Madam, - Dick Roche, Minister for European Affairs, should have raised awareness of the horrific actions of the Chinese government in Tibet by officially boycotting the St Patrick's Day parade in Beijing. To engage in merrymaking at the pleasure of the People's Republic of China while it tortures and oppresses the people of Tibet is a disgrace.
It is time for people to stand up and be counted - the first of whom should be our elected officials. - Yours, etc,
DARRAGH M HIGGINS, O' Daly Road, Drumcondra, Dublin 9.
Madam, - Dick Roche's failure to raise the brutal repression of the Tibetan people represents an outrageous betrayal of the commitment to human rights and common decency this country is supposed to stand for. Have we become so focused on doing business with China at all costs that we cannot even, at an official level, pretend in an even slightly believable way to be concerned?
As Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern was sending a message to the Chinese Ambassador in Dublin, Dick Roche, our Minister on the spot, was not letting that get in the way of the party in Beijing, when he should have been hand-delivering that message to the foreign ministry in the Chinese capital.
- Yours, etc,
RONAN TYNAN,. Booterstown, Co Dublin.
Madam, - The Olympic Games 2008 were awarded to Beijing on the dubious premise that this would lead to an improvement in China's abysmal human rights record. As reports on the Lhasa riots show, the opposite appears to be happening.
There is no doubt that the Chinese authorities are using the excuse of "security measures" for the Olympic Games to conduct the heaviest clamp-down on protesters since 1989. The north face of Mount Everest has been closed to all climbers until mid-May, in case the Olympic torch run is disrupted by protesters. Nearby Mount Cho Oyu has also been closed off. It was here last summer that a Romanian climber videoed Chinese border police shooting and killing refugees attempting to leave Tibet. In the largely Muslim province of Xinjiang, known Uighur resistance leaders have been rounded up on the charge of plotting to sabotage an aircraft.
The heavy hand of Chinese authority clearly demonstrates that the Beijing Olympics are about triumphalist nationalism, which nothing will be allowed to obstruct.
Surely the Irish Government, its EU partners and the Irish Olympic team must protest in the strongest possible terms in the light of the current suppression and killings. - Yours, etc,
ANTHONY OBRIEN, NEIL STEEDMAN, Tibet Support Group Ireland, Arklow, Co Wicklow.
Madam, - Ireland and several other EU countries have recognised Kosovo as a sovereign independent nation in spite of opposition from Serbia and the power of Russia.
Will Ireland now be consistent in the application of its political and moral principles and recognise Tibet as a sovereign independent country against the political and economic might of China? If not, the recognition of Kosovo will risk be seen as political opportunism . - Yours, etc,
BRENDAN BUTLER, NGO Peace Alliance, Phibsboro Road, Dublin 7.
A Chara, - The people of Tibet are to be congratulated and supported in their continuing campaign against China. I believe that to show solidarity to the Tibetan people the Olympics should be boycotted. - Is mise,
PAUL DORAN, Monastery Walk, Dublin 22.
Madam, - What is happening in Tibet shows us what China desires to do everywhere, which is to control and dominate all that lies in its path both at home and abroad. Its disregard for human rights is evident in Tibet and through China's support of other governments that run similiar regimes.
In a few weeks Tibet will no longer be a big news story. for most people or the press. What will happen then? Tibetans will be suppressed, and imprisoned and utter control will be imposed by the Chinese so as not to jeopardise the Olympics in the summer. The Chinese keep telling us that "this is an internal issue", but of course it is not. Human rights are the concern of the international community. - Yours, etc,
PATRICK O'CONNOR, Dungarvan, Gowran, Co Kilkenny.