Tibet, China and the Olympics

I was listening to a BBC commentator last night who had just gotten back from Tibet. He said that there were close to 10,000 troops in the main city of Lhasa. All the stores were closed and there was nothing on TV except a message from the state run government telling people to not associate with the protestors or be shot on sight. "Estimates of the number of dead and injured have varied and are hard to confirm because China keeps a tight control over information. Tibetan exile groups say 99 people were killed - 80 in Lhasa and 19 in Gansu - while Beijing maintains that 16 died and more than 300 were injured in Lhasa."

Between their backing of the Sudansese government and helping indirectly to create the genocide of Darfur, the financial backing of the Congo government and now the repression of the Tibetian people- Should there be a boycott of the Olympic Games in Bejing?

I know there is some talk amongst some organizations that we should- a link

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_pesek&sid=aLEQXWQWtbzM

More iformation on the situation in Tibet:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/21/asia/tibet.php

Should we tell China and their sponsors to Piss OFF?

Lastly some recommendations from the International Tibet Support Network-

1. China must halt its crackdown, withdraw military and security forces, release those detained and allow peaceful protest.

2. China must halt house-to-house searches; and authorities must refrain from any further arrests of Tibetan protesters. We call on our Governments to support these demands.

3. Governments must support the Dalai Lama's call for a UN team of investigators to go to Tibet as soon as possible.China must allow foreign journalists back into all Tibetan areas (TAR and Tibetan areas of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan) immediately.The IOC must withdraw all Tibetan areas (TAR and Tibetan areas of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan) from the planned Olympic torch relay route. This includes the planned torch ascent of Mount Everest.

4. All political leaders and other prominent persons who have accepted an invitation to attend the Olympic Games should withdraw their acceptance.

5. Members of the public who wish to support the Tibetans should join Team Tibet (www.teamtibet.org) and join in TSGs' action alerts on the above issues.

The link-

http://www.tibetnetwork.org/index.html