Account of the Splendid China theme park protest held on 10 March 1996.

On March 10, 1996, people across the globe recognized Tibetan Uprising Day with protests, marches, and demonstrations. Tibetan Uprising Day commemorates the date in 1959 when the Tibetan people rose up against their oppressors from a foreign land and sou ght to protect the Dalai Lama from approaching People's Liberation Army(PLA) Forces by forming a human wall in advance of the tanks, guns, and troops. Many lost their lives that day. The safety of the 14th Dalai Lama could not be guaranteed in his own lan d, for only two days later, the same PLA forces bombarded the Potala Palace, home to the Dalai Lamas since the 17th century. A short while later, His Holiness entered India, beginning exile from the 'Land of Snows'.
Here in Florida, it was a cold and rainy day, but 12 protesters representing Citizens Against Communist Chinese Propaganda (CACCP) and the local Tibetan Meditation group did their part to commemorate Tibetan Uprising Day by demonstrating in front of Flori da's Splendid China, a Chinese Communist Party-owned and operated theme park in Kissimmee. CACCP has maintained that the inclusion of the Potala Palace exhibit, and its identification as Chinese is an attempt to legitimize the cultural genocide being wage d against the Tibetan people. Uighur or Eastern Turkestani and Inner Mongolian exhibits are likewise part of the propaganda plan.
CACCP also believes that the inclusion of the religious exhibits is an attempt to whitewash the real policies of the People's Republic of China (PRC) concerning religion. Besides the complete destruction of over 6,000 monasteries and the complete governme ntal control of the remaining monasteries the PRC has even meddled in the selection of the latest Panchen Lama. The 8-year-old 11th Panchen Lama, Tibet's second highest Buddhist leader, hand-picked by the Dalai Lama himself, is held political prisoner whi le China's official government-sanctioned selection is forced to sit in his place.
The CACCP held signs urging people to find out the truth about China's human rights abuses and to remember Tibet. Two large Tibetan flags were flown, and literature was distributed to motorists approaching the park.
Citizens Against Communist Chinese Propaganda is a group of interested individuals devoted to the non-violent and legal removal of religious and minority exhibits from the Communist Chinese government owned and operated theme park known as Florida Splendid China in Kissimmee, Fla.