Published by: World Tibet Network News, Tuesday, Jun 18, 1996

Bands perform to fight Chinese oppression of Tibet As many as 120,000 Tibetan exiles are working to bring awareness of the situation to the world. They have taken their message to the American musicians who are contributing their talents to this show. A portion of the proceeds will be used to further the Tibetan cause.

By Brad Kava

Mercury News Music Writer

IMAGINE A conquering army moving into Northern California and telling people they can no longer worship or practice their culture as they want.

That's what the sponsors of the Tibetan Freedom Concert say has been happening for more than 30 years in Tibet, a country of 6 million people on China's western border, where one of the world's richest, gentlest and most ancient cultures has been dominated and systematically eliminated by the Chinese.

According to B. Allen Wallace, a Tibetan scholar at Stanford University who will be translating on stage Saturday, the Chinese have wiped out 1 million people and 6,000 monasteries since 1967. The genocide included the wounding last month of monks who were staging a peaceful protest.

"``I just got back from Tibet, and the people are downright depressed,"'' says Wallace. "``They adore their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and they aren't even allowed to have his picture up in their homes. Despite all the Chinese propaganda that there is religious freedom there, you have to go to a Chinese office and make a special petition to give teachings. It may or may not be granted."''

Wallace says that, before the Cultural Revolution began in 1967, one in four Tibetans was a monk, and the country was dotted with temples and monasteries. Today, only a few religious buildings remain.

"``There was wholesale genocide on the Tibetans,"'' says Wallace. "``The real tragedy of the invasion was that this was a very traditional culture, with its own language, religion, art, medicine and philosophy, one that was completely autonomous from China. The language was not even related to Chinese."''

Wallace says the Chinese moved into Tibet in the 1950s to ``protect the country from Western imperialism.'' But, he says, there were no real contacts between Tibet and the West at that time, and the Tibetans, who did send religious leaders to China, wanted nothing to do with Chinese communism.

What the Tibetans are asking for now, he says, is the opportunity to make their own decisions and the right to practice their religion and maintain their culture. As many as 120,000 Tibetan exiles are working to bring awareness of the situation to the world. They have taken their message to the American musicians who are contributing their talents to this show. They say the concert will be educational, and a portion of the proceeds will be used to further the Tibetan cause.

The money will go to San Francisco's Milarepa Fund, started by Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys. The fund will finance political campaigns and demonstrations; the hope is that the United States will exert pressure on China to stop the genocide in Tibet.

Organizers have planned a demonstration at 11 a.m. Monday outside the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco (Laguna and Geary streets) to protest the U.S. decision to give China most-favored-nation trade status.

"``By and large, most young people don't have much global awareness,"'' says Wallace, who will teach Tibetan Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, next year. "``As far as this becomes a part of the public consciousness and these young people become voters, we might have some input into what the government does."''