re europe tibet solidarity, soon bu

[cd@xxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: re europe tibet solidarity, soon burma

For those following Tibet and Burma, perhaps in not too long a time the 
outpouring of solidarity we see here in europe for Tibet will also 
embrace Burma. We think so, and are working to bring that about, in good 
time. Free Burma. (Ps, perhaps, but hard to believe the youngest 
political prisoner in the world is the six year old lama, but surely the 
most famous.) dawn star, Z,  post if you like, thanks ds


Date: Mon, 11 Mar 96 17:28:31 EST
Subject: Europeans march for Tibet's freedom

By LUKE HILL
   BRUSSELS, March 10 (UPI) -- More than 3,000 people demonstrated in 
front
of the Chinese Embassy in Brussels Sunday in a call for 
Tibetanindependence 
and an end to human rights violations by the Chinese, who have
occupied the Himalayan country since 1950.

   The demonstrators, marking the 37th anniversary of the unsuccessful
Tibetan uprising on March 10, 1959, heard speakers say atrocities 
committed
by Chinese authorities in Tibet were on the rise, in parallel with
increased pressure by Beijing on Hong Kong and Taiwan.

   "We are calling on China to stop violating human rights, to stop the
oppression, the environmental degradation and economic exploitation of
Tibet," said Professor Samdhong Rinpoche, leader of the Tibetan 
parliament in exile.

   After trying unsuccessfully to deliver a letter to the Chinese 
Embassy,
where officials watched the crowd through windows behind well- manned
Belgian police barricades, the demonstrators marched through Brussels to
the European Parliament.

   There they were addressed by several European MPs as well as by Emma
Bonino, the European commissioner for humanitarian affairs, who spoke in 
an
unofficial capacity, thanking the participants for their show of 
solidarity.
  
 Organizers of the demonstration, which drew participants from France,
Italy, Germany and Hungary, called on Western governments and those  "who
care about human rights and human dignity" to put pressure on China to
negotiate with the dalai lama, spiritual leader of Tibet.

   In an interview, Samdhong said it was unfortunate the Europeans did 
not
raise human rights issues during the recent EU-Asia summit in Bangkok
designed to increase political and economic relations between the two 
continents.

   "Apparently human rights have become negotiable but trade is not 
negotiable," he said.
   He noted with dismay the acceleration in the past several years of
increased Chinese industrialization and "sinosation" of Tibet, bringing 
in
Chinese immigrants and reducing the proportion of native Tibetans.

   "This will turn the Tibetans into a powerless minority and make them
strangers in their own land," he said.

   The demonstrators denounced the house arrest of the 6-year-old pachen
lama, the second most important religious figure in Tibet who was hand-
picked by the dalai lama, according to Tibetan custom.

   Last November, seven months after the choice was made, Chinese
authorities installed their own 6-year-old candidate for the pachen lama
position and subsequently placed the dalai lama's choice, Gendun Choekyi
Nyima, under house arrest along with his parents and 50 monks and laymen 
in his entourage.

   "They have taken this 6-year-old boy and made him the youngest 
political
prisoner in the world," Samdhong said.

   The professor said Tibetan culture is being eliminated by the Chinese
out of their communist belief in military supremacy of Asia.  "China 
still thinks it must 
be in charge of liberating the world," he said, and that control of Tibet 
gives China an edge
 for supremacy in Asia over its major competitor, India.
  
 In a message read to the gathering from the dalai lama, the spiritual
leader warned of a "hardening policy from China and increased militancy
toward Hong Kong and Taiwan."

   "China has once again showed total disregard for the sentiments of the
Tibetan people," he said. Noting that official Chinese media have likened 
conditions in 
Tibet to the Polish Solidarity movement in the early 1980's, the dalai 
lama said
this has raised fears among authorities.

   However, he repeated his oft-prescribed path of non-violence and said
the current dark days are merely a sign that democratic sentiment is 
alive
and growing in China. "The Taiwan election will have a tremendous 
transforming
 effect on the mainland," he predicted.