Tibetans and Supporters Confront Continental Minerals at their AGM

It was a rainy Vancouver day, but Tibetans and supporters organized by SFT and CTC came out to hold a second protest on Wednesday June 24th, outside the Metropolitan Hotel where the Continental Minerals AGM took place, to protest the company mining in Tibet.  Earlier that morning, Tsering Lama, SFT Canada National Director, went head-to-head with Continental Minerals’ VP Dickson Hall on CBC Radio.  To listen to the CBC Radio interview, click here.

Later that day, Tsering was able to enter the AGM to confront the executives of Continental Minerals and deliver over 1000 petitions of supporters calling for Continetnal Minerals to stop mining in Tibet (we actually have 1600 petitions but stopped the printer at 1000, felt bad killing more trees than we had to!).  Several other SFTers Casey, Klara, and Christy also entered the AGM and were later were kicked out of the meeting, but staged a powerful die-in in the hall outisde the meeting before being escorted out of the hotel.

Those who were in the meeting said they could hear the protestors outside loud and clear, and the Continental executives were so stunned at how powerful Tibetans and their supporters were, they were literally shaking during the meeting!

During the confrontation, Tsering spoke about how Tibetans were protesting a similar operation in a nearby area.  Continental Minerals’ CEO David Copeland was quick to reply that that shows that Tibetans have freedom of speech.  Tsering replied that no, no they don’t; 6 Tibetan women were shot in the process.

To see CTV media coverage of Wednesday’s event, click here.

To see SFT’s footage of inside the AGM, as well as the protest outside, click here.

For reports, videos, and photos from similar actions from around the world, visit: www.StopMiningTibet.com

SFT “Welcomes” Chinese Foreign Mininster to Ottawa

SFT Ottawa “welcomed” Chinese foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on June 22nd as he arrived in Ottawa to meet with the Canadian Foreign Minister, Lawrence Cannon.  Below is a report from SFT Ottawa’s Wangdu Duntak and photos from Lodoe Laura.

We started our protest against the arrival of foreign minister Yang Jiechi at 5:30 pm.  There was a total of eight participants, Topgyal, Tsering Chopel, Tsering Choden, Jigme, Lodoe Laura, Tenzin Tara, a friend of Tenzin Tara’s, and I.  We stood along side with the Falun Gong practitioners who numbered around 150, out front and across the street from the the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Lestor B. Pearson building.

Throughout the protest, the Falun Gong members were giving speeches on a megaphone.  So therefore, we had setup beside their demonstration by holding out two Tibetan flags and two banners to get the attention of the oncoming cars passing by in front of us and also the people inside the building.  The Chinese foreign minister did not enter from the front of the building, some of the Falun Gong organizers had told me that it might be likely that he came in secretly from behind.

We ended our demonstration around 7:15 pm as many of the Falun Gong practitioners were either leaving or finishing their demonstration.

Tibetans and Supporters Shame Continental Minerals on Their Own Turf

We arrived in Vancouver this week, ready to take on Continental Minerals on their turf!  Our first night, Tsering and I met with the rock star members of SFT Vancouver to get ready for today’s day of protest against Continental.

Game day arrived with the weather cooperating and many Tibetans and supporters gathered in downtown Vancouver in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery, just blocks away from the Continental Minerals head office, to call for the subsidiary of Hunter Dickinson to “quit Tibet”.  Take a look at the previous blog post to see why!

SFT up-and-comer Klara did an awesome job MCing the event, and also took part in the political theatre, along with Kristy, Ray from CTC, Tsering and I.  We depicted how Continental was suppressing the Tibetan people with the help of the Chinese police force, and how the currency traded between the company and the regime company was “dirty money”.  Look out for the YouTube video to witness the fabulous performance!  Shortly after, we marched to the Continental office to make our voices heard, with many people showing their support along the way.

All in all, today was a great day; I got to meet a lot of amazing people from SFT Vancouver/Victoria, CTC Vancouver/Victoria, and members of the Tibetan community; we got great media coverage from CTV (click here to check it out); and most importantly , we were able to publicly shame Continental Minerals.

Now, on to the next protest which is taking place on the day of Continental’s AGM on Wednesday, June 24^th. If you’re in the Vancouver or Toronto areas that day, check out SFT Canada’s website to get details about taking part in these protests.  And don’t forget to call into Continental Minerals from June 22-24 to give them a piece of your mind about what you think about them mining in Tibet.

Continental Minerals Corporation: No Business Being in Tibet

Students for a Free Tibet will take to the streets later this month to call for Continental Minerals Corporation to cease their mining operations in Tibet. A Canadian company and subsidiary of Hunter Dickinson Incorporated, Continental Minerals is one of the most advanced mining companies in the illegally-occupied Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). Cooperating with the Chinese government, Continental Minerals is leading the effort to exploit Tibet’s natural resources without the consent of the Tibetan people who rightfully own the land.

Due to the troubling situation, Tibetans and their supporters will hold a demonstration in Vancouver on Saturday, June 20^th, on the eve of the Continental Minerals annual general meeting (AGM), with supporters coming from Victoria, Oregon, Washington State, and other surrounding areas.

SFT and other supporters will also make their voices heard on the day of the AGM, Wednesday, June 24^th, not only in Vancouver but globally as well. In Canada, SFT Toronto will hold a solidarity protest on the day of the AGM to shed light on the present situation and to put additional pressure on the Canadian company from across the country.

If you’re not going to be in the Vancouver or Toronto areas, no sweat; you can still take part in voicing your opinion! From Monday June 22^nd to Wednesday June 24^th, phone or fax Continental Minerals to let them know that what they’re doing is wrong! Let them know that they have no business being in Tibet and stealing resources from the Tibetan people. Tell them that as a company that prides itself on being ‘socially responsible’, you expect them to do the right thing and withdraw their operations from Tibet. Look out for SFT’s action alert closer to the AGM date for more information.

In light of the recent victory by Tibetans in Markham, Tibet (click here to read about it), we feel the need even more so to rise up and pressure Continental Minerals to pull out of Tibet. By blocking the road to the mining site considered sacred by residents, Ser Ngul Lo, the Tibetans in Markham risked their lives in the name of human rights and the environment. After about 3 months of hundreds of Tibetans protesting, which resulted in 6 Tibetan women being shot by Chinese police forces, the Tibetans and the Chinese authorities finally reached a settlement, with the Chinese promising to halt their mining operations in Markham. We hope this victory is one that will start a domino effect for other companies mining in Tibet, and one that will make Continental realize that they should pull out and cut its losses from a project that will otherwise result in global shame.

If you’re not already on our mailing list, you can subscribe at: http://actionnetwork.org/sft/join.html.

For more information, and details about protests in your area, please visit: www.stopminingtibet.com.

Tibet and Tiananmen: Beijing’s Shame

Today marks the 20^th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre when thousands of Chinese students, workers, and average citizens died standing up to the Chinese regime to demand for democracy, to demand for equality, and to demand for basic human rights. Here in Toronto, the Chinese community has not forgotten about what took place in their homeland 20 years ago, and so several events were organized to commemorate and pay respect to those whose lives were lost in their struggle for freedom.

Things kicked off Sunday with a march and candle-light vigil. About 300 members of the Chinese community as well as supporters, which included members of the Tibetan and Burmese communities, gathered at the Chinese consulate and made their way to the University of Toronto, all the while shouting slogans demanding democracy and human rights in China. SFT carried banners saying “Remember Tiananmen. Remember Tibet. Freedom for all” and “Tibet & Tiananmen: Beijing’s Shame”, showing our solidarity with the Chinese people. An emotional memorial ceremony was held at the University of Toronto, where people paid their respect to those killed, and an audio track replayed the frightening sounds of that fateful day.

While today, about 600 people gathered in Nathan Phillips Square, in the heart of Toronto, to take part in a mass die-in, to symbolize what happened 20 years ago. The event started off with an excerpt of a play called “Madness of the Square” (which SFT Toronto’s own Rinchen Dolma was a part of!) and when the play ended with sounds of screaming and gunshots, all 600 people gathered in the Square, from all walks of life, got down and “died”.

Even though I’ve only recently been chosen to be the new National Director of SFT Canada and have been here in Toronto less than a week, being a part of these two events in collaboration with the Chinese community has really opened my eyes. Us members of SFT came to these event to show our solidarity with the Chinese people, appreciating that, in a sense, June 4, 1989, connected Tibetan and Chinese people. We were shown that Tibetans are not the only ones fighting for change and basic and fundamental human rights; the Chinese people are also under the iron fist of the Chinese communist government, as can be seen with the massacre of thousands of their own 20 years ago. This repression continues today with methods like the thriving mass censorship that takes place in such a populous and powerful nation (did you hear about how they’ve cut phone lines, blacked out the news when they talk about Tiananmen, and shut down networking sites like Twitter??? It’s crazy!!!).

Someone asked me today where I was June 4^th, 1989; I was just 3 years old, in small-town Ontario, with not a clue about what was taking place halfway across the world. Thinking about how far I’ve come in the last 20 years is mind-boggling, but what scares me more is how little the repressive Chinese government has changed.