Chi WOW WOW Blog

I try to keep my posts light-hearted and fun but I can not ignore what has been going on in Tibet.

The Olympics, a symbol of unity and sportsmanship, was chosen to be hosted by a country who’s government commits crimes against people and ignores human rights. The Chinese government has gone to great lengths to prevent foreign journalists from reporting at protest scenes and has also blocked access in China to the Web site YouTube.com, where several videos of the violence are posted. Steroid use among atheletes seems to elicit more of a shocking response than the I.O.C.’s choice of venues to host the games. Now we are facing issues of boycotts from many countries. Didn’t it occur to anyone in the decision making process that this was a potential danger?

Chinese propaganda blames the Dalai Lama for engineering rioting in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet and surrounding territories. China made its unhappiness clear over U.S. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi meeting the Dalai Lama and her statements on Tibet and warned against any meddling in its “internal affairs” by “any country, organization and person”.Pelosi described the situation in Tibet as a challenge to the “conscience of the world” and asked all freedom loving people to speak out against China’s “oppression”.

While visiting numerous Web sites detailing news on protests in China, I came across the story of Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, the 6 year-old boy, identified by the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama, and his dissappearance in May 1995. Suspicions that he had been kidnapped were confirmed in May 1996, when the Chinese leadership admitted to holding him and his family in “protective custody”. After repeated attempts to gain access to the boy, no international agencies or human rights organizations, including the U.N., has been allowed to vist Gendhun Choekyi Nyima or his family, and their condition remains uncertain. He would now be 18 years old.

The U.N., E.U., A.S.E.A.N. and other international organizations, as well as individual countries need to put pressure on the Chinese authorities to allow foreign media, as well as international fact-finding missions, into Tibet and adjoining provinces in order to enable objective investigations of what has been happening. Release all those who only peacefully exercised their internationally guaranteed human rights, and guarantee that no one is subjected to torture and unfair trials, and enter into a meaningful dialogue with the representatives of the Tibetan people.

Lastly, The International Olympic Community should reconsider whether China deserves to hold the games in their country based on their treatment of their own people, Tibetans and their intent on controlling the media and what the rest of the world may learn about injustices to peace loving people.

Please click here to sign the AVAAZ.org petition that will try to help move China towards negotiations with Tibet.

Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means “voice” in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.