Get on the Bus 2 - April 1997

While in NYC, we stopped off at the Chinese Consulate
By Hope Roth, member of AI Group 133

During the Get on the Bus trip to New York City, Chris Williams, Mel Yasimide and I went into the Chinese consulate. We attempted to deliver an oversized postcard on behalf of Gyaltsen Drolkar, which everyone on the trip had signed. We spent about half an hour there, trying to see the Consul General.

We arrived and were buzzed into a small dim lobby. At the end, there was a receptionist seated behind a window of bulletproof glass. There were a few leather chairs, a couple of tables and a large bulletin board labeled "Tibet Today" with pictures of smiling, happy Tibetans. There was a picture of the Chinese-chosen Panchen Lama and several pictures detailing 'progress' in Tibet. Did you know that thanks to the Chinese, Tibetans now have fresh fruit and vegetables?

The receptionist who had buzzed us in gave us the extension of the Consul General and Mel called him from the phone in the lobby. His personal Secretary informed her that he was, 'out of town with his wife.' When we told that to the receptionist, she was skeptical. She called several people into her little room and they stared at us through the bulletproof glass, talking rapidly in Chinese.

Eventually, a man came out. He argued with Chris saying, "Yes, but what are the details of the case?" He informed us that we know nothing about Chinese law. He refused to accept the postcard. Chris shook his hand, although the Chinese man seemed hesitant to shake hands. I left the postcard on a table in the lobby and we left.

Emmy Park, Blakeney Bell, Leona Breslow, Kim Guerera, a friend of mine named Alec and I went to the UN and took a tour. There were six other people in our group from other countries including two men from China. Our tour guide was German and she told us that when she was a student in Germany, she was involved in AI. She asked us questions about our group, and what we were doing. We were all wearing AI T-shirts (really great T-shirts, what a deal they are at 12 dollars.) Mine said "Human Rights" in Chinese. The two Chinese men noticed my shirt right away. They were pretty surprised when we talked about our protest at the Chinese consulate. I don't know what they thought about us.

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