Urgent Action: Tell IOC No Torch through Tibet!

This week, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is meeting in Beijing to approve China’s proposed route for the Olympic Torch relay in 2008. If allowed, China plans to run the torch over Mount Everest and through Chinese-occupied Tibet. This is yet another example of how the Chinese government is using the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a means to legitimize its claim to Tibet and cover up its violent and repressive rule over the Tibetan people. Join Tibetans and their supporters worldwide in demanding "No Torch through Tibet" and calling on the IOC to reject this part of the route.

Please send a letter now (c/o the Beijing Olympic Committee) to IOC President Jacques Rogge and Hein Verbruggen, President of the IOC Coordination Commission for the Beijing Games.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: No Olympic Torch through Tibet

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am writing to urge you to reject China's proposal to run the Olympic torch over Mount Everest and through Tibet in the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. I understand that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be announcing its decision regarding the final torch route on Thursday, April 26th 2007.

As you are aware, Tibet was illegally invaded and occupied by China in 1949 and Tibetans have suffered under a brutal military occupation for decades. By running the torch through what the Associated Press recently called "politically charged territory", the Chinese government hopes to legitimize its claim to Tibet and to cover up its violent and repressive rule over the Tibetan people.

It is unconscionable for the IOC to allow China to use the Olympic Games to further strengthen its hold over Tibet.

The global community expects the IOC to uphold the ideals of peace and friendship that the Olympic torch is meant to symbolize. Allowing China to run the torch through Tibet not only undermines these ideals in the worst possible way, but also shows a complete disregard for the suffering of six million Tibet people.

Please do the right thing now and ensure the 2008 Olympic Games are not used by the Chinese government as a political tool to further entrench its control over Tibet.

The whole world is watching.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
April 23, 2007


Background Information

Since winning the bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, the Chinese government has waged a strategic propaganda campaign to convince the international community that it is a modern and progressive country that should be recognized as a world leader. Part of this strategy is to silence the Tibetan freedom movement by showing Tibetans as a "happy minority" in the great and multi-ethnic Chinese family, with the Chinese government as both a protector and promoter of Tibetan culture. For example, television ads for tourism to China around the 2008 Olympics show picturesque scenes of Tibetans dancing and singing and the famous Samye monastery in central Tibet.

In the same vein, China hopes to use the Olympic torch relay, one of the most important events in the lead up to the Games, to further entrench its claim over Tibet by running the torch over Mount Everest and through Tibet. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be releasing its final decision on the proposed torch route by April 26th 2007.

Tibetans and their supporters are speaking out against this plan to run the torch through Tibet and calling on the IOC to ensure the 2008 Olympic Games are not used by the Chinese government to legitimize and cover up its repressive rule in Tibet.