The Free Tibet Campaign, a group that works to promote Tibetan autonomy, has released a press release detailing their planned protest of a meeting between London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Chinese Olympic officials.
The Free Tibet group is upset that Livingstone, a major supporter and partner of the 2008 Olympics to be held in Beijing, has not made a public statement condemning the alleged human rights violations taking place in Tibet at the hands of the Chinese government. Matt Whitticase of Free Tibet said that "The Mayor must abandon his politically expedient policy of brushing human rights under the carpet and only talking trade with China's leaders. Instead, he should address China's appalling human rights record in Tibet and China. A good place to start would be by telling the Chinese Ambassador tomorrow that President Hu Jintao must meet the Dalai Lama to negotiate an end to China's 57 year occupation of Tibet."
China is countering these concerns over Tibet by silencing (even further) any and all media reports that relate to Tibet or the recent protests that have been taking place in Lhasa and elsewhere in the small mountainous nation. Using its economic power, China has also used non-traditional methods of "PR" by forcing nearby trading partner Nepal to crack down on protests and not allow any negative press about China's human rights practices in Nepal's media.
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