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No sister-state relationship with Tibet until TIBET IS FREE
Please speak out for Tibetan freedom today! Send an email to California State Senators to let them know that there can be no sister-state relationship between California and Tibet until TIBET IS FREE! Thank you.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: No sister-state relationship between California and Tibet until TIBET IS FREE!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I am appalled that the California State Senate is considering the establishment of a sister-state relationship with the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and urge you to use your leadership to oppose this effort. When you meet with Lekchoe and his delegation from the TAR, please do not condone his abuse of the Tibetan people, but rather pressure him to end his policies of oppression. A sister-state relationship between California and the TAR would not only demonstrate American approval of China's illegal occupation of Tibet and the gross human rights violations they commit there, but would facilitate increased American investment in development projects in Tibet, which harm the Tibetan people and environment.
China's campaign to attract western investment in Tibet is politically motivated and aims to turn Tibet into a resource extraction colony. Through their efforts to lock foreign investment into the "Grand Exploitation of Tibet," the Chinese government hopes to solidify their brutal grip on Tibet and to quell political unrest and Tibetan opposition to their rule. In Tibet, the Chinese government encourages resource extraction projects and the construction of infrastructure, which facilitates the transportation of Tibet's natural resources to China's eastern seaboard. Tibetans do not benefit from these projects. Rather, they are economically marginalized, as the majority of skilled jobs goes to Han Chinese settlers, who are encourages to move to Tibet by the Chinese government. Tibet's fragile high altitude ecosystem already suffers tremendously from the environmental degradation brought on by these development projects.
American business and government must not, in any way, participate in China's exploitation of Tibet and the genocide of the Tibetan people. We have no right to profit from the plundering of Tibetans' natural heritage, nor should we stand in the way of their struggle for freedom. I hope you will join me in ensuring that the State of California is not aligned with colonial occupation, environmental devastation and oppression in Tibet.
Please stand up for the Tibetan people and affirm your commitment to the fundamental right of all people to be free to chose their own destiny. Please oppose the effort to establish a sister-state relationship between California and Tibet, and urge Lekchoe and his delegation to end their campaign of repression in Tibet.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
May 28, 2002
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On Wednesday, May 29, the California State Senate will receive a delegation of 35 government and business representatives from Tibet, including Lekchoe, the Chairman of the Tibetan Autonomous Region's (TAR) government. Lekchoe has ruled in Tibet with an iron fist and has become well known for his harsh campaign against Tibetan support for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Tibetans inside Tibet have suffered much under Lekchoe's rule.
Not only will the California State Senate receive Lekchoe and his delegation, but they are considering establishing a sister-state relationship between California and the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
What?!?
A sister-state relationship between California and the Tibetan Autonomous Region would acknowledge that the TAR is a State of China, instead of part of a nation under illegal occupation. Moreover, a sister-state relationship would signal California's approval of the Chinese government's brutal policies of repression and gross human rights violations against the Tibetan people.
China's motivation behind this absurd plan is to encourage California businesses to invest in Tibet. However, most of the projects the Chinese government encourages in Tibet are politically motivated, and aims to turn Tibet into a resource extraction colony. So far, China's so-called "Go West Campaign" has brought no benefits to the Tibetan people - rather, it has marginalized them economically and has stripped their land if its natural resources.
American business and government must not profit from China's exploitation of Tibet, and must certainly not lend their approval to China's continued oppression of the Tibetan people.
A sister-state relationship between California and the Tibetan Autonomous Region is a ridiculous idea. There will be no sister-state relationship between California and Tibet, until TIBET IS FREE.
Please send this email to California State Senators, urging them to oppose the effort to set up a sister-state relationship with the TAR, and requesting them to pressure Lekchoe to FREE TIBET NOW.
Many thanks for your continued support.
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