Posts Tagged ‘free tibet’

Protest against “Tibet -Treasure from the Roof of the World” exhibit

The exhibition, “Tibet: Treasure from the Roof of the World,” has been traveling throughout the world since 2004 and now it has been exhibiting in Japan. This exhibition does not present the accurate modern history and culture of Tibet. Our aim is to let the world know that this exhibition is a collection of stolen treasure that is organized by the Chinese govenment who has been trying to justify the Chinese rule in Tibet.

The activists wanted the exhibit to include information about the Chinese conquest and occupation of Tibet, but their request was rejected. Exhibition committee representative Taisuke Tsurumaki told activists that, “There is no such a thing as ‘Tibetan person.’ There is a Tibetan tribe (in China).”

[via FG]

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Zenkoji temple receives gift from Dalai Lama

An update about Zenkoji temple, which was mentioned in a couple Japan Probe posts earlier this year about the Olympic torch relay in Nagano:

A priest at Nagano’s Zenkoji temple displays a gift from the Dalai Lama–presented by the Tibetan spiritual leader at a Nov. 6 meeting in Tokyo–to acknowledge the temple’s support prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Zenkoji in April withdrew from its planned role as starting point for the Japan leg of the Olympic torch relay, citing China’s crackdown on Tibetan protesters.

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China deports Japanese ‘Free Tibet’ protester

It should come as no shock that a Japanese citizen who took part in a Pro-Tibetan protest in Beijing has been detained and deported:

A Japanese pro-Tibetan independence protester detained by Chinese authorities for demonstrating in Beijing was deported from China early Thursday, Japanese Embassy officials said.

Beijing’s Public Security Bureau notified the Japanese Embassy in the capital that Pema Yoko, a 25-year-old Londoner born to a Tibetan father and a Japanese mother, left here on a plane bound for a European destination, they said.

Seven American citizens were also detained and deported for participating in the protest. Chinese police also attacked and detained an ITN journalist who had been at the scene reporting. The international press has reported that the Chinese government has also been turning down all applications for demonstrations, despite previous claims that such activities would be allowed during the Olympics in several designated “protest zones” in Beijing.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo a crazy right winger was arrested for swinging around a sword in front of the U.S. Embassy. He also threw a message bottle “to send a protest to the US president” about America’s North Korea policy.

President Hu Jintao visits Japan, Pro-Tibetan rally held in Tokyo

The story as the Japan Times reported it:

A pro-Tibetan organization staged a rally and a street demonstration Tuesday in Tokyo — timed to coincide with Chinese President Hu Jintao’s arrival in Japan for a state visit — calling on the Chinese government to stop its oppression of Tibetans and to seek a peaceful resolution of Tibetan issues.

The Save Tibet Network, based in Tokyo, said the event in Shinjuku Ward drew about 1,300 people
“We gathered here to vent our soulful, angry and true call to Hu Jintao, to have China reverse its erroneous policy to rule Tibet for 50 years, and call on China to peacefully resolve Tibetan issues,” said former lawmaker Seishu Makino, chairman of the Save Tibet Network.

In the rally, the participants offered a minute of silent prayer for those who died in the Chinese crackdown on the unrest in Tibet in March and watched a short video on Tibetan history. It also included remarks by the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetans.

Also among the participants were Chinese journalist Wang Jinzhong, who is seeking the democratization of China, and Karma Chopel, chairman of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile….

Many videos of the rally have been uploaded to YouTube.

A Preview Of Tomorrow’s Olympic Torch Relay

The Olympic torch has arrived in Japan, and a few protests have already taken place:

As torch-bearers rolled into Nagano, hundreds of Falun Gong supporters marched with a loud brass band through the city’s streets to condemn China’s leadership, which considers the spiritual movement an “evil cult.”

“Stop the mass murder by the Chinese Communist Party,” read a banner held by marchers in yellow Falun Gong T-shirts, who were closely watched by dozens of police.

Separately, at least two demonstrators unfurled Tibetan flags as the Chinese torch delegation stopped at a highway rest area on its way to Nagano, 180 kilometres (110 miles) north of Tokyo.

Japanese authorities have decided to ban the public from the start, midpoint and end of tomorrow’s relay, citing security concerns. About 3,000 policemen will provide security along the route and a group of about 100 police will run together with the torch bearers. Two Chinese paramilitary guards will accompany the torch as “attendants” and have agreed not to act as security.

Below are a some computer-generated examples of what the relay should look like:

CCTV, a state-controlled Chinese news outlet, reports that 10,000 Chinese will be in Nagano tomorrow to witness the relay. If such numbers are accurate, the torch runners shouldn’t expect much trouble, as the pro-Chinese crowds will likely block and intimidate protesters as their countrymen did in Australia.

Chinese Ultra-Nationalist Website Warns Japan: No Torch Protests

With thousands of Chinese taking to the streets in angry anti-French protests over “unfair” media coverage and the fact that some French people protested the Olympic torch relay, the Yomiuri Shinbun reports that Chinese ultra-nationalist websites are threatening to direct “patriotic” rage against Japan if protests get in the way of Chinese honor at the April 26th Nagano torch relay:

“Reaction [in China to protests in Japan] would be huge in comparison to the reaction against protests in France,” in which Web sites called for a boycott of French products sold at Carrefour stores, an international issue expert said, pointing out that negative feelings toward Japan remain strong in China due to historical issues.

A man in his 30s who runs a Web site that is popular with many Chinese “patriots,” told The Yomiuri Shimbun, “Chinese people won’t forgive [Japan] if the Japanese do the same things as the Americans and Europeans, such as making distorted reports about the Tibet issue.”