WELCOME TO THE MANCHESTER CONTACT GROUP FOR FREE TIBET CAMPAIGN WWW.FREETIBET.ORG On our site you will find a brief history of Tibet, its people and culture. We will also keep you informed of any events taking place in the northwest. Everyone is welcome to attend these events, and you can be certain of a very warm, friendly greeting from us all! (you do not need to be a member of free tibet to attend).
Free Tibet Campaign stands for the Tibetans' right to determine their own future. It campaigns for an end to the Chinese Governments occupation of Tibet and for the Tibetans' fundamental human rights to be respected. Founded in 1987, Free Tibet Campaign generates active support by educating people about the situation in Tibet, it is independant of all governments and is funded by its members and supporters. (PLEASE REFRESH THIS PAGE TO READ ABOUT CHINA'S OCCUPATION OF TIBET IF YOU CANNOT SEE THE PRAYER WHEEL BELOW).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CHINA'S OCCUPATION OF TIBET
THE ISSUES
GENOCIDE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Since 1950, an estimated 1.2 million Tibetans have been killed by the chinese government. China has ratified a number of UN conventions, including thoses related to torture and racial discrimination, and yet has repeatedly violated these in China and Tibet.
EDUCATION
Chinese has replaced Tibetan as the official language. Young Tibetans are being re-educated about their cultural past, with references to an independant Tibet being omitted.
RESOURCE EXPLOITATION
China's predominant interest in Tibet is no longer ideological, but is based on resource extraction and land for Chinese colonists. Mining and mineral extraction is the largest economic activity in both U'Tsang and Amdo and at least one-half of Tibet's natural forest has gone since chinese occupation.
LACK OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
The 1982 Constitution of the People's Republic of China guarantees freedom of religious belief, but China seeks to restrict the numbers of monks and nuns entering monasteries and to discredit the religious authority of the Dalai Lama. The child recognised as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama was rejected and the Chinese Government installed their own candidate.
CHINESE MIGRATION
Long-term Chinese settlement in Tibet has been deliberately encouraged, withthe result taht Tibetans are in the minority in many areas. Independant research puts the number of Chinese in the TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region) at 5.5 million versus 4.5 million Tibetans; in Kham and Amdo, Chinese outnumber Tibetans many times over. Chinese traders are favoured by lower tax assessments and the dominant position of Chinese in government administration.
KEY DATES
1950
Radio Beijing announce that: "The task of the People's Liberation Army for 1950 is to liberate Tibet." 40,000 Chinese troops invade Tibet in October, unprovoked and with no accepted legal basis for claims of sovereignty. Fifteen year-old Tenzin Gyatso is given full powers to rule as the 14th Dalai Lama - the Tibetans' spiritual and temporal leader.
1951
China undertakes the 17 Point Agreement to refrain from interfering with Tibet's government and society following negtiation by the Dalai Lama.
1953
Mao Zedong promises the Dalai Lama that the Chinese will leave Tibet once "liberation" is complete.
1959
National Uprising - there is an explosion of Tibetan resisitance resulting in severe crackdown by the Chinese Government and widespread brutality. An estimated 430,000 Tibetans are killed (Chinese estimate: 87,000 killed). One hundred thousand Tibetans flee with the Dalai Lama into exile in India.
1960 - 1962
340,000 Tibetan peasants and nomads die in Tibet's first recorded famines following the destabilisation of the economy after an influx of Chinese settlers and forced agricultural modernisation.
1965
Chinese formally inaugurate one of Tibet's three provinces as the "Tibet Autonomous Region" (TAR).
1966
Thousands of Buddhist monasteries are destroyed and tens of thousands of Tibetans are sent to labour camps during the cultural revolution.
1980s
The Dalai Lama starts to make political speeches abroad and international support for Tibet starts to grow.
1987
Tibetans begin a new era of protest. Since 1990, the number of political prisoners has doubled.
1988
The Dalai Lama puts forward the "Strasbourg Proposal" in which he calls for genuine autonomy for Tibet rather than independance. The following year the Dalai Lama receives the Nobel Peace Prize.
1995
Six year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, recognised by the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama, and his family disappear. China selects and enthrones another child. Gedhun's location and safety remain unknown.
1996
China Launches a patriotic re-education campaign, removing photos of the Dalai Lama from monasteries.
1999
The 40th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising is marked by protest in Lhasa.
2000
The 17th Karmapa flees Tibet.
