Quê Me Quê Me: Action for democracy in Vietnam & Vietnam Committee on Human Rights
Radio Telefís Éireann
A leading Vietnamese dissident Buddhist monk has called on the international community to put pressure on China to end ‘repression’ in Tibet, following a week of deadly unrest.
Thich Quang Do of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam said the Buddhists of Tibet are struggling to prevent the suppression of their culture and their faith, and protesting the injustice of one-party rule.
He said dialogue only, and not destruction, can open the way to a lasting solution in Tibet.
The UN, world governments, parliaments and the whole international community must press the Chinese to cease repression and concretely address the Tibetan people’s legitimate demands, he said.
‘The Buddhists of Vietnam stand beside you in this non-violent struggle for religious freedom and human rights.’
Tibet’s government-in-exile said 80 people have been confirmed killed in the Chinese crackdown on protests against Beijing’s rule in the vast Himalayan region.
China has put the death toll at 13.
Thich Quang Do has for the past 30 years campaigned against the communist regime in Hanoi.
His church has been banned since 1981.
After serving a lengthy prison term, the monk now lives under virtual house arrest in his pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, from where he continues to campaign for religious freedom and human rights in Vietnam.
The Minister for European Affairs, Dick Roche, has said he did not raise the situation in Tibet at meetings with officials there.
The minister is in Beijing for St Patrick’s Day activities.
He said the appropriate way to raise the issue was through the relevant channels in Dublin and other EU countries were doing the same.
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