FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, D.C – Tibetans and their supporters will protest Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington, D.C., his first visit to the United States since mass protests this spring by Tibetans in Tibet against Chinese rule. Tibet activists are urging President Bush and other global leaders to press the Chinese government to end the ongoing military crackdown in Tibet and to condemn its failure to make progress on negotiating a resolution to the Tibet issue. Protests will take place today, November 15, from 7:30am-3:00pm, starting at the corner of 3rd St. NW and Constitutional Ave. and then marching to the National Building Museum (401 F St. NW) where the G20 Summit is being held.

"Now that the Beijing Olympics are over, the Chinese government has slammed the door on talks with the Dalai Lama's representatives, demonstrating its total insincerity in meaningfully addressing the Tibet issue. President Bush and global leaders must publicly condemn the cynical and shortsighted political game that the Chinese leadership has been playing with Tibet and adopt a multilateral approach to pressure China to resolve the Tibet issue," said Lhadon Tethong, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. "The situation inside Tibet is critical, with military patrols on the streets of Lhasa, snipers stationed on the roof of the Jokhang, Tibet's holiest temple, monks and nuns being harassed and beaten, and over one thousand Tibetans still missing or in detention."

Zhu Weiqun, a Chinese government spokesperson, announced this week that China "will never make a concession " on Tibet and attacked the Dalai Lama, suggesting that if he were in Tibet he would preside over "apartheid and ethnic cleansing."  Following the protests last March in Tibet, President Bush and other global leaders called on China to talk to representatives of the Dalai Lama, but China's leadership has so far failed to engage in any substantive discussion on a resolution to the Tibet issue.

"The American people have consistently demonstrated their overwhelming support for the Tibetan cause, most recently through awarding the nation's highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, to the Dalai Lama and the massive protests in San Francisco during China's Olympics torch relay following the Spring Uprising in Tibet and China's subsequent crackdown," said Kate Woznow, Campaigns Director of Students for a Free Tibet. "President Bush has a responsibility to publicly remind China that the resolution of the Tibet issue will remain an important priority for this and future U.S. administrations."

Tibet campaigners are also calling on the Chinese government to immediately release those Tibetans detained during the recent protests in Tibet, including Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen, who has been detained since March 2008 for making an unprecedented documentary film about the plight of the Tibetan people under Chinese rule.

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