Australian Olympian Michelle Engelsman will join representatives of the Australia Tibet Council this morning for the launch of a Beijing 2008 Tibet Resource Pack being made available to all those heading to next month’s Beijing Olympics.

The resource pack, recognizing restrictions on what people may take to the Games, focuses on providing up-to-date information on the situation in Tibet along with tools and advice for those wishing express their support for human rights while in Beijing. It is available by request from the Australia Tibet Council.

The launch of the pack comes amid reports from Tibetan sources that Chinese authorities have jailed several hundred monks from the main monasteries around Lhasa in an effort to silence political dissent during the Olympics.

“Just weeks from the opening ceremony, the Chinese government is refusing to live up to values and obligations that define the Olympics” said Dr. Simon Bradshaw, Campaign Coordinator for the Australia Tibet Council. “It has failed to honour its commitment to media freedoms, tightened restrictions on people’s ability to express their concerns and opinions and demonstrated unwillingness to engage in constructive dialogue with representatives of the Dalai Lama.”

Mr. Bradshaw added that the Chinese government had successfully appeased the international community, including the Australian Government, by agreeing to a seventh round of formal talks with representatives of the Dalai Lama earlier this month but had failed to deliver on concrete outcomes and intensified its repressive policies.

Michelle Engelsman represented Australia in Athens in 2004, reaching the final of the women’s 50m freestyle. She is now an activist with Amnesty International Australia for human rights in China and is completing a Masters in International Studies at the University of Sydney.

“The Olympics and Paralympics are a beautiful representation of unity, achievement, determination, humanity, and freedom. I completely support athletes who choose to focus entirely on their sporting endeavours in Beijing, and I completely support those who wish to express their opinions on the human rights situation in China” said Michelle Engelsman.

The Beijing 2008 Tibet Resource Pack is also being promoted by Amnesty International Australia through their “Uncensor” website (uncensor.com.au) and Facebook group “China 2008”.

For more information:
Australia Tibet Council (02) 9283 3466