Press release archive |
2008
A momentous year for the Tibetan cause, 2008 saw the biggest uprising in Tibet since 1959, worldwide protests against the Olympic Torch Relay and the Beijing Games in August, which were again marked by protests against Chinese rule in Tibet.
The year also saw the Dalai Lama's return in the UK, where he met Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the breakdown of the Sino-Tibetan talks, Britain claiming that Tibet is part of China and the United Nations agreeing with Free Tibet's evidence that torture is 'widespread and routine' in Tibet.
Click here for the full 2008 archive
2007
31 January 2007 China's railway to plunder Tibet
China's official news agency, Xinhua, has recently announced that vast deposits of copper, iron, lead and zinc have been found by Chinese Government geologists along the route of the newly-opened Qinghai-Tibet Railway. One copper deposit in Qulong in Tibet has a proven reserve of 7.89 million tons, making it the second largest copper find in China and Tibet. The news confirms what many Tibetans have long suspected: that China intends to use the railway to plunder Tibet's enormous natural mineral wealth.
Click here for the full 2007 archive
2006
13 December 2006 Free press for Olympics? Not for Tibet
China's pledge that foreign journalists will be free to report without restrictions during the 2008 Beijing Olympics have been exposed as nothing more than window dressing. In acknowledging that such freedoms to report will not be extended to reports from Tibet and Xinjiang, China has backtracked on previous undertakings that foreign journalists would be able to report freely from all parts of China.
28 September 2006 China announces tough media restrictions for 2008 Olympics
China has unveiled alarming new plans governing coverage of the 2008 Games to more than 300 journalists from 93 international news organisations earlier this week. At a first Olympics press briefing in Beijing, Liu Qi, mayor of Beijing and president of the organising Committee BOCOG, and Sun Weijia, Olympics Press Chief promised "good working conditions" for foreign journalists.
8 August 2006 Two-year countdown: Beijing Olympic "dream" conceals nightmare for Tibet
Today marks the two year countdown to the opening of the Beijing Olympics on August 8, 2008. China intends to use "the greatest show on earth" to showcase to the world a new, prosperous and confident China, intent on what its leaders have called a "peaceful rise" to unchallenged superpower status.
16 March 2006 Free Tibet Campaign overjoyed at arrival in United States of Phuntsog Nyidrol
Free Tibet Campaign activists have expressed their delight at China's decision to allow Tibetan nun Phuntsog Nyidrol who, until her release in February 2004, had been serving the second longest sentence (17 years) of any female political prisoner in Tibet, to travel overseas for medical treatment.
23 February 2006 Tibetan ex-political prisoners to visit UK in campaign to Stop the Torture in Tibet
Tibetan nuns, Gyaltsen Drolkar and Namdrol Lhamo, who each spent more than a decade in prison for chanting Tibetan freedom slogans, will visit the UK between 23 February and 11 March 2006, as part of a campaign to stop torture in Tibet. Their visit will culminate at the commemoration of the Tibetan uprising of March 1959 against China's occupation.
Recent information received by Tibet Watch (1) updates previous reports on the arrests of monks and nuns in Gansu Province. The new information confirms that three nuns from Gendun Tengye Ling Nunnery and two monks from Labrang Tashikyil Monastery in Labrang County were sentenced to various prison terms.
6 February 2006 Protests planned by Tibet groups during the Winter Olympic Games
The International Tibet movement will stage a series of protests, hunger strikes and awareness-raising activities during the Winter Olympics in Turin.
25 January 2006 Free Tibet Campaign deplores Google censorship of Tibet
Free Tibet Campaign deplores the announcement by Google that it is to capitulate to political pressure from China by providing a web-based search engine for the Chinese market which will prohibit access to information about Tibet and other sensitive political issues, such as the protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Google's rivals Yahoo! and Microsoft already censor their sites in accordance with Chinese government wishes.
Click here for the full 2006 archive
2005
15 September 2005 Bombardier confronted over support of "cultural genocide" in Tibet
Free Tibet Campaign and Students for a Free Tibet UK protested against Bombardier's support of what the Dalai Lama described as "cultural genocide" in Tibet (see below) at Infrarail 05, the annual railway industry trade fair held in Manchester between 14 and 16 September. Bombardier, a multi-national company with offices in the UK and a factory in Derbyshire, is contracted to supply railcars for China's Gormo-Lhasa railway.
Click here for the full 2005 archive
2004
28 November 2004 Five months to save Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche
Free Tibet activists launch new campaign for religious leader under sentence of death.
26 February 2004 Last of the Drapchi 14 nuns, Phuntsog Nyidrol is released
Phuntsog Nyidrol (37), the last of the 'Drapchi 14' group of imprisoned nuns was released on 26 February, 2004. She was released one year early having served 15 years in Drapchi prison in Tibet for peaceful protest. She had been due to be released in March 2005.
Click here for the full 2004 archive
2003
7 July 2003 Is SARS a wake-up call for the IOC and China?
Free Tibet Campaign issued a report today called 'Telling Olympic Lies: SARS, the IOC and Beijing 2008' to coincide with the meeting between the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) President Dr Jacques Rogge and the Prime Minister Tony Blair to discuss the 2012 London bid.
26-year-old Tibetan nun Ngawang Sangdrol said today that she hoped British Prime Minister Tony Blair would support the non-violent freedom struggle of the Tibetan people when he visits China next month. She expressed her gratitude for the support she received which helped to secure her release from prison after serving 11 years of a 21 year prison sentence for peaceful protests, and said that the very fact that she was free to visit the UK demonstrated the effectiveness of international action for human rights.
Click here for the full 2003 archive
2002
Free Tibet Campaign today called for human rights to top the reform agenda at the 114th session of the International Olympic Committee in Mexico City.
15 October 2002 Free Tibet Campaign to meet Olympics president
After a year of intense lobbying and campaigning by thousands of Free Tibet Campaign supporters and the International Tibet Support Network, Dr Jacques Rogge has finally agreed to meet to discuss our concerns with the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) planning process for Beijing 2008.
Free Tibet Campaign Report documents common attributes shared by Chinese government and IOC: unelected, unaccountable, plagued by corruption and obsessed with 'stability'
Click here for the full 2002 archive
2001
Tibetans and their supporters around the world have condemned the IOC's decision to give the 2008 Olympic Games to Beijing, and vowed to intensify their opposition over the next seven years.
12 July 2001 China, IOC try to shut out human rights concerns
Two human rights advocates were briefly detained by police in Moscow this afternoon for passing out leaflets listing questions for the IOC to consider regarding Beijing's controversial bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games.
11 July 2001 Eight arrested as Tibetans demonstrate opposition to Beijing's Olympics bid
Five Tibetans and a Swiss supporter were arrested outside the Hotel Ukraine in Moscow this morning when they attempted to unfurl a banner declaring opposition to Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games.
Click here for the full 2001 archive
