SFTUKNEWSISSUE 1 Autumn 2010 www.sftuk.org

Students for a Free Tibet UK, Unit 10, Inner City House, 165-169 Lewisham Way, London SE14 6PQ

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SFTUK news

Contents

The SFTUK board

Left to right: Jigdal, Pema, Luke, Padma, Alex, Liam, Sum-Lung, Ben, Gabriel

News

Get active!

Feature

Campaigns

Regulars

-Natural disasters-Shanghai Expo-More news

-Momo contest-Tattoos for Tibet-More stories

-Bhod RangzenThe case forindependence

-The Third Pole-Environmentalactivists jailed

-Support SFTUK-Digital media-Prisoner profile-Notice board

3-5

6-7

8-9

10-11

12-15

Welcome to the first issue of Students for a Free Tibet UK’s magazine,bringing you the latest on what’s happening in Tibet and how both youand SFTUK can make a difference.

Students for a Free Tibet UK works in solidarity with the Tibetan people intheir struggle for freedom and independence. The SFTUK network is partof the international SFT movement of young people and activists.

Through education, grassrootsorganising and non-violent direct action,we campaign for Tibetans’ fundamentalright to political freedom. Our role is toempower and train youth as leaders inthe worldwide movement for socialjustice.

SFT gained media prominence in2008 with a series of high profile direct

actions, starting with a banner-hang on the Great wall of China ayear before the Olympics in Beijing and ending at the Games itself.SFTUK members were a part of the Olympics actions from the beginningand played a key role to ensure that China failed to convince the worldthat it has become a developed nation when it comes to human rights.

Since the Olympics, SFTUK has continued to buildsupport for the Tibetan people as Tibetans in Tibethave continued to stand up against the Chineseoccupation and demand that their rights be respected.

In this magazine you will find news on what’s beenhappening in Tibet and here in the UK recently andlearn how you can take part and help SFTUK tostand in solidarity with the Tibetan people. Pleasepass this magazine on to other potential supporters.

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After the disastersTibet has been hit by two major natural disasters this year. On 14th April, a 7.1 magnitude earthquakehit the mainly Tibetan area of Jyekundo (Yushu), leaving 2,698 dead and some 12,000 injured. Manymore lost their homes, and since the quake, local Tibetans have reported that they fear Chinesegovernment reconstruction plans may end up sidelining Tibetans by placing them in cheaper areas ofthe main town. This controversy comes after reports that Chinese rescue workers prevented hundredsof monks from helping search the rubble for residents and that where monks were allowed to search,state relief workers would only emerge when survivors were found, shoving the monks aside so thatthey could haul survivors to safety with TV cameras rolling.The second disaster was the landslides which hit Drugchu on 7th August where around 1,400, bothTibetan and Chinese people, were killed. Tibetan poet Adong Paldothar commented ‘water thundereddown from the skies, mud furiously attacked the ground. At this moment, life was as insignificant as ablade of grass... Happiness and sadness ceased to exist, everything went silent’.

Clockwise from top: Women mourn the dead in Drugchu, a girl is left homeless in Jiegu, a portrait of the DalaiLama is placed on top of rubble, locals search wreckage in Jiegu, rescue workers hold back monks, a monkrescues a survivor. Background picture: a woman and child stand amid the ruins.

There have been suggestions that deforestation in thearea greatly increased the carnage caused by thedisaster, highlighting the dangers of damagingindustrial projects to Tibet’s environment.

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‘HeavenlyTibet’...

...or Hellon Earth?

The harsh realities of life in Tibet- Armed police patrolling the streets day and night and snipers on rooftops- Writers, artists and singers tortured and jailed, sometimes for life, for talking about freedom- Customers at internet cafes having to register with IDs so that what they read is monitored- Nomads thrown off the land into tenement housing where they cannot support themselves- Monks and nuns forced to denounce the Dalai Lama or be expelled from monasteries- Students prevented from learning in their own language in schools, making success difficult- Widespread discrimination; Tibetans paid less than Chinese workers for the same jobs

- Tibetans jailed for years for owning Tibetan flags or pictures of the Dalai Lama- Tibet’s land, considered by Tibetans to be sacred, plundered for minerals- Mass Chinese migration making Tibetans a minority in their own country-

Leave,Changchun

Li Changchun with somelike-minded leaders

One of the key exhibits at theExpo is the Tibet pavilion,where hordes of elaboratelycostumed ‘nomads’ dance withjoy at the economic ‘benefits’of the Chinese occupation; part ofChina’s cartoony depiction of whatit calls ‘Heavenly Tibet’. Meanwhile,in the real world. Tibetans arestill being arrested, tortured andkilled simply for expressing pride intheir culture while China continuesto plunder Tibet’s natural resources.

While the Expo has been takingplace, China has intensified itscrackdown on Tibetan culturalfigures. The singer Tashi Dhondupwas given a two and a half yearprison term for singing aboutfreedom, businessman Dorje Tashiwas jailed for life in a secret trial;the charges against him unknownwhile writer Shogdung was bailedawaiting trial for criticising thegovernment’s corruption overYushu earthquake donations.

The Expo touts a fairytale view ofTibet but the reality is very different.The Dalai Lama recently called thesituation in Tibet ‘Hell on Earth’.

In 2008, the Chinese governmenthijacked the Olympic Games as apropaganda vehicle, using it toconvince the world that China hasbecome a modern nation withmodern ideals and principles.Thanks to activists, journalists andsupporters of human rights acrossthe world, that attempt failed.

This year, the Chinese government isstaging the Shanghai Expo; a newattempt to sell the idea that China isa progressive country whichcelebrates diverse cultures andnational identities. But like thepropaganda which underpinnedChina’s Olympic rhetoric, the smilingfaces and colourful exhibits at the

Expo mask the far moregruesome faceof life underChinesegovernmentcontrol.

One of the architectsof China’s propagandamachine, politburomember Li Changchun,has been traveling inEurope, includingIreland.

The controller of statebroadcaster CCTV, Lihas been responsiblefor the deliberatemis-education ofmillions of Chinesepeople and hisattempts to export hispropaganda arestrongly opposed.

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Nepal repatriates Tibetans

Hague standsup for Tibet

‘Subversive’ videosurfaces

A Tweeter in monk’s clothing

The United Nations has said it is “extremely concerned” that the Nepalese governmenthas handed three Tibetan refugees back to the Chinese authorities. Two young monksnamed Dawa (20) and Dorjee (21) and a woman named Penpa (22) were escortedback across the border by helicopter, where Penpa and one of the monks were immediatelyjailed. They are thought to be serving six month sentences and, given the fact that torture isprevalent in Chinese jails in Tibet, there are serious concerns for their safety. The other monkhas been allowed to return to Korchak monastery.

Nepal has had an agreement with the UN since 1989, when it agreed to allow Tibetan refugees safepassage to India, where they could claim full refugee status. In another move, Nepali police removedballot boxes being used by exiles to vote in preliminary Tibetan government elections in October (bottompicture). The Chinese state continues to pressure Nepal to repress Tibetan exiles’ political activities,leading to Tibetans being denied their democratic rights as well as putting fleeing Tibetans at risk.

British Foreign Secretary WilliamHague made some encouraging commentsduring a public statement in Beijing in July. MrHague said that he has “long standing human rightsconcerns” and would like to see “greater autonomy”for Tibet.

The statement may indicate a more open approachto Britain’s relationship with China after the previousgovernment was wary of speaking publicly onhuman rights issues. Meanwhile, the Obamaadministration in the US has also been vocal aboutfreedom of speech in China, criticising Beijing’scensorship of the internet. If the UK’s coalitiongovernment intends to be firm on human rights inChina and Tibet, it is more important than ever thatTibet supporters make their voices heard.

What does it take to be sentenced to eightyears imprisonment in Tibet? People can nowsee for themselves as a video of nomadRunggye Adak’s speech at the Lithang horsefestival in 2007 has emerged.

In the speech, Adak speaks of the situation inTibet, saying "although we are free to moveour bodies, we cannot express what is in ourhearts". He also called for religious freedomand the release of the PanchenLama. His son JamyangLobsang, now in exile, said"What [my father] said is trueand represents the wishesand aspirations of Tibetansinside Tibet."

The Dalai Lama has taken the unprecedented move of using Twitter to sidestepChinese government controls, answer questions from a Chinese audience anddispel some of the myths spread about him by official state media.

Chinese writer Wang Lixiong hosted the event where the Dalai Lama remainedpositive about change in Tibet. Answering a question about sovereignty, the DalaiLama said: “I feel confident that changes in [China’s] nationalities policy will come,and in particular that the Tibet problem can be solved on the basis of mutualinterest. Some retired officials... as well as some Chinese intellectualshave begun to point out irrationalities in minority policy and the needfor a re-thinking of nationalities policy.”You can follow SFTUK on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/sftuk

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Momo mo-fos

Top: SFTUK had an army ofdedicated volunteers on

hand to make amountain of momos.

Above: Tenzin takes a bowafter munching through anepic 40 momos to claim

the title.

Left: The contest infull swing

The chili sauce was flowing at the Junction Room in Dalston this August as thefirst ever SFTUK momo eating contest took place.

Tibetans and supporters dug into plate after plate of the tasty Tibetandumplings as they struggled to see who could eat the most momos in thefifteen minute time limit and emerge as momo eating champion of the world (orof the UK at least). After a jaw-aching, stomach-cramming odyssey of momomunching, Tenzin stood victorious, having consumed a mammoth 40 momoswhile much-hyped favourite Pema Yoko (who even had special placards forthe occasion) was beaten by the sheer volume of steamed dough which filledplate after endless plate.

Strangely, calls for a tsampa and yak butter tea competition have been silent...

Thanks to everyone who took part and to thosewiser people who chose to watch butsponsored the participants. Everybody had afun night and raised money for SFTUK at thesame time. The evening was capped off by theRan$om Note DJs and more funds were raisedby people who still wanted to buy some momosafter watching the struggles of the competitors!

SFTUK will be celebrating more artistic aspectsof Tibetan culture in forthcoming events, sowatch this space!

Wales has many positive qualities, but its weather isn’t usually one ofthem. So SFTUK volunteers were glad to see that stereotype didn’t holdtrue when they headed to Pembrey in Carmarthenshire for Beach BreakLive, the UK’s biggest student festival. The sun shone down on theSFTUK stall all week as they sold merchandise and spread the wordabout SFT UK’s fantastic work, hopefully getting lots of new peopleinvolved. Almost everyone that stopped at the stall signed the petition tofree Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen, joined the email list orstayed for a chat about what SFTUK do. Some of them were keen tostart campaigning at their universities and colleges and one of them,Sophie, is starting a new SFT group at the University of Plymouth thisyear. Watch this space to see how she gets on. Massive thanks go toour volunteers Fenya, Sonam, Gabby, Lizzie and Pete who weretireless throughout the week!

SFTUK were also represented at the WOMAD music festival in Wiltshirewhere the SFTUK stall was abuzz with interest, bringingmore new supporters to the Tibetan cause! Check outSFTUK's Vimeo page for videos from WOMAD:www.vimeo.com/user667485

Top: The team fly the flag at BeachBreak Live

Above: SFTUK brings Tibet toWomad

SFTUK on the road

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Tattoos for Tibet

Hull scoop award

See more art from the project at: www.myspace.com/tattoosfortibetor on Facebook look for Tattoos-for tibet

7th October 1950 and 40,000 Chinese troops march into Tibet as a permanent force. 60 years on, thatforce remains and some of the world’s worst human rights abuses continue to be inflicted on theTibetan people. Tattoos for Tibet aims to raise as much as possible to help the plight of the Tibetanpeople. Tattoo artists have been signing up from all across the globe to complete one tattoo for Tibetand donate what they would normally charge to SFTUK. They have also been asked to draw a Tibetaninspired page of flash art and raise even more money for the cause.

I am a body modification artist based in Manchesterand own three shops in Manchester, Sheffield andDoncaster, all of which take part in my charity work forTibet. So why SFT? Students for a Free Tibet arepro-active; they’re the guys you see on flag poles, theones chaining themselves to gates and they’re quicklybecoming the recognised voice for exiled Tibetansacross the world.

Some amazing work has come through from thetattooists. Thank you to all the artists who have sentwork; it is all amazing!

We will be using the Tattoos for Tibet project tocommemorate the Tibetan people’s non-violentresistance to Chinese occupation.

By Graham Martin

TashiMannox

JonTooGood

Jondix

NicoTrsl

SFTUKconferenceWe are extremely pleased and proud to announce

that Hull Human Rights Action (HRA) won the bestsociety event of the year award for the 'Chance forChange' event, which raised over £600 for SFTUK& Burma Campaign UK!! Well done to everyone!

HRA have had another great year. When news ofexecutions in Tibet broke, they bombarded DavidMiliband with letters from over 200 Hull students.HRA were quick off the mark when pro-CCPacademic Barry Sautman gave a lecture in Hull,posing him difficult questions which prompted himto angrily declare that HRA were “separatists”.

Once again, HRA havebeen a key part ofSFTUK and Tom Prosser,Graham Riley and MaryCooskey- the newcommittee, have provento be brilliant activists.

This year the SFTUKconference took place at theUniversity of Essex on 23rd and 24th October.

There were a wide range of inspiring trainingworkshops and discussion groups on issues likenon-violent direct action, campaigns, activism andtechnology, media, Chinese state propaganda,fundraising, updates from Tibet and more!

There were also fantastic guest speakersincluding Thupten Samdup, representative of theDalai Lama and activists from Aung Sang SuuKyi’s NLD party, Chinese and Uyghur speakers.

If you couldn’t make it to the conference but areinterested in starting an SFT group,contact us for materials and comealong next year!ben@sftuk.org

Bhod Rangzen!Tibet is a nation with a long and eventful history. It covers a land massthe size of Western Europe and incorporates its own unique language,religion and culture. Until the Chinese invasion it had its own currencyand traded with other nations. It had its own diplomats and embassiesin other nations. It had its own army with which it defended itself fromother nations. And it had its own freedom to decide how its peoplelived and how its affairs were handled.

If we look at the world today we see many countries which arethe products of political circumstance rather than nationalidentity. The US, Canada and Australia are new nationswith thin ties to the land they govern. Kuwait, Singaporeand South Africa are the result of the fallout from thecolonial age. Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstanhave never existed as nations until splitting fromthe Soviet Union. Yet the nationhood of all of thesecountries are legitimate and accepted. EvenChina itself, with its long and storied history, hashad fluctuating borders and remained in a state ofturmoil, governed by warring warlords and dynasties,occupied for long periods. Only now, under the currentCommunist regime, does it claim that its current bordersare legitimate. But like every sovereign nation which hasfallen in and out of history and like every country whichcelebrates and defends its independence today, more and moreTibetans are standing up to remind the Chinese occupiers ofhistory’s most important lesson; things change.

Jamyang Norbu is one of the world’s leading Tibetan scholars andadvocates of rangzen; the call for Tibetan independence to be restored.More and more Tibetans are joining this cause, frustrated at the lack ofprogress being made in talks with Beijing. The following page is compiledfrom his popular blog ‘Shadow Tibet’ in which he reiterates the case forTibetan independence and why we should be more vocal about this deepdesire of the Tibetan people.

It is the desire to be recognised as Tibetans. The desire for Tibetans to managetheir own affairs, to fly their own flag, to speak their own language, to practicetheir own culture and to rule their own land. It is a desire which is expressedby every brave Tibetan who protests Chinese rule, who sings, writes, blogsor paints about freedom. It is the call of ‘bhod rangznen’; the call forTibetan independence, and that voice is becoming louder.

What is Rangzen?

ACT NOW!This picture of Tibetan hero Jampa Tenzin, a monk who was arrested after

protesting against Chinese rule in 1987 and was later founddead, has become a lasting symbol of independence and the‘rangzen fist’. You can support the call for rangzen by joiningSFTUK’s ‘rangzen circle’. See the back page for details.

Why rangzen and why now?

There is a rare and defining moment in human history when a crushing andseemingly permanent tyranny reveals the first tiny cracks of impending collapse. For the

people of Tibet such a moment may be at hand. China’s economic boom has createdconflicts which threaten to tear Chinese society apart. Corruption, peasant uprisings,

labour unrest, religious repression, economic disparity, ecological devastation and unjustcourts frustrate the Chinese people as well as well as Tibetans. Meanwhile, during the

2008 uprising, thousands of Tibetans flew their flags and called for freedom.Despite China’s brutal crackdown and despite journalists reporting that Lhasa

is “creaking under the weight of Chinese military”, Tibetans in Tibetcontinue to call for rangzen. At such an important turning point inhistory, it is vital that Tibetans do not weaken their commitment tothe struggle for independence.

There is probably no country in the world that has not at onetime been under the rule of another. China itself was ruledby Mongols and Manchus and was repeatedly defeatedin war by the Tibetans. The grim reality of the Stalinistpolice state in Tibet is often overlooked by Westerntourists, impressed by the scale of China’s brave newcapitalist society. But even if economic development

benefits Tibetans (which it does not),we must rememberthat recent uprisings occurred at a time when the economicsituation in Tibet had markedly improved. Rangzen remains.

The hope for any kind of autonomous status under China isnot realistic because it assumes that the Chinese system isflexible or tolerant enough to accommodate different political orsocial systems within it. One can envisage autonomous areaswithin a nation like India because of its genuine functioningmulti-cultural makeup and democracy, but this is somethingthat by its nature the Chinese leadership is unable to do.The argument by proponents of the Dalai Lama’s Middle Waypolicy, that to prevent Chinese immigration we must give up thefreedom struggle and live under Chinese rule, is demonstrablyfalse. Has anyone in the Chinese leadership remotely suggestedthat they might reconsider population transfer if Tibetans give upindependence? The only way to resist Chinese immigration is by

intensifying the freedom struggle and destabilising the situation insideTibet to a degree where foreign investors are deterred. It must be clear

that the Tibetan plateau is an actively ‘contested’ area.

This is not an irreversible situation. Stalin forced large-scale immigration ofRussians into nations like Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Stalin executed anddeported thousands of the native people. It was generally thought that thesenations were finished, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union these nationsbecame independent; flying their ancient flags, speaking their own languages,living in freedom. And the struggles of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr.and Nelson Mandea have inspired freedom-loving people all over the world.

Of course, there is no guarantee that independence will happensoon, yet it goes without saying that maintaining the goal ofrangzen is vital to the eventual achievement of Tibetan freedom.

Extracts from Jamyang Norbu’s blogwww.jamyangnorbu.com

Photos from top: Tibteans raise the rangzen fist during the 2008 Tibetan uprising, exiles andsupporters show their solidarity in London, Tibetans oppose Chinese rule in Lhasa in 1988.

Tibet:TheThirdPole

The Tibetan plateau contains one of theworld’s most vital ecosystems. It houses thethird largest store of water on the planetafter the North and South poles and thesources of some of Asia’s largest riverssuch as the Indus, the Yellow and theGanges. Roughly one billion people relyon these rivers for their livelihoods.

But Tibet’s natural environment is also one of the world’s most fragile,and large scale industrial projects such as mining, damming anddeforestation are taking their toll while Tibetan nomads, who havelived sustainably on this land for thousands of years, are being forcedinto housing complexes where their agricultural skills are lost. Thesedramatic changes are taking place to allow the Chinese governmentto plunder Tibet of its rich mineral resources; the fuel behind China’srapid industrialisation and emergence as a leading superpower. Butwhereas Chinese industry may benefit, the damage being done to theTibetan plateau could affect us all. Already, flooding in China andTibet has been attributed to unsustainable industrial techniques andthe Tibetan government in exile has stated that the deadly landslides inDrugchu recently were made worse by the damage caused bylogging in the area.

In reaction to the devastation being caused to the Tibetan plateau, SFTUK have joined the StopClimate Chaos Coalition and launched the ‘Students for a Green Tibet’ campaign at the The Wave. Itwas the biggest climate change march the UK has ever seen, where around 40,000 people took to thestreets to demand that the British government press for global climate change policies to be delivered.Four members of STFUK also traveled to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference late last yearto highlight the environmental importance of the Tibetan plateau and why it must be protected. Manysaid the Chinese government curtailed progress in Copenhagen; one analyst stating that China "notonly rejected targets for itself, but also refused to allow any other country to take on binding targets...in order to avoid the risk that it might be called on to be more ambitious in a few years' time". ThoughChina is serious about some aspects of ecological industry, the speed of industrialisation and itsimpact on the environment must be taken into account.

The importance of the Tibetan environment is not lost on the Tibetan people, who continue to protestagainst the industrial projects which are staining their land. In May, thirteen Tibetans were arrestedand five injured when police beat them and released tear gas in Markham, Kham during a protestagainst a gold mine at the sacred site of Ser Ngul Lo. Local sources said thousands of Tibetans hadgathered to oppose the mining. Later the same month, fifteen Tibetans were hospitalised after troopsopened fire on Tibetans protesting against the pollution caused by a cement factory in Madang inAmdo. In August, four Tibetans were reportedly shot dead and thirty injured when troops opened fireon Tibetans protesting against the expansion of a mine in Palyul County which is destroying farmland.It is important that we continue to support Tibetans’ efforts to protect their environment.

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Clockwise from top: SFTUK take part in The Wave, troops face off against protesters in Markham, nomads and their animals arebeing forced off the land, a large scale industrial project in Tibet and a woman in nomadic dress.

Culturalphotos:

JimMcGill

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China targetsenvironmentalists

ACT NOW!Support Karma and his brothers by writing to your localmember of parliament, calling for the British ForeignOffice to take up their cases with their Chinese counterparts. You can

find out who your MP is and how to contact them at www.writetothem.com

The Chinese government is not only countering Tibetans’ attempts toprotect their environment by suppressing protests. They are also targetingprominent conservationists like Karma Samdrup and his brothers.

Karma is a well known figure in Tibet and his ‘Three Rivers EnvironmentalProtection Group’ has been given numerous awards by the Chinesegovernment for its work to protect Tibet’s environment. But Karma wasdetained when he voiced support of his two brothers, Rinchen Samdrupand Chime Namgyal, also conservationists, who had been arrested afteraccusing Chinese government officials of poaching endangered Tibetanwildlife. Rinchen Samdrup has now been sentenced to five years in prisonfor ‘inciting splittism’ while Chime Namgyul is serving 21 months for‘endangering state security’ because he allegedly did not register anenvironmental group he founded and was organising tree planting andlitter collection without permission. After Karma visited Chime he reportedthat he had been tortured and “would not live much longer.”

But the harshest treatment was reserved for Karma himself. He washanded a 15 year sentence on trumped-up charges of "dealing illegalantiques" in June. The same charges had initially been dropped againsthim years earlier. His wife Dolkar Tso was horrified by his appearancein court and her husband confirmed her fears that he had been torturedto obtain a confession. She said “I just didn’t recognise him. How couldhis tall and upright body become thin and small? I never thought hischeek-bones could be this high, his chin so pointy, his arms so skinny...The account we heard exceeded our worst imaginations, we heard abouthundreds of different cruel torture methods, maltreatment around theclock, hitherto unheard of torture instruments and drugs... to extract aconfession... If he wanted to eat or go to the toilet he had to write an"IOU", an "IOU" which has already amounted to 660,000 RMB [over£60,000]. The “purchased” food would first be crushed by people usingtheir feet, there would be beatings for no reason, this was common andoccurred too many times to count. He said in a sad voice that he hadalready prepared for death and he had written a letter to tell hisrelatives what to do.”

The treatment of Karma and his brothers demonstrate the terrifyingmethods which the Chinese state use to scare the Tibetan people intoobedience. The fact that the regime feels it has go to these lengthsshows how much they fear the passion which the Tibetan people have todefend their environment; another part of their identity as Tibetans.

Top: Karma Samdrup before hisarrest and torture.

Middle: Rinchen SamdrupBottom: Chime Namgyal

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Support theresistance!Kit yourself out with SFTUK’s new range of merchandise and showyour support for the cause! Not only will you be standing in solidaritywith Tibetans in Tibet by wearing SFTUK t-shirts and bags, but youwill also be helping to fund our work by buying merchandise.

The new ‘banana splittist’ t-shirt, featuring monkey and yak and theslogan ‘Tibet will be free’ is available now for £10 for adults and £8.50for kids. You can also get the blue rangzen fist t-shirt for £8 and otherstylish products like the ‘Tibet will be free’ shoulder bag for £5 andrangzen bands and badges for £1.

Visit the SFTUK shop online to get holdof our exclusive merchandise or comealong to one of our events where thereis always the chance to buy somemerchandise and of course meetSFTUK’s volunteers!

Show the world that you stand withTibetans in Tibet; wear SFTUKmerchandise with pride!

Shop online at: www.sftuk.org/sft-online-store

Renaissance in the UKThe first ‘Renaissance Series’ events in the UK, ‘Poetry inResistance’ and ‘Revolutionary Beats’ took place in October andNovember. Both were great nights where Tibetans and supporterscame along to celebrate the culture and creativity which are muffledin Tibet, including the songs of imprisoned singer Tashi Dhondup.

The series seeks to amplify everything that is banned in Tibet. AsChina arrests Tibetan artists, writers and intellectuals for expressingtheir views and resisting Chinese oppression, we will celebrate theirwork and voice their calls for freedom. SFT’s Executive DirectorTendor says “It is an evil twist of fate that many Tibetan intellectualsand writers only get their due recognition after they’re dead orarrested. But we are witnessing a Tibetan renaissance which is1,000 years overdue, but it’s finally here.”

Keep up to date with new events in your area at: www.sftuk.org

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The concept of ‘Smurf EmancipationDay’ emerged to poke fun at China’slaughable claim that Tibetans are

‘ serfs’ who are now living free andhappy lives after the ‘liberation’ of Tibet.

Tibet, censored

: China is trying to stamp out the Tibetan identity, but you canmake sure their voices get heard by blogging about Tibet.Get blogging news at : www.tibetcul.com or www.highpeakspureearth.com

ACT NOW!

Lolsmurfs!

Keep up with the Smurfs’ latestadventures at:

www.smurfswillbefree.wordpress.com

Desperate to eliminate resistance to Chinese rule, the regime is pullingout all the stops to ban anything which is intrinsically Tibetan. China hopesto break down the Tibetan people’s sense of national identity bit by bit.

81-year-old Paljor Norbu was given a 7 year prison sentence for printing materials which thegovernment deemed ‘separatist’, and now new regulations make it almost impossible to print anythingin Tibetan without police authorisation. Tibetans are increasingly using internet blogs to share ideasand culture, like the songs of Tashi Dhondup and rap group Yudrug. The Chinese state aims to curbthis activity by introducing the ‘real name registration’ system, which forces visitors to internet cafes toswipe a card which allows the authorities to track everything they view and say online.

Since the first ‘Smurf Emancipation Day’ event, the Smurfs havebeen popping up to mock Chairman Gargamao’s feeblepropaganda attempts to whitewash what is really happening inthe occupied Smurf village today. They have turned up at theChinese Embassy in London, at United Nations headquarters inNew York, in India, at the Shanghai Expo and even in their owndigital world of ‘Smurfatar’. Every time the Gargamaogovernment attempts to fool the world that they are free, theSmurfs put a spanner in the works!

Now a new internet phenomenom has been born; Lolsmurfs!Playing on the popularity of Lolcats, a website where peopleupload photos of cats and give them funny captions, Lolsmurfstakes a sideswipe at Chinese propaganda and celebratesSmurf culture.

Like Tibetans, Smurfs deserve to be free!

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Dhondup WangchenPPOOLLIITTIICCAALL PPRRIISSOONNEERR FFOOCCUUSS

:

ACT NOW!

Jailed for making a documentary about TibetDhondup Wangchen is a young Tibetan film maker who comesfrom a farming family in Qinghai province. He was arrested inMarch 2008 for making a documentary called ‘Leaving Fear Behind’, for which he interviewed hundreds of Tibetans, askingthem for their views about life under Chinese occupation and theBeijing Olympic Games. He was charged with ‘inciting separatism’and given a sentence of six years imprisonment. He has beentortured, he was denied his choice of lawyers, who werethreatened with suspension if they represented him, he was refused treatment when he contracted hepatitis B in prison and hehas now been moved to a hard labour camp, all for wanting todocument the feelings of Tibetan people in their own country.

Dhondup Wangchen has become one of the most important figuresin the growing renaissance in Tibet, where writers, artists and intellectuals are being targeted for exposing exactly what the Chinese government fears; that the Tibetan people are not happywith Chinese rule and that they are passionate about protectingtheir culture and identity.

Dhondup’s wife Lhamo Tso now lives in India with the couple’s family. She supports their four children, Dhondup’s parents and aniece. She has been vocal in challenging the treatment her husband has received, urging the Chinese government to allow himthe legal representation and medical treatment he is entitled tounder international law. She has appeared in the short film ‘Behindthe Sea’, which chronicles the family’s fight to free Dhondup and be re-united. She has said “I believe my husband is innocent. All hewanted was to show the suffering of Tibetan people to the world. “

The couple’s 10 year old daughter spoke of her support for her father; “What I miss most about my father is his love for our family. When he was with us he would make us laugh and play with us. My father made a film about the lack of freedom and rights in Tibet. He considered the Tibetan people to be more important to him than his own life. He thinks of others beforehimself; that is why I am so proud of him and his work.”

Join supporters of Dhondupby sharing his film and bywriting to your local MPabout his case. To organisea screening of‘Leaving Fear Behind’contactinfo@sftuk.org

Above: Dhondup before his arrestLeft: Lhamo Tso, Dhondup’s daughter,niece and the family left behind. Below:Protest against Dhondup’s sentencing

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SSFFTTUUKK NNOOTTIICCEE BBOOAARRDD

60 years of occupationStand with the Tibetan people against Chinese rule by joining SFTUK’s rangzencircle! Join online at http://www.sftuk.org/donate-us or send the form below to:SFUK, Unit 10, Inner City House, 165-169 Lewisham Way, London SE14 6QP

I stand with the Tibetan peopleSign me up to start a regular donation

Send this side to your bank Send this side to SFTUKI would like to start a standing order from my account:

of per month/year/quarter to

starting / /

Account name

Signed ____________________ Date ___________

£5 £10 £25(account number) (sort code)

I have asked my bank to start a standing order to SFTUK

for per month/year/quarter(Your name)

£5 £10 £25Address line 1Address line 2E-mail address

Contact me via e-mail only Don’t share my address

Tibetan soldiers resist the Chinese occupying forces in the 1950’s. Tibetans continue to reassert their national identity today.

Join and get a rangzen b

and

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Students for a Free Tibet UK

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