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Students petition in support of China

About 30 students from the Chinese Student Association collected signatures at Cornell Mall on Tuesday to support China's hosting of the Olympics.

Student Qiao Wang said about 100 people signed the group's banner.

Student Bo Yin said the group plans to mail the banner to the Olympic Committee in China.

"It's a very good idea because we can show our support from here, from Albuquerque," he said. "We can show that there are American friends that support the Chinese Olympics."

Wang said the group wants to show students there were two sides to the conflict between Tibet and China.

"We think maybe some people have some prejudice against our Chinese people and our Chinese country and also our Chinese government," he said. "It's better for us to make some noise and to tell some people that maybe things aren't that way, and it's better to listen to voices from both sides."

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Wang said the group hoped to spark dialogue between supporters of Tibet and China.

"The important thing is that we should communicate with each other," he said. "We should both make some noise, and we should talk, and we should sit down to try to find the problem to solve those problems."

Kathleen Loudermilk, a teacher at the Diamond Way Buddhist Center in Albuquerque, said she was astounded that students were signing a banner in support of China.

"I can't believe students are signing this anti-Tibetan stuff," she said. "That's so depressing to me. I really don't think those people can be informed at all. Who would sign something like that?"

Wang said some anti-Chinese protesters are confused by the belief that acting out against China will change the relationship between China and Tibet.

"They want freedom for Tibet, but, actually, I don't think that it's that easy," he said. "In my opinion, Tibet is just part of China the way that California is just part of the U.S. and New Mexico is part of the U.S. It's undebatable."

Loudermilk said it would be crazy for Tibetans to discontinue their struggle against China.

"The Chinese system is horrible even for Chinese, but it's even worse for the Tibetan," she said. "There's no freedom of speech."

Loudermilk said Tibetans need to take advantage of the Olympic spotlight to highlight their plight.

"I completely support the Tibetans in using this opportunity to raise awareness," she said. "Nobody is listening to them at any other time. If you are so much weaker than your oppressor, you have to use tactics that work."

Wang said he is unhappy with the response anti-Chinese protests elicit.

"Sometimes, they induce riots in China that kill people - that kill citizens. It's kind of disgusting," he said. "I think we need to do something to fight back. Not just really fight, but we need to tell them that they can sit down and talk with us but they cannot induce these riots."

Wang said the group will continue handing out informational fliers on the Beijing Olympics and continue collecting signatures at Cornell Mall today at 11 a.m.

Anthropology professor Julia Hess, who studied Tibet and the Diaspora for her doctorate, said it was important Chinese students voice their opinions to give balance to the conflict between China and Tibet.

"I think it's really interesting that Chinese students are trying to get their perspective out," she said. "I think that they should. I think that the violent kind of confrontation between protesters from different camps doesn't really help anybody. I think there needs to be dialogue."

Hess said the Tibetans and the Chinese have been using the Olympics as a platform for getting their stories out.

"I think this is a big opportunity for China to showcase their selves as a nation to the world, and I think Tibetans see it - after about 50 years of Chinese occupation - as an opportunity to tell the world about their situation," she said.

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