's Republic of China (PRC) by creating a situation where they have no choice but to respond” to their stated demands. The organisation’s executive members also vowed to resume the mass movement’s second phase at a later appropriate time.Reacting to China’s allegations calling TYC a Terrorist organisation engaged in violent activities, Mr Rigizn said the accusations are baseless devoid of any evidence. “In our almost 40 years of struggle for Tibet’s independence since TYC was formed in 1970, we have always adopted peaceful and non-violent strategic methods to achieve our goal,” he said.“The Chinese people deserve to host the Olympic Games but what the Tibetans and the Chinese people deserve more now is freedom; freedom of speech, of religion, of association, of equal opportunity, or electing their own government, of feeling safe in their own homes,” Mr Tsewang said of the Beijing’s right to host the games.“The day might not be far when Tibet will again be an independent nation and the Chinese people would be free from the inhuman communist regime, only then it will be the right time for Beijing to host the prestigious Olympic Games. But not now,” he said. “Not while the butchers of 1.2 million Tibetans remain in power. Not while the communist butchers of 70 million Chinese remain in power,” Tsewang added.For him Olympics are a “symbol of freedom and peace, an international event where friendship and brotherhood are celebrated” through sport. He accused the International Olympic Committee of breaching the ideals of the Olympics by honouring China with the right to host the games.Tibetan Youth Congress is the largest Tibetan non-governmental organisation outside Tibet and seeks to restore Tibet’s independence, a stand opposed to the “middle-way approach” seeking “real and meaningful autonomy” for Tibet as advocated by the exiled Tibetan Leader the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government-in-exile.