Rutland Herald, Vermont. January 16, 1997

by Jon Barlow

Last week, China sentenced a friend of Vermont's, Ngawang Choephel, to 18 years in jail. A good friend of mine from Middlebury College, he was arrested while making an amateur documentary video about traditional Tibetan song and dance. His case deserves an immediate and strong denouncement from our Government. Yet, despite strong advocacy from Vermont's Congressmen, the Clinton Administration has all but abandoned my friend.

Ngawang is a Tibetan refugee who fled the violent and repressive Chinese occupation of Tibet. In exile, he studied and performed the music of his homeland for at least fifteen of his thirty years. In 1993, Ngawang won the Congressionally awarded Fulbright Scholarship to attend Middlebury College. I met Ngawang there during my sophomore year. Eager to improve his conversational English, we scheduled times to meet and talk, and we quickly became friends. I was drawn to his enthusiasm for learning and his dedication to the music of his people.

At the College, he diligently studied western musical notation, the piano, and film-making, skills he utilized during the summer of 1995 to document the eroding artistic traditions inside his invaded Himalayan home.

The Chinese government arrested him in September of that year. Since then, Ngawang languishes in prison. The thought of his situation both angers and sickens me.

Since last February I have worked to learn of Ngawang's whereabouts, his condition, the charges against him and his legal status. I have contacted all levels of the U.S. government, and at times I have been heartened by their efforts for Ngawang. While the Vermont Congressional delegation has been exceptionally adamant about Ngawang's unconditional release, the State Department produces weak statements, which express only their "concern" for Ngawang's plight. In the meantime, President Clinton welcomed Chi Haotian, China's Defense Minister and perpetrator of heinous crimes against Tibetans, to Washington where the President pampered him with promises of more trade and increased wealth.

Hundreds of Vermonters have rallied in support of Ngawang. The Middlebury College faculty and student body have sent thousands of letters to Chinese and U.S. officials and will continue to fight adamantly for Ngawang's freedom. Our Congressmen have heard this popular call and answered with positive action. Congressman Sanders initiated a letter in the House of Representatives and got fifty of his colleague's signatures. Senator Jeffords, after learning of Ngawang's charges, worked hard to find out evidence of his "crimes" from the Chinese. And Senator Leahy, during his recent visit to China, relentlessly raised Ngawang's case with all levels of the Chinese government, including President Jiang Zemin. These are only a few highlights of Vermonter's campaigns for Ngawang, a campaign that must continue.

Although Ngawang is imprisoned in a distant country, there are a number of things we must demand from our politicians here. For example, Vice President Gore should postpone his trip to China until real progress is made toward Ngawang's release;

The Vermont State Legislature should pass a resolution demanding Ngawang's release;

All New England Congressional delegations should join with the Vermont delegation to demand Ngawang's release.

While Ngawang Choephel is just one of many prisoners in China today, he has touched the hearts of many people in our state. He is a symbol of the thousands of prisoners whose situation demands that President Clinton rethink his China policy. The President cannot continue to roll out the red carpet for Chinese military figures and Communist Party officials, while turning his back on scholars like Ngawang and citizens like myself who want freedom and democracy in China and Tibet.

In 1990, I personally witnessed the martial law, fear and repression endured by Tibetans in Tibet. I was sixteen. Few Americans knew much about Tibet back then, but today our people and our government know much more about the brutality of China's occupation of Tibet. It's time this country take a stand on the right side of this issue. Ngawang Choephel, a man who enriched the Champlain Valley with his gentle and lighthearted nature, is the place to start.

John Barlow is a senior at Middlebury College.