To: afn20372@afn.org
From: trinley@churchward.com (Jack Churchward)
Subject: CACCP Weekly 6/1/97
Citizens Against Communist Chinese Propaganda is a group of interested individuals devoted to the non-violent and legal removal of religious and minority exhibits from the Communist Chinese government owned and operated theme park known as Florida Splendid China in Kissimmee, Fla.
If you wish to be removed from this 'mailing list', please send us email, and we'll not trouble you again. On the other hand, if you know someone who wishes to be added, ask them to send their email address to trinley@churchward.com.
And as always, send in your thoughts and ideas as well.
Focus:
Getting ready for upcoming Florida Splendid China Protest demonstration on 07/13/97 to commemorate the second anniversary of the Grand Opening of ChinaTown.
1. Accomplishments
2. Plans
3. Action List
a. Florida Public School District Campaign !
b. Florida Pleasure Passport Campaign
c. Walk for Tibetan Independence
d. Tibetan Freedom Concert
e. Collecting letters/articles
4. Misc.
a. Another Talk between Susan and Fatima (part 3)
b. Australian Senate Resolution
c. China Lobbies against Tibet provision in House Bill
d. ETNFC Accomplishments
1. Accomplishments
Wrote letters
2. Plans
Assimilate incoming data...
3. Action List
a. Florida Public School District Campaign !
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/1730/fpsd.html
We are putting together a package to send to the green targets and focus on them to start our campaign. Please send in your comments and suggestions.
b. Florida Pleasure Passport Campaign
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/1730/fpp1.html
The business arrangement between AAA, Splendid China, Bok Tower, Cypress Gardens, and Fantasy of Flight is known as 'Florida Pleasure Passport'.
We have suggested letters to these establishments to ask them to stop supporting FSC. Your letters are still coming in as well as the responses from the particulars named above (minus FSC).
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO WRITE AGAIN.
Addresses for mailing letters
.............................
Bok Tower Gardens
1151 Tower Boulevard
Lake Wales, Florida 33853
Cypress Gardens
PO Box 1
Cypress Gardens, Florida
Fantasy of Flight
PO Box 1200
Polk City, Florida 33868-9417
American Automobile Association
Florida/Louisiana/Missippi AAA
1000 AAA Drive,
Heathrow, Florida, 32746-5080
Phone: 407-444-4000
*****
c. Walk for Tibetan Independence
(see www.rangzen.com for the latest)
The Walk is just about to wrap-up (less than two weeks). Please plan on joining the Walk on the last day into NYC.
Saturday June 14th 8AM Walk begins - George Washington Bridge, Fort Lee, New Jersey 4PM Demonstration and Press Conference- United Nations, New York City - Dag Hammarskjold Plaza - 47th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. Picnic lunch at noon. Please bring tea and food to share.
For further information:
International Tibet Independence Movement
phone 317-579-9015
fax 371-579-9014
d. Tibetan Freedom Concert
NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--April 14, 1997--
Lineup in Alphabetical Order:
A Tribe Called Quest Pavement
Beastie Boys Porno For Pyros (acoustic)
Biz Markie Radiohead
Bjork Rancid
Chaksam-Pa Patti Smith
De La Soul Sonic Youth
Foo Fighters Michael Stipe & Mike Mills
Ben Harper Taj Mahal
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Plus Surprise Guests -- More To Come --
The Milarepa Fund, in conjunction with Delsener-Slater, has announced the lineup and location for the second annual Tibetan Freedom Concert, a two-day event at a soon-to-be-announced venue in New York City. All proceeds will benefit the Milarepa Fund, which funds various educational projects regarding Tibet and nonviolence.
This year's event features a number of returnees from last year's Tibetan Freedom Concert, which netted over $800,000 for the Milarepa Fund and drew over 100,000 people to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park to see 20 bands perform in favor of global responsibility and human rights, and to learn about U.S. corporate involvement in human rights abuses abroad and their lobbying power in the U.S. government.
The Milarepa Fund, a non-profit co-founded by the Beastie Boys and based in San Francisco, has again organized this year's concert with the purpose of raising awareness of the ongoing injustices in Tibet. "The Tibetan Freedom Concerts are about the message, not the money," said Erin Potts, director of Milarepa. "Until the situation in Tibet is resolved, we will continue to educate people to the situation there. The Tibetan struggle is nonviolent and therefore a timeless example of how social change may be achieved through peaceful means."
1997 is an important year for Tibet, as the world will see the premieres of several films on the subject -- Martin Scorsese's Kundun, on the life of the Dalai Lama, and Seven Years in Tibet starring Brad Pitt. The Milarepa Fund is also producing a concert film and documentary of last year's Tibetan Freedom Concert, entitled Free Tibet, slated for theatrical release later this year.
CONTACT:
Maria Ma, 212/219-1455
Perry Serpa, 212/343-2314
e. Collecting letters/articles
Please send copies of your letters to the editors, school board members, etc., so that they can be included in our web-pages. Let your voice be heard. Thanks to those who have mailed your letters in.
Any articles mentioning Splendid China are welcome also, we prefer to re-print in it's entirety so we can't be blamed for an 'out-of-context' quotations.
4. Misc.
a. Another Talk between Susan & Fatima (Part three)
Susan,
I was very glad that you liked to read the article "Uighur, the Lamb" posted in the Uighur list. You asked me (being a Uighur particularly) what would I think about it. Actually I just want to tell you a story of my pet, a lamb called Oemit - it means Hope.
Indeed, my pet is a lamb. I praise always the Lord for His magnificent genesis of such a cute creature. Not like the same kinds in my native land - Eastern Turkestan, perhaps Oemit is the most fortunate one. He is not starving physically, nor slaver-mind spiritually. Oemit is mild but timid, easily satisfied for any temporary available straw and water but intrinsically obedience by following randomly any leading goat. There are lot more good points of my "Oemit". Not very long ago I was residing in Montana. To my surprise, there were a flack of other Uigur lambs. Oemit was a nice pet of mine but seeking companions. In the beginning, Oemit seemed to be well accepted by these lambs. I was pretty sure about him because I fed him with fresh garden greens, vitamin D milk. I gave him moral class of how to be a good lamb. I offered him a bath and he really enjoyed it. I was proud of "Oemit" after he was nominated a lot of titles from our local lamb-fan club. He was capable to handle with american lambs but got tota
lly rejected this time by his Uighur crews. Later on I figured the reason out.
Those lambs were strongly offended by Oemits qualifications and discontented about the possibility that he would replace the goat from their daily life. "What? How can a lamb among us be a leader like the goat?!". Oemit was very frustrated and I had to move to the western part of the states. Now my beloved lamb is living a genuine happy life with me.
What a life here, quite, safe, no risk; and something even more to feel Big - Oemit got a green-card.
Susan, hope ya like the story of Oemit. Oh ja, Memorial Day is coming. Why not go to Montana for a lamb barbecue party? Sisch kebab or "Yang Rou Chun"...
Take care!
b. Australian Senate Resolution
The following resolution, moved by Greens Senator Bob Brown, was passed by the Australian Senate on Thursday, 29 May, 1997:
"That the Senate
1. Notes the United States' policy on Tibet as outlined by Jeffrey Bader, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, on 13 May 1997; viz:
"The United States encourages China and the Dalai Lama to hold serious discussions aimed at resolution of differences at an early date, without preconditions ... We have consistently asseted that any questions surrounding Tibet and its relationship to Chinese authorities in Beijing should be resolved by direct dialogue between the Tibetans, in particular the Dalai Lama, and the Chinese."
2. Urges the Australian Government to emulate this policy.
3. Calls on the People's Republic of China and the Tibetans, in particular the Dalai Lama, to enter into direct dialogue about the future of Tibet.
c. China Lobbies against Tibet provision in House Bill
May 30, 1997
INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR TIBET
Washington, D.C.
Legislative Update
China lobbying against Tibet provision in House Bill
The Chinese Government has started active lobbying against provisions on Tibet in the annual "Foreign Policy Reform Act'. This year's version of the bill (H.R. 1486) includes continuation of humanitarian assistance to Tibetan refugees, scholarships for Tibetan students (Fulbright) and the appointment of a special envoy on Tibet.
H.R. 1486 was introduced in the House of Representatives on April 29, 1997 and will be taken up by the House when it reconvenes in the week beginning June 2, 1997. The Senate will later take up the bill.
In a letter to Members of Congress, the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Li Daoyu, says, "The provision seriously interferes in China's internal affairs and disregards the fact that Tibet is part of China. It also runs counter to the US government's position that Tibet is part of China, and will cause serious damage to our bilateral relations.
What You can Do?
TSGs based in USA could contact their Congressman and Senators urging them to support the Tibet provisions in the Foreign Policy Reform Act. While the humanitarian assistance to Tibetan refugees has been of practical benefit, particularly to recent arrivals from Tibet, the Fulbright program has enabled young Tibetans to get professional education in the United States which has been beneficial in their work in the Tibetan community in India and Nepal.
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The International Campaign for Tibet
1825 K St. N.W, Suite 520
Washington, D.C. 20006
Phone: +1 (202) 785-1515 / Fax: +1 (202) 785-4343 E-mail: ict@peacenet.org/Internet: http://www.peacenet.org/ict Non-profit, Tibet advocacy group
"There once was a monk in Tibet
Who ached to join the Internet.
He'd bought a fast modem
When somebody told him, "ISPs aren't near Lhasa yet." -- Richard Tjoa
One of the three winning limericks (out of 700 entries) in a contest organized by PC Magazine.
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d. ETNFC Accomplishments
Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
May 15, 1997
Dear Colleague:
Please take a moment to read a copy of a recent letter sent from the East Turkistan Center to President Clinton. This is a rarely discussed issue, where the suffering and oppression in this captive nation is on a par with the tragedy in Tibet. As we prepare to debate Most Favored Nation trade status for China, I believe that you will benifit from reading this letter.
Sincerely,
Dana Rohrabacher
Eastern Turkistan Center, Inc.
110 Maryland Avenue, NE.
Suite 210
Washington, D.C. 20002
Tel: (202) 544-9590
Fax: (202) 544-9591
March 11, 1997
President William Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Clinton:
On behalf of my Eastern Turkistani countrymen, I am honored at this opportunity to write to you, the President of the United States. I do so at a time of great sadness for my people, at a time of increasing atrocities committed by the Han Chinese on innocent Uyghurs in our homeland, Eastern Turkistan.
My country is known to Chinese as Xinjiang province. That fact alone explains much of this letter's purpose. Certain assumptions come from calling this region "Xinjiang." The most basic is that it is part of China.
And from that flow the assumptions that its natives speak Chinese, that they look like East Asians, that they come out of a Confucian tradition, and so on.
All of these assumptions are wrong. As the name "Eastern Turkistan" implies, this vast region has for centuries been the land of the Eastern Turks, who are Moslem by faith, Caucasian by race, and whose native language is not remotely related to Chinese.
Eastern Turkistan, which had remained an independent state for many centuries, was invaded and conquered by the Qing Empire in 1759. During the years which followed, the native people rebelled on numerous occasions against their distant rulers. In 1864, the Turkic people successfully chased the Manchus from their motherland. Their independent state, which for most of two decades, established diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire, Russia, and Great Britain.
The Manchu Empire again gained control of Eastern Turkistan in the early 1880s, declaring on November 18, 1884, that Eastern Turkistan was China's nineteenth province. It was at this time that the imperial viceroy, Tso Tsung-t'ang, officially gave the land its Chinese name: Sinkiang," spelled today as Xinjiang. This new name means the new territory" or the new dominion" in Chinese.
The struggle of the Eastern Turkistani people for control of their land has continued in the 20th century. The 1933 Qumul Rebellion led to the creation of an Eastern Turkistan Islamic Republic. A second major uprising in 1944 was also briefly successful, leading to the creation of Eastern Turkistan -- which maintained its independence until 1949 when Soviet and Chinese forces combined to crush it. Since this most recent takeover, Beijing has strengthened its occupation of my homeland.
Mr. President, Eastern Turkistan has become a dungeon for its people. China violates human rights without hesitation -- arresting, torturing and killing the innocent. More than a half million Turkistanis who have bravely challenged Chinese authority have been executed. More than 300,000 have fled to neighboring countries. Hundreds of thousands have been sent to labor camps. The control of Turkistani population is enforced ruthlessly: many, many thousands of families have suffered from forced sterilizations, forced abortions, and economic penalties.
Beijing's policy toward my country has moved beyond control toward complete assimilation. In recent years China has moved millions of Han into Eastern Turkistan, seeking to dilute the true native populations. Those who arrive from China are given the best jobs and the best pay and the best housing -- all at the expense of the millions of Turkistanis. Beijing has attacked Turkistani culture including our religion. Turkistanis are forced to speak, read and write Chinese, and to dress, eat, sing, dance, and behave as if they are Chinese. Beijing claims to respect "its" minorities, but we who have lived under their rule know that their real policy is one of genocide. Their goal is clear: one day there must be only Chinese in Xinjiang.
China's lack of respect for the people of my country has been equaled by its disregard for the very land of Eastern Turkistan.
We have become a dumping ground for China's environmental waste. Lop Nor, a region known well by your government, is far more than a research center; it has become a profoundly toxic site of nuclear waste. We will never know how many lives have been prematurely ended by nuclear radiation, how many cancers have been spawned, how many children have been born with deformities. The count of my own people is that there have been 200,000 deaths from radiation alone.
As your nation's diplomats and journalists will tell you, Beijing does not want the world to know of its treatment of the Turkistani people. They prefer to carry on their repression out of site of the world. Even when natural disaster strikes, China seeks to withhold the information, fearing that aid workers will convey to Americans and others the ongoing horrors of China's occupation.
Eastern Turkistanis seek to determine their own future. Distinct in every way as a people, they seek the right to select their leaders and control their fate as do other nations around the world. And, we turn to the United States as the most important of those nations.
The people of Eastern Turkistan turn to the United States as so many others seeking freedom and self determination have done over the years. We ask that your nation raise its voice on behalf of the millions of Turkistanis whose voices are kept silent. We ask that you make clear to Beijing that human rights -- including the human rights of Turkistanis -- matter to the U.S.
We ask that the United States press the United Nations to itself investigate the just cause of the Eastern Turkistani people, working directly with their true representatives, not the puppets appointed by Beijing.
We ask the United States to continue its pressure that China truly end its nuclear tests, and end its use of our region as a dumping ground for nuclear waste.
We ask that the United States seek the right to visit the prisons and labor camps scattered throughout my homeland. Your nation already has laws preventing the import of goods made by prison labor; much of that labor is to be found in my homeland.
The Eastern Turkistani people ask only to control their own fate. We seek to join the international community of nations in openness and peace. We seek to share our plentiful natural resources with the peoples of the world: they must not be seen as the private preserve of Beijing.
We turn to you, President Clinton, as the leader of a great nation, hoping that you will recognize the just cause of millions of Eastern Turkistanis.
We turn to you for compassion and leadership to put an end to the misery of so many innocent people.
We look forward to your favorable reply and ask that God grant you continued strength and wisdom to carry on your most important work.
Sincerely,
Anwar Yusuf
President
Eastern Turkistan Center
