-On this occasion, which moves me deeply, I would like to express my thanks to the Norwegian Authors’ Union for conferring on me its 2007 Freedom of Expression Prize. I am also grateful to the Norwegian Tibet Committee for its whole-hearted support and assistance. And to my Tibetan countrymen who dwell in Norway, I offer the traditional Tibetan wish for good fortune: Tashi Delek! Read Tsering Woeser’s, right, speech, delivered by her husband upon accepting the Norwegian Author’s Association’s Freedom of Expression Award for 2007, below. (08-MAR-08)

Woeser’s speech has been edited for republication here by HRH F / Niels Jacob Harbitz.

Madam Chairperson, honored members of the Norwegian Authors’ Union, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, and my Tibetan countrymen:

On this occasion, which moves me deeply, I would like to express my thanks to the Norwegian Authors’ Union for conferring on me its 2007 Freedom of Expression Prize. I am also grateful to the Norwegian Tibet Committee for its whole-hearted support and assistance. And to my Tibetan countrymen who dwell in Norway, I offer the traditional Tibetan wish for good fortune: Tashi Delek!

That the Norwegian Authors’ Union has honored me with its Freedom of Expression award not only confirms the witness I have borne through my writings chronicling Tibet, but also reflects the current reality that Tibet is not free. Speech and religion are suppressed there. Speaking out is often treated as a crime, and for Tibetans, fear is an integral part of life, as I wrote in a poem: The air has long been charged with fear, real fear.

Freedom is an inalienable right. It includes freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Everyone ought to enjoy these freedoms. But in quite a few parts of the world, many human beings have no chance to enjoy them. This naturally inspires in those denied it a longing and a quest for freedom, while those who enjoy the blessings of liberty are moved by their conscience to sympathy and solidarity. This consoling narrative recurs throughout the history of mankind.

I believe some thread of destiny connects me to Norway. A few years ago I wrote a true story that occurred in your country: “Nyima Tsering’s Tears.” It was about a monk from Lhasa whom the Chinese government had dispatched to Norway to take part in an international conference on human rights. They asked him to endorse the Chinese government’s Tibet policy. In Oslo, where the Dalai Lama had received the Nobel Prize for Peace, this monk suffered embarrassment and heartache at every turn. He was denounced by Tibetan exiles; he couldn’t give honest answers to reporters’ questions. When a compatriot whom he ran into tearfully urged him to stay, he could only stammer, “How can I not go back? It’s our homeland. If we all leave, to whom will our home be left?” In the end, when he departed this free land of Norway, he couldn’t hold back the tears that welled up from a hundred emotions. I’ve heard that this story was translated into Norwegian and broadcast here. I can imagine how this Tibetan tale set in Norway may have touched Norwegians’ hearts. Norway is a country full of humane concern, full of sympathy for
humanity, and it has earned a reputation for justice and peace. By establishing its Freedom of Expression Prize, the Norwegian Authors’ Union has shown that a free society cares about freedom and values it.

It is rather ironic that although I have received an award for Freedom of Expression, I am not at liberty to come to Norway and accept the award. Instead, because I’ve expressed myself freely, I have been deprived of my freedom: this is the reality of the People´s Republic of China. However, as I said when my book was banned, I will not conform to the official representation of what is occurring in Tibet, and still less will I renounce my Buddhist faith. And as I said when the authorities shut down my blog, this is a media-rich age abounding in information, so there will be other ways to make one’s voice heard. As long as one has courage to pursue the freedom to face the truth, the freedom to uphold justice, the freedom to expose wickedness, and the freedom to resist arbitrary power, then no authority in any era can make a person keep silent.

Again, my heartfelt thanks, particularly to Anne Oterholm. And I wish everyone Tashi Delek!

Tsering Woeser
8 March 2008
Beijing