Millions of signatures to pressure Beijing to open talks with the Dalai Lama
Beijing (AsiaNews) - A global day of action for Tibet is being held in India and the world today. In more than 63 cities all over the world, pro-Tibet activists are presenting authorities, in China and elsewhere, with a petition asking for talks to be opened with the Dalai Lama. The petition has gathered more than 1.35 million signatures online in one week, a result never seen before (the petition is at www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence). Meanwhile, Beijing, concerned about the growing worldwide protests, is looking for international help and "threatening" the European Union.
Dhondup Dorjee, vice president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, tells AsiaNews that "on March 31, thousands of people in cities across the world will march to Chinese embassies and consulates, and stack hundreds of boxes containing our petitions outside them". There will be more than 100 boxes, each with 10,000 signatures. They are also asking that Tibet be left off the itinerary of the Olympic torch.
In New Delhi, there was a mass demonstration in Jantar Mantar, in conjunction with the arrival of the torch in Beijing, with protests and moments of prayer to remember the repression taking place.
Meanwhile, more than 150 pro-Tibet groups have asked Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, to remove the Tibetan areas from the torch's path. Some of the sponsors - like Coca-Cola, Lenovo, and Samsung - have been asked to withdraw if Tibet is not removed from the itinerary.
Beijing appears concerned over the growing international pressure, and yesterday vice foreign minister Dai Bingguo asked India to continue explaining and supporting China's actions.
But the tone toward the European Union has been violent. Today Jiang Yu, spokesman of the foreign minister, expressed "strong disappointment" over the fact that the 27 EU foreign ministers have dared to discuss actions over the Tibetan protests. He reminded the importunate EU that "the Tibet issue is completely China's internal affair. No foreign countries or international organisations have the right to interfere in it". Jiang warns that "any rational person would refrain from risking antagonising one-fourth of the world's population".
Nepal is certainly not running that risk. Yesterday, the police there beat pro-Tibet demonstrators gathered outside the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu (a young woman and a monk are in the hospital with serious injuries), and arrested more than 100 of them, in spite of protests from the UN, according to which such mass arrests violate the right to assemble and demonstrate.
Meanwhile, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, in response to the appeal for dialogue issued by the Dalai Lama last March 29, responded today that "the door for dialogue is always open, on the condition that the Dalai Lama renounce requests for independence, and recognize that Tibet and Taiwan are inseparable parts of the Chinese territory". The Dalai Lama has been saying for years that he is not asking for the separation of Tibet, and Wen did not comment on the denunciation that a human and cultural genocide is taking place in Tibet. The Dalai Lama also hypothesized that the violence in Lhasa was unleashed by Chinese policeman dressed as Buddhist monks, in order to justify the subsequent repression. "The Tibetan population", he said, "is nonviolent. I am reminded of what happened in 1959. In a photograph, a Lama is holding a sword, but it is not a traditional Tibetan sword. We know that a few hundred soldiers have dressed as monks".
Meanwhile, in Lhasa, isolated from the world, news sent by mobile phone text message speak of sudden police raids that cause scenes of panic. Beijing has "removed" Danzeng Langjie, director of the Tibetan Autonomous Region's Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee, and other high officials.
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