Free Tibet is an ongoing magazine published by an activist group of the same name. Founded in 1987, the group monitors the human rights abuses such as surveillance and religious suppression by the Chinese government taking place in Tibet.  It runs targeted campaigns that challenge silence on the issue and expose the reality of Tibet. 

This issue from 2006 addresses the silence of then Prime Minister Tony Blair during the state visit of China’s Hu Jintao. Despite media coverage and pressure from demonstrations which took place during the meeting, the Prime Minister did not raise the issue of Tibet. The magazine which advocates for the UK’s political support of the Tibetan freedom struggle argues that there was a missed opportunity to convince China’s most senior leader of the value of dialogue with the Dalai Lama. 

The magazine also addresses the increasing crackdown on Tibetan Buddhism as an attempt to undermine Tibetan identity, as well as the suppression of religious activities viewed as vehicles for independence such as venerating the Dalai Lama.

The Commonweal Collection includes around 50 copies of Free Tibet published between 1998 and 2009. Other materials in the Collection about Asian Freedom Struggles (Fj) can be found on the catalogue here.

Josie Mulligan (Commonweal volunteer).

A full list of over 1,700 magazines, newsletters, bulletins and journals that are in the Collection can be found here.