In the recent days, his Holiness, the fourteenth Dalai Lama has urged supporters to use a more peaceful method of protesting. The protests come less than two weeks before the start of the Olympic torch relay which begins in Tibet. Many pro-Tibet independence groups plan to use the torch relay points throughout the country to stage protests in order to take advantage of the free press to publicize their cause.
Tibet is one of the dilemmas revolving around the Olympics as the games will be hosted in Beijing, China this coming August.
Many Tibetan exiles in both India and Nepal have started their 3 to 6 month march where they too will stage protests at the Olympics in Beijing. Hollywood actor Richard Gere, who is a supporter of Tibet, said that he may consider boycotting the Olympics because of China’s crackdown.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said that the games should not be boycotted over Tibet.
A few days ago, the Dalai Lama had attacked the Chinese government of trying to kill Tibet’s culture in what he had called a “cultural genocide.” But, the Chinese government was quick to counter-attack.
Wen Jiabao, the Premier of China said that the Dalai Lama’s accusation of cultural genocide was nothing but a lie. Wen said that China had used restraint. The government said that as much as 13 people were killed in Lhasa by rioters.
But, the exiles give out a different figure. They say that 80 were killed by Chinese troops.
While the protests in Lhasa were suppressed, protests spread throughout other parts of Tibet. There were similar protests in Europe and Australia in front of the Chinese embassies.
Everything started on March 10, which marks the anniversary of the uprising against China. It was also the anniversary where the Dalai Lama had to flee Tibet. He lives in exile in India.
Wen defended the handling of the protests. He cited the Dalai Lama as responsible for the violence in Tibet.
“There is ample fact and plenty of evidence proving this incident was organised, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique,” Wen said. He was also quick to accuse protesters of trying to sabotage the Olympics.
In a recent interview with BBC, the Dalai Lama said that he does not control the Tibetans. He has given the acknowledgement that more of the activists wanting independence have gone to more radical means such as attacking Chinese owned businesses.
The Dalai Lama explained that the people of Tibet requested that he does not ask for the demonstrations to stop. While he says that he is their spokesman, he adds that he does not control them.
However, Tibet is not the only problem plaguing the Olympics in Beijing. There is also the issue of what is going on in the Darfur region of Sudan. Many activists wanting the violence to stop, plan to stage protests at the Olympic Games.
It has been noted that most of Sudan’s oil is bought by China. During the CNN Democratic debates last year, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson noted that and explains that as a result, China controls Sudan’s economy. He suggested that the US threaten to boycott the games to pressure China to do more to end the violence in Darfur.
Hollywood director Steven Spielberg resigned from his post as a creative director for the Olympics in Beijing. During his resignation, Spielberg cited Darfur.
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