Citizens Against Communist Chinese Propaganda Press Release 10-05-97

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jack Churchward
October 05, 1997

Protest Demonstration To Commemorate 48th Anniversary of Communist Chinese Takeover of Eastern Turkistan
Events To Coincide With The Release of "Seven Years in Tibet" and National "Seven Days for Tibet" Effort to Publicize Chinese Atrocities
Clearwater, Florida-- Coinciding with both the 48th anniversary of the Communist Chinese takeover of Eastern Turkestan and the release of a new film from Sony Pictures entitled "Seven Years in Tibet," Americans, Tibetans, Southern Mongolian, Taiwanese and Uighur peoples opposed to China's occupation of their once sovereign countries have organized a series of events and public information to draw public attention to the plight of people who have been oppressed under Chinese military occupation for almost fifty years.
Events in Florida are being undertaken by Citizens Against Communist Chinese Propaganda, a grass-roots political organization working against the inclusion of minority and religious exhibits at the Communist Chinese government owned and operated propaganda theme park in Kissimmee, Florida.
The protest demonstration, which starts at 10AM on October 12th at the main gate of Florida Splendid China, will be attended by Prof. T. J. Norbu, elder brother of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and ardent champion of Tibetan Independence, as well as Ablajan Baret, President of the International Taklamakan Uighur Human Rights Association along with several members. Our Southern Mongolian and Taiwanese friends will also be represented. A press conference will be held at 11 AM to release statements and answer questions.
The national protest and awareness campaign, called "Seven Days for Tibet," is being organized in over 50 cities throughout the country, including Tampa Bay, from October 8 - 15. "Seven Years in Tibet," starring Brad Pitt, is about a Western European mountaineer who lived in Tibet prior to the Chinese invasion and became close to the Dalai Lama, Tibet's political and spiritual leader, who was forced into exile by the Chinese in 1959. During the occupation, more than a million Tibetans have died from execution, torture, and starvation. China also brutally represses Buddhism, the national religion of Tibet, ruthlessly destroying more than 6,000 monasteries, restricting religious worship, and imprisoning those who support the Dalai Lama.
When the movie opens in New York and Los Angeles on October 8, candlelight vigils protesting repression in Tibet will be held in both cities, and every moviegoer will receive a political Action Kit, which gives information on how people can join together to exert pressure -- on both the Chinese and the U.S. government -- to demand that China change its policies towards Tibet. Similar protests will also be staged on the same date in other key cities where the Chinese government has consular offices -- Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
Tibetan, Uighur, Southern Mongolian and Taiwanese support groups throughout the country, including here in Clearwater, will hold simultaneous candlelight vigils on October 8 to mark the beginning of the "Seven Days for Tibet" campaign. The vigil will be held at Central Park Largo at 8 PM.
While their story is not as widely covered as Tibet's situation, the Uighur people in Eastern Turkestan have likewise been subjected to a brutal campaign of suppression by the People's Liberation Army and the Chinese Communist Party for the past 48 years. The Communist Chinese rule over Eastern Turkestan (renamed by the Chinese as 'Xinjiang'), has witnessed the closing of all private religious schools and confiscation of all lands associated with religious life in Eastern Turkestan. Coupled with the mass influx of Chinese settlers and communist governmental control of all religious and cultural activities, the policies of the Chinese Communist government can be termed 'cultural genocide'. In addition, Eastern Turkestan has been the site of the PRC's 42 nuclear test blasts, held in what they consider a far-off province to protect their own citizens.
Likewise, the Mongols in Southern (Inner) Mongolia are a minority in their own land and the Chinese government control all religious and cultural activities, just as it does in Tibet and Eastern Turkestan. The untold tragedy of the genocide of the Southern Mongolian people during the so-called cultural revolution weighs heavily on the Southern Mongolian people, where not a single Mongol has escaped without the death, beating or sadistic torture of either themselves or a family member.
Citizens Against Communist Chinese Propaganda and other organizations, herald this new spirit of cooperation among people wishing to end decades of Chinese Communist occupation of their once sovereign homelands. Please contact of the listed spokespersons for further information or an interview.
DATE: Wednesday, October 8. 1997
EVENT: Candlelight Vigil and Protest to Kickoff "Seven Days for Tibet" Campaign
TIME: 8:00 PM
PLACE: Central Park - Largo, 110 Central Park Drive, Largo Florida
(behind Largo Public Library
DATE: Sunday October 12, 1997
EVENT: Demonstration at Florida Splendid China theme park TIME: 10:00 AM
PLACE: 3000 Splendid China Blvd., Kissimmee, Florida

Spokespersons:
Tashi Jamyangling
Tashi Jamyangling, former Home Secretary for the Tibetan Government in Exile lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada serves as an advisor to CACCP and is President of Chushi Gungduk, Toronto Chapter.

Tuerdi Huji
Tuerdi Huji, a former resident of Kashgar, Eastern Turkestan (Xinjiang) who has since emigrated to the United States is a Councilor for the International Taklamakan Uighur Human Rights Association.

Oyunbilig
Oyunbilig, General Secretary of the Inner Mongolian People's Party (IMPP). is a Southern Mongolian that participated in the demonstration in Tiananmen Square in 1989 while a student at Beijing University, he has likewise emigrated to the United States.

I Chung Lai
I Chung Lai is the official spokesperson for the Taiwanese Collegiate (TC), an organized group of Taiwanese people focused on the independence of Taiwan from all Chinese control.

Jack Churchward
Jack Churchward is the coordinator of activities for Citizens Against Communist Chinese Propaganda.

Dennis Harrison

Dennis Harrison is a Peace Education Teacher and has successfully lobbied on behalf of Tibet for a ban on school-sponsored visits to Splendid China.