MONTREAL, October 11, 1995: The Tibetan community and its supporters will hold a candlelight vigil to protest the visit to Canada of Chinese Premier Li Peng. The vigil will take place at 6:00pm on Rene Levesque Blvd.in front of the Sheraton Hotel. The vigil is timed to coincide with a state dinner, hosted by Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Chretien and nine provincial premiers. Tibetans say that Li Peng was the mastermind behind the imposition of martial law in Tibet in 1989.
Martial law was declared in Tibet as China's response to the increased frequency of non-violent demonstrations in the capitol city, Lhasa. The ensuing crackdown resulted in up to 400 Tibetans killed and many more imprisoned or disappeared. It also resulted in increased numbers of refugees crossing into India to the relative safety of resettlement camps now home to 120,000.
Martial law was imposed on the mountain kingdom following thirty-five years of occupation, during which an estimated one million have died and the pristine environment devastated.
"Li Peng should be held accountable for his crimes" said Thubten Samdup, President of the Canada Tibet Committee. "Canada should not be wining and dining him, as if he were a respected member of the international community".
In August 1993, at the Third Work Forum on Tibet held in Beijing, senior Chinese officials including Li Peng, formalized strategy aimed at curbing the Tibetan independence movement. Their decision to focus on preventing exile groups from participating in international fora was illustrated at the recent Fourth World Conference on Women for which no Tibetan NGO received official accreditation.
On September 1, 1995 Li Peng's Vice-Premier, Wu Bangguo, issued a statement in Lhasa, vowing that the Chinese authorities would renew efforts to crush attempts to split Tibet from China.
"Increased trade has not helped Tibet" said Samdup. "Over the past years trade between China and Canada has increased, but the human rights abuses in Tibet have increased. Development of trade in the absence of guarantees for basic freedoms ensures that neither the Tibetan nor Chinese people will ever enjoy those freedoms."
