Demonstration in Zürich, Switzerland,against 100th years Anniversary of Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

Zürich, 01st July, 2021: Tibetan Community of Switzerland &Liechtenstein organized a solidarity March and Peace Demonstration on Thursday, 1st July 2021 in Zürich against 100th years anniversary of Chinese Communist Party( CCP)
The demonstration is organized by Tibetan Community of Switzerland & Liechtenstein (TGSL) supported by the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe (VTJE), Tibetan Woman`s Association Switzerland (TFOS), and Swiss-Tibetan Friendship Association (GSTF)
The event started at 6 pm with a welcome Speech by Ms.Karma Choekyi, President of Tibetan Community of Switzerland&Liechtenstein (TGSL) at Werdmühleplatz, Zürich. She thanked other NGOs for their support to organize this demonstration and she also thanked all the participants who attended the event on short notice. She informed the Tibetans about the sad Situation in Switzerland that we are not allowed to use microphone in front of the Chinese Consulate and the petition letter must also be send per post.
She noted und showed the recent Video of Potala Palace in Lhasa captured by a distressed and sad Tibetan woman. China must realize that this is a gross insult and disrespect to the Tibetan people`s sentiment to put such hateful banner on the sacred and holy Potala Palace of Tibet. We know for a fact what’s happening in Tibet but we hardly receive any evidence or footage such as this”.
She also requested all the Tibetans in exile with full emotions ,never to forget Tibetans in Tibet who are suffering under communist china and who have full faith on us.

The petition letter ( English Language ) written by all four above mentioned organization, which was sent to Chinese Consulate, the day before, was read by Ms Karma Choekyi, President of Tibetan Community of Switzerland& Liechtenstein.
Mr. Tony Ryf, member of Swiss Tibetan friendship Association (GSTF) read the statement of Tibetan parliament group of Switzerland.. GSTF played a key role in the establishment of the Tibet Parliament Group in 1989. Since then they have been working closely with it.
The Demonstrators marched through Zürich City with Slogans and arrived at about 7.20 pm at the Chinese Consulate, Zürich. After the Tibetan National Anthem, a minute of silence for the martyrs of Tibet was observed.
The gathering was addressed by Mr.Kelsang Gyaltsen, former special Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Europe.He thanked the gathering by saying; the future of Tibet depends on our generation. Each and every one of us is the author of Tibet’s history.
Our long struggle has come to an end of the chapter und we all have the responsibilities to put our strength and contribute our sincerity to this last chapter. And we all who attend this event have already added to the last chapter of Tibet’s history. To make our struggle successful, the most important thing is, and we should be united. Only united we can achieve our goal and fulfill our zeal. And to fulfill our zeal, we should have the ability to differentiate between friends and enemies. We should never forget our enemy Sometimes we may have some different point of views and different ideas but it doesn`t mean that we are enemies. So let’s be together and let the next generation feels proud of us.
After addressing participants in Tibetan he read this in German.

Today is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. It has been ruling the People's Republic of China for 72 years. Its rule is dictatorial, totalitarian and hostile to freedom, comparable to the former Communist Party ,Soviet Union, whose history people here in Europe know much better, but what many do not know is the fact that the history of the Communist China was much more brutal and bloody. Today China is a world power economically, militarily and politically. Today, the Chinese Communist Party is pursuing an ambitious, well-planned political program of global influence and interference, forging and leading an alliance of autocrats and despots in order to be and shift the balance of power around the world, with the goal of weakening democratic systems and undermining them. So also liberal democracies get more and more under pressure from China, the great example of this is the humiliating, public offer that business corporations such as Mercedes Benz had to perform. The conclusion is where Chinas influence grows and where it spreads, where as the space for freedom and democracy getting narrower and smaller Recently writes the Chinas Correspondents of the “süddeutsche Zeitung “quote everywhere where Peking’s influence grows stands piece by piece the freedom end. The rule of the Chinese Communist Party is a worldwide threat to freedom, democracy and the rule-based liberal international order. Already 40 years ago we Tibetans have tried to convince the Western governments that the engagement with China must be linked with clear demands for a verifiable political reform, concerning the liberalization of the rule of law and the respect for human rights, but unfortunately our current warnings have not been heard. Today, it is not only about the oppression of Tibetans or foreigners or a violation of human rights in China, but about fundamental international principles concerning peace between peoples. Today, it is a matter of defending both the current international law and the principle of the universality and irrevocability of human rights, as well as defending the liberal international order. It is now necessary to face the fact that breaking totalitarian rule is in stark contradiction to freedom and democracy and the longer it takes the more obvious it becomes that in the long run there will be no cooperative coexistence between the two systems - for this background we need the western democracies to adjust to this new reality and to start a fundamental new common European China policy with clear and binding ways of dealing with the regime in Beijing. A distinctive relationship with communist Beijing is now an imperative of political reason. The use of human rights is often criticized here as showcase or symbol politics. However, this is only a cynical and petty matter. The commitment to human rights is a commitment to peace in the world. The observance of human rights is a basic operation for securing peace. To pull human rights well on board hardly a war can go out. Therefore, committed human rights policy is also long-term peace policy.

For this background, it is obvious that the holding of the injustice for the pre-legal serious human rights violations in Tibet is the international law. Respect for human rights in the principle of universality and irremediability seriously undermines these fundamental rights. Therefore, Tibet is also a test stone for the credibility of human rights policy, both in Switzerland and in the international community
More than 100 members’ attented the peace march with a mask. Tibetans and supporters of Tibet,with determination and enthusiasm, carrying national flags, shouting slogans calling for” Human rights in Tibet “, “Release of all political prisoners” “Make China accountable for COVID-19”, “100years of CCP, ,killing and torture , among other slogans highlighted the deteriorating human rights situation in Tibet.
After the recitation of Dhentsik Monlam (Words of truth), the event concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr.Tenzin Wangdue,Vice President of Tibetan Community of Switzerland &Liechtenstein He mentioned a quote; “Feeling thankfulness and not expressing is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
After thanking all the Participants he requested all Tibetans to take more responsibilities to maintain and preserve our rich Tibetan Culture, Religion,,Tradition and Language.He also reminded all of the Tibetans to feel blessed and proud to have a Leader like His Holiness the great Dalai Lama. He also mentioned a quote; “Feeling thankfulness and not expressing is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
He also stated that: It is not a celebration instead a condemnation of 100 anniversary of CCP against humanity.100 years, 100 million lives, no other nation in the history of this world has ever witnessed or committed such a crime The crime against Tibet, Uyghur, Mongolia, East Turkistan and her own people are beyond pardonable This very ideology of communism is a poison of welfare of human society. After 100 years later let us not forget the history of victims who don`t have a voice because they did not survive the writing of the tears. Make china accountable of every crime and it is high time now of the 100 years of escape, china should be trialed and bring it end to the communism
Tibetans across the world carried out demonstrations to reject the ‘bloody’ rule in Tibet for the last 60 years.
100th anniversary of Communist China: Nothing to Celebrate, a Century of Oppression’.

The Communist Party of China or the Government of People’s Republic of China is celebrating the 100th founding anniversary of CPC with much fanfare and a sense of achievement. However, the fact of the matter is that there is hardly anything to celebrate for anyone including the common Chinese people. In contrast to the official Chinese government’s claims of achievement and prosperity, the last one hundred years has been a century of disaster and manmade suffering for China. It wrought havoc in the lives of its people especially the minority nationalities such as the Tibetans, Uyghur, and Mongolians that China has forcefully occupied.
Since coming into power in 1949, the CPC under Mao launched a series of disastrous campaigns such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The Great Leap Forward triggered a massive famine in China, and 35 – 40 million people starved to death as a direct result. The Cultural Revolution set off a spree of irreparable destruction to China’s cultural institutions and knowledge centers. The madness and destruction caused by these two campaigns in China is unparalleled in the history of mankind. Following the death of Mao and the culmination of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping ushered economic liberalization in China. Despite its rapid economic growth, China continued to remain a one-party state where everything is controlled by the Communist party. This was evidenced by the brutal murder of hundreds of Chinese students who have marched on the Tiananmen Square in Beijing on 4 June to demand democratic reforms. The suppression of individual freedom and rights still continues unabated in China.
The situations in China’s occupied territories such as Tibet and East Turkestan have hardly improved since their occupation. China has continued to implement failed policies in these areas that don’t reflect the genuine aspirations of the people. In 1951, China forced a Tibetan delegation to sign a 17-point agreement that marked its 70th anniversary this year. Since the illegal occupation of Tibet in 1949, the Tibetan people have seen unimaginable destruction and atrocities. As a direct result of the Chinese invasion and occupation of Tibet, over 1.2 million Tibetans died between 1949 and 1979. Over 6000 Tibetan monasteries were destroyed and 99% of Tibetan monks and nuns were forced to disrobe. Tibetan language was rendered to the background while Mandarin was imposed on Tibetan students in schools and in the workplace. Unable to bear these unjust policies, the Tibetan people have frequently revolted to express their frustrations against the Chinese government, most notably in 1989 and in 2008. However, these pan-Tibet uprisings were quelled with extreme violence and swiftness.

After decades of living under such atrocity and repression, there arose a mild hope of political reform when Xi Jinping ascended to the post of Chinese President in 2013. However, since coming into power, Xi has only strengthened his hold on power and amplified the repressive policies implemented in Tibet. He has also reinvigorated the Chinese government’s efforts to Sinicize all non-Han cultures and languages as part of his ‘China Dream’, the latest version of China’s nation building project. As a result, the efforts to sinicize non-Han nationalities have accelerated under Xi Jinping. In East Turkestan for instance, millions of Uyghurs have been detained in self-styled internment camps in a campaign to ‘de-radicalize’ them. Despite global condemnation and satellite footage of such camps, China has denied the existence of any such camps, and has instead claimed that they are providing free education and vocational training to the Uyghurs. Their Uyghur identity is also treated as a threat to Chinese national sovereignty.
Similarly, Tibetan language and culture has come under intense pressure to sinicize under President Xi. In the last Tibet Work Forum held in 2020, Xi Jinping called for reinvigorating efforts to sincize Tibetan Buddhism. China has also enhanced its efforts to interfere in the age-old Tibetan reincarnation system ostensibly to manipulate the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama. In an effort to weaken the influence of Tibetan spiritual leaders, China has also constantly vilified His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other spiritual leaders. It has forced Tibetans to put up pictures of Chinese communist leaders in their homes and personal spaces. In schools and workplaces, the use of Mandarin has been strictly enforced as part of China’s new language policy. At least 155 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest against these repressive policies of the Chinese government in Tibet.
Due to such ungrounded fears, minority nationality places like Tibet and East Turkestan are now under intense electronic surveillance and censorship. With the rapid development of technology, China’s surveillance and censorship tactics have been so outrageously successful that China is now able to control what ordinary people across Tibet and East Turkestan see on their phones, read in books or newspapers, or discuss in classrooms at universities, or pray inside their homes or temples. These repressive policies were also a result of a fear within China’s policymakers that China could disintegrate along ethnic lines like the erstwhile Soviet Union. Hence, efforts to ‘Sinicise’ ethnic groups have gathered steam. However, despite its repressive policies and assimilatory nation-building projects, Tibet and East Turkestan remain simmering points within the Chinese nation, given the ‘core-periphery’ relationship that has developed.

As the Communist Party of China marks its 100th founding anniversary on 1 July this year, China has now become an economic and military superpower. Due to its economic heft, the world has become heavily dependent on it. However, in comparison to its strength and size, it seems to be lacking the genuine trust and confidence of the international community. Rampant human rights violations, rising aggressive nationalism (wolf warrior diplomacy), assertiveness vis-à-vis territorial disputes, crackdowns on nongovernmental organizations, censorship of domestic and international media, and political repression remains as a knot of tension between China and its relationship with the rest of the world. Being one of the most populous nations with a foundation of rich cultural civilization, and now one of the foremost economic super powers of the world, the Chinese leadership needs to seriously revisit its hard-line and unrealistic posture and be a responsible leader of the world.

Nyima Arya

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