Taipei, Aug. 8 (CNA) Tibetan human rights advocates protested Wednesday over China's continuing oppression of the autonomous zone, saying that the totalitarian state is not qualified to host the Olympics, as China launched its one-year countdown to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
"China has never stopped its social, political and religious oppression in Tibet. Awarding China the 2008 Olympics is like handing it a license to kill in the same way Nazi Germany was given the right to host the 1936 Berlin Olympics, " according to Chou Mei-li, chairwoman of the Taiwan Friends of Tibet.
On the same day that China launched its one-year countdown to the Olympics, Taiwan wants and needs to be a part of a global coalition that supports Tibetan human rights and condemns the Chinese regime, she said.
"For the Chinese government, this is a symbolic moment to promote its Olympics propaganda and to show an outer layer in fancy pictures of China and occupied Tibet to the outside world. For Tibet and our worldwide supporters, Aug. 8, 2007 marks the beginning of a massive International Day of Action for Tibet, " said Rinzin Tsering, chairman of the Taiwan Tibetan Welfare Association.
Wednesday marked the 32nd day since 14 Tibetans began a hunger strike in the Indian city of New Delhi July 8 in an effort to put pressure on China, said Tsering.
Yang urged Taiwanese corporations to reconsider their plans to sponsor the Olympics and said Taiwan should not rule out the possibility of boycotting them if China fails to improve its human rights record.
A 16-year-old Buddhist nun was killed by People's Liberation Army soldiers on the Tibet-Nepal border last year and the Chinese government announced that it would control regulations on reincarnation of Tibet's "Living Lamas." China has also increased its military deployment in Lhasa, closed the China-Nepal border and criticized India for allowing the hunger strike to take place, said
Khedroob Thondup, a member of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
"Thus shows that China has no intention of improving the human rights situation in Tibet at all, " he said.