81. Tibet Protest on Tiananmen Square at the National People's Congress

ITSN - March 8, 2006

HONG KONG, March 8, 2006 (ITSN): Wangpo Tethong, the Tibetan activist who yesterday successfully carried out a Tibet protest in Beijing, arrived in Hong Kong safely two hours ago. After unfurling a banner, amidst heavy security, on Tiananmen Square saying "Hu, You Can't Stop Us - 2008-FreeTibet.org" in front of the Olympic 2008 countdown clock, Tethong was able to protest for a brief moment before attracting the attention of passers by and security officers. On his arrival in Hong Kong, Tethong said, "I am relieved to be in Hong Kong and will leave very soon to go back to Europe. I hope that these sorts of actions will make the Chinese leadership realise that empty promises and repression will not stop our struggle for freedom or for the right to determine our own future. "Many people in the world are concerned about what is happening in Tibet. A drastic change in the policy of the Chinese leadership is urgently needed. It is high time the Chinese leadership recognised that a political solution must start with the unreserved recognition of the right to self-determination of the Tibetan people", said Wangpo Tethong. In his role as co-ordinator of the International Tibet Support Network's Olympics Campaign, Tethong met with journalists and briefed them on the goals of the campaign. "It only follows that if no concrete progress on the question of Tibet is made, the protests will intensify in the next two years until the Olympic Games", he said. Tibetans in Tibet have already been arrested and given long prison sentences for their peaceful protests against the holding of the 2008 Games. Speaking from Hong Kong, Tenzin D. Sewo, President of the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe and member of the international Olympics campaign, stated: "The main focus of our campaign is to remind both the Chinese leadership and the International Olympic Committee that hosting the Games in Beijing goes hand in hand with a responsibility to create the necessary political climate. In other words: human rights must be guaranteed and the right of Tibetans to freely determine their future must finally be respected."