Paris, June 11 – Students for a Free Tibet France and France-Tibet activists chained themselves at the entrance of a restaurant where Bombardier was leading a conference, while others were distributing leaflets to inform journalists about what Bombardier is doing to Tibet.
On June 7th, Students for a Free Tibet demonstrated in front of Bombardier’s annual general meeting and participated in this general meeting to ask Bombardier to leave Tibet (see ICT article on June 8).
On June 11th, SFT France kept reminding Bombardier that they should KEEP HANDS OFF TIBET, and that as long as they don’t cancel their project of making and selling rail cars for the Gormo-Lhasa railway, SFT and Tibet supporters, anywhere in the world, will keep reminding them about it.
The Chinese government invaded Tibet in 1949-50 and has brutally occupied it ever since. Tibetans inside Tibet and around the world are struggling to regain their freedom. China’s most recent plan to strengthen its control over Tibet is to construct a railway that will for the first time connect Tibet to China’s rail system.
The rail line will help the Chinese government’s efforts to move millions of Chinese settlers into Tibet – a way of assimilating Tibetans into Chinese culture and eroding their resistance to Chinese rule. It will allow China to easily transport Tibet’s natural resources, like oil, gas and gold, to China’s east coast. Economic benefits of the railroad will mostly bypass Tibetans who mainly live on the outskirts of Tibet’s centrally controlled economy, beyond the reach of the railway.
Bombardier is helping China build the railway and strengthen its control over Tibet.
Bombardier announced in February that it will supply the Chinese Ministry of Railways with 361 specially designed rail cars for the Tibet line. Bombardier’s own code of ethics states “We behave with integrity and in an ethical manner in everything we do and say,” yet the Tibetan people were never consulted about whether or not they even want this railway. By providing essential components of the railway, Bombardier is supporting China’s occupation of Tibet ; SFT and Tibet supporters will not leave them alone until they cancel their project.
