RED DRAGON – RED CHINA TRYING TO STOP SOARING TIBET BALLOON

RED DRAGON – RED CHINA TRYING TO STOP SOARING TIBET BALLOON

Red China is a Communist who has no respect for Personal Liberties, and does not value Individual Freedoms. It may be possible to catch a soaring balloon, but Red China would miserably fail if she tries to stop a mind that is set free.

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4162, USA
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UNREPRESENTED NATIONS AND PEOPLES ORGANIZATION

August 6, 2015

Tibet: China Tries to Stop Tibet Balloon

Officials from Chinese embassies in Europe have reportedly attempted to
prevent a 100ft high Tibet-flag balloon to fly over a festival in Bristol,
in the United Kingdom, under the pretence that it would put pressure on
Sino-British relations. Organizers have refused to submit to such pressures,
choosing to let it fly as a symbol of peace and compassion.

Below is an article from The Guardian:

At nearly 100ft high the Tibet balloon is arguably the largest Tibetan flag
in the world. But as the unique hot air balloon prepares to soar over
Bristol this week, Chinese consternation over its controversial,
eye-catching design appears to be also rising.

Mysterious individuals purporting to be Chinese embassy officials have made
three attempts to ground the balloon across Europe – in Spain, France and
the UK – since it was first launched four weeks ago.

Organisers of the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, beginning on
Thursday, have refused to ban the balloon, which is flying as a symbol of
peace and compassion, despite pressure to cancel its participation in the
name of Sino-British relations.

An email, purporting to be from the third secretary in the political section
of the Chinese embassy in the UK, urged the fiesta’s organising committee to
give serious consideration to the issue, and stressed China did not want the
event to be used as a platform for Tibet separatist activities.

The Chinese embassy did not respond to requests from the Guardian for
comment.

The approach follows a similar one to organisers of a balloon festival in
France last week, and another in Spain four weeks ago.

Funded by private sponsors, the Tibet balloon – named Tashi, meaning good
fortune in Tibetan – was designed in close cooperation with UK Tibetan
community representatives and launched in Spain on 11 July after a blessing
at the Sakya Tashi Ling Buddhist monastery near Barcelona. The balloon
depicts the Tibetan flag but displays no political text.

Co-pilots Paul Dopson, 45, and his wife, Heaven Crawley, 44, from Stroud in
Gloucestershire, hope it will draw attention to Tibetan issues and raise
funds for charities working to support the cause of Tibet.

Since its launch its movements have apparently been fastidiously tracked,
with intense behind-the-scenes lobbying for it to be grounded.

The couple were informed by organisers of the European Balloon Festival in
Igualada in Catalonia, Spain, that officials, claiming to be from the
Chinese consular offices in Barcelona, had contacted organisers to
communicate their concern “initially by email, then phone, and then they
visited the launch site on the mornings of the flights”, said Dopson.

Though the balloon was in Spain at the time, it had not registered to fly in
that event, and did not take part, he said. However, one of the other pilots
had a similar name to his, which may have led to the erroneous belief it was
due for lift-off.

Last week, the balloon took part in the Lorraine Mondial air balloons
festival in Chambley-Bussières, north-east France. Afterwards, the event
organiser Philippe Buron-Pilatre revealed: “The [Chinese] consul general of
Strasbourg twice came to see me to tell me that French-Chinese relations
would be damaged.”

He explained he did not have the power to stop the balloon flying as “it is
not a political demonstration”.

Ian Martin, of Flying Enterprises, the hot air balloon operator which is
supporting the Tibet balloon, and who is a member of the organising
committee of the Bristol fiesta, said he received an email from someone
claiming to be the third secretary in the political section of the Chinese
embassy in London, who gave the name Xinkai Dang, but not an official
Chinese embassy email address.

The email’s author wanted to share background “about the so-called Tibetan
national flag”, that it was used by Tibetan separatists, and stress that
Tibet was an “inalienable part of Chinese territory” which the British
government recognised, he said. The email warned that allowing the balloon
to fly could damage the reputation of the Bristol event. “They said if it
was allowed to participate, the wrong message will be sent out.”

The flag is banned in Tibet but is flown by Tibetan people and their
supporters around the world.

Dopson said of the lobbying: “It certainly is very intimidating. When you
hear of the Chinese actually arriving at the launch field, when we were in
Spain, to see if the balloon is there, you think, ‘well, what can happen
next?’ It’s a strange situation. We just didn’t foresee it at all.

“We are just balloon pilots flying a balloon that is just a Tibetan flag,
there is no text, there is no wording, no political message.”

Martin passed details to the fiesta’s organising committee. “The organising
committee, which I am part of, has taken an attitude that we are not going
to ban the balloon from coming just because of this,” he said.

Jane Oakland, chair of the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, said: “We
understand that a hot air balloon decorated with the Tibetan flag has
registered to fly at the fiesta this weekend.

“The fiesta is a family friendly event and non-political in nature and
therefore, if the weather allows, we want all our visitors to enjoy a great
ballooning weekend with as many of our registered balloons as possible
flying at the event.”

A spokesman for Bristol city council, on whose land the balloon festival
will be staged, said it had “no authority or sight of decisions taken”
regarding the event, which is run and managed by Bristol International
Balloon Fiesta. “The council has been told by the company that the Chinese
embassy has contacted them regarding the flight of the balloon,” he said.

Photo Courtesy of PR.

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