THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2008
Students Take Chinese Protests Downtown
By RICHARD MAYER
JOURNAL REPORTER
A group of St. Viator High Schoole students traveled to Chicago Apr. 10 to stage a "peaceful" protest in front of the Chinese Consulate and the NBC5 television studio.
The group, along with Fr. Corey Brost, C.S.V. and Br. John Eustice, C.S.V., presented two letters they had drafted to each of those organizations.
The Chinese Consulate letter called for China to end economic ties with the Sudanese government and support future U.N. resolutions. The NBC letter urged the station to publicize China's role in Darfur during Olympic coverage.
On April 8 and 9, the group invited all St. Viator students and teachers to sign those letters before they were delivered.
According to Nora Cay Ryan, director of communications at St. Viator, there were over 400 signatures on the letters.
Ryan also said the Chinese Consulate refused to take the letter and after appearing in the window for approximately 15 minutes behind the anchors of the NBC5 studio during the 6 p.m. broadcast, news officials asked the students and chaperones to leave.
With the Summer Olympics in China rapidly approaching, the students believed it was the ideal time to "expose" China's role in the "genocide" in Darfur.
According to St. Viator students, China is the main purchaser of Sudan's oil, and they believe the Sudanese government uses the sale proceeds to buy weaponry to "kill its own people."
Students have stated that China has "effectively" blocked U.N. resolutions to ameliorate the situation. Those actions emphasize the irony of the upcoming Olympic slogan: "One World, One Dream," students have said.
Students also believe it was necessary to address NBC regarding China's funding of "Darfurian genocide." They hoped that through their efforts, others will become aware of the "murderous" events in Sudan.
"We are educating people on the situation and calling for them to get directly involved in working toward a solution," said senior Derek Kiebala.
The protests and letters were part of this group's efforts to become a new chapter of STAND - A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition.
STAND's current crusade is attempting to end the genocide in Darfur, a region of Sudan. Already over 200,000 people have been killed and over 2 million displaced.