Newsletter on the campaigns of the Radical Party for the freedom of Tibet and democracy in China.
"I truly believe that individuals can make a difference in society. Since periods of great change such as the present one come so rarely in human history, it is up to each of us to make the best use of our time to help create a happier world"
His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, 1992
#19, April 16, 1996
Editor: Massimo Lensi, Dorottya u. 3.III.em6. - H-1051 Budapest - tel 36-1-2663486 - 2660935 - fax 1187937 - e-mail M.Lensi@agora.stm.it - WWW-Url: htt//:www.agora.stm.it/pr - Telnet: Agora.stm.it
Distribution: Alberto Novi - rue Belliard 89 - Rem 508, B-1047 Bruxelles; tel. 32-2-2304121, fax 32-2-2303670.
Published in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian, Croatian and Rumanian.
WEI JINGSHENG NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 1997
A demonstration took place last week in Paris to protest against the official visit in France of the Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng, responsible for the massacres of Tienanmen and Lhasa in 1989; a visit of which the principal goal was to allow the conclusion of a large number of commercial agreements between the two countries, among which the sale of a dozen Airbus to China. The demonstration, at which participated about two thousand people, has been organized by the Committee "Li Peng, we don't forget Tienanmen - Collective for the liberties in China and in Tibet" with the adhesion of organizations of Chinese and Taiwanese opposition, the Tibetan Community in France and of diverse Support and Solidarity Groups with Tibet, trade unions and the Transnational Radical Party.
Still in Paris, representatives of the Federation for Democracy in China and the Transnational Radical Party have decided with the New York based Human Rights in China organization to launch a new campaign for the nomination of the Chinese dissident WEI Jingsheng for the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, a campaign which has been announced on the issue of the demonstration "Freedom for Tibet" in Brussels.
With this new campaign we would like to try to put in concrete terms the wish expressed many times by the Dalai Lama and reiterated in his message of last March 10: "Despite the absence of positive and conciliatory gestures from the Chinese government to my initiatives, I have always encouraged Tibetans to develop personal relationships with Chinese. I make it a point to ask the Tibetans to distinguish between the Chinese people and the policies of the totalitarian government in Beijing. I am thus happy to observe that there has been significant progress in our efforts to foster closer interaction amongst the people of our two communities, mainly between exile Tibetans and Chinese living abroad. Moreover, human rights activists and democrats within China, people like the brave Wei Jingsheng, are urging their leaders to respect the basic human rights of the Tibetan people and pledging their support of our right to self- rule. Chinese scholars outside China are discussing a constitution for a federated China w
hich envisages a confederal status for Tibet. These are most encouraging and inspiring developments. I am, therefore, very pleased that the people-to-people dialogue between the Tibetans and Chinese is fostering a better understanding of our mutual concerns and interests".
With the Dalai Lama, we are convinced - and the last events in the Taiwan Strait confirm our conviction - that assigning the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize to WEI Jingsheng, the most famous Chinese dissident, again imprisoned, would constitute a particularly strong signal for the Chinese authorities. These are the principal reasons for which we settled down the goal of recollecting at least 3,000 signatures of parliamentarians and university professors by January 15, 1997. This initiative is obviously open to the participation of all organizations that wish to support. It can be added and integrated, as well in concrete as in ideal terms, into the two other running campaigns for the liberation of the Panchen Lama and for the Secretary General of the United Nations to receive the Dalai Lama as soon as possible. A real "package of political initiatives" for democracy in the world.
See you soon!
THE BALANCE SHEET OF THE MANIFESTATION OF MARCH 10 IN BRUSSELS
In this issue we publish the balance sheet of the "European Coordination for March 10" for the organization of the manifestation "Freedom for Tibet" of March 10 1996 in Brussels.
* Expenses
- Rent of stage and amplification 2,112
- Various expenses for pressconference of S. Rinpoche 1,608
- Realization and printing of posters 1,773
- Expenses for Reunion of European coordination 193
- Mailing (journalists) 1,096
- Mailing (assembly in Brussels of S. Rinpoche) 1,031
- Ad in Brussels' newspaper Le Soir 2,040
- Rent of van for the manifestation 198
- Rent of radiotelephones for the manifestation 386
- Purchase and preparation of banderoles 80
- Printing of small posters and leaflets 515
- Rent of room for preparation reunion 304
- Rent of room for Assembly with S. Rinpoche 304
- Dispatching of posters by mail 838
- Various expenses for trips of S. Rinpoche in Europe 810
---------------------------------------------------------------
Total 13,288
* Contribution for budget's balance
- Committee of support (Lausanne) 1,594
- Friends of Tibet (Belgium) 396
- Tibetan Community (Switzerland) (5.000 CHF) 4,079
- Swiss Tibetan friendship (Switzerland) (2.500 CHF) 2,019
- Radical Party 5,200
---------------------------------------------------------------
Total 13,288
All data in US$
A REFERENDUM FOR TIBET
The Tibetan government in exile has started the preparation for the organization of a referendum on the future of Tibet. The options it is currently reflecting on are:
1. the Middle Way, by continuing to propose a dialogue to the Chinese government, a way followed since long by the Dalai Lama,
2. the independence, by trying to give back to Tibet the rights former to the invasion of 1959, but by breaking any dialogue with China,
3. the self-determination, based on the international pressure to realize it under control of the United Nations, and
4. Satyagraha, the movement "Truth-Force", recommended by Samdhong Rinpoche, which consists of temporarily putting aside the political side by starting a nonviolent campaign which accentuates the human, religious, economical and ecological rights, and which requests the stoppage of the transfer of the Chinese population to Tibet.
The Tibetans are invited to suggest other alternatives that can be enclosed in this referendum. The results of this analysis should be conveyed by the end of this year.
(Source: WTN/Comit des 100) (TIBET INFO 6 AVRIL - CSPT Paris)
TIBET TELEX
DELAYED NEWS ON MARCH 10: USA / TIBET NATIONAL DAY
In the United States, numerous states and cities have declared March 10 1996 "Tibet National Day". On top of the adhesions already pointed out in the preceding numbers, the governors Tom RIDGE from Pennsylvania, Jim EDGER from Illinois and George E. PATAKI from the State of New York, as well as the mayors Tom MURPHY from Pittsburgh, Edward G. RENDELL from Philadelphia and Paul R. SOGLIN from Madison (Wisconsin) have equally promulgated proclamations making March 10, 1996 a National Day for Tibet.
DELAYED NEWS ON MARCH 10: ITALY / PROVINCES' AND MUNICIPALITIES' DELIBERATIONS
The County Council of MODENA (February 21), the Municipal Council of SAVONA (March 8) and the Regional Council of PIEMONT (February 29) have adhered to the campaign of March 10, approving of the deliberations of condemnation of the Chinese occupation of Tibet and of the support in the battle of the Tibetan people.
COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS / BRIEFING ON TIBET
A press conference organized by the Transnational Radical Party and the Society for Threatened Peoples took place March 11 in Geneva to present the documentary "China's Gulags in Tibet". Have intervened: Chungdak D. KOREN (representative of the Dalai Lama in Geneva); Gendun RINCHEN (ex-political prisoner and candidate for the 1993 Sakharov Prize); Tsering NORZOM (Society for Threatened People) and Marino BUSDACHIN (representative of the Transnational Radical Party at the United Nations).
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Olivier DUPUIS, General Secretary of the Transnational Radical Party, succeeds as European deputy Marco PANNELLA who resigned in March this year. Olivier DUPUIS, elected from the "Lista Pannella - Reformers", registered in the Intergroup Tibet at the E.P.
APPOINTMENTS
SINO/TIBETAN DIALOGUE: CONFERENCE IN BONN ON JUNE 21-22 1996
An important public conference titled "Sino-Tibetan Dialogue: towards a peaceful solution of the Tibetan question" will be held in Bonn on June 21 and 22, 1996. The conference organized by the "Association of Tibetans in Germany" in the name of the Tibetan Communities in Europe (from United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany), in cooperation with the foundations "Heinrich Boll" and "Friedrich Naumann", has the goal to develop an open and honest debate with the Chinese counterpart on the future of Tibet and on the influence of the Tibetan question on the future of China and of the entire region. Representatives from Tibet, China, Mongolia, East Turkestan, India, Taiwan, professors of International Law, sinologists and tibetologists in particular will participate in this conference. For more information, you can contact the organizing committee of the conference: Tsewang NORBU, President of the Association of Tibetans in Germany, F
ritz Pullig Str. 28, D-53757 Sankt Augustin, tel. 0221-207.11.34 fax. 207.11.51.
PRESS REVIEW "MARCH 10"
We publish the fifth and last integration of the press review on the day of March 10, 1996 "Freedom for Tibet". We make use of it to thank those who send or pointed out to us, during these last weeks, articles or passages on the TV or on the radio. The press review "Freedom for Tibet" of which we are completing the preparation includes also the press and TV segments that preceded the manifestation of March 10. For every other signalling, please contact the seat of the TRP in Brussels (Tiziana FALLETTI, fax +32-2-2303670).
* Belgium
- La Derniere Heure (daily newspaper) 3/9. "A flag that scares"
- La Lanterne (daily newspaper) 3/9-10. "Free Tibet"
- La Libre Belgique (daily newspaper) 3/9-10. "The Tibetan flag will wave high on sunday"
- Le Soir (daily newspaper) 3/9-10. "Services trafic"
- De Standaard (daily newspaper) 3/9-10. "Demonstration for Tibet"
- Dimanche Matin (daily newspaper) 3/10. "Vande Lanotte forbids the Tibetan flag"
- La Derniere Heure (daily newspaper) 3/11. "Defiance to China...and to Vande Lanotte"
- Le Peuple (daily newspaper) 3/11. "Controversy concerning a flag and a manifestation in Brussels for free Tibet"
- De Standaard (daily newspaper) 3/11. "Demonstration for Tibet"
- Agence Europe (press agency) 3/11-12. "Success of the demonstration for the freedom of Tibet"
- La Lanterne (daily newspaper) 3/15. "At least five Brussels-Tibetan municipalities"
* Italy
- La Gazzetta di Carpi (daily newspaper) 3/8. "Tibet in the city hall"
- La Gazzetta di Carpi (daily newspaper) 3/9. "Tibet. No flag"
- Corriere Adriatico (daily newspaper) 3/11. "No flag for Tibet on the city hall. Sassaroli: mayor, you disappointed me"
* Hungary
- Pecsi Campus (weekly) 3/13. "The Tibetan bell"
- Mai Nap (daily) 3/19. "Tibet stays"
- Tolnaj Nepujsag (daily) 3/20. "Tibet and Demszki (Mayor of Budapest - ndr)
- Szazhalombattai Hirtukor (monthly) March. "Tibet is more than a country"
* Switzerland
- Le Monde (daily) 3/11. On the Brussels demonstration.
- Journal d'Yerdon (daily) 3/11. On the Brussels demonstration.
- La Suisse (daily) 3/11. On the Brussels demonstration.
- Le Matin (daily) 3/11. On the Brussels demonstration.
* France
- NR. Blois (daily) 3/11. "The flag on Blois"
- Sud-Ouest (daily) 3/12. "The colors of Tibet"
- Le Courrier Francais (daily) 3/22. "The Tibetan flag on the pediment of the city hall"
* Germany
- Flennsburger Tagesblatt (daily) 3/9. "New Chinese protest"
- General-Auzeiger (daily) 3/11. "Action of solidarity for Tibet"
- Frankfurter Rundschau (daily) 3/11. "Anniversary in Tibet"
- Rundschau Lokal (daily) 3/30. "Haller demonstrates for Tibet"
SECOND PAGE / FORM FOR WEI 1997 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
We publish on "second page" the form to collect the adhesions of support for the nomination of the Chinese dissident WEI Jingsheng for the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. We remind that the regulations of the Nobel Peace Prize, as specified at the bottom of the form, authorizes the presentation of candidatures only by certain categories of personalities. In particular are able to support a candidature:
a. members of governments;
b. parliamentarians;
c. university professors of History, Philosophy, Law and Political Sciences;
d. laureates of the Nobel Prize in all disciplines.
The form is available in various languages at the editorial office, TRP offices, the seat of the Federation for Democracy in China in Paris and of "Human Rights in China" in New York.
WEI FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 1997.
APPEAL TO NOBEL PRIZE LAUREATES, MEMBERS OF NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS AND GOVERNMENTS, TO UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS OF LAW, PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE.
M. Wei Jingsheng is among the most prominent founders of the movement for human rights and democracy in China. During the "Democracy wall" movement in 1978 AND 1979, Wei Jingsheng published the non-official magazine "Exploration" (Tansuo). With an essay of great strength, "The fifth modernization", Wei maintains that the four sectors of modernization proposed by Deng (agriculture, industry, science and defence) would be incomplete without a fifth one: democracy.
Arrested on 29 March 1979 for "having disclosed secrets of State" to a foreigner, Wei was sentenced to five years in jail for "counter-revolutionary crimes". In 1992, from the prison where he was detained, Wei addressed a long letter to Deng over the question of Tibet, asking him to start negotiations with the Dalai Lama. In 1993 he was released by the authorities who were concerned about public opinion in obtaining the designation of Beijing as the host city of the 2000 Olympic games. Freed, Wei continued in overtly denouncing human rights violations in China; he helped the families of the victims of the repression of Tien An Men on the 4 June 1989 and actively pursued the fight for freedom.
He was arrested, or rather abducted, again on 1 April 1994, Wei Jingsheng was detained for 20 months at a secret location without being neither charged nor tried. Later, on 21 November 1995, the Chinese authorities opened a trial, a new parody of justice, accusing him of having "attempted to overthrow the government". At 45 years of age, Wei Jingsheng faces the risk of death penalty.
Chinese authorities know too well that Wei Jingsheng is very popular.
Backing Wei's nomination for the Nobel Prize means support for democracy for China. It means also support for the negotiations between China and Tibet. It means instilling a new force into the struggle for human rights and democracy throughout the People's Republic of China, which represents one fifth of humanity.
I declare to endorse the candidacy of Mr. Wei Jingsheng to the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.
Name Last name Country Position Signature
Address Institution
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note:
1. If you wish to support this initiative, we ask you to please send as soon as possible, the coupon for the candidacy to the following fax number: 39-6-6880.5396.
2. According to Regulations, qualified individuals for the Nobel Peace Prize are: past Nobel Prize winners, Parliamentarians, members of governments, university professors of Law, History and Political Science.
3. The objective is that of collecting 3,000 adhesions among Nobel Prizes, parliamentarians and university professors by the 15 January 1997.
