Beijing Wide Open
Exposing the truth behind China’s occupation of Tibet
China has brutally occupied my homeland for over 50 years but my people continue their courageous resistance. Follow this blog, as I share what I see, feel, and experience... leaving Beijing wide open.
Raise the Flag!
Lhadon! You guys are all doing such great work. I am so proud of you!! You’re doing an amazing job of showing the world the truth. I wish you all the best.
you go lala
Coffee sippers who think it might be a good idea to free Tibet from China are about 58 years too late. China is not going to free Tibet, and Western encouragement of Tibetan resistance will only get people killed needlessly.
Tibet was part of China for centuries. In 1913, when China seemed to be falling apart, the British Empire encouraged Tibet to declare its independence. It did, and that lasted until 1950, when, at the end of the Chinese civil war, China invaded and reclaimed the area. By then, the impotent British Empire was in no position to help anyone even if it had been so inclined. America chose to do nothing.
If you are not willing to make your way to the Tibetan plateau and face Chinese guns and prisons, then you certainly should not sit around some coffee shop and urge Tibetans to do so. Tibet is a strategic area of China, and the Chinese government is not going to give it up or grant it independence or even autonomy. To paraphrase a famous outlaw, it is enough that we know that China will do what it has to do.
As for us, we should do nothing. Tibet is part of China, and what happens there is an internal affair of China. The rest of the world has no right to interfere, and other than bloviating for a while, I seriously doubt that it will. Unfortunately, in this age of global communications even bloviating can cause bad things to happen to people.
Boycotting the Olympics is a foolish idea by a tiny minority of fanatics. The Olympics have nothing to do with Tibet, just as they had nothing to do with the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Boycotting the games would be a cruel blow to athletes who have been sweating and training for four years. It would accomplish nothing. It would further politicize the games, which should be encouraged to return to their amateur status.
China was awarded the Summer Games in a fair international competition and has spent a lot of money getting ready for them. Any attempt to spoil the games will do a great disservice to the athletes, the Chinese government and the Chinese people. It will do nothing positive and will only harden attitudes and end up making the world even more dangerous than it already is.
Americans in particular should keep in mind that we are currently engaged in mismanaging two occupations of two countries that we illegally invaded. Neither enterprise is going well. Neither is our economy. In short, we have enough on our own plate without trying to steal a bite off of China’s plate. We should make sure that Afghanistan and Iran are the last wheezes of the sick American Empire and shut it down and return to our republic.
I don’t know why some Americans seem to have trouble realizing that the days of the European empires are over. Part of the problem is that we have way too many vocational intellectuals and way too few real intellects. A vocational intellectual is someone who makes a living writing or talking. Such people tend to live inside their heads. Delusions of grandeur and fantasies about the real world are constant occupational hazards for such people.
No country in the world has to do what we tell it to do. Certainly that’s the case with the big powers like China, Russia, Japan and India. As you can see every day in your morning paper, even a little country like Iraq can cause us more trouble than it’s worth. It’s a crime against humanity that our sons and daughters are dying in the desert dust while fat politicians cavort about in Washington. Don’t encourage Tibetans to die in some futile fantasy about independence. They are not independent. They are part of China, and part of China they will stay.
I can’t express enough my admiration and appreciation. Well planned. Well thoughtout. Absolutely fantastic. I love you all. I can’t just say a few words to show my appreciation. I wrote an article and please check it out:
http://presidentialwatch2008.blogspot.com/
I would appreciate if someone could forward my article to the Golden Gate Bridge Three and the other 4 organizers. Thank you for doing this to let the world know. Awesome. Beautiful. Brave. Love you!
Thank you Lhadon la for everything that you guys are doing. I sincerely appreciate it. We are doing whatever we can here locally in Portland.
http://www.anti-cnn.com
May the truth be found through looking at both sides!
Buddha told the mouse and man, the sea of bitterness has no bounds, repent and the shore is at hand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGgYslpM8y4
I’d like to thank Lhadon for her leadership and commitment. Good on you.
I’d also like to address some comments offered by Stephen, above. What a load of sh*t. It’s difficult to figure out where this kind of thinking comes from. The Wharton MBA program? Rush Limbaugh? A troglodyte?
Stephen, you needn’t distress yourself should Tibetans continue to resist Chinese occupation of their country. Tibetans are even more tough than they are non-violent. They’ll do quite well without your supercilious critique of this injustice.
Lhadon … keep up the great work!
Tibet is a bell-weather of what China is all about. Their will to dominate… blind to compassion, deaf to dissent, dumb in their unwillingness to speak the truth.
Between Tibet & Olympics, I choose Tibet!
Between Human Rights & Sport, I choose Human Rights!
Human Rights for Tibet!
A possible solution is the one proposed by the Dalai Lama: 1) Beijing restores the old ‘priest-ruler’ relationship 2) Tibet recognizes China’s political mastery & military presence 3) China accepts Tibet’s genuine internal autonomy 4) ceases Han immigration & 5) allows the Dalai Lama to return.
Free citizens can boycott products of Olympic corporate sponsors!
Boycott Olympic CBC/NBC coverage!!
Free citizens can boycott as many Chinese Products as possible!!!
Political leaders must boycott Beijing 2008 Opening ceremonies!!!!
Gold Silver & Bronze in China, NOT LEAD in Tibet!!!!!
Apparently the world has gone insane. In the past century people fought for resources, which is rational, albeit evil. However, today, westerners are instigating war over culture, bigotry, and ignorance. Nothing has changed. Their forefathers colonized Africans to impose their culture onto them. Today, they are forcing western culture on China. Western society and culture is a VIRULENT DISEASE.
If westerners still carry on their crusade of cultural imperialism then China will probably go to war. And I personally believe, although most Chinese would be averse to war, every one of them will fight to the death for this cause. Because they are fighting against bigotry and ignorance.
What do you want from Us?
—— A Poem Dedicated to the last 150 years of this planet.
By a Slient, Silent Chinese.
===
When We were called Sick man of Asia, We were called The Peril.
When We are billed to be the next Superpower, We are called The threat.
When We were closed our doors, You smuggled Drugs to Open Markets.
When We Embrace Freed Trade, You blame us for Taking away your jobs.
When We were falling apart, You marched in your troops and wanted your “fair
share”.
When We were putting the broken peices together again, “Free Tibet” you
screamed, “it was an invasion!”
( When Woodrow Wilson Couldn’t give back Birth Place of Confucius back to Us,
But He did bought a ticket for the Famine Relief Ball for us.)
So, We Tried Communism, You hated us for being Communists
When We embrace Capitalism, You hate us for being Capitalist.
When We have a Billion People, you said we were destroying the planet.
When We are tried limited our numbers, you said It was human rights abuse.
When We were Poor, You think we are dogs.
When We Loan you cash, You blame us for your debts.
When We build our industries, You called us Polluters.
When we sell you goods, You blame us for global warming.
When We buy oil, You called that exploitation and Genocide.
When You fight for oil, You called that Liberation.
When We were lost in Chaos and rampage, You wanted Rules of Law for us.
When We uphold law and order against Violence, You called that Violating
Human Rights.
When We were silent, You said you want us to have Free Speech.
When We were silent no more, You say we were Brainwashed-Xenophoics.
Why do you hate us so much? We asked.
“No,” You Answered, “We don’t hate You.”
We don’t Hate You either,
But Do you understand us?
“Of course We do,” You said,
“We have AFP, CNN and BBCs…”
What do you really want from us?
Think Hard first, then Answer…
Because you only get so many chances,
Enough is Enough, Enough Hypocrisy for this one world.
We want One World, One Dream, And Peace On Earth.
- This Big Blue Earth is Big Enough for all of Us.
hi there,
just wanted to say……was pretty impressed they way you guys have carried out this whole protest……
hats off…..
you guys seriously rock.
peace.
one quick question……do u guys have an indian bank account no into which payments can be made towards the SFT movement?
thanx.lennon.
like some readers before me, i really encourage everyone to look at BOTH sides of the issue.
i am not saying that china does not have its flaws. i was among the disappointed spectators yesterday when i saw how the relay was disrupted, when i saw the clashes between the two factions. more than anything, it was disheartening to see how viciously people lashed out at each other. and then, how the media ate it all up. earlier you mentioned how a few seconds of sound byte on air were not enough to convey your message — what about the voices of thousands of the supporters out there who were not even entitled to those precious few seconds of air time?
the news yesterday night consisted of talking about the protestors, with only a passing glance at the supporters that also came out. in this respect, how can you say that western media is any better than the chinese government controlled xinhua news agency?
i really encourage everyone to gather the facts themselves. if you want to make the olympics political, at least understand the issue first.
YZhang, I think the world would be happy to start addressing your grievances once you end the illegal, brutal, demeaning occupation of Tibet, a nation which is nearly universally respected by the world community even if it is not understood very well by most world citizens. There is absolutely no excuse for holding onto a people who do not want to be part of your empire. Period. It’s that simple. China’s continued insistence on holding the Tibetan people against their will is just fueling world hatred of China. It’s not beneficial to anyone.
Stephen, thank you and I think that I will have to agree that I may also be a ‘vocational intellectual’ by your definition and maybe also live in my head at the same time. By the way, everyone please read the following piece. Let me know what all you think.
If you care to find out about American Foreign policy, and if you care to know why the US would wants to lend its support to Tibet during the Olympics please read the X article (written by George Keenan and it was the basis of the policy of containment during the cold war period) and the Princeton Project. The Princeton Project took three years to prepare and was prepared by a bi-partisan group of intellectuals and government officials. It defines the goals of America’s national defense strategy for the coming years. Out of the 5 threats to the national security of America outlined in the report, the Princeton Project states, the rise of India and China is one. Isn’t that something? China is a national security threat in the future!
Links to the X article and the Princeton Project:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/04/documents/x.html
http://www.princeton.edu/~ppns/report/FinalReport.pdf
The world is changing and if you care to look, it is all around us. China has a large operation in Africa. India only invested $500 million in Africa in the last 5 years. But now it wants to invest a lot more. India is taking a greater interest in Africa and in fact for the first time, India and Africa are having joint talks about future prospects. All of this is for securing future natural resources. It is not just an accident that oil in America is so expensive. Why? Because if you cared to find out, you will know that the growing economies of China and India are siphoning much greater amount of oil than in the past. It is not just oil, but iron, aluminum, copper, steel, wood, and just about everything. Things are just going to be more and more expensive. We can not expect oil to become cheaper but more and more expensive. This mad dash to create hybrid vehicles and more efficient vehicles make some sense now.
China is a threat in another way too. China is producing more PhDs today than the US and PhDs are critical to the success of a country. These highly educated people will be able to do more than other nations just because of their advantage in sheer numbers. I heard this great talk this business executive was giving to an audience, and I was taken back by what he said. He said, “I told my son that if he wants to be where things are really going to be happening in the future, he should go to China.” Imagine that, and it is not unusual to hear that sentiment over and over again, in some version or the other. It just seems that China is going to be bigger and bigger and it is really going to be where is the future will be. No offense to America, but it is a common thought among historians that “all empires ultimately fall” just like the Roman Empire. It is not a question of if America will fade away but when will it happen. To a lot of historians, this century is the Chinese Century. The last century is often referred as the American Century. To a lot of historians and intellectuals, America is already in process of falling from its height of power. There were a few interesting books written about it.
All of this is pretty optimistic for the Tibetan people; I mean the rise of China. When you think of China in that light, you tend to think that China can not really ignore its own problems. Right now, Tibet is an internal problem. But if this problem persists, I am going to make a wild guess that China will no longer want to spend any more of its time and energy in Tibet. And given the fact that China will be a very plural society comprising of all nationalities of the World in the future when China will be the destination of all who are bright and seeking wealth just like America is today, it is not hard to think that Tibet issue will be finally resolved. I was listening to a lecture given by this professor Qin Yaging, executive vice-president at China Foreign Affairs University and member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and he said that there will be a military intervention only and only in the case of the Taiwan strait issue. I had no idea that Taiwan was such a big issue, and in fact it is a huge huge issue. In 1995-96, I learned that China and the US almost came to military exchange over Taiwan. The US sent two super-carriers to the area after China, lobbed missiles over Taiwan.
He said that China’s approach to democracy is incremental and that China right now can not afford the risk of the unstabalizing influence of a full democracy. If you are interested in listening to the full lecture by Professor Qin, do a Google search. I think he spoke at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.
So, if Tibetans really are eager to know the situation of Tibet, we need to know American national security policy and foreign policy with China, we need to know the trade relations between the two countries, we need to know what is with Taiwan and we need to know China’s foreign policy to the US and the rest of the world. I think we need to know all this in order to understand Tibet. But there is no doubt that China will be a democracy in the future. It is a democracy in transition. It already has a market economy and what China is doing right now is trying to exert its control over the growth of its economy. When the time will come when that control is not needed anymore, China will become a true democracy. It is already exercising democracy at the local level, where elections are held and local governments are held accountable.
Tibetans also need to realize that China is no longer a communist country in the old sense but rather a government in transition. I am sure of the fact that older generations of Tibetans have no concept of what China is today and I also have my doubts if most of the younger generation of Tibetans outside Tibet has a clue regarding China. I really don’t know how we can not afford to know what is happening in China and Tibet. It is unsettling to think that Tibetans make no real attempt to learn about issues that should be very important to us. To tell you the truth, I had really no idea what was happening in China. I have to thank the Olympics for that. I really had no idea what was going in China and Tibet. We really live in a terrible time for us Tibetans here. We go on living our lives as nothing has happened and then all of a sudden there is this outpouring of passion and patriotism over a few days out of a year. We really do not educate ourselves about the issues, and the lack of that effort is quite disturbing frankly.
By the way, this whole thing about using violence like the Tibetan Youth Congress proclaims is sheer madness. Where do you think you are going to fight and win a war against China? I think we need to do think about things that make more sense like educating ourselves first, rather than thinking about violence. We need to live in the world where the rest of the world exists and not create a world of our own, with our own ambitions and goals. The recent protests for the Olympics are an example of doing things the right way but it is too early to celebrate and pat yourselves on the backs. Non-violent protests seem to work and it will work in the future. All we can do is grab the attention of the world, because China has a lot at stake now than ever before. China is now a part of the world in the real sense. It has economic stakes and to achieve progress China needs no road blocks in its path. That last sentence seemed very vague because I did not really explain what kind of road blocks. See, the last war China fought was the war in Vietnam ending in 1971. Since then it has moved towards a more harmonious policy in its international policy. As explained by Professor Qin. The Chinese way has been a policy of persistent cooperation, which is divided into four categories.
The Chinese Way: Persistent Cooperation
1. Cooperation with the international system.
a. Not challenge the international order and international system like the UN, World Bank, IMF etc. Being a beneficiary of that cooperation.
b. No enemy assumption, i.e. assuming that countries are not enemies and believing in a harmonious world.
2. Multilateral process:AESAN
a. Cooperation at the regional level.
b. Adoption of multilateralism in East Asia
c. Embrace AESAN norms
d. Support open regionalism
3. Cooperative foreign policy toward the US
(Cooperate especially in the fields of US core interests
a. anti-terrorist war
b. Korean nuclear crisis
c. East Asian regionalism
4. Pragmatic diplomacy for crisis management
So, these reflect the current policies of China. But there are doubts what the future will hold and whether conflicts are imminent in the future as China grows stronger and stronger. Right now, China is not strong enough to challenge the US.
——————————————————————
I said that China is a democracy in transition. Take a look at some interesting facts.
1. Since 1978, the Chinese economy has grown at 10 %
2. Per capita GDP has risen 8% (1978-
3. Internet use. 0 in 1998 to over 200 million in 2008.
4. 10’s of millions travel abroad every year.
Here are examples of how China can change from within:
“Leading human rights advocate Hu Jia was given a three-and-a-half-year sentence for criticizing the Chinese government in the context of the Games. Previously, Yang Chunlin received a five-year sentence for having begun a petition titled, ‘We want human rights, not the Olympics.’”(Human Rights Watch) Also, a group of Chinese intellectuals and scholars made a joint statement in China that China was distorting the recent protests in Tibet and that it was fueling negative sentiment against Tibet among its citizens.
Remember the Tianenman Square protests of 1989. That was an example of mass unrest in China way back in 1989.
Falun Gong is also a huge issue in China.
———————————————————————-
Here is an another thought, and that goes against what I have previously said. It assumes that the Tibet situation will not improve in the future.
But I don’t think that we can count one hundred percent on China’s policy towards Tibet to change from within. To think that China will change its policy towards Tibet in the future, we are assuming that China sees it self a part of the international coalition of countries and wants to promote a multilateral approach in its policies, both international and domestic.
But looking at America as an example of what China might do in the future is a little unsettling. The war on Iraq was a unilateral approach by America. It went against the UN and the sentiment of the world and went ahead and waged war on Iraq. Such unilateral approach taken by America with disregard for the rest of the world community is a brazen show of its status as the pre-emininent power in the world today. This kind of go-alone attitude by China in the future is not unthinkable. If China has little disregard for the world in the future, then I don’t think that they are not really going to care what they do in Tibet. I am counting on the fact that as China becomes more and more of a democracy and grows stronger and stronger, it is in its own best interest to let-up on Tibet and promote peace in Tibet. But if China goes it unilaterally and if it keeps saying that it is “an internal issue” then Tibet does not have a very good future.
Right now, what the West is doing to China regarding the Olympics is pure politics. To think that America, England, France and others care about human rights in Tibet is preposterous. This is a perfect opportunity for the world to leverage the Olympics and reveal what they truly feel about China. The West is truly not happy with a rising China. And I think that relations between China and the West are going to get worse in the future. Just a thought: China has the same number of people compared to the US and whole of Europe combined, I think. Its economy is going to grow as its people get richer and richer. Here is a sentiment shared by Mr. Rogge of the IOC. He was commenting on the way the West was treating China over the Olympics: “China will close itself off from the rest of the world, which, don’t forget, it has done for some 2,000 years.” I think that it is wishful thinking on the part of the West. The way America, France, and England have acted non-favorably against China is quite bothersome. They have not shown any support for the Olympics and this is an attempt to spoil relations between the West and China.
Here is another link on China. Feel free to check out all 33 lectures on China. Thank you all.
I am sorry here is the link.
http://uc.princeton.edu/main/index.php?option=com_tag&tag=China&tag_id=44
About the culture, the Central government deleted the parts which need human skins or eyes or blood in the Tibet Religion, and keep others. The Tibetans were free on the religions. That’s the reason I suggest you visit Tibet to see the truth by your own eyes.
In 1953 the Tibitan population was 1.28 million, the death rate was 2.8%, the neonatal mortality rate was 43%, the maternal mortality rate was 50%, the average life-span was 35.5.
In 1998 the Tibitan population was 2.45 million, the death rate was 0.69%, the birth rate was 2.37%, the natural increase rate was 1.62%.
In 2003 the Tibitan population was 2.70 million, the death rate was 0.63%, the birth rate was 1.74%, the natural increase rate was 1.11%(The rest of China was 0.601%), the average life-span was 67.
In 2006 the Tibitan population was 2.81 million, the death rate was 0.57%, the neonatal mortality rate was 2.438%, the maternal mortality rate was 2.47%.
By the end of 2001 in Tibet, Tibetan people 92.2%, Han people 5.9%, other minorities people 1.9%.
The Tibitan people also the people in other minorities are not included in the one-child policy, 99.4% of the Tibetan children were coverd by 9 years compulsory education, higher than HAN people.
Before 1959, no hospitals and schools for the serfs in Tibet, the illiterate was 95%, by the end of 2004, there were 1,100 schools, students 45,340,000, the illiterate was less than 4.76%. All of the minorities students(of course including Tibetan students) were given a special treatment in the Matriculation Exam with 50-100 score less than the cutting score. Which made a phenomenon that a child if his fater is Han people while his mother is Tibetan or other minorities, the child would rather say he is a minority student, coz the education policy of Chinese government squint towards the minorities students. By the end of 2004, there were 1,305 hospitals and women & children health care centers, 6,216 hospital beds, 8,287 Doctors and nurses, medicals per bed was higher than any other places of China.
RICH, you will see what is going on in the following legs of torch relay, the world does not only contain western people. I just keep poping up question marks when seeing your reply, “a nation which is nearly universally respected by the world community” how wide is that please? “world hatred”? is it just because of Tibet? Your words in this blog has been very aggressive and emotional so far as i saw.
In this case, I would rather call you an anti-China than a Pro-Tibet. If you really prefer the former one please be aware I am, like a high percentage of 0.3billion students in China, holding my anger back. But I will say nothing. Cause our Prime Minister asked us to smile to the world, thus we believe the world will smile back.
If you still belong to the latter one, seems you have been to Tibet? Would you like to share the experience with me cause,tho have also been to some Tibet area, I was a tourist after all. I would like to experience their bloody life though your talk.
Again if you still want a talk, please carfully select the words and speak the fact.
And I APOLOGIZE for saying my comment is deleted.
Because it WASN’T here when I saw it. I will never waste my time making meaningless lies here, it doesn’t help at all.
Hi Tenzin，
Just let you know, the Tibetan girl(studying in China Patrol univ) I contacted said she would like to think over her article before have it translated. So I am awaiting..
After seeing your thoughtful articles in this blog I am really glade to know you. I also, feel sad about your not knowing Tibet as a tibetan. I really want to invite you into China, to Tibet, to share and learn with you, so push everything to solve the problem there,which we all admit there are but not that sever as what the west Media said. And I am sure if this chaos never occurred, it is very possible. To tell the truth,, How you will answer before 3.14 when traveling outside of the country you live in and people ask you where you are from. I, don’t know whether right or wrong, think your Tibetan part could remain as an ethnic part but may not be a religious one/traditional one, and your way of thinking could be western rather than Tibetan. Feeling this, I feel really sad.
But now I really hope you,as a tibetan, can think more for a Tibetan inside China. There are many studying and working in other parts of China, they have to handle a lot of pressure now, they have to clarify again and again they don’t want what the protesters now claim that they want. As a Chinese to a person in the west, I also have to say that to solve the problem, protesters should have separated pro-tibet emotion with anti-china emotion. And the media should have at least published how Chinese people reacted and protected the torch relay. WHAT HAPPENING NOW DOESN’T HELP.
With a memory of being invaded by the western for 200 years and now suffering from bias news of torch relay( NOT ONLY torch relay, NOT ONLY this year, several same events happened before against the western gov/media), the nation now is crying. And many, including me, never believes the western countries will treat us fairly. Being on their side, using their power won’t be accepted in any way by the ppl you want to talk to, and if the ppl dont want a talk, how can the gov talk to you?
There were nearly 10 thousand people gathered in Melbourne against free tibet and bias Media today. And in Sydney, in ireland. And going to be more.
Tenzin, please, don’t let Tibet be sacrificed by the conflict between anti-china groups and us. You and us, we need to understand each other, rather than shouting with out listening. For me you are inside the family, like a sister,and for all the Chinese I believe they also see you as sister. I know our gov has done so much to its people, we are both suffering. And as a Chinese I know what we are suffering. I am sorry! But we still have our belief, and we are seeing the gov improving. Our PM, if you can understand China a bit, you will know why we love him, how much we support him.
We will talk to you, i am talking to you and I will try to find more tibetan in China talk to you!:) BUT,I will never ever talk to the fatuous anti-china people who imagine 1+1*2=4 and “China’s leaders are almost as paranoid, and their thinking is almost as skewed”. Yes, use your dirty words as much as you can. 所谓朽木不可雕也。
Talking about this, I want to thank all anti-China people who see this message.Without you, I’d never ever in my life know how much we love our country and how much harder we should work, study,and push forward. It has been a shame for us to be invaded, killed, robbed, slandered. But I swear and can see that it will be ended in our generation. Happiness gained in sorrow and pain is true happiness. Indeed,THANK YOU.
Hi ZhouXiu,
I think that I like your response, and I like your moderate view points on the issue of Tibet. You said that you know other Tibetan students studying in China. I would really like to talk to them in the future. And I want to go to Tibet and see for myself the real conditions in Tibet and breath the air of the country that I consider my own. I think that this issue of Tibet can only be brought to a conclusion through non-violent means and mutual-understanding. You have to realize that HH the Dalai Lama has been calling for a dialogue between the Tibetan Govt. in Exile and the Chinese government. So far China has refused to talk to him and there is no real good explanation for their unwillingness. The Dalai Lama has always said he only wants autonomy and not freedom. You said that Tibet is a part of China, and although I don’t agree with that statement, I will have to agree with HH the Dalai Lama and say that we want genuine autonomy. HH the Dalai Lama should have the right to go back to Tibet and reside in the Potola Palace. Don’t you think that it will be great day when HH the Dalai Lama will finally take his place in the Potola Palace? That will be a day of great joy and celebration for Tibetans. If China does that, just think of the moral high-ground China will have? It will really be the envy of the West to see China perform such a noble act.
Olympic torch relay protest, counter protest leads to frenzy display of nationalism in China and venomous exchange of words from both sides. US and EU congress pass resolution to condemn Chinese crackdown in Tibet, and Chinese government respond in outrage. All this is nothing but gesture, so why not escalate to trade sanction? Hit your enemy’s pocketbook where it hurts the most. Angry Chinese calls for boycotting French goods because Paris protestors hurt their feelings too much. Likewise, French politicians are thinking trade war might be a good choice to punish barbaric Chinese.
Well, the world is flat, globalization ties us all together whether you like it or not. The world economy has integrated to a point that every country is part of a complex web of supply chain. Westerns companies raking in huge profit from the emerging Chinese middle class, don’t rush to condemn the multinationals, anyone who has a retirement investment account is a stakeholder (or co-conspirator) to some extent. Anti-China protester send out rally message through Chinese made cell phones and laptops; take no offense, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone told me Tibetan flags used in protest are made in China.
I couldn’t help to bring your attention about a legislation introduced by Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado) recently. Basically, he wants to ban all importation and investment from China to US, ban all exportation and investment from US to China, stop issuing visa to all Chinese citizens, and a few other tough measures. The bill is so extreme bears no chance to pass in Congress which makes me wonder he just try to score cheap political points. I have to say Tom Tancredo rivals Jesse Helms in insanity. Take a look of the bill if interested. It is quite comical.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=76205
Jyanwei Liu, you have a lot of things to say which are very much true, but after reading your comment I’m unclear what your conclusion is. Are you advocating or opposing sanctions?
Regardless of whether Tom Tancredo’s bill is sane or has a chance, I think it’s a useful foil to show the Chinese what real extremism looks like so that they see how restrained and weak everyone else’s actions are, and how it could be to their benefit to talk with the moderate voices.
Hi Tenzin, I have posted an article of a Tibetan who holds Chinese passport somewhere in this blog, and a french vedio somewhere in this blog. They are both very helpful.
Yes I totally agree if the event won’t make any political change around the world. I feel so sad about a old man who is the age of my grandpa can’t go back to his hometown.
But, it is again very complex thing, and history has very little to do with it, although we both want to explore.
There are several articles explain the Chinese policies upon tibet in BBC Chinese version(ONLY~) I don’t fully understand, to be honest, but it makes sense. In ancient Chinese we say “grab a little hair can move the whole body”. I am afraid what we can do the best is to remain the sovereignty situation now and improve the human right/ religion condition as much as possible.
The Tibetans now tend to be very very cautious…. I will try
I guess you can find my old email address here cause I leave my email everytime with my comments. Contact me and I will give your email address(maybe create a new one is safer?) to those Tibetans I can find on xiaonei.com( Chinese facebook).
End Slavery! Oppose Free Tibet! Oppose religious slavery propagated during Old Tibet!!
If anyone doesn’t believe me, research independent sources. And PLEASE DO!! Seriously!! See for yourself what kind of “Shangri-la” old Tibet was as it was controlled by the Lamas.
I think the reason that the communists attacked the Tibetan religious elite was because they couldn’t stand how they treated the common Tibetan people, as animals. Please, lets not bring this old order back.
Shame on all those expatriate Tibetans, descendants of those former slave masters who are trying to get their power back!
Long Live Humanity and Freedom!! Oppose Free Tibet! Oppose Tibetan Religious Slavery!!
World Peace!!
Never had seen so many disclaimers repeatedly made by western politicians, celebrities, and protestors they are only against Chinese government‘s policy in Tibet not about against Chinese people. The west want to believe the CCP government is the number one public enemy at odds with Tibetan and Chinese people alike, this perception convinced the west that Chinese people, at least the overseas Chinese community, should understand anti CCP government ≠ anti Chinese people. That may be naïve.
Let’s examine some recent events, could angry Chinese took the street shouting anti French slogan orchestrated by Chinese government? Let’s say it’s possible. Could thousands of pro-China protestors lined the torch relay path in San Francisco and Canberra forced to show support of Beijing? It’s a tough sell. Some media suggest Chinese student protestors were all controlled by Chinese embassy, what about those second and third generation overseas Chinese protestors? Do you really believe CCP have control over them? Few western media paying attention that most ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and even Taiwan support the Beijing Olympic Game and largely apathetic to what happened in Tibet. Some in the west may start to sense maybe they are at odds with Chinese people, 1.3 billion Chinese mainlanders plus millions of China sympathizers in East and Southeast Asia traditionally influenced by Chinese culture. To quarrel with an entire ethnicity instead of the CCP is a major change in scope of work, if this is not a clash of civilizations I don’t know what it is.