‘Heavenly Tibet’ at the Shanghai Expo

The largest expo ever held has opened on 1 May and will run for six months. The Chinese government has invested over 40 billion Yuan (60 billion USD) to showcase itself to the world, more than it spent on the Olympics.

The Shanghai Expo ‘s Tibet Pavilion, called ‘Heavenly Tibet’, is a crude attempt to white-wash the ongoing human rights abuses in Tibet and to present Tibetans as a happy people under Chinese rule.

The Tibet Pavilion is advertised by the organisers as displaying “the unique charms of Tibetan culture, Tibetan people’s patriotism, resolution to make progress, and aspiration for well-off life, peace, and harmony, through exhibited items like Qinghai-Tibet Railway, Housing Project, multimedia interactive streets, and short videos.”

“Tibet Week” at the Expo will take place from 1 -5 September with cultural shows, lectures and other propaganda activities.

The Expo, just like the Olympics, is likely to draw protestors and marginalised groups to protest, including the 18,000 locals who were moved from their homes because of the Expo. However it is likely that petitioners will be treated in a similar fashion to during the Olympics where all requests to protest were turned down and several petitioners were even detained.

Even before the Expo opened, a clampdown on critics of the Expo have already begun. According to Human Rights Watch Chinese authorities are holding known social activists in Shanghai under surveillance and have raided the home of a Shanghai based activist who hoped to campaign against Shanghai’s legal system.

Free Tibet is calling on visitors to boycott the Tibet Pavilion.

Read Free Tibet's press release
Read more about the expo