Four Free Tibet activists, including Tenzin Dorjee, SFT's Deputy Director, protested this morning on Mount Everest, unfurling a large banner which read "One World One Dream Free Tibet 2008" in English and "Free Tibet" in Tibetan and Mandarin.

The action team - which consisted of Tendor, a Tibetan-American and Kirsten Westby and Laurel Sutherlin, both Americans - displayed the banner for almost thirty minutes. After chanting Free Tibet slogans, Tendor sang the Tibetan national anthem and lit a "Tibetan freedom torch", carrying it into the center of the camp amidst scores of climbing tents. They were detained along with Shannon Service who was filming the action.

The high altitude protest was held on the eve of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announcement of the Beijing Olympic torch relay route. It is the first known occasion where an exiled Tibetan has commited an act of nonviolent civil disobedience inside Tibet. It is also the highest altitude banner action in the history of nonviolent direct action.

Watch the video footage on YouTube.

More on the SFT International homepage and blog.

So last week's demo at the Royal Albert Hall went well. A modern classic, no less - fine British institution falls for quasi-capitalism/communist rising superpower, rising superpower persuades British institution to put on a photo exhibition demonstrating how superpower has never oppressed anybody in Tibet and how fabulous everything is; noisy student activists and Tibetans show up at the same time as Chinese minister for propaganda, institution looks rather foolish.

You can read the news story on phayul.

The really interesting bit of the story, in my opinion, doesn't feature in the press release we put out. It came out in a phone conversation with the police, as the demo was being organised. It goes a bit like this:

SFT: Hello again officer, this is to confirm that we intend to put on an alternative photo exhibition outside the Royal Albert Hall on the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

SFT: No, but that does sound like a good idea, now that you come to mention it...

What I thought was quite telling was the policeman's expectations.

He knew full well that the Chinese government is more than happy to torture their detainees, that they execute thousands of prisoners every year and that they continue to use force to oppress those who peacefully stand up for their rights. The policeman didn't need to look at our "alternative" photo gallery to see the reality of the Chinese occupation - he had already seen through the falsehoods being spread by the Chinese "Ministry of Information" and their British allies.

The Chinese government will continue to churn out propaganda in the run up to the Games and beyond, but they will not win the information war - the world understands the truth of China, and a few sponsored photo exhibitions in British concert halls and galleries will do nothing to gloss over China's continuing crimes in Tibet.

While you may not be able to keep Gordon Brown out of Number 10, at least with Students for a Free Tibet you can vote for a bunch of people that aren't warmongers. It's SFT election time! The volunteer board will be working hard for Tibet over the next 12 months, and this is your chance to vote for the candidates you think will best move SFT forward as an effective campaigning organisation.

If you are a member of a UK university Tibet group or one of our long-term volunteers, click here to view the candidates and find out how to vote. Polls close at midnight on 26 April.