The Chinese Government has confirmed that it has expelled the Tibet activists who staged the protest against the Beijing 2008 Olympics on Mount Everest.

A Foreign Ministry representative said the Tibet activists were detained for “carrying out illegal activities aimed at splitting China” and were expelled in accordance with Chinese law.

As previously reported, the activists had unfurled banners at a base camp of the world’s highest mountain. They called for Tibetan independance as China announced the Olympic torch route for next summer’s Olympic Games.

“We are very happy to know they have been freed,” said Lhadon Tethong, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT). Tenzin Dorjee, a Tibetan-American and the Deputy Director of SFT, was one of the five people arrested after the Mount Everest protest. Like many Tibetans born in exile he had never before visited his ancestral home. Upon his arrival in Kathmandu in Nepal, Tenzin Dorjee said:

“I am so happy to have seen my country for the first time. I am more confident than ever before that Tibet will be free.”

Olympics Organisers Reveal Torch Plans

The organisers of the Beijing 2008 Olympics have also revealed the Olympic torch route, which is proposed to travel across five continents and scale Mount Everest.

Taking the Olympic torch to the top of the 29,035-foot Mount Everest is seen by many Tibetans and their supporters as an attempt by Beijing to use the International Olympic Committee for its own political agenda and illegitimately underscore its occupation of Tibet.

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