It’s a victorious day for Tibet! Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act. The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act says that unless China relaxes its draconian restrictions on travel to Tibet for Americans, the Chinese government officials responsible for that policy cannot get a visa to travel to the US.

This action sends a clear message to the Chinese government that the United States stands with Tibet and will no longer tolerate China’s restrictions on access to Tibet and Human Rights violation in Tibet.

Your actions, petitions, phone calls and meetings have made this possible.

We are thankful to Congressman Jim McGovern for his steadfast leadership and vision, by originally introducing the bill in the House in 2014. He has been one of the greatest champions for human rights in Tibet and one of the strongest allies in our movement. On behalf of Students for a Free Tibet and the Tibetan people, I take this opportunity to thank Congressman McGovern and everyone who worked hard for this bill. I also want to acknowledge and thank the International Campaign for Tibet team for their leadership and hard work in this campaign.

Join us by sending your personal message of thanks to Congressman Jim McGovern here

After the approval from House Judiciary Committee, the bill now moves to the floor of the House of Representatives. We look forward to the progress of this historic bill, and will keep you updated.

In a few weeks, from August 10-16, Free Tibet! Action Camp will take place! I am ecstatic to help put together one of the most important Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) initiatives in Canada for the very first time! I still remember attending my first Action Camp as a participant in 2013 in Düsseldorf, Germany (pictured below). For so many of us at SFT, Action Camp was one of the key experiences that activated us to become the leaders and activists we are today. Last summer I returned to Düsseldorf, Germany, but this time as an SFT staff member and trainer. It was such an emotional and empowering experience to help facilitate the same trainings, in the same spaces, that I had sat in on just 5 years ago. I had come full circle and it was an incredible moment for me and SFT as a whole.

We are looking for the next generation of youth leaders to take hard-hitting action for Tibet! We want YOU to join this exciting week-long youth leadership and activist training, so that we can equip and empower ourselves to be the most effective advocates for Tibet.

Meet activists and leaders from various social justice movements and hear amazing stories of their first-hand experience fighting for justice and dismantling oppressive structures! Spend time with political prisoners from Tibet and immerse yourself in a unique curriculum that covers workshops on nonviolent direct action, grassroots organizing, campaign planning, media and messaging, public speaking, lobbying and advocacy, and much more.

Together, we can be the change Tibet needs by standing up, speaking out, and taking action against China’s injustices. Don’t miss out! Sign up today at http://sfthq.cc/ActionCamp2018! Please contact camp@studentsforafreetibet.org for any questions.

Sincerely,

Sonam Chokey
Canada National Director

China’s state violence is out of hand in Tibet. On July 7, more than 100 Tibetans were brutally beaten and tear-gassed for protesting mining operations at local mountains. Several people were hospitalized, including a 70-year-old Tibetan man named Sogrui Pewang.

We stand with the Tibetans in Yushul who are risking their lives to protect their mountains, and support their demand to immediately halt China’s mining operations in the area. Read our statement here.

As we continue to monitor the situation, we acknowledge that our work supporting Tibetans in Tibet will not be over until Tibet is Free. Your contribution ensures that we have a vibrant team dedicated to working for the rights of Tibetans like 70-year-old Sogrui Pewang, who believe in defending the sanctity of their land and mountains.

Make a donation today to support our crucial work.

Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) invites you to join us in marking 10 years since the 2008 uprising in Tibet and the Beijing Olympics campaign. 2008 saw unprecedented demonstrations around the world in support of the Tibetan people’s struggle for freedom and independence. Inside Tibet, demonstrations spread across the three Tibetan provinces and involved everyone from monks and nuns to lay people, farmers, students, and nomads.

The 2008 uprising was a critical moment in Tibet’s history of resistance, reawakening a new generation of activists both inside and outside Tibet. To commemorate 10 years since, we invite everyone to join in honoring the actions that took place around the world for Tibet’s freedom.

Former Tibetan political prisoner Dhondup Wangchen will be joining us as our guest of honor, alongside activists who were part of the international 2008 actions and the young leaders who are shaping the future of our movement.

Together, let’s share our experiences and celebrate the resistance.

RSVP here: https://sfthq.cc/2008CommemorationTickets

Last week, at UMass Boston’s quarterly meeting, a University of Massachussets (UMass) Amherst alum and staff member, and SFT Board member Thondup Tsering urged the Board of Trustees to terminate their Confucius Institute contract. He was joined by Michael Hartt, the school’s music Professor and longtime Amnesty regional coordinator.

Thondup and Professor Hartt spoke powerfully about the threat China’s Confucius Institutes pose to academic freedom, national security and important political and human rights issues.

Thondup outlined one of Beijing’s key objectives for the trustees: “It is widely understood that Confucius Institutes use their foothold in prestigious academic institutions to try to influence and steer academic discourse, and ultimately shape public opinion on issues China considers sensitive, such as Tibet and Taiwan.”

And Professor Hartt explained why he opposes the CI: “I feel it’s highly inappropriate to give Beijing the power to determine curriculum on a U.S. college campus. The Confucius Institute presents a whitewashed version of Chinese history and culture… I think it’s unacceptable to have topics whose discussion is forbidden at UMass.”

Thondup Tsering ended his remarks with a resolute call for the closing of the Confucius Institute: “Considering all of these very serious issues, and considering that UMass Boston is meant to be a university ‘dedicated to rigorous, open, critical inquiry – a gateway to intellectual discovery in all branches of knowledge’ I can see no place for the Chinese government’s Confucius Institute at UMass Boston, nor in the UMass system. I call upon the UMass Board of Trustees to terminate UMass Boston’s partnership with China’s Confucius Institute immediately.”

You can read the full text of Thondup Tsering’s comments here.

As we await word on the final decision on the fate of the Confucius Institute at UMass Boston, we ask that you join the campaign to Say No to Confucius Institutes worldwide. Take action here.

Thank you for this opportunity.

My name is Thondup Tsering. I am a Tibetan-American, a UMass Alum and an employee in the Student Affairs and Campus Life department at UMass Amherst since 2000. My son did his BA – and my daughter is currently doing her Masters – at UMass Amherst.

I represent a coalition of UMass students, alumni and employees, human rights advocates, and members of the Tibetan, Taiwanese, Chinese and Buddhist communities of Massachusetts, who are deeply concerned about the Confucius Institute at UMass Boston. Our coalition formed last year when we discovered UMass Boston’s Confucius Institute was leading the charge to open Confucius Classrooms in Boston-area schools.

Last October, at Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School where we have many young Tibetan-American students, UMass Boston’s Confucius Institute organized a presentation featuring Chinese performers, sent from China, who dressed up as Tibetans and danced what were billed as “traditional Chinese performances.” Sadly, despite carrying out policies which have resulted in the almost wholesale destruction of Tibetan culture, this kind of propagandistic portrayal of happy ‘singing and dancing’ Tibetans is a common practice of the Chinese government.

And this is the key to the Confucius Institute — It is not actually a “public institution” only affiliated to the Chinese government, as they claim on their website. The Confucius Institute is run and strictly controlled by the Chinese Communist Party through a government agency called Hanban. Its ultimate goal is to shape and soften the global view of China, in part, through censorship and propaganda.

Hanban’s governing council is made up entirely of government ministries, and the head of Hanban, Xu Lin, is a Vice-Minister in the Chinese government and one of the most powerful political operatives in China.

The hiring and training of Confucius Institute teachers, as well as textbook and curriculum development and program oversight, is all done in Beijing by Hanban.

In order to host the Confucius Institute at UMass Boston, the university signed a contract agreeing to follow the “laws and regulations” of China, and ceding academic control to Beijing. They also agreed to keep the contract confidential.

Needless to say, I, and many others, find this completely shocking and unacceptable. For UMass Boston, a public university, to agree to follow the laws and regulations of China – a one-party, authoritarian state where citizens are systematically and ruthlessly denied their basic civil and political rights – and to compromise academic freedom in such blatant way is – simply put – outrageous.

It is widely understood that Confucius Institutes use their foothold in prestigious academic institutions to try to influence and steer academic discourse, and ultimately shape public opinion on issues China considers sensitive, such as Tibet and Taiwan.

Although this is usually done in quite subtle ways, there are many examples documenting Confucius Institute staff engaging in censorship, or pushing Chinese govt propaganda. In one recent incident, the Confucius Institute Director at Savannah State University insisted the word Taiwan be removed from the biography of a journalist receiving an award at an event sponsored by the Confucius Institute.

In February, the director of the FBI testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee that with regard to foreign espionage activities at American universities, the agency was watching Confucius Institutes warily and, in some cases, even investigating them.

These national security concerns, along with concerns over academic freedom and the silencing of important human rights issues, compelled both Congressman Seth Moulton and Congressman Michael Capuano to urge Chancellor Mills not to renew the Confucius Institute contract.

And more recently, legislation was introduced in Congress that would require Confucius Institute staff to register as agents of a foreign government, as well as universities to disclose their funding and activities to the Justice Department.

Considering all of these very serious issues, and considering that UMass Boston is meant to be a university “dedicated to rigorous, open, critical inquiry –a gateway to intellectual discovery in all branches of knowledge” I can see no place for the Chinese government’s Confucius Institute at UMass Boston, nor in the UMass system.

I call upon the UMass Board of Trustees to terminate UMass Boston’s partnership with China’s Confucius Institute immediately.

Thank you for your time.

Thondup Tsering
UMass, Amherst