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US lawmakers lead support for Tibet on uprising anniversary

AFP

A Tibetan activist wears a button during a rally on “free Tibet” at the Lafayette Square, north of the White House. US lawmakers and Hollywood actor Richard Gere have led pledges of support for Tibet to mark Tuesday’s 50th anniversary of the uprising that forced the Dalai Lama to flee.AFP/Alex Wong/US

US lawmakers and Hollywood actor Richard Gere have led pledges of support for Tibet to mark Tuesday’s 50th anniversary of the uprising that forced the Dalai Lama to flee.

In the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, the junior governing coalition Greens also hung the Tibetan flag at the parliament building despite warnings from diplomats ahead of a planned EU-China summit in Prague in May.

Another flag was hoisted at the environment ministry, led by Greens chairman Martin Bursik, and Green Education Minister Ondrej Liska planned to follow suit.

“While we are presiding over the EU… civil and human rights including the freedom of speech, the press and movement and the right to a fair trial are still violated in Tibet,” Bursik told Tuesday’s edition of the DNES daily.

Elsewhere, Tibetan flags were on display at hundreds of town halls and other government institutions throughout the country.

Flags were also hoisted at 190 town halls in Austria and 120 town halls and official buildings in Switzerland.

In the United States, a lawmaker on Monday introduced a resolution to Congress that would urge China to end its “repression” of the Himalayan region.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime supporter of Tibet, vowed that Congress would “overwhelmingly” approve the bill on Tuesday.

“If freedom-loving people do not speak out for human rights in China and Tibet, then we lose the moral authority to talk about it in any other place in the world,” she said to loud applause.

In Lafayette Park facing the White House, hundreds of exiles holding Tibetan and US flags bowed their heads in prayer.

The protesters marched to the Chinese embassy joined by one of China’s most famous dissidents, Wei Jingsheng, who has questioned historical claims to Tibet put forward by his country’s leaders.

“The Tibetans have been deprived of their right to protest but we can see that they are very strong,” Wei told AFP.

China, however, rejected the US resolution and called for it to be withdrawn.

“We express serious concern over this… we believe the US Congress resolution proposed by a few anti-China representatives disregards the history and reality of Tibet,” foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu on Tuesday told reporters in Beijing.

Ma also described critical comments by Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, as “lies” and insisted the Himalayan region had enjoyed profound democratic reforms under Chinese rule.

“I will not respond to the Dalai Lama’s lies,” the spokesman said following his comments that the Chinese authorities had brought “hell on earth” to Tibetans.

Actor and activist Richard Gere, meanwhile, lobbied members of Congress to speak out about Tibet. China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi is visiting Washington this week.

Gere, a Buddhist, said on the eve of the anniversary he hoped Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “misspoke” last month when she said that human rights would take a back seat to Washington and Beijing working together on fighting the economic crisis and other issues.

“For the good of America — for Americans as well as the rest of the world — you have to say what you stand for,” Gere told AFP.

Amnesty International said last week it would ask the Czech EU presidency to bring up human rights in Tibet at the EU-China summit. The organisation planned to officially raise the issue with the government later Tuesday.

A rally in support of Tibet was scheduled to take place outside the Chinese embassy in Prague later.

Copyright © 2009 AFP

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