Tibetan American Reporter Denied Entrance to Bejing Olympics

Hello, State Department? Condo Sleeza, are you there? Just imagine the howls of protest if this reporter was German American or Italian American. And just look at this photo of goose-stepping Chinese cops!!! But I forgot--we can't criticise China because a) they own us, and b) CRITICISM OF THE PARTY IS NOT ALLOWED!

RFA reporter unable to enter China to cover Games
Hong Kong, August 8, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that Dhondup Gonsar, an American citizen of Tibetan ethnicity [my bold] who works for the U.S. government-funded broadcaster Radio Free Asia (RFA), has not yet received press accreditation from Olympic organizers that would allow him to enter China to cover the Olympic Games, which begin Friday.
Gonsar and Radio Free Asia officials in Washington have told CPJ that RFA was informed in writing by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in July 2007 that RFA had been allocated two sets of press credentials by the IOC, but only received one, for RFA’s Mandarin-service reporter. The RFA Mandarin reporter, Jill Ku Martin, has been allowed to enter the country, RFA officials said.
They said that even though the IOC has said it has passed along Gonsar’s credentials to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, neither have followed through on issuing the Olympic Identity and Accreditation Card that serves as both an identity card and an entry visa.
“We call upon the IOC and China to resolve this issue quickly so that Dhondup Gonsar can travel to Beijing to cover the Games,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator.
Gonsar is currently in a hotel in Hong Kong, waiting for his papers to enter China. “The IOC has promised RFA that two of our reporters could cover the Games. I don’t understand why I have not gotten my IOC accreditation and am not allowed to cover the Games,” Gonsar told CPJ. “Maybe it has something to do with my ethnicity as a Tibetan.”
http://cpj.org/news/2008/asia/china07aug08na.html

Support Students for a Free Tibet

[...] Tibetans and Tibet activists from across North America were joined by tens of thousands of San Franciscans to protest China's Olympic torch. Behind a massive banner reading "San Francisco Says: No Torch in Tibet," thousands marched down the planned torch relay route, forcing officials to change the route at the last minute in an attempt to keep the enormous protests away from the torch. At least two torchbearers publicly showed support for Tibet during their torch run, one displaying a Tibetan flag alongside the torch. [my bold]

Officials were finally forced to cancel the closing ceremony. After celebrating the huge show of support in London, Paris and San Francisco, Tibetans and their supporters finished the day by acknowledging the continued protests in Tibet, vowing to keep up our efforts in solidarity with people like the fifteen monks at Labrang Monastery who, just yesterday, courageously – and desperately – staged a protest before foreign journalists on a state-managed tour.
In light of our collective efforts to amplify the voice of Tibetans inside Tibet, government resolutions in the US and the EU are being passed in support of Tibet and the IOC is holding "urgent talks" with senior members of the Olympic movement to discuss the impact pro-Tibet protests are having on the relay and on the Games themselves.
Let's help them make the correct decision.
It is critical that the IOC and Olympic sponsors be forced to react proactively to the increasingly dire situation in Tibet. It is only one month before the Chinese government proposes to take its blood-stained torch through the streets of Lhasa and to the top of Mt. Everest. Take action now and demand that Tibet be removed from the torch relay route!
> CLICK HERE TO SEND AN EMAIL to IOC President Jacques Rogge.
> CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION to contact your National Olympic Committee (NOC).
> CLICK HERE FOR TALKING POINTS for calling your NOC and a sample letter for mail/email.
For additional info, visit http://www.notorchintibet.org/