Peter Speller, a board member of Students for a Free Tibet UK (SFT UK) was today one of the activists detained in China during a daring banner hang on the Great Wall of China. Pete has been a long-time supporter of Tibet and a member of Students for a Free Tibet, alongside his sister Alice Speller, for almost five years.

Speaking before leaving Pete said, "I believe in youth activism as a powerful
tool to help bring about social change in the world. I want to use my skills both as
an activist and a filmmaker to work with Tibetans and their supporters in their
struggle for freedom, and hope that my actions inspire other young people to do the
same.”

See the press realease below for further details.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 7, 2007

***Video footage and photos available

Contact: Matt Whitticase (Hong Kong) + 852 915-21256
Alice Speller (London) + 44 (0)7786 982222

TIBET ACTIVISTS PROTEST 2008 OLYMPICS AT GREAT WALL OF CHINA

ACTIVISTS DETAINED FOLLOWING DARING BANNER HANG

Hong Kong – Six Tibet independence activists from the UK, US, and Canada
(1) were detained today after rappelling from the top of the Great Wall of
China with a large protest banner reading “One World, One Dream, Free
Tibet 2008” in English and Chinese. The dramatic action took place on the
eve of the one-year countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Tibet advocacy
groups assert that China is attempting to use the 2008 Games as a tool to
legitimize its illegal occupation of Tibet. Chinese authorities removed
the activists after two hours; their current whereabouts are unknown.

“The Chinese government is exploiting the Olympics to gain acceptance as a
world leader. By protesting at the Great Wall, the most recognizable
symbol of Chinese nationhood, we’re sending a clear message that China’s
dream of international leadership cannot be realized as long as it
continues its brutal occupation of Tibet,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Deputy
Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “We’re appealing to the
international community to shine the light of scrutiny on China in the
coming year,” added Dorjee. “The Olympic dream of Tibetans is freedom by
August 2008, and we call on the IOC and the global community to help us
make this a reality.”

Today’s protest is also directed at the International Olympic Committee
for failing to fulfill its commitment to hold the Chinese government
accountable with regards to its human rights record. In 2002, IOC
President Jacques Rogge said, “If … human rights are not acted upon [by
China] to our satisfaction then we will act.” (2) According to a report
released by Human Rights Watch last week, “the Chinese government shows no
substantive progress in addressing long-standing human rights concerns.”
(3)

Matt Whitticase, spokesperson for Free Tibet Campaign said, “The IOC
assured the global community that China’s human rights record would
improve as a result of staging the Games. Instead, we have seen the
opposite with a hardening of China’s position in Tibet (4), a sustained
government-sponsored resettlement program of Tibetan nomads (5), increased
social and economic marginalization of Tibetans following the launch of
the China-Tibet railway (6), and the closing off of Tibet to journalists
and media scrutiny (7). To stop the Chinese government from acting with
impunity in Tibet, the IOC must publicly demand that journalists have
unrestricted access to Tibet. By refusing to “act”, as it promised, the
IOC only helps China to cover up its lamentable human rights record in
Tibet.”

Lhadon Tethong, a Tibetan and the Executive Director of SFT, is currently
in Beijing and will try to meet with IOC President Jacque Rogge today who
is in Beijing for tomorrow’s celebrations. Tethong is demanding the IOC
immediately oppose propaganda efforts by the Chinese government to
underscore its claim to Tibet, and use its influence to affect substantive
progress on human rights in China and a meaningful resolution to the
occupation of Tibet. In Beijing since Wednesday, Tethong has been openly
blogging at www.BeijingWideOpen.org, exposing the reality behind China’s
blatant Olympics propaganda. To mark the Olympics one-year countdown,
Tibetans and their supporters worldwide are organizing protests to demand
a solution to the Tibet issue. Demonstrations will continue at China’s
historical landmarks, sports arenas, and at Chinese Embassies and
Consulates around the world between now and the August 2008 Games.
-30-

Notes to Editor:
(1) The detained activists are: Melanie Raoul (Vancouver, Canada), Sam
Price (Vancouver, Canada), Leslie Kaup (St. Paul, Minnesota), Nupur Modi
(Oakland, California), Duane Martinez (Sausalito, California), Pete
Speller (Cambridge, UK).
(2) President Rogge was speaking on the BBC’s Hardtalk television
programme in April, 2002.
(3) Human Rights Watch press release available at:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/08/02/china16560.htm.
(4) In November 2005 Zhang Qingli, previously hardline Party Secretary in
Xinjiang, was appointed Party Secretary to Tibet. He has made increasingly
vitriolic public denunciations of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, referring
to “a fight to the death with the Dalai clique”.
(5) Human Rights Watch report available at:
http://hrw.org/reports/2007/tibet0607/index.htm.
(6) The official People’s Daily reported on 25 July 2007 that tourists
traveling to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) in the first 6 months of
2007 reached 1.1 million, an increase of 86.3% over the same period for
2006, according to the regional tourism bureau. Xinhua reported on 9 May
2007 that the region is forecast to host 3 million visitors this year, a
total that exceeds the population of the TAR.
(7) Despite a pledge by Olympics Press Chief, Sun Weijia, that “they
(foreign journalists) can travel anywhere in China. There will be no
restrictions” (DPA, 28 September 2006), China subsequently announced that
all foreign journalists must obtain a special permit prior to traveling to
Tibet.