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The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

GW student arrested in pro-tibet rally

About 15 GW students marched with an estimated 400 demonstrators outside the Chinese Embassy Friday afternoon, following a week of protests for Tibetan human rights which saw at least one GW student arrested.

Freshman Julie Stewart was arrested for disorderly conduct Wednesday after crossing a police line to deliver a letter to the door of the embassy.

“(Getting arrested) was definitely worth it. We made our point,” Stewart said. She said she spent eight hours in jail and paid a $75 fine

Stewart said she has been arrested once before for a similar incident and believes the latest arrest proved her commitment to the cause.

Twelve protesters were arrested for crossing police lines Friday in the relatively peaceful two-hour demonstration calling for President George W. Bush to push China to negotiate with the Dalai Lama. The president flew to the Far East to speak with Korean, Japanese and Chinese leaders this weekend.

Protesters held daily rallies last week and committed acts of civil disobedience leading to the arrest of 22 demonstrators including Stewart, said senior Lisa de Saxe, president of Students for a Free Tibet.

A diverse crowd of protesters of all ages held signs and banners and chanted slogans including “Shame, Shame on China” and “Long Live the Dalai Lama” in a rally sponsored by the International Campaign for Tibet, Students for a Free Tibet and the U.S. Tibet Committee. Students were bussed in from New York, Boston and from as far as Minnesota and Texas, Stewart said.

GW students worked alongside students from American and Georgetown universities to publicize the weeklong event, de Saxe said.

She said she hopes the United States will make Tibet a foreign policy priority.

“As President Bush leaves for China, we would like to send with him the message that the Tibet issue is of great importance,” de Saxe said. “We hope he properly addresses the issue and that soon dialogue between (Chinese President) Jiang Zemin and the Dalai Lama can take place.”

Lhadon Tethong, national projects coordinator for Students for a Free Tibet, said there are three ways she would like to see Bush address the Tibetan issue. She said she hopes the president publicly addresses the issue, lobbies Zemin for the release of Tibetan political prisoners and sends Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Paula Dobriansky to the region.

“If America is going to legitimately wage a war against terrorism, then it must support the legitimate cause of Tibetans’ struggle for freedom and independence,” Tethong said. “We need to be both reactive and proactive.”

Lobsang Gyatso, father of a ’94 GW alumnus, said he was born in Tibet and can still remember his escape from the territory in 1959 at the age of 13.

China invaded Tibet in 1949 and has maintained control over the territory for more than 50 years.

“We escaped to India through the mountains. I had a lot of help from other Tibetans, and I was able to make it; otherwise I wouldn’t have,” Gyatso said. “My strongest memory was when they arrested my father. He was taken away by four or five military men with pistols and imprisoned.”

Students said they were protesting to help make the public better informed of the issues in Tibet.

“We don’t expect the Chinese government to take to heart what we say here, but we do expect for people to drive by and to get the seed of consciousness planted in their hearts,” said Chris Edley, a high school senior from Boston. “Someday it’ll grow, and someday they’ll figure it out, whether now or 10 years from now or never at all.”

Students for a Free Tibet plan a week of activities in late April culminating in a concert for Tibetan rights.

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