)La Presse, page A6
Montreal, April 6, 1997
The hotel chain collaborates with Chinese repression in Tibet
For tourists passing through Lhasa, Tibet's capital city, it is best not to talk about politics. Chinese police are watching and foreigners should not let their interest go beyond the exotic local culture.
It was to denounce the "direct cooperation" between the Holiday Inn and the Chinese government that about 60 people including Tibetan refugees living in Quebec, demonstrated peacefully yesterday afternoon in front of the Holiday Inn on Sherbrooke street in Montreal.
Demonstrations were held in other North American cities as well, all to launch a boycott against the American chain which is accused of closing its eyes to the political repression which takes place in its hotel in Lhasa.
"The Chinese police watch the tourists at Holiday Inn and even search their rooms and tap their telephones" said Lara Braitstein of the Canada Tibet Committee, main organizer of the demonstration.
To support her claim, Ms. Braitstein cites the case of a New Zealand tourist who was detained and expelled from Tibet for sending a fax from the hotel to his wife, providing information about a demonstration in Lhasa. Also, a hotel tourist guide was arrested in 1993 for "stealing state secrets", because he wanted to pass on a list of political prisoners to a visiting delegation of European ambassadors.
"We hoped to convince the Holiday Inn to pull out of Tibet, but they told us that the hotel is run according to company normes and that it has a positive impact on Tibetans" said Ms. Braitstein.
The problem is that the hotel seems to profit from its business with China, which has governed Tibet with an iron hand ever since its annexation by force after World War 11.
"When the Lhasa hotel opened in 1986, Holdiay Inn was in partnership with the government of China and since then a major part of its profits have gone to the government, supporting its repression of Tibet" added Ms. Braitstein while hotel security filmed her and the other demonstrators.
The management of the Montreal hotel refused to comment and the public relations department of the head office in Atlanta did not return calls from La Presse.
The interest in tourism shown by Chinese authorities is easy to understand. "It is very difficult to learn about what is happening in Tibet, and the only way to get news is from tourists who can take photos" said Urgyen Wangyal a young Tibetan refugee from northern India who is currently on a cultural exchange programme in Quebec.
"When I call my brothers and sisters in Tibet, we avoid politics and simply talk about our health" said Yeshi, one of 80 Tibetan refugees who live in Quebec. "They can't talk about what they are living through, so we do it for them".
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photo - young girl with Tibetan flag caption - The one hour demonstration was in support of a boycott of Holiday Inn, accused of collaborating with Chinese repression in Tibet.
