Hong Kong newspaper Singtao Daily April 12 published a reader's letter, revealing the background and nature of Reporters Without Borders (RWB), an organization that has actively demonstrated its support for Tibet secessionists and disrupted the Olympic torch relay in several international cities.
The Athens torch lighting ceremony on March 24 was disrupted when three men waving black flags and shouting slogans criticizing China's policy on Tibet, interrupted a speech by Liu Qi, President of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).
According to the letter, one of the protestors was Robert Menard, founder and general secretary of RWB. Menard had warned his organization would stage anti-China protests at every stage of the torch relay.
The letter went on to say RWB was established in France in 1985 to promote alternative journalism but after a factional split, Menard changed the organization’s focus to "protecting the freedom of the press".
RWB originally claimed it was self financing through book sales and did not accept financial support from governments. However, faced with undeniable evidence, Menard finally admitted in 2005 that he had taken funds from the United States, adding that he saw nothing wrong in this. Later, RWB announced on its website that it had accepted funds from organizations based in the USA, France and other Western countries, such as US government-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Soros Foundation, and the Free Cuba Center, of which the latter is an organization devoted to sabotaging Cuba, created by the US secret services and funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
The letter condemned RWB's stance on other international issues. RWB takes a strong anti-Cuba stance and when the USA clashed with the governments of nearby Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti, RWB blindly followed the US stance. Meanwhile, the letter accused RWB of turning a blind eye to factors hindering press freedom in the USA and its allies.
In March, UNESCO demonstratively refused to lend its support to an "Online Free Expression Day" organized by RWB.
Finally the letter said evidence collected by Canadian think tank Global Research shows nearly all Tibetan secessionist organizations including the "Tibet Fund", "Tibet Information Network", "Tibetan Women's Association", "Gu-Gu-Sum Movement of Tibet", and "Longsho Youth Movement of Tibet", have been funded by NED over a long period. The "International Campaign for Tibet", besides being funded by NED, has former US assistant secretaries of state and officials from USAID on its executive council, while the "Voice of Tibet", a shortwave radio station, was launched by the NED.
(China News Service, translated by China.org.cn, April 15, 2008)