Open Letters
My ambition and hope is that these letters will pinpoint the issues and facts directly related to each recipient’s obligations or engagement; that they will engage others in taking positive actions for the introduction of human rights in China; and that they will inspire the reader to remind some of the key individuals and institutions of their obligations and responsibilities.
International Olympic Committee
European Olympic Committees
International Telecommunications Union
The United Nations
Politicians and Governments Worldwide
Journalists, Editors, Writers and Authors worldwide
World Economic Forum
All NGO's engaged in human rights
Fellow global citizen and travelers
Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Hu Jintao, President of The Peoples Republic of China
International Olympic Committee
Attn: Mr. Jaque Rogge, IOC President
Dear Mr. Rogge,
My name is Øystein Alme and I am the director of the Foundation Voice of Tibet. I am writing to you regarding the Beijing Olympics starting on 8 August 2008. I read an article in the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, dated Sunday 3 April 2005, where the Executive IOC Committee Member Mr. Gerhard Heiberg, is quoted as saying that he is "not worried that human rights issues in China will spoil the Beijing Olympics". In the same article, Heiberg also says that: "China will be an excellent host, even though they are still lagging behind in openness." Mr. Heiberg also stated that the Olympic Rings have never enjoyed more popularity than right now. I understand that a key reason for this must be the Olympic Truce and ideals; emphasizing sports as a way to bridge the gap between people and as a way to build peace and new friendships. And that is exactly why I write to you, Mr. Rogge. As director for the Voice of Tibet radio I have some important information I would like to share with you. Things you probably did not know about, and have not been told by your Chinese counterparts.
Voice of Tibet is an independent radio station producing and broadcasting radio programs in the Tibetan and Mandarin/Chinese language. We focus on news and information related to Tibet, and as far as I know we are the only station in the world providing an unbiased news service about Tibet in the Mandarin language. I can assure you that what we are doing is fully in compliance with Chinese law and their Constitution. Well, since we started broadcasting, the Chinese authorities have been doing their utmost to deny the Chinese and Tibetan people access to our short wave radio transmissions. We have been broadcasting for 10 years now, and for 10 years the Chinese authorities have been blocking and jamming our transmissions. They do this by creating and broadcasting terribly distorted noises and sounds directly on top of our exclusively registered frequencies! But this is not all. Not only do they block our signal in Tibet and China, but their powerful jamming transmitters reach India, Nepal, Taiwan, and even Europe, thus blocking access to our transmissions also in these places.
China also blocks our website, www.vot.org, throughout China and Tibet. I hope and believe that the IOC would have found it unacceptable if the Chinese authorities had denied access to your website, thus preventing 1,3 billion people from learning anything about the IOC and the principles that it stands for.
We have addressed the Chinese authorities many times. Time and time again we have requested them to stop jamming our transmissions and to stop blocking our website, in the name of their own Constitution, the United Nations Human Rights Declaration and the United Nations Covenants which China has signed; and according to the rules and regulations of the International Telecommunications Union (Radio Communications Regulations). But they do not reply. Obviously it will take somebody in a position like yours to address this important issue.
To quote the Chinese news agency Xinhua, who 22 February 2006 referred to an executive State Council meeting presided by Premier Wen Jiabao, Chinese authorities stated that "it is necessary to continue to properly carry out exchanges and co-operation with the International Olympic Committee and relevant international organizations, and strive to raise the level of internationalization of the preparations for the games." Based on this I ask you to remind the host of the 2008 Beijing Olympics of the IOC Charter and request that they comply with the Olympic Ideals and Truce.
I was also deeply worried when I read an interview with you in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, which quoted you. You said that you "feel assured that the human rights aspect will be handled seriously by the IOC and their Chinese counterparts DURING the Olympics in Beijing". Yes, it quoted you as saying "DURING." I would highly appreciate if you could confirm that the IOC really cares about the human rights aspects also BEFORE and AFTER the Beijing Olympics.
And to confirm that the IOC really cares also about this aspect, for the sake of its own reputation as well as for the respect of the citizens of the host country, I request that you and your colleagues raise human rights issues with your Chinese counterparts. I request that you tell them to comply with the Olympic Charter and ideals. Please request them also to stop jamming Voice of Tibet’s transmissions. MAKE IT HAPPEN!
I would be most grateful if you would answer this letter, and I would appreciate to be informed of the actions the IOC takes towards China and the Chinese response to these matters.
With many kind regards,
for Voice of Tibet
Oystein Alme, director
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European Olympic Committees
CC: Olympic Council of Asia
CC: Oceania National Olympic Committees
CC: Association des Comités Nationaux Olympiques d'Afrique
CC: Organización Deportiva Panamericana
Dear Athletes,
My name is Øystein Alme and I am the director of the Foundation Voice of Tibet. Right now I know that many athletes are preparing to qualify for the Beijing Summer Olympics in August 2008. Having closely followed the situation in Tibet and China for more than 10 years, I feel that I have some important information I would very much like to share with you. So far I guess you have mainly been exposed to the positive sides of China, while I see it as equally important that you are also informed about certain other aspects of the host country.
As documented in this book, human rights and the rule of Law are not respected by the authorities in China. Freedom of speech and free media do not exist, even though the Communist Party ruling the country is obliged by the Chinese Constitution and by numerous United Nations and international Covenants and agreements. In China, artists, writers and journalists are imprisoned for voicing critical opinions and publishing stories on corruption, environmental violations or pro-democracy ideas. Even freedom of association, such as gathering in large groups without official authorization, is punishable.
Many, even the IOC, seem to be quite happy with the situation and development in China at the moment. I find this very surprising and disappointing because I would think that both the Olympic movement and the athletes are concerned about human rights and protecting the Olympic ideals.
I want you and all athletes around the world to use every opportunity to tell the IOC and the Chinese authorities that you care about human rights and freedom of speech and opinion. I know that you most probably will meet Mr. Rogge and many others involved in activities under the IOC umbrella. I request that you remind them to act according to their responsibilities. As idols of this time, and as conscious and engaged individuals, your opinions and values count and are widely spread.
The stage is set. Beijing is waiting. Would it not be a great lesson, especially for the youth of the world, if their idols used the stage to tell China how they felt about the ongoing violations of human rights taking place there? And I would definitely not complain if you at the same time requested them to stop jamming Voice of Tibet’s short wave transmissions and blocking our website. We are not asking a favor for ourselves, but for the 1,3 billion people in China. And for the 6 million Tibetans, suppressed and deprived of basic human rights. I hope I am not asking too much and I assure you that your engagement can make a difference. MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Kind regards,
from all of us at Voice of Tibet
Oystein Alme, director
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International Telecommunications Union
CC: ITU Radio Communications (ITU-R
My name is Øystein Alme and I am the director of the Voice of Tibet radio. I am writing to inform the ITU and ITU-R of the fact, as documented in the attached book, that one of your member countries, the Peoples Republic of China is breaching the very essence of your Constitution.
I hereby request that the ITU address this issue with the Chinese representatives and demand that they comply with the ITU Radio regulations. From your own regulations the following can be quoted: "Any frequency assignment shall have the right to international protection from harmful interference." (Article 9, ITU Geneva Regulation).
The United Nations, of which the ITU and ITU-R is organized under, has stated the following, among many other relevant Resolutions and Covenants: "Jamming of radio broadcasts is condemned as a denial of the right of all persons to be fully informed concerning news, opinions, and ideas regardless of frontiers." (1950 UN General Assembly Resolution).
I have already written you letters documenting the systematic jamming of Voice of Tibet's transmissions on numerous occasions. However, you have never replied.
Between 1984 and 1986 ITU carried out a thorough investigation to determine potential violations of ITU's constitution (by member states). 30 monitoring stations in 8 countries were directly involved in the investigations. So my demand is simple. Carry out an investigation towards Chinese jamming. Publish your findings and address China's ITU representatives.
On 15 May 2006 the ITU Radio Communications (ITU-R) starts the "Second session of the Regional Radio Communication Conference (RRC-06)" in Geneva. This will be the perfect occasion to highlight the issue of "Chinese jamming of foreign short wave broadcasts", with a broad contingent from China invited. I would highly appreciate an invitation and the opportunity to address the ITU-R members.
I am awaiting your reply with details on how you have addressed China on this issue and how China has responded, as I see this issue as crucial for the credibility of the ITU and the United Nations.
With many kind regards,
for Voice of Tibet
Oystein Alme, director
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The United Nations
Attn: Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary General
Dear Secretary General,
It is with respect for your work for global peace and justice that I write to you. I am Oystein Alme, director of the Foundation Voice of Tibet, and I have monitored the situation in Tibet and China for more than 10 years. I write to you to inform and remind you that one of the United Nations member countries, the Peoples Republic of China, is systematically violating basic human rights as guaranteed by signed United Nations Declarations and Covenants. China is not only a UN member country, but a permanent member of the Security Council.
I am mainly pursuing issues related to freedom of speech and the right to access and impart information, and refer to Article 19 of the Universal Human Rights Declaration. I hereby inform you of the following facts:
China systematically prevents their citizens from accessing unbiased information, by:
- Illegally monitoring all dissemination of information and prosecuting those who share or convey opinions considered unfavorable by the authorities.
- Systematically interfering with and jamming Voice of Tibet's unbiased radio service on short wave, and by blocking access in China to our website (www.vot.org).
- Persecuting the Chinese and Tibetan people who try to listen to our service.
I am following the UN Human Rights Commission's restructuring process with great interest. Please do not let human rights offenders like China rule this process. And please address this and the issues mentioned above with the Peoples Republic of China.
For the sake of the credibility of the United Nations, and taking into consideration that the UN's main obligation is towards the oppressed and not the oppressor, I request that you and your office address the issues mentioned above with the Chinese authorities. Mankind needs the UN to highlight and support non-violent and peaceful struggles for freedom and human rights, otherwise more and more people might start questioning such means. And questioning the UN's credibility and standards.
I would be very grateful to receive your office's response to these matters.
With many kind regards,
for Voice of Tibet
Oystein Alme, director
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Politicians and Governments Worldwide
Respected Members of Parliaments and Ministers,
My name is Øystein Alme and I am the director of the Voice of Tibet radio. I hope this book will find its way to your desk, and that you will find time to read it.
I had the opportunity to be present and cover the 4th World Parliamentarian's Convention on Tibet, held in Edinburgh on 18 and 19 November 2005, where 133 delegates gathered representing 30 Parliaments from throughout the world. The Convention called for urgent negotiations between the Chinese Government and the Dalai Lama, to resolve the Tibet issue based on the Dalai Lama's Middle Way Approach. One of many key implications is to introduce genuine autonomy for the Tibetans in Tibet.
The Convention strongly urged the Chinese government to take effective actions to ensure full respect for the rights of the Tibetan people, and to intensify the efforts to achieve tangible results in negotiations with the Dalai Lama's representatives before 2008, when the world's eyes will be turned to China and the situation in Tibet, on the occasion of the Olympic Games.
In its action plan the Convention delegates stressed the importance of worldwide parliamentary support for Tibet and decided to undertake activities to strengthen the role of Parliaments and Parliamentarians in this respect, and called on all governments and parliaments to closely monitor China's behavior in Tibet and to keep Tibet firmly on the agenda of bilateral and multilateral discussions with China.
There are many issues and implications which I would have liked to add, including Voice of Tibet's fate, but in the broad picture our challenges with Chinese censorship will hopefully be solved as soon as human rights are respected in China.
Parliamentarians and governments in democratic countries hold one of the main keys to unlock this long neglected issue. I request that you use your position to address China on human rights at each and every opportunity. Based on the documentation in this book, the Chinese censorship and the denial of free speech and dissemination of unbiased information and opinions should be a key part of your bi- and multilateral agenda towards China
A world in which weapons and terror have been the main threat and tools to solve conflicts, needs to be reminded of the non-violent Tibetan struggle for basic rights. Not only your voters, but mankind, need to see a non-violent struggle for human rights succeed. You will not find a better example.
MAKE IT HAPPEN!
With many kind regards,
for Voice of Tibet
Oystein Alme, director
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Journalists, Editors, Writers and Authors worldwide
CC: The International Journalists' Network (IJNet)
CC: World Association of Newspapers (WAN)
CC: World Editors Forum (WEF)
My name is Oystein Alme, director of the Voice of Tibet radio. I am writing you this letter to inform and to engage you in the present situation of your journalist colleagues working in Tibet and China. The same partly goes for your Western colleagues working there, who need the authorization to visit or research any areas or issues of concern. China is imprisoning more journalists than any other country in the world. In 2005 the Chinese authorities seized more than 229 million copies of publications, 2,966 publishing houses and more than 40,000 stalls and shops were closed down. All because the authorities deemed their publications "illegal."
In August 2008 the Olympic flame reaches Beijing for the Summer Olympics. Thousands of articles and stories are to be written and published before the games begin, and 20,000 foreign media representatives are expected to be accredited. I challenge you all with this letter to do your own research, and also to write about the persecution of free speech and the lack of access to unbiased information in China.
As I write this, two more Chinese journalists have just been imprisoned. Zhu Waning and Wu Zhengyou, Editor and Chief Editor of New China Youth, got 10 and 6 years respectively, simply because they wrote about illegal government seizure of land for development. These, and numerous others serving long term prison sentences, are your professional colleagues who are imprisoned because they did what you do every day and take for granted.
Just a few of these journalists and stories have reached the media, as the Party and authorities have staged a "smokeless war" on independent journalism. Smokeless means that the authorities will detain suspects at night, keep the trial secret, charge them with fraud and extortion or sexual misconduct, instead of their real "crimes." I would recommend that you also investigate the whereabouts and stories of people like Shi Tao, Huang Jingao, and numerous others.
Another issue worth attention is whether the pursuit of profit, by companies like Yahoo, Google, Cisco, Microsoft, Thales, and others operating in China, is taking precedence over business ethics when operating there.
As representatives of "the fourth state power", you are hereby challenged to research and write about the censorship and oppression of free speech taking place in China. Such work could include addressing the key individuals and institutions, like the International Olympic Committee, United Nations, International Telecommunication Union and others about your findings. Only that way can you succeed in providing your readers and listeners with a balanced picture of contemporary Tibet and China. And even if your newspaper's or magazine's websites are filtered in China, your stories will be available to China's ruling elite, which is enjoying free access to what the masses are denied. Xinhua, the world's largest news agency, governed by Communist Party cadres acting as Editors, is handling the filtering of news. They are also the authorities' tool for the dissemination of news and information internationally. Keep this in mind when handling their news dispatches containing information from or about China.
Personally I hope you will also take interest in Voice of Tibet's situation, which can serve as an example of the fact that the ongoing persecution sees no limits or boundaries. Our website is blocked and considerable efforts are made to jam each and every one of our short wave transmissions. Not only in Tibet and China, but in Nepal, India, Taiwan, Malaysia, Switzerland, Norway, UK, as well as in YOUR country. Please feel free to contact us for updated information or check out www.diantai.org. There you will also find audio recordings from Voice of Tibet's short wave transmissions, documenting whether we were jammed or not today.
MAKE IT HAPPEN!
With many kind regards,
for Voice of Tibet
Oystein Alme, director
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World Economic Forum
Attn: International Investors and Corporations operating in China
My name is Øystein Alme, I am the director of the Foundation Voice of Tibet, and I have closely monitored the developments in China and Tibet for the last 10 years.
Feeling assured that you have done your utmost to investigate the financial and corporate business environment in China, before going there or investing your money and human resources there, I write to urge you to also investigate the social and human rights aspects of the Chinese society. Going there and investing in China also means you are thinking and planning long term. Taking this for granted, it should automatically follow that you are concerned about the future development of the Chinese society as a whole.
As documented in this book you should be aware of the fact that in China a tiny elite is ruling the masses, and often with an merciless iron fist. Not the fist you have seen opening up to global business opportunities, but the fist you probably have not seen, yet. The fist controlling issues like worker's rights, freedom to access and share information and ideas, and other basic human rights which have direct implications on your company, operations and staff in China.
Corruption is a huge problem in China, a fact also acknowledged publicly by the Chinese authorities. But if a Chinese journalist or individual attempts to highlight corruption or corrupt officials, their publication and work are in danger. Like the following example from January 2005, when two Editors received sentences of 10 and 6 years in prison for writing about illegal seizure of land by local authorities for business development. The sentence came just days after the Chinese President himself stated on public television that "everybody must join the fight against corruption." No matter what they say, corrupt monopolies hate transparency. And therefore your concerns and corporate values are vital for the development of the Chinese society. If you dare voice them, that is.
By addressing and voicing your concerns and values you can represent the power of money. And money talks, not least in China. I guarantee that you will be listened to if you address your concerns on independent media, workers rights, transparency and democratic values. These are some of the cornerstones on which your company or brand is based, and these should be cornerstones of your business development in China. Only by the introduction of democratic values and human rights will China's future be stable, and your investments secure.
These days many Chinese consumers have little reason to trust the corporate values of companies like Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Thales and others, who have been kow-towing to the Communist Party for a long time. Talking and writing about corporate values and principles, and doing the opposite when operating in China. Consider, for example, the quote from Thales' website: "Ethical conduct is a key issue for Thales, fully conscious not only of the requirements of various international organizations responsible for setting standards of acceptable conduct, but also of the concerns of its own employees, suppliers and customers, shareholders and, more generally, the community at large. The Group's approach has been confirmed through its pledging support for the United Nations' Global Compact initiative, committing Thales to respecting major principles in the areas of human rights, labor rights and the environment."
Knowing that Thales has been the main provider of transmitters and equipment used to jam our short wave transmissions into Tibet and China, I wonder how their employees, suppliers, customers and the community at large feel. Or whether the issue was raised with their shareholders.
You are hereby challenged to make sure Chinese consumers and workers have no reason to question the implementation of your company's moral and corporate values.
MAKE IT HAPPEN!
With many kind regards,
for Voice of Tibet
Oystein Alme, director
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All NGO's engaged in human rights
My name is Øystein Alme and I am director of the Voice of Tibet radio. I am hoping that this book and letter will reach out to many of you. I would like to share with you my experiences and opinions about working for a non-governmental organization. SHARING and COOPERATING are keywords in non-governmental work for human rights, not least when it comes to issues such as human rights and the censorship in China. From my experience too many keep their information and ideas to themselves, thus ending up with vital information and campaigning reaching too few and with little effect. While campaigns and ideas based on sharing, cooperation and coordination will always have a bigger impact.
In writing this book, I hope to reach beyond the Tibetan and Chinese pro-democracy and rights groups. Any non-governmental organization with an international perspective should consider engaging in lobbying and campaigning for human rights in China. After all we are talking about a huge potential of improving the lives and rights of 1,3 billion people in China, and 6 million Tibetans in Tibet.
This book will be launched and distributed from May 2006. My hope is that by the autumn it has reached far and wide, and that many will consider using it as part of their material for campaigning. Hopefully as part of broadly shared and well coordinated campaigns. My only advice and strong recommendation is that a key part of your focus should be drawn towards reaching the Chinese. There lies the key to unlocking the repressive censorship regime. And that is where the key groups of individuals are, not only the ruling elite, but also those who can influence and make decisions in the future. Today they might be students, intellectuals, artists, writers, journalists, even Party members - and they will be the people who might decide the future direction of China. These are the people who can be the pillars and voices of future China, also in terms of introducing democratic values and human rights. Together you should reach out to them with information and support that assures them that they have international support in voicing the people's will, and that promotes the road leading to freedom, dignity and rights for the people of China. The same road leading to the same aspirations for the Tibetan people. That should be the ultimate goal. And while working for these goals, make sure to get across the message that your campaigning and work is not against the people of China. It is FOR THE PEOPLE OF CHINA.
Being fully aware that the writing and publishing of this book will not make an impact as isolated actions, you are all hereby challenged and invited to share and freely use everything of interest to you as part of your presentations or campaigns, or as inspiration for carrying out your own research and writings. The upcoming Beijing Olympics in 2008 is the ultimate opportunity to highlight human rights issues towards China.
Join forces and demand the introduction of human rights and freedom of speech in China and Tibet. MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Kind regards, Tashi delek! and Zai jian!
Oystein Alme
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Fellow global citizen and travelers
Dear Reader,
My name is Øystein Alme and I am the director of the Voice of Tibet radio. I write you this letter to tell you about an aspect of Chinese society that you might not know about. China and Tibet is ruled by the Chinese Communist Party which has a membership base of 70 million people, which is less than 6% of the population and less than the number of tourists visiting China annually. These numbers do not only show the power you as a group represent, but also the root of the problems I want to introduce you to.
Speaking from my own experience; nothing can really replace your own research and findings, therefore I recommend you to read and do as much research as you can before you visit Tibet or China, and maybe more importantly, that you keep your eyes and ears open while being there. Maybe you can bring a short wave radio with you and try to listen to Voice of Tibet on short wave. Or try Voice of Tibet's website, www.vot.org, and see if you can find it. Likewise you can try internet search engines like Yahoo! or Google for leads to information on issues like democracy or human rights. If you happen to find and get access to any meaningful or trustworthy pages, please write me… If not, do not write me, but tell others instead. This is because our website, along with most other independent sites providing unbiased information, is blocked throughout China. If you tune to the schedule highlighted on the front page of our website and hear dragon dance music, drums and white noise, tell others that the Chinese authorities continue to jam Voice of Tibet's transmissions. And that this is a grave violation of the Constitution and Laws on which the Chinese Communist Party is supposed to base their rule.
Most tourists, like myself going there 10 years ago, seek to find the sacred and mysterious Tibet when visiting the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Keep in mind, when you are there, that only one-third of the Tibetan population live there, and that they live their lives under strict Chinese rule. Like actors in a play, scared of talking to you, because after you have left they will be questioned. Keep in mind when visiting monasteries that reeducation campaigns have been going on for years in each and every Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, and the fact that the monks you will meet there have been forced to denounce and criticize the Dalai Lama and praise the Communist Party. Yes, denounce their spiritual leader and manifestation of their religious life and belief, and praise the Communist Party. Those monks and nuns who have failed to do so convincingly will not be there anymore, as their religious rights are deprived from them throughout Tibet.
The remaining two-thirds of the Tibetan population, living in the historically Tibetan areas of Amdo and Kham (now integrated into Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces) share the same fate. Some succeed in escaping to Nepal and India, mainly during winter, when temperatures and border controls are lower. Many others do not make it.
Also keep in mind that most of the Tibetan tourist guides have been expelled from tour operators and replaced by Chinese guides. These Chinese guides are considered to have learned to convey the Chinese version of Tibet's past and present, and if you find their incompetence or negligence intolerable, you should tell them so. Or simply tell the tour operator that you want a Tibetan guide.
By writing this I hope that you will consider what is important to you and which values you find worth engaging in, as representatives of the tourist power, which is the main generator of income in Tibet. For most Tibetans it is a pity that most of the tourist income does not find its way to them. As money talks, power accumulate power. For the Tibetan minority, it is now a fight for cultural and social survival. And you can play a role in saving what remains of a heritage facing cultural genocide.
Kind regards and bon voyage,
Oystein Alme, VOT director
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Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
My name is Øystein Alme and I am the director of the Voice of Tibet radio. Voice of Tibet started producing and broadcasting radio programs containing unbiased news and information about Tibetan issues in 1996. Voice of Tibet is actually the only station in the world providing unbiased news and information about Tibet in the Mandarin language. I have never had the opportunity to inform the Dalai Lama about this service, but I hope the Dalai Lama is aware of it and the fact that all my colleagues are doing their very best to maintain and develop a truly independent and unbiased service. I feel confident that these aims and objectives are shared by all Tibetans.
Of all the challenges Voice of Tibet has been facing through the years, the greatest has been the continuos attempts by Chinese authorities to block access to our short wave radio transmissions. The right to seek, gather and impart information is guaranteed by the Chinese Constitution, by the United Nations Human Rights Declaration and several United Nations Covenants signed by China. The Chinese jamming of our transmissions respects no borders or limits, thus also blocking access to our service for the Tibetan exile communities in India, Nepal and beyond.
By the way, I can inform that His Holiness' original radio set is still displayed at Norbulingka in Lhasa. A friend of mine saw it there last summer and determined it to be a Russian model dating back to 1957 or 58. It is my hope that this radio set can once again come into use; to receive unjammed and unbiased news, both in Tibetan and Mandarin, tuned in to from Tibetan soil, and without any interference or jamming from the Chinese authorities.
I take this opportunity to request the Dalai Lama's support in raising awareness of our problem, if such an opportunity should arise. Having just read that the Dalai Lama's envoys just visited Beijing for the 5th round of talks, it is my suggestion that the issue of China blocking Voice of Tibet and other foreign Tibetan language radio services should be raised with the Chinese counterparts. Allowing the Tibetans access to these broadcasts could serve as an opportunity for the Chinese authorities to show their sincerity.
With kind regards,
for Voice of Tibet
Oystein Alme, director
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Hu Jintao, President of The Peoples Republic of China
President,
It is with great respect for the country and the people which you represent as President, that I write this letter addressed to your office. I hope you will take time to read it, and share it with your colleagues at the Communist Party Standing Committee. Let me introduce myself. My name is Oystein Alme, and for 10 years I have been director of the Foundation Voice of Tibet. Voice of Tibet is an independent radio station broadcasting unbiased news and information on issues related to Tibet. And for almost 10 years the Chinese authorities have attempted to block and interfere with our transmissions, and block access to our website.
The Constitution of the People's Republic of China guarantees its citizens the right to access and disseminate unbiased information, as does the United Nations Covenants and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, also signed by China – including Article 19, which states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." A great and country like China, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, should honor and respect such responsibilities and agreements.
So my questions to you are simple and honest:
- Why can you not tolerate and allow the Chinese and Tibetan people access to Voice of Tibet's transmissions and website?
- When are you going to order an end to the censorship?
Quite recently several high ranking representatives of the first generation of Communist leaders in China warned that your repressive censorship policies are leading China and its people in the wrong direction, threatening the Party's position and legitimacy. In regard to Tibet, where you have served as the Party Secretary for several years, the many "strike hard" and campaigns have overshadowed your development efforts.
Still high ranking Chinese officials, especially when travelling abroad, keep stating that "those who are critical towards our policies are most welcome to go and see for themselves." Well, I am not welcome or allowed a visa, by direct orders from Beijing.
Why deny me, and so many others, if you feel you have nothing to hide?
On several occasions your representatives have told me that everybody in Tibet is happy and prosperous, and that nobody flees from there. Recently I visited the United Nation's High Commissioner's Reception Center for (Tibetan) Refugees in Katmandu, and I can confirm that those statements are untrue. The place is overcrowded by Tibetan refugees who risked their lives walking the high mountain passes to escape, hiding during daytime – walking in the night. They tell me they are escaping from persecution of their belief, will and rights. Why not provide them with freedom and rights where they came from? To me it seems that most of your investments target and encourage the growing number of Chinese settlers there, further marginalizing the silenced Tibetans minority.
China will soon host the Olympic Games. Preparing for such a big event, and with the rest of the world watching, it could be the ultimate time and opportunity to open up; to show the world that you trust, and are trusted, by the people you govern. Leading a united China into a new era, into the information society, where values like human rights, transparency and equality are honored. By doing this you will be applauded, not only by the people of China and Tibet, but by people of all nations and races. It will put your name in each and every history book in the world as the great Chinese leader and visionary who put the people's interests first. The leader who dared to allow its citizens access to the broadcasts of a tiny radio station called Voice of Tibet. Nobody else on this planet can do so much for so many, free of cost, by convincing a small group of elite Party colleagues to introduce internationally acknowledged human rights and democratic values.
If not before, the 17th Party Congress in late 2007 will show the world which path you are choosing. Opening up for free media, allowing people to access and communicate information and opinions freely, will also enable you to rid China of corrupt and disloyal cadres presently hampering your ability to govern. Reaching out to the people with policies for equality, justice and freedom will direct the Chinese people into a prosperous future. Proud and united. MAKE IT HAPPEN!
With kind regards,
for Voice of Tibet
Oystein Alme, director
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