Tibet: April 2007 Archives
By Radio Free Asia
April 27, 2007
Chinese authorities repeatedly and separately questioned five Americans detained for two days after they staged an Olympic-related protest on Mount Everest before expelling them on Friday, one of the protesters has told Radio Free Asia.
“There were about five questions,” Tibetan-American Tenzin Dorje told RFA’s Tibetan service. “Their main question was whether anyone helped from inside Tibet—who helped us to write in Tibetan and Chinese, and so on. Where did we eat? Where did we go by vehicle?”
On arriving at the base camp, the five—all activists from the U.S.-based Students for a Free Tibet group—unfurled a banner saying, “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008.” They were identified as Tenzin Dorje, the first known exiled Tibetan to return to the region to protest, Kirsten Westby, Mac Sutherlin, Jeff Friesen, and videographer Shannon Service.
Their protest came on the eve of an announcement of the route to be taken by the Olympic torch to Beijing, which will host the 2008 Games. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the five were detained for “carrying out illegal activities aimed at splitting China” for which they must be expelled from China.
“Finally we were released this morning and transported to the [Nepal] border post at Drum,” Tenzin Dorje said. “When we were first detained, we were taken to an office right at the base camp of Mount Everest…They started interrogating us there. They didn’t ask us questions in a group but took each individual to a separate room and conducted their interrogation there. One police officer asks questions, another takes notes, and two or three stand by with rifles ready. We were detained in the same office from 9.30 a.m. to about 10 p.m.”
By REUTERS | The New York Times
27 April 2007
China deported five American tourists after they demonstrated for a free Tibet and protested against the 2008 Beijing Olympics at the base of Mount Everest, and said it had urged Washington to prevent a recurrence.
China made ``solemn representation'' with the United States, demanding it ensure American tourists abide by Chinese laws and not engage in any illegal activities, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
``The U.S. side ... should prevent similar incidents from happening again,'' the ministry said in a faxed statement.
``Tibet is an inseparable part of China. The Chinese government and people will never tolerate any activities aimed at splitting China,'' the ministry said.
It did not identify the five or give details of what they did.
China has ruled Tibet with an iron fist since People's Liberation Army troops occupied the region in 1950 and has vowed to bring economic prosperity to the poor Himalayan region.
Students for a Free Tibet said four protesters, including a Tibetan-American, unfurled a banner reading ``One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008'' in English, and one in Tibetan and Chinese saying ``Free Tibet.''
The four were at a base camp on the Tibetan side of Mount Everest, which is being used by a Chinese team doing trial runs to take the Olympic torch up the mountain, the group said, adding the information had come via text message.
``One World, one Dream'' is the motto for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Beijing officials have said the Olympic torch will enter Tibet after ascending the southern slope of Mount Everest -- known in China by its Tibetan name, Qomalangma -- in Nepal.
The ministry did not give a reason for the discrepancy in the number of protesters.
By Radio Free Asia | www.rfa.org
April 25, 2007
KATHMANDU, April 25, 2007—Chinese authorities have detained four U.S. citizens who staged a protest at the Chinese Everest base camp against Beijing's plans to bring the Olympic torch through the region.
On arriving at the base camp, the activists from the U.S.-based Students for a Free Tibet group unfurled a banner which read "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008," Kirsten Westby from Boulder, Colorado told RFA's Tibetan service by telephone from a holding cell.
"We had everything on video and we wore shirts with a message to the International Olympic Committee that said, 'No torch through Tibet,'" Westby said. The video was later made available on YouTube.
Four detained on Everest
The protesters were identified by a statement on the group's Web site as Tenzin Dorje, the first known exiled Tibetan to return to the region to protest, Kirsten Westby, Mac Sutherlin, and videographer Shannon Service.
They were detained by base camp authorities shortly after staging a brief ceremony in which they lit an Olympic torch and sang the Tibetan National Anthem, members of the group said.
"It's five of us involved in the action and four of us at this point in time have been detained," Westby said by mobile phone from inside what appeared to be a police cell.
"We are sitting at Everest base camp in a small building with bars on the windows. We were detained by the authorities here at the base camp. One of the members of our team who has been detained is a journalist videographer."
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