Join Tibetans from across Europe are travelling to London for the Tibetan Fredom Torch Relay (see below) in SFT UK's Night of Solidarity with music and talks from Tibetan artists and inspirational speakers.

Sunday 6 April

March 10th was big, now the Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay will be bigger! The Olympic Torch arrives in London on Sunday April 6th. Join the Tibetan Freedom Torch to support Team Tibet and an end to China's occupation

There will be protests along the official Chinese torch route - please bring Tibetan flags and banners. You can protest along the route but we have selected a spot for mass protests:

1pm at Richmond Terrace, opposite Downing street, the office of Prime Minister Gordon Brown (near Trafalgar Square)
Closest tube: Westminster, Leicester Square, Charing Cross

2.30pm: Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay at Argyle Square, opposite Kings Cross Station. (see flyer above for detail)

From Leicester Square it should take about 10 minutes to reach Argyle Square, from Westminster 15 minutes on the tube (metro).

3.30 - 4pm: The torch will be carried to Paris by Tibetans and supporters including two of the Drapchi Nuns from King Cross St Pancreas station.

On Saturday 22nd March, Tibetans and hundreds of supporters marched from Regents Park to Trafalgar Square in protest against Chinese crackdowns on protesters in Tibet. The march passed entirely peacefully, with those on the march joined by passers by with police estimating that over 600 protesters were on the march. Marchers endured snow, sleet, rain and even a little sun in the course of a brief two hours. The march was widely reported by the UK press, and ended with a rally in front of the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square. Pema Yoko from SFT and various other Tibetans and guest speakers addressed the crowd during the rally reiterating calls to end the persecution of innocent Tibetans, and calling for the British government to put pressure on their Chinese counterparts. The march was organised by the UK Tibet Coalition: Students for a Free Tibet, Tibetan Youth UK, Tibetan Community in Britain, Tibet Society and Free Tibet Campaign.

The situation in Tibet itself has rapidly worsened. Whilst reports of continued protests are reaching the West, all western journalists and tourists have been cleared out of the country, as China has sent in special units of the Peoples 'Liberation' Army (PLA), with thousands of troops, and large convoys of tanks and armoured vehicles. Beijing has also sent in artillery units and more troops on the Lhasa railway, confirming long held suspicions that the railway was intended to tighten China's grip over Tibet.

Show your support for Tibetans in Tibet!

This march is being organised by Tibetans and supporters in the UK in response to the continuing violent suppression of Tibetan protest in Tibet. Come and lend your voice to what is fast becoming a global movement for change in the region.

The march will pass the Chinese Embassy and end in Trafalgar Square. Bring friends, families and flags; protest placards provided.

When: 12-2pm Saturday 22 March 2008.
Where: Assemble 11.30am at Park Crescent (West side), London, near Regent's Park.
Map: Click here
Tube: Nearest is Great Portland Street; alternative is Oxford Circus. Some lines to Great Portland Street are closed this weekend, see TFL for more details and Journey Planner.
Facebook: March for Tibet! event and Support the Monks' Protest in Tibet group

As protests continue to spread across Tibet, welcome news emerged from the British parliament today. During Prime Minister's Question Time Gordon Brown announced that he will be meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his visit to the UK in May.

Despite risking diplomatic ties with China, the news has also been praised by the opposition, with Conservative leader David Cameron saying "Can I congratulate the Prime Minister on making the right deceion...".

The news comes following a concerted effort by British Tibet Support Groups calling for the PM to meet with the exiled Tibetan leader, who will be in the UK to perform public talks and teachings.

During the past year the Dalai Lama has met with many national leaders, including Chancellor Merkel of Germany, the then Australian Prime Minister John Howard and President George Bush, but he has not met a British Prime Minister since 1999.

As the human rights situation in Tibet worsens, with Tibetans being shot in the street whilst calling for the freedom of their country, it's great to see the UK government taking a stand in support of the Tibetan struggle.

LONDON, 18th March 2008

Yesterday hundreds of Tibetans and supporters gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in London to protest against China's ongoing crackdowns against Tibetan uprisings in ethnic Tibet. The protest marked the imposition of a deadline by Chinese authorities at midnight Monday night by which time they demanded that all protesting Tibetans surrender to the authorities. At 4pm GMT, at Midnight in Tibet, a minute's silence was held to remember the Tibetan martyrs killed in the past week.

Four of the Drapchi 14 lead the protests; Ngawang Sangdrol, Phuntsog Nyidron, Namdrol Lhamo and Gyaltsen Drolkar. Ngawang Sangdrol related the four nuns experience of a combined fifty years in prison to the ordeals and punishment that rebelling Tibetans are facing in Tibet now. The crowd was also addressed by British Member of Parliament Norman Baker and European Parliament vice-president Edward McMillan-Scott who pledged their support to the protesters in Tibet.

"We are outside the Chinese embassy - that building represents a terror state," McMillan-Scott told protestors." I believe all politicians of conscience in the European Union's 27 countries should unite in condemnation of what is taking place today in Tibet. We should now begin in the EU a serious debate about a boycott of the Beijing Olympics."

The protests were largely peaceful until dozens of Tibetans attempted to storm the embassy only to be held off by large numbers of police. As scuffles continued directly outside the embassy, eggs and placards were thrown at the embassy in a show of pent up frustrations by those forced into exile by China's occupation of Tibet since 1950. Although some individuals clashed with the police, and others were thrown back by perhaps over-zealous police, no-one was seriously hurt. The road was closed off, and more police bought into the area to pin back the Tibetans to a confined space opposite the embassy. However, no Tibetans or supporters were arrested and some police officers even apologised to those they had been rough with. The protest became a candle-lit vigil as the evening set in, with Tibetans continuing to vent their anger at the Chinese embassy, singing songs of protest and the Tibetan national anthem.

'China must halt its crackdown, withdraw military and security forces, release those detained and allow peaceful protest' said Karma Chura-Tsang, Director of Tibetan Youth UK Following the protest, six Tibetan students studying in the UK have started a 24-hour hunger strike in solidarity and support of Tibetan students who have been arrested in Tibet following the demonstrations on Friday. They also wrote to the Prime Minister calling on him to make a firm statement of support and concern to the Chinese government over the aggressive and unnecessary force used to crackdown on the demonstrations in Tibet and to exact assurances that there will be no further brutal repercussions on the Tibetan people in the aftermath of Friday's actions.

Meanwhile in Tibet, protests have continued to spread to the Eastern Amdo and Kham provinces of the country, with graphic images of Tibetans killed by the Chinese army having been leaked to the outside world. Tourists are being cleared out of Tibetan area's, leading to grave fears that a huge crackdown on Tibetans is about to ensue. Already, door-to-door raids have occurred in Lhasa, and many monasteries remain surrounded by police and the army. Although Western governments have urged restraint, it is believed that China is removing foreigners so that they may not witness any more atrocities against the Tibetan nation. However, the eyes of the world are watching Beijing, and the people of Tibet will not be silenced easily.

Report written for SFTUK, TYUK and Tibetan Community in Britian.
Photos by Luke Ward & TYUK

With international pressure we can keep the spotlight on China and Tibet and limit the expected crackdown.

BREAKING NEWS...

I've just had a phone update from the protest in London where Tibetans and supporters are demanding the right to peaceful protest and freedom of speech in Tibet. Norman Baker MP, Vice president of EU parliament Edward McMillan-Scott MEP, and Ngawang Sangdrol one of the Drapchi Nuns in the UK for a reunion tour have spoken after a minutes silence at 4pm. I could hear hundreds of supporters chanting Free Tibet in the background.

Protests spread, students protest in Beijing
http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKPEK26733920080317

AFP has spoken to a foreigner in Lhasa. "It's awful... there are armed tanks rolling down the street. There appears to be a curfew here as hardly anyone is on the streets apart from a lot of army men in riot gear."

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1) Phone your MP and ask them to urge the government as a matter of urgency to take a strong stance against the crackdown. Through diplomatic pressure we can help protect the protesters.
Gorden Brown has come out with a weak stance, we can help him to toughen it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7301389.stm

2) Phone the Chinese government and tell them to halt the crackdown, tell them you are watching the situation:

Secretary of the Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR):
+86 891 632 5889

TAR People's Government:
+86 891 633 2067

People's Armed Police (Riot Troop Division):
+86 891 633 0443

TAR People's Congress:
+86 891 683 2423

At 4pm today GMT (midnight in Tibet) the Chinese Government's deadline for the cessation of protests in Tibet expires. The government has threatened "harsher treatment" for Tibetans who continue to challenge the government. With at least 30 protesters already dead we're fearing what harsher means. Tibetans and Tibet supporters around the world are gearing up to make sure the eyes of the world remain on Tibet to protect the Tibetans risking their lives in protest.

The Dalai Lama spoke out strongly yesterday, saying that Chinese authorities "simply rely on using force in order to simulate peace, a peace brought by force using a rule of terror."

See incredible video footage of protests in Labrang HERE
And photos from Amdo and other protests HERE

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

PROTEST IN LONDON
Monday 17th March, 3.30pm
Chinese Embassy, Portland Place, nearest tube is Gt Portland Street, Regent's Park or Oxford Circus. See the link below for a map: href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=portland+place&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl)

We will start the protest at 3:30, please try your best to come before 4pm (4 pm will be 12 midnight in Tibet, which is the deadline given by the Chinese authorities for Tibetan protestors to surrender themselves. We fear a violent crackdown may well ensue).

4pm -
- a 1 minute silence for those in Tibet
- followed by a speech by Ngawang Sangrol and the Drapchi nuns (who spent 12-15yrs of their lives in prison and endured horrific torture)
- The day will be finished with a candle-lit vigil and Tibetan prayers for the lives that have been lost

CALL YOU MP

Please, show your support for the Tibetans living under China's "rule of terror." Call your Member of Parliament today, and urge him or her to demand that the U.K. support immediate international intervention in Tibet.

CLICK HERE to search for the phone number for your Member of Parliament.

Call and ask to speak to someone about the situation in Tibet. You may be passed to a legislative aide or simply have your comments recorded by an office administrator, which is fine.

Tell them:

1. The U.K. should speak out forcefully against China's brutal crackdown in Tibet.
2. Please urge the British government to strongly support the Dalai Lama's call for a United Nations team of investigators to go to Tibet as soon as possible.
3. The U.K. should do everything in its power to urge China to withdraw military and security forces, release those detained, and allow peaceful protest. China must halt house-to-house searches; and authorities must refrain from any further arrests of Tibetan protesters even after its so-called surrender deadline has passed on Monday at midnight. China must immediately allow foreign journalists back into all Tibetan areas (Tibetan Autonomous Region as well as the Tibetan areas of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan).

This is an urgent matter because the "surrender deadline" is fast approaching – and may actually have passed as you're reading this – so please call immediately.

BREAKING NEWS
Just today, 100 Tibetan middle school students in Ngaba, Amdo (Sichuan) staged a spontaneous demonstration on their school grounds calling for the return of the Dalai Lama. It is reported that 40 of the students were severely beaten and arrested. 700 additional Tibetan students from the same middle school are now bravely conducting a demonstration to demand the release of their peers outside the Public Security Bureau building where the students are being held.

The peaceful demonstrations from the start of the week have now descended into brutal suppression and rioting in Lhasa. On Friday there were reports of around 80 deaths, trucks of soldiers being brought in and tanks on the streets. The capital city is now on lock down. The Chinese authorities have issued an ultimatum, all rioters must turn themselves in by midnight on Monday (4pm GMT) or face serious consequences.

His holiness the Dalai Lama has issued statements urging the Chinese not to beat and kill Tibetans and for
Tibetans not to resort to violence.

Read further reports here:
BBC News
Phayul News

Take Action:

People to write to:

GORDON BROWN-

Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP
10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2AA
Fax: 020 7925 0918

http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page821.asp (e-mail Gordon Brown)

YOUR MP-
Name of MP
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA

(you can e-mail your MP at www.writetothem.com. To find out your
MP's name phone the House of Commons Information Office on
02072194272)

INDIAN HIGH COMMISSION IN THE UK-

Write to the High Commissioner in UK:
Shri Kamalesh Sharma, the High Commissioner
Email: info@hcilondon.net
Tel: 020 7632 3164
Fax: 020 7632 3204

High Commission of India
India House
Aldwych
London
WC2B 4NA

BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION IN INDIA-

British High Commission
Chanakyapuri
New Delhi 110021

Telephone: (91) (11) 2687 2161
(91) (11) 2419 2100

CHINESE REPRESENTATION IN THE UK-

Embassy (London)
49

On March 8th, hundreds of Tibetans and supporters from across the UK and Europe travelled to London to participate in a march to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the Lhasa Uprising in 1959. The peaceful, colourful and noisy procession provided a stark contrast to the foreboding grey skies as it marched through London, passing sights such as Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and the Houses of Parliament. The march was headed by four of the 'Drapchi 14' aka. the 'Singing Nuns'. Ngawang Sangdrol, Phuntsog Nyidron, Gyancain Grolkar and Namdrol Lhamo were all imprisoned between 1990 and 1992, all for protesting against Chinese rule in Tibet. The nuns all had their sentences extended for recording songs of protest against Chinese rule, and singing for a Free Tibet in 1993. These recordings were smuggled out of the prison and to the outside world. The nuns also delivered a letter to Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street.

Fabian Hamilton, MP for Leeds North East and member of the cross-party parliamentary Tibet group spoke about his experiences of China's continued occupation of Tibet at Westminster Cathedral in the function held after the march. Later that evening, the four nuns and various other Tibetan performers from the Tibetan Community in Britain performed a gig on Oxford Street in the Salvation Army Hall. The nuns have been brought to the UK by the Tibetan Community in Britain, and will be touring the UK until April 6th. The nuns are visiting four SFT local groups: SOAS, Essex, Warwick & Leeds. View their itinerary at: http://drapchi14reunion.com/itinerary.html to see if they're visiting a city near you.

In other March 10th news, marches have been held globally, from Australia to France, from the US to Delhi. Protests have even occurred in Lhasa, with reports of over 300 monks from Drepung being arrested, and others arrested near Tibet's main temple, the Jokhang. The return march to Tibet was sadly halted by Indian police after the Indian government was pressurised from the Chinese government. The Greek government also refused to allow Team Tibet members to enter Olympia to light the Tibetan Olympic Torch. The Athens police were working closely with the Chinese embassy, and seemingly harassed and bullied the peaceful Tibetan activists including SFT's Tendor who last year protested on Mount Everest. Here at SFT UK we find this trend of democratic government's bowing to the demands of the autocratic Chinese government extremely worrying, and urge activists in these countries to pressure their government's to take a harder line against China's human rights record and it's continued occupation of Tibet.

Despite censorship by the Indian, Greek and Chinese governments, Tibetans and supporters voices of dissent have sent a clear message for the oncoming Olympics: We're ready, is China?

This Easter weekend a team from the SFT UK network will be in the Lake District braving the elements to raise money for the international Olympics campaign.

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