While most University of Massachusetts students were busy focusing on final exams and end-of-the-semester parties, Students for a Free Tibet [SFT] turned their attentions to Tibetan political prisoner Ngawang Choephel.

SFT sponsored an evening of Tibetan Culture and Dance in the Campus Center last night, where various speakers and performers hoped to highlight the movement to free Choephel. Petitions and fliers were distributed, and attendees were given letters to send to congressional representatives.

Choephel was a student at Vermont’s Middlebury College, who traveled to Tibet on a Fulbright Scholarship. His goal was to document traditional Tibetan music and dances. He was arrested and detained on charges of espionage on behalf of the United States, despite the fact that he was not known to be engaged in any political activity. Today, he remains in a Chinese prison.

The film Missing in Tibet, a documentary detailing the plight of Choephel, was shown at last night’s event. Thondup Tsering, a graduate student in education, spoke after the film was broadcast.

“After watching the movie Missing in Tibet, I have two questions,” Tsering said. “The first question is, ‘Why is China doing this to Ngawang Choephel, and to Tibet?’ The second is, ‘Is there anything we can do to save Ngawang?’

“I’ll try to answer these questions,” he said. “It’s important to understand the broader context of Tibet. Ever since China invaded Tibet in 1949, their sole mission has been to destroy Tibetan culture and identity. They think that if they can force the Tibetans to…sing the socialist song, they can say to the world, ‘Look, the Tibetans are part of China.’

“They’re trying to indoctrinate the Tibetan people,” Tsering continued. “Anyone, be it either the Dalai Lama, or Ngawang Choephel, who thinks it’s his right to preserve Tibet’s oral tradition, is viewed as an enemy of the ‘motherland’ and called a reactionary. The harshest punishments are reserved for these people.”

Tsering went on to say that he does have hope that the Chinese government will eventually free Choephel. He mentioned past incidents in China and South Africa, in which political prisoners were released in the face of political pressure.

Following Tsering’s comments, Yonten Chophel Dhongsar and Pasang Dolwa of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in Dharamsala, India, performed traditional Tibetan music. The first song that they played was written by Ngawang Choephel himself.

At the conclusion of the event, SFT member Matt Kozuch urged attendees to become active in the Tibetan freedom movement.

“There was congressional pressure to allow a visit by Ngawang’s mother,” said Kozuch, explaining why the decision was made to focus efforts on freeing Choephel. “It was from that visit that we learned that he’s seriously ill.”

“Our campaign,” he continued, “is to have him released on medical parole. That way, the Chinese government won’t lose face.”