Q. What do the 2008 Olympics have to do with the situation in Tibet?

A. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded Beijing the 2008 Olympic Games in 2001, disregarding international criticism of China’s human rights record. Both the IOC and the Chinese have argued that the Games will “improve human rights in China” and therefore Tibet. However, as we approach the Games, human rights violations remain systematic and widespread, and China has implemented new restrictions on the media and freedom of information. We believe China and the IOC should be held accountable to the promises they made during Beijing’s bid for the 2008 Olympics.

Q. Some people say that the Games will bring positive changes for China. Will the Race for Tibet campaign make a difference?

A. China has invested tremendous resources in and staked its prestige on the 2008 Games. The international audience for the Beijing Games will number in the hundreds of millions. We believe that the high aspirations of the Chinese leadership for the Olympics may inspire them to make some gesture on human rights - maybe even meaningful changes. We need your help, enthusiasm and support to wake China up to this opportunity.

Q. What is “Beijing 2008: Race for Tibet”?

A. Beijing 2008: Race for Tibet is a campaign by the Australia Tibet Council as a coalition partner with the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) to make the Beijing 2008 Olympics a catalyst for change. It aims to wake China up to the opportunity that exists in the lead-up to the Games to engage the Dalai Lama and make important changes in its human rights policies in Tibet.

Q. What can I do to help? How do I get involved in this campaign?

A. There are many ways that you can help make the Beijing 2008 Games a catalyst for change in China and Tibet! There are a number of current Race for Tibet Campaign Actions and Activities for you to get involved in and sign-up for our email updates so that, together, we can shine the spotlight of the Olympic Games on human rights and China’s occupation of Tibet.

Q. What is the meaning of the campaign logo?

A. The logo depicts a stop-watch with part of the Olympic rings on the right hand side and a wedge of the Tibetan national flag on the left.

It illustrates the limited time remaining before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games for China to improve its human rights record in Tibet and engage the Dalai Lama in dialogue so that China’s Olympics spectacle is not tarnished by its own policies and brutal violations.

Q. What is the relationship between China and Tibet?

A. Tibet is a country that has been illegally occupied by China for more than 50 years. In 1949, when the Chinese troops invaded, Tibet was a distinct nation and maintained its own government, religion, language, laws and customs.

Tibet was traditionally comprised of three main areas: Amdo (northeastern Tibet), Kham (eastern Tibet) and U-Tsang (central and western Tibet). The Tibetan Autonomous Region was set up by the Chinese government in 1965 and covers the area of Tibet west of the Yangtse River, including part of Kham. The rest of Amdo and Kham have been incorporated into Chinese provinces, and where Tibetan communities were said to have “compact inhabitancy” in these provinces they were designated Tibetan autonomous prefectures and counties. As a result most of Qinghai and parts of Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces are acknowledged by the Chinese authorities to be “Tibetan”. Tibetans uses the term “Tibet” to refer to all these Tibetan areas currently under the jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China.

Q. What is the situation in Tibet today?

A. Fifty years after China’s invasion, Beijing is intensifying its control over Tibet and its approximately six million Tibetans.

• Economic Discrimination: Tibetans are facing increasing marginalization as their economy becomes integrated with China and its population of 1.3 billion.
• Religious Repression: The repression of Tibet’s culture and religion continues today. China, which promotes atheism, aims to undermine the Dalai Lama’s influence in Tibet and maintains strict control over monasteries and nunneries.
• Political Persecution: The Chinese government policies in Tibet aim to erode Tibetan national identity and severely restrict the rights of Tibetans to exercise human rights as provided in the Chinese constitution, including the freedoms of speech, press, association, and religion.
• Environmental Destruction: With an average elevation of 14,000 feet, Tibet is the highest country on earth. Tibet’s fragile high-altitude environment is increasingly endangered by China’s exploitative policies.

Q. Are you asking people and countries to boycott the 2008 Olympics in Beijing?

A. No, but the Australia Tibet Council and the International Campaign for Tibet have grave concerns about the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision to award the 2008 Games to China, a communist state that is acknowledged around the world to be a gross violator of human rights.

Now that Beijing has been selected as a host city, we have an enormous opportunity but limited time to make the Beijing 2008 Olympics a catalyst for change in China and Tibet.

Q. The Chinese people were really proud to be awarded the Olympics. Is this campaign anti-Chinese?

A. No, Beijing 2008: Race for Tibet is an optimistic campaign aimed at bringing about changes that will bring greater rights and freedoms to the people of China and Tibet. China is the world’s largest nation with some 1.3 billion people. For this reason, the people of China have a right to host the Olympic Games. Unfortunately, its government is less deserving.

Q. I’m thinking of going to Tibet. Should I?

A. Travelers choosing to visit Tibet face ethical considerations in deciding whether to visit, what to observe, how to travel as a tourist, and how to interact with Tibetans and Chinese while there. The uninformed observer may unintentionally support a repressive regime, and may easily fall prey to Chinese propaganda, which seeks to control what the visitor sees of Tibet and its recent past. As a result of China’s ability to control what tourists see and what Tibetans tell, China is increasingly confident in promoting westerner tourism in Tibet. Read more about travelling Tibet.

Back to ‘Current Race for Tibet Campaign Actions and Activities’