Dharamshala, 28th January: A group of Czech senators has openly backed Dhondup Wangchen, a Tibetan filmmaker and former political prisoner, in his call to boycott the forthcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing. In the run-up to the Olympics, the Tibetan film director is traveling Europe to raise awareness of human rights issues in China.
Dhondup Wangchen is a Tibetan filmmaker best known for the documentary Leaving Fear Behind, in which he interviewed Tibetans about their thoughts on the Chinese government in the year leading up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Wangchen was later sentenced to six years in prison for subversion by the Chinese government.
The Tibetan director is touring Europe ahead of the second Olympic Games, which will be hosted by Beijing, to talk about his experiences and the perspectives of Tibetans and other ethnic minorities in China on the Olympics.
On Monday in Prague, a group of senators led by Deputy Speakers Ji Rika and Ji Oberfalzer heartily greeted his message. In the following press conference, he gave a statement in which he emphasized his complete support for Mr. Wangchen’s efforts. Mr. Rika went on to say that the Czech Senate was one of the first chambers of parliament in the world to call for a political boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Mr. Wangchen underlined his alarm about the situation in Tibet in his own statement, accusing China’s leader Xi Jinping of acting like a second Mao Tse-Tung. Mr. Wangchen will also meet with the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Markéta Pekarová Adamová and members of the Czech lower house’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
The informal Friends of Tibet group has several dozen members from diverse political parties in both chambers of the Czech Parliament. The persecution of China’s Uyghur minority, the imprisonment of democratic opponents, and the promotion of disinformation, according to Pemysl Rabas, the head of the Senate grouping, are all reasons why politicians should stay away from the forthcoming Olympic Games.
In December, the Czech government announced that a vote will be held on whether the Czech Republic should boycott the Beijing Winter Olympic Games on political grounds. If the country decides to do so, it will be following in the footsteps of the United States, the United Kingdom, and a number of other English-speaking nations.