UNC Charlotte Students for a Democratic Society

As many of you know, China will be hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics, and as always their government plans to lead a pretty thorough PR campaign about their rightful dominance over Tibet and the non-existence of human rights abuses in the two countries. It's like a fricking presidential campaign...for the whole world! Fortunately, an informant in Beijing knows better:

Lhadon Tethong, SFT's Executive Director, stood in Tiananmen Square today and demanded a meeting with Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who is also in Beijing at the moment. Having posted an open letter to Mr. Rogge on her blog earlier in the day, Lhadon spoke with Robert Roxborough, IOC Communications Coordinator, who said that he would contact her soon. Watch video of Lhadon's phone conversation with Mr. Roxborough.
http://www.youtube.com/user/beijingwideopen

In the open letter, Lhadon demands that the Chinese government not pass the Olympic torch over Tibetan soil, and that the opening and closing ceremonies contain no references to Tibet. She is also calling on the IOC to use its influence to affect substantive progress on human rights in China and meaningful resolution to the occupation of Tibet.

Lhadon and Paul Golding, a long time Tibet activist, have been reporting from various locations inside Beijing. From Tiananmen Square to the Bird's Nest to the Ethnic Minorities Theme Park, they have been investigating and exposing the Chinese government's blatant propaganda efforts to convince the world that Tibetans are happy under Chinese rule.

For more info, visit www.FreeTibet2008.org or http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/.

Also, just a quick word to the diehard neo-Communists reading this: spare me the your Intellajunt Duhzine perogatives on the unspoken virtues of Stalin and the joyous liberation of Tibet by the Chinese Red Army. A few yahoos writing a book or poorly-researched essay does not a controversial subject make.

- MCP