UBC Reports | Vol. 47 | No. 05 | Mar.
8, 2001
Student speaks out for human rights
A UBC student suggests other students incorporate their education as a tool to
effect change
by Kate Woznow
In mid-February, rather than spending the time writing my
mid-term for
International Relations 260, I joined a trio of Canadian students who decided
to create an international incident of our own.
Freya Putt, Sam Price and myself, all members of the organization Students
for a Free Tibet, participated in a public action directed towards members of
the Team Canada trade delegation in Beijing, China.
We were protesting China's 52-year occupation of Tibet and the absence of this
issue from the Team Canada agenda.
Our action is referred to as a direct action. It is a tactic used by
non-government organizations to propel an issue of concern into the national
spotlight, hopefully attracting media attention.
Unfurling a banner in the lobby area within the vicinity of an international
signing ceremony celebrating $1.4 billion worth of business deals, and having
the event covered by national media outlets is deemed a successful action.
The publicity and reaction this action has received will hopefully benefit the
six million Tibetans who continue to live under the repression of the Chinese
government.
The momentum created by this action will continue to direct our
efforts towards a peaceful resolution to this situation, unlike the
prime minister's human rights speeches in China which by now have probably been
forgotten by his hosts.
My interest in Tibet arose as a result of a visit I made there in 1999.
After graduating from high school, a friend and myself, feeling unsure of our
academic pursuits in university, decided to work abroad in China.
We spent 10 months traveling and working in the country before joining my
father in the western city of Chengdu, China and from there flew to Lhasa,
Tibet.
Having no previous exposure to the political situation and history of this
region, my first thought was how different Tibet and Tibetans were
from their Chinese neighbours.
Within Lhasa there is a very distinctive divide between the Chinese quarter
and the Tibetan quarter.
Equally evident was the tense atmosphere especially
prevalent in the larger Tibetan cities where many of the
pro-independence demonstrations
have taken place.
It was a relief to leave this tension for the scenic countryside but the
poverty of the local inhabitants, mostly nomads, and the ever-present evidence
of Chinese soldiers was unavoidable.
The determination I saw exercised by the Tibetan people to preserve their
unique culture left me with a desire to help their cause.
When I began my university studies at UBC in 2000, I was able to become
pro-active in the Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) chapter which has been
operating since 1998.
Our chapter is one of the more than 600 SFT chapters
worldwide. Becoming
involved with a group of students who shared my concern for the
Tibet situation
has become a central focus of my university experience.
Through my work with this group, I have experienced an education far beyond
the constraints of our beautiful, yet isolated campus.
Students become very focused on the subject material they are
studying. However,
it is important that we incorporate, whenever possible, our
education as a tool
to effect change.
If I learned one thing from my recent experience in Beijing,
Canadian students
are fortunate for the daily freedoms we take for granted.
This is not to say
that human rights abuses do not occur in Canada. Some of them have
taken place
on the very land where our campus is located.
But, students have the power to speak out.
Because we cannot always rely on our government officials and
the business community to speak out for those citizens who are silent and do
not share our freedoms, I believe it is our responsibility to be heard.
Kate Woznow, a second-year Political Science student, captured
world media
attention when she and a fellow protestor staged a brief human rights protest
in the lobby of a Beijing hotel where Prime Minister Jean Chretien's
Team Canada trade delegation was meeting with Chinese firms.
She is president of Students for a Free Tibet at UBC.
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