‘EPTEMBER 13, 2005

THE CADRE @ 19

Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) organizing a local chapter at UPEI. you would like to take part in action imed at advancing the cause of the ople and nation of Tibet, now is your hance. Canada’s growing support for e Chinese government has raised oncern among students across the ountry. Locally, UPEI’s involvement ith Sichuan University and The Beijing chool of Business is lending the good ame of this university to the cause of hina’s corrupt regime. While activities aimed at bringing

e issue to the forefront of everyone’s ind are being planned for the coming ear, student involvement is key to the itiative’s success. Here are some brief cts on Occupied Tibet that you should Ow: - The nation of Tibet was invaded y China in 1949. Since that time, over .2 million Tibetans have died as a direct sult of the occupation, over 6,000 onasteries have been destroyed, and ousands of Tibetans have been prisoned and tortured for their litical or religious beliefs. - The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s political d spiritual leader, fled Tibet in 1959. € escaped to India along with over 20,000 other Tibetans, and stablished the Tibetan Government in Xile in Dharamsala. In 1989, he was warded the Nobel Peace Prize for his teadfast dedication to nonviolence. - Tibet was independent. Tibet had

sovereign government, currency, ostal system, language, laws, and Ustoms. Prior to 1951, the Tibetan Overnment had signed treaties with reign nations including Britain, ongolia, and Nepal. While the hinese government claims that Tibet as always been part of China, its Vasion of Tibet resembles the same Perialist aggression that China Ccuses other powers of exhibiting. - The “Tibet Autonomous Region” not Tibet, nor is it autonomous.

The Chinese government has divided historical Tibet into many regions and prefectures. The TAR encompasses only the central area and some of the eastern regions of historical Tibet. Well over half of Tibet’s original territory has been absorbed into Chinese provinces. “Autonomous” is a euphemism for direct control by Beijing. 5. In Tibet today, the basic freedoms of speech, religion, and assembly are strictly limited, and arbitrary arrests continue. According to human rights groups, there are currently hundreds of political prisoners in Tibet, including the young Panchen Lama, imprisoned since age six. Torture of political prisoners is common.

6. The Chinese government’s policies of cultural assimilation and population transfer of ethnic Chinese into Tibet threaten the very survival of the Tibetan identity. Chinese colonists outnumber Tibetans in most urban areas

and many rural areas, making Tibetans a minority in their own nation.

Meanwhile, thousands of Tibetans continue to flee from Tibet every year, making the treacherous journey over the Himalayas and into the uncertain world of exile.

7. Historical Tibet was a vast nation, whose area was roughly equal to Western Europe. Tibet is the source of ten of Asia’s greatest rivers, which provide the lifeblood for 2 billion people. China has endangered Tibet’s

fragile environment through strip- |

mining, nuclear waste dumping, and extensive deforestation.

8. Although the Chinese

‘government claims to have

developed Tibet, most new jobs benefit Chinese colonists, not Tibetans. Tibetans have little or no say in how their country is developed. China has spent millions of dollars building infrastructure in Tibet, but many of the roads,

buildings, and power plants directly support heavy militarization of the plateau, allowing China to maintain Tibet as a police state.

9. China is aggressively seeking foreign investment for its “Go West” campaign in Tibet, East Turkestan, and other occupied areas. China is trying to use international funds to develop Tibet as a resource extraction colony and consolidate control over the region. Foreign investment in Chinese companies gives legitimacy to China’s colonization of Tibet, and the exploitative projects they fund do not benefit Tibetans.

Students for a Free Tibet Organizing on Campus

10. The world community has done very little to pressure China to leave Tibet. China represents a gigantic market and cheap labor force, and its associated businesses have such a strong lobby in democratic governments that politicians are reluctant to impose any trade’ sanctions. Since western countries adopted policies of so-called constructive engagement with China in the 1990s, the human rights situation in Tibet has drastically deteriorated. In order for this to change, world governments must take decisive action to pressure China into respecting human rights and ending its occupation of Tibet.

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