To the editor:

Last week (Feb. 21) those listening to “Morning Edition” on KANU or KCUR heard a vivid report on the Chinese government’s brutal repression of Tibetan religious activity. NPR’s China correspondent told of monks living in fear of being shot in their monasteries. She described monks sacrificing their lives in acts of self-immolation in a desperate effort to cast light on the Chinese government’s cruelty. Perhaps even more disturbing was her comment that the Chinese government is preparing to increase its repression and bring even more pain and suffering to those whose only desire is to preserve their traditional religion and culture.

Living far from Tibet, how is it possible for a resident of Lawrence to express solidarity with the Tibetan people in their struggle against the Chinese government? One way is to contribute to the International Campaign for Tibet. Another way is to ask the University of Kansas administration to tell the Chinese government that unless it stops its brutal treatment of the Tibetan people KU will stop providing the Chinese government with money to operate its Confucius Institute on the Edwards Campus. If every university in America that has become a “propaganda partner” with the Chinese government by participating in the Chinese Communist Party’s Confucius Institute program would do this, it would put China’s authoritarian rulers on notice that the Tibetan people do not stand alone.