Tibet Will Be Free (the SFT Blog!)

This Blog Is Dead! Long Live the New Blog!

2006-02-10T12:42:00.000-05:00

This incarnation of Tibet Will Be Free is dead. Blogger is owned by Google and SFT is not going to rely on Google's cheating heart any more. Have no fear, good people, for our new version of TIBET WILL BE FREE is younger, smarter, and better looking than this site.

For updates on the actions, activities, ideas, and events surrounding Student's for a Free Tibet's international headquarters, board, staff, friends, and volunteers visit http://blog.studentsforafreetibet.org. The site is on WordPress, which rocks.

Until Tibet is free...Long live the SFT Blog!

New Google Break Up Video!

2006-02-10T12:18:00.000-05:00

Check out the latest Google break up video and make sure you pass it around!

Yahoo Helped China Jail Another Democracy Advocate

2006-02-09T11:44:00.000-05:00

Yahoo provided information to the Chinese government that helped them jail Li Zhi, a democracy advocate. Li was given an eight-year sentence in 2003 for subverting the state power and inciting subversion, which is the shocking crime of trying to join the Chinese Democratic Party. Li had also been critical of the corruption of local government officials in online discussion groups. Li was convicted on the basis of information Yahoo provided about his email account and Yahoo user name activity. Yahoo had recently provided the Chinese government with information that was used to put journalist Shi Tao in jail for ten years.

Students for a Free Tibet has already launch an online action campaign calling for Yahoo, Microsoft, and Cisco to end their partnership with the Chinese government. SFT is also leading the way in opposing Google's partnership in censorship with the Chinese government through NoLuv4Google; click here to tell Google to stop helping the Chinese government block access to information about Tibet, human rights, and other important topics.

Yahoo said this in an email to an SFT supporter who'd expressed her outrage over their censorship of information and role as an informant on journalists:

We are proud of our role in expanding opportunities for Chinese citizens to enjoy the significant benefits of the Internet. Yahoo! Search gives Chinese users an ability to access various independent, non-government sponsored sources of information of interest to them, fostering a more outward-looking population.

[...]

We balance the requirement to comply with laws that are not necessarily consistent with our own values against our strong belief that active involvement in China contributes to the continued modernization of the country - as well as a benefit to Chinese citizens - through the advancement of communications, commerce and access to information. The Internet is a positive force in China and a growing Chinese middle class is benefiting greatly from more education, communication, technology, and independent sources of information.

Their response would be laughable, were it not so reprehensible. Both the Li and Shi cases show that Chinese users of Yahoo can expect to have their search records and emails turned over to the government at the drop of a hat. Whatever information they are able to access may soon be grounds for arrest and imprisonment. Yahoo's caveat emptor seems to be that it is the users fault if they take the dangerous step of using their services when trying to promote the truth and democracy in a totalitarian regime. Yahoo has reserved no rights to protect privacy in a country with a government that doesn't want it's people to have access to information that might threaten their control. What's more, progress for the people of Tibet and China is irreparably damaged every time a blogger, journalist, or activist advocating democracy is tossed in jail on meaningless charges. Look at the evidence that convicted Li Zhi:

According to this defense statement, Li Zhi has been charged with the criminal act of "attempting to overthrow the socialist system," on the basis of three points: 1. Applying three times to an overseas hostile organization in order to join the China Democracy Party and receiving an appointment; 2. Establishing a personal web page at Muzi web site, propagandizing hostile thoughts; 3. Inciting others to join the China Democracy Party.

The fourth section of the defense statement challenges the criminal evidence presented by the government, including the part mentioning that Yahoo Hong Kong Ltd provided evidence, as follows:

“ (2) On August 1, 2003, Yahoo Hong Kong Ltd provided to the public security agency Proof of the User's Information, 'provided relevant information about user lizhi340100,' and also explained 'for more detailed information, see attached documents. The Attached documents include the user's registered information and email from that account.' Therefore the part that can be considered evidence is the content of that attachment. But the attachment was not provided to the court. According to Yahoo's explanation, the content of the attachments not only reflects the situation of the mail exchanges, but also can have the function of “resolving some doubts.” Therefore, we hope the court will review the attachment. We certainly hope the defense lawyers will be allowed to review the documents so we can understand the full situation in order to defend our client. This is a matter of the rights of our client. Please remedy this situation.”

China would not have been able to jail this dissident -- and by dissident I mean a brave person who wants to bring democracy and freedom to China -- without the help of Yahoo. Blogger and internet advocate Rebecca MacKinnon has this to say about Yahoo's now common role as informant for the Chinese government:

A company that cares about human rights should not put user data in jurisdictions where full compliance with the law makes collaboration with human rights violations inevitable. Either they did not think this through before setting up their Chinese e-mail service or they don't care.

I agree. One solution to Yahoo's (and Google, Microsoft and Cisco's) ethics problem would be for the US government to create legislation that would ban US internet companies from handing over their users' records to the Chinese government, especially when it might endanger the user. These companies are well aware of the sites their customers are using -- they store the information, hence China's desire to have access to it -- and should be made to promise that they won't assist the Chinese government in the repression of democracy and freedom. At issue may well be China's requirement that American companies follow their laws, when in fact these censorship and disclosure laws are a real barrier to ethical business inside China.

US companies should not be compelled to give up information that helps the Chinese government imprison dissidents. Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, and Cisco have repeatedly proved that they are incapable of standing by American values while dealing with the Chinese government. They are making a mockery of free speech, free information, and democracy by helping the Chinese government imprison, censor, repress, and propagandize over the internet. If this is what it takes, it's time for these companies to be given the protection of the US government to resist China's calls for private user information.

Mikel Dunham Interview

2006-02-08T12:32:00.000-05:00

Author and Tibet expert Mikel Dunham was interviewed by Flash, a Japanese magazine. You can read the whole interview on his blog. Here's an excerpt:

What is the one thing that most upsets/angers you about China’s invasion of Tibet?

China’s re-writing of history to support its deplorable Han chauvinism. The tragic story of Tibetan Buddhists taking up arms to defend their nation, their religion, their culture, and above all, their Dalai Lama, may sit uneasily next to the popular Shangri-La image of Tibet, but the myth of a non-violent takeover of Tibet by the Chinese has been advanced by the communist propaganda machine and is still very much working for the Chinese propaganda machine today. That is why it so important to remember the extent to which there was fierce resistance in Tibet: to help dispel the fantasy China has spun about their bloody takeover. 1.2 million Tibetans lost their lives because of Mao’s takeover. To assert that the Tibetans invited the Chinese to take command of their country is a shameless fabrication and rewriting of history that, in spit of its absurdity, still thrives and remains largely unchallenged sixty years after the fact. China lies and my book was written to address those lies.

Mikel's book Buddha's Warriors has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Outrage By the Numbers, Volume II

2006-02-07T17:45:00.000-05:00

As of right now 1,022 people have pledged to boycott Google on Valentine's Day through NoLuv4Google. Keep spreading the word!

Additionally, over 42,000 emails have been sent to Google's executives through SFT's Action Network.

Keep spreading the word people! You're making a difference, as we can see with Clusty's announcement of its no-censorship censorship policy. They've shown that they don't want to be on the wrong side of the fight between freedom and tyranny, human rights and oppression.

Clusty's New Censorship Policy

2006-02-07T17:26:00.000-05:00

At last, an internet company with a morally sound censorship policy. Clusty has announced that they will not censor search results.
Here's what the actual statement looks like:
The text of Clusty's censorship policy reads:

Neither Clusty.com nor Vivisimo.com censors search results. That is, neither site removes from its output, in an ad-hoc manner, politically-oriented search results that would otherwise appear and that would be objectionable to governments or would be unlawful in unelected, non-democractic regimes.

And here's what the front page looks like:

Lhadon on Public Radio!

2006-02-07T14:00:00.000-05:00

Lhadon Tethong, SFT's rockin' Executive Director, was interviewed by Jon Gordon of Future Tense on American Public Radio on our NoLuv4Google Valentine's Day boycott. The show is widely syndicated, including on the Canada Broadcasting Corporation, and an SFT supporter in England heard it broadcast on the BBC.

Click here to listen to Lhadon's interview online. It's about three minutes long.

Questions For Google About Its China Partnership

2006-02-06T14:17:00.000-05:00

Becky Hogge of OpenDemocracy.net asks important questions about Google's deal with China. While there has been much talk about what Google is doing for China by censoring search results, there hasn't been much about the broader picture of this partnership. What happens when a ubiquitous search engine that stores data from millions of user searches a day opens a service inside a totalitarian regime with a thirst to know what every one of its citizens is doing at all times? What steps does Google take to protect the information on the location and identities of users inside China who search for "politically sensitive" censored terms?

As Andrew Brown recently reported on openDemocracy, Google collects mountains of IP-address-linked data about the search behaviour of all its customers. The more services you sign up for with Google (Gmail, Desktop, Homepage) the more Google knows about you, knowledge that it shares with third parties, for example, to make better-targeted ads. This is its core business model, and the reason why small ads are so successful. To keep our information flowing into the Googleplex, Google relies on a high level of either ignorance or (one hopes, more likely) trust from its users.
[...]
But what Google's privacy policy actually states is that "Google only shares personal information with other companies or individuals outside of Google [if, among other things] we have a good faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of such information is reasonably necessary to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request."
[...]
So our next question should be, how much data are you logging about your new Chinese customers, Google? And what will you do when the Chinese authorities ask you to hand it over? In fact, this question has already been put privately to a senior contact at Google by British web commentator Bill Thompson, who is awaiting a response.
[...]
One clue might lie in the feature of google.cn that sets it apart from the other global search providers, like MSN and Yahoo!, operating inside China. This feature – much lauded in the official statements given by Google on the day of the launch – is that google.cn tells its customers when their search results have been "filtered". How Google got that concession from the Chinese authorities might go some way to explaining why it took so long to release google.cn. But the question then has to be, what did Google offer in return?

China has plenty of technical know-how of its own, and is clearly prepared to use the network for its own ends. The Chinese authorities currently stand accused of endorsing attempts to hack into British and US government files, in what the UK Guardian called "a massive hit and run raid on the world's intellectual property to aid their booming economic growth". This heightens suspicions that denial-of-service attacks on Japanese websites, such as the official website of the controversial Yasukuni shrine, emanate from China and have the tacit approval of the Chinese authorities. China's censorship machinery goes far beyond the well-documented 50,000 officials and volunteers that watch the web to censor content, and incorporates choke points in the communications network that allow data to be filtered packet by packet.

Back in May last year, I asked this question: "If these two experts in internet traffic – Google in cataloguing it and China in censoring it – start working together, what can we expect?" The time for an answer approaches. In the meantime, we need to make sure we're asking the grown-up questions – about privacy, about data retention, about aspects of the deal Google have struck with the Chinese authorities that aren't hitting the headlines, and about the activities that will take place in Google's new research and development lab in China. And we need to ask them not just for the sake of the people of China, but for the sake of the internet as a safe space for free speech across the world.

Google must begin to answer these questions, especially if they expect us to believe their statements about commitment to the free access to information. Where does their data go? Do Chinese officials ever ask for and/or receive access to Google.cn's search logs, including IP addresses and private personal information? What level of disclosure does Google feel it is obligated to heed if and when the Chinese government requests information? Does Google feel it is obligated to inform Google.cn users when they release information to the Chinese government or any other government?

No Witness to a Free Media in China

2006-02-06T13:42:00.000-05:00

Cam MacMurchy, a Canadian journalist living in Beijing, has an incredible article in the Victoria Times - Colonist (subscription link) on the state of the press inside China. Here are some excerpts:

The announcement that Google was joining search engine MSN in voluntarily filtering search results in China was met with derision among foreigners here — at least, when we actually got some details of the announcement.

You see, the BBC threw up a graphic saying GOOGLE GAGGED and then cut to a com¬puter screen with somebody typing in “dalai la. . .“ and then the screen went black. How ironic that a story about censorship is cen¬sored.

As Orwellian as that might seem, it happens all the time. If CNN or the BBC talk about the Dalai Lama, Taiwan independence or human rights, one of the thousands of Communist television censors flips the switch and the broadcast shuts down. Usually the story will come back on during the reporter’s signoff.

Of course, the stories blocked by the government are the ones of most interest, especially to foreigners. We’ve grown up in countries where the press is free, where information is always available, where people are allowed to challenge authorities, where people can have differing opinions. And never have I valued that more than now.

One of my good Australian friends, who worked here in state-run media, one day had enough of parroting the government’s line. He went into the director’s office, sat down, and said:“There’s no journalism in China.”. Needless to say, an argument erupted, and he’s no longer employed in the country. But his case was solid: Part of a journalist’s job is to hold those in authority to account, especially governments. And here, that simply doesn’t happen.

Xinhua, the wire service in China, recently released a refresher for journalists on how they should conduct themselves: “Through persistent ideological and political education as well as education in professional ethics, we must help the broad ranks of journalistic workers firmly establish Marxist views on news, vigorously promote the party’s fine tradition in journalistic work, strictly observe discipline in journalistic work and standards of professional ethics, and consciously build a ‘fence’ to keep out false news.”
[...]
Our only saving grace is the knowledge that at least our home countries are free, and that sometimes, we can get on un-blocked western websites to read about what’s really going on.

We tout the merits and talk glowingly about freedom of the press to our Chinese friends and colleagues, but after more than 55 years of spoon-fed propaganda, the Chinese don’t really seem to understand.

One friend wrote an article about the Olympic Games in Beijing for a local daily. She interviewed poorer residents, who were about split 50-50 on whether the Olympics Will benefit the city. She wrote the article and had it rejected by her newspaper, and was then told her Communist party membership application would be put on hold as a result. She told me surely Vancouver media aren’t allowed to write anything negative about the 2010 Games, either.

Many Chinese are aware that the radio stations, newspapers and television shows are filled with propaganda but believe somehow that western governments do the same. If I can question the truthfulness of a Xinhua article, then they can question the CBC. After living in an isolated state for so long, nobody here is really sure what a free press is. And that’s dangerous.

So it’s sad when a western company — a company that made its fortune in a free, democratic and innovation-oriented society — decides to team up with the Chinese government to thwart those same values for hundreds of millions of people.

And to be fair, Google isn’t the first and won’t be the last company to work in concert with China’s government. Microsoft has already launched its censored version of MSN search, Yahoo turned over e-mail information to the authorities that resulted in the arrest of a journalist, and other companies are building computer infrastructure to help the government keep a tight lid on online information.

At last count, China was employing between 30,000 and 50,000 people whose sole job is to ensure no wayward information can be found online.

The Chinese government is free to do what it wants with information, and if it insists on controlling it, and if the people accept that, then so be it. But it’s a sad day when western companies become enablers, all in the name of the almighty dollar.

NoLuv4Google.com in NY Times

2006-02-06T09:13:00.000-05:00

Tom Zeller Jr of the New York Times covers NoLuv4Google in his article on US internet companies relationships with China. The broken-hearted ex-Googler quoted below is Kunchok Wangmo.

It is telling, to say the least, that the darling of so many technophiles — which promised to "do no evil" — is now on the receiving end of spontaneous boycotts, with disillusioned search-lovers looking for alternatives. These signs of lost innocence also show that the race for China may soon offer a selling point to companies that don't cooperate with repressive regimes.
"Today, I know you don't deserve me," wrote one visitor to NoLuv4Google.org, a site where users can "break up" with Google and officially boycott the search giant on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14. "You betrayed my love and trust. I have been with you for so many years. Now, we are through! FOREVER. I am gonna hook up with IceRocket."
IceRocket is one of several search alternatives listed at NoLuv4Google.org, which is run by a group called Students for a Free Tibet. Clusty.com, a search site developed by several Carnegie Mellon computer scientists, is another. Clusty proudly states that it "never censors search results" or excludes material "that would be objectionable to governments or would be unlawful in unelected, nondemocratic regimes."
In an e-mail message, Mark Cuban, IceRocket's founder, put it more bluntly: "IceRocket doesn't and won't censor. We index more than one million Chinese-language blogs. No chance we censor or block anything in this lifetime."

Google China's Pres gets Hu Jintao Treatment

2006-02-05T14:33:00.000-05:00

Kaifu Lee, the new President of Google China went on a Bay Area roadshow yesterday, speaking to overflowing halls of Chinese students (mostly computer geeks) at UC Berkeley and Standford University about how to climb up the Google corporate ladder quickly. SFTers and members of the Bay Area Tibetan community were there to give him the royal treatment.

There was a big crowd of us at Berkeley, and we managed to give flyers to almost everyone going into the talk. A bunch of geeks thanked us for the flyers. We also managed to get a couple of copies of Kaifu Lee's self help book, on how to become evil quickly. Here is Della with a copy:

We then rushed to Stanford, where Yangchen & Avi and the SFT Stanford crew had done some great scouting work and figured out how we could best crash Kaifu Lee's little geek party. Thupten and Tsering Wangmo welcomed Kaifu Lee by yelling at him and giving him our flyer, which he took! Some of us went into the hall and during his LONG talk, which was all in Chinese, Palden, Wangchuk, Dawa, Della and Avi all stood up with big cloth banners. Our newest SFT chapter at Gunn High School (50 members!) held down the back of the room, holding up with placards that said "SHAME ON GOOGLE" and "Kaifu LeEVIL."

After about 30 minutes, we were getting so hot & bored inside, since the whole talk was in Chinese and the room was overcrowded. Thank god the crew outside, started chanting - loudly.

Some of the Chinese student organizers came outside at this point. They wanted us t whether we regiso be quiet and thought that by telling us "pssssssssssssssssssst!" they would suceed. Thupten explained to them why that wasn't going to work. One of the talk organizers couldn't handle it. All he could say after that was "Did you register for the talk?" We assured him we hadn't. He asked again. And again. And again. I think he still may not knowtered. So we started chanting again, as loudly as we could. I think the folks with the banners in the hall were happy they didn't have to listen to Kaifu's jokes in Chinese anymore. I don't think Kaifu Lee was too happy. He skipped the Q&A and and looked a bit tense when we spoiled all his photo opportunities after the talk with our signs.

Kaifu Lee's walk to his car was probably the most attention this man has ever got! 20 of us surrounded and followed him, chanting at him through the bullhorn and waving our signs around. He should feel honored that he got the Hu Jintao treatment! Here he is with his royal entourage.
Can you spot Kaifu Lee?

Yangchen had contacted her student paper, the Stanford Daily, who sent a reporter to the talk. We'll post that article when it comes out. Also, a reporter and photographer from the San Francisco Chronicle came. You can check out the article here. You can also see a lot more photos here.

The end. Google - see you on Valentine's Day.

Bay Area SFT Takes On President of Google China

2006-02-05T11:16:00.000-05:00

Kai-Fu Lee, the president of Google China, got to hear first hand what SFTers in the Bay Area think about Google's partnership with the Chinese government. Lee is the gentleman dressed in full black (surprise surprise) in the picture at the right. Rockin' SFT HQ alumni Alma has a great quote in the San Francisco Chronicle:

One group critical of Google, Students for a Free Tibet, showed up Saturday, holding signs such as "Kaifu Leevil" and marching outside as Lee gave his talk at Stanford.
Lee left almost immediately after his talk, dodging protesters on his way to his car.
"We hope to get the message to Kai-Fu Lee that we won't stand for censorship," said Alma David, a University of San Francisco law school student and a member of Students for a Free Tibet. "We see a company selling out its values for a profit. Its 'don't be evil' just seems like a bad joke."

Great work SF crew!

SFT Canada Represents!

2006-02-04T16:27:00.000-05:00

SFTer Confronts Chinese Ambassador, Bombardier, and Hundreds of Trade-Above-All Greedheads In One Fell Swoop

SFT Canada's Jessica Spanton made a righteous ruckus at a business luncheon in Montreal featuring China's Ambassador to Canada Lu Shumin. The Montreal Gazette made it the lead in a story about the luncheon, held in the ballroom of Montreal's Hyatt hotel:

Lu Shumin's speech was as warmed over as the salmon entree that preceded it. The only spice came when a solitary student seated in the far corner of the Hyatt ballroom rose, unfurled a Tibetan flag and denounced both the Chinese government and Bombardier Inc.

Bombardier has been a frequent protest target for its involvement in a rail project in Tibet.

Human-rights groups say the rail line is part of China's "ongoing colonization of Tibet."

"Shame on China and shame on Bombardier," said Jessica Spanton of Students for a Free Tibet, before being hustled from the room to the stunned silence of the 400-strong crowd.

Nice job Jessica and SFT Canada. They can run (and spin) but they can't hide (and they'll never win). I'm sure the 400 people whose "stunned silence" the article describes had no choice but to review their consciences in light of your courageous action. Read more on the SFT Canada Blog.

Google's Hiding Tanks in Tiananmen

2006-02-04T14:54:00.000-05:00

Thanks to WIIIAI for pointing this out to me via email. The Times UK Online has this tidbit on Google.cn:

More bad news for Google: in the week that its shares plunged after it failed to hit Wall Street’s ambitious targets it turns out that its controversial Chinese internet filter doesn’t work if you can’t spell. Paul Boutin, a blogger, pointed out that if on Google.cn you “search for Tianenmen, Tienanmen and Tiananman” you get “Tanks, tanks, more tanks”.

I'd seen the Boutin post before, but it's nice to see Google's technical ineptitude get play alongside it's moral ineptitude. I'm glad this hole exists in Google's filter, though I expect it will be closed shortly. [I just checked, the loop-hole is closed: searches for Tianenmen, Tienanmen, and Tiananman now return no image results.] The bad news referenced there is to Google's craptastic 4th Quarter earnings falling far below Wall Street's expectations. It's stock fell from around $435 to $381 a share this week, costing Larry Page and Sergey Brin personally about $12 million combined (don't worry, they're not even close to being out on the street).

Univ of Hawaii SFT chapter in the local paper - Ka Leo

2006-02-03T14:58:00.000-05:00

STUDENTS MEET FRIDAY FOR A FREE TIBET
By Jina Sohn
Ka Leo Contributing Writer
February 02, 2006

University of Hawai'i at Manoa graduate Love Chance gets asked all the time, "What's 'Tib-Bit?'"

And then she kindly informs the person about Tibet and its people, he or she what you can do to help them. Chance is the founder and former president of Students For a Free Tibet, a UHM Registered Independent Organization and Hawaii's only SFT chapter, SFT is holding its first meeting of the year tomorrow from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Campus Center, room 309.

"The purpose of freedom is to free other people," said Chance. "Students have a lot of power – now we just have to use it."

Read more at http://www.kaleo.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/02/02/43e27167688ad

Google Takes Its China Apologism to Congress

2006-02-03T12:14:00.000-05:00

Our dear friend Andrew McLaughlin, Google's Senior Policy Counsel, wasn't able to attend Wednesday's Congressional Human Rights Caucus Briefing on "Human Rights and the Internet - People's Republic of China." Google's (and Microsoft, Yahoo, and Cisco's) refusal to testify in person before the Human Rights Caucus certainly suggests a new found timidity of interactions with major governments. Fortunately for us, McLaughlin was brave enough to submit a written statement to the HRC Briefing. As before, McLaughlin's apologism warrants a serious dissection.

I'll warn you, a lot of McLaughlin's defense is tired and familiar.

In order to operate Google.cn as a website in China, Google is required to remove some sensitive information from our search results. These restrictions are imposed by Chinese laws, regulations, and policies.

When Andy Mac is talking about "sensitive information" in regards to China, he's not talking about state secrets or blue prints for a nuclear bomb or the recipe for Chairman Mao's legendary chili. No, he's talking about websites like this one that support Tibetan independence, Taiwanese independence, information on the massacre of peaceful protestors by the Chinese government in Tiananmen Square or about the peaceful Falun Gong. Congressman Tom Lantos has an even clearer rebuttal of McLaughlin's ignorant and simplistic defense of censoring "sensitive information":

It has also been argued Internet companies are entitled to apply the same rules of engagement in China that they apply elsewhere.
[...]
I cannot begin to describe how disgusted I am by this particular argument. Because, in essence, it equates the vile language and evil purposes of Neo-Nazi groups and hate speech with content provided by the human rights activists of Falun Gong, by journalists and by democracy activists in China. There simply is no comparison between efforts of the democratically-elected government of the Federal Republic of Germany to move against hate-mongerers, and the Chinese regime cracking down on religious freedom, human rights and democracy.

Google cannot pretend to not know the difference between hate speech and calls for democracy in China. They're objectively opposed to each other and it is ethical minimalism to suggest the two forms of censorship are equally justifiable as corporate actions under the law. Unfortunately McLaughlin's willfull ignorance doesn't stop there:

We believe these investments...can help advance key objectives supported by the Chinese government, such as building stronger, more efficient, and more equitable markets, promoting the rule of law, and bolstering the fight against corruption.

Excuse me? I just don't know when it became acceptable for US companies to publicly laud themselves for bolstering tyrannical governments. Google wants to promote the rule of law in China, which is actually a logical explanation of why they're helping the CCP censor search results for information that this tyrannical government is afraid of. Censorship existed in China before Google, yet it still has the same purpose -- to prevent people inside China and Tibet from knowing what's really going on in their world. As the saying goes, knowledge is power and China, like any dictatorship, doesn't want its people to have any power.

We are not happy about governmental restrictions on access to information, and we hope that over time everyone in the world will come to enjoy full access to information...We believe that our continued engagement with China is the best (and perhaps only) way for Google to help bring the tremendous benefits of universal information access to all our users there.

Google must be using the Reverse Psychology Method of Governmental Reform. You're unhappy with China's censorship, so you'll do it for them in hopes that they'll change? You think engagement in a practice you claim to abhor is the best way to get it to stop? I'm sorry, that's simply absurd. Giving China unlimited license to censor information on the internet is not the way to get the CCP to stop censoring. I'm no expert, but I doubt you'll find many psychologists recommending you give your dangerously overweight child an unending supply of Twinkies, cheese fries, and Turducken as a way to convince them to eat less. In the same way, you don't get a government to stop oppressing it's people by telling them you're fine with them doing it.

McLaughlin does offer some good suggestions for the future operational standards of American internet companies to work inside repressive regimes like China.

Together with colleagues at other leading Internet companies, we are actively exploring the potential for Internet industry guidelines, not only for China but for all countries in which Internet content is subjected to governmental restrictions. Such guidelines might encompass, for example, disclosure to users, and reporting about governmental restrictions and the measures taken in response to them.

In addition to common action by Internet companies, there is an important role for the United States government to address, in the context of its bilateral government-to-government relationships, the larger issues of free expression and open communication. For example, as a U.S.-based company that deals primarily in information, we have urged the United States government to treat censorship as a barrier to trade.

These are two legitimate, thoughtful ideas for creating a better, smarter way for US companies to do business with China. First, US tech companies need to sit down and agree that for the sake of their morals and their desire not to face boycotts like this one, they will all agree to uphold standards commensurate with America's democratic principles. Don't promote censorship, don't turn journalists over to the authorities, and protect your users privacy -- none of these should be a stretch. Of course the flip side is that China's domestic laws really are a barrier to trade with China. Google admirably held out on censorship for a long time, but if the US government treated China's internet censorship as a trade barrier for American companies, Google could have recourse to providing a better product that didn't spread propaganda. Hopefully Congress under the leadership of Lantos and Chris Smith will move towards protecting the ability of American companies to preserve our ethical standards of business practice when dealing with China. All that said, I haven't seen Google , Microsoft, and Yahoo rush to form these standards McLaughlin is suggesting.

One last matter before I leave McLaughlin be until his next writing.

Google has been actively engaged in discussion and debate about China with a wide range of individuals and organizations both inside and outside of China, including technologists, businesspeople, government officials, academic experts, writers, analysts, journalists, activists, and bloggers. We aim to expand these dialogues as our activities in China evolve, in order to improve our understanding, refine our approach, and operate with openness.

I'm not in a position to verify this statement because Google has never reached out to Students for a Free Tibet or any of the bloggers who write for Tibet Will Be Free. As far as we know Google has never consulted with Tibetans about their opinions on censorship in China. Clearly a voice was missing from whatever internal debate they were having. Whatever discussions Google did have, in the end they ignored every voice against censorship and oppression and for freedom and democracy.

If Google is actually committed to having dialogue on this issue, I suggest they reach out to someone or some group whose opinion differs from their own. If Google still thinks it can effect change in China, they need to understand what avenues of Change they've blocked out by censoring websites on Tibet, human rights, and democracy. Students for a Free Tibet's supporters have sent well over 38,000 emails to Google. We have received no response. If Google has any real commitment to increasing Tibetans' access to information in China, they should contact Students for a Free Tibet for our opinions on their action. In case they haven't been able to surmise them yet...

Rep. Lantos Spanks Google

2006-02-02T19:48:00.000-05:00

California's 12th District is fortunate have Tom Lantos represent them. He's a leader on human rights and has placed himself at the forefront of the Google censorship issue. Lantos has some choice words for Google (my emphasis added, his a$$-whooping in the original):

Companies that have blossomed in this country and make billions, a country that reveres freedom of speech, have chosen to ignore that core value in expanding their reach overseas and to erect a “Great Firewall” to suit Beijing’s purposes.
These massively successful high-tech companies which couldn’t bring themselves to send their representatives to our Human Rights Caucus briefing Wednesday on China and the Internet should be ashamed. With all their power and influence, wealth and high visibility, they neglected to commit to the kind of positive action that human rights activists in China take every day. They caved in to Beijing’s demands for the sake of profits, or whatever else they choose to call it.

[...]
It has also been argued Internet companies are entitled to apply the same rules of engagement in China that they apply elsewhere. In Germany, for example, where denying the Holocaust is against the law, access to Neo-Nazi Web pages is impossible via Google. The company notifies its users that not all Web pages may be available. And in its new China services, Google issues a similar warning.
But as the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress, I cannot begin to describe how disgusted I am by this particular argument. Because, in essence, it equates the vile language and evil purposes of Neo-Nazi groups and hate speech with content provided by the human rights activists of Falun Gong, by journalists and by democracy activists in China. There simply is no comparison between efforts of the democratically-elected government of the Federal Republic of Germany to move against hate-mongerers, and the Chinese regime cracking down on religious freedom, human rights and democracy.
China’s appalling human rights record never was a secret. U.S. Internet companies simply cannot claim they had no idea of what doing business there could entail. The Internet has always been a vital tool for human rights and democracy advocates in China, and a vital link with the outside world of its oppressed people.
Our Internet companies should have known, because for years their most loyal customers in China have gone to extraordinary technical lengths to bypass government’s controls of the Internet.
If these companies had stood up to Beijing from the beginning, demanding that they retain physical control of their own servers by having them located outside of China, the picture would be very different today.

Bravo, Tom. It's shockingly rare to see a politician take the time to call a fox a fox. And that's what Lantos has done here. Forget the mealy-mouthed arguments by Google's shill Andrew McLaughlin, Lantos says, there's right and there's wrong. Google, Microsoft, Cisco, and Yahoo are wrong. Sure, Google has censored hate speech in Europe and the US (though I personally take issue with this, too), but that's entirely different than the censorship of democracy groups, independence movements, human rights organizations, and religious web sites. Google is supporting tyranny through their partnership with China.

Google's self-defenses are morally vacuous and intellectually lazy. Lantos sees through them, as does every single person who's committed to break up with Google on February 14th. Congress is holding hearings into the operations of Google and other American tech companies in China on February 13th.

Thoughtful Response: Framing Your Commitment

2006-02-02T18:31:00.000-05:00

Though we joke otherwise, Google is huge. It's a noun AND a verb. That takes a significant level of ubiquity, which comes through success and a fairly good product. Quiting Google in order to stand by your moral values is a huge move. It means quitting Google searches, Blogger, Gmail, Google local -- sites that all play a huge, daily role in my life and probably yours too. But SFT isn't asking our supporters to quit Google for life -- just for one day, Valentine's Day February 14th.

It's an important distinction and one which blogger Jacyln at PopPolitics catches:

I'm thinking how brilliant and easy that is, and how I must do it and tell everyone I know about it, so that we can make a noticeable impact and cost them some real market share everywhere else.
And then I realize that gmail is Google. And it's my email provider. And it's the best damn email service I've ever seen. And I'm addicted to it.

And then I read how we're only required to break up with Google for one day. Just Valentine's Day. And I think just maybe I can do that. Not check my email for one day. Use a different search engine. Get my directions from MapQuest. Steer clear of blogs hosted by Blogger. Maybe. For one day. For the sake of human rights and corporate accountability.

Can you?

I'm glad Jacyln caught this distinction. I hope people understand that we're not asking you all to quit Google forever. It'd be cool and righteous if you did, but we decided it was more than we could ask of our supporters. Just do it for a day, or more, and tell us your "break up" story at NoLuv4Google.com.

The reality is the Google boycott is very similar to the Made in China boycott. It's something that we feel very strongly about, but recognize the level of sacrifice it takes to live up to. I don't buy goods made in China. Yes, it IS that hard. No, I'm not 100% perfect. But I have decide that I don't want to support the Chinese government by supporting their export economy. It's my choice and I'll encourage you to do the same, but I'm not on a pilgrimage to stop the American consumption of Chinese goods.

Likewise, I'm moving myself away from Google. I'm working on transfering my personal blog off of Blogger to another platform. I've opened an IceRocket email account, though I'm still shopping for one I like a bit more. I've added other search engines to my Firefox browser. I don't expect I'll be perfect, but I know that I don't want to support a company that has acted against everything I believe in as an activist for Tibet, a blogger, and an American with an understanding that our basic civil liberties are to be cherished and spread, not limited and kept within our borders. Quitting Google is a hard decision, but there are dozens of alternatives to every tool Google offers.

All I'm asking is that you take a break from Google for a day. It really isn't a big commitment when you think about it and I promise I won't hold it against you if you backslide.

Outrage, By the Numbers

2006-02-02T18:04:00.000-05:00

I wanted to check in and give everyone an update on the status of SFT's NoLuv4Google campaign. As of this writing:

455 people have committed to break up with Google on February 14th;
2,152 emails have been sent to executives of Microsoft, Yahoo, and Cisco calling them to end their partnerships with China. And most importantly...
35,390 emails have been sent to Google's executives in direct response to their despicable and hypocritical partnership with the Chinese government to censor the truth and spread propaganda.

The numbers are growing every day. Do your part and commit to breaking up with Google for January 14th. Take the time to tell Google to stop blocking internet users in Tibet and China from finding the truth they're looking for.

NoLuv4Google: February 14th!

2006-01-31T17:28:00.000-05:00

[UPDATE]: Read SFT's satirical press release announcing the launch of NoLuv4Google.com

SFT has launched our site dedicated to getting people to break up with Google. It's called NoLuv4Google.com and it has a ton of ways for people to show their outrage at Google. Included on the site:

Take action to tell Google what you think about them blocking the free flow of information into China;
Break up with Google and tell your story;
Take part in the February 14th Day of Action;
Read other people's accounts about their breakup with Google;
Find an alternative to Google for your searching and blogging needs;
Take action against Microsoft and Yahoo, too;
Learn more about internet censorship inside China and Tibet;
And much more!

So please, check out NoLuv4Google.com -- the central location for progressive action against Google, for free access to information, and on behalf of the Tibetan people and repressed people throughout China.

Behind the Struggle: An SFT Videoblog

2006-01-31T16:28:00.000-05:00

We know you can't get enough of our online battle against those big corporate pushovers Google, and so we're giving you a little bit more. Last night, we filmed a state-of-the-art videoblog to give you personal access inside our freedom-minding minds.

Behind the Struggle: An SFT Videoblog (Quicktime, ~17MB) (thanks blip.tv for hosting!)

UPDATE: here's a link to the Flash version if you're having problems with the Quicktime

p.s. - If you are on Windows and you don't have iTunes, you might need Apple Quicktime to watch it.

"Hack" the Google homepage

2006-01-30T17:26:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the amazing Amos, you can now replace the Google logo with our own jammed version (courtesy of Free Range).

Here's the step-by-step:

1) Make sure you have the latest Firefox web browser

2) Install the Grease Monkey extension (make sure to restart Firefox after you do!)

3) Install the "Evil Google Logo" greasemonkey script (Go to the page; click on "Install this Script"; Third, click the "Tools" menu, and Install User Script in your Firefox menu. Then just click OK and it's all done. Easy!) [The script has been updated with LouCypher's to work on all Google local domains.]

4) Go to google.com, google.ca, or google.co.uk and laugh! show all your friends! laugh! (repeat)

Right now the script doesn't work with google.cn, but its pretty obvious that's evil. And don't worry, you aren't actually doing anything to the google servers - its just replacing it on your computer.

[UPDATE]: LouCypher has modified Amo's script so that it now works for all local Google pages. Thanks Lou and thanks again Amos!!!

You Are Not Must Look: Free Tibet

2006-01-30T17:15:00.000-05:00

Bad translation aside, this is what you see when you search for "Free Tibet" in Chinese (Xizang Ziyou). Click on it to enlarge:

Yep, that's some fun loving, free access to information Google's got going over in China...

I Guess He's Just Not Photographed Often...

2006-01-30T10:24:00.000-05:00

I just did a search of google.com images vs. google.cn images for the term "dalai lama".

Google.com (free world): 42,800

Google.cn (censored world): 38, though only ONE picture of the current Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso. HHDL is with Bush in this picture.

Then I did a comparative search using the term "free Tibet" on Google images.

Google.com: 11,800 sparkling pictures and logos calling for a free Tibet.

Google.cn: 20 pictures and map's, mostly from the PRC's propaganda website tibet.cn

Anyone else want to toss out some comparative searches between Google and Google.cn?

[UPDATE 1]: Boing Boing links to SFT's Google logo jam and the protest at Google's HQ! Thanks guys!

[UPDATE 2]: Pamela of Atlas Shrugs has linked to our Google logo jam and TWBF. Thanks Pamela!

[UPDATE 3]: Working Assets/Act For Change has added SFT's jammed logo to their online action campaign.

Nathan Weinberg takes apart Google's justifications for censorship:

I believe Google has the right to censor its searches. That is the cost of doing business in China. But to cloak it in their typical PR-bullshit, to claim that it is in the best interests of Chinese users and not their bottom line, to not once acknowledge that this is the result of laws that should never be, that disgusts me. People have died for this, and how dare you ignore them.

There’s been talk of a boycott passed around, with some discussion on the term “Red Tuesday”, and I am completely on board. On that day, I will replace my Google ads with an image explaining exactly why. I hope enough people do this to affect Google’s bottom line. I hope enough people do it that it hits Google’s founders where it really hurts, in the stock price. I hope it sends a message that its better to stick by your guns and lose than to sell your soul and win.

I'd hope other companies see the outrage that Google has sparked and realize that doing business by China's rules isn't worth prostituting their moral values.

[UPDATE 4]: Google Blogoscoped has a partial list of terms google.cn filters results of and/or returns censored websites. Scroll down to see the list, which is ironically posted as an image to prevent the page from being censored for having restricted terms. Google Blogoscoped has lots of other information about how Google.cn is censoring tremendously more websites than google.com -- not to mention the immoral stance Google has taken in partnering in China's massive censorship & propaganda program.

[UPDATE 5]: Mark Fiore has created an incredible flash movie on Google: iRepress. Watch it now!!!

Google Tries to Defend Itself, Fails

2006-01-29T12:02:00.000-05:00

There has been a massive outcry against Google's unethical partnership with the Chinese government. People around the world, online and off, are shocked that a company claiming to be for the free flow of information and operating while not doing evil would hypocritically
push Chinese propaganda and censor the truth. Over 15,000 letters have been sent by Tibetans and Tibet supporters to executives at Google through Students for a Free Tibet's online action.

Not surprisingly, Google has posted a very defensive justification of their actions on their blog. Google senior policy counsel/shill Andrew McLaughlin penned the defense (you can email him here), which, not surprisingly is filled with hypocrisy, misinformation, half-truths, and a hell of a lot of crap. Let's get to the heart of the matter right away:

Filtering our search results clearly compromises our mission. Failing to offer Google search at all to a fifth of the world's population, however, does so far more severely. Whether our critics agree with our decision or not, due to the severe quality problems faced by users trying to access Google.com from within China, this is precisely the choice we believe we faced. By launching Google.cn and making a major ongoing investment in people and infrastructure within China, we intend to change that.

You don't say. I agree whole-heartedly with McLaughlin's assessment that the launch of google.cn compromises their corporate mission. Of course another way to describe this assessment would be to say that the censorship of search results is hypocritical, immoral, and soundly anti-democratic. While google.cn may be an improvement for users in China when it comes to searches for cupcakes and daisies, it does nothing to help people inside a totalitarian state access the information that they want and need to make political changes and bring actual freedom to Tibet and China.

And yes, Chinese regulations will require us to remove some sensitive information from our search results. When we do so, we'll disclose this to users, just as we already do in those rare instances where we alter results in order to comply with local laws in France, Germany and the U.S.

Gee, that's nice of you. I'm sure a Tibetan at an internet cafe in Lhasa with government printed signs reading "Do not use Internet for any political or other unintelligent purposes" doesn't know that the Chinese Communist Party doesn't want them reading information on Tibetan independence, the Dalai Lama or the Tiananmen Square massacre. They probably haven't realized by the lack of jobs available to Tibetan language speakers or the constant flow of Han Chinese settlers that they're living in a land occupied by the military of a totalitarian regime. No, you, Google will have the good will to tell them that they are AND that you're the ones preventing them from finding the information they're literally dying to get.

Obviously, the situation in China is far different than it is in those other countries; while China has made great strides in the past decades, it remains in many ways closed. We aren't happy about what we had to do this week, and we hope that over time everyone in the world will come to enjoy full access to information.

Was that you just now calling for the overthrow of the CCP, Andy? It sure sounded like it. How, exactly, does providing more advanced censorship technology advance people's access to information?

Our continued engagement with China is the best (perhaps only) way for Google to help bring the tremendous benefits of universal information access to all our users there.

The only way to spread information is to not spread information? I'm really lost here. If I suggested the only way for Google to make money for its investors is to go bankrupt, I think you'd question my logic too.

We're in this for the long haul. In the years to come, we'll be making significant and growing investments in China. Our launch of google.cn, though filtered, is a necessary first step toward achieving a productive presence in a rapidly changing country that will be one of the world's most important and dynamic for decades to come.

No, I'm sorry, but you're just flat out wrong. The partnership in censorship and propaganda is NOT the necessary first step to the end of censorship and propaganda. A first step would be for Google to refuse to do the Chinese government's dirty work for them. A first step would be for Google to announce it would redirect all searches of "politically sensitive" terms on google.cn to the uncensored google engines outside of China -- allowing Tibetans and Chinese alike to know what the whole free world knows. The first step to democracy is not tyranny and the first step to freedom is not jail. I cannot for the life of me grasp why McLaughlin thinks the first step to free information is censorship and the first step to true information is propaganda.

We ultimately reached our decision by asking ourselves which course would most effectively further Google's mission to organize the world's information and make it universally useful and accessible. Or, put simply: how can we provide the greatest access to information to the greatest number of people?

I was surprised McLaughlin went so far without invoking the White Man's Burden as a justification for Google's hypocritical censorship program. Thank God the executives at Google spent so much time in their corporate board room plotting how they help all those millions of poor, under-informed people in Tibet and China. Where oh where would we be without Google's noble brand of imperialistic racism?

The problem with this is Google isn't pushing information, they're pushing a product. Their product, like all other products, is sold to make money, not to inform the ignorant. Their previous Chinese language website was recognized as the #1 customer-rated search engine in China and held a strong second in the Chinese market. Now they have the full support of the Chinese government in exchange for the most advanced propaganda and censorship machine available to people inside Tibet and China.

Contrary McLaughlin's wishes, information that is "universally useful and accessible" in the North America or Europe or Japan is no closer to being accessible in Tibet and China today than before the launch of google.cn. Not the information that matters, not the information people need to place themselves in their political situation. When 1.3 billion people cannot access information about their country's political history and status, there has been no progress. Google hasn't made information more available, they've made it less accessible by systematizing the work of China's internet censors into an easy to use platform.

Propaganda has never been so easy to spread. The truth has never been so easy to hide. This is Google's doing and their actions are truly a study in hypocrisy, cowardice, greed, and delusion.

Email Google's corporate leadership responsible for these outrageous actions (click here).
Email Andrew McLaughlin to tell him what you think about his bogus defense of hypocrisy (click here).

Fighting the Fight: The Anti-Censorship, Anti-Google Blogroll

2006-01-28T14:48:00.000-05:00

While Students for a Free Tibet is leading the opposition to Google's partnership with China to censor information and spread propaganda, other organizations and blogs have also expressed righteous outrage at Google. Some have created other jammed logos, many have written extensively on Google's hypocrisy. Here's a list of links to blogs and websites.

Students for a Free Tibet's Online Action Center - send a message to Google!
Working Assets / Act for Change (action alert)
Reporters Without Borders
Dohiyi Mir has a great post on the changing times for Google in China.
Team Bring It On contributor Kevin has a post critical of Google (I also post here).
Whatever It Is, I'm Against It describes Choogle's censorship.
Murdoc Online has our logo and more content critical of Google.
Michelle Malkin has a slew of jammed Google logos (hopefully ours coming soon).
Dean Esmay has our logo and his own, plus links to critiques of Google.
Point Five has a logo jam and commentary.
SheepDog has a great logo jam and cutting commentary.
Instapundit has good links on Google's response to criticism & more here.
The Baltimore Group (My blog) has been cross-posting everything from TWBF.
Junkyard Blog discusses Google & China's censorship of religion in their searches.
China Syndrome is a new blog dedicated to tracking how Western corporations like Google cave in to China.
Rebecca MacKinnon has a great post and links to other articles critical of Google.
Atlas Shrugs has a jammed logo and more.
Gilgamesh suggests boycotting Google's AdWords, a common advertising method on blogs.

Note: Many of the blogs linked above have multiple posts on Google's partnership with China.

Working Assets: Stop Chinese Search Engine Censorship

2006-01-27T22:18:00.000-05:00

Working Assets/Act For Change has launched a campaign to stop Google's censorship program in China. Click here to take part in their email action to Google.

This Is Google

2006-01-27T15:58:00.000-05:00

Any question as to whose side they're on?

Take action and tell Google's CEO Eric Schmidt to end their partnership with China and to stop spreading propaganda as if it were truth. Click here to go to Student's for a Free Tibet's Action Network and tell Google "Don't be evil!"

Google's Censorship Blocks More Information Than Ever Before

2006-01-27T15:12:00.000-05:00

It was clear from the beginning that Google's custom-built Chinese would block out "politically sensitive" searches on Tibet, Taiwan, Tiananmen, and other heavily censored topics from users inside Tibet and China. Google did their best to go beyond any previous censorship software by Microsoft and Yahoo and it looks like they've succeeded. It turns out Google.cn doesn't just stop at repressing political information and dissident sites, but actually prevents people inside Tibet and China from viewing sites about humor, alcohol, gay communities, news, and sexual education. CNet.com has the story, as well as a huge list of sites of this kind that Google blocks and Microsoft and Yahoo do not block.

Google's new China search engine not only censors many Web sites that question the Chinese government, but it goes further than similar services from Microsoft and Yahoo by targeting teen pregnancy, homosexuality, dating, beer and jokes.
In addition, CNET News.com has found that contrary to Google co-founder Sergey Brin's promise to inform users when their search results are censored, the company frequently filters out sites without revealing it.
[...]
The results showed that Google blocked the most sites, filtering out about 13 percent of the host names tested compared with MSN's 10 percent. But while both MSN and Google deleted pornography and political sites from search listings, Google also singled out more humor sites and more sites related to homosexuality--and it was the only search engine to block information related to alcohol, dating and marijuana.
[...]
Mickey Spiegel, senior researcher in the Asia division of Human Rights Watch (blocked by Google and Yahoo but not Microsoft), said Google.cn was "a step backwards in terms of freedom of expression issues."

"It will leave the Chinese populace with less and less ability to, in a sense, think for themselves about some of the issues facing them today," Spiegel said. "They are going to have a restricted diet of info, and that is going to color how they view the world. It's a big story, and it's a stain on their image."

Here are the specifics on google.cn's blocking of information on Tibet. Warning, Google defenders, these are 100% damning.

It's not just Google's Web search site that looks different to Chinese users. A search for "Tibet" on Google News through the Google.com site shows links to articles about a benefit for Tibet House, a speech by exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama, and at the fifth spot, a story about the Chinese government censoring information.

That's a sharp contrast with news search results on Google.cn. In English, a search there for news articles about Tibet brings up four results: one about archaeology in Tibet, one with translations of seemingly random sentences, a girl's blog about her first love, and a news story about camel farming that mentions Tibet once. Using Chinese characters to search for "Tibet" news on Google.cn brought up thousands of sites but none among the top 10 results that mentioned Google, Chinese censorship or anything controversial.

A search on news at Google.cn for "Tibet" and "freedom" in English returned no results, while 144 appeared with the same search on Google.com.

This is inexcusable. Google squashed the ability of advocates for democracy, human rights, and self-determination inside Tibet and China to access information available to the free world through regular Google searches. Not only that, they're assisting China in repressing information about health care and social outlets, they're blocking online communities, and they're enabling homophobic bigotry. By my count that makes Google complicit in the repression of free speech, free assembly, free press, freedom of religion, freedom from discrimination on the basis of gender and sexuality, and even freedom to have a good time.

Google thinks it's OK for the Chinese government to starve people from the truth. They're comfortable assisting the Chinese Communist Party to spin their web of propaganda so tight people can't turn their heads to the truth -- and they're making huge profits while doing it. Google needs to end it's partnership with China and stop spreading propaganda as if it were truth. Their censorship and disinformation is nothing short of evil hypocrisy.

Google Protest News Coverage

2006-01-26T12:03:00.000-05:00

There has been some strong news coverage of the outcry over Google's hypocritical actions. There were apparently a number of excellent pieces on the SFT-led protest at Google Headquarters all over the evening news throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Photos of the protest are also appearing in places like the Washington Post, ABC News and the South Korean Donga.com. Check out video on the site of CBS Channel 5 and check out the video below from KTVU Fox Channel 2 (it may take some time for the video to load): Link to video (windows media)

Your search - "Tibet" and "Freedom" - did not match any documents....

2006-01-26T01:17:00.000-05:00

It became clear pretty early this morning that the Bay Area SFT crew was going to be responsible for representing what has become, by most accounts, a sea of outrage directed toward Google for it's collusion with the Chinese Government's internet censorship project.

By 11am or so we had placards, a couple of media lists, three cars, a bunch of sharpie markers, handcuffs, and a bunch of junked computer keyboards and other parts from the late 90's. The idea was to help Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA along with an accurate visual depiction of what they will be doing to the 1 billion Chinese users who will rely on the search engine to provide them with information on the things that matter to their lives (things like free speech, forming unions and worker cooperatives, etc.).

We decided that handcuffs were really the catch all symbol of the day. On the one hand, you will be "handcuffed" in your search for information. You will visit a web page who's very mission statement involves "the free flow of information" and "accuracy" only to get back a bunch of crap generated by the CCP propaganda dept. when you type in anything having to do with human rights and political reform. On the other hand, having a company with the capicity to gather as much information on indivudual users as Google has makes you suspect that people are going to end up in actual handcuffs at some point. As the Boston Globe reported today, we can't have a company that's in charge of this much information sell out this quickly without being really worried.

The turnout at the protest was awesome for a few hours notice. All the ABC and NBC local affiliates were there, and Yangchen, an SFTer from Stanford, stepped to the mic and did a phenomenal job as spokeswoman. Alma just called to say that she ended up all over the 10 o'clock news looking all proffessional and articulate. According to the reporting, the "protestors sounded angry and betrayed."
Indeed...

We''ll check the papers tomorrow morning and post any print stories and video that we find. For now, good night and many thanks to all the dedicated young Tibetans in the Bay Area.

Chris
Tibet Justice Center

Mikel Dunham Comments on Google's Repression of Freedom

2006-01-25T23:59:00.000-05:00

Mikel Dunham, Pulitzer Prize nominated author of Buddha's Warriors has this to say about Google's outrageous partnership with China to censor information about Tibet, Tiananmen and other "politically sensitive" topics. The quote comes from an email to the SFT staff, so no link is available.

As for the "Google in China" situation, I appreciate [the] argument that there are precedents set in Germany, etc [filtering searches for Nazi]. Shame on Google for that as well. I believe in freedom of speech. Period. I don't want anyone censoring my information and I don't want a corporation or a government censoring me. Nevertheless Google's stated position in China will certainly target MY book as something unsuitable for a sixth of the world's population. So screw Do-No-Evil-Google and it's "greater good" bullshit. Google is in China to make money. It's presence there has nothing to do with ethics or greater goods and those who would promote that idea are the ones who are being naive. In Beijing, the leaders are laughing their asses off at their latest American coup. In the California corporate executive offices, Google should vote to change it's name to Grovel, in compliance with what China has already dubbed it.

Mikel's right. It's unacceptable for people to pass of China's censorship and complete ban on free speech as OK because, well it's China and that's what they do. As Mikel makes clear China's actions are incontrovertibly wrong, as are Google's decision to facilitate them and make a buck doing it. The fallout of China's censorship goes beyond the inability of people inside Tibet and China to get information about their country and the abuses the CCP perpetrates on people within their borders. Journalists inside China can't access the same information you or I can -- not to mention that Westerners travelling inside China are victim to the same blocking of information as citizens. Google hasn't just blocked web searches in accordance with China's requests, they've neutered the capacity for people to spread the truth from within China. This stands in firm contradiction the principles Google claims to stand for of free and easy access to information. It is hypocrisy at it's worst.

Also, check out the Boston Globe's scathing critique of Google's partnership in tyranny. Of note:

A FEW YEARS ago, I walked into an Internet room in Tibet's capital, Lhasa. There were no Chinese soldiers in the room, and no visible government censors nearby. A sign on the wall, however, reminded Web users that even after entering the stateless world of the Web, China's all-seeing eye had not disappeared. ''Do not use Internet," the warning instructed crassly, ''for any political or other unintelligent purposes."

Since then, China's ruling regime has perfected the science of controlling what the Chinese can read or write on the Internet to such a degree that it has become the envy of tyrants and dictators the world over. We might have expected that from a regime that has proven it will do whatever it takes to stay in power. What we never expected was to see Google, the company whose guiding motto reads ''Don't be evil," helping in the effort.

Google's decision to help China censor searches on the company's brand-new Chinese website is not only a violation of its own righteous-sounding principles, and it's not just an affront to those working to bring international standards of human rights for the Chinese people. No, Google's sellout to Beijing is a threat to every person who ever used Google anywhere in the world. That means all of us.
That's no exaggeration. Google saves every search, every e-mail, every fingerprint we leave on the Web when we move through its Google search engine, or its Gmail service, or its fast-growing collection of Internet offerings. Google knows more about us than the FBI or the CIA or the NSA or any spy agency of any government. And nobody regulates it. When a company that holds digital dossiers on millions of people decides profits are more important than principles, we are all at risk. Google will now participate actively in a censorship program whose implications, according to Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, ''are profound and disturbing." The government blocks thousands of search terms -- including censorship.

Here here!

US Congress to Hold Hearings On Google's Partnership With China

2006-01-25T20:58:00.000-05:00

Representative Chris Smith, Republican from New Jersey's 4th District and Chair of the House Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations (phew), has announced that he will call hearings on February 16th into the activities US internet companies like Google are taking inside China. Here are some quotes from his press release (his emphasis):

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) criticized Google Inc. for caving to the demands of the Chinese government by agreeing to censor its own search results.
[...]
“It is astounding that Google, whose corporate philosophy is ‘don’t be evil,’ would enable evil by cooperating with China’s censorship policies just to make a buck,” said Smith, who has been a leading human rights advocate since being elected to Congress. “China’s policy of cutting off the free flow of information is prohibitive for the growth of democracy and the rule of law. Many Chinese have suffered imprisonment and torture in the service of truth – and now Google is collaborating with their persecutors.”

Congressman Smith noted that the internet is a powerful tool that could be used to empower voices calling for freedom and democracy across the globe.

“Internet companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft attract some of the best and brightest minds to develop cutting edge technology that can be used for good throughout the world,” said Smith. “The ability to communicate openly is the key to unlock the door to freedom for those who cannot feel its touch, and these companies can help to provide that.”

Rep. Smith has invited various US companies to testify at the hearing, including: Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Cisco. Also scheduled to testify are: State Department Senior Advisor for China and Mongolia James Keefe, State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy David Gross, Julien Pain from Reporters Without Borders and Harry Wu from the LaoGai Research Foundation.

“Years ago we fought to give Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia the capacity to empower the voices of freedom throughout communist countries and look at the success that followed,” said Smith, who authored the law to authorize Radio Free Asia to broadcast 24 hours daily. “Americans need to empower those who seek the path of democracy, not stifle their ability to speak.”

This is a huge step towards holding Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo accountable for their deplorable operating procedures inside China. American companies should not be providing custom-made censorship apparatus for China. I wonder if Google thinks Congressional hearings into their repression of freedom will help their bottom-line? More so, do Google's investors want to watch while their company is disgraced and revealed as the true hypocrites they are?

You can contact Representative Chris Smith and thank him for taking this initiative and doing the right thing -- and encourage him to stay strong in his pursuit of truth and justice. If you're a Tibetan tell him what it means to you that a US Congressman is standing up for the rights of Tibetans inside of Tibet.

His contact info:
Washington DC Office Phone: (202) 225-3765
Email him through http://www.house.gov/writerep/. He's from New Jersey and use 08759 as the zip code to reach him. You'll then fill out forms saying where you're from -- since this form only works if you're from his district, make sure you enter your home city as Hamilton and use a general address like # Main St.
Write him at:
Representative Chris Smith
2373 Rayburn H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515

G$$gle Making Bad Situation Worse

2006-01-25T17:16:00.000-05:00

Let's be clear: Google hasn't created a bad situation, it's made a bad situation worse. Apparently, though, Google thinks explicitly presenting people with falsehoods or the wrong information is a good thing for people inside of China and Tibet.

"Google.cn will "provide meaningful benefits to Chinese Internet users," said Google senior policy counsel Andrew McLaughlin, referring to the company's new China site.

I'm guessing McLaughlin was only thinking of internet users who work for the Chinese Communist Party and have a vested interest in preventing Tibetans and Chinese citizens alike from having free access to information. Any suggestion that Google's filtering of 1,000+ "politically sensitive" search terms is good for users inside China is patently false and antithetical to Google's accurate assesment that "the need for information crosses all borders." That statement was once true, but now clearly needs to be amended to read "the need for information crosses all borders except those guarded by Chinese tyrants and their Google guard dogs."

Besides being a shill for Google's anti-democratic censorship deal with China, McLaughlin is a senior fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. You'd think with credentials like that McLaughlin would have taken the time to read the report by his colleague at the Berkman Center, John Palfry. Palfry's report, written for the Open Net Initiative, is called Internet Filtering in China 2004-2005, finds massive restrictions of access to both websites and searches for information about a wide array of subjects. After detailing hundreds of blocked websites and Google search results, Palfry concludes:

China’s intricate technical filtering regime is buttressed by an equally complex series of laws and regulations that control the access to and publication of material online. While no single statute specifically describes the manner in which the state will carry out its filtering regime, a broad range of laws – including media regulation, protections of “state secrets,” controls on Internet service providers and Internet content providers, laws specific to cybercafés, and so forth – provide a patchwork series of rationales and, in sum, massive legal support for filtering by the state. The rights afforded to citizens as protection against filtering and surveillance, such as a limited privacy right in the Chinese Constitution, which otherwise might provide a counter-balance against state action on filtering and surveillance, are not clearly stated and are likely considered by the state to be inapplicable in this context.

China operates the most extensive, technologically sophisticated, and broad-reaching system of Internet filtering in the world. The implications of this distorted on-line information environment for China’s users are profound, and disturbing.
[...]
Importantly, China’s filtering efforts lack transparency: the state does not generally admit to censoring Internet content, and concomitantly there is no list of banned sites and no ability for citizens to request reconsideration of blocking, as some other states that filter provide. The topics defined as sensitive, or prohibited, by China’s legal code are broad and non-specific, and enforcement of laws such as the ban on spreading state secrets discourages citizens from testing the boundaries of these areas. China’s legal and technological systems combine to form a broad, potent, and effective means of controlling the information that Chinese users can see and share on the Internet.
[...]
While there can be legitimate debates about whether democratization and liberalization are taking place in China’s economy and government, there is no doubt that neither is taking place in China’s Internet environment today.

This was before Google started to actively block the truth from people inside of China. Now not only will China's army of 300,000 plus internet police - newly branded as adorbale doe-eyed cartoon characters - be shutting down "politically sensitive" websites, blogs, emails, and searches, but they'll have Google's powerful tools working according to their rules. Palfry's study notes the success rate of Google searches inside China before the launch of google.cn and finds, depending on the term, blockage rates as high as 93% of what's normally accessible outside of China. Today searches for "Falun Gong" and "Tibet" turn up only sites approved by the Chinese Communist Party and Google filters out the rest. The truth is no longer just difficult to access, but searches for the truth lead directly to falsehood and propaganda.

Google clearly doesn't understand this. They've subverted the prospects of democracy and liberalization reaching China through the internet. They've blocked the Tibetan people from finding strength and solidarity with exile communities. Google has facilitated China's repression of its people. By caving to the CCP authorities demands for assistance in censoring the free flow of information, Google has facilitated China's repression of Tibetans, Uyghurs, Catholics, democracy advocates, the Falun Gong, and the supporters of Taiwanese independence.

Andrew McLaughlin has lied to the press about the effect of Google's actions and he is indicative of Google's hypocrisy. You can email McLaughlin to tell him what you think about his shilling for China's tools of oppression with the information below.

Contact:
Andrew McLaughlin
Senior Policy Counsel of Google
mclaughlin@pobox.com

"Communist Google's" Complicity in China's Censorship Spawning Global Outrage

2006-01-25T16:04:00.000-05:00

People around the world woke up today to hear one of the internet's leading companies, Google, had abandoned it's recognition of "the need for information cross[ing] all borders" and partnered with the Chinese government to repress access to information about Tibet, Taiwan, the Falun Gong and other "politically sensitive" issues for people inside Tibet and China. The anger was palpable and seen at news outlets like The Guardian, CNN, The Drudge Report, ABC, Reuters and the Associated Press -- not to mention numerous political and technological blogs.

Google is actively blocking the truth from people inside Tibet and China. It's not just censorship or filtering, but delibrate partnership in the Chinese government's campaign against free speech, against the flow of information, and against the propagation of democratizing ideas and values. Fortunately most of the free world sees Google's move for the hypocrisy that it is. From the Financial Times:

Google on Wednesday came in for some harsh criticism from bloggers, outraged at its decision to set up a censored Chinese version of its website which will block results in order to avoid angering the country’s Communist government. The site will not provide Gmail or other services that will open up its use to unfettered expression.

A quick query on Google’s own blog search service service brought up hundreds of references to the move. A random sample showed that most bloggers were vehemently against the policy...
Jay Nargundkar on Citizens Band reminded Google of three of the “Ten Things” that outline its philosophy: “4. Democracy on the web works, 6. You can make money and my favourite 8. The need for information crosses all borders”...
Many in the blogosphere agreed that Google had now joined other internet companies, such as Yahoo and Microsoft, in selling out their principles for rapid growth and big bucks in China.
“This is the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night,” said Kean a Canadian blogger on Live Journal.
“Because business with China is so damn lucrative, not even Google is immune to China’s demands for censorship. It’s extremely disappointing that no one is taking a hard stance against China and their ongoing efforts to curb free speech,” he added....
Dave Briggs described Google’s reasons for limiting the Chinese service as “utter nonsense”.
“Google is a search engine, and is measured by it’s reliability and accuracy in searching. If they are deliberately providing a hamstrung performance just to please an authoritarian government, then they are going directly against their very reason for existence. I am not claiming that Google should act as an agent on behalf of subversive groups in China, but to exclude results because of their political content is a disgrace.
“I can only assume that this comes down to revenue. For Google to earn the revenues they can in China they must provide an always-on, reliable service. They are putting money ahead of ethics.”

Yet for all the outrage Google has caused in countries that have the full and uncensored version of their search engine, none of the criticism is viewable on google.cn (via Good Morning Silicon Valley).

"The main story on the Google.cn news site is about the resumption of direct flights between China and Taiwan. There is a lot about a visit by the Saudi King and more discussion of the toxic spill which poisoned a river in north-east China but no, there's no mention of this story about Google. I've been trying all day."
-- Jane Macartney, Beijing correspondent for The Times, finds the first sign of Google's complicity in Chinese censorship -- the omission of any news reporting that complicity.

The whole world is watching Google as it abandons its corporate mission and becomes an active participant in the repression of human freedom. Today is a sad day for China, Tibet, and anyone who works for Google that still values the free search for knowledge through the internet.

Google Aids China's Censorship of Information

2006-01-25T13:15:00.000-05:00

Google played a cowardly joke on their investors and patrons by abandoning their "Do No Evil" mission to enable Communist China block web searches on Tibet, Taiwan, Tianamen, the Falun Gong, and CCP supremacy from their google.cn site.

Google has remained outside this system until now. But its search results are still filtered and delayed by the giant banks of government servers, known as the great firewall of China. Type "Falun Gong" in the search engine from a Beijing computer and the only results that can be accessed are official condemnations.
Now, however, Google will actively assist the government to limit content. There are technical precedents. In Germany, Google follows government orders by restricting references to sites that deny the Holocaust. In France, it obeys local rules prohibiting sites that stir up racial hatred. And in the US, it assists the authorities' crackdown on copyright infringements.
The scale of censorship in China is likely to dwarf anything the company has done before. According to one internet media insider, the main taboos are the three Ts: Tibet, Taiwan and the Tiananmen massacre, and the two Cs: cults such as Falun Gong and criticism of the Communist party. But this list is frequently updated.

Google's action is already coming under massive criticism around the world. It is cowardly and disgraceful for a company the prides itself on allegedly advancing the spread of information and democracy through the internet is now the tool of a brutal regime in the systematic repression of freedom and thought. Shame on Google. They deserve whatever comes next.

###

It hasn't taken long for Google's new policy of blocking people's access to information to take effect. Via Drudge:

Within minutes of the launch of the new site bearing China's Web suffix ".cn," searches for the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement showed scores of sites omitted and users directed to articles condemning the group posted on Chinese government Web sites.

Searches for other sensitive subjects such as exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama, Taiwan independence, and terms such as "democracy" and "human rights" yielded similar results.

Communist Google: Helping Totalitarian Governments Repress Information Since 2006.

###

Great commentary by John Murrell of Good Morning Silicon Valley:

Apparently you can scratch "censorship in pursuit of profit" off your list of Things That Are Evil.
[...]
I have a ton of respect for all that the Google folks have done and aspire to do, and they can dress the decision up in whatever way makes them comfortable, but this is just wrong to the bone, a capitulation that is anti-everything the Net and the communications revolution is supposed to represent. Google made a nice deposit in its credibility account with its refusal to join the U.S. government on a fishing trip... But a few more moves like this China kowtow and that account will be drained dry.

Absolutely right John. While Google earned my respect this week by opposing the Bush administration's request for information about its users, they can't expect the net to afford them respect when they act like puppets to a totalitarian regime. Censorship and the repression of information is antithetical to the egalitarian spread of ideas on the internet.

China responds to Human Rights Watch

2006-01-19T17:30:00.000-05:00

Here's China's official response to the Human Rights Watch country report. I'm sure the folks at HRW were pleased to know they spend all that time and money on staff that do nothing but pull facts from the "thin air." I've got one word for Kong: weak.

China says rights criticisms come from 'thin air'

Reuters[Thursday, January 19, 2006 17:21]

BEIJING - China lashed out at an international human rights group for its routinely dim assessments on Thursday, but also said it had room to improve citizens' rights.

Human Rights Watch, a New York-based organization that campaigns against political repression and torture, said in its annual worldwide report that China remained beset by widespread abuses of citizens' rights.

The report, released on Wednesday, said the Chinese government had reacted to growing unrest among its people "with a multi-faceted crackdown on demonstrators and their allies and with repression of means for disseminating information and organizing protest, particularly the Internet".

Kong Quan, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry, told reporters he had not bothered to read the report.

"The Human Rights Watch organization has always held a strong prejudice against China's government, people and realities. Its annual reports always patch together claims out of thin air that are entirely politically motivated," he said at a regular briefing.

Human Rights Watch's report listed a series of issues where it said China was increasing, rather than relaxing, repressive controls.

Closed trials, a lack of an independent judiciary, and vague and arbitrary laws cut against rule of law, it said. And the government monitors China's 100 million-plus Internet users with increasingly sophisticated and intrusive technology.

Over 60 Chinese citizens are imprisoned "for peaceful expression over the Internet", the report said.

Xinjiang, the western Chinese region largely populated by Uighurs, a Muslim Turkic-speaking group, faced tightening repression, as did Tibet, the report said.

"Chinese authorities appear determined to eradicate an independent cultural identity," it said of the Uighurs.

Kong said China had made "unprecedented" efforts to improve citizens' legal rights. But he said China also recognizes it needs to improve.

"As in other developing countries constrained by natural conditions, history and levels of politics and economic development, China does have room for improvement," he said.

In solidarity to all opressed.........

2006-01-19T14:24:00.000-05:00

It was an accident how I conceived an idea of being a Tibetan activist and got obsessed with it. I would like to shed some light on my family background, which I think would largely explain the quantum transition I underwent from an uninterested layperson to someone who would vow not to cease to work until Tibet regains her sovereignty.

I come from a Walung family. To those who don't know, Walung is a Tibetan village in north east region of Nepal. Because Walung lies in Nepal, people there weren't directly affected by the Chinese occupation. However, people from Sakya region in Tibet who fled Chinese occupation established a settlement in Walung. Some of them ended up marrying with local Walungs. Those who didn't marry, and who were denied asylum were either sent back or imprisoned after they failed to obey the ultimatum to voluntarily leave the place. Since the Chinese occupation didn't directly inflict any effect on my parents, they weren't vocal or I don't think they even bothered about it. In retrospect, I grew up a total layperson. The first time I read something about Tibet was a comic book, which I remember was about the dalai lama's escape from Tibet to India. Well, obviously it didn't mean anything because I wasn't as grown up as to ask what, how and why.

Four years ago when I came to New York for school, it was really strange to see bunch of Tibetans, some of whom I knew, sometimes protesting in front of UN building and other times just walking miles with placards, banners desecrating China. They didn't really appease me for some reasons, however. I pictured myths on their grievances. My arrival in New York in 2002 and the years that followed also coincided with major geo-political developments in the world. America hadn't completely gotten over the sorrow from the worst inferno of twin towers after the second world war. War in Afghanistan against Taliban had begun, but wasn't really over. Iraq invasion began under false premises. Second intifada had begun in middle east. Govt. sponsored Janjaweed militias were launching genocide against western Christians in Darfur, Sudan. Dismantling nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran emerged as a next challenge. These political developments made me politically very vigilant.

Then came the worst nightmare, which in fact would pitch me into Tibetan politics. Chinese and Korean students vehemently opposed Japanese govt.'s decision to change the history curriculum, which would conceal her militarism and atrocities conducted to the subjects of occupied territories during the second world war. Thousands of people in Beijing, Shanghai and Seoul protested against Japanese govt. and the protest turned violent in Beijing and Shanghai, where they damaged businesses owned by Japanese citizens. This stigmatized me and unable to hold myself on, I talked to my social science professor about the whole situation and the repercussions it would bring in the regional politics. She didn't really answer my question but fired back saying it was nothing more than a power game. She asked me, "what about atrocities China has been committing inside Tibet?". I was speechless, but somewhere deep into me, I already felt some weight. I started researching on Tibet. I read books and in a very short time, everything came right in front of my eyes. THE MYTHS TURNED REALITY. No aberration. No anomalies. There was truth. There was URGENCY. There was PAIN, PANIC AND PLIGHT.

The occupation was unjust, they didn't liberate Tibetans, they held them captive instead, monastic institutions were voluntarily destroyed, Tibetan women were forced to sterilization and still are, religious persecution did take place and there are still hundreds of political prisoners in Chinese jails. Panchen Lama was kidnapped and his whereabouts is unknown. Tenzin delek rinpoche is put into prison accusing false charges on him. Carrying dalai lama's photo is a taboo inside Tibet. Centuries-old arts and artifacts have been stolen from Tibet and placed in museums in Beijing and Shanghai. Mines and minerals excavated from Tibetan earth have been transported into mainland China, processed and sold to foreign nations, which would buy China arms and tanks that would roll down the TIANANMEN SQUARE, military trucks and muskets to crush uprisings in Lhasa and, which of course would pay communist elites' spouses for vacation. Environment in Tibet has been exploited by Chinese building dams for electricity to sell to neighboring states and now railroad from Golmud to Lhasa to transport red PIMPS to crush dissidents. One monk was killed and several others were imprisoned when monks in drepung monastery dissented to listen SELF PROCLAIMED PROFESSORS LECTURING IN PATRIOTIC EDUCATION. Worst of all, ethnic cleansing is undergoing which is similar to what Russian Tsar did in central Asia during 18th century. The unique and rich Tibetan culture is in danger.

I felt very strongly drawn into the plight of Tibetans living inside oppressive regime and also felt very strongly motivated to work to free millions of hands tied, mouths shut Tibetans and save this nation from being robbed by Chinese thugs. Freedom will prevail!!

The conference in Santa Barbara rejuvenated the energy and fervor to work for Tibet until it is free. Free from oppressors, free from undemocratic sinisters, free from religiously intolerant communists and free from tyrants. The warm winter of Santa Barbara revealed me of a warm nature inviting to embrace the young freedom loving activists and BECKONING THE
GLORY DAYS AHEAD. BHOD RANGZEN!!!!

- Tashi Lama
City Tech, New York

<-- I'm standing in the middle (in front of the table) in this workshop on "Teaching Tibet"

Thoughts from Dawa on the last day...

2006-01-18T20:31:00.000-05:00

So today [editor's note: Sunday 1/15] Dickyi and I facilitated a very tough group of activists for 30mins. We had to basically help steer the group in the right direction in making a decision about a topic to discuss for the next two hours. Before Dickyi and I even started, we discussed how we should go about facilitating with Lhadon. I was a bit nervous but I thought it wasn't going to be that bad since I usually facilitate all the meetings I have with my SFT chapterback at school and Dickyi and I had a list of steps we copied down from our facilitating workshop the day before.

Boy was I wrong! First of all, this was not my usual 2 or 3 group of people. I was helping to facilitate more then 20 people who were all hardcore Tibet activists with Dickyi. Everyone shouted out very good ideas but we were not doing well on time and needed to come to a consensus in terms of what topic/s we needed to discuss for the next two hours. With lots of
facilitating skills from Dickyi (Wow Dickyi, you should facilitated more often in Cambridge) and some help from Lhadon, we finally decided to talk about Olympics as a group and then divide in our own regional area SFT groups to discuss what we were going to do.

Well, facilitating was a lot harder then I thought. Dickyi and Pasang did a great job.

As for the whole experience, it was great! I am once again re-energized, re-inspired and reminded again about the importance and the impact we have doing what we do best as SFTers. The past four days have been full ofworkshops, sleepless nights and so much fun.

I cannot wait to go back and get started on SFT work.

P.S. Dickyi, who was making out? I don't remember anyone making out, maybe I missed out. Any idea who they were? Let me know.

- Dawa
SFT @ UMass Amherst

Six Years With Tibet

2006-01-18T16:45:00.000-05:00

It was very fitting for me to wrap up our North American Training Conference in Santa Barbara on Martin Luther King Day. Six years ago, on MLK Day, I got involved with Students for a Free Tibet and the Tibet movement after seeing Lhadon Tethong, then Programs Coordinator, speak at my high school. I went to high school in New Hampshire which does not celebrate MLK Day as a holiday at the time. Fortunately for me, my school devoted the day to a series of workshops on racial equality, women's rights, sexual harassment, Native American rights, and in January of 2000, Tibetan history.

I had been loosely aware of Tibet's plight before I saw Lhadon talk. I'd seen the various Hollywood movies and I'd wanted to go to the Freedom Concerts, being a big fan of Rage Against the Machine and the Beastie Boys. My father was a supporter of ICT and I'd even worn a Rangzen bracelet for a while that ICT had sent out with a mailing. But I'd never been involved in SFT or gone to an SFT meeting.

Lhadon spoke about China's brutal and unprovoked invasion of Tibet and how the Dalai Lama eventually fled into exile. She spoke about the horrendous repression that has occurred inside Tibet and the overwhelming punishments that met the smallest actions of Tibetan resistance. I heard about the complete lack of freedom of religion, speech, assembly, movement, employment, and education. Lhadon spoke about what it was like as a young Tibetan growing up in exile and how she longed to return to a free Tibet. If you've seen Lhadon Tethong speak about Tibet, you know how great a speaker she is and how strong her convictions are.

Maybe it was that I hadn't had the opportunity to think about Tibet in an full and authentic way before. Maybe I just was ready to give myself to a worthy cause -- despite dabbling in work with environmental protection, the homeless, and anti-death penalty campaigning, I'd never found myself fully invested in a movement. Maybe it was hearing an impassioned, educated, clear call for help for the Tibetan people by a Tibetan (and not, say Richard Gere or Steven Seagal). Whatever the case, I was convinced.

I immediately got involved in my high school's SFT chapter and before I new it I was participating in a relay hunger fast, selling momos to fundraise for SFT, interning at SFT's office in New York, and camping out outside the World Bank. I found it easy to devote myself to a cause that I saw as true and just and right. The Tibetan people in exile and inside Tibet needed help amplifying their voice for independence. I would do what I could to make it possible.

Six years later I'm working for SFT full-time. It's kinda shocking to realize that it's been six years, considering how much of a different place I find myself in now than when I first became involved. I've been connected to SFT for a much shorter time than my coworkers and other board members, but I think that speaks to the power Tibet has as a moral issue and the way Tibetan independence resonates with Westerners. Not many SFTers end up walking away from SFT and I'm no different -- just think, two former staff members voluntarily drove twelve hours to help out at our Santa Barbara conference.

I'm working for SFT because I believe Tibet will be free and I can see that coming true in the next six years. I don't think that's a radical statement or overly optimistic, but one that we can make true by the actions we take today. I'm working for Tibet because I believe that every nation has a right to choose their own government, practice their own religion, say or sing whatever they want, and meet in public to express their views. I believe people have a right NOT to be silenced, NOT to have their religious beliefs banned or limited, NOT to be treated as second class citizens, and NOT to be imprisoned for voicing their opposition to a harsh military dictatorship. These are not extreme positions to hold, but ones steeped in democracy and respect for the idea of the rule of law.

Tibet will be free and I believe that change will come by demanding the rights Tibetans, like all other people, deserve. Independence and freedom are only radical ideas when you live in a dictatorship. Those outside of China's totalitarian communist state have a moral obligation to do what we can to support the Tibetan people in their search for freedom and independence. I'm happy I've spent so much time over the last six years working with the Tibetan independence movement and SFT in particular. Hopefully in another six years you will find me blogging from a cyber cafe in a free Lhasa.

Bhod rangzen! Free Tibet!

In solidarity,
Matt

Attention conference participants!!

2006-01-17T15:16:00.000-05:00

Want to post something here on the SFT HQ Blog? ...share your thoughts on your experience at the Leadership Training in Santa Barbara? Please do! Email me (Han) and I'll tell you how. And send me your best photos too! Thanks Tenzing Chemey for your great shots [see Chemey's photos in SFT's Flickr stream] and David [see all of David Huang's great photos on his website: www.poeticdream.com]

of Tibet and trainings

2006-01-15T17:53:00.000-05:00

It's over.

It has been a four-day whirlwind of trainings and workshops, meeting other hardcore Tibet activists, and Thupten's famous chili paste and averaging five hours of sleep at night because we were up talking or singing or because we slept next to Jigme who generates snores the way the CCP generates propaganda.

Anyway, this is definitely the most helpful training I have attended so far. The workshop I liked best was the one where we talked about SFT's mission, vision, and operating statement. The workshop cleared up confusion I didn't even know I had about SFT like our stand on nonviolence. I encourage everyone to read the mission and values statement carefully. I also really really liked the brainstorming session for the Olympics 2008 in Beijing.We talked about creating Team Tibet, the Forbidden Team, because the China has forbidden the concept and existence of the Tibetan nation. Someone suggested making fake newspaper fronts with fake headlines about Team Tibet and distributing them nationally or globally. Tsering from Canada suggested that Tibet support groups and communities could start up funds to help pay for people to get to Beijing. And I thought, a free trip to Beijing, yes please.

I am going back to school with new energy and new tools. In some ways, this leadership training was like a major shot of Red Bull, and I think the skills and knowledge I learned from this one will sustain and inspire me till the next one.

But for now, I am going to the lovely Santa Barbara beaches to chill with the other SFTers and talk about how we are going out for a drink tonight!

Tenzin Dickyi, SFT, Harvard University.

Regional planning... i snuck away for a minute

2006-01-15T15:39:00.000-05:00

This morning, everyone assembled in the theater space and a couple of the "advanced track" participants - trainers-in-training Dickyi and Dawa - facilitated a process to decide how to use our last two hours together. We left the time open on purpose because we wanted the last part of the agenda driven by the desires of the group... you never know before the conference how people are goinng to be thinking at the end.

Well, it wasn't the smoothest, easiest consensus process I've ever witnessed but it was also a hell of a lot better than many I've been a part of, even (or maybe especially) with long-time experienced activists. And of course, it's a stubborn group of smart, driven people with strong ideas and personalities. The trainers and core SFT leaders tried to stay out of the way and let the group do it themselves. Dickyi and Dawa drew out suggestions from the assembled crew about a variety of topics deserving of more discussion, or skills that people wanted to spend a bit more time on. They skillfully facilitated a discussion that resulted in some ideas being consolidated into others and other topics being clarified.

Then the group voted to see what the top priorities were. It was carefully whittled down until we decided to spend an hour focused on the Olympics campaign - the worldwide drive to use the opportunity of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a way to turn the spotlight on Tibet and push the Chinese government for change - and spend another hour on regional planning. In the end, it actually didn't take that long to bring the group of fifty hard-headed activists to agreement and we got down to business. Nice job y'all.

The Olympics brainstorm and discussion was excellent. Maybe someone else will write about it. Now, folks from SFT chapters and communities are in regional planning sessions talking abuot upcoming initiatives and how to increase our coordination, improve our communication etc. There's some good work getting done... which makes me think I better jump back into it.
-Han Shan

Day 3 Highlights

2006-01-14T18:12:00.000-05:00

From Chris McKenna
Director, Tibet Justice Center

Celia on working with corporate and sometimes lazy journalists

Longtime SFT supporter and trainer Celia Alario took the tough questions from the track 2 advanced group at the conference today – those SFTer’s who now written their fair share of press releases, called journalists at 8am to cover their Tibet event, and who have generally begun to struggle with the mechanics of getting media professionals to pay attention to what they are doing for Tibet in their communities. Celia just nailed it…. Don’t like the way that camera man is filming the way our friend is suspended from the Chinese consulate? Go over and tell him and suggest a better shot! Journalists are human beings, not robots. You need to get comfortable interacting with them if you want to get your issue covered. Camera crew caught in traffic on the way to your event? Have your own freelancer shooting stills and video footage that you can offer up to media outlets later as incentive to get more in depth coverage. Besides these tricks gleamed from years of doing media work, Celia walked people through the internal life of a typical journalist – their deadlines, pressures, and the way they will likely cover your Tibet activities. Above and beyond anything, she encouraged the group to really speak up and engage the media. On a fundamental level it is their job to listen to you because you are the one making the news. So pick up the phone, speak frankly, and don’t be personally offended if they don’t cover it!

Alma and Han holding down direct action as always

Listening to Alma and Han sketch out goals, strategies, and tactics for Tibet direct actions is like watching master musicians tune instruments. It’s so second nature and kind of casual that you almost feel like they could be doing some totally unrelated task simultaneously without breaking a sweat. The main point? People need to up their level of critical analysis if they really want to make actions work. You need to have a nice, long, thorough group meditation on why you are doing something, what you want from it, who you are targeting, and who your partners are. Planning is not wimpy, and in fact most of the success for the best stuff SFT has done resides in the amount and quality of the planning. It’s great to see all the old school veterans empowering all these rising stars to have the same level of vigilance.

Thupten and Chris cook dhal, hella spicy chile, and dent van in Santa Barbara parking lot

People can’t eat Costco junk food if they’re going to sit through 8 hours of workshops, so Thupten and I set out to make an Indian veggie dinner with works in order to create a nice group food coma in preparation for an early bedtime (didn’t happen). What we didn’t bank on was the UCSB cooking class and subsequent ice cream social that absolutely filled the kitchen for the whole afternoon. Screaming UCSB freshman, oreo’s, lot’s of make-up, mountain dew, that kind of thing…. In the midst of all of this was Thupten the Warrior swearing a little but otherwise flawlessly executing a veggie meal for fifty. I myself stirred so much dhal and sabzi that my right forearm became sore in that tennis elbow kind of way. This loss of mobility also might have contributed to running the side of a van into a pole in what has to be the smallest and most poorly designed parking garage in history. Sorry van!

More later from Santa Barbara

The SUN

2006-01-14T17:37:00.000-05:00

Sunny California is proving that surfing and sand are not its only amazing facets. We are in the middle of the third day of the SFT leadership conference where the people and the programs are proving to be ever more inspiring. The track two group is undergoing training for trainers; the most helpful workshop thus far was Media. In the past I have found that the the media world has been extremely difficult to penetrate. Now I realize the importance of cultivating a relationship with reporters and plan to make a ton of new friends when I get back to Vancouver! Thanks SFT Santa Barbara, you've been great hosts and SFT HQ, you know you are awe inspiring.
-Pema Lhalungpa
SFT Canada
PS Hey, check out the SFT Canada blog too!

SFT North American Conference, UCSB, California

2006-01-14T04:34:00.000-05:00

DAY TWO
It wasn't any ordinary day for me. This day, i wanted to get the hell out of my sleeping bag and rush to everybody, everywhere everytime: looking forward to all the workshops that was in store for us. Firstly, i needed my energy booster, which was being brewed right below us by Thupten and Jigme. Breakfast was the usual stuff: juice, coffee, croissant, varieties of bagels, cream cheese, peanut butter and fruits. I had my fill with cream cheese and peanut butter on two sesame seed bagels and hot strong black coffee. Secondly, i needed another set of beautiful pictures for the SFT link, hence the PICTURES you see here. By the way, i was designated to be the semi-official photographer of this event. I say "semi-official" because i am a participant at the workshops and a volunteer at the kitchen and the so-called paparazzi of SFT too. Hell yeah, i love all my positions.
After breakfast, we headed down to the meeting room where we were to have an opening circle before the scheduled workshops began. As usual, opening circle is always fun and we play the same games almost everywhere, but without getting tired of it. It is an excercise which refreshes your mind and relaxes your body to further strengthen to last the long hour workshops. As we were done with the Opening Circle, we were divided into Track One and Track Two. Former one being the new comers, and peope who have attended more than two conferences and FTACs fitted the latter group. Since i have been to Conferences and FTACs before, i was transfered to Track two, where they teach leadership and, most importantly, train us to become future workshop facilitators. Track two left the opening circle and headed towards the MCC where our meeting room was located. We were only ten of us in our Track two course.
I did go for one of the workshops in the morning for messaging and facilitation, but was later called for the rescue in the kitchen where it was a "one man show". Thupten was trying to manage everything at once which was not impossible, only that, the dinner would be ready by 10 the next morning. Yeah, i did help cut most of the vegetables and wash the plates in the sink.
The rest of the evening i was preparing dinner and the setup the dining table.
Dinner was fabulous. It was awesome,
Partly because i helped in making some stuff.
Hey i have to tell you this quick. We had the town hall at the end of the night after dinner and rest is history. There was after dinner stuff but, What happens in Santa Barbara, stays in Santa Barbara. Its almost five in the morning and i need to get some sleep, besides my battery is about to die on me. G-nite and Boe Rangzen

Welcome relief from Vancouver rain...

2006-01-13T22:32:00.000-05:00

Having just suffered through a whole month of rain in Vancouver, it was such a relief to get off the plane yesterday in Santa Barbara and feel the warmth of the sun. It was a great start to what has so far been an amazingconference and I'm sure it's just going to keep getting better.

I spent most of the day with the advanced group made up of participants, mostly Tibetan, who've previously attended SFT camps and conferences. We've focused on worskop facilitation and other skills that will enable us to organize conferences and action camps back in our own communities. Especially in the lead up to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, it's so important for us to be able to offer our members and supporters all around the world the opportunity to develop and increase their direct action, media,grassroots organizing and other activist and skills.

Tonight we have a town hall meeting, where members have the opportunity to provide feedback to SFT's leadership about what they feel is and isn't working. But before this, we've got dinner prepared for us by our wonderfulconference volunteers.

Stay tuned for more updates from Santa Barbara!

Kate
SFT Canada

Great crew in Santa Barbara

2006-01-13T16:04:00.000-05:00

DAY TWO - FRIDAY
More folks arrived overnight and this morning and the workshops began with a Nonviolence 101 workshop facilitated by SFT Board member Sophia, and Matt, SFT HQ's Operations guy. We've got a good crew of volunteer trainers and staff on the ground with former SFT staff Thupten & Alma, top-notch media trainer Celia Alario, Susan Mizrahi from Int'l Campaign for Tibet, Dorothy Berger from Int'l Tibet Support Network, and many others. More importantly, we've got a diverse group of fifty young freedom fighters from all over - about half Tibetan. We're just gettin' started but it's already obvious we have a great crowd here.

The weather here in Santa Barbara is smiling on us. It's quite a difference from the last time we came to Southern California in January - for SFT's second Free Tibet! Action Camp in Malibu. Torrential rains and mudslides had us evacuating 2/3 through camp, relocating to the "Jolly Roger Motor Hotel" in Venice for the conclusion of the training. We conducted media workshops and protest role-plays in the motel's conference room!

SFT North American Conference, UCSB, California

2006-01-13T03:48:00.000-05:00

Guest Blogging: Tenzing Chemey
DAY ONE
This is the second SFT conference I have attended and it couldn't get any better than this. I met a lot of friends from the previous conference and Action Camp-4, while making another dozen new friends from all parts of the country such as LA, Utah, Alabama, Mass., SF, even Vancouver, Canada.

Today, the conference started with checking-in and registration at the Multicultural Center (MMC) at the main campus. Although participants poured in at a very slow pace, the number of total attendees hit thirty-five and still counting. We are expecting a dozen more during the weekend from the neighboring cities. I personally thanked many students who flew hundreds of miles to be here, either to lecture us or learn new skills or hmmm... to enjoy this beautiful Cali weather. Whatever the reason maybe, i'm glad you guys are here.

The very first thing that did excite me about this university was the waterfront. There is a lake by the campus!! How romantic. And to top it off, there are beautiful birds that sit on the middle island of the lake.

After touring around the campus, we gathered at the MMC for the Welcoming and the Opening Circle ceremony. We welcomed each other and introduced ourselves in typical SFT manner. You know how it is, a little joke here from Haan and a little addition to it there from Tendor; whatever there is to break the ice, these two will come up with something. Too bad we couldn't play the running game (something like musical chairs), since we were running behind schedule. Well, it was all over and we headed straight down to the theatre where we were to watch the movie "We're no monks" by Pema Dhondup who was present here for a Q & A session. Everybody loved the movie which was quite an experience. Did i tell you that most of us were really really hungry for some reason? I could hear the rumbling of the stomach from some people near and far. Everybody headed for the UCSB hot spot called FreeBird where you can get a monstrous Burito with thousands of fillings of your choice for just $6.00. By the way, despite being very hungry, i could eat only half of the burito.

After the invasion of FreeBird, we headed back to our barracks and tucked ourselves in our cozy sleepy bags, except for me, i'm still trying to finish posting this. As i look around the room, i hear the snores and the grunting which does annoy me; therefore, in order to avoid this i need to get the rest because tommorrow is another long and beautiful day. Boe Rangzen.

Spanish Courts Investigating China's Genocide in Tibet

2006-01-10T15:33:00.000-05:00

Fantastic news today from Spain. The Spanish High Court will investigate seven Chinese officials, including former heads of state Jiang Zemin and Li Peng, on charges of genocide inside Tibet. Click here to view the whole story:

SPAIN'S High Court will investigate whether seven former Chinese leaders committed genocide in Tibet, after Madrid's top court ruled Spanish courts could try genocide cases even if they did not involve Spaniards.

The criminal suit, filed by three Tibet support groups, was thrown out last September by a lower court but shortly afterwards Spain's Constitutional Court made the ruling on foreign genocide cases and the groups appealed.
The High Court said in an official document overnight it would investigate the genocide accusations against former President Jiang Zemin, former Prime Minister Li Peng, former party chiefs in Tibet Ren Rong, Yin Fatang and Chen Kuiyan, former security chief Qiao Shi and former Family Planning Minister Deng Delyun.
The case accuses the top officials, who were in office during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, of authorizing massacres and torture in Tibet. The court could call for Chinese authorities to arrest those accused and even impound their property.
No one at the Chinese embassy in Madrid was available to comment on the suit.
"We have been working for almost nine years to do this well to present all the evidence properly and in line with the law and we are ... very happy and excited that this first path towards justice in Tibet is opening up," Alan Cantos, Spanish president of the Tibet Support Committee, said on state radio.

Spain's laws of universal jurisdiction for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity now applies even in cases where Spanish citizens are not harmed. The law is a remarkable example of the possibilities for universalizing human rights protections through the rule of law. Not just unenforceable international laws, but the laws of a country with a strong judiciary and a government to implement their rulings.

If Jiang Zemin, Li Peng and the other Chinese officials are indicted by the Spanish High Court, they will be subject to arrest if they enter Spain or any country that has an extradition treaty with Spain. One of my sources, an expert in Spanish law, says this would include almost any Western country. Countries that do not have universal jurisdiction but do have extradition agreements would be under even more pressure to comply with any requests by a Spanish judge to have a suspect extradited to Spain. It is not clear, though, the extent to which countries would be willing to do this. In the past Argentina, Guatemala, Chile, Mexico, Belgium, and the United Kingdom have demonstrated their willingness to extradite suspects under Spains universal jurisdiction laws.

This case presents an opportunity for the Tibetan people to receive at least a modicum of justice. The Chinese government and these officials in particular needs to be held accountable for the million plus Tibetans dead as a result of China's occupation of Tibet, for the destruction of over 6,000 monasteries, and the systematic repression of Tibetan culture. The indictment and eventual commitment of the Chinese leaders who were both architects and orchestrators of China's genocide inside Tibet would be a small step in the right direction of restoring Tibetan statehood. China cannot expect to be treated as a member of the respected international community as long as it harbors those responsible for Tibetan genocide.

It should also be noted that Spain's continued effort to root out and bring to justice those responsible for the great crimes of the twentieth century. The perpetrators of genocide and war crimes should have no safe harbor in a modern, liberal world. Spain succeeded in convicting Augusto Pinochet for crimes against humanity. Hopefully they'll also succeed in bringing Jiang Zemin and Li Peng to justice. The world will be a better place if they do.

[UPDATE]: International Crimes Blog has a great post explaining the history of the Tibet case in Spain, Spain's evolving universal jurisdiction law, and how the case might play out.

Honouring Liu Qing at Human Rights in China event

2006-01-06T13:07:00.000-05:00

Last night Tendor and I attended the Human Rights in China Annual Board dinner honouring retiring President Liu Qing for his service to the organization and tireless promotion of human rights. Liu Qing survived nearly 11 years of imprisonment and torture in China. His crime: leaking some of the testimony used to convict democracy leader Wei Jingsheng. The evening was filled with moving speeches and tributes to Liu Qing by the leading Chinese human rights and democracy activists and scholars including Hu Ping & Han Dongfang. Thanks to Human Rights in China Director Sharon Hom and staff for including us in this inspiring event. - Lhadon

Strange Encounters at Nonviolence Conference

2005-12-29T01:57:00.000-05:00

Bethlehem, December 29
Yesterday was Day Two of the Celebrating Nonviolent Resistance conference in Bethlehem. Dr. Mubarak Awad (who spoke at SFT conference at Duke University in 2002) and other scholar-activists spoke to an international audience of about 300 people in a large, cold auditorium in the morning. The low temperature in the conference building and my jet lag joined forces to put me to sleep during the session. There were a few waking moments, during which I heard the inspiring Reverend Naim Ateek talk about Morally Responsible Investment. A group called Sabil has published a book that urges Western institutions to think twice before investing in companies that aid Israel's occupation of Paletinian territories. This immediately made me think about out own Boycott Made-in-China Campaign. What will it take to get it off the ground?
In the evening, Han and I headed over to a restaurant on Manger Street called "Restaurant and Coffee Shop," where we ate french fries and drank you know what. There was a huge television in the middle of the restaurant, which suddenly began to show - you will never guess what - Seven Years in Tibet!!!!!!! Yes, it's crazy! I like to believe that the restaurant owners knew it was my birthday and decided to give me a little surprise treatment.
Well, there is a plenary session starting right now where the Yoda of Nonviolence (also known as Gene Sharp) will be speaking. So I better sign off.

from Bethlehem

2005-12-28T00:51:00.000-05:00

It's early morning in Bethlehem (7:30 am, quite an unusual hour for me to be up at) and the city is slowly but noisily waking up to the day. Both Han and I are typing away at our computers in the hotel lobby although it's before coffee and barely after sunrise. Given the name of our hotel (Casa Nova), we might as well have been in the East Village, or Las Vegas.

But we're looking forward to the conference, which starts at 8:30am. Check out daily updates about the conference at the blog that Han has made (www.celebratingnv.blogspot.com).

Tendor
Manger Square, Bethlehem

BIG NY Times Article:

2005-12-18T18:31:00.000-05:00

The Restless Children of the Dalai Lama

Today's New York Times Magazine has a long article on young Tibetan exile activists. The star of the article is poet, activist, and friend of SFT Tenzin Tsundue. I was glad to see such a long piece on the subject in such a high-profile venue. Pankaj Mishra's article is thoughtful and well-written and its portrayal of young Tibetan activists in India is very sympathetic.

Writing about Tenzin Tsundue:

He is always busy. Last spring, he helped organize a meeting in the town's central square to commemorate the victims of the massacre in Tiananmen Square in 1989. He recently finished work on a joint translation of a long poem by a Tibetan writer facing official disapproval in China. Unlike most activists, he doesn't offer a solution for every problem. Instead, he seems engaged in a long and uncertain quest - and this reflective manner is part of his charisma, what makes him attractive to young Indians and Tibetans. "The biggest question for us," he told me, "is what can we do? How do we find a solution to our dilemma? It is so easy to give up and invest all your faith in the Dalai Lama. We have to do something else. But what is it?"

Nonetheless, the article fails to express how strategic and visionary Tsundue and his compatriots are. Instead, it paints them as a brand new breed of questioning young people that are just waking up to the idea that the Dalai Lama can't be expected to shoulder the entire burden of the Tibetan cause. The article also fails to give much context outside of the position of the Tibetan Government in Exile and the state of the talks with the Chinese. It doesn't mention the growing unrest within China or describe the way the youth movement for Tibet is growing and solidifying around the world. It mentions the Tibetan Youth Congress, but not that there are chapters everywhere there are Tibetans. There's a photo of the SFT India office, with SFT India's National Coordinator Tenzin Choeying sitting right in the middle. But the caption just calls it the Tibetan exiles' "new office and library," failing to connect it to an international network of young people in dozens of countries around the world. The writer thoughtfully weighs a debate between Tsundue and Samdhong Rinpoche over Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolent resistance but he doesn't look forward, towards the Beijing 2008 Olympics when China will be under unprecedented scrutiny. Nor does he note the massive demographic changes taking place in Tibet, with China encouraging increasing numbers of Chinese to settle there, threatening to simply overwhelm the Tibetan people by making them a minority in their own country.

Then there are a handful of places where the writer completely misses the point. For instance:

"...whatever benefits the Chinese bring in the form of new roads, schools and regular jobs have so far failed to diminish the popularity of the Dalai Lama."

Well yes, it isn't just that the Tibetans have maintained their deeply Buddhist faith and culture in the face of the Chinese occupation - it's that the new roads (that help bring in Chinese troops and carry out natural resources), schools (where Tibetan children are indoctrinated with Chinese propaganda and forbidden from speaking their language) and regular jobs (taken by Chinese migrants) aren't "benefits" at all.

It's important for a writer to maintain focus in an article like this. But it's too focused on the supposed "novelty" of Tibetans daring to hold a different vision than the Dalai Lama. Most importantly, it fails to connect Tsundue's tireless activism to that of thousands of Tibetans and their supporters worldwide -- a global movement for Tibetan independence with which Tsundue closely coordinates. Congratulations to Tsundue for earning the coverage (he absolutely has) but let's make sure the faceless thousands of hard-working Tibet activists everywhere also get their deserved acclaim (and I don't mean to suggest that it's Tsundue's responsibility - it's all of ours).

I'm going to send an email to the NY Times Magazine's Editor [magazine@nytimes.com] to say "thanks for the coverage" but also to encourage them to explore this critical issue much further. There has been increasing coverage of unrest in totalitarian China and corruption and instability within the Chinese Communist Party. Let's try to keep the pressure on to make publications like the New York Times give better (and more!) coverage to Tibet as well. I've posted my letter to the editor as the first comment. Please post your letters as comments too.

Crackdowns and the Decline of the CCP

2005-12-13T15:29:00.000-05:00

For all the discussion of China's thriving economy and surging power in the international community there has been a major absence of discussion on China's internal legal and political structure. Despite major economic development, China remains a communist, totalitarian state with a single party. In most multi-party systems of governance the public tries to correct what they see as failures in government by voting an alternative party into power. The public in single-party states, on the other hand, can only change the whole government when they are dissatisfied. The Chinese Communist Party knows that there is no real avenue for change in their system. Recently a stream of events have occurred that makes one wonder: what the hell is going on in China?

China is cracking down on any possible avenues of dissent. One of the early examples from the last few weeks is the beating and detention of six priests and sixteen nuns in separate incidents. This was followed by the first known mass protest inside a monastery in the TAR by monks in over ten years. Up to 400 monks held a silent protest inside the Drepung Monastery in response to China's policy of "patriotic education" -- which includes forcing monks to swear allegiance to China and disavow loyalty to the Dalai Lama. China responded by detaining five monks and closing the monastery. The crackdown on religious groups also extended to the brutal rape of two Falun Gong practitioners by a police officer in Hebei Province. All of these incidents have occurred between November 18th and December 4th.

China also received major attention last week when police and military forces opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators in Dongzhou.

The authorities have still not commented in any detail on the incident, in which villagers said as many as 20 residents of Dongzhou were shot and killed by security forces on Tuesday night as they protested plans for a power plant, in the deadliest use of force by Chinese authorities against ordinary citizens since the Tiananmen massacre in 1989. Residents of Dongzhou said at least 42 people were missing.

The villagers were protesting the construction of a power plant, specifically the lack of government compensation for land seizures and the lack of safeguards for pollution that would come from the plant. What's worse, the Chinese government didn't allow media coverage of the massacre and denied the nature of the victims:

Later, a local television bulletin here said that three people had been killed in Dongzhou, and eight injured, describing them as criminals and giving no other details. This was the first known mention of the violence in Chinas state-controlled media, and Beijings silence on the events underscored the vulnerability of a system that still practices heavy censorship in an age when sources of information beyond the governments control are readily available.

While the violent crackdown on protests and religious freedom is shocking and evident, it is accompanied by a parallel effort to stop liberalization by forcing 30,000 NGOs to reapply for their permits by the end of the year. This is move is a bureaucratic means of closing organizations working to enhance the lives of Chinese citizens and provide oversite of the government.

The Chinese government is clearly feeling threatened more now than ever before. Their actions suggest that their hold over the country is slipping and the only response they have is to try to squeeze their people. Today's NY Times has a long article about Gao Zhisheng, a lawyer working to protect civil rights in China.

Now, the party has told him to cease and desist. The order to suspend his firm's operating license was expanded last week to include his personal permit to practice law. The authorities threatened to confiscate it by force if Mr. Gao fails to hand it over voluntarily by Wednesday.
Secret police now watch his home and follow him wherever he goes, he says.
He has become the most prominent in a string of outspoken lawyers facing persecution. One was jailed this summer while helping clients appeal the confiscation of their oil wells. A second was driven into exile last spring after he zealously defended a third lawyer, who was convicted of leaking state secrets.
Together, they have effectively put the rule of law itself on trial, with lawyers often acting as both plaintiffs and defendants.
"People across this country are awakening to their rights and seizing on the promise of the law," Mr. Gao says. "But you cannot be a rights lawyer in this country without becoming a rights case yourself."

The article makes brutally clear the extent to which Gao is fighting against the Communist Party. His attempts to protect the rights of Chinese citizens are met by forceful opposition by the government. China is trying as hard as it can to shut Gao down:

His resistance hardened. The Beijing Judicial Bureau handed him a list of cases and clients that were off limits, including Falun Gong, the Shaanxi oil case and a recent incident of political unrest in Taishi, a village in Guangdong. He refused to drop any of them, arguing that the bureau had no legal authority to dictate what cases he accepts or rejects.
This fall, he said, security agents have followed him constantly. He said his apartment courtyard has become a "plainclothes policeman's club," with up to 20 officers stationed outside.
[...]
"I'm not sure how much time I have left to conduct my work," Mr. Gao said. "But I will use every minute to expose the barbaric tactics of our leadership."

Gao has been ordered to return his licenspracticectise law. China's response to rule of law was to shout at the top of their lungs "No make it stop!" They seem close to stopping Gao, but thanks to the Times anything they do to him will be in full day light. Not that that's stopped them before (think Tiananmen).

All of this adds up to a disturbing picture of China's internal politics. Religious freedoms are being reduced and dissent is being met with violence and detentions. Despite the work of courageous lawyers, law is upheld only at the pleasure of the Communist Party. While maintaining a calm face to the world, China is imploding. The governments' responses have grown more drastic over the last month, as witnessed by the first mass shooting of demonstrators and the first mass silent protest inside Tibet in over ten years that we know of. I don't know where this is all heading, but it certainly looks like the Chinese government is truly fighting against the march of freedom and democracy for their people. Trade hasn't brought liberalization in China's government, but it has exposed the Chinese people to a greater notion of the freedoms they should have as human rights. In each instance we see the Chinese government pushing back hard at their people. The severity of their reaction is new and suggests that they are scared of something. It's intensely hard to get a clear picture of what that "something" is because of the level of censorship in the Chinese media, but change is afoot.

Crossposted at The Baltimore Group

MARATHON MARCH IN NEW YORK ON HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

2005-12-11T23:05:00.000-05:00

December 10, New York - Over 200 Tibetans, along with the usual supporters, commemorated the World Human Rights Day by marching across New York in a full-day rally organized by the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (RTYC) of New York and New Jersey. The purpose of the rally was to raise concerns about the apalling human rights situation in Tibet and to urge the international community to pressure China to free Tibet.

The rally started at 10 AM at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn, from where the colorfully dressed Tibetans - their chubas and the flags flapping in the wind - walked across the historic Brooklyn Bridge toward the United Nations, and finally to the Chinese Consulate. Along the way, the demonstrators passed thousands of onlookers in Chinatown and Times Square. The rally ended at 4:30 PM outside the Chinese Consulate, where the Tibetans thoroughly engaged in loud chanting of slogans, led by the chant leader Kusho Sonam Wangdu of RTYC.

Sam and Laura's Blog

2005-12-07T11:28:00.000-05:00

SFT BoDer Sam Chapin and his partner Laura are travelling in Nepal and India now. They've set up a blog with lots of great photos from their trip and details on their experiences.

Go check them out!

Candlelight Vigil @ Chinese Mission

2005-12-05T18:38:00.000-05:00

Contrary to what the saying says, it's better to be seen AND heard. I promise you tonight the Chinese saw us and heard us outside of their Mission to the UN. Over sixty Tibetans and supports just finished braving sub-freezing temperatures outside of the Chinese Mission to let the Chinese know that the world will not stand China's continued oppression of free speech and religious freedom inside of Tibet.

Students for a Free Tibet, the Tibetan Youth Congress, and the Tibetan Women's Association coordinated a candlelight vigil calling for the release of imprisoned Drepung monks and the end to China's vicious "patriotic education" campaigns inside of Tibet. The vigil comes in response to last weeks' crackdown inside the Drepung Monastery following the silent protest by an unknown number of monks. Some reports have placed the number of monks involved in the protest as high as 400.

Our chants were often greeted by jeers from Chinese political hacks inside the mission. With every attempt by the Chinese to incite us to violence and photograph us, we redoubled the volume of our cheers. Before we left every window in the mission had to be shut to keep out cries of freedom for the Drepung monks and shame on the Chinese government. They couldn't stand hearing the voice of truth ringing through the corridors of their building.

Drivin' 4 a Free Tibet

2005-12-02T10:26:00.000-05:00

SFT activist Rich Felker shows off the new "Friends of Tibet" Virginia license plate, complemented by bumper stickers. You are hardcore, Rich.

Spreading the Word about TDR

2005-11-22T12:51:00.000-05:00

Martin, a hardcore activist friend of ours put the Tenzin Delek Rinpoche stencil to "good use" in Manchester, England. Only by keeping TDR visible can we hope to secure his release.

The stencil can be found here and other appearances of TDR from around the world can be found on SFT's main site.

Brooklyn 2 Tibet Videoblog

2005-11-11T11:08:00.000-05:00

Last night's benefit at Habana Outpost in Brooklyn was great fun on a cold autumn night. For those of you who couldn't make it, you can watch the videoblog below!

watch video (requires Quicktime)

(if that link doesn't work, there's also a Flash Video version)

SFTUK kicking Hu's ass in London

2005-11-09T13:26:00.000-05:00

SFTUK and the Tibetans in London are kicking some serious ass - the serious ass this time belongs to Hu Jintao. Newspapers and television news programs (including BBC, Sky News, Telegraph, Independent, Guardian) have all covered the protests and helped us send an unequivocal message to Beijing that there is no corner of the world where the Chinese leaders will walk in peace until Tibet is free. Below is from the Scotsman. (You can also visit BBC and other sites to read and see pics and video footages of protests)

PROTESTERS GREET CHINESE PRESIDENT (8 Nov)
Read the whole story in the Scotsman

Hundreds of Tibetans and human rights activists staged a "die-in" outside Buckingham Palace as Chinese president Hu Jintao arrived for a State Banquet.

Students for a Free Tibet UK (SFTUK) said the protest, organised by SFTUK and Tibetan community members, aimed to highlight the Chinese president's "reign of terror" in Tibet, as London prepares to light monuments red in honour of his visit.

The group said that following the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1950, President Hu was responsiblefor the brutal imposition of martial law in 1989. SFTUK's national co-ordinator Alice Speller said: "One in six Tibetans are dead due to the Chinese occupation, and yet the international community is silent in the face of such blatant state terror.

"Tony Blair must speak out about President Hu's actions in Tibet and China's ongoing occupation of that country, or he risks becoming complicit in the atrocities committed there."

I think Bombardier heard us...

2005-11-03T22:36:00.000-05:00

Han from SFT HQ here. I'm tired and need to get away from this machine for a little while but I wanted to drop a quick post in case someone gets to this blog in a creative way, bypassing the SFT site and the www.BOMBARDIERoutofTibet.org site where you can see the creative global opposition to Bombardier's involvement in the China Tibet Railway. Today, see, was an International Day of Action in the Tibet Movement's campaign against the China Tibet railway. We're opposing Canadian transportation company Bombardier's involvement with the railway, a project that could have dreadful consequences for Tibetans... and Tibet.

A bunch of us from the New York office went upstate to a Bombardier plant not far from the Canada border to deliver a letter to Bombardier management, talk to the employees... and the media (there was a piece on NBC's 6 o'clock evening news). It was a worthwhile trip and we heard that senior management issued a memo to treat us protesters nicely, but not to take any of our information. Hmm, well, we sure know they are hearing us. It seems like they're hoping to withstand the noise (and the investigations in Parliament in Canada, and the media scrutiny, and the guilt...) until they get PAID. Bombardier CEO Laurent Beaudoin is saying "I can't worry about colonialism and cultural genocide (according to the Dalai Lama) when there are profits to be made."

Anyway, it was a cold morning in Plattsburgh outside the factory gates but we were hardly alone. Check out www.BOMBARDIERoutofTibet.org to see others taking action around the world. Oh, and they've hardly heard the last of us.

Microsoft Bows to Chinese Pressure on Bhutan Tibet Link

2005-10-28T14:49:00.000-04:00

Save Tibet | October 24th, 2005

Microsoft has barred the use of the Bhutanese government's official term for the Bhutanese language, Dzongkha, in any of its products after Beijing complained that the term had affiliations with the Dalai Lama. In an internal memorandum, Microsoft employees were told not to use the term Dzongkha in any Microsoft software, language lists or promotional materials since "Doing so implies affiliation with the Dalai Lama, which is not acceptable to the government of China. In this instance, replace "Dzongkha" with 'Tibetan - Bhutan'."

The Kingdom of Bhutan is situated in the Himalayas between India and Tibet. The state religion is the Drukpa Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and Dzongkha, a Tibetan dialect, is the official language. Dzongkha has a linguistic relationship to modern Tibetan in a similar way to that between Spanish and Italian.

The use of the word Dzongkha was graded by Microsoft as a 'ship-stopper', which means that a product may not be produced in any form until the problem is resolved. Microsoft has four levels of error severity, ship-stopper being the most severe.

Likely uses of the term may have been in Language Lists for Microsoft products or in Microsoft's Encarta product, which includes an encyclopedia and world atlas.

In June 2005 civil liberties groups condemned an arrangement between Microsoft and Chinese authorities to censor the internet. The American company aided censors in removing words like "freedom", "democracy", "human rights", "Tibet" and "Dalai Lama" from the net in China with a software package that prevents bloggers from using these and other politically sensitive words on their websites.

Earlier this year Microsoft boss Bill Gates praised China's leaders, who have mixed market economics with rigid political control. "It is a brand new form of capitalism, and as a consumer it's the best thing that ever happened."

Another techtoy bit o' fun

2005-10-25T13:31:00.000-04:00

I'd like everyone to try this new service "Frappr" out. Basically, its a way we can create a global map of where all of SFT supporters are. You can quickly add your location, photo, and a text or link. You can add multiple locations, as well, so insert your favorite Tibetan restuarant, SFT hangout, or any other interesting place.

Click on the image to start Frappin:

You can permanently find our Frappr map at http://www.frappr.com/studentsforafreetibet
I hope this can help all of us scattered around the globe to feel a bit more connected.

Tibet Tones (now for free!)

2005-10-25T01:12:00.000-04:00

I'm planning to "relaunch" the ringtones and wallpaper service I launched a year or so ago. I've renamed it TibeTones (or maybe its "Tibet Tones"), and am working on a new website.

In the meantime, all the existing tones and pics are now available absolutely free! You can also easily download them and send them around to friends, upload them to your phones (for Verizon users), and do basically anything you want with them!

So, go have some fun right now at Tibet Tones

And if you have any ideas for a new ringtones or picture, please send them to me, or write them here in the blog comments!

ITSN in London

2005-10-23T08:43:00.000-04:00

Here I am in London at the annual meeting of the Steering Committee of the International Tibet Support Network... good folks from Tibet Support Groups (TSGs) from all over the world.

ITSN is a coordinating body made up of TSGs around the world. The Steering Committee consists of representatives of TSGs from every region of the world. Good work happened this weekend and I predict that it's going to take off this year!

SFT Fundraiser in Boston

2005-10-22T01:34:00.000-04:00

Friday night, October 20

SFT Board members Rick, Dechen, Nyesang and Wangyal hosted a house party at Rick's very old house in Boston (the house was built in 1867, soon after Rick's ancestors saw the end of the American Civil War). Besides raising enough funds to temporarily postpone SFT's constantly looming financial predicament, the party was one crazy mix of pleasure and pleasure. See for yourself!

The party has begun

Boston Tibetan Dance Troupe (Redux)

Gorshay - Tibetan Circle Dance - brings the night to a rapturous close

Hope fills the room with music

Wangyal goes Sinatra, and the ladies go wild

Rockin' Volunteer Crew at SFT HQ

2005-10-19T20:14:00.000-04:00

We had an amazing volunteer crew here at the SFT office today and this evening helping us to get out a big (verrry big) mailing. We're sending out the fall/winter edition of Banned in Tibet, the SFT Newsletter (available online as a PDF for the first time here) to all of our members and supporters. That's a lot of labels and stamps and these silly little perforated circular stickers the post office demands we seal each Newsletter with before we put 'em in the mailbox.

Grassroots Coordinator Tendor has also been workin' overtime (which in SFT terms means double-overtime) getting a big pakage together... and then duplicating it a few hundred times... to send out to all of the SFT chapters worldwide. No small task.

And of course, the whole thing would have been impossible without the extra hands here today (and yesterday, and last week, for the last 10 years, etc.). Thanks again everyone. Below (L-R): Yangchen, Yankey, Tsomo, Tenkey, Tendu, Chime and some guy who apparently thinks he's pretty lucky. Yeah, that would be Tendor.

Welcome SFT IPFW Blog!

2005-10-19T11:47:00.000-04:00

I'd like to welcome SFT Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne's blog to our blogroll. Sara and Michelle are doing a phenomenal job organizing in the Midwest. Their blog is a superb example of how SFT chapters can use blogs to share information about chapter events with their members while telling the world what they are doing to make Tibet a free nation.

Great work Sara and Michelle! Keep it up!

Cheers,
Matt

SFT Party & Fundraiser at Hi-Fi

2005-10-18T12:34:00.000-04:00

New York Area SFTers should come by and be sure to bring all their friends (and have their friends tell their friends and so on and so on...).

SFT Smith Organizes Sold-Out Event

2005-10-17T22:10:00.000-04:00

On Saturday night, SFT Chapter at Smith College organized a fullhouse event, attended by over 200 students and parents. The featured performers of the event, a group of monks from Drepung Gomang monastery, showcased the spi-ritual aspects of Tibetan culture for about an hour. Dawa Yangzom, Chapter President of Smith SFT, introduced the evening with words that describe every Tibetan's deepest emotions. "Although it's wonderful to have the monks perform onstage and showcase Tibetan culture," she said, "I wish that we didn't have to do this in the first place." She added that ideally, all Tibetans would prefer watching such sacred performances in the Barkhor Square before the Potala, not on stage in a foreign country."

Tenzin Seldon, Chapter Chair of Mount Holyoke SFT, shared a moving and eye-opening account of her personal journey in Tibet. Traveling in Tibet can be deceptive, she said, because there is a veneer of colorful freedom that belies China's relentless, systematic destruction of Tibetan culture, religion and language.

Dawa Yangzom, President, Smith SFT Chapter

Nervous before the show: Drepung Gomang monks wait for the right time to appear onstage

Buddhist Dialectics: are they debating the merits vs demerits of the Iraq War?

One Group: members of SFT Smith and Drepung Gomang, neighboring SFTers, and myself in the hot blue suit jacket.

More on jailed Chinese blogger

2005-10-11T13:21:00.000-04:00

[A]s the 37-year-old married reporter behind the numeric pseudonym "198964" learned, he shouldn't have assumed that Yahoo defends press freedom. When Chinese security agents asked executives at Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) to identify the man, they did so. Police grabbed him on a street, searched his house and seized his computer and other belongings, according to documents filed in his defense.

Mr. "198964," whose real name is Shi Tao, is serving a 10-year jail sentence for "divulging state secrets abroad." Bloggers, human rights groups and journalism organizations, including PEN and Reporters Without Borders, condemned the action.

More from BoingBoing.net

Quick Blog Update

2005-10-10T19:48:00.000-04:00

Hi, everyone! We've update the blog sidebar on the right to feature live, dynamic content coming from all over the web. The top displays SFT photos from the popular Flickr service. You can add your photos into this "stream" by uploading your own photos onto Flickr and tagging them with the "SFT".

Below that, you'll see now the actual latest headlines from the SFT Canada and SFT U.K. blogs, instead of just the boring links.

And finally, we have the latest Technorati blog search results for "Tibet". Find out what people from all over the world are discussing about Tibet in their blogs.

Hope you enjoy the new features!

SFT UK in NYC

2005-10-09T16:46:00.000-04:00

Alice, Ben, and Fiona - three of the superstars of SFT UK - are in New York. Strategically mixing business & pleasure, they're hanging out with SFT staff & getting to know SFT board members (photo at left is a bunch of us out for dinner at Tsampa Restaurant), checking out the SFT office, and meeting with all of us on topics ranging from upcoming campaign and action opportunities to fundraising and solidifying the network of student Tibet activists across the UK.

It's been nice to have 'em here and I hope they're having a little fun on the visit. Too bad Saturday (yesterday) was such a dreary, rainy day. For most of the day, we were in Brooklyn for the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress' founding anniversary celebration. Founded in 1970, TYC turned 35 - or 36 in Tibetan years (start on "1") - and there were speeches, spirited performances, a political rap by namgyal Yeshi ["China is lying, our people are dying..."] and of course, an excellent yak dance (who were those yak-suit-clad freedom fighters?).

L-R: Ben, Alice, Han, and Fiona talk shop in the SFT HQ "Lounge"

L-R: SFT and TYC super-activist Kushola Sonam Wangdu,
'old school' SFT Board member Sophia, UK SFTer Alice
(from England)and UK SFTer Fiona (from N. Ireland) at the TYC
Founding Celebration in Brooklyn (Williamsburg) organized by
the Regional TYC of New York & New Jersey.

Midwest Regional Conference Blogging Demo

2005-10-08T18:34:00.000-04:00

Hi I'm bloggin live with a bunch of SFTers from the Midwest! They don't know how to blog, but hopefully after this they'll go to Blogger to sign up for their own blogs and link to the SFT blog.

[UPDATE: PICS FROM THE CONFERENCE BELOW!!]

I hope they buy how easy this is.

Matt

Mobile Phones and Activism

2005-10-04T14:22:00.000-04:00

A week ago I attended an activist conference in Toronto, focused on how to utilize mobile phones for civic engagement, social justice, and human rights work around the world. It was quite a gathering, and you can see the full information on it here: http://www.mobileactive.org

As part of the event a declaration was written. Here is the "SMS" 160 character version:

"Mobile phones serve Communication. Communication serves Humanity. Humanity should serve Humanity. Mobile phones: tech 4 people changing the world."

You can read the complete and amazing declaration, in which we declare that communications technology is a right derived from the inalienable right of freedom expression, and make other bold statements.

SFT can and should make use of mobile technology more. From sending simple text messages reminders out to get people to come to rallys, coordinating large teams of people during actions, or creating our own propaganda through ringtones.

Here's some links to get you started:
Getting Started "Gutter-tech Guide to SMS": http://www.mobileactive.org/wiki/index.php?title=Guttertech_Guide_to_SMS
TXTMob - free service for setting up SMS/test message mailing lists: http://txtmob.com/

An Audience with His Holiness

2005-09-28T10:50:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, September 27th was an unforgettable day for SFT. His Holiness the Dalai Lama granted an audience to New York-area Tibet Support Groups including SFT, USTC (United States Tibet Committee), TJC (Tibet Justice Center) and others.

His Holiness spoke for a good fifteen minutes, during which he talked about the dangers to Tibetan survival posed by the China-Tibet Railway, the urgency of the Tibet situation, and most importantly, he spoke of hope. The thing that registered most deeply in my mind, as I listened closely to my leader's impassioned speech, was that he was getting old. But he was not giving up! Again and again, His Holiness said, "Work harder." It was as if he was acknowledging the fact that we were already working very hard - but that we need to work even harder if we were to achieve our goal. Although there were not many people in that audience, his message "Work Harder" was clearly intended for everyone working for Tibet and freedom everywhere.

After the audience, the SFT staff, board, and some of our most dedicated members and supporters went to Tibetan Kitchen to eat some momo and drink some beer (those under 21 drank water or soda, of course).

Messenger From a Burning House

2005-09-26T12:50:00.000-04:00

A brilliant opinion piece in the LA Times by writer Pico Iyer. These are important words for anyone - from Larry King to Paul Martin to wealthy western 'Tibetan' Buddhists - who claim to admire the Dalai Lama. Just an excerpt:

How to try to preserve Tibet after half a century of occupation remains a tangled question: More and more Tibetans in exile, especially the young, believe the Dalai Lama is too conciliatory, too ready to forgive, and some urge attacks on Chinese power stations, roads and even officials. When the Dalai Lama, who just turned 70, is no longer around, it's possible that some Tibetans will turn, in desperation, to terrorism. His gamble — and hope — is that by taking the high road, and speaking for universal principles of tolerance and trust, he will gain some (mostly invisible) ground in the long run.

Those of us outside the Tibetan community face a very different, but no less urgent, task: As the Dalai Lama travels through the U.S., those who long to see him, to touch him, those who are eager to bask in his infectious optimism and warmth, must also try to help him in the place where he needs it most: urging China to change its policies before there is no Tibet to save.

Otherwise we just seize the parts of his message that inspire us and ignore the parts that challenge us. In doing so, we become dangerously close to being children gathering around a spiritual godfather, hungry for his wisdom and hardly caring that his home, across the way, is going up in flames.

Read the full piece in the LA Times.

SFT vs. the Chinese Ambassador: A Showdown

2005-09-23T01:37:00.000-04:00

I woke up real early this morning, hoping to be the first one to arrive at work. But I was disappointed when I saw that Matt, Lhadon and Han were already there, hard at work printing handouts and preparing placards. Chinese Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong was going to give a speech at the Asia Society and we had a plan to disrupt his business.

Around 11:45 am, Tibetans and supporters, representing TYC, TWA and SFT in the New York area, waited in the lobby of the Asia Society building, pretending to be customers looking to buy museum sovenirs. When the Ambassador drove up to the entrance, we all jumped out from behind the shelves, pulled out Tibetan national flags from our pockets, and started chanting, "Shame on Zhou, Shame on China, Free Tibet Now." Confused and shaken, Ambassador Zhou was quickly shuffled away by his security guards into the elevator.

At the conclusion of the program at about 1:45 p.m. the security guards and the police started preparing a quiet exit for the Chinese Ambassador. But the building had only two exits, and we had both exits covered. Eventually, the Chinese Ambassador exited through the back door, where some of us chanted and waved the Tibetan flags for a full two minutes while he maneauvered his way through the crowd to his limousine. Let's just say, we got him! By the way, this is the same Chinese Ambassador who had to put up with Rich Felker, SFT's Regional Coordinator for Midatlantic, who chained himself to a pillar last year when the Ambassador visited the University of Virginia.

Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-dissidents

2005-09-22T19:48:00.000-04:00

Reporters Without Borders has released what the AP calls an "ABC guide of tips for bloggers and dissidents to sneak past Internet censors in countries from China to Iran"

Check out the Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-dissidents.

Hopefully the rat bastards at Yahoo! won't go reading it just to figure out how to foil the various schemes... hoping to railroad some more China critics in their effort to show the Chinese Communist Party how far they'll bend over for a buck.

In the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Tibet activists, Chinese Democracy activists and anyone who wants to see a billion people gain a measure of freedom from the Olympic opportunity, need to start writing without fear of persecution and punching holes in the great Chinese internet firewall. There isn't too much in the Handbook that most geeky types in the U.S. don't already know but it's a good start. Bravo to RPF.

Mock Hanging in Vancouver as Hu Dines!

2005-09-17T09:18:00.000-04:00

From Jeff Langlois, SFT Canada Board Member:

Tonight's action was a resounding success, Kate and the rest of SFT Vancouver made a fantastic effort this past week and managed to pull together a great demo and action. We had about a hundred supporters in addition to many Falun Gong and Tiawanese who noisily greeted Hu Jintao. About half way through the demonstration Kate scaled a 50 foot flagpole and hung two banners before staging a mock hanging. It lasted for over an hour and in the end they just let us walk away without any charges or even a warning. It really was a night of victories.

I have attached a few of the first photos from the action (that is Kate hanging under that shroud). Also, visit

http://www.940news.com/nouvelles.php?cat=23&id=91702

for the first bit of coverage (the mock hanging is not reported on but our fabulous media spokesperson Pema Lhalungpa managed to get a great quote in there!)

Talk to you all soon,

Jeff Langlois

SFT UK REPRESENT!

2005-09-16T16:44:00.001-04:00

Along with UK-based Free Tibet Campaign, SFT UK took the lead in a high-profile political theater protest against Canadian company Bombardier at the "InfraRail 2005 Exhibition," a railway industry trade show that took place in Manchester on Thursday.

SFTers everywhere have been targeting Bombardier for its partnership with the Chinese government in the ghastly China-Tibet railway, which the Dalai Lama recently remarked would be responsible for "cultural genocide" of the Tibetan people.

They apparently made quite a stir inside the exhibit before being ejected by security. To read more, check out the SFT UK page with the Press Release.

Rally at the UN

2005-09-16T11:24:00.000-04:00

Thursday was a remarkable day of action for SFT. Over one hundred Tibetans rallied outside the United Nations alongside activists for East Turkestan, the Falun Gong, Togo, Ethiopia, and Kashmir. After five hours of chanting, shouting, singing, and speeches (including a powerful one by Uyghur political prisoner Rebiya Kadeerr), we marched all the way across Manhattan, along 42nd Street to the Chinese Consulate, chanting all the way. Our police escort even helped us out by honking to the beat of our slogans! Hu Jintao, the UN, and all of New York were loudly reminded that we will not rest until Tibet is free. Check out some pictures below

Chinese Welcoming Bush to NYC

2005-09-14T14:24:00.000-04:00

One odd bit from yesterday's activities at the Waldorf was the presence of a Chinese military style marching band as part of the welcoming committee for Hu Jintao. To put it bluntly, they were horrible -- though it was curious to see them there to welcome President Bush's arrival too. Sorry if the quality is bad, they're from my camera phone
Matt

The beauty products from the skin of executed Chinese prisoners

2005-09-14T07:54:00.000-04:00

Okay *this* is just too much:

A Chinese cosmetics company is using skin harvested from the corpses of executed convicts to develop beauty products for sale in Europe, an investigation by the Guardian has discovered.

Agents for the firm have told would-be customers it is developing collagen for lip and wrinkle treatments from skin taken from prisoners after they have been shot. The agents say some of the company's products have been exported to the UK, and that the use of skin from condemned convicts is "traditional" and nothing to "make such a big fuss about".
...
He suggested that the use of skin and other tissues harvested from executed prisoners was not uncommon. "In China it is considered very normal and I was very shocked that western countries can make such a big fuss about this," he said. Speaking from his office in northern China, he added: "The government has put some pressure on all the medical facilities to keep this type of work in low profile."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,7369,1568622,00.html

Live Blogging from Waldorf Astoria...

2005-09-13T17:06:00.000-04:00

I'm at the corner of 53rd and Park. We're all sitting around wondering "Where's Hu?" and the only answer is "Hu Knows?". He was supposed to be here at 11am, but as of 4pm (when I finally showed up) he is still in transit, or maybe he's taking a nap somewhere.

In the meantime, the Chinese Foreign Minister (we suspect) decided to make a visit to the loyal Chinese demonstrators on the street. Little did he know there were plenty of Tibetans and Falun Gong waiting in the midst to make his press opportunity a bit unpleasant. Kusho-la, Tendor, and Matt were right at the front...see the link below to a quicktime movie (you may need to download quicktime here: http://www.apple.com/quicktime) that i just filmed of the encounter.

Click here for the Quicktime movie of "Chinese official press moment spoiled". Its 19MB so it may take a little while to download. You may want to save it to disk.

Hopefully, Hu will arrive soon. I may not be here to cover it, but there will be plenty of other folks around to tell the tale later...

Canada Protests - News Highlights

2005-09-13T02:09:00.000-04:00

Here's two videos of the news coverage on the Canada protests. (Windows Media Player Required)

CTV News Toronto: Janice Golding on the protests 2:13

CTV News: Roger Smith on the human rights issue 1:52

My favorite part is when Hu is asked a question about Tibet and says "The question does not exist!". What does he think he's got Jedi mind powers or something?! Or maybe he's been watching our own White House press conferences.

Oh, and....Go Canada!!

TIBETANS AND STUDENTS PROTEST VISIT OF CHINESE PRESIDENT

2005-09-10T01:19:00.000-04:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 2005

Contact:
Dechen Goff - 647-886-5076 (mobile)
Kate Woznow – 778-322-3071 (mobile)
*Photo opportunity*

TIBETANS AND STUDENTS PROTEST VISIT OF CHINESE PRESIDENT
Canadian Government Urged to Press Hu Jintao on Tibetan Issue

OTTAWA, September 9th – China's President Hu Jintao will be met with protests calling for Tibetan independence during his first official visit to Canada today. Members of Students for a Free Tibet Canada (SFT Canada) are planning a demonstration in Ottawa to bring attention to China's ongoing military occupation of Tibet and pressure Prime Minister Paul Martin to ensure that Tibetan self-determination is on the agenda for discussions with the Chinese President. Protests are also planned for Vancouver, Toronto and New York.

"The situation in Tibet has not improved since Hu Jintao came to power," said Dechen Goff, a young Tibetan-Canadian lawyer and Chair of the SFT Canada Board of Directors. "The Chinese authorities continue to imprison and torture Tibetans for nothing more than the peaceful expression of their religious and political beliefs. The only change we've seen lately is the effort by the Chinese government to improve their public relations on the Tibetan issue."

Hu Jintao’s visit to Canada comes on the heels of China's recent celebrations of the “40th anniversary” of the establishment of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR)-- the Chinese governments' most recent attempt to depict Tibet as an integral part of China rather than a distinct nation andd people with a rich history of independence.

"The image Beijing is attempting to put forth in anticipation of the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games-- of China as a progressive and modern democratic nation-- is grossly inaccurate," said Kate Woznow, National Coordinator of SFT Canada. "It's up to the governments and citizens of free countries like Canada to reject this myth and hold China accountable for its continued systematic repression of Tibetans' fundamental right to determine their own future."

Business interests are expected to dominate the agenda of the Chinese President's landmark visit to Canada. In recent months, Bombardier, Nortel and PowerCorp (Investors Group) have been the targets of a campaign by SFT Canada and other Tibet support groups for their involvement in the Chinese Government's controversial China-Tibet railway. This project is the cornerstone of China's so-called “Western Development Plan,” aimed at aggressively developing the occupied territories of Tibet and East Turkestan (Xinjiang) in order to consolidate Chinese government control over the restive regions.

###

Yahoo 'helped jail China writer'

2005-09-07T11:03:00.000-04:00

Sad to see that so many of my technology brethren are still so easily blinded by greed and lust for the "world's biggest internet market". Doesn't anyone learn from the past?:

"Internet giant Yahoo has been accused of supplying information to China which led to the jailing of a journalist for "divulging state secrets". Reporters Without Borders said Yahoo's Hong Kong arm helped China link Shi Tao's e-mail account and computer to a message containing the information. The media watchdog accused Yahoo of becoming a "police informant" in order to further its business ambitions.
<..snip..>
The companies say they have to abide by local regulations, and point out that since China is set to be the world's biggest internet market, they cannot ignore it."

More here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4221538.stm

Awesome Update on Cal Fair Story Below

2005-09-01T12:45:00.000-04:00

Chris Mckenna of Tibet Justice Center: "Now the editorial board has jumped in on our side…. I was trying to get a hold of them earlier to see how the school reacted (or if they have reacted). I’ll keep everyone posted."

A great, on-target Editorial from the Sacramento Bee:

Editorial: Sensitivity lesson

Sac State gives China a free pass

Published Wednesday, August 31, 2005

College administrators can't be expected to be fully up to date on international politics. But those at Sacramento State's College of Continuing Education who helped arrange display space for blatant Chinese propaganda at the State Fair fell woefully short.

The exhibit - "Folkways of Tibet" - shows the kinds of artifacts one expects in such a display. But it omits how Tibet became part of China: It was subjugated by the communist regime that took power in 1949. Nor was there a hint of how Beijing has stifled Tibet: installed a puppet spiritual figure, browbeat other countries into shunning the exiled Dalai Lama, destroyed thousands of monasteries, killed countless Tibetans (some estimates exceed 1 million) and moved hundreds of thousands of ethnic Chinese into Tibet to dilute its indigenous character.

It's not surprising that the Chinese government, which helped plan and pay for the exhibit in cooperation with a graduate of California State University, Sacramento, failed to include any of those troubling facts in the exhibit. But it added insult to falsehood by including a film in which one Tibetan says: "Had it not been for the Communist Party, this beautiful life now would not be possible."

Someone at CSUS should at least have checked out the content of this travesty, which Alice Tom, dean of continuing education, said had not been done. She did, however, offer an astonishing ex-post-facto rationale for why the exhibit is a success: "We've created something for people to learn from."

That adds fantasy to slipshod planning. It's likelier that for every person who may have been sensitized to the reality in Tibet, there are far more who, seeing the exhibit out of context, may believe what China's propagandists want them to. It's not only the students at CSUS who need continuing education.

If you don't want to register (it's free but still...) you can cut and paste the link into a browser window and it should go straight to the page:
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/13498363p-14338938c.html

California State Fair Madness

2005-08-28T22:13:00.000-04:00

So last weekend, Thupten and I were minding our own business and eating corndogs at the Cal State Fair, when we stumbled accross this atrocity called "Folkways of Tibet," an exhibit celebrating "the 40th anniversary of the Tibet Autonomous Region" and depicting "China's Tibet." We agreed that it was pretty much the worst piece of propaganda we had seen in recent years, and decided to get a crew together to come up and do some educating.

This morning, members of TYC, TJC, TANC, SFT, and the Bay Area Tibetan soccer team (represent!) braved the 104 degree central valley heat with banners and t-shirts (from the Alma and Chris martini sweatshop). The target was Cal State University Sacramento, who evidently sponsored the exhbit at the suggestion of Chinese alum without doing any fact checking on the content (you can take action and tell them to cancel this thing immediately by clicking here.)

Once everyone had taken their positions, the girl managing the exhibit came up to Thupten looking pretty mortified (see right). Mortification quickly turned to tears when she saw how upset Tibetans were at the content of the exhibit. She said she had to call security, but promised to start an SFT chapter!!!

Check out the Sacramento Bee tomorrow for an article and some photos of the action. Here's Chris and Thup looking tough, followed by some fair cops in chino shorts throwing us out!

Feeling satisfied with our accomplishment, we spent the rest of the afternoon in the Bollywood tent eating fair food. Check out this photo of SFT love!

More soon from the Bay Area...

SFT HQ Extreme Makeover 2005

2005-08-25T13:09:00.000-04:00

Well, yes, we've been busy here at SFT Headquarters. [click on the picture to enlarge] We've completely overhauled our office space in New York. Okay, we're not quite there yet. But we're rolling, and we're already excited about the changes. More space, better space, better equipment, better organized all-around, etc. We're preparing for a big school year and we won't have time to do this stuff then. Actually, in a lot of ways, we feel like we're renovating now in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. We're putting our "house in order" so that we can focus fully on the next 3 years - 2008 will be here sooner than we think!

It's been fun though, thanks to some great volunteers and several local board members. We even finally got rid of lots of old computers that were taking up a tremendous amount of space here. And after we cleaned off all the information, we put 'em out in board member Sam's truck... where a handful of them were taken by friendly neighbors (there was a sign reading "free computers"). We hope you enjpy them!

SFT works for global peace and non-violence

2005-08-17T13:36:00.000-04:00

From the New York Times: "At a demonstration near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Tex., Kathy Nikeef carried crosses memorializing Americans killed in Iraq." full article here

Kathy is a former SFT Board Member, and we're proud that she's representing down in Texas, in support of Cindy Sheehan. Go Kathy!!

I need your input!

2005-08-16T09:30:00.000-04:00

Some of you may seen the mobile ringtone and wallpaper site I launched last year. Its called "Mobile-ize For Tibet" and its currently located at http://www.sftonline.org/ring. For a donation of $3 to SFT, you can get a cool background image for your phone (such as the one to the left), or a ringtone of Long-sho or Lhabhu Dhabhu.

Now I say "some of you" because the whole problem with the service has been the inability to market it, due both to time and money. I still think it could be very popular, particularly if I improve a few things:

1) New website design to improve usability, general look

2) Add new wallpapers, ringtones, on a regular basis (each month?)

3) Increase marketing through word of mouth, banner ads on phayul, etc., fliers, stickers, etc. especially towards Tibetan youth

4) And most importantly, find a *NEW NAME*. We need a name thats catchy and fun - TibetTones.com? TibetRing? RangzenRingers? YakTone?

Please post your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below. I'm really looking forward to hearing your ideas. This could be a great bit of extra income for SFT!

Latest March for Tibet's Independence Concludes

2005-08-13T17:23:00.000-04:00

Accompanied by dozens of local Tibetans and supporters, twenty-some tired, sweaty and sore activists limped into Dag Hammerskold Plaza across from the U.N. around noon today, officially concluding their walk from Boston to New York, International Tibet Independence Movement's (ITIM) latest "March for Tibet's Independence."

After some slogan-shouting and the singing of the Tibetan National Anthem, all of the walkers introduced themselves and received khatas. There were speeches by, among others, ITIM's president Larry Gerstein and by Jigme Norbu, the son of Taktser Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama's older brother who has never wavered from his insistence that Tibetans continue to seek complete independence. Larry and Jigme la and his patriotic father and ITIM Board members and supporters and the walkers, not just this march but all of them (ten marches in about as many years? ...and this was a short one) deserve admiration for their commitment to the Tibetan cause.

I was also invited to give a speech. I basically said, hey, we have almost exactly three years until the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Chinese Gov't thinks it's their big opportunity to come out as the open, progressive, happy, new and improved One China. We say our big opportunity to create a real political crisis for them on the eve of the Games, while they squirm uncomfortably in the bright hot spotlight.

I think the speech went over pretty well because no one seemed to mind that I was basically soaking wet. Uhg, it was the hottest, most humid day in NYC yet this year. Nasty. Well, small complaints in the scheme of things, eh? Yes. Onward!

SFT India Fever: Youth Rocking Dharamsala

2005-08-12T11:11:00.000-04:00

Everyone digs Tendor's post [below] from Dharamsala and we only want more. So check out the latest excellent article from Tenzin Tsundue, SFT India's unofficial chief advisor (a Gandhi-esque Karl Rove), in this month's Tibetan World Magazine.

Dharamsala belongs to them!!!

2005-08-10T10:16:00.000-04:00

DHARAMSALA - The seat of the Tibetan Government in Exile, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and now SFT India too!
So yesterday I walked down to the Tsuklakhang crossroads and took a left turn onto the steep, steep road that leads to Exile House. The road is actually not much bigger than a footpath, but it's called a 'road' because the reckless cabbies of Dharamsala ply their cabs up and down this path at 100 km/hour as if they're on the highway to... hell. Any way, so I walked down that path/road to the ground floor of Exile House and knocked on a door that sported a small but highly visible SFT sticker. The door opened and I saw the familiar face of Choeying, SFT India's National Coordinator. Choeying and I chatted for a long time - there was much to talk about. SFT India has been coordinating a freakish streak of events in the past year, including their powerful street theater on Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, the hugely successful Rangzen Concert on March 10th, and most recently, the modest but super cool film event aimed at bringing progressive, art house cinema to small town Dharamsala audience. Although the office was just recently set up, it boasted a new computer set - this computer will soon receive many, many deadly viruses from the Chinese government-hired hackers - and a painting of March 10th by SFT's in-house painter and Bob Marley fanatic Jamyang.

Around seven in the evening, SFT India's unofficial board members all converged upon the small but neatly arranged office room. In the kitchen there were Yungdrung (former TYC hunger striker) and Tenzin Tsering (a young and enthusiastic volunteer) stoking the fire and stirring the dal. In the main office room, there were Jamyang, Choeying, Karma Sichoe (also former hunger striker and a thangka painter), Jhangchub (a brilliant rebel with a sweet tooth for art films) and Tsundue (who needs no introduction). Hearing them out on what latest adventures they've been upto, what we should be doing to accelerate the fight for Rangzen, and what they want to do in the coming year or two, it became clear to me that this tight group of shabbily-dressed youngsters will change this town... and a lot more. They will give China one hell of a headache!

Board meeting success!

2005-08-07T13:33:00.000-04:00

We're finishing up the SFT International board meeting in upstate New York and it's all good! There are 14 members of the Board present along with Matt, Han and Lhadon. We're missing Tendor but know he's rocking it in Dharamsala. So many great plans and so much money to raise so that SFTers can kick ass in the coming year. More soon.

(written by Lhadon)

SFT India office at Exile House in Dharamsala

2005-08-02T15:06:00.000-04:00

How cool is this? SFT India is in their new digs: Lhasang Tsering's "Exile House" in Dharamsala. Congrats to all the selfless & hardworking members of SFT India and thanks for never giving up and taking SFT to the next level in India. This marks the beginning of a new era for SFT around the world. Watch out China! Soon, Tendor will arive back in India for the first time since he moved to the U.S. six years ago. He's looking forward to visiting his family and old friends and working together with Choeying & all SFT India/Dharamsala members to plot the end of the Chinese occupation of Tibet (or at least the beginning of the end.)
Photo: (front left to right) Tsering Ngodup, Board member, Choeying, SFT India National Coordinator, Jamyang, Board member (back) Donyoe, SFT India web master