Tibetan activists ready for week of protests against Chinese rule

http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_5373355
By James Woodard,
CORRESPONDENT
Inside Bay Area Article Last Updated:03/07/2007 02:38:33 AM PSTBERKELEY

Advocates for Tibet will bring their cause to the attention of Bay Area residents this week in a series of protests and events in Berkeley and San Francisco, culminating with a rally at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco and a candlelight vigil in the city’s Union Square.
Tibetans and supporters of Tibetan sovereignty gathered earlier this week at the Berkeley Odd Fellows Hall, where they painted banners and prepared picket signs to commemorate Tibetan National Uprising Day on Saturday. Protests are planned from 1 to 3 p.m. every day this week in front of the Chinese Consulate at 1450 Laguna St.
Events Saturday begin with a Tibetan flag-raising at Berkeley City Hall at 9 a.m. before supporters travel to Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco to start their march at 11 a.m. Protesters will wind though Chinatown to Portsmouth Square, and on to City Hall before finally reaching the consulate at 3:30 p.m. The candlelight vigil begins at 6 p.m.
Exiled Tibetans and their supporters want to bring attention to the events of March 10, 1959, when the Chinese military crushed a mass uprising in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa shortly after China had invaded the Himalayan nation. The small army of Tibet — comprised of roughly
8,000 troops, armed with ancient weapons, acted more as a police force than a military unit — were overwhelmed by 30,000 heavily armed Chinese troops, according to Dawa Dorjee, president of the San Francisco Regional Tibetan Youth Congress.
China has claimed Tibet was always part of the Chinese nation.
However, the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and figurehead for the Tibetan self-determination movement, and Tibetan citizens around the world claim Tibet is a sovereign nation.
Tibetans say violence against their country continues. A widely publicized video showing a Chinese border patrol shooting at unarmed civilians galvanized opposition to Chinese rule in Tibet last fall, including a rebuke from Clark Randt, United States ambassador to China.
Defa Tong, spokesman for the Chinese Consul General’s Office in San Francisco, said Tuesday he worried the protests would interfere with American citizens coming to the consulate’s visa office. He also said he feared the protesters could get out of hand. No problems were reported, however.
Though consulate employees understand the Tibetans’ right to protest, they disputed the conditions activists claim Tibetans are living under Chinese rule. Tong said the Dalai Lama, while negotiating with China to forge better relations, has been working to undermine Chinese aims for Tibet.
“Tibet has been a part of China for a long time,” Tong said. “They want Tibetan independence, but China cannot tolerate that.”
There are between 1,500 and 2,000 Tibetan exiles in the Bay Area, with an estimated 15,000 scattered throughout the United States. The largest exile communities are in Nepal and India, according to Dorjee.
Giovanni Vassallo, president of the Bay Area Friends of Tibet as well as the Committee of 100 for Tibet, was excited the upcoming march will culminate on Saturday, Tibetan National Uprising Day. He also thought the march through Chinatown offered an opportunity for people from the two communities to come together to seek reconciliation.
“It’s a symbol of outreach to the Chinese community that we want peace and equality,” Vassallo said.
Vassallo, whose father was a Tibetan Buddhist monk, was raised as a monk until 16. After living with his mother in the United States, he read the Dalai Lama’s autobiography “Freedom in Exile” and renewed his desire to work with the Tibetan Buddhist community.
As Dorjee recounted the recent history between Tibet and China at the Berkeley gathering earlier this week, Nyaljor Samten sat beneath a large portrait of the Dalai Lama, strumming a Tibetan lute.
“We are quite fortunate to have so much support,” Samten said, adding the Tibetan community must be open to change and adversity.
“Change is a fundamental tenet of Buddhism,” Dorjee said as he told of the challenges facing the people still living in Tibet.
Of all the events that Tibetans want the world to know about, one on September 30, 2006, stands out. Dorjee said a Chinese border patrol opened fire on a group of 75 Tibetans attempting to cross into Nepal, killing at least two. The group included many children heading to the Tibetan exile community at Dharamsala, India, where the government-in-exile is currently located, he said.
Dorjee lamented such incidents as common, and many Tibetans send their children to Dharamsala to be close to the Dalai Lama as well as receive a Tibetan education.
“Many Tibetans — as young as 8 or 9 years old — are really willing to put everything at stake,” Dorjee said. “It’s more than just a freedom struggle, but a spiritual quest.”
As for those left in Tibet, he said many were forced to publicly denounce the Dalai Lama on pain of death. Pictures of the Dalai Lama are also strictly forbidden in Tibet. Despite this, Dorjee said many Tibetans practice their beliefs covertly.
“We are really trying to make the case that we are facing one of the greatest powers in human history,” Dorjee said. “We are at the very mouth of the dragon.”