With all the Olympic actions for Tibet taking place and particularly the incredible success of the ‘opening’ banner action outside Beijing’s ‘Bird’s Nest’ stadium on Aug. 6th and subsequent media storm here in the UK, it took some time to get FT08.TV ready for prime time.

But with the dedicated help of lots of people, SFT’s new video channel is up and running, and filled with lots of must-see on-demand content, including inspiring Tibet activist video-profiles, action reports, video-blogs, and more.

We’re also airing a nightly Windhorse Report live from London with SFT leaders Tenzin Dorjee and Han Shan – a roundup of reports from Beijing and around the world during the Olympics, with breaking news about protests, call-in interviews with news-making activists, episodes of SFT-TV (the efforts of SFT’s global grassroots), and info and analysis about the situation on the ground in Tibet.

There will be more and more compelling content to watch every day and we’ll be improving the channel/website as we go (after all, this is but one small facet of our Olympic efforts right now). But please come check it out: surf around the many videos on the channel, or watch the stream (click on “Streaming Now” in the upper left-hand corner). Last but not least, you’re invited to submit video… check out the channel for more on what we’re looking for.

Please help spread the word about FT08.TV– join the facebook group, blog about it, embed the videos, spam your address book – and of course, keep watching.

And don’t forget to visit SFT’s Olympics Campaign website: http://www.FreeTibet2008.org and SFT’s blog: http://www.blog.studentsforafreetibet.org for more news and analysis from the frontlines of the current global effort to make Olympic history for Tibet.

Note: many thanks to Nathan Dorjee, Shannon Service, Andi Mignolo, Alex Fountain, Thupten Nyima, Kala Mendoza, and many others for helping to make FT08.TV happen at this critical time.
5:32 PM

This is an interesting post, but I think the major factor that you’re missing is that subtle cooperation with China has not worked for the Tibetans, the Uighurs, or the Taiwanese. The issue of “face” becomes an obstruction to negotiations in these situations, not something that can be massaged and worked around.

For example, in the case of Taiwan, the PRC has demanded that the island forgo its key starting negotiating position in advance. With Uighurs, China has closed off any possibility of dialogue and instead seems to believe its own spin that things aren’t so bad there (despite shockingly high rates of, for example, heroin use, depression, and suicide).

The Tibetan case is even more glaring. The Dalai Lama already accepts Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, a major concession when international law is more firmly on the side of Tibetan sovereignty (at least in my opinion). And yet, decades have gone by with no solution.

So, while I too am concerned that the protests only entrench Chinese sentiment, this is tempered by the fact that giving the CCP what it wants hasn’t actually accomplished anything. It’s easy to talk about realistic methods, but it misses the wider context of the political debate. Consider it from the other side: what would Tibetans and the allied interest groups gain from NOT protesting?