< FREEDOM FOR TIBET/DEMOCRACY IN CHINA-FAX ! - #71 >

Newsletter on the campaigns of the Radical Party for the freedom of Tibet and the democracy on China.

Issue #71, May 18, 1998

>> Editors office: Massimo Lensi, Via Cavour 68 - 50129 Firenze (Italy)

Tel.+39-55-230.22.66 - Fax +39-55-230.24.52

Mailto: tibet.fax@agora.it

Url - http://www.radicalparty.org

Telnet: Agora.stm.it

>> Distribution; Alberto Novi, Rue Wiertz 60 - 1047 Brussels (Belgium)

Tel.+32-2-230.41.21 - Fax.+32-2-230.36.70

Mailto:A.Novi@agora.it

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"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

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>> Published in english, spanish, french and italian.

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TWO RESOLUTIONS ON TIBET AND CHINA PASSED BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT.

THE EP DENOUNCES THE COMMISSION'S AND THE COUNCIL'S POLICY.

Just a few lines to present this edition of the "Freedom for Tibet - Democracy for China Fax", full of news items and information,

The European Parliament has approved two emergency resolutions : one on China and the trade in human organs, and the other on the situation in Tibet. An important piece of news, especially on the day before an official visit by an EU delegation to Beijing. This is also an ideal opportunity to try to have an impact on the (European) Council's and the Commission's shameful policy vis-à-vis the Chinese regime; the possibility of finally defining clear objectives and a working programme which is based on fundamental human rights in the relations between the Union and Beijing.

In addition, these resolutions aim to query the United Nations on a number of points. There is, therefore, reason to point to the appeal by 1,300 Parliamentarians from throughout the world which calls for open dialogue between China and Tibetan institutions in exile via an initial meeting between Kofi Annan and the Dalai Lama. There are only a few weeks left before the EP's summer break and we feel that an effort in achieving adherence with this appeal still has to be made to reach 2,000 signatures as quickly as possible. Those who wish for more information on this (documents are available in several languages) are requested to contact the Transnational Radical Party's offices.

As you can see, there are a great many opportunities. It may very well be that this collective commitment by the Radical Party, the Tibet Support Group, the Tibetan Community, will encourage - it ought to - all the Tibetan Youth Congress's militants currently on a hunger strike in New Delhi in their effort and to allay their fears, to convince them - as well as ourselves - that something concrete, something real can be done for Tibet and that this is indeed being done.

Good work !

>> EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

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RESOLUTION ON THE SITUATION IN TIBET

At the instigation of the ARE and Green groups, the European Parliament has recently approved an emergency resolution on Tibet and the call by some of the TYC's militants in New Delhi for a hunger strike. In this document, the EP "regrets that the Council and the Commission have failed to take up the invitation to appoint an EU representative for Tibet" and "considers the steps taken by the Union for the release of the Panchem Lama to be woefully inadequate". In addition, the EP has called on the EU to mobilize to ensure that the United Nations proceed with "the appointment of a special EU representative for Tibet", with the inclusion of the Tibet question in next General Assembly's Agenda and for the Secretary General to receive the Dalai Lama, thus making the first step towards mediation between the Chinese government and the Tibetan government in exile, thereby responding to the appeal signed by the world's 1,300 Parliamentarians, in pursuance of an initiative launched by the Transnational Radical Party.

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TIBET/STATEMENT ON A VOTE BY OLIVIER DUPUIS, TRP SECRETARY

"Madam (Chair), in view of the fact that our colleague, Coljanni (PSE Group), has brought up the question of a visit by an EP delegation to China, I would like to ask my colleagues how many weeks there are in a year. Well, there are 53. And when is our delegation to visit China ? The week of the anniversary of the events in Tienanmen Square. We owe this to our Secretary, to our delegation on relations with China. This is just like our Parliament and its way of dealing with our request, our denunciation of human rights violations, our denunciation today of a terrible acts- which cannot be called otherwise - which concern Tibet : and this is our response to Tibet, to Turkistan and Inner Mongolia, to one billion three hundred thousand Chinese who - until proof to the contrary - do not live in a democracy.

It is time for us to stop saying that we are waiting for something to be done. Tibetans have been waiting for forty years and have had no response; the Chinese have been waiting for fifty years, since the Long March and have seen no progress in human rights issues. We could also continue to complain about India, its nuclear tests. Nobody is in favour of nuclear tests but like France or England, who were confronted with a Nazi regime during the 30's, India - an imperfect democracy, nobody would deny this - finds itself confronted with the largest totalitarian empire in the world, and some want it to forego the possibility of defending itself ! I would like us to reflect a little on this as well".

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TIBET/COMMUNIQUÉ FROM THE TRANSNATIONAL RADICAL PARTY

With regard to the EP resolution on Tibet, the TRP has sent out the following communiqué to press agencies : "At a time when more and more Western governments fail to act with determination to defend and promote democracy and a state of law in China, limiting themselves at the very most - this does not apply to the EU - to haggling over the expulsion of a few political prisoners, at a time when Europe has once again reverted to the ghastly policy which it adopted vis-à-vis the Soviet Union, it is especially important that an institution such as the European Parliament reiterates its profound attachment to questions of democracy in China and freedom in Tibet and exposes the Council and the Commission".

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RESOLUTION ON THE TRADE IN HUMAN ORGANS OF CHINA'S EXECUTED PRISONERS

The European Parliament passed a resolution on May 15 which outlaws the sale by the PRC's Army of organs from prisoners condemned to death.

Voted for : PPE, ARE, the Green, the Liberals and UPE.

Voted against : PSE and GUE.

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CHINA/STATEMENT BY THE RADICAL MEPS OLIVIER DUPUIS, TRP SECRETARY, AND GIANFRANCO DELL'ALBA

In this respect, the MEPs Oliver Dupuis, TRP Secretary, and Gianfranco Dell'Alba (ARE Group) declared the following : "It was finally with a very large majority that the EP asked the Council and the Commission to take all manner of initiatives to ensure that the United Nations sets up an international commission of enquiry without delay. Along with the very many positions adopted these past few years on the human rights situation in China, Tibet, Eastern Turkistan, Inner Mongolia and Hong Kong, the Parliament's position reflects the EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT's POLITICAL POSITION and will, in this respect, HAVE to be presented, explained and defended with vigour by the EP/China Delegation which will be going to Beijing next week".

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RESOLUTION PASSED BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

For reasons of space, the text of the resolution on the trade in human organs from condemned prisoners will be published in the next edition of the "Tibet-China Fax".

>> UN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

RADICAL INITIATIVES

by Olga CECHUROVA (RP representative in Geneva)

The Radical Party, acting in its capacity as an NGO, has once again been involved in the work carried out by the Human Rights Commission and the Sub-Commission on Minorities. A written intervention on the question of religious freedom in Tibet was submitted. This reports on a great many concrete cases of violations of personal and collective freedoms, such as those which concern the campaign against the Dalai Lama and the detention of the young Panchem Lama by Beijing. With regard to these topics and on the gradual and continuous deterioration of the situation, the Radical Party has called on the Commission's Member States to pass a resolution of censure against China.

The TRP intervened within the context of item 10 by severely and firmly condemning the discriminatory economic and political treatment of the annexed territories of Tibet, Eastern Turkistan and Inner Mongolia : arbitrary arrest, executions, transfers of populations, police checks and interventions repressing religious freedom and the right of opinion.

Finally, the situation of one of Mongolia's resistance leaders, Hada, was submitted to the Commission. He is currently in prison because of his political activities. Hada's case has been adopted as a symbol of the fate of a great many political opponents in China who are subject to very harsh and degrading prison conditions in Chinese labour camps or "laogai" and who are serving extremely long prison sentences. The TRP has asked the Commission to condemn the People's Republic of China most severely.

>> TIBET CHINA TELEX

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CHINA-TIBET/THE DALAI LAMA MEETS WEI JINGSHENG

The Dalai Lama met the Chinese dissident Wei Jingshen in Boston on the latter's return from his European trip. Hundreds of people, among them Chinese refugee students and professors were present.

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CHINA/PROTESTS BY STREET VENDORS IN CHENGDU, A TOWN IN SICHUAN.

In Chengdu, China's most southerly city, thousands of people took part in a protest demonstration against the confrontation between the police forces and street vendors on April 30 last which left five dead and more than a thirty wounded in the city of Sichuan. This information was relayed by Human Rights China.

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CHINA/A DELEGATION FROM SICHUAN IN MILAN

On May 26 next, representatives from Sichuan's local government will travel to Milan to present 15 industrial projects in their region of 110 million inhabitants to Milan's Institute for Foreign Trade. Sichuan has set up three high-tech development zones in Chengdu, Chongqing and Mianyang. These are areas which benefit from the preferential policy of "economic zones". Major deals are expected for Italian investors, especially in the automotive sector, the construction industry, the packaging industry, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and energy.

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INDIA/NUCLEAR/DALAI LAMA

The Dalai Lama defended India's right to join the atomic club. "India was right in availing itself of this privilege". The Dalai Lama, on a visit to Madison, Wisconsin (USA), declared that the atomic bomb must not be considered as the exclusive privilege of rich countries.

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INDIA/PROTESTS IN NEW DELHI/GEORGE FERNANDES

India's Minister of Defence and leader of the Samata Party, George Fernandes, has called on the UN Secretary General to ensure that all possible avenues are exploited to open up a process of dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama.

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EAST TIMOR/PROTESTS IN NEW DELHI/RAMOS HORTA

The Nobel Peace Prize, Ramos Horta, East Timor's opposition leader under the Suharto regime, has invited TYC militants on hunger strike to put an end to their action, by offering "to speak on behalf of Tibet wherever he goes".

>> PRESS REVIEW

-"The immolation of a Tibetan brings the Dalai Lama's strategy of non-violence into question", by Françoise Chipaux (Le Monde, France, May 2). Cause and reasons of the disillusionment of the New Delhi protesters after the suicide of Thupten Ngotup.

-"The Dalai Lama "testimonial" by health-food shops to free 12 Tibetan prisoners" by A. GU (Il Messagero, Italy, May 13). The Dalai Lama and soap : support for the release of 12 prisoners in Tibet.

-"Buddhism. The tradition, the Dalai Lama, etc." (Il Sole 24 ore, Italy, May 10). On political questions in Tibet.

-"Aborted dialogue in Geneva on the "already settled" future of Tibet" by Jean-Claude Buher (Le Monde, France, May 13). Based on a proposal put forward by the Socialist regional deputy, Régis De Battista in Geneva, to give a conference in the Swiss town in conjunction with an official Chinese delegation and Tibetan representatives, analysis of the international situation.

-"China riled by official in New Delhi" by John F. Burns (The International Herald Tribune, May 6). Analyses of the declarations made by the Indian Minister of Defence, George Fernandes, on Chinese policy in Tibet, Burma and Pakistan, responsible for instability in the region.

-"La Politica italiana verso i dissidenti ignorarli" by Gianni Riotta (Il Corriere della Sera, Italy, May 8). Accusation by the famous Italian editor of Italy's foreign policy in the field of human rights.

-"Né grazia, né giustizia : 1939 : morire per Danzica. 1938 : digiunare per il Tibet. Il Governo in esilio chiede l'apertura di un ufficio di rappresentanza a Roma", by Luigi Manconi (Il Foglio, Italy, May 9). Manconi, who is the leader of the Italian Green Party, speaks on behalf of the hunger strikers in New Delhi, and submits a proposal to the Mayor of Rome : acceptance of a Tibetan Embassy in the Italian capital.

>> MEETINGS (RENDEZ-VOUS)

-June 2 at 5 p.m. : Orvieto (Italy), Palazzo dei Sette. Public conference "Politics and religions in Tibet". Will also be taking part : Geshe Jampa Gyatso of the Lama Tzong Khapa Institute in Pomaia, those in charge of the Umbria-Tibet Committee, and the scientist Aldo Mastroianni. Event organized in support of the Tibetan nun Ngawang Sangdrol, sentenced to 18 years in prison in Tibet.

-June 6 : Osnabruck (Germany), international conference on "Tibet and Burma".

Will also be taking part : the Dalai Lama, Erkin Alptekin (Eastern Turkistan), Klemens Ludwig (TID), Michael van Walt van Praag (UNPO) and several Tibetan and Burmese exiles. For more information contact : Aktionszentrum Dritte Welt : phone + 49-541-260981, fax 28896.

>> TIBET/RESOLUTION PASSED BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Human rights

B4-0511, 0537 and 0538/98

Resolution on Tibet

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its earlier resolutions on the People's Republic of China and Tibet,

A. whereas six Tibetan activists, Dawa Gyalpo, Dawa Tsering, Karma Sichoe, Palzom, Yndung Tsering and Kunsang, went on hunger strike in New Delhi on the 39th anniversary of the Tibetan insurrection against the Chinese, and, on the 49th day of the strike, the Indian police decided to detain the six pursuant to a law forbidding suicide,

B. deeply shocked by the fact that, when the police intervened, Thunpten Ngodup, an elderly Tibetan who had been looking after the strikers from the start, set fire to himself as a sign of protest and later died in a New Delhi hospital,

C. having regard to the six hunger strikers' calls to the United Nations for: (a) the resumption of talks on Tibet on the basis of the UN resolutions of 1959, 1961 and 1965; (b) the appointment of a special rapporteur to investigate the situation in Tibet and an envoy to promote action aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the Tibetan problem; and (c) China to promote a referendum under UN auspices in order to ascertain the wishes of the Tibetan people;

D. noting that five other Tibetans have embarked on a hunger strike unto death,

E. whereas such actions reflect the desperation felt by the Tibetan people after forty years of Chinese occupation,

F. noting the visit which the troika of EU ambassadors to China made to Tibet between 1 and 10 May 1998, as part of the EU-China dialogue on human rights, with the aim of collecting information on the social, economic and political situation in Tibet,

1.____ Calls on the Council and Commission, within the scope of their respective powers, to take steps to ensure the appointment of a special UN rapporteur on Tibet;

2.____ Calls on the Member States to take steps to ensure that the question of Tibet is included without delay on the agenda for the next session of the UN General Assembly;

3.____ Endorses the request made to the United Nations Secretary-General by 1 300 members of parliament from around the world that he meet the Dalai Lama as a first step in a UN-sponsored process of mediation between the Chinese Government and the Tibetan Government in exile;

4.____ Calls on the Chinese Government to open political negotiations with the Dalai Lama about the future of Tibet;

5.____ Deplores the Council's and Commission's failure to take action on Parliament's call for the appointment of an EU special representative for Tibet in its resolution of 15 January 1998(1) , and calls on the Council to make that appointment without further delay;

6.____ Considers that the steps taken by the European Union to secure the release of the Panchen Lama, an eight-year old Tibetan currently held in a secret place by the authorities of the People's Republic of China, are insufficient;

7.____ Calls on the Council to report to the European Parliament on the EU troika's visit to Tibet at the earliest opportunity;

8.____ Asks its Delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China to raise the Tibet issue on the occasion of the next delegation visit in June 1998;

9.____ Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, the United Nations Secretary-General, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Tibetan Government in exile.