MB Civic

China’s official media reports that Chinese
internet users denounce top-selling Tibet
album

Press Release
International Campaign for Tibet
August 18, 2008

Washington, DC — The album ‘Songs for
Tibet: The Art of Peace,’ a top-selling rock
download in the US, Canada, several
European countries and Japan – which
reached #4 on the Billboard album
download charts in its first week of sales –
has been downloaded by more than 40
Olympic athletes competing at the Beijing
Games. China’s official media published a
provocative online article that reported
many “angry” Chinese ‘netizens’ a
are “denouncing” the project and that
some have called for a boycott on
companies that make the pro-peace
album available for sale on the web, and a
ban on those involved in making the album
from entering China. Over a hundred
download sites and on-line retailers sell
the album worldwide. Twenty musicians
contributed tracks, including Sting, Dave
Matthews, Alanis Morissette, John Mayer
and Moby.

Michael Wohl, Executive Director of the Art
of Peace Foundation which initiated the
project, said today: “We are delighted that
Olympic athletes took the opportunity to
download this unique album, which
conveys a message of hope and solidarity
with the Tibetan people, as well as a
commitment to freedom of expression that
cannot be suppressed.”

Over 40 Olympic athletes in North America,
Europe and even Beijing contacted The Art
of Peace Foundation by email and through
the Foundation’s website. Athletes
downloaded the album as an act of
solidarity with Tibet. International
organizations including the International
Campaign for Tibet, Students for a Free
Tibet, and Team Darfur helped contact the
athletes. Several of the athletes, who were
assured anonymity, thanked the Art of
Peace Foundation. In one case, an
Olympian commended the
Foundation’s “efforts, music and passion
for peace.”

Following international media coverage of
the album and its success, an article about
the album – which referred to “angry
netizens” who “are rallying together to
denounce internet retailers that offer
‘Songs for Tibet’ for purchase” was
published on two Chinese websites,
china.org.cn – the authorized government
portal site to China, managed by the
Information Office of the State Council
(http://www.china.org.cn/china/national/2008-08/08/content_16161481.htm) – and
http://www.chinanews.com, a semi-official
internet news portal which operates under
close scrutiny and control of the
Communist Party. This follows
demonstrations by overseas Chinese
against some companies (such as the
French supermarket chain Carrefour) and
broadcasters (CNN and the BBC) that have
occurred since the international
community has criticized China for its
crackdown in Tibet, and in the buildup to
the Olympics. The demonstrations and
outpouring of Chinese nationalism,
particularly linked to protests against
Chinese government policies at the time of
the Olympic torch relay, have been fueled
by misinformation and propaganda from
the Chinese authorities.

“The predictably hostile response to the
album from Chinese internet users and an
official website at this time reflects
continued attempts to suppress any
support for Tibet at a time of crisis for
the Tibetan people, as well as the level of
entrenched misinformation about Tibet
propagated by the Beijing government
among the Chinese public,” said Kate
Saunders from the International Campaign
for Tibet, which is supporting the project.

The double album, ‘Songs for Tibet’
celebrates peace, the Dalai Lama and Tibet.
Twenty artists, including Sting, Alanis
Morissette, Dave Matthews, John Mayer
and Moby contributed songs for the
release.

Proceeds that the foundation receives will
support initiatives for promoting peace
and Tibetan cultural preservation projects.
Details at
http://www.artofpeacefoundation.org. The
video for the album, ‘Songs for Tibet –
Freedom is Expression,’ is available on
YouTube.

Contact:
Kate Saunders, International Campaign for
Tibet
Email: press@savetibet.org
Tel: +44 7947 138612

Michael Wohl, The Art of Peace Foundation
Email: mikew@artofpeacefoundation.org