Statement of the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement

For Immediate Release
July 22, 2008
Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement

July 22 Press Conference in DharamsalaWe are today at the crossroad of historic moment in the Tibetan people’s struggle for freedom, truth and justice. Our unity in action and focus in purpose during the following months will not only define the long and strategic preparations that we have made for the 2008 Beijing Olympics but more importantly to realize the true political aspirations of our brothers and sisters who made great sacrifices in Tibet.

The ongoing popular uprising in Tibet which began on March 10 in Lhasa and the spontaneous spread to all parts of Tibet has effectively presented the Tibetan people’s deep-rooted resentments against the Chinese colonial policies, and also the unified face of the Tibetan people as a cohesive force in resisting Chinese communist regime. The uprisings in Tibet further endorsed the nonviolent fabric of the Tibetan struggle and brought to the forefront the appalling human rights situation inside Tibet at a time when China prepares itself for international spotlight.

Rising above the boundaries of individual organizations and ideology, the Tibetan people in exile has organized numerous activities worldwide which have succeeded in creating global awareness and garnering international support for the Tibetan struggle and exposed the true nature of China’s illegal occupation of Tibet. At this critical point in our struggle, the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement (TPUM) acknowledges the significance of even greater unity and the need for more consolidated campaigns, thereby changing its actions to avoid duplication and confusion among the Tibetan people.

TPUM will organize numerous actions in Dharamshala, at UN and IOC Offices in Geneva and New York, European Union in Brussels and Strasbourg during and after the Beijing Olympics.

TPUM believes in the ‘fierce urgency of now’ to exploit various channels and means to convey the demands and the aspirations of the Tibetan people voiced through the ongoing uprising the world over and raise the issue of Tibet at strategic international levels by organizing activities to put pressure on relevant international bodies.

Furthermore, TPUM will launch an all-out struggle on a war-front scale against the draconian designs of spearheading a second cultural revolution in Tibet after the Olympics as declared recently by Zhang Qingli, the Communist Party Secretary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

The Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement is a global movement of Tibetans inside and outside of Tibet taking control of our political destiny by engaging in direct action to end China’s illegal and brutal occupation of our country.