Use free speech to help Tibet, HK urged

Use free speech to help Tibet, HK urged
Ambrose Leung
SCMP - Aug 25, 2009

Hongkongers should use the freedom of speech they enjoy to promote the Tibetan cause, the Dalai Lama's official spokesman says.

Thubten Samphel pledged his office's support for efforts by Hong Kong activists to create a Tibet friendship group in the city.

But an academic studying ethnic issues said the plan to recruit "anti-communist" groups in Hong Kong would gain little local support.

The South China Morning Post reported yesterday that a number of activists, including James Lung Wai-man of the Southern Democratic Alliance, had started plans to create a Tibetan-Chinese Friendship Association in the city to promote Tibetan culture after meeting the Dalai Lama in March in Dharamsala, India, where his entourage lives in exile.

Thubten Samphel said in Dharamsala yesterday that the Dalai Lama's office supported efforts in Hong Kong to promote "understanding" of the situation in Tibet.

"One of the reasons for their visit was to strengthen the ties and friendship between the Tibetan people and Chinese," Thubten Samphel said, referring to the visit by 10 Hong Kong activists and 20 overseas Chinese dissidents received by the Dalai Lama.

"We can support them [in creating the friendship association]. If they need information regarding Tibet, we will be happy to provide it."

Since riots in Tibet in March last year, similar friendship groups have been created in the US, Europe and Australia. Beijing has branded them "political mouthpieces of the Dalai clique", but Thubten Samphel said such groups were vital to counter Beijing's allegations against the Dalai Lama. He said activists in Hong Kong could play a role in the conflict between Beijing and the Dalai Lama, whose quest for Tibetan autonomy has been dismissed by Beijing as "splittist".

"Hong Kong enjoys media freedom. For people who sympathise with Tibet, it is their responsibility to use this freedom in Hong Kong to highlight the issue of Tibet so that the greater number of Chinese will understand the true nature of the Tibetan struggle," he said.

Barry Sautman, who studies ethnic policy at the University of Science and Technology, said the contact was part of the Dalai Lama's strategy to lobby Chinese activists and intellectuals directly for his cause.

He said most people in Hong Kong would ignore it as few locals supported Tibetan independence.