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Tibetaanse kinderen die uit Tibet vluchtten en in
India naar school gaan, hebben daar vaak geen familie en brengen dus
noodgedwongen hun vakanties door op school. Vorig jaar bezorgden we dankzij 6
sponsors evenveel kinderen hun eerste échte vakantie in een Tibetaans
gastgezin. Mijn vriend en filmmaker Gerard was erbij. Zijn film tonen we ZONDAG 24 OKTOBER 2010 vanaf 16U Sint.-Kwintenshuis Naamsestraat 153 te Leuven (tgo St. Kwintenskerk) Toegang: 5 euro, 1
drankje inbegrepen (ter plaatse te betalen) Na de film zijn er
drankjes en Tibetaanse momo’s (=deegzakjes gevuld met vlees en groenten). MET DE OPBRENGST
ZAL EEN NEPALEES SCHOOLDAK HERSTELD WORDEN. Breng gerust
vrienden en/of familie mee, maar laat ons wel even weten of je komt: via mail: birgitvandewijer@yahoo.com
of tel: 0496/401795 Ben je verhinderd
en wil je graag dit project steunen, dan kan je je bijdrage storten op het
rekeningnummer van de projecten: 737-0183231-41 met de vermelding: herstel
schooldak Nepal. Hopelijk tot dan,
Birgit en Gerard WIJ WERKEN AAN HET DAK VAN DE WERELD. Chinese-Tibetan Friendship Society Europe Press release 10th October 2010 "What about Tibet after 61 years of oppression by China?" REPORT OF THE DEBATE EVENING ON 9th OCTOBER 2010 IN ANTWERPEN, BELGIUM. 
Chinese-Tibetan Friendship Society Europe (CTFSE) is a new organization for Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany,
established in June 2010 to improve the understanding and relations between the Chinese and Tibetan people.
During his visit in The Netherlands in 2009, H.H. the Dalai Lama has emphasized the importance of Tibetan-Chinese friendship organizations. The first activity of CTFSE was the celebration of the 75th birthday of H.H. the Dalai Lama on 14th July in Antwerpen (Belgium). On Saturday 9th October CTFSE has organized a debate evening in Antwerpen, titled “What about Tibet after 61 years of oppression?”. The main speakers were Mr. Lobsang Nyima (a Tibetan from Switzerland), Mrs. Mona Zhimin Tang (a Chinese living in Belgium) and a Tibetan nun, a former political prisoner. Mr. Lobsang Nyima is the Liaison Officer specially appointed for relations with Chinese people for the three Offices of Tibet in Europe (Geneva, London and Brussels/Paris). Mrs. Zhimin Tang is a Chinese who joined the student protests in Beijing in 1989. The Tibetan nun spent 12 years in a Chinese prison. Although not so much people attended this meeting, the debates and discussions were very interesting. 25 people in total were present, most Tibetans but also some Chinese and Belgians. The speeches were multilingual, in Tibetan, Chinese and Dutch, and all the discussions were translated in the other languages. Mrs. Mona Zhimin Tang translated the speeches from Chinese to Dutch, Mr. Lobsang Nyima did the translation Tibetan-Chinese. Mr. Lobsang Wangdu, the President of CTFSE, welcomed everyone. Mr. Sonam Nyima, board member of the organization, did the presentation that evening. At the beginning of her speech, Mrs. Mona Zhimin Tang stated that although less people attended the debate, this meeting is of great importance, and she thanked everyone for coming, especially Mr. Lobsang Nyima, a representative of the Tibetan government-in-exile who came specially from Switzerland to attend this debate. Mrs. Zhimin Tang referred to some historic dates, as the 1st October (the anniversary of the People’s Republic of China) and the 10th October (the National Day of the Republic of China Taiwan). She added a special historic date, namely 8th October 2010, the day that the Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize. Mr. Liu Xiaobo was congratulated in the meeting and Mrs. Zhimin Tang paid tribute to him: “the Tienanman background is very important with winning this Nobel Peace Prize, it is very important, not only for the Chinese but for the Tibetan people as well.” Mrs. Zhimin Tang regret the fact that 10 Chinese were arrested today in China because they wanted to celebrate that Liu Xiaobo has won the Nobel Peace Prize. “The Chinese authorities want to keep the Nobel Peace Prize silent, they have blocked CNN and the BBC immediately, and also the internet because they do not want that the Chinese people know that Liu Xiabo has won. ”The Chinese government says that the Nobel Peace Prize winner is a criminal and blocked the words 'Liu Xiaobo' and 'Nobel Prize'. ”People get the wrong information and may not talk about things is a normal way. The Chinese people is hungry for democracy and more openness, but the news is blocked and censored.” The Chinese government is also going to impose penalties against Norway, because the Nobel Prize Committee is in Norway (although this independent Committee has nothing to do with the Norwegian government). “It seems like a war between the Chinese government and the West, and I’m afraid that hatred against the West will be developed.” Mrs. Zhimin Tang was also very sad about the fact that the Chinese Lu Lu Wang who lives in The Netherlands supports these ideas of the Chinese government in connection with Liu Xiaobo fully. In the second part of her speech, Mrs. Zhimin Tang stated that all the populations in China suffer from the lack of freedom and democracy. “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has not only the monopoly on the politics, the economy and the military forces, but also on the minds of the people. No other opinion than that of the CCP is tolerated. The CCP has become like a god to the people who decides upon everything, and also the Chinese are kidnapped in their own country. The CCP determines and decides upon all the information, all the rest is seen as the enemy, the West, the Dalai Lama, and this is very scary.” The speech of the Tibetan nun who spent 12 years in a Chinese prison was very touching and emotional. She has witnessed and undergone the most terrible and inhuman things, as tortures. “I have just participated in a peaceful protest for more freedom in Tibet and expressed my support for H.H. the Dalai Lama. For this I was arrested and imprisoned for 4 years. In jail we have sung Tibetan freedom songs and therefore we were sentenced to additional 8 years in prison. I know how important freedom is, and we should not take freedom for granted. We also have to try to do something for more freedom in Tibet.” The Tibetan nun was treated very badly as a political prisoner. She had witnessed a lot. When prisoners died because of the harsh tortures, the Chinese officials stated that they were incurably ill. “Despite all the tortures we haven’t lost our mind.” The nun asked not to blame the Chinese people as the cause of all this suffering is the Chinese communist regime. “Please don’t hate the Chinese people, they are brainwashed by their government who sees the Tibetans as their enemies. “Friendship between the Chinese and Tibetan people is very important. We don’t need hate but understanding and love.” The testimony of the former political prisoner was emotional. From time to time she had to stop during her speech as the memories are too hard. “For what I have experienced, I have forgiven the Chinese, but I have not forgotten.” “Lots of Chinese don’t know how much the Tibetan people suffer and they have no idea about what the regime does.” “There should be a change. People in the West must stand up and convict the misdeeds of the Chinese government. If we don’t do it in the West, who will do? All this is not possible in China and Tibet. We should say to the Chinese government: this is so wrong!” At that moment the nun was too emotional to say much more. She concluded her speech with these words: “Right now, even this second, the political prisoners still experience the same terrible things that I had to undergo. Please let us not forget this and let’s do something about this!” Afterwards a young Chinese man told that he was happy with the invitation for this meeting and that he can contribute too. “It is very important that Chinese and Tibetan get to know each other better, or just meet, and it’s not even necessary to talk about politics.” “I was born in China and in that time I didn’t know anything about Tibet. I have met Tibetans here in the West, and in this way I learned about the Tibetan issue and their suffering. I find the Tibetans a very brave people and I have a lot of admiration for them.” Mr. Xin Jian Zhong from Shanghai who lives in Belgium, first expressed his joy for the fact that Liu Xiaobo has won the Nobel Peace Prize. “Nevertheless it’s very sad that those two Nobel Peace Prize winners can not live in freedom in their own country: Liu Xiaobo is imprisoned in a Chinese jail, H.H. the Dalai Lama lives in exile in India.” Mr. Xin Jian Zhong also urged that Liu Xiaobo should be released from prison. “I support Chapter 08 that Liu Xiaobo has written. Democracy and self determination is the best solution, also for the other minorities in China. I support the idea of a Federal China and I regret the actions and deeds of the Chinese government much. The Chinese authorities should start the dialogue with H.H. the Dalai Lama again, but also with the leaders of the Uyghur and Falun Gong, so with representatives of the other minorities as well. “I have a lot of respect and admiration for H.H. the Dalai Lama. The Chinese leaders blame H.H. for all kinds of things, but the Dalai Lama always remains friendly and sympathic, he never reacts in the way that the Chinese government does.” Repeatedly there was applause from the audience. The Tibetan and Belgian listeners expressed their appreciation for the Chinese speakers. Mrs. Mona Zhimin Tang said that the communism is not specifically Chinese but came to China through Russia. “To me, the CCP doesn’t seem to be a party but it’s like a kind of totalitarian or fanatic religion. They decide what the people should believe and force this to them too. You are not allowed to believe what you want. In the past you had Taoism and Buddhism in China but these religions are suppressed. Even the Chinese culture should be preserved! In fact is yellow the colour of China, and not red. This is already the case for centuries and I also want to refer to the Yellow Emperor. Yellow is the holy, divine colour, the divine colour of Buddha. The CCP has decided that magenta till blood-red should be the colour of China, and the holy yellow is forgotten. “You find information about how the CCP has damaged the Chinese culture and what the original Chinese culture should be, in a book titled ‘Nine Commentories on the Chinese Communism’. It is translated in a lot of Western languages and you can find it on the internet.” Main speaker Mr. Lobsang Nyima discussed the conduct and methods of the Chinese leaders and government. He also talked about the censorship. “All the information is controlled by the Chinese authorities and they also give false information about the reality in China and Tibet to the outside world. “There is much more corruption in China as well, much more than in the past.” “About 10-15% only of the people in China have sufficient finances, around 85% not. There is a lot of (semi-)poverty. “The reality in China is not the image that China wants to show the outside world.” At the end of the debate there was not much time anymore for questions or comments. The meeting lasted already two hours. One Tibetan paid tribute to Liu Xiaobo and launced an appeal to celebrate the winning of the Nobel Peace Prize with Chinese and Tibetans. “In this way we show that something is done for him.” “A democratic movement is growing in China. Democracy and more freedom is most important for China and Tibet.” On Monday 11th October 2010, Mr. Lobsang Nyima, Mrs. Mona Zhimin Tang and Mr. Lobsang Wangdu (President of CTFSE) have a meeting at the office of International Campaign for Tibet in Amsterdam (The Netherlands). Report by Dennis Barbion, top  Inauguration of Chinatown gate 26 sept 2010 |
