China using Olympics as tools to "perpetuate" Tibet occupation

Kolkata, Aug 8 (UNI) Tibetans demanding return of their homeland today alleged that China was using the Olympic Games as a propaganda tool to legitimise Tibet ''occupation''.

Students for ''Free Tibet'' movement holding festoons and placards with slogans condemning Communist China's rule in Lhasa said, ''Choosing Tibetan Antelop as the Olympic Mascot is an excample to legitimise annexation of Tibet.'' ''Today when the Olympic Games begin, and all eyes turn to China, we appeal to the world to remember that million of Tibetans are crying out for human rights and freedom,'' said Tenzin Pelber, Kolkata chapter leader of ''Students for a Free Tibet''.

Besides the Olympic Mascot, parading the Tibetan torch in Lhasa and taking it up to Mount Everest and Tibetan cultural performances were among other things China was trying to project as their rights, he alleged.

A demonstrator, wrapped up in white bandages with red coloured patches, said he was symbolising how the Chinese regime had cracked down on them struggling for their basic rights and freedom.

''As long as the Chinese leadership continues its brutal occupation of Tibet and refuses to meaningfully address the issue, the Chinese government will not gain the international recogniton it so desperately craves,'' added Pelber.

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