World Tibet Network News Saturday, May 2, 1998

WASHINGTON, Thursday April 30 (Reuters) - The Chinese Embassy demanded the cancellation of a scheduled Washington premiere Thursday night of "Windhorse," a film partly shot clandestinely in Tibet.

Calling it an obvious attempt to smear China's policy toward the Himalayan region, Li Gang, the embassy's minister-counselor for cultural affairs, said the film would not help Americans develop a "fair understanding" of Tibet. Chinese forces marched into Tibet in large numbers in 1950.

"This embassy ... demands that this film be withdrawn" from Filmfest DC, the Washington International Film Festival, Li wrote in a letter to festival director Anthony Gittens.

Paul Wagner, the Academy Award winner who directed "Windhorse," said through a spokeswoman he had no intention of bowing to the Chinese demand. The film was slated to be shown at the American Film Institute theater in the Kennedy Center.

The tussle over it erupted as the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual and political leader, began a U.S. tour in New York.

He is seeking to boost public awareness of the Tibetan situation before President Clinton visits Beijing for talks with President Jiang Zemin at the end of June.

Wagner has described "Windhorse" as a kind of sequel to "Seven Years in Tibet" and "Kundun," two recent Hollywood productions that angered Beijing. "Windhorse" picks up Tibet's story in 1996.