< FREEDOM FOR TIBET/DEMOCRACY IN CHINA ! - #38 >

Newsletter on the campaigns of the Transnational 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

Issue #38, October 7, 1996

Editor's office: Massimo Lensi, Dorottya u. 3.III.em6 - 1051 Budapest

(H)Tel. +36-1-266.34.86 - 266.09.35 Fax. +36-1-11.87.937

E-mail: M.Lensi@agora.stm.it WWW-URL http://www.agora.stm.it/pr - Telnet: Agora.stm.it

Distribution; Alberto Novi, rue Belliard 89, Rem 508, 1047 Brussels (B) Tel:+32-2-2304121 - Fax: +32-2-2303670

Published in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Hungarian, Croatian and

Romanian.

__________________________________

GREAT SUCCESS IN THE PARTICIPATION

FOR THE FASTING DIALOGUE FOR THE LIBERATION OF THE PANCHEN LAMA AND WEI JINGSHENG:

MORE THAN 1400 FASTERS

THE NEXT STEPS OF THE JOURNEY

Dear friends,

The first confirmation in sight of the 1998 Satyagraha for the liberty of Tibet has had an outcome we sincerely did not expect. We can affirm a great success, especially in terms of participation (but also mobilization), for the manifestations organized in dozens of cities. 1,438 persons fasted in 31 nations, among them numerous Parliamentarians, dozens of representatives of the Chinese and Tibetan people in exile, hundreds of members of the Tibet Support Group, of TRP and dozens of other organizations, hundreds of citizens and numerous personalities such as WEI Shanshan (the sister of Chinese dissident WEI Jingsheng), Michael TO (President of the Federation for Chinese Democracy [FDC]), Chope Paljor TSERING and Navang RABGYAL (representatives of the Dalai Lama in Budapest and Moscow), and Michael BACHMANN of the Committee of 100 for Tibet.

In all this, there was only one negative point: the attitude taken by the mass-media who, in their submission to established power, ignored not only the objectives but also the "modality" of expression of this extraordinary non-violent event. Thus, we have an even greater reason to thank those journalists who wanted to and knew how to make the issue prominent.

This initiative, "freedom for Wei, freedom for the Panchen Lama," with the foreign ministers obviously does not conclude with these three days of mobilization. on the contrary, the fasting appears to be more and more a formidable synthesis of our non-violent battle for the liberty of Tibet and for democracy in China. There are two dates that we may indicate as fundamental moments of verification and renewal: the 10th of December, 1996 (global human rights day) and the 9th and 10th of March in Geneva, New York, New Delhi, and Moscow, with the objective being tens of thousands of people uniting in manifestations in each of these cities on the occasion of the 37th anniversary of the Lhasa insurrection of 1959.

With this prospect, it is important not to lose a moment and to reinforce the initiatives that are already at work. in particular;

- the liberty of the Panchen Lama, across the mailing of postcards to Chinese president Zemin ( with a special effort in the direction of the schools with the intention of involving tens of thousands of students);

- the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for Wei Jingsheng, across the collection of thousands of endorsements from Parliamentarians and University Professors in the faculties of Law, Political Science, Philosophy, and history;

- the opening of Sino-Tibetan negotiations, across the collection of support from Parliamentarians on appeal to the Secretary General of the

UN so that he may receive the Dalai Lama and vote the motion in as many Parliaments as possible;

Besides, in a few days the new campaign "a flag for Tibet" will begin, with the objective of having at least 3,000 mayors in the world raise the flag of Tibet in their communities on March 9th and 10th of next year.

Many things await us. Too many? Will we be able to confront these problems and begin these campaigns? The formidable response to the three days of non-violent mobilization leads us to believe we are ready. It is agreed upon that it is a sign that something is born, something we will grow with together, and that with new energies we will make grow further. In the meantime, we thank all those who adhered to the initiative andin doing so, honored in the best possible way the anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Ghandi.

Tashi delek

Olivier Dupuis

(Secretary of the TRP)

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OCTOBER 2ND:

NON VIOLENCE, DIALOGUE, LIBERTY FOR TIBET

FASTING DIALOGUE FOR THE RELEASE OF PANCHEN LAMA AND WEI JINGSHENG

To better understand the results of the initiative we have compiled a short and non-binding statistical list of the "numbers" of the fasting dialogue.

Attention: it is possible the numbers reported below can be imprecise. If there have been errors to date, please excuse us.

* The fasting in numbers

- number of persons: 1,438

- fasting for 1 day: 877

- fasting for 2 days: 199

- fasting for 3 days: 362

- total number of fast: 2,361

- Tibetans who fasted: 102

- Chinese who fasted: 19

- Nation of residence of fasters: 31 (on 3 continents)

- Cities where fasting was held: 337

- Cities that held manifestations: 17

* LIST OF THE PARTICIPANTS BY COUNTRY *

Albania ................. 6

Austria.................. 19

Azerbajan................ 7

Belgium ................. 144

Byelorus................. 3

Bulgaria ................ 196

Cambodia ................ 1

Canada .................. 63

Croatia ................. 40

Czech Republic .......... 11

France .................. 157

Germany ................. 17

Kossov................... 1

Holland.................. 1

Hungary ................. 62

Italy ................... 521

Liechtenstein............. 3

Luxembourg............... 1

Poland .................. 40

Rumania ................. 5

Russia ................. 71

Slovakia................. 1

Slovenia ................ 1

South Africa............. 1

Spain ................... 6

Switzerland ............. 3

Ukraine ................. 9

United Kingdom .......... 1

United States ........... 44

Vojvodina................ 2

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Total 1,438

- Some of the cities in which demonstrations were held:

- Varna (150), Brussels (113), Rome (62), Moscow (52), Florence (37), Budapest (35), Sophia (34), Warsaw (31), Milan (30), Genoa (28), Turin (25), Split (24), Naples (21), Lucca (22), Vienna (17), Paris (17), Marseilles (15).

* the number of fasters is in parenthesis

- List of personalities who adhered to the initiative

* Members of government

Carla ROCCHI, UnderSecretary of State (Italy)

* Members of Parliament

European Parliamentarians Ernesto CACCAVALE (Forza Europa), Gianfranco DELL'ALBA and Olivier DUPUIS (ARE), Italians Fabio CALZAVARA and Flavio RODEGHIERO (Lega Nord), Vera SUARCIALUPI (Ulivo), Paolo CENTO, Saro PETTINATO, and Lino DE BENETTI (Green Party), Giovanna MELANDRI (PDS), Rino PISCITELLO (Rete-Ulivo), Paolo LUCCHESE (CCD-CDU), the Croatians Tereza GANZARAS (HSLS), Stjepan RODES (HSS), and Ivan PAULETTA (IDS), the Bulgarians Stasho SOYANOV (UDF) and Remzi OSMAN (movement for rights and liberty), the Slovakian Deputy Eva RUSNAKOVA (Slovakian Democratic Union), and the Romanian Dumitru CALANCE.

* The presidents or leaders of the Tibet Support Groups and the associations for democracy in China.

Michael BACHMANN (Committee of 100 for Tibet), Michael TO (Federation for a democratic China), Paulette MARCHETTI (International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet), Tonci SITIN (TSG Spalato), Tseten ZOECHBAUER ("Save Tibet," Vienna), Tibor HENDREI and Tibor JANKOVICH ("Tibetet Segito Tarsasag," Budapest), Dulma SHAGDAROVA ("Friends of Tibet Society," Moscow), Guy LIEBERMAN ("Dewachen Tibetan Cultural Center," South Africa), Renate MULLER ("Tibetan Untertstung Lichtenstein"), Olivier MORES ("Les Amis du Tibet"- Luxembourg), Thomas NAGANT and Patrick MATON ("Les Amis du Tibet," Belgium), Jordhen CHAZOTSANG and Dolkar TULOTSANG (Canada Tibet Committee), Rinchen DAPKA and Tsewang NANGLO (CTAO-Canada), Thubten and Carole SAMDUP (CTC Canada), Daniel HODEL ("Tibetan rights campaign," USA), Tsering YANGDON ("Tibetan Woman's Association," USA), Kalden LODOE (Tibetan Youth Association- USA), Kunzang YUTHOK ("Tibet Rights Campaign," Executive Director, USA), Diana TAKATA (Students for a Free Tibet," Coordinator, USA), M

arcelle ROUX ("France-Tibet," Paris), Francoise BONZON ("ECO-Tibet," France), Francois BRUXEILLE (CSPTC, Marseilles), Michelle DESCOSSY ("Rencontres Tibetaines," Toullouse), Marie HOLZMAN ("Human Rights in China," Paris), Jean-Paul RIBES (CSPT, Paris), Jean-Marc DELESPAUL ("Maison des Himalayas," Lievin, France), Michel DEPRIS (Convergence Tibet-Laogai," Toulousse), Fred GIGAUX ("France-Tibet Nord/Pas de Calais"), Christophe GRIMAULT ("Sos Femmes Tibetaines," Annecy), Piero VERNI (Italia-Tibet), Claude LEVENSON (CSPT, Geneva), Hugo KLINGLER ("Syamatara," Mils-Austria), Georgi ZHELYAZKOV (Bulgaria-Tibet).

* Representatives and personalities of the political, religious, and cultural world.

Wei SHANSHAN (artist, sister of dissident Wei Jingsheng), Chope paljor TSERING (representative of the Dalai Lama in Central and Western Europe, the Balkans, and the Baltic region), Navang RABGYAL (representative of the Dalai Lama in Russia, CSI, and Mongolia), Marco PANNELLA (President of Pannella Club and leader of TRP), Suzana DEWA (president Amnesty International, Slovenia section), Istvan BAKSCULIN (Mayor of Kanizja-Vojvodina), Konstantin ADZHAROV (president of the Christian Republican party of Bulgaria), Bishop NIKON (LAMEKIN) (Vera Orthodox Church of Moscow), Robert TRAER (International Association for Religious Freedom, Oxford), Giorgio ZHEJI (Rector of the Academy of Tirana), Zuljfi ALI-ZADE (Director of the Foundation of Culture and Tourism- Azerbajian), Svetlana KOPTEL (Vice-president of "Sphere"- Minsk), Karel SRP (President of Artforum/Jazz - Prague), Lilia TARANENKO (president of "Ganimed"- Kiev), Roman TKACH (President of the "Youth Solidarity Liberal Union"), Elena CRUZ VALERA (poet, Madrid).

* The complete list of fasters is available upon request from the office of the TRP in Brussels and is also included in the "Radical Party Conference" sector of the multilingual telematic system Agora' (telnet: agora.stm.it).

SEPT. 29TH - OCT 2ND: WHAT TOOK PLACE

Press conferences were held with the fasters on Monday, Sept. 30th in Rome, Budapest, and Zagreb. Manifestations were held instead on October 2nd in various cities around the world. In Brussels one hundred demonstrators manifested before the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In Rome, Warsaw, Prague, and Vienna the fasters organized public rallies.

In Moscow the manifestation took place in the square where a monument to Ghandi is located. At Marseilles a kiosk was kept open the fasters for the entire three days which distributed information. In Canada, a candlelight vigil took place on the night of October 1st. In Italy. demonstrations were organized at the prefects of Turin, Florence, Grosseto, Livorno, Lucca, Pisa, Arezzo, Cagliari, Milan, and Naples.

* On September 30th the Community Council of the city of Milan approved by urgent procedure an Order of the Day to support the non-violent action for the liberation of Wei Jingsheng and the Panchen Lama.

* On the 1st of October in Budapest Maria NAGY, of the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Laszlo KOVACS, communicated to the fasters that the minister was abroad and that he would be able to respond to their requests only upon his return.

* On October 2nd in Rome, at the close of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lamberto Dini refused to receive a delegation of Parliamentarians and members of the TRP.

* In Prague, at the conclusion of the manifestation, a delegation of fasters was received by SLANSKI, President of the Asia Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and by POJAR, president of the 4th territorial department in substitute for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was not in the Czech Republic at the time.

( In the next issue of " Tibet-China Fax" we will publish more news on the manifestations and their results.)

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PRESS RELEASE "OCT. 2ND"

As it is our habit, after every important political event, we publish the "Press Release" of the articles, TV, and Radio passages about the fasting dialogue. We pray that you send the articles that appeared to our office in Brussels with timeliness (to the attention of Tiziana FALLETTI) and to send them (specifying newspaper, city, day, and type of publication) to Fax: 32-2-230.36.70. Thank You.

* France

- "3 Days of Fasting for Tibet": Le Meridional (daily, Marseilles) Oct. 1st.

* Bulgaria

- "Fasting for the Panchen Lama": Maritsa (daily, Plovdiv) Sept. 28.

* Italy

- "Tibet: A mobilization from Umbria": La Nazione - Umbria (daily, Perugia) Sept. 26.

- "For Tibet a Strange war of Peace": Il Messaggero dell'Umbria (daily, Perugia) Sept. 27th

- "Peace March for Tibet and honorary citizenship for the Dalai Lama": Corriere dell'Umbria (daily, Perugia) Sept. 29th.

- "On the Fasting" La Stampa (daily, Turin) Oct. 1st.

* Hungary

- 12:30 news show (35 sec.): Magyar radio (state radio) Oct. 1st.

- "Fasting for the Lama": Nepszabadgag (daily, Budapest) Oct. 1st.

- "Hungarian fasters": Magyar Nemzet (daily, Budapest) Oct. 1st.

- "Fasting for the Lama": Kurir (daily, Budapest) Oct. 1st.

- "Companions in Fasting": Blikk (daily, Budapest) Oct. 1st.

- "Fasting for the Panchen Lama": Esti Hirlap (daily, Budapest) Oct. 1st.

* Croatia

- "Fasting for Tibet": Slobodna Dalmacijia (daily, Spalato) Oct. 1st.

- "TRP: fasting for 3 days to help Tibet": Vjesnik (daily, Zagreb) Oct. 1st.

- "3 days of fasting to help the Tibetans": Novi List (daily, Rijeka) Oct. 1st.

- "Liberate the Panchen Lama": Slobodna Dalmacija (daily, Spalato) Oct. 3rd.

- Nightly News : HTV (State TV).

* Czech Republic

- "Demonstration for Tibet": Lidove Noviny (daily, Prague) Oct. 3rd.

- "Transradicals demonstrate before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs": Prace (daily, Prague) Oct. 3rd.

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NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FOR WEI 1997

In recent days another 29 persons signed the candidacy proposal, bringing the total to 432 signatures (297 Parliamentarians, 134 university Professors, and One member of Government): Giuseppe CASALE (President of the Political Science Department, University of Genoa), Elio CASETTA (Jurisprudence, Turin), Vincenzo MILANESI (President of the Department of Philosophy and Literature, University of Padua), Jesus AGUIRE (Spain, PNV), Rosa Melida VILLATORO BENITEZ (El Salvador, Democracia Cristiana), Carlos COSTA NEVES (European Parliament, ELDR), Inger SCHORLING (European Parliament, Green Party), Ria OOMEN-RUIJTEN (European Parliament, PPE), David Atkinson (Great Britain, Conservative Party), Tom PISTRA (Holland, Groenlinks), An Zwerver (Holland, Groenlinks), Wim DE BOEK (Holland, Groenlinks), Sahin ULUSOY (Turkey, People's Party of the Republic), Enrico MORANDO (Italy, l'Ulivo), Giuseppe NIEDDA (Italy, Popular Party), Suzette VERHOEVEN (Belgium CVP), Franz LOZIE (Belgium, Agalev), Gabor DZINGISZ (Holland, CDA),

Ross ROBERTSON (New Zealand, Labor Party), George MESMIN (France, UDF), Geert BOURGEOIS (Belgium, Volksunie), Adria BARTOLICH (Italy, Democratic Left), Gianfranco MICCICHE' (Italy, Forza Italia), Adriana PASQUALI (Italy), Davide NAVA (Italy, CCD), Mauro PAISSAN (Italy, Ulivo-Green Party), Vethamuthu DAVID (Malesia, Party for Democratic Action), Remzi OSMAN (Bulgaria, Movement for Rights and Liberties).