EUROPEAN UNION -- VIETNAM
The European Parliament approved for the first time a resolution condemning the very serious violations of human rights in Vietnam and inviting the Vietnamese authorities to proceed rapidly with reforms and with the task of building a government of laws. The resolution introduced by the ARE Group was supported by the PPE, Liberal, UPE and EDN groups, as well as by the Greens. The socialist group and the communist group voted against the resolution.
* Statement by Oliver Dupuis, European Deputy and Secretary of the Radical Party
"By the adoption of this resolution, the European Parliament finally is breaking a long, shameful and compromising silence with respect to a country that remains one of the last fiercely totalitarian governments on the planet. It is an initiative that the socialist and communist groups opposed. I deplore that fact, even if it does not surprise me. What can now be observed, from China to Cuba, from Inner Mongolia to Eastern Turkestan, from North Korea to Vietnam, is unfortunately a consolidated attitude on the part of these two groups."
FRANCE -- THE MARCH OF THE TIGER
The CFTL, a French coalition coordinating the efforts of 13 groups supporting Tibet, broadcast a call to mobilization for the March of the Tiger for Tibet's freedom. The march will proceed from Marseilles to Lyons over a route of 350 km. It will begin on 2 October, the anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, and will end three weeks later on 24 October, the anniversary of the birth of Alexandra David Neel. For further information, please visit Internet site:
http: //perso.infonie.fr/lamamarchedutigre
INTERNET -- CHINESE LIBERATION ARMY
On 26 June, Chinese President Jiang Zemin launched one of the most problematic of reforms, i.e. reform of the armed forces. The People's Liberation Army is an industrial, commercial and financial colossus: it controls more than 15 000 businesses whose annual turnover exceeds $10 billion, ranging from baseball teams to karaoke clubs. To find out more and to learn about the western interlocutors of the Chinese armed forces, the "Laogai Research Foundation" and the "Food and Allied Service Trades Department" have created a website on this "financial empire".
http://www.churchward.com/cpla/
SWITZERLAND -- STFA
The Swiss Tibetan Friendship Association of Zurich has elected new Association officers. The new President is Marianne Gubler and the Vice-President is Losang Manto. We wish them, as well as outgoing President Lobsang Gangshontsang, our wholehearted encouragement on behalf of the "China-Tibet Fax" editorial staff.
(Published by DEMOCRACY IN CHINA/FREEDOM FOR TIBET ! - Number 74 - 15 August, 1998)
