Published by: World Tibet Network News, Thursday, Jun 06, 1996

By Tibetan Rights Campaign

SEATTLE (June 6, 1996) -- Signs are scheduled to go up in seven Puget Consumers Co-op (PCC) grocery stores today advising customers that the merchandise made in China found on its shelves will disappear after current stocks and contracts expire following an overwhelming vote by members to join a growing worldwide boycott to support Tibet.

The vote by the more than 40,000-member cooperative came about after PCC members submitted petitions to the PCC board of directors, which had taken no action on its own, leaving volunteers with just a few days to gather the necessary signatures to get the China Boycott to Free Tibet on the ballot. Voting took place during May and more than 59 percent voted to boycott Chinese products.

"This is wonderful news," said Tibetan Rights Campaign executive director Kunzang Yuthok. "The members of this cooperative have taken a leadership role and sent a message to the corporate world and the politicians. The vote was specifically about the freedom of Tibet. This is the start of something big."

The action is doubly significant since Washington state's business and government community have long extolled the now disproven theory that highly profitable free trade would bring other freedoms to Tibet and China without taking away jobs in this country. However, public opinion polls in Washington and nationwide mirror the vote taken by PCC members.

Heather Woods, a PCC member who participated in the petition drive, was ecstatic over the results. "This isn't a one-month deal," she noted, referring to a June Boycott kickoff that is underway, "this is permanent."

"When we gathered signatures it became clear that the more people know about the situation, the more they are for the boycott," Woods said. "It is very encouraging to see how much support there is for this issue. Once more Americans understand the situation in Tibet, and the true effects of the China trade, they will also do the right thing."

The PCC has played a leadership role in other economic boycott movements, including efforts to end apartheid in South Africa. And now the Seattle organizers of the China Boycott and the Tibetan Rights Campaign will turn their attention to another major consumer cooperative based in Seattle -- Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI).

"REI, whose mountaineering origins are inextricably linked to Tibet's Mount Everest, has to be asked to do the right thing. They are next," said Yuthok. "Consumer-driven organizations are going to have to show the corporate world the way, because the Fortune 500 companies don't care about anything but making money."

The statement in favor of the boycott submitted to PCC members read it part: "This (the U.S.) China policy isn't working. Human rights abuses have actually increased according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Even the State Department admits it.

"As concerned world citizens we can take action to help Tibet, and ultimately China too, by boycotting products made in China. Otherwise the forced sterilizations, abortions, torture and imprisonment of the Tibetan people will go on until nothing is left of their culture."

Said Woods, "Thanks to the good sense of citizens and consumers like those who belong to PCC, there is hope that Tibet's nightmare can end while there is still something left of this unique culture and people."

For additional information contact Chimie Yuthok (206) 547-1015