Media coverage of Dhondup Wangchen ́s visit to the Czech Republic

organized by Potala NGO and Czechs Support Tibet NGO


FRIDAY 21st of Jan
arrival of Dhondup Wangchen from Vienna, Austria
arrival of Wangpo Tethong and Christa Meindersma from Amsterodam, Netherlands
DW - interview for the Czech TV – 168 hours - reportage by Martin Mikule, covering forthcomming olympics in Beijing and the human rights ́ situation in China
https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10117034229-168-hodin/222452801100123/
(Story starts at time 9:10, from 12:10 shots from Leaving Fear Behind, end at 16:17)

DW evening: on-line discussion - Tibet Talks - DW with Enes Kanter Freedom (NBA professional of the Boston Celtics) and Wangpo Tethong
Announcement: Tibet Talk, 6pm Swiss Time, 12 Noon EST
https://fb.me/e/4w4NgxAp4


SATURDAY 22nd of Jan
11:30 am DW – interview for Czech TV - Reporters of Czech TV - ongoing filming through the DW ́s visit – walk to the Prague Castle – filming
3 pm city center sightseeing
4:30 pm PCR tests of all three guests - needed for enterning the Parliament of the CR on 24th and 25th Jan
5 pm - 7:30 pm Unformal meeting with Czech NGO members and activists at Himalayan Center Potala, talk, questions and answers

SUNDAY 23rd of Jan
1pm – 5 pm filming an interview for an institution Memory of Nations – will be processed before the end of China olympics 2022
https://www.memoryofnations.eu/en/wangchen-dondub-1974

MONDAY 24th of Jan
10 am visit to the Senate of the Czech Republic
DW and Wangpo Tethong received by:
- Jiří Růžička, First Vice-President of the Senate
- Jiří Oberfalzer, Vice-President of the Senate
- Přemysl Rabas, Senator, Head of Friends of Tibet Group in the Senate
- Marek Hilšer, Senator
in June 2021 the Senate adopted a Resolution proposing political boycot of the olympic games in China – text in the Attachement
11 am Press conference in the Senate after meeting

MEDIA:
internet news of one of the main newspapers in Czechia (Mladá fronta Dnes):

https://www.idnes.cz/zpravy/domaci/cina-tibet-olympiada-bojkot-senat.A220124_123926_zahranicni_jirk

information on the official web of the Senate
https://www.senat.cz/zpravodajstvi/zprava.php?id=3316
other media:

https://nasregion.cz/politici-vyslovili-podporu-vezni-cinskeho-rezimu-a-vyslovili-se-pro-bojkot-
olympiady-v-cine-252656/?fbclid=IwAR1bSc7onxVul3h5pikKtIoklbRdlA8UrQFV9FBTCwuPiX-
jc2y5rpIQkbk#OlympicWinterGames

https://www.novinky.cz/kultura/clanek/tibetsky-reziser-vyzval-k-bojkotu-olympiady-podporili-ho-hilser-
ruzicka-ci-rabas-40384965

https://www.extra.cz/bojkot-olympiady-v-cine-cesti-senatori-podporili-apel-tibetskeho-filmare-8472b

even the tabloid media reported…

https://www.blesk.cz/clanek/zpravy-politika/702145/cesi-bojkotujte-olympiadu-v-cine-hrozi-kulturni-
genocida-varoval-vezneny-reziser-v-senatu.html

https://www.ahaonline.cz/clanek/musite-vedet/190438/tibetsky-disident-v-ceskem-senatu-ignorujte-
olympiadu.html

2 pm interview with David Garadáš, Sinopsis, published on 12th Feb in on-line olympics special of Reflex weekly magazine

https://www.reflex.cz/clanek/zimni-olympijske-hry-2022/111629/tibetsky-reziser-a-politicky-vezen-
dondub-wangchen-sef-mov-bach-je-jako-mluvci-cinskych-komunistu.html

in the article are included photos by Ondřej Besperát from meeting in the Senate of Czech Rebublic


4 pm DW interview by Adam Šindelář for The Czech Radio (Český rozhlas Plus), program Vertikála (The Vertical) broadcasted Sunday 6th Feb

https://www.mujrozhlas.cz/vertikala/exkluzivni-rozhovor-s-tibetskym-dokumentaristou-dondubem-wangchenem

(interview with DW starts at time 4:50, ends at time 14:44 within the block)

5:30 – 8 pm
Public debate „Tibet and the Olympic Games in Beijing“ organized by Potala and Czechs Support Tibet in co-operation with the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University (Department of Sinology and project Sinopsis) and the Oriental Institute of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic

Speakers:
- Dhondup Wangchen, Tibetan filmmaker and former prisoner of conscience
- Wangpo Tethong, director of International Campaign for Tibet Europe
- Olga Lomová, sinologist (Charles University), co-founder of Sinopsis
- Jarmila Ptáčková, sinologist and tibetologist (Oriental Institute)
- Pavel Fischer, Senator, Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security of the Senate
- Linda Sokačová, director of the Czech branch of Amnesty International
plus questions and answers by students and public

The whole public debate has been documented, now published on youtube:

(some parts like greetings, thanking etc. are only in Czech, but most goes in Tibetan, English and translations)
information on official web of the Oriental Institute
https://orient.cas.cz/en/events/Public-debate-Tibet-and-the-Olympics-in-Beijing/

TUESDAY 25th of Jan
9 am DW - interview by Jana Václavíková for web news server Aktuálně.cz (in English: up to date, currently, recently) published on 26th of Jan

https://zpravy.aktualne.cz/zahranici/situace-lidi-v-cine-se-zhorsuje-poradatele-olympiady-to-ale/r~d79af59a7e8111ecb5bd0cc47ab5f122/

2 pm Happening at the door of building of Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic organized by other activists, DW was on his way to visit the Chamber of Deputies and he met with some politicians on the spot :

https://www.facebook.com/Kaputin.Democrats.Stop.Putin/videos/651735026243042/?extid=NS-UNK-UNK-UNK-IOS_GK0T-GK1C

Press Statement on DW visit to the Chamber of Deputies on 25 Jan and persons he met is in the Attachement
Co-founders of The Group of the Friends of Tibet of the Chamber of the Deputies:
Hayato Okamura - chair of the group, Olga Richterova - Vice-chairperson of the Chamber of Deputies, Marek Benda MP, Martin Exner, MP.

Media:

https://nasregion.cz/politici-vyslovili-podporu-vezni-cinskeho-rezimu-a-vyslovili-se-pro-bojkot-olympiady-v-cine-252656/?utm_source=www.seznam.cz&utm_medium=sekce-z-internetu

(article observes meeting DW with members of both Chambers of the Parlament of the Czech Republic, especially concerns with the meeting in the Chamber of Deputies on 25th of Jan and remembers establishing The Group of Friends of Tibet in the Chamber of Deputies) published on 26th of Jan

WEDNESDAY 26th of Jan
7:15 flight of all 3 guests to Tallin, Estonia

Czech TV - broadcasted on 31st of Jan
https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/1142743803-reporteri-ct/222452801240004/reportage concerning the visit of DW to Prague

web of the Czech TV - article by Vojtěch Jírovec published on 2 Feb about Olympics in China 2022 – within the article there are links to both documents recorded by CzTV with DW and also to his film Leaving Fear Behind

https://sport.ceskatelevize.cz/clanek/olympijske-hry/peking-2022/peking-2008-a-peking-2022-cina-je-sebevedomejsi-krutejsi-a-zalezi-ji-jen-malo-co-si-o-tom-myslime/61f961b77ebea1e7f1ea45ec

Dhondup Wangchen ́s program in Prague, Czech Repulblic from 21st of Jan to 25th of Jan 2022 organized by Potala NGO and Czechs Support Tibet NGO

Summary by Zuzana Ondomisiova, Prague, 13 Feb 2022

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