< FREEDOM FOR TIBET/DEMOCRACY IN CHINA-FAX ! - #61 >
Newsletter on the campaigns of the Radical Party for the freedom of Tibet and the democracy on 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".
Tenzin GYATSO, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, 1992
Issue 61, July 31st, 1997
Editors office: Tiziana Falletti
Tel: +32-2-2304121 - Fax: +32-2-2303670
E-mail: T.Falletti@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 Rumanian
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NOW, MORE THAN EVER, WE MUST CONTINUE
"Are you shocked when I tell you that Deng, after a futile attempt to send them (the students in Tien an Men Square) safety home, did the right thing when he allowed the troops to open fire? Though it may be this is my opinion: if the students had won that day, China would have reverted to times of Chiang Kai Shek, and become a mosaic of feudal powers at war with one another."
These are the words of Indro Montanelli, one of themost famous Italian editorial writers, and were published in the July 13 edition of "II Corriere della Sera." We must not forget or understimate these ignoble words. They are an example of how powerful and arrogant those who propose the old methods of order and efficiency h ave become. They tell us, in new ways, that we can do without rights and democracy.
In the meantime, we will be in Geneva for the entire month of August, attending the SubCommission on Minorities at the United Nations. Fully aware of our own status as a minority, we will defend our positions. We will present our statements on Tibet, China, Kosov, and many other minorities, peoples, and, most of all, the oppressed citizens living under authoritarian regimes, totalitarian regimes that are acceptable to our governments for as long as they present some commercial opportunity.
We will also be at the United Nations in New York, engaged in another battle for civility and rights: for the establishment of the International Criminal Court. We will be in Rome and in Brussels to relaunch the Transnational Radical Party through a massive campaign for subscriptions. The objective: 10,000 subscriptions by the end of September.
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THE SATYAGRAHA DEBATE
The discussion of the Satyagraha continues. In this issue we publish the sixth essay on the Satyagraha debate. It is written by Claude B. Levenson, who is a journalist, author, and President of the Swiss Tibet Support Committee. Please remember that all of those persons who wish to actively participate in this debate may send their essay according to the format outlined at the end of the essay. All of our readers are invited to intervene in this important debate on the obtainment Tibet's freedom through nonviolent means.
In preceding issues we have published essays by Olivier Dupuis (TRP Secretary), Thomas Nagant (President of "Les Amis'du Tibet," Belgium), Anders H. Andersen (Tibet Support Group, Denmark), Klemens Ledwig (TID, Germarny), Michael Alexander (Tibet Information Service, Germany and Malta).
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THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH OF
IS IN UNIVERSAL RESPONSIBILITY (6)
by Claude Leven (President of the CS PT, Switzerland)
A certainty has begun to steadily dawn upon those people who have become entangled in Tibet' fate: the straggle of Tibet is an exemplary one in our century, and our millennium. It is a struggIe for decolonization and for national liberation, processes to which the cultural, linguistic, spiritual, and fundamental defense of human and environmental rights, and which grant it a unique gravity. To this the reasonable, and maybe only choice, is added, that of non-violence as an efficient weapon for the realization of that end we call "freedom."
Undoubtedly, this is the most difficult choice, as Samdong Rimpoche explained when he launched the Satyagraha that he considered an ascetic idea, in a world which has lost its reason and habits. An idea that cannot be reached by any of us. But, rightly so, what other path can be chosen if we have noting to lose but our chains? For those of us who are truly stricken by what is transpiring in Tibet and who comprehend our collective responsibilities to attempt to make our world more inhabitable and free, more accessible path are available. Above all, one must persevere and repeat what is known without ever tiring oneself, and never renounce any occasion to testify - even if the words can get old and at times seem moking, accepting the task that it is never easy to be heard by those who do not wish to listen. Tibet languishes due to the silence of societies whose path to happiness inevitably passes through money and profits, at the expense of the essential qualities upon which humanity is based.
Establishing support networks through institutional establishments serves to keep the voice and presence of Tibet alive. The importance of public opinion must be emphasized so that the elected recognize we are committed to the re-establiblishment of freedom in Tibet and democratic change in China. Wherever it is possible, it is necessary to work hand in hand with the Tibetan people in exile and with their organizations, so that they may understand why their nation's unification and sovereignty in the community of nations is important to all of humanity. It does not help to become lost in thousands of initiatives, all of them of the most noble intent, but all too often too dispersed to reach beyond their local efficacy: initiatives and efforts must be coordinated, the proper responsibilities respected, and all without assuming new commitments that are beyond one 's reach, thus obstructing the completion of one's tasks. This is the price of real efficiency, an efficiency that does not disturb one's travel comp
anions.
Some call it Utopia; others brand it idealism. We must be realists in order to strive for the impossible: this is the only method that has proved valid for realizing, in our everyday lives, that which is in our hearts. Tibet is in our hearts. The challenge presents itself to each of us: the Satyagraha must be prepared and organized, and it cannot be successful without the contribution, however modest, of each of us. Various points of view have been presented in the preceding issues, with practical and immediate suggestions. Let us begin to make them facts, using all of our good will, of which can never be too much: inevitably, success is measured with effort.
Note: essays must be sent via fax, or, preferably, via e-mail to the TRP office in Brussels (Fax 32-2-284.91.98; e-mail pr.bruxelles@agora.stm.it) in English, French or Italian. The length of the text should not exceed 4O-50 lines.
< TIBET/CINA TELEX >
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A PLAZA FOR TIBET, A STREET FOR TIBET
The number of cities supporting the initiative to name a street or plaza after a free Tibet is growing. In recent days two French cities have joined the initiative: Valencienne and Conflans Sainte-Honorine. The number of cities that have adhered to the campaign has reached 27.
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ITALY/WEI JINGSHENG
Under the initiative of the Northern League, the Community Council of Lizzate, in the province of Lonmbardy, has issued an order of the day in favor of Wei's candidacy for the 1997. In addition, the approved text requests that "the Italian government operate through all of its offices (...) until the violations of human rights committed by People's Republic of China against the sovereign people of Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Eastern Turkestan are recognized." To obtain a copy of the document, or any other document approved in recent months, you may request it from our editorial office.
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EP/CHINA INTERROGATION
Olivier Dupuis, European Deputy and Secretary of the TRP, has delivered a written interrogation to the European Commission, in which he requests that an investigation be opened concerning forced labor and prison labor in China, as suggested by the report on "long-term relations between China and Europe" (The McMillan-Scott Report).
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ITALY/CAMPAIGN FOR THE PANCHEN LAMA
During the course of new "Arezzo Wave" music festival in Italy, the Transnational Radical Party organized an information booth with materials on the campaigns for Tibet's freedom. Hundred of postcards for the freedom of the Panchen Lama were distributed during the seven days music festival. The total number of postcards mailed to Chinese President Zemin has risen to 11,731, from 51 nations of the world.
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APPOINTMENTS
On the occasion of the Avignon festival, at the Certosa di Villeneuve-les-Avignon, which is held from July 10 through August 2, a show entitled "Milerepa, the cotton man" will be held. It is a theatrical work by E.E. Schmitt, and recited by Bruno Abraham-Kremer.
For more information contact Certosa: Telephone: 33.(O) 4 9015 24 24.
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SECOND PAGE
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THE RULE OF LAW: INTERVIEW WITH QIAO SHAN
In the programme put on air on July the 5th, we had on air also Mr Qiao Shan, of Human Rights in China. He underlined a topic, which seems to me to be very interesting: in the former British Colony Chinese power is affirming "it will basically rule by law". But it does not mean the Rule of Law.
Here you have the transcription of a few words out of the programme:
when we talk about an open and democratic society in which human rights can be institutionally respected, we are talking about those elements in the society that are indivisible, or indispensable to protect freedom and human rights, such as the rule of law, the democratic system which can hold the government power accountable to the people.
The rule of law is an element, here, which means there is independent judicial system; the legislation is made by a democratic process. And that is very different than the so called rule by law. Rule by law means that the administration can have absolute power, can manage the society by a set of regulations you can call law, but regardless to the process producing this legislation.
I'll give you an example. What happens in China now, about this National Security law under the criminal Code called "Endangering State Security". These are the new legal concepts established in the Chinese legal system now.
This concept is very broad, and can be interpreted in different ways. For example, under the State Security Law, there is an article saying which activities are endangering state security. The subarticle is including fabricating faxes, and disseminating information which can endanger the state security.
Who defines if that information endangers state security or not? the Ministry of State Security.
Who drafted this law? is the Communist Party's Legal Affairs Committee.
Who passed this law is the People's Congress the members of which are appointed by the Communist Party.
And who is going to implement this law is the State Security Bureau and the Public Security Bureau, both are Government Administrative Agencies.
Being the people run by these laws, by these agencies, how can they oppose? They cannot, in China. Because the judicial system is not independent.They cannot go to an independent court to oppose whatever the government did.
So, we see the example here, it is the rule by law, and it is already being used against Wei Jingshen, Wand Dang, and it has been used against hundreds in the past years in China
