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>> Potential Beijing 2008 protesters worry about information gathered by Chinese spies here

CHINA STILL TOUCHY ABOUT TIBET:
Montrealer Kalsang Dolma

by SAMER ELATRASH

Not a month goes by without another scandal involving the Chinese government, the latest being its support for Burma’s flyblown junta. Normally the Chinese government wouldn’t care much for public opinion. But with the 2008 Beijing Olympics approaching, the government is discovering that it has provided its opponents with an opportunity to draw attention to its human rights record and is anticipating that foreign groups might send protesters to China.

Opponents of China’s policies in Tibet hope the Olympics will focus attention on Tibet, which China occupied more than 50 years ago. “We want Tibet to be part of the Olympics, to get people to talk about what’s happening in Tibet,” says Kalsang Dolma, a Montrealer who repeatedly travelled to her native Tibet to shoot a documentary over the past few years. “International pressure is always very welcome.”

A protest last August by several Canadian and American activists, who unfurled a banner on the Great Wall demanding autonomy for Tibet, ended quickly with the arrest of the activists and their deportation, and protests from the Chinese government against the “politicization” of the Olympics.

“We welcome Canadian citizens, but we are opposed to any attempt to politicize the games,” says an official at the Chinese embassy in Ottawa, who asked that her name not be published. She says the embassy will refuse visa applications to Canadians who might protest in China. “Each case will be decided on its merits, according to Chinese laws and regulations,” which, she explains, include laws against protest.

Who’s who

Michel Juneau-Katsuya, a former intelligence officer with CSIS, says China will use its foreign missions and intelligence agents to gather information on activists. “They will aggressively collect names of groups that could tarnish the image of the Chinese government, especially those related to Tibet and the Falun Gong.”

Students for a Free Tibet, an international organization whose members staged last August’s demonstration in China, says Chinese agents have come by their offices over the past few months. “We have received a couple of visits by people we believe were trying to gather information,” says Heather Reddick, a member of Students for a Free Tibet in New York. Recently, a reporter with a New York Chinese newspaper dropped by her office. “He just came in without buzzing, and starting poking around,” she says.

Both CSIS and the FBI—which places ads in U.S. Chinese newspapers for information on Chinese spies—often complain about Chinese espionage, but they seem eager to coordinate security with Chinese intelligence ahead of the Olympics. “In order to fulfill our obligations, we cooperate with domestic and foreign partners,” explains CSIS spokesman Giovanni Cotroneo. “Our role would be to assist in keeping the event incident-free.” He adds that by “incident,” he means “violence or the threat of violence. I’m not referring to peaceful protests or dissent.”

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa, however, seems more concerned with protesters than terrorists and vandals applying for visas. “There is information sharing,” says the Chinese embassy official, when asked about potential demonstrators.

Martin Rudner, the former director of the non-partisan Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies, says it is unlikely that CSIS or the RCMP would share information on peaceable groups with their Chinese partners. “It’s unlikely that CSIS even has information about them,” he says, adding that it would violate the CSIS Act, which allows CSIS to only gather information on threats to Canada. “The Chinese are good at intelligence, and let’s give them credit—they don’t need Canada to know who’s an activist,” he says.

On a visit to China last summer, FBI assistant director of international operations Thomas Fuentes pledged to offer “every possible assistance” to Chinese information, including information-sharing. Both CSIS and the FBI have an interest in securing the Olympics, says Rudner. “There is no doubt they are concerned about the Olympics,” he says. “[A terrorist attack] would call into question security on a global level.”

CSIS and the FBI’s eagerness to help, however, may have other motives. “This is speculation,” says Rudner, but “the FBI can be saying, ‘How can I help precisely to get my counterintelligence involved’” in identifying Chinese intelligence agents in the U.S.

Still on board

Despite what appears to be an increased vigilance by the Chinese government, activists from Canada and the U.S. are still preparing to head to China for protests. Tibet independence groups “have indicated they will organize protests in China,” says Chris Schwartz, a Montreal member of Students for Free Tibet.

The protesters, however, may expect little support from the Canadian government. “There is a concern about free speech,” says Foreign Affairs spokesman Bernard Nguyen, but “China has the right to detain individuals for activities that contravene its laws.” Nguyen adds that dual citizens should travel with their Canadian passports.

Schwartz says “our government’s commitment to human rights shouldn’t end at the Canadian border.”