5. FREEDOM FOR TIBET - DEMOCRACY IN CHINA

* Freedom for Tibet

Tibet, which was invaded and occupied by the People's Republic of China in 1949, is today victim of a harsh oppression that has taken more than 1 million two hundred thousand victims in its population, as well as the exile of 150,000 Tibetans, among them their political and spiritual leader Tenzin GYATSO, the XIV DALAI LAMA, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. The colonization of "The Roof of the World" on behalf of the Chinese authorities continues today and has become a true policy of ethnic cleansing, with the relocation of millions of Chinese colonists, sterilizations and mass abortions, as well as other strategies to cancel the Tibetan identity. One effect has already been achieved: the reduction of the Tibetans to minority status in their own nation.

The Transnational Radical Party's initiative in favor of Tibet began in 1988 with the creation in Italy of the "Life for Tibet" committee and actions intended to pressure the Italian government to intervene for the rights of the Tibetan people. In 1989, with the contribution of the deputies who are members of the TRP, a resolution condemning the occupation of Tibet and the martial law imposed upon it was adopted by the European Parliament. In June, 1994, after analogous condemnations of singular cases of repression, the Dalai Lama was received as a guest of the TRP by the President and Prime Minister of Italy.

The "Freedom for Tibet" campaign became a priority after the April, 1995 congress in Rome of the Transnational Radical Party, and articulates the following: pressure on Parliamentary institutions, raising of public awareness, construction of an international network in preparation for the worldwide Satyagraha (a mass initiative of non-violent protest, fasting, and pressure on institutions) that will be held in 1998.

In July of that same year the European Parliament took a vote, as a result of the initiative of deputies who are MEP's and members of the TRP, on a resolution that explicitly condemns, for the first time in Europe, the invasion and occupation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China.

On March 10, 1996, the anniversary of the Lhasa popular uprising, more than 600 European and American mayors, in support of a TRP appeal, flew a Tibetan flag in their cities to honor this tragic date. On the same day, and for the first time in Europe, a march was organized by the Tibetan communities, Tibet Support Groups, and the TRP. The rally marched through the streets of Brussels. In May, the European Parliament adopted a new resolution of condemnation, while the attempt to pass a resolution on human rights in China and Tibet failed to be passed by the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.

Recently, the European Parliament, as a result of a TRP initiative, approved a line of finance for the support of the efforts of democratic resistance by the Tibetan people, and also received the Dalai Lama and listened to him present a formal statement.

The TRP is collecting signatures on a parliamentary appeal for the international recognition of the Tibetan question. The signatures will be submitted to the Secretary General of the U.N., so that he may officially receive the Dalai Lama at the earliest possible moment in order that they may define the groundwork for the opening of Sino-Tibetan negotiations without any pre-conditions. The signatures of over one thousand deputies have been collected from dozens of Parliaments.

An initiative in progress for the release of Gedhun Choekyi NYIMA, a seven year old boy who has been kidnapped by the Chinese authorities and imprisoned in a secret place with his family following his recognition by the Tibetan authorities as being the "Panchen Lama," who is the second highest spiritual authority of Tibetan Buddhism.

In preparation for the global Satyagraha for the freedom of Tibet that is planned for 1998, a non-violent initiative was organized at the end of September, 1996. Over 1,500 persons in 40 nations participated in a fasting dialogue for three days. The initiative was directed at the Ministers of Foreign Affairs so that they would intervene for the liberation of the Panchen Lama and WEI Jingsheng. A "24 Hour Walk Around" took place around the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of various nations in order to achieve the same objective.

In the meantime, the "Flag for Tibet 1997!" campaign has been launched again this year in conjunction with the "Plaza for Tibet!" campaign that asks for the naming of a street or square in the participant cities after Tibet or the Dalai Lama.

* Democracy for China

Only the creation of a democratic system in China can make Tibet's dream of freedom a reality. It is this conviction that has brought the Transnational Radical Party to confront the growing importance of the establishment of democracy in China, with respect for human rights and the liberation of one billion, two hundred thousand Chinese from the last of the authoritarian and nationalist Communist empires.

From the tragedy of the Laogai - the innumerable and gigantic forced labor camps - to the multiplication of death sentences, from the ever clearer desire to destroy the democratic initiatives of Hong Kong to the increasing military provocation of Taiwan, and from the multiplication of arrests and false trails of dissidents to the planned and scientific occupation of interior Mongolia, Eastern Turkistan, and Tibet, the Chinese regime continues to suffocate the fundamental human rights of more than one billion people, and is assuming ever more dangerous characteristics before its own inhabitants and the international community.

It is from these considerations that the TRP has promoted the candidacy of WEI Jingsheng for the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, and continues to campaign for his candidacy in 1997. Wei, who is the most famous Chinese dissident, has already spent 14 years in prison, and was recently received an additional 15 year sentence for speaking his opinion. For these, and many other reasons, Wei represents the struggle for democracy in China.

In June, 1996 the European Parliament approved a resolution for the revision of Wei's trial with international legal guarantees, while in October, once again under the initiative of the deputies who are members of the TRP, the European parliament awarded WEI Jingsheng with the Sacharov Prize for 1996.

At the United Nations in Geneva, the TRP is involved in a campaign to obtain, from its member nations, a strong resolution regarding human rights in China.