By Jackie Frank
WASHINGTON, June 15 (Reuters) - Chanting ``Free Tibet,'' thousands of pro-Tibetan activists joined rock stars, movie stars and legislators at a Capitol rally on Monday designed to pressure President Bill Clinton to raise the issue with Chinese leaders. Whether Clinton heard their concerns -- or their boos when it was announced he would not meet with pro-Tibetan musicians Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys, R.E.M., and Dave Matthews -- will not be known until the president sits down with Chinese leader Jiang Zemin this month. ``I don't know if us meeting with him would have made a difference. The Tibet issue is not that important to him ... He is clearly putting big business ahead of human rights,'' Yauch told reporters.
Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, a supporter of several resolutions before Congress condemning China's human rights abuses, called Clinton's promise to discuss Tibet ``too meagre.'' ``They have got to talk about freedom of political prisoners and justice,'' she said. Pelosi did not spare House and Senate Republican leaders either, saying they had ``taken hypocrisy to a new level'' by declining to tie renewal of Most Favoured Nation trading status for China -- normal trading relations-- to human rights and Tibet. Activists hope Clinton will press China to set a date for negotiations on Tibet which would include the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual and political leader of the country he fled in 1959.
The Dalai Lama has called for a ``mutually agreeable'' solution which would include autonomy for Tibet, but not complete independence from Beijing. Actor Richard Gere, chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet, said he felt the change in China's leadership gave negotiations on Tibetan autonomy a good chance of success, particularly if it includes the Dalai Lama's autonomy plan. ``We're dealing with different people in China now. We're dealing with businessmen ... It is bad business for Corporation China to have these problems in Tibet,'' he told reporters. The rally, legislation pending in Congress, and other pro-Tibetan activities over the past few years have shown to Chinese leaders, including President Jiang Zemin, the public support for Tibet. Republican Christopher Cox of California, sponsor of a resolution urging Beijing to enter talks with the Dalai Lama, noted that his visa to visit Tibet in July was revoked two days after the measure passed the House.
``He must insist that the leadership of the United States is not to be treated this way,'' Cox said in his address. While China says Tibet has progressed in the four decades it has controlled the Himalayan region, the United States says it commits serious human rights abuses and has expressed concern about China's controls on religion, the influx of Chinese and illiteracy rates among Tibetans. The pro-Tibetan groups accused the Chinese of far worse, including forced sterilisations and abortions which Drs. John Ackerly and Blake Kerr said they were told of during recent visits. The rally was part of the National Day of Action for Tibet in which several organisations brought supporters to Washington to lobby Congress on human rights and political freedom for the mountain country.
It was organised by the International Campaign for Tibet, the Milarepa Fund set up by Yauch, and the Students for a Free Tibet and caps off a three-day focus on Tibet in Washington.The third annual Tibetan Freedom Concert held Saturday and Sunday drew over 100,000 to two concerts which raised money for Tibetan causes. Performers included R.E.M., Sean Lennon son of the late John Lennon, Radiohead, and David Crosby who told Reuters he was on an East Coast concert tour and decided to play at the rally. ``I'm unwilling to sit down and shut up,'' he said and plans to become involved in the pro-Tibet movement.
