As the final countdown to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing gets underway, UNPO has joined the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) in reminding the world that time is running out if China is to keep its promises to the Tibetan people.

The Hague, 8 August 2007 - Celebrations in Tiananmen Square today marked the start of the final count-down to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) chose however to join the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) as they seized this opportunity to promote their “Race for Tibet,” a campaign calling for an end to human rights abuses in China and for a serious Chinese commitments to ongoing negotiating with H.H. the Dalai Lama. As part of this campaign, signatures are being collected in the Netherlands for a petition to be presented to Prime Minister Balkenende, calling upon the Dutch government to pressure China for improvements in their human rights record.

[Sign the Petition]

UNPO joined member and supporters of ICT in The Hague, as they publicised the “Race for Tibet” campaign from decorated bicycles, riding along popular and crowded areas, reminding the general public that time is running out for China to keep its Olympic promises. A similar scene unfolded in three other major cities in the Netherlands; Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht, where more flyers advertised the Tibetan cause and additional signatures of support were gathered.

UNPO General Secretary Mr. Marino Busdachin underlined the importance of such activities, stressing his solidarity with the Tibetan people, a founding member of the organisation. “UNPO supports every effort to ensure the international community is reminded of the realities of life within the People’s Republic of China. Despite its promises, the universal respect for principles of human rights, democracy, and individual freedom remain distant prospects for the people of China, and in particular for its many religious and ethnic minorities. Time is running out if we are to pressure China to keep its promises, and so it is in very real terms that we are partaking in a race.”

Various other activities have been organised by the International Campaign for Tibet to mark the one year countdown to the 2008 Olympic Games.

Before the campaign’s official launch, a friendly soccer match between Team Tibet and the Delhi eleven took place last Saturday [04 August 2007] in the Indian capital. Tibetan activists have decided to go on the sports field as well to raise awareness on the appalling situation of minorities in China. In an open letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International ICT regretted that despite the IOC’s hopes “that awarding Beijing the 2008 Games [would] improve human rights in China, […] as time passes, these assurances have not turned into concrete results.”

Other UNPO initiatives related to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games: 

[UNPO Responds to the IOC in the International Herald Tribune]