CCP Pressures Bangladesh to Stop Tibet Photo Exhibit

When Chinese officials in Bangladesh put pressure on a local gallery to shut down a photography exhibition on Tibetans in exile, organizers refused to give in. But then the Bangladesh government—a staunch ally of the Chinese regime—stepped in. They sent in police to close it down.

The exhibition, titled “Into Exile: Tibet 1949 to 2009,” was supposed to be opened to the public at the Drik Photo-Agency Gallery on November 1st. The photographs show Tibetans who had fled their homeland because they were persecuted under Chinese communist rule. It was organized in part by the Bangladesh branch of Students for a Free Tibet.

A few days before the scheduled opening, though, Director of the Drik gallery Shaidul Alam got a visit from the Chinese Embassy. The Cultural Councilor, Qian Kaifu, asked Mr. Alam to cancel the exhibition, explaining how Bangladesh-China relations would be affected if the show were to go on.

Alam explains on his blog how he responded, writing, “I reminded Mr. Kaifu that ours was an independent gallery. I asked him how he felt he had the right to tell us what we could show.”

But the Chinese Embassy appears to have influenced the Bangladesh government. Because just an hour before the opening of the exhibition, Bangladesh Special Branch Police Officers barred the gates of the gallery to the public.

Nonetheless, the organizers streamed a guided tour of the exhibits online—and went ahead with the planned opening ceremony on the street.

(NTDTV)