Australia joins global ‘No Beijing 2022’ protests on 23 June

MEDIA RELEASE

18 June 2021

Australia Tibet Council along with Tibetan community members, Uyghurs, Hongkongers and other human rights activists are joining together calling for the Australian Government to declare a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

WHAT:  Human rights activists representing Tibet, East Turkestan, Hong Kong, Southern Mongolia, China and Vietnam are holding events in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide as part of a joint global day of action on 23 June 2021– International Olympic Day. 

A large coalition of rights groups and their supporters in cities around the world are calling on governments, Olympic committees, Olympic sponsors and all people of conscience to take a stand against one of the worst human rights crises of our time by boycotting the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

The NoBeijing 2022 Global Day of Action is a day of international solidarity among Chinese human rights defenders, Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hong Kongers, Southern Mongolians, and Vietnamese, to show their global opposition to their 2022 Games due to threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party to communities living under its rule, and for freedom, democracy, and human rights in China and globally.

• The situation in Tibet has deteriorated dramatically and is classed by Freedom House as the least-free country in the world, tied with Syria.
• In East Turkestan (Ch: Xinjiang) between 1.8 and three million Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples are arbitrarily detained in “re-education camps,” enduring inhuman treatment and political indoctrination.
• In Hong Kong, the city’s vibrant community of human rights activists and outspoken youths have been rounded up by the thousands for simply advocating for democracy.
• In Southern Mongolia, children are being deprived of their right to speak their mother tongue, as the Chinese government has intensified its crackdown on cultural differences.
• China’s reach extends to extreme intimidation and geopolitical bullying of Taiwan and aggression and expansion across borders in the South China Sea and India-Tibet border, which present a clear threat to regional and global security.

For two decades representatives of the coalition have repeatedly sought to inform the IOC about these conditions, explain the dangers of awarding China the Olympic Games, and caution against accepting any human rights assurances from one of the world’s worst human rights violators.

With the International Olympic Committee completely failing to take action despite clear evidence of genocide in China and widespread and worsening human rights failures, the coalition of human rights groups states that it now falls on governments, sponsors, national olympic committees and athletes to take a stand and demonstrate that they have the political will to push back against China’s reprehensible human rights abuses.

A growing chorus of voices have already begun to push back against many of these abuses.

WHEN: Wednesday 23 June 

WHERE:

Canberra: 10 am Parliament House Lawn

Sydney: 10 am First Fleet Park (in front of the Museum of Contemporary Arts) at Circular Quay.

Melbourne: 12 noon Federation Square

Brisbane: 3:30 pm: King George Square

Adelaide: 11 am: Rundle Mall, Malls Balls

BACKGROUND:

Australia Tibet Council campaigns for the freedom and human rights of Tibetans. Our vision is a free Tibet in which Tibetans can determine their own future and freely pursue their cultural, political and economic developments.

NoBeijing2022.org is a global initiative developed in coordination with represented communities and supporters on six continents.

For more information about the spread of the global protests visit NoBeijing2022.org