Sir, - President Jiang's official spokesman, Mr Zhu Bangzhao, denounces Tibet supporters, as inheritors of the "inglorious cause of imperialism and colonialism." Indeed. In 1997, a delegation from UNPO (the Unrepresented Nations and People's Organisation) led by Ireland's Senator David Norris found that Tibet satisfies all the usual criteria of a colonised state.
Given that China's claims to Tibet are regularly based on the furthest extent of China's imperialist expansion in medieval times, as well as its de-facto annexation in 1949, Mr Zhu might do well to reflect that colonialism is by no means limited to those "with characteristic high noses." - Yours, etc.,
Anthony O'Brien, Tibet Support Group Ireland, Ailesbury Road, Dublin 4.