The Secret Tibet (The Forbidden world)

Dear Yeshe,

China has released and deported the 'Great Wall Six' activists along with SFT Executive Director Lhadon Tethong and her traveling partner Paul Golding! They arrived at Hong Kong airport at approximately 3am Thursday morning local time.

"While I'm feeling relieved to be out of Chinese custody, my thoughts are with the hundreds of Tibetans arrested last week for a peaceful protest in Tibet," said Lhadon, minutes after landing at Hong Kong airport.  "I was detained by Chinese authorities for just speaking my mind, a basic right that Tibetans inside Tibet are routinely denied."

Six of the activists - Sam Price, Melanie Raoul, Leslie Kaup, Duane Martinez, Pete Speller and Nupur Modi - had been arrested early on August 7th for unfurling a 450-square foot protest banner on the Great Wall of China. The two others were Lhadon Tethong and UK Tibet activist Paul Golding, who were detained by Chinese police in Beijing at approximately 2pm Beijing time on August 8th.  Check out www.BeijingWideOpen.org to see Lhadon and Paul's final blog posts.

In many cities around the globe, SFT members announced news of the activists' release to relieved Tibetans and supporters gathered for demonstrations that are part of an "International Day of Action" to mark the one-year countdown to the Beijing Olympics. Demonstrations took place in cities from Vancouver to New York, New Delhi to Cape Town.

We need your help to maximize the impact of this courageous protest. Here's what you can do:

1. Watch the video of the Great Wall protest on You Tube.  Then spread the word about it to your friends and encourage them to take action for Tibet!

2. Taking our Olympics campaign to this level, with an action on the Great Wall and Lhadon's simultaneous efforts in Beijing was complex and very expensive to organize. And because of the secrecy surrounding it all, SFT was unable to fundraise publicly as we prepared. Please donate to SFT's Olympics Action Fund so that we can do more groundbreaking actions over the next year. Checks of money orders can be sent to: Students for a Free Tibet, 602 E 14th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10009.

3. WRITE letters and opinion pieces for your local community newspapers. This story has received phenomenal media coverage around the world, and we want to ensure people keep talking about the Tibetan freedom struggle in the lead up to the Olympics. Here are a few simple points to touch on:
* The Chinese government is using the 2008 Olympics to try to close the books on the question of its illegal occupation of Tibet.  And the IOC is allowing China to carry on this propaganda campaign. 
* Tibetans and supporters are calling on the IOC to publicly oppose China's propaganda efforts and to use its influence to effect substantive progress on human rights in China and a meaningful resolution to the occupation of Tibet .  
* In a daring action, six Tibetan independence activists unfurled a protest banner at the Great Wall of China on August 7th reading, "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008" in English and Chinese.
* Hours before a one-year Olympics countdown celebration in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, SFT Executive Director Lhadon Tethong and long-time Tibet activist Paul Golding were detained by Chinese authorities.  Tethong and Golding were in Beijing exposing the reality behind China's Olympics propaganda on their blog, www.BeijingWideOpen.org
* If China wants to be accepted as a major international power, it must play by the rules of the international community. This includes allowing freedom of speech and expression, and it also means ending its occupation of Tibet.

Thank you for your help and support!

-- From the action support team: Tendor, Kate, Matt, Kala, Heather, Kathy, Han, Kai, Thupten, Alma, Choeying, Tenchoe, Alice, Bianca, Dechen, Nathan, Kurt, Emily, Nick, Sophia, Freya, Lobsang, Wangyal, Thupten Nyima, Jessica, Kai, Brady and many more