The support for Tibet is growing, awareness for the real picture is trying to reach masses.
“One World, One Dream” is China’s Olympic slogan. But the reality of China’s occupation of Tibet is a nightmare. Right now thousands of Tibetans are being arbitrarily detained, beaten and killed for speaking out for freedom.
On March 24th, China launched its Olympic Torch Relay. In the next two months, the torch will travel to cities around the world in a blatant attempt by the Chinese government to gain international acceptance and to divert attention away from its illegal occupation and current military crackdown inside Tibet.
I am always confused in these situations, because of the sudden wake up of people, but at the same time, as many others, i wonder if posting on the web is enough.
In a way it brings many people away from the ignorance of what the events are, but can we really call an activist someone who just copy-paste a banner code here and there, this as a mention of our contribution to change things? Is this really enough?
I think its not. But i cant go to China and try to shake things – i’d rather stay here and try to take conscious actions, such as boycotting all products made in China. Anything else i could do?
Links:
– Lose the propaganda, share the thruth;
– Beijing 2008 Torch Relay Truth! Banner, to share on facebook, blogs
– A Year Without “Made in China”: One Family’s True Life Adventure in the Global Economy
– Un an sans “made in China”? Mission impossible
Do you remember arte TV from your times here in Germany? They have a docu streaming on their site, “Tibet, Geschite einer Tragödie” (Tibet, histoire d’une tragedie), which is very informative, albeit in German.
http://tinyurl.com/2zl45d
Also, there is a great initiative, imo, “Team Tibet”, which is located here:
http://www.supportteamtibet.org/teamtibet
Regarding a boycott of the games – there have been two boycotts of previous Olympics, and they have barely been noticed and had no impact whatsoever. Boycotting the games may be an affront for China, but a great disappointment for all the athletes. Of course this deserves weighing. A middle way to go, imho, would be if those who attend the games continuously show their support for Tibet and voice their sentiments in a rational and reasonable way. Little but effective visuals signs everywhere. Some would say this is politicising the games, but isn’t China actually doing politics by not allowing a team Tibet?
I was having the same thoughts yesterday while watching the Olympic flame in Paris (they had some problems). I think that we can only do what is in our grasp, and blogging about it is better than doing nothing, in my opinion.
The games, being a propagenda tool for China, may also be used in a somewhat same manner for the Tibet. I think it’s a great opportunety to remind the rest of the world of the Chineese politics on the Tibet.