April 1, 2008
Column: Olympic torch threatens to scorch China
The Olympic torch’s journey to the Beijing Olympics is threatening to turn from triumphal progress into marathon humiliation. Protesters are rushing like moths to the Olympic flame.
The lighting of the torch in Athens was awkward enough. It took arrests and heavy-handed policing to keep pro-Tibet demonstrators at bay. Things could get worse this weekend, when the torch will reach London to be greeted by a combustible mix of police, demonstrators and patriotic Chinese students. Other potential trouble spots on the route to the Olympic opening ceremony in August include San Francisco and New Delhi. Then there is the trip across Tibet itself. The one spot on the Olympic torch’s progress where we can be guaranteed that there will be no public demonstrations is Pyongyang.
Is the Chinese government beginning to regret its triumph in securing the Olympics for Beijing? The games were meant to be a coming-out party for modern China – playing a similar role to that of the Tokyo Olympics of 1964 and the Seoul Olympics of 1988.
The remainder of this column can be read here. Please post comments below.
evan andersen
I think that it is a sad day when a squable with the government hurts the many atheltes who have been training their whole lives for these events. Evan Andersen thinks that there should be no cause for protest of the Olympics nor the boycotting thereof. If the violence increases then holding them in Australia or somewhere close is in order. I would not want to see all the hard work of our atheltes be drained because a few people can’t get a long on the periphery.
evan andersen
Posted by: evan andersen | April 1st, 2008 at 12:25 pm | Report this commentCountries like the US are far from perfect with regard to upholding human rights. But is this an excuse for actively supporting egregious human rights violations by countries such as Germany in 1936 or China in 2008? (Unfortunately, the analogy is apt, and whoever films the opening ceremony in Beijing this August will have to live with a legacy of shame, just as did the late Leni Riefenstahl, who even in her nineties, could not escape the stigma of having publicised Hitler’s Olympics so many years before.)
In the end, of course, the anguished protests of the Tibetan people, as well as the multi-ethnic peoples of Burma, the endangered people of Darfur, and the courageous political and religious dissidents within China itself, will most likely be drowned out by the powerful business interests in America, Europe and China which heve invested so heavily in this year’s upcoming travesty and have so much to gain from it financially.
Posted by: algasema | April 1st, 2008 at 2:51 pm | Report this commentI’ll put this succunctly:
“The Sudetenland is German!” - 1936 CE
“Taiwan is Chinese!” - 2008 CE
Also, apparently, Gideon has never heard of the persecutions Falun Gong and Christians in China face. You would’ve thought the West had learned by now, but no….
Posted by: DMO | April 1st, 2008 at 3:34 pm | Report this commentCountries like the US are far from perfect with regard to upholding human rights. But is this an excuse for actively supporting egregious human rights violations by countries such as Germany in 1936 or China in 2008? (Unfortunately, the analogy is apt, and whoever films the opening ceremony in Beijing this August will have to live with a legacy of shame, just as did the late Leni Riefenstahl, who even in her nineties, could not escape the stigma of having publicised Hitler’s Olympics so many years before.)
In the end, of course, the anguished protests of the Tibetan people, as well as the multi-ethnic peoples of Burma, the endangered people of Darfur, and the courageous political and religious dissidents within China itself, will most likely be drowned out by the powerful business interests in America, Europe and China which heve invested so heavily in this year’s upcoming travesty and have so much to gain from it financially.
Posted by: algasema | April 1st, 2008 at 2:51 pm | Report this comment
are you blind to the cruelty of han-chinese and mulism chinese who burned to death and beaten to nearly death???
i cann’t get it how people feel sympathy for killers while ignored the victims///
great for your human rights advocacy
Posted by: tracyhong | April 1st, 2008 at 5:40 pm | Report this commentIf Dalailama’s “cultural Genocide” in Tibet is true,then Cultural Genocide happens every second all over the world.Just thinking about how western culture becomes dominant in the modern times with its bloody coin money ,coercively exporting its lifestyle and standpoints and values,you’ll find those exiled-Tibetans and some western activists ridiculous and self-contradictory.On one hand,they appeal to the world that Tibetans’life quality must be improved and human rights should be protected.On the other hand,if you know well enough about Tibetan culture ,Tibetans’ traditional life style still keeps itself medieval and their religionary rituals still keep something brutal and fatuous.For example,under Dalailama’s ruling in Tibet,those religious monks must provide humans’skin,gut and virginity expected killed so as to sacrifice while all previous Dalailamas heid religionary rituals,which are facts in Tibetan history record and have been history since peaceful liberation of Tibet.Plus,those brutal means exercised on Tibetan slaves during those previous Dalailamas’ruling were so hair-raising that i don’t want to give any examples.I just wonder whether these are hints that show Tibetans’ human rights were protected properly during all previous Dalailamas’ brutal ruling. Consequently,what’s most important,i really respect Tibetan culture even though i can’t persuade myself to recognize it wholly.
Posted by: JojoChristine | April 1st, 2008 at 6:31 pm | Report this commentI want to remind you of one thing that Dalailama has ever been interviewed by an US magazine named Reader Digest. During the interview, Dalailama told to reporter of Reader Digest that one of great giants he respects is Mao zedong and he admitted that Mao zedong treated him as his son at the beginning .And after peaceful liberation of Tibet(which maybe most of westerners don’t agree),Dalailama was said that he had ever wanted to joined CCP, which is according to a latest article on Singapore news named Lianhezaobao. Plus, between the year 1952 and 1959,you could find some photos and videos during this time demonstrating the closed relationship between Dalailama and Mao zedong. However, after Dalailama had fled to India before long, just several years later, Culture Revolution broke out. And all kind of culture, especially Chinese traditional culture, including Tibetan culture and other ethical culture was destroyed extremely. My purpose of reminding them above is to tell that Tibetan culture, including Monasteries destroyed mainly happened during the troublous time, Culture Revolution .And what’s also important is that Culture Revolution did not target Tibetan Culture while Han Chinese culture was destroyed severely. However ,in the latest time, Chinese government has poured much money into mending and preserving Tibetan historic sites. Not only is it to boom Tibetan tourism and local economic through attracting outside tourists, but also it’s to protect and respect Tibetan culture.
Finally, China is different from South Africa , for there don’t exist apartheid in China (which maybe most of occidentals wouldn’t approve of me). Carefully refer to Chinese laws, you’ll find that apartheid and ethical discrimination are banned by law. However, ethical estrangement exists to some degree because of ethical personality. And Chinese leaders handle the ethical issue with great care.
Posted by: JojoChristine | April 1st, 2008 at 6:37 pm | Report this commenttracyhong, I have never expressed support for Tibetans or any others who commit violence against innocent civilians. But do these unforgivable acts justify the Chinese government’s repression of its own rural poor, its unions, its environmentalists, or of its dissidents, quite a few of whom, you may recall, were murdered at Tienanmen Square 20 years ago, and many more of whom are now languishing in prisons and torture cells throught the country?
And we are not just talking about Tibet. Without China’s support, neither the North Korean regime nor the one in Burma would be likely to survive for very long, and two million people in Darfur would have a better chance of escaping mass murder. Taiwan would also be safe from the threat of attack.
This is not a matter of racial or national pride, or of arrogant westerners telling Asian people what to do. The arrogance is that of the Chinese dictatorship, which falsely claims to speak for all the people of China, which has one of the world’s greatest cultures and civilizations and which has given the world values far more enduring than those of Marx and Mao. And are not the victims of China’s repression also Asian (and African?)
Certainly, the west is far from perfect, very far indeed. But why make things worse by supporting the Beijing Olympics? The world went there and did that in Berlin in 1936. Look at the result. And, JojoChristine, we have heard quite enough, thank you, about how “backward” the Tibetans supposedly are. So were the Eastern European peoples, allegedly, whom Hitler attacked and massacred during WWII.
Posted by: algasema | April 1st, 2008 at 8:06 pm | Report this commentalgasema. Please don’t pretend you know better when you have never been to China and get all your information from the western media.
Posted by: eric | April 1st, 2008 at 11:50 pm | Report this comment“CREATIVE TIBET/CHINA DIPLOMACY CALLED FOR!’”
The question posed in the above article:
“… at what stage does turning a blind eye to the political context in which the Olympics are taking place amount to an act of moral cowardice and complicity?…” is too circumscribed…
What needs to be asked is: “how can the west/developed world nations respond to China’s very serious Tibet issues in ways that are constructive both for the people living in Tibet and perhaps most importantly- for China’s on-a-steep-learning-curve leaders?”
Similarly, to assert as the article does, that “…US President George W. Bush has ill-advisedly accepted an invitation to attend the Beijing Olympics…” and that this “will make it impossible for the Americans to step round political controversies surrounding the games..”
… draws unsupported conclusions about the scope of possible foreign policy alternatives open to the Americans…
The assertion is in effect saying that no foreign policy options are available to the US (re Tibet) other than:
1) ‘turning a blind eye’ and cow towing to the govt of ‘China’s questionable conduct in Tibet; or
2) implementing an ‘adversarial’ themed policy such as a total’ US Olympic boycott…
Surely developed world politicians can be expected to have bigger minds- and to be more creative- than what this suggests….
It goes without saying that China wants to maintain sympathy in the west before (during & after) the 2008 Olympics…
The west (& developed world) ought to be making all efforts to assist China so that it has options other than “repeating the same stale old mantras, & enforcing the same harsh discipline…”, in order for it to deal with the problems in Tibet…
One way would be facilitating talks between the Dalai Lama & Chinese officials, with the objective of reaching a mutually acceptable vision for a future Tibet, in so far as its role, level of autonomy & governance within China…
Its true as the article says- ‘the 2008 Olympics are “China’s ‘coming out’” onto the world stage’ … as a top table player…
Nothing could be more destructive to future world cohesion, stability & the widely recognized need for the propagation of democratic values & human-rights-based rule-of-law world wide, than if countries or special interest groups attempt to derail China’s 2008 Olympics…
The enhancing of democratic institutions & human-rights-based rule-of-law in China won’t be done by currying the breakup of the country- IE: Tibet’s independence…
Nor will it be done by (the west/developed world nations’) boycotting the 2008 Olympics- humiliating China & its many peoples- especially those that have history-based grudges against the west…
Rather than moving towards a potentially catastrophic series of confrontations between the west/developed world nations & China, via the threat of, in effect, the west/developed world nations sabotaging the 2008 Olympics… the west/developed world nations ought to be proffering ALL possible assistance regarding Olympics’ preparations- so that China, for once… gets it right & enters the world stage as a metaphorical ‘winner’ & is perceivably successful at ‘playing the developed world nations’ game’….
In its preparations for the games, rectifying Beijing’s pervasive & severe air-pollution is about the only category where China is- despite best efforts- in danger of suffering a major defeat…
During the games, if athletes can’t breathe or if particular events or the games generally have to be postponed for days or weeks due to Beijing’s air pollution it would be a colossal set back both for China & its profile world-wide… a profile that all developed world nations have a significant interest in ensuring is seen to be as capable, outward-looking & constructive- in a foreign-relations way.
One way of the west/developed world nations proffering assistance to China in its preparations for the 2008 Olympics could be focusing on Beijing’s horrendous air pollution… & developed world nations making unconditional offers of technological, industry & manpower assistance needed to bring Beijing’s air pollution down permanently- to levels low enough that concerns over this being a problem during the Olympics were removed….
Surely, with enough of an international effort, Beijing’s air pollution could be dealt with in time for the 2008 Olympics…
Fixing Beijing’s potentially catastrophe-causing air pollution problems & facilitating the putting in place of a mutually acceptable- & ongoing- forum for dialogue between the Dalai Lama & China’s officials regarding Tibet would go a long way to making China’s leaders feel comfortable taking further & more adventurous steps in their clearly & repeatedly articulated- for years- objectives of democratizing their country/its institutions & instilling human-rights-based rule-of-law throughout the country- including in Tibet…
Rather than jumping on the short sighted band wagon & metaphorically ‘flogging’ China re the recent Tibet issues, developed world nations such as the UK- & interest groups- ought to be looking at the long term objectives re the shape & role of a future China on the world stage & attempting some creative- outside the box- diplomatic strategies…
Roderick V. Louis,
Posted by: Roderick V. Louis | April 2nd, 2008 at 12:05 am | Report this comment(near) Vancouver,
British Columbia,
Canada,
ceo@patientempowermentsociety.com
Many budhists and muslims were pissed off in U.S, and children who were born in this nation are being laughted at for gyoza and wonton in their lunch box- that is what so called cultural destruction. But no mass media or columnist even care about these. Cultural conflict, alike allergy, is everywhere as long as people are breathing, but this time the mass media in US fuss about it pretty much. Brainwashed? Save your words.
Posted by: briggita tsao | April 2nd, 2008 at 2:32 am | Report this commentAmartya Sen says that perhaps China’s great achievement is women’s literacy, but in general the uniting of China and the harnessing of the legendary intelligence and capacity for hard work of its billion inhabitants, turning it into the “workshop of the world”, is probably the greatest piece of social engineering the world has ever seen.
Lenin defined “Communism” as the power of the state plus electrification of the whole country. If we substitute the word “development” for “electrification” we get a functional definition of today’s China.
And the problem for our world view is that China’s experiment is working.
The Olympic flap is just another eruption of our disquiet.
Posted by: David Seaton | April 2nd, 2008 at 7:17 am | Report this commenthttp://seaton-newslinks.blogspot.com/
Dalai Lama was the head of a cruel theocratic dictatorship, and the spiritual leader of a terrorist organization which is trying to restore the theocratic dictatorship. “What is the rest of the world meant to make of the statement that the Dalai Lama is a “monster with a human face and an animal’s heart”?” What does the rest of the world thinks about the the victims killed by the pro-tibet terrorists, including the 8-months old baby burned to death? For those who support the dictator Dalai Lama and his terrorist organization, where is your conscience?
Posted by: freedom of speech | April 2nd, 2008 at 7:06 pm | Report this commenteric, I have in fact been to China, albeit briefly, and found much to like and admire about what I saw. I firmly believe that if things were left up to the Chinese people themselves, rather than to their authoritarian rulers, there would be little interest in supporting oppressive or genocidal regimes in North Korea, Burma, Darfur ot Tibet. And by the way, would you be willing to share with the rest of us when it was that you last visited any of those places yourself?
And are you seriously suggesting that China’s persecution of its own dissidents at home, not to mention its support for some of the world’s most odious regimes abroad, are fictions, only dreamed up by “Western media”? Again, there are ominous parallels with 1936, when the world supported the Berlin Olympics even as the Nazis were planning, if not yet openly calling for, the extermination of the Jews.
I would emphatically reject any suggestion that I am against the Chinese people. Most of the inmates of Chinese prisons and torture cells, not to mention sweatshop workers, are themselves Chinese, as were the victims at Tienanmen Square in 1989. Yes, there has been great progrees in China. To be honest, I was impressed to see how much, at least in Beijing (when the pollution permitted me to see anything at all). But remember (unless you are too young to do so) that Mussolini also made the trains run on time.
Posted by: algasema | April 3rd, 2008 at 1:35 pm | Report this commentAgain, my misspellings: I should have written “of Tibet” and “progress”.
Posted by: algasema | April 3rd, 2008 at 1:43 pm | Report this commentAll apologists for the Chinese government, please take a look at today’s (April 3) Financial Times article about the jailing of activist Hu Jia for speaking out in opposition to the authorities ahead of the Olympics. The article also suggests that increased government action against dissidents is taking place, not in spite of, but actually because of the Olympics.
How many more Chinese activists will be jailed before the world starts to feel any sense of shame for playing along with the Olympic travesty?
Posted by: algasema | April 3rd, 2008 at 6:15 pm | Report this commentalgasema.I am a Chinese and was born in Hong Kong ( so I haven’t been ‘brainwashed’ by the Chinese government) and I have been to different places in China including zhenshen, Beijing and my last trip was Tibet.
I have never said Chinese government has done nothing wrong. In fact, I totally disagree with the way the communist party rules and how they deal with the human right issue. However, it is frustrating to see that western people always point at China when the so-called developed countries like the US running a detention camp in Guantanamo Bay. I also would like to remind you that there are over 50 ethnic groups in China and Tibetan is one of them. If Tibet can go independence, so can other provinces and this is the least thing we Chinese would like to see and allow it.
Posted by: Eric | April 4th, 2008 at 12:34 am | Report this commentAs a Chinese girl who really respect Tibetan and their culture, I’m really worried about the future of China, including Tibet. During this special year with growing economy of China, throe always gets along with progressive upheaval. If this crisis is not dealt with properly ,it maybe engenders infaust factors to steady change of China society, which maybe makes China become the next Latin America. Apparently, recessionary economy of China will aggravate global recessionary economy in this year. Actually, I think mature democracy and educated civil society is the ultima direction and trend where China will develop. However, China is on the transitional track where all kinds of social systems are still expected to improve and be steady. Just imagine that if mature democracy and educated civil society are the fertile soil in which the democratic seeds grow healthily, how can democratic seeds grow healthily in an immature democracy and developing civil society so as to gestate democratic fruitage? Otherwise, China will become the next queasy Philippines or Indonesia. However, I believe China is forming its fertile soil —-mature democracy and educated civil society.
Posted by: JojoChristine | April 4th, 2008 at 5:00 am | Report this commentFurthermore, if you know well about the background of China leaders, you will find that they are all idealists and patriots with devotional beliefs. Although they claim publicly that they are zendics, they behave themselves just like devotional Christians or Muslems. What’s different is that they believe in communism. Premier Wen jiabao graduated from Nankai School where ex- Premier Chou Enlai had ever studied. Like ex- Premier Chou Enlai, Premier Wen jiabao is loved and esteemed with Chinese because of his sincere emotion. What’s not forgotten is that both Premier Wen jiabao and the probable next Chinese president Xi Jingping were persecuted during the Culture Revolution when majority of Chinese suffered a lot. So I believe nowadays Chinese leaders don’t search for domineering empire at all which will result in backslide and pursue gradualism social reform so as to ensure stormy revolution don’t wash out the nutrient of the forming fertile soil—-the latest economic and social fruitage might be destroyed. Thus , I believe China will develop into a mature democratic country where all respects of society are improved, which needs time.
I think, instead of continuing in the blaming game and calling for boycott, we should help the chinese government.
China is a vast country and multiethnic. If we are sincere to help, we should be fair. On one hand we have to put pressure on Chinese government not to use force/violence, on the other hand we also have to put preassure on Tibetan separatists to stop their actions.
No country, including US, Canada, France would let any of their territories declare independance.
Posted by: Layminto Jubilee | April 8th, 2008 at 4:21 am | Report this comment“Is the Chinese government beginning to regret its triumph in securing the Olympics for Beijing?”
i m telling you NO!!!!!!!!!!!! the whole nation is telling you NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we never regret. it is an honor for our ppl and for our nation. that s why we’ve been making great effort to protect it.
Gideon Rachman:
we went through wars lasted for long enough.
we ve been fighting with big nations to survive for long enough.
we grow so strong from the time we were nothing.
DO YOU THINK WE REGRET TO HOST THE OLYMPICS JUST CUZ OF SUCH INORGRANT ACTIONS?
it IS a coming out party for us.
we cherish wut we got and we deserve it.
wanna boycott olympics? you are not boycotting those actions that are trampling down the human rights, you are boycotting the nice ppl who open their heart to welcome the world.
Posted by: KY | April 8th, 2008 at 11:01 am | Report this commentAll of sudden some “civilized” western ppl are concerned about the human rights in China, citing the violence in Tibet as evidence, and feeling good by doing so as if they have fullfilled a noble calling.
Have any one of you checked the “human rights” records of the Dalai Lama? Did you know that Dalai was the head of a theocratic dictatorship, the head of a slavery society prior to 1950s in Tibet? I can’t believe any civilized people on this planent would support slavery and dictatorship.
Posted by: briggita tsao | April 9th, 2008 at 2:03 am | Report this commentJojo, I appreciate your courage to disclose your nationality in writing opinions on this anonymous opinion board. However, I cannot help sensing a tautology and an internal contradiction in your logic.
First, what does it mean by saying China needs “soils” for democracy to be grown? You sound like “Democracy is not grown up where there is no democracy”. Absolutely it is not, but so what?
Maybe your logic can be paraphrased like this: “China needs to be economically developed enough to think about other problems such as political regime, freedom of religion/speech, environmental pollutions, etc.” This strategy itself is not unreasonable. Every country needs and has its priority in its political agenda, and to some extent Chinese strategy after Deng has been working good.
This leads to my second critique on your opinion - “it takes time” argument. I realize that certainly China needs some more time to reach a mature economic society, and that is why many other countries shows understanding to China’s trade and capital regulations on the ground that China needs more time to adapt “freedom of trade” to the similar extent in other countries, though they continuously demanding the deregulations.
However, does it take such a long time to allow “freedom of speech” or “freedom of religion” in the same way as economic development? And is this the reason why the human rights activists both inside and outside China have been acting for Chinese government to improve the current situations for long time? And here comes the answer to my first critique; Democracy is not grown up where there is no democracy, and that is why everybody needs the right to talk about the democracy.
Wouldn’t you be pissed off if you were prohibited to make your arguments from this FT website to all over the world simply because you are a Chinese? Then, why can’t you let Tibetans to do the same thing by pushing the Chinese government to lift the strict internet bans and regulations? Why can’t you stop the government’s demonizing Tibetans and just have them talk with each other in the equal footing (Or could you please show us enough evidence, articulated by some free journalists, that Tibetans are one of the members of international terrorist organizations)? Freedom is not the problem of the government, it is about you. You spoke up here because you wanted to do that, and so Tibetans do. That is what is happening now in Tibet. That is the true meaning of the “dialog” Mr. Rachman mentioned in his article, and I totally agree with that.
Posted by: Revere | April 9th, 2008 at 1:51 pm | Report this commentRevere,
Posted by: freedom of speech | April 9th, 2008 at 2:30 pm | Report this commentAre you a tibetan currently living in Tibet? How do you know “That is what is happening now in Tibet”. I’m just curious. You may think you are pursuing a noble calling for the best interests of Chinese human rights. The truth may be different from what you have heard or learned from western media. As to freedom of speech, I have seen my comments “moderated” constantly by CNN and various other western websites. FT (at least this blog) has been a rare breed. Right after this post, I will try to post some links to the violent crimes committed by “peaceful demonstrators” in Lhasa in March thsi year, as well as history of Tibet. But I’m not sure whether it will pass FT’s filtering though.
Revere:
a) please search Tibet in youtube. There are videoss posted from both sides. Here is one that talks about the history of tibet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsoc4-QnplY
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any western media cover the tibet issue in the context of her history. The western media choose to neglect the fact that Dalai lama was a dictator and head of a slavery system.
b) Here is an article on Tibet from a political scentist
Posted by: freedom of speech | April 9th, 2008 at 2:45 pm | Report this commenthttp://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html
Great. It actually went thru!!! Your brits shall really protest the media cencorship in US!
Posted by: freedom of speech | April 9th, 2008 at 2:46 pm | Report this commentHere is the photo taken during the Pair torch tour. The “peaceful pro-tibet protestor” attacked the torch carrier, a disabled girl on the wheelchair pushed by anoter disabled, blind man. The girl in the wheelchair was injuried during the attack. I doubt you will ever see this in your popular paper.
It is an insult to the word of “human rights” when the phrase is abused by those who attack the disabled.
http://pub.creaders.net//upload_files/20080408123432.jpg
Posted by: freedom of speech | April 9th, 2008 at 2:57 pm | Report this commentRevere:
Tibet Riot Filmed by Australian Tourist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP8ELPLESYI
The “peaceful protesters” set up fire in stores and beat innocent passbys. Dozen innocent citizens were killed/burned to death, including an infant. But unfortunately, here is the western media’s coverage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSQnK5FcKas&feature=related
Posted by: freedom of speech | April 9th, 2008 at 3:13 pm | Report this commentWe are talking about distraction from Iraq and Iran. Americans are telling China to be quiet. In fact, there is increasing evidence of a next attack on Iran.
The truth is the U.S. doesn´t have any respect neither for International Law nor for international borders. They think they can attack, invade and occupy any nation of the World without consequences (later they are surprised when some guys destroy the Pentagon building and the World Trade Center killing 3,000 Americans…)
Posted by: Enrique | April 9th, 2008 at 4:11 pm | Report this commentIsn’t it amazing that probably 99% of the protesters buy Chinese goods or goods manufactured in China, thereby financially supporting the oppressive Chinese regime. Why don’t they all talk loudly and withhold their money from the Chinese? Oh but of course… it’s the cheap labour costs that inspires the capitalist society to keep the oppression going!
How ironic.
Posted by: Peter Jordan | April 9th, 2008 at 5:28 pm | Report this commentPeter, thanks for pointing out the ironic cash flow from US consumers to the chinese foreign reserve (the current account deficit). The cash doesn’t really stay in China, it goes back right into US government via treasure notes and bonds sales to Chinese government (captial flow). SO in the end, the US consumers enjoy inexpensive “made-in-china” products, and the Chinese left with a piece of IOU that loses value every day as the greenback depreciates… this is the beauty of capitalism.
Posted by: freedom of speech | April 10th, 2008 at 3:59 pm | Report this commentAnd this is not the most ironic part. Guess where Dalai Lama got his funding to roit against the Chinese government? The disclassified CIA documents revealed the particiaption and of CIA in the 1959 Lhasa uprising. So essentially the chinese government’s money is used to fund roits against itself. That completes the cycle of cash flow.
It is not fair to say Tibetans have been suffered from China’s rulling, because I felt most of them were happy when I was there 1 year ago.
I don’t think there is not such thing as culture genocide neither. Otherwise, you would not see any temple remains in Tibet, would you?
You would not see Tibetan lanauge appears, would you? You would not see any monks praying, would you?
In China, Tibet is one of 5 autonomies for minority nations and they enjoy many different policies from the majority Han. I don’t think any region can be totally free. If you live with parents, there’s no 100% freedom even at home! No mention a coutry. The thing they need to improve is to seek a better understanding between Tibetan and other nations culture.
It’s interesting that you mentioned nationalism in China… If American’s love towards their country can be called patriotic, why Chinese’s should be defined as Nationalism? Most of the young chinese I know are open-minded and friendly, I certainly will not believe they were suffered from the community party, and they are certainly not forced by the government to do/not to do things. China is not the one 20 years ago.
Human right problem? Don’t know much, but a fact I know:
Posted by: Nika | April 10th, 2008 at 5:02 pm | Report this commentMany countries have accused China’s human right problem to UN, but none of them was successful. I believe UN is more justified than any of the ‘comments’ we made.
Why does the west hate China so much no matter how China behaves itself?
Posted by: JojoChristine | April 11th, 2008 at 8:10 am | Report this commentWell, the article below maybe can answer this question.
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/4963/
Mr Rachman:
Posted by: Tabby | April 23rd, 2008 at 12:38 pm | Report this commentI am a resident in Beijing,I found recently more and more Chinese netizen ,including some naive college students launched a boycott aimed at multinational retail giant Carrefour as well as western media,CNN,BBC,… As the FT’s chief foreign affairs columnist,how do you think about it? BTW,I don’t pay attention to the so-called game because of soaring food price and Doomsday in stock market.Appreciate your opinion.