Students for a Free Tibet UK Publish Open Letter to G-20 Leaders
SFT UK | 01.04.2009 10:56 | G20 London Summit | Culture | Repression | Social Struggles | World
LONDON - Students for a Free Tibet UK have published an open letter to world leaders attending the G20 Summit in London on April 2nd, asking 'What is the exchange rate between Chinese Yuan and Tibetan lives?' The letter, framed in economic language, seeks to highlight the fact that trade itself funds state oppression, resulting in the Chinese regime's 'extraordinary growth in human rights abuses' and states directly to world leaders: 'The choice is yours; the G20 summit is an opportunity to invest in a portfolio of Chinese human rights abuses. It is also an opportunity to seek an ethical alternative. People of conscience, the world over, are asking you to put human rights before trade.'
"There is another crisis, aside from global economics, which the world expects the Chinese government to take action on, and that is the human rights crisis in Tibet." said Terry Bettger, spokesperson for Students for a Free Tibet UK, "Despite de facto martial law existing in the region Tibetans continue to strive to call for their rights and justice. World leaders must listen to this cry for help and press Hu Jintao to allow an independent investigation into Tibet to monitor the human rights situation immediately."
Tibetans and supporters will be protesting against Hu Jintao's during his visit to the G-20 Summit, demanding that action is taken towards a peaceful solution for the Tibetan people.
The full text of the open letter is as follows:
"There is another crisis, aside from global economics, which the world expects the Chinese government to take action on, and that is the human rights crisis in Tibet." said Terry Bettger, spokesperson for Students for a Free Tibet UK, "Despite de facto martial law existing in the region Tibetans continue to strive to call for their rights and justice. World leaders must listen to this cry for help and press Hu Jintao to allow an independent investigation into Tibet to monitor the human rights situation immediately."
Tibetans and supporters will be protesting against Hu Jintao's during his visit to the G-20 Summit, demanding that action is taken towards a peaceful solution for the Tibetan people.
The full text of the open letter is as follows:
Dear World Leader,
Welcome to this very special opportunity to invest in the Chinese government, here at the G20 Summit. As a major investor you can share in the unprecedented oppression boom that has seen the Chinese government build an absolute advantage over other repressive regimes. Successive Chinese leaders have overseen extraordinary growth in human rights abuses. Productivity in this area has been particularly evident in Tibet.
Since the hostile takeover of 1959 the Chinese government has seen its investment in prisons and labour camps forge an unprecedented output in torture against Tibetan political prisoners, described in 2008 as ‘routine and widespread’ by the UN Committee Against Torture. Military expenditure, up 14.9% this year has doubled over the last decade and helps to enforce the steady incline in Gross Domestic Oppression (GDO) against the Tibetan people. This may be referred to as an ‘internal affair’ by the Chinese leadership, but foreign investment is central to maintaining growth in oppressing the Tibetans and maintaining market stability.
Huge assets in the form of lumber, minerals and fossil fuels have been acquired as a result of China’s takeover of Tibet, and the investment in transport infrastructure, particularly the Gormo-Lhasa railway line, has streamlined the transportation of these assets out of Tibet to the benefit of the Chinese economy. This industry has created thousands of jobs, the vast majority employing the migrant Han Chinese workers flooding Tibet at the expense of Tibetans.
Training programs for locals in the form of patriotic re-education are systematic means of promoting ideology to the local Tibetan populous, and although recognised as a form of psychological torture, works well as part of a policy that also involves arbitrary detention, communications censorship and indiscriminate gunfire against those who demand better conditions.
Despite these measures however, and the aggressive use of propaganda marketing, the Chinese government have seen continued deflation in the appeal of their product in the Tibetan market and have not been able to acquire the assets of the unique Tibetan identity and culture. The Dalai Lama holds a monopoly on the hearts of the Tibetan people.
As an investor, you can fund further expansion of terror and oppression against Tibetans, aggressive marketing campaigns such as ‘Serf Emancipation Day’ and propaganda offensives against the Dalai Lama and Tibetan government in exile. You can fund the increasing influx of Han Chinese into Tibet, steadily making Tibetans a minority in their own land. You can fund the use of torture and disproportionate including lethal force against Tibetans who speak out against their occupiers.
The choice is yours; the G20 summit is an opportunity to invest in a portfolio of Chinese human rights abuses. It is also an opportunity to seek an ethical alternative. People of conscience, the world over, are asking you to put human rights before trade. The global financial crisis cannot be solved by overlooking the human rights crisis in Tibet, so please ask yourself: what is the exchange rate between Chinese Yuan and Tibetan lives?
Sincerely,
Students for a Free Tibet UK
Welcome to this very special opportunity to invest in the Chinese government, here at the G20 Summit. As a major investor you can share in the unprecedented oppression boom that has seen the Chinese government build an absolute advantage over other repressive regimes. Successive Chinese leaders have overseen extraordinary growth in human rights abuses. Productivity in this area has been particularly evident in Tibet.
Since the hostile takeover of 1959 the Chinese government has seen its investment in prisons and labour camps forge an unprecedented output in torture against Tibetan political prisoners, described in 2008 as ‘routine and widespread’ by the UN Committee Against Torture. Military expenditure, up 14.9% this year has doubled over the last decade and helps to enforce the steady incline in Gross Domestic Oppression (GDO) against the Tibetan people. This may be referred to as an ‘internal affair’ by the Chinese leadership, but foreign investment is central to maintaining growth in oppressing the Tibetans and maintaining market stability.
Huge assets in the form of lumber, minerals and fossil fuels have been acquired as a result of China’s takeover of Tibet, and the investment in transport infrastructure, particularly the Gormo-Lhasa railway line, has streamlined the transportation of these assets out of Tibet to the benefit of the Chinese economy. This industry has created thousands of jobs, the vast majority employing the migrant Han Chinese workers flooding Tibet at the expense of Tibetans.
Training programs for locals in the form of patriotic re-education are systematic means of promoting ideology to the local Tibetan populous, and although recognised as a form of psychological torture, works well as part of a policy that also involves arbitrary detention, communications censorship and indiscriminate gunfire against those who demand better conditions.
Despite these measures however, and the aggressive use of propaganda marketing, the Chinese government have seen continued deflation in the appeal of their product in the Tibetan market and have not been able to acquire the assets of the unique Tibetan identity and culture. The Dalai Lama holds a monopoly on the hearts of the Tibetan people.
As an investor, you can fund further expansion of terror and oppression against Tibetans, aggressive marketing campaigns such as ‘Serf Emancipation Day’ and propaganda offensives against the Dalai Lama and Tibetan government in exile. You can fund the increasing influx of Han Chinese into Tibet, steadily making Tibetans a minority in their own land. You can fund the use of torture and disproportionate including lethal force against Tibetans who speak out against their occupiers.
The choice is yours; the G20 summit is an opportunity to invest in a portfolio of Chinese human rights abuses. It is also an opportunity to seek an ethical alternative. People of conscience, the world over, are asking you to put human rights before trade. The global financial crisis cannot be solved by overlooking the human rights crisis in Tibet, so please ask yourself: what is the exchange rate between Chinese Yuan and Tibetan lives?
Sincerely,
Students for a Free Tibet UK
SFT UK
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http://www.sftuk.org