FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: 13th July, 2009

Tokyo – Tibetans and their supporters in Japan are warning the public about “Tibet: Treasures from the Roof of the World,” an exhibit that is coming to Tokyo’s The Ueno Royal Museum this fall.

This exhibit arrived in Japan in April 2009 and started in the Kyushu region and had a successful turnout of over 100,000 people. It is now getting ready to come to the capital, Tokyo, in September.

This exhibition of numerous Tibet’s artifacts from the Potala Palace is organized by the Chinese government with several Japanese sponsor companies. The exhibition does not explain Tibet’s history after the Chinese invasion in Tibet in 1951 and it does not mention one word about the 14th Dalai Lama. Tibet’s struggle of the last 50 years is not mentioned at all. Therefore, many exhibition visitors are going home with no knowledge about what is really going on in Tibet today.

This exhibition seems to be a tool of the Chinese government to demonstrate that
Tibet belongs to China. It is an exhibition that is organized by the very people who have been destroying the Tibetan culture and, as the Dalai Lama calls it, committing “cultural genocide.”

We need to raise awareness about this exhibition by sending the open letter, signed by IAATE’s Executive Director, Sonam Wangdue, and publicize this campaign to the public through the media and a strong grassroots force.

Tibetans and their supporters have been planning a variety of protests throughout the course of the exhibition. We are asking all supporters from all over the world to join our condemnations by sending the letter to the Ueno Museum as well as its sponsor companies and contacting us that you support the campaign. We will publish your name and/or details of your organizations in the campaign site.

It is vital that we show both the Japanese public and the Chinese government that we will not let them exercise “favorable international public opinion” of the Chinese rule in Tibet.

Exhibition Information:

September 19, 2009 to January 11, 2010
The Ueno Royal Museum
Mr. Seiichi Mizuno (Director)
1-2, Uenokoen, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Tel: +91-3-3833-4191
www.seichi-tibet.jp (Japanese)
www.seichi-tibet.jp/en/ (English)

For more information about OUR CAMPAIGN, visit: www.seichi-tibet.com

For Media/information please contact:

Eli Wakamatsu (U.K.)
Email:eliwakamatsu@googlemail.com

Sonam Wagdue (NY)
Phone: 347-510-6660
Email:wsonam@gmail.com

Open Letter