Tibetan activists have claimed victory after a New York public library removed an exhibit which the Tibetans claimed was Chinese government propaganda.
According to Gothamist.com, the photo exhibit displayed at the Elmhurst branch of the Queens Public Library was organised by an affiliate of the Chinese consulate and showed portraits of people and locations in Tibet.
Tibetan New Yorkers said the photos whitewashed China’s human rights abuses. Activists pointed to one photo showing Tibetan school children holding scrolls written in the Tibetan language. China does not teach the Tibetan language in schools. According to the Queens Chronical, activists juxtaposed this photo with one of Tashi Wangchuck who is serving a 5-year prison sentence in Tibet for attempting to teach the Tibetan language to his nieces.
The Queens Chronical reported that organisations including Students for a Free Tibet and the Regional Tibetan Youth Conference spearheaded protests after the library initially refused to remove the exhibit. About 150 people protested outside the library for ten days from February 15. According to Phayul, 5,000 people signed an online petition urging the library to close the exhibit.
Voice of America (VOA) reported Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-New York’s 3rd District)—a member of the bipartisan US Congressional Executive Commission on China – as supporting the activists. He said he had called the library to express his concerns.
Photos from the exhibition
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio also criticised the exhibit, saying: “I am exceedingly critical of the Chinese government in the way it has oppressed people and taken away human rights. No one has suffered more than the Tibetan people. So, I did not have any reason to believe that any of our library systems would present the Chinese government point of view. I would assume it to be the other way around, and that I’d be getting complaints from the Chinese government.”
According to VOA, the library announced on February 22 that the Chinese consulate had decided to close the exhibit. Dorjee Tseten, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, said“This is a huge victory for Tibet and the Tibetan community in Queens. The decision of the Chinese Consulate to shut down their propaganda exhibition at the Queens Library shows that activism and truth are more powerful than propaganda and dictatorship.”
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