DALAI LAMA'S VISA
May 15, 2007
It now seems that it was the Dalai lama's decision not to visit Belgium.
Here's the Belgian Foreign Minister's response to our letters:
>Dear Sir/Madam,
>
>Thank you for your e-mail.
>
>In response, I would like to inform you of the following:
>
>The Dalai Lama is a religious leader who is highly respected in Belgium.
>He is always welcome here and has paid several visits to our country
>already, the latest occasion being in 2006.
>
>The Chinese Embassy was informed of his visit on 5 April and immediately
>issued a negative response.
>
>Nonetheless, on 14 April a visa was issued by the Belgian Embassy in New
>Delhi, entitling the Dalai Lama to enter Belgium. That visa is still
>valid.
>
>It was entirely the Dalai Lama's decision to call off the visit. His
>approach has always entailed avoiding any negative impact on the
>external bilateral relations of friendly countries.
>
>We respect his decision, and reiterate that he remains welcome to visit
>Belgium.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Karel De Gucht
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- Latest reply: May 15, 2007
ACTION EMAIL TO BELGIAN GOVERNMENT
May 9, 2007
Copy the Text below, and email to the two ministers at the given email addresses, and do your bit for freedom.
_______________________________________________________
Dear Minister Karel De Gucht (Minister for Foreign Affairs) : kab.bz@diplobel.fed.be
Dear Didier Donfut (State Secretary for European Affairs) : cab.donfut@diplobel.fed.be
We have learnt that His Holiness the Dalai Lama will not be attending the TSG Conference this Friday (11th May) due to the Belgian government's unwillingness to have him present at the Conference. This follows strong pressure from China on Belgium not to allow His Holiness to attend the Conference and in connection with the upcoming Belgian trade delegation (16th - 26th June 2007) to China led by the Belgian Crown Prince Philippe.
The Tibetan Government in Exile has put a press statement on the Dalai Lama not being able to participate in the TSG Conference. Attached below and on this website: http://www.tibet.net/en/prelease/2007/090507.html
In the name of the basic democratic values and human rights, I wish to express my amazement and rejection of such flagrant submissiveness to the Government of China´s attempt to violate with total impunity another basic human and democratic right and try to hide or manipulate its responsibilities in the Tibet issue.
For the government of Belgium to blatantly bow to China in this way and deny the Dalai Lama, an internationally renowned religious leader and a former Nobel laureate, freedom of speech is nothing short of an outrage. If this is the way all so-called democracies will start to behave when bullied by China, the future for human rights around the world, let alone in Tibet, looks very bleak indeed. And to think that China was awarded the 2008 Olympic Games. Has no-one the courage to stand up to this oppressive regime?
Although the decision by the Belgian government to block His Holiness' participation will no doubt cast a cloud over the forthcoming Conference, everybody that had planned to attend the Conference will be in Brussels with a stronger voice. Through the participation in the Conference, we will together be able to demonstrate our continued determination to continue the struggle and to collectively denounce this shameful decision by the Belgian Government.
In the name of the dignity of our democratic and European values and that of the Belgium Government that you represent we ask you to reconsider this decision and give a credible solution to what will only be a source of scandal and mistrust to your independence.
Yours sincerely.
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Belgium Refuses Dalai Lama Visa
May 9, 2007
9 May 2007
Belgium refuses entry to the Dalai Lama
[London] Belgium has prevented the Dalai Lama from applying for a
visa following massive pressure from the Chinese Government. The
Dalai Lama was due to appear in Brussels before 300 delegates from
around the world at the 5th International Conference of Tibet Support
Groups from 11 to 14 May 2007.
It is reported that Belgium's decision has come prior to Prince
Philip's upcoming trade meetings with Chinese counterparts.
"It is shameful that the Belgian government, a state member of the EU
and a country with a long democratic tradition is willing to
sacrifice its own values and take orders from a repressive regime. It
is a worrying sign that democratic governments who are meant to
protect human rights, freedom and justice, easily trade these values
for economic interests," said Yael Weisz-Rind, Director of Free Tibet Campaign.
Free Tibet Campaign urges the Foreign Ministry in Brussels to
publicly apologise and to immediately rectify their decision.
It's time to take action , folks, and phone a protest to the Belgian Embassy nearest to you.
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The Genocide Olympics
Mar 31, 2007
The 'Genocide Olympics' (Op-ed by Mia Farrow, Wall Street Journal)
"One World, One Dream" is China's slogan for its 2008 Olympics. But
there is one nightmare that China shouldn't be allowed to sweep under
the rug. That nightmare is Darfur, where more than 400,000 people have
been killed and more than two-and-a-half million driven from flaming
villages by the Chinese-backed government of Sudan.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB117505109799351409.html
That so many corporate sponsors want the world to look away from that
atrocity during the games is bad enough. But equally disappointing is
the decision of artists like director Steven Spielberg -- who quietly
visited China this month as he prepares to help stage the Olympic
ceremonies -- to sanitize Beijing's image. Is Mr. Spielberg, who in 1994
founded the Shoah Foundation to record the testimony of survivors of the
holocaust, aware that China is bankrolling Darfur's genocide?
China is pouring billions of dollars into Sudan. Beijing purchases an
overwhelming majority of Sudan's annual oil exports and state-owned
China National Petroleum Corp. -- an official partner of the upcoming
Olympic Games -- owns the largest shares in each of Sudan's two major
oil consortia. The Sudanese government uses as much as 80% of proceeds
from those sales to fund its brutal Janjaweed proxy militia and purchase
their instruments of destruction: bombers, assault helicopters, armored
vehicles and small arms, most of them of Chinese manufacture. Airstrips
constructed and operated by the Chinese have been used to launch bombing
campaigns on villages. And China has used its veto power on the U.N.
Security Council to repeatedly obstruct efforts by the U.S. and the U.K.
to introduce peacekeepers to curtail the slaughter.
As one of the few players whose support is indispensable to Sudan, China
has the power to, at the very least, insist that Khartoum accept a
robust international peacekeeping force to protect defenseless civilians
in Darfur. Beijing is uniquely positioned to put a stop to the
slaughter, yet they have so far been unabashed in their refusal to do
so.
But there is now one thing that China may hold more dear than their
unfettered access to Sudanese oil: their successful staging of the 2008
Summer Olympics. That desire may provide a lone point of leverage with a
country that has otherwise been impervious to all criticism.
Whether that opportunity goes unexploited lies in the hands of the
high-profile supporters of these Olympic Games. Corporate sponsors like
Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, General Electric and McDonalds, and key
collaborators like Mr. Spielberg, should be put on notice. For there is
another slogan afoot, one that is fast becoming viral amongst advocacy
groups; rather than "One World, One Dream," people are beginning to
speak of the coming "Genocide Olympics."
Does Mr. Spielberg really want to go down in history as the Leni
Riefenstahl of the Beijing Games? Do the various television sponsors
around the world want to share in that shame? Because they will. Unless,
of course, all of them add their singularly well-positioned voices to
the growing calls for Chinese action to end the slaughter in Darfur.
Imagine if such calls were to succeed in pushing the Chinese government
to use its leverage over Sudan to protect civilians in Darfur. The 2008
Beijing Olympics really could become an occasion for pride and
celebration, a truly international honoring of the authentic spirit of
"one world" and "one dream."
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My Grand-daugjhter Leah's 1st. Christmas
Jan 11, 2005
For those of you who have followed her story so far, here's a link to a couple of pages of photos of my grand-daughter, Leah's first Christmas and first birthday shenanigans. She's become the most easy-going on children, and very funny, what with blowing seismic raspberries, and that wonky-eyed grin.
http://public.fotki.com/Chaiwallah/leahs_first_christmas/
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- Latest reply: Jan 11, 2005
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