[+/-] : No Torch Through Tibet, say NYC Tibetans

No Torch Through Tibet, say NYC Tibetans

New York, June 17, 2008 - As Beijing postponed its Tibet leg of the Olympic torch relay, the Tibetans went ahead with their protest against the Olympic torch here today. Organized by Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Students for a Free Tibet, Regional Tibetan Women’s Association, New York and New Jersey Tibetan Community and US Tibet Committee, the event marked the 100th day of China’s crackdown in Tibet following March 14th protests in Lhasa and daily protest by Tibetans in New York.


Tibetans and supporters from New York, New Jersey, Boston, and Philadelphia gathered this morning at the Chinese Consulate with Tibetan national flags, banners, placards and leaflets to condemn the Chinese government’s decision to pass the Olympic torch through Tibet. The Tibetans say that the Chinese government is deliberately putting Tibet in the torch route to reaffirm its domination over Tibet by attributing its claim over Tibet to the passage of the torch through Lhasa. The Tibetans also fear that the China would not hesitate to resort to violent crackdown in the event of Tibetans in Tibet protesting the torch relay. Tsering Palden, the president of the RTYC, NY&NJ, told phayul that the 5 organization strongly condemn the Chinese government’s repressive policies in Tibet and that the organizations stand in complete solidarity with the Tibetan people inside Tibet which is locked down since the March crackdown. “We seek the International Olympic Committee’s intervention to remove Tibet from China’s route for the bloody torch relay, “said Palden.


Youngsters dramatizing Tibet leg of the Olympic torch relay as protesters watch, 06/17/08
The organizers said they are gravely concerned about the situation inside Tibet as reports of arrests and killings continue to reach the outside world particularly as China keeps the international media at bay. A banner that read ‘China! Allow Free Media into Tibet’, made rounds in the sky opposite the Chinese Consulate as the Tibetans shouted slogans below.

After an event that featured speeches by the organizers, a political skit by volunteers of Students for a Free Tibet, and slogan raising, the Tibetans walked from the Chinese Consulate to the UN Plaza where another gathering was held. The Tibetans raised slogans against China’s killing of Tibetan protesters in Tibet in the last three months and condemned the Tibet leg of the torch relay due this Saturday. A group of Tibetan youngsters performed a skit depicting Chinese repression in Tibet. The skit arranged by Regional Tibetan Youth Congress dramatized events related to the Olympic torch relay in Tibet and consequent clampdown by Chinese security forces. The event concluded with a march to the Chinese mission where the Tibetans continued to protest vehemently.


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[+/-] : Olympic torch relay cut to one day in Tibet

Olympic torch relay cut to one day in Tibet

China has scrapped its original plans for a three-day Olympic torch relay tour of Tibet and will send the flame there just for one day this weekend, a Beijing Olympic official said Wednesday.


Zhu Jing, a spokeswoman at the Beijing Games organising committee, said the decision to cut short the relay and run it through the Tibetan capital Lhasa on Saturday was taken following last month's earthquake in Sichuan province.

"Following the earthquake on May 12, BOCOG has announced adjustments to the domestic legs of the torch relay," Zhu said.

"The Tibet leg of the relay will be on June 21, with the relay taking place in Lhasa."

The torch was originally scheduled to tour Tibet for three days from June 19 to 21 as part of its long international journey to the Games being hosted by the Chinese capital in August.

The torch is currently travelling through Xinjiang, a largely Muslim region in China's northwest, on a three-day, four-city tour scheduled to end Thursday.

The stops in Xinjiang and the Tibetan regions of China are regarded as the most sensitive of the domestic relay route, which runs for thousands of miles (kilometres) over three months through every part of the country.

China accuses Muslim separatists in Xinjiang of plotting terrorist attacks on the Games and stepped up security in the region ahead of the relay.

Tibetans are also accused of targeting the Olympics, following a crackdown on anti-Chinese government unrest in Lhasa in March in which exiled Tibetan leaders say 203 people died.

China has reported killing one Tibetan "insurgent" and says "rioters" were responsible for 21 deaths.

Despite the unrest China stuck with its original plan to take the torch relay to the top of Mount Everest on May 8 using a separate flame from the one used on the relay route through the rest of the country.

The ascent took place under tight security and triggered protests from exiled Tibetan groups who said it was a provocation and politicised the torch relay.

China's rule over Tibet was a major rallying cry for protesters who dogged the torch's month-long global journey in April before it came here.

Pro-Tibet activists have argued that the leg in Lhasa should be cancelled due to the unrest.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Chinese authorities were using the relay as a propaganda tool and had been carrying out arbitrary arrests to prevent protests during the relay.

"It is irresponsible for the Chinese government to deliberately send a torch into a powder keg, and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and Olympic sponsors should ask Beijing to cancel this part of the relay," the group said in a statement.

BOCOG said that 50 journalists from 31 news organisations would be allowed to cover the relay in Lhasa, which has been off limits to foreign reporters and tourists since the crackdown on unrest there three months ago.

"We will make proper arrangements for media coverage of the relay in Lhasa," said Zhu.

She declined to say whether scrapping the original three-day torch leg was connected to security fears in the Himalayan region following the unrest.

"The adjustment to the Tibet leg of the torch relay is because of the earthquake, which has caused us to make several changes to the original route," said Zhu.

According to the original torch relay schedule, the Tibetan leg was to be followed by a trip to neighbouring Qinghai and then Gansu province, which both have ethnic Tibetan communities.

Zhu said the future route had yet to be officially announced. Torch relay organisers in the Qinghai capital of Xining told AFP that they had no information and calls to the torch relay office in Gansu's capital Lanzhou went unanswered.
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