Tibetan Uprising

Introduction

The Tibetan people stand today at an important crossroad as two historic moments approach; the Beijing 2008 Olympics in China and the 50th commemoration of the March 1959 uprising against China’s occupation of Tibet on 10th March 2009. The Chinese government is attempting to use the Olympic Games as a platform to gain acceptance as a global leader and to promote its propaganda on Tibet. Beijing sees this moment as an opportunity to legitimize its rule in Tibet once and for all.
The Olympics will take place just months before Tibetans mark 50 years since His Holiness the Dalai Lama and tens of thousands of Tibetans were forced to escape Tibet and Chinese troops violently crushed the popular uprising in Lhasa and across the country.
Since 1959, more than 1 million Tibetans have died as a direct result of China’s occupation. At this critical time - as the Chinese leadership wages an unrelenting war on Tibetan religion, culture and the race; with drastic increase of Chinese population transfer into Tibet - the very survival of Tibetans as a people is at stake.

Beginning 10th of March this year, a series of massive demonstrations rocked the entire Tibet plateau, effectively presenting the Tibetan people’s deep-rooted resentment against the Chinese colonial policies and rule and a strong aspiration for independence. The uprising also showed the unified face of the Tibetan people as a cohesive force in resisting Chinese communist regime and further endorsed the nonviolent fabric of the Tibetan struggle.

China, however, retaliated against the peaceful protesters with violent crackdown and repression accompanied by mass scale arrests, beating, torture and killings. So far, it is estimated that over 6000 Tibetans have been arrested and put under arbitrary detention, more than 250 killed, over thousands injured and thousands more missing. The Chinese security personals continue to use torture to obtain ‘confession’ and have imposed long prison terms. Following the massive crackdown, China spearhead a fierce propaganda campaign against Tibetans worldwide, condemning and blaming the protesters as rioters by presenting distorted and fake evidences that nonetheless, received no global acceptance.

In the absence of international media and independent observers, the situation continues to remain critical for Tibetans inside Tibet.
The post Olympic situation inside Tibet demands great concern and attention as recent internal party documents have revealed the Communist Party’s designs of unleashing a Mao-era policy of a second cultural revolution. China’s plan of a post-Olympics harsh political repression in Tibet was resonated by Zhang Qingli, the hard-line party secretary of Tibet Autonomous Region, when he publicly declared during the Olympic torch parade in Lhasa on June 21 that he will “totally smash” the Dalai Lama “clique”.
Outside Tibet in exile, through a unified and coordinated resistance movement, Tibetans have strongly proclaimed to the Chinese and to the world that the desire for freedom still burns in the heart of every Tibetan, both inside Tibet and in exile. In particular, Tibetans in exile boldly demonstrated that even after 50 years, we long to return to our homeland by organizing a return march from exile in India back home to Tibet that greatly succeeded in reviving the spirit of the 1959 Uprising.
For the Tibetans, the 2008 Beijing Olympics will mark the culmination of almost 50 years of Tibetan resistance in exile. We will use this historic moment to reinvigorate the Tibetan freedom movement and bring our exile struggle for freedom back to Tibet.

Through tireless work and an unwavering commitment to truth and justice, we will bring about another uprising that will shake China’s control in Tibet and mark the beginning of the end of China’s occupation.

DECLARATION

In the spirit of the 1959 Uprising and in memory of all the courageous Tibetans who sacrificed their lives for Tibet’s independence and continue to resist China’s tyrannical rule, Tibetans in exile have launched Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement.
The Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement is a global movement of Tibetans inside and outside of Tibet taking control of our political destiny by engaging in direct action to end China’s illegal and brutal occupation of our country. Through unified and strategic campaigns we will seize the Olympic spotlight and shine it on China’s shameful repression inside Tibet, thereby denying China the international acceptance and approval it so fervently desires.
We call on Tibetans inside Tibet to continue to fight Chinese domination and pledge our unwavering support for your continued courageous resistance. We call on Tibetans in exile and supporters in the free world to take every opportunity during the forthcoming Olympic Games to address the ongoing repression and crackdown unleashed by the China’s Communist Government in Tibet and support the Tibetan people’s struggle for freedom and justice.

DEMANDS

As we move forward with our movement we, the Tibetan People, commit ourselves whole-heartedly to this effort and demand that the Chinese government immediately:
1. Remove all obstacles to the unconditional return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet.
2. Send urgently an independent international fact finding mission and a media delegation to the areas of peaceful protests in Tibet.
3. Release unconditionally all the arrested and imprisoned political prisoners.
4. End the ongoing violent crackdown and “patriotic education” campaign in Tibet and withdraw security forces from monasteries and other Tibetan residential areas in Tibet.
5. Revoke immediately its stipulated post-Olympic policy of harsh political repression in Tibet .
6. Begin dismantling the colonial occupation of Tibet and stop the massive resettlement of Chinese in Tibet that threatens the very survival of the Tibetan nation, race and civilization.