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Daily News
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Closing Down Mount Everest
Fearful of further bad PR in light of the current unrest in Tibet, China has closed down Mount Everest to all foreign mountain climbers.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 9:05 AM
By FilmStew Staff
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EverestPeaceProject.org
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Refusing to give this kind of peace a chance
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Narrated by actor Orlando Bloom and hailed by the Dalai Lama as a “tremendous achievement,” the DVD Everest: A Climb for Peace documents a United Nations endorsed 2006 climb undertaken by nine individuals of different cultural and religious backgrounds, including a Palestinian (Ali Bushnaq) and two Israelis (Dudu Yifrah, Micha Yaniv). The film now finds itself sitting atop a somewhat ironic peak, as the outbreak of violence in Tibet between locals and the occupying Chinese is anything but peaceful.
“What is currently happening in Tibet is very sad and extremely unfortunate,” the documentary’s maker Lance Trumbull tells FilmStew. “It is so upsetting and preposterous that the Chinese government has made statements insinuating that the Dalai Lama is a terrorist! Here is a man who has led his entire life as the embodiment of compassion, virtue, and non-violence – a true holy man.”
“Recent actions by the Chinese government have made mountaineers upset as well,” he continues. “As most already know, China plans to take the Olympic torch to the summit of Mount Everest. But because China is afraid of protesters and bad PR about the Tibetan cause that may occur on the mountain – they decided to close down the Tibetan [norh] side of Everest for all other climbers except the Chinese until at least May 10th. This has destroyed plans for hundreds of mountaineers planning to summit Everest this year from Tibet. And to make matters worse, China also pressured Nepal to basically do the same – making sure that no one attempts to summit [from the south side] until after they do.” (As a result, Nepal is letting no climbers past Base Camp #2 until after May 10th.)< /p>
Though Trumbull’s film focuses on the Israel-Palestinian conflict rather than the one pitting Tibetans against their foreign occupiers, the notion of a peace expedition undertaken from the Tibetan side of Mount Everest now abutting against local unrest says it all. In his December 15th, 2006 letter to Trumbull, the Dalai Lama writes that Everest: A Climb for Peace ‘reinforces my strong belief that if we adapt the right approach and make a determined effort, cooperation, trust and understanding can always be established for a true and worthy cause.” With all eyes this summer on Beijing, the Chinese government still has a golden opportunity to heed these words with regards to a mutually acceptable resolution of the situation in Tibet.
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