Chinese Confirm Jailing of Tibetan Film-maker

Washington, D.C., December 19 1996 -- Martin Scorsese, Brad Pitt, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Harrison Ford, Melissa Mathison Ford and Ian Smith are being barred from visiting Tibet according to reports from Lhasa, Tibet's capital. The names of these actors, directors and writers appeared on a list of persons to whom visas should not be issued. The list of names was circulated to travel offices in Lhasa, according to travelers visiting there.

The list, which contains over 50 names of Westerners along with their nationality, appeared in September 1996, several months prior to China's public threat to contain Disney's expansion in China if they proceeded with the movie "Kundun," directed by Martin Scorsese about the Dalai Lama. The prominent Hollywood names were people working on or affiliated with one of the two major films to be released next year about the Dalai Lama and Tibet. The other film, "Seven Years in Tibet," is directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and stars Brad Pitt. Other prominent stars affiliated with Tibet, but not affiliated with either of these movies, such as Richard Gere, were not on the list.

The list is another indicator contradicting China's recent statements that it welcomes closer relations with Disney. The list was posted at the main China International Travel Service (CITS) office in Lhasa. CITS is a large state-run travel agency which issues letters that travelers need to obtain visas from Chinese embassies and consulates. Without such a letter, embassies and consulates will not normally issue visas valid for Tibet.

While the threat against Disney provoked widespread denunciation, China's detention of a Tibetan film maker working on a low-budget documentary received little international outcry. Ngawang Choephel, a Fulbright scholar who had studied at Middlebury College in Vermont was missing since last year until the Chinese embassy, responding to pressure, acknowledged they were holding him. Mr. Choephel was making a documentary about traditional Tibetan song and dance. Goldie Hawn and Peter Coyote helped to produce a short video highlighting the arrest of Mr. Choephel using some of the footage he had shot prior to his arrest. Mr. Choephel, who has not yet been tried, may face many years in prison on trumped up national security charges.

"These developments show the extent China will go to keep atrocities in Tibet from world attention, and controlling films is key to this" said John Ackerly, director of the International Campaign for Tibet.

As the crackdown against monasteries intensified this year, China also clamped down on tourism, particularly individual tourists. According to official figures, 30,000 visitors went to Tibet in 1995, including many Hong Kong Chinese, though China is trying to keep them on group tours, accompanied by a guide and translator.

Both of the films being released next year, "Kundun" and "Seven Years in Tibet," applied for permission to shoot in Tibet but were denied. Chinese officials apparently want to prevent actors, directors and writers from visiting Tibet individually, although several of them, including Harrison and Melissa Ford have already traveled to Tibet. There have also been reports of a number of film crews entering Tibet this year posing as tourists, a venture which would only get Westerners expelled, but could have extremely grave implications for any Tibetans involved. In recent years, careless or overzealous tourists and reporters have been partially responsible for the arrests of a number of Tibetans. Almost all Tibetans are subject to torture in prison facilities.

Tibet was closed to tourists until the early 1980s, and remains the only provincial-level area which is still highly restricted and requires special permits in addition to a Chinese visa to visit. Tourists suspected of having any significant, non-supervised contact with Tibetans are subject to surveillance. A few high profile incidents with tourists recently include:

*Karen and Karl Aderer, American tourists from Louisiana were detained and expelled for giving a cassette tape of Buddhist teachings to a monk in the town of Shigatse.

*A 41 year-old American woman from Chicago was strip searched at the airport and had her film and letters from Tibetans confiscated. Several Tibetans were later arrested as a result.

Guy Cotter, an New Zealand tourist was detained and expelled for sending a fax to his wife in which he mentioned that he thought he had heard a bomb go off somewhere in Lhasa.