18 June 2006
Planned global protests against China's railway launch
(Phayul) Exile Tibetan activists have launched a campaign of demonstrations to observe the inaugural date of the controversial Golmud-Lhasa railway on 01 July 2006. The campaign is jointly organised by Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), Gu Chu Sum (an association of former Tibetan political prisoners) and Friends of Tibet India. Protests are planned for outside Chinese embassies and consulates in major cities around the world including Ottawa, New York and London. Tibetans all over the world and their supporters were urged to wear black armbands in the run-up to the railway launch in a symbolic gesture to 'reject the railway' and to show solidarity with Tibetans inside Tibet. "Beijing may have built the railway but the fight is not over and Tibetans will continue to resist China's illegal occupation of Tibet", a joint press release said. "The Chinese government claims that this railway will benefit Tibetans and is a project that all Tibetans want. On 01 July they will tell the media and the world that the railway will bring progress and positive benefits to Tibetans, but we know the truth: China's railway to Tibet is not meant to benefit Tibetans and is only meant to consolidate Beijing's control over the region", it added. The campaign will go on till 01 July.