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December 18, 2000 |
DEMOCRACY FOR CHINA
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Dear
friends, This
"special" issue is devoted mainly to the outcome of the III European Seminar
for the Liberty of Tibet, held in Brussels on 7 and 8 December and attended
by over 200 supporters of the Tibetan cause from over 25 European countries.
As was proposed in the final document of the seminar, a new web-forum has now been created, entitled EuroTibetForum (www.radicalparty\tibet). The Forum will be a "meeting-point" for everyone who shares the ideas and objectives which we laid down at the end of the seminar. All associations and organisations can "sponsor" the Forum by adding a link to their sites and notifying us at odupuis@europarl.eu.int. Sponsoring sites will be listed on the first page of the Forum. In terms of political priorities, the most urgent initiative at the moment is undoubtedly the launch of the new campaign entitled "A flag for a new statute of full autonomy for Tibet". From the messages we have received, we know that many people present at the seminar have already started moving. And given the objective we set ourselves - to get at least 1,000 municipalities to display the Tibetan flag on a permanent basis within six months - we cannot waste time. The appeal to be presented to mayors and/or municipal councils is available on the same page (www.radicalparty.org\tibet) in English, Spanish, French, Italian and German. As soon as possible, we will also draw up a model letter to be sent to mayors, as many of you have requested. Important notes on methodology: As we know, municipal regulations often state that only the flags of the municipality, the home country, and the European Union can be flown from the main flagpole. We must therefore find a way to get round this obstacle. How? By pointing out to the mayor that the regulations relate to the official flagpole and not other parts of the Town Hall. In our experience, with a little diplomacy it is not difficult to persuade mayors to come round to this interpretation of the rules. At that point we can recommend another equally (if not more) visible place where the flag can be flown permanently (perhaps on a flagpole in the square facing the Town Hall). With a little creativity and imagination, I have no doubt that other suggestions will be forthcoming. Given the duration of the initiative, we strongly advise you to recommend the use of "hard-wearing" flags, rather than lightweight flags which are not suitable for long-term display (for information on flags, contact Martin mschulthes@visto.com). Still on the subject of methodology, "numbering" may also prove to be a useful strategy. The municipality of Briançon was the first town to join the initiative, while Piedmont was the first region. Each new municipality or region will be given a number as soon as we receive notification of support by fax or e-mail. Speeches made during the seminar We are intending to create an on-line archive of all the speeches made during the seminar. Speakers are invited to send the text of their speeches, which will be added as soon as possible to the Tibet page, next to the photo of the speaker (the photos are already in place: anyone who has been forgotten should send us a photo via e-mail). Last but not least. We are all aware of the "power" of the Chinese diplomatic machine, its ability to threaten and intimidate... So our recommendation is very simple: we must avoid using EuroTibetForum as a source of information for the Chinese government on the initiatives regarding particular municipalities. In other words, we should only publish the names of those municipalities that have already joined the campaign. I hope to hear from you soon on the EuroTibetForum. Meanwhile, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, above all a successful year for our struggle for the liberty of Tibet and democracy in China. Olivier |
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CONCLUSIONS
OF THE EUROPEAN SEMINAR "A NEW STATUTE OF FULL AUTONOMY FOR TIBET WITHIN
THREE YEARS OR INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF THE TIBETAN GOVERNMENT IN EXILE".
Brussels, December 8, 2000
b) considering that, if no urgent concrete political initiative will be undertaken in the next few years, these peoples will be confined to the role of extras living in reserves for tourists and that their existence as peoples will be deleted from the planet; c) recalling the policy of oppression and violation of fundamental rights of the Chinese Communist Party and its 1.3 Billion of Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, Uygur victims; d) considering that the recognition of territorial integrity of the Chinese State does not constitute - as demonstrated in particular by the cases of the Baltic States, the Caucasus and Central Asia - the recognition of the legitimacy of the invasion and occupation of Tibet; e) considering that the transformation of the Beijing regime from a Communist into a National-Communist regime increases its dangerousness and represents an extremely serious threat both for the peoples that live in the People's Republic of China and for the peace and stability in Asian and in the entire world; f) Concerned by the refusal of Democratic Governments to take into consideration this threat and considering their inaction as an act of active complicity with the policies of violation of fundamental rights perpetrated by the People's Republic of China as well as their non-assistance to victims of those policies; g) welcoming the resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 6 July last in which the EP "Calls on the governments of the Member States to give serious consideration to the possibility of recognising the Tibetan Government in exile as the legitimate representative of the Tibetan people if, within three years, the Beijing authorities and the Tibetan government in exile have not, through negotiations organised under the aegis of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, signed an agreement on a new Statute for Tibet"; h) recalling, as the specified in the above-mentioned text, that such a Status should include full autonomy in all sectors of political, economical, social as well as cultural life, with the sole exception of foreign affairs and defence; i) recalling, furthermore, that this autonomy should concern the entirety of the Tibetan territory as prior to the Chinese invasion of 1949 and not the one of the current Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR); j) welcoming the adoption by the Regional Council of Piedmont of a motion in which it endorses a resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 6 July 2000; k) welcoming the adhesion of Mr. Alain Bayrou, Mayor of Briançon, to the new "A Flag for a new Status of Full Autonomy for Tibet" Campaign as well as the other five municipalities that have already endorsed the initiative; l) thanking the seven Radical Members of the European Parliament and the Transnational Radical Party for having organised this third European Seminar for Freedom of Tibet; The participants in the Seminar commit themselves and invite all concerned individuals to: 1) Launch a new campaign targeting all national Parliaments of Europe urging them to promptly adopt parliamentary resolutions similar to the one adopted by the European Parliament last June calling on their respective governments to recognise the Tibetan Government in Exile if, within the next three years, the Beijing authorities and the Tibetan Government in exile have not reached an agreement on a new status for Tibet through a negotiation under the aegis of the Secretary-General of the United Nations; and to multiply all initiatives so that the demonstration of 10 March 2001 become an important mobilising occasion in this sense; 2) Launch a new campaign targeting dozens of thousands of municipalities all over Europe with the objective of permanently displaying the Tibetan flag until a new status of full autonomy for Tibet is reached; 3) Mobilise themselves so that the European Union and its Member States continue their dialogue with the People's Republic of China but to abandon the so-called "Critical Dialogue on Human Rights" policy with it and make the establishment and enforcement of democracy, the rule of law and freedom in China and in the occupied territories of Tibet, Southern Mongolia and Eastern Turkestan, their absolute priority, and to defend this position in all bilateral and multilateral fora beginning with the upcoming session of the UN Commission on Human Rights; 4) Multiply all initiatives in order to create a world-wide movement to unite all those that in China, Tibet and the rest of the world have decided to make the struggle for the establishment and enforcement of democracy and the rule of law in China, and Freedom in Tibet, Eastern Turkestan and Southern Mongolia of their priorities of their political commitment; To achieve all this, the participants in the Seminar decide to: 5) set as the first objective
of the new campaign "A Flag for a new Status of Full Autonomy for Tibet"
the permanent display of the flag, within the next six months, in at least
1,000 cities in Europe; 6) create an "EuroTibetForum" through the opening
in their respective internet sites of a section to debate and strategize;
7) create a working group on the economic situation in the People's Republic
of China and on Sino-European economic relations. |
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TIBET
FAX |
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"I
truly believe that individuals can make a difference in society. Since
periods of great change such as the present one come so rarely in human
history, it is up to each of us to make the best use of our time to
help create a happier world". |
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