Speech by Thubten Jigme Norbu March 10, 1997

The PRC Consulate Toronto, Canada

Greetings and a warm welcome to all of you! It is a great pleasure to see both familiar faces and new faces today as we prepare to set out once more on a walk for Tibet's independence. This is a very serious issue: I am sure I do not have to tell you about this. But I think most of you can detect a sense of happy anticipation in many of us as we get ready to walk to New York City.

I cannot deny that those of us who have been on the two previous walks, from Bloomington to Indianapolis, and from Washington, D.C. to New York, have developed a friendly spirit that thrives on the challenge of finishing such a long journey by foot. And this year, we intend to make our longest journey yet, and the first one that will take us across an international border.

Every time we have undertaken one of these walks, we have finished with a happier spirit and more fit body. After all, this sort of adventure is guaranteed to put anyone in better shape than they have been for years! And, there is a true sense of accomplishment when you find out that Tibet has more friends than any of us had previously imagined. Every time we have made this trip, we have helped to generate just a little bit more attention for the issue of Tibet and pressure for the recognition of the just aspirations of the Tibetan people. This alone has made our efforts worthwhile.

Still, even though we approach this walk with enthusiasm and good spirits we must always bear in mind the serious purpose that has brought us here. This is the cause of Tibet. More importantly, it is the cause of Tibet as determined by the Tibetan people. This means we are walking for Tibet's independence; a desire that people in Tibet are tortured and murdered for even as we speak. We are not walking for a token "autonomy" that some politicians think is all that the Tibetan people need or want. Nor are we walking for a solution to the tragedy in Tibet that we alone think is fitting. We are walking in solidarity with Tibetans in Tibet, supporting what they want. This makes our task that much more difficult, for certainly there are politicians who will say that independence for Tibet is unrealistic. But, we know that there always have been politicians for whom justice, human rights, and self- determination are inconvenient and unrealistic. And so too, there always have been people willing to fight the hard fi

ght simply because there was no other way. That is the case with the Tibetan people. For us Tibetans, there is no other way, for we cannot sit idly by while our country is given piece by piece to Chinese settlers who destroy our environment, undermine our culture, and attempt to cover our land with a crude Chinese mask. Nor can we sit idly by while Tibetans are suffering in prisons and labor camps for the simple crime of standing up for their country and their fellow Tibetans.

We who live outside Tibet have a special responsibility in this. We have the right to speak out and to act on behalf of the millions of Tibetans who remain silenced by China's dictatorship. Here we are, in front of China's Consulate, just as we have been planning for the past year. It is fitting and appropriate that we begin our walk here, because the tragedy of Tibet is not the result of some sort of regrettable natural catastrophe. It is not the result of events for which no one is to blame. The Tibet tragedy is the result of aggressive and murderous policies planned by The People's Republic of China and implemented up to the present with the sole aim of destroying Tibet as a distinct country and a distinct civilization. It sometimes happens in history that peoples clash over issues where both sides think they are right and where a resolution is not easy. This is not the case with China's invasion of Tibet. China was clearly the aggressor. And China's continued occupation of Tibet, after carrying out polic

ies that have left more than a million Tibetans dead, is a clear case of ongoing injustice and brutality.

China has also brutally destroyed the culture, environment, and people of Eastern Turkistan and Southern Mongolia and it will definitely do the same to Hong Kong and Taiwan if we just stand by and watch. Our brothers and sisters in these countries are experiencing the same torture and destruction as we have. We cannot ignore this and be quiet. We all have the responsibility to fight for their freedom, independence, and democracy. Therefore, joining us on this walk will be representatives from these countries sharing their desire for independence and peace. I deeply ask each of you to speak out for the desire's of these people. We cannot have true cooperation and respect between all the countries in Asia, until each of these countries gain independence.

Just as we are setting out on this walk to publicize the plight of Tibet to the people of North America, so too we are gathered in front of China's Consulate to let those who work inside this building know that China's crimes in Tibet will not vanish from the pages of history. More and more peoples and nations who paid little attention to Tibet previously are now aware of what a grave injustice has been done there. So too, China can no longer escape blame for the crimes which it has committed in Tibet. These crimes have been unprovoked, for all that we Tibetans have ever wanted was to live peacefully and in harmony with our neighbors. We have had no desire to take our neighbors' land; but clearly we have been the object of aggression from our large neighbor to the east.

So let us begin our walk for justice here. And, as we depart let me ask two questions of everyone working inside this Consulate listening to us and taking our photographs: Do you truly want to see China's name forever linked to one of the greatest tragedies of our time? And second, do you personally want to be remembered as someone who served the cause of injustice, aggression, and murder?

We are gathered here today to undertake a dramatic action that will let many people know not only that there is a deep tragedy taking place in Tibet as we speak, but also that this is a tragedy that people outside of China must act to halt. So please join with me now as we begin this walk for freedom. Let us all work together to bring to Canada and the United States a message that cannot be uttered out loud in Tibet, even though it is firmly rooted in the hearts of all Tibetans: Tibet must be free and independent. On our march, we will be walking with these brave Tibetans, and with all Tibetans who are struggling to free our homeland. And in our hearts we will keep walking with them until Tibet is free and independent.

Bod Rgyal-lo!