Małopolskie Shows Solidarity with Tibet

Bartłomiej Kuraś, Kraków
Gazeta Wyborcza

2008-08-05: On Friday, the day the Olympic Games open in Beijing, the provincial government of Małopolskie will display Tibetan flags. The Chinese have sent a sharp protest.

The flags will be displayed on all buildings administered by the Małopolskie provincial government, including in the centre of Cracow on the Teatr im. Słowackiego, Teatr Stu, and Opera Krakowska buildings, or in Zakopane on the Teatr im. Witkacego building. Also in less high-profile places, such as in the town of Wielkie Drogi on the building of the Zespół Placówek Edukacyjno-Opiekuńczo-Wychowawczych educational complex.

'A total of 156 buildings across the province the fly the flags. These will be schools, museums, theatres, hospitals, clinics, official buildings', says Anna Rudzka at the Małopolskie Province Marshal's Office. 'The province authorities have spent close to PLN10,000 to buy the flags'.

The decision on displaying Tibetan flags across the province was made by the provincial assembly on the last day of March, shortly following reports that the Buddhist monks' peaceful protests in Tibet had been crushed by the Chinese military.

'We want to remind those of the region's inhabitants who will be following the Games in People's Republic of China about the country's human rights violations', says Kazimierz Czekaj, Civic Platform (PO) councillor and the campaign's initiator. 'We want to make a clearer gesture than just passing a appeal protesting the situation in Tibet', he adds.

The councillors wrote in a special resolution: 'The use of force against Tibetans demanding their rights has already caused the death of hundreds of people, and many more have been wounded, imprisoned or persecuted. My, the Poles, know what it means to right for freedom and human rights. We also know the importance of the international public opinion's solidarity, because we experienced it on numerous occasions during the time of Solidarity. That is why we cannot keep silent. We demand that the Chinese government immediately discontinues the reprisals in Tibet. We demand respect for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights'.

China's reaction was not long in coming. An official letter was sent to the Małopolskie provincial assembly by the Standing Committee of Jiangsu Province, with which Małopolskie four years ago signed a friendship and cooperation agreement. It read, 'A few rioters committed acts of violence, including scuffles, armed robberies, plunders and arsons, violating law and order and causing great damage to life and property. These are independence slogan-chanting thugs. It is not right to believe the version of the events presented by just one side, the clique of Dalai and a few press agencies'. s

'It's a foregone conclusion that we'll fly the flags. We're just now sending them to all the units in our jurisdiction with the instructions that they should be displayed on the day of the Olympics' opening', says Łukasz Strutyński, secretary of the Małopolskie marshal.

Translated by Marcin Wawrzyńczak