China poses as victim in Tibetan Propaganda campaign as violent clashes continue.
From Bill Allan
in Beijing
IDON'T UNDERSTAND why they've done this, when we've done so much for them," says Beijing office worker Zhao Qian after she watches state television footage of Tibetan rioters overturning cars and setting fire to shops in Lhasa.
Zhao's view is shared by most Han Chinese, who make up more than 90% of China's 1.3 billion people. They are influenced by the ruling Communist Party's constant claims to have rescued Tibetans from "feudal serfdom" under a Buddhist theocracy, and built them homes, roads, schools and factories. In recent days, the government has mounted a strong campaign to show the Chinese and other non-Tibetan victims of the two weeks of violent protests that have claimed scores of lives, according to Tibetan exile groups.
China says only 19 people died in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Most were apparently non-Tibetans who were burned or stabbed to death by rioters, with another 625 police and civilians injured.
On Friday, the government said for the first time that police had opened fire on protesters in self-defence last Sunday in the town of Aba, where local residents said at least 18 Tibetans were shot dead. Police said only four protesters had been injured and had fled after the shooting.
In the rioting in Lhasa on March 14, violence was directed at Han Chinese and Hui Muslim migrants, as well as paramilitary police.
Tibetans were told to mark their shops with scarves to avoid damage, one witness told US-based Radio Free Asia.
An article on the Indian-based Phayul website last week asked: "What better way to live but to live for your country and what better way to die but for the freedom of your country?" The article ran under the headline "It's now or never" and was apparently removed after about one hour.
The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader who fled to India in 1959 after troops quashed an uprising against Chinese rule, has renounced independence for Tibet in favour of greater political autonomy and religious freedom.
He accuses China of "cultural genocide" in Tibet, and today there are few outsiders there to examine his claim.
Last week, the Dalai Lama threatened to resign if Tibetans continue to use violence. Yet China calls him a "wolf in monk's robes", claiming he is still fighting for independence and has stirred up the recent violence.
Like Zhao, state media and most Chinese people ignore the economic and political reasons behind the unrest and portray pro-independence Tibetans as ungrateful children who fail to appreciate the economic development brought by nearly 60 years of Communist Party rule.
Prime minister Gordon Brown entered the fray last Wednesday when he said he planned to meet the Dalai Lama in May, following in the recent footsteps of other world leaders such as US President George W Bush and German chancellor Angela Merkel, but drawing predictable anger from a "seriously concerned" China. Robbie Barnett, director of the Modern Tibetan Studies Programme at Columbia University in New York, said that China's leaders are making a mistake by not meeting the Dalai Lama.
"Perhaps the saddest thing about this is that the Chinese have created a system with no Tibetan or other leaders with any local popularity or mandate, and so it's hard to see how they are going to resolve this other than by using force," said Barnett. "The one person who could solve this problem immediately is the Dalai Lama, but the unrest has almost certainly been triggered by the Chinese renewal in 2006 of their public campaigns against him."
Activists are now focusing their attention on the Olympic torch relay, which is due to start on April 1 and includes a controversial leg to the summit of Mount Everest in Tibet in early May.
The International Tibet Support Network, representing 150 groups worldwide, last week appealed to a major Olympic sponsor, Coca-Cola, to put pressure on the organisers to cancel the sections of the torch relay which will pass through Tibetan areas of China.
"Tibet is a central theme to China's Olympics propaganda," said Matt Whitticase, of the London-based Free Tibet Campaign. "Taking the torch through Tibet is intended to underscore its bogus sovereignty claims to Tibet."
If the latest campaigns do force the cancellation of a section of the torch relay, or even a boycott of the Olympics, it could prove a major loss of face, that would be a great challenge for China's diplomacy," says Zhao.
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Posted by: the man, moral high ground on 9:30pm Sat 22 Mar 08
I could not care less about Tibet and neither could the majority of the public . It might not sound nice but it is true . There was a demo in London yesterday showing support for Tibet and a handful of the usual suspects showed up . A major issue I dont think so . Even Ken Livingstone and George Galloway stayed away . I am more concerned about the fact an asylum seeker was health screened declared healthy allowed into this country and is now in Intensive Care in Gartnavel Hospital Glasgow with T.B. . We should realise that Queen Victoria is dead we do not rule the world . Lets protect our own country and way of life for a change and let the majority rule . And please no accusations of racism as I have a right to express views that differ from the freaky 2% who constantly support regimes that they know little about . The Tibetans dont even have a restaurant here . When I saw Prince Charles looking like a right Charlie bowing to the Dalami Lama recently and looking rather foolish I thought oooooopppps here comes another P C movement which means nothing to most people .
I could not care less about Tibet and neither could the majority of the public . It might not sound nice but it is true . There was a demo in London yesterday showing support for Tibet and a handful of the usual suspects showed up . A major issue I dont think so . Even Ken Livingstone and George Galloway stayed away . I am more concerned about the fact an asylum seeker was health screened declared healthy allowed into this country and is now in Intensive Care in Gartnavel Hospital Glasgow with T.B. . We should realise that Queen Victoria is dead we do not rule the world . Lets protect our own country and way of life for a change and let the majority rule . And please no accusations of racism as I have a right to express views that differ from the freaky 2% who constantly support regimes that they know little about . The Tibetans dont even have a restaurant here . When I saw Prince Charles looking like a right Charlie bowing to the Dalami Lama recently and looking rather foolish I thought oooooopppps here comes another P C movement which means nothing to most people .
Posted by: Bart Smit, Oegstgeest, The Netherlands on 9:51pm Sat 22 Mar 08
If it weren't so sad it would be funny: bully China suddenly starts to whine loudly when its victim can't take any more and finally lashes out. China loses face. I'm truly disgusted.
If it weren't so sad it would be funny: bully China suddenly starts to whine loudly when its victim can't take any more and finally lashes out. China loses face. I'm truly disgusted.
Posted by: hh, Maryland on 9:56pm Sat 22 Mar 08
Dalai Lama's supporters incited extremists to kill innocent people in Tibet, they performed as terrorists, that's why most Han Chinese do not like them. The Chinese government provided Tibetans much more privileges than Han Chinese since 1950s. For example, if a Tibetan kills a Han Chinese, normal policemen do not have the right to arrest him, unless they have authorization from "the head". So most Chinese do not understand why Tibetans protest.
Dalai Lama's supporters incited extremists to kill innocent people in Tibet, they performed as terrorists, that's why most Han Chinese do not like them. The Chinese government provided Tibetans much more privileges than Han Chinese since 1950s. For example, if a Tibetan kills a Han Chinese, normal policemen do not have the right to arrest him, unless they have authorization from "the head". So most Chinese do not understand why Tibetans protest.
Posted by: dsdsd, sdsd on 10:03pm Sat 22 Mar 08
no difference from what happen in L.A. several years ago, poor angry blacks attacked and burned other ethinic group people and their store,nothing to do with Demo
no difference from what happen in L.A. several years ago, poor angry blacks attacked and burned other ethinic group people and their store,nothing to do with Demo
Posted by: take a look, EARTH on 10:08pm Sat 22 Mar 08
A week in Tibet
Trashing the Beijing Road
Mar 19th 2008 | LHASA
From The Economist print edition
Our Beijing correspondent happened to be in Lhasa as the riots broke out. Here is what he saw
Rioting began to spread on the main thoroughfare through Lhasa, Beijing Road (a name that suggests colonial domination to many a Tibetan ear), in the early afternoon of March 14th. It had started a short while earlier outside the Ramoche Temple, in a side street close by, after two monks had been beaten by security officials. (Or so Tibetan residents believe; the official version says it began with monks stoning police.) A crowd of several dozen people rampaged along the road, some of them whooping as they threw stones at shops owned by ethnic Han Chinese—a group to which more than 90% of China's population belongs—and at passing taxis, most of which in Lhasa are driven by Hans.
The rioting quickly fanned through the winding alleyways of the city's old Tibetan area south of Beijing Road. Many of these streets are lined with small shops, mostly owned by Hans or Huis, a Muslim ethnic group that controls much of Lhasa's meat trade. Crowds formed, seemingly spontaneously, in numerous parts of the district. They smashed into non-Tibetan shops, pulled merchandise onto the streets, piled it up and set fire to it. Everything from sides of yak meat to items of laundry was thrown onto the pyres. Rioters delighted in tossing in cooking-gas canisters and running for cover as they exploded. A few yelled “Long live the Dalai Lama!” and “Free Tibet!”
For hours the security forces did little. But the many Hans who live above their shops in the Tibetan quarter were quick to flee. Had they not, there might have been more casualties. (The government, plausibly, says 13 people were killed by rioters, mostly in fires.) Some of those who remained, in flats above their shops, kept the lights off to avoid detection and spoke in hushed tones lest their Mandarin dialect be heard on the streets by Tibetans. One Han teenager ran into a monastery for refuge, prostrating himself before a red-robed Tibetan abbot who agreed to give him shelter.
The destruction was systematic. Shops owned by Tibetans were marked as such with traditional white scarves tied through their shutter-handles. They were spared destruction. Almost every other one was wrecked. It soon became difficult to navigate the alleys because of the scattered merchandise. Chilli peppers, sausages, toys (child looters descended on those), flour, cooking oil and even at one spot scores of small-denomination bank notes were ground underfoot by triumphant Tibetan residents into a slippery carpet of filth.
During the night the authorities sent in fire engines, backed by a couple of armoured personnel-carriers laden with riot police, to put out the biggest blazes. By dawn they had also sealed off the Tibetan quarter with a ring of baton-carrying troops and stationed officers with helmets and shields in the square in front of the Jokhang temple, Tibet's most sacred shrine, in the heart of the old district. But they did not move into the alleys, where rioting continued for a second day. Residents within the security cordon attacked the few Han businesses left unscathed and set new fires among the piles of debris.
A week in Tibet
Trashing the Beijing Road
Mar 19th 2008 | LHASA
From The Economist print edition
Our Beijing correspondent happened to be in Lhasa as the riots broke out. Here is what he saw
Rioting began to spread on the main thoroughfare through Lhasa, Beijing Road (a name that suggests colonial domination to many a Tibetan ear), in the early afternoon of March 14th. It had started a short while earlier outside the Ramoche Temple, in a side street close by, after two monks had been beaten by security officials. (Or so Tibetan residents believe; the official version says it began with monks stoning police.) A crowd of several dozen people rampaged along the road, some of them whooping as they threw stones at shops owned by ethnic Han Chinese—a group to which more than 90% of China's population belongs—and at passing taxis, most of which in Lhasa are driven by Hans.
The rioting quickly fanned through the winding alleyways of the city's old Tibetan area south of Beijing Road. Many of these streets are lined with small shops, mostly owned by Hans or Huis, a Muslim ethnic group that controls much of Lhasa's meat trade. Crowds formed, seemingly spontaneously, in numerous parts of the district. They smashed into non-Tibetan shops, pulled merchandise onto the streets, piled it up and set fire to it. Everything from sides of yak meat to items of laundry was thrown onto the pyres. Rioters delighted in tossing in cooking-gas canisters and running for cover as they exploded. A few yelled “Long live the Dalai Lama!” and “Free Tibet!”
For hours the security forces did little. But the many Hans who live above their shops in the Tibetan quarter were quick to flee. Had they not, there might have been more casualties. (The government, plausibly, says 13 people were killed by rioters, mostly in fires.) Some of those who remained, in flats above their shops, kept the lights off to avoid detection and spoke in hushed tones lest their Mandarin dialect be heard on the streets by Tibetans. One Han teenager ran into a monastery for refuge, prostrating himself before a red-robed Tibetan abbot who agreed to give him shelter.
The destruction was systematic. Shops owned by Tibetans were marked as such with traditional white scarves tied through their shutter-handles. They were spared destruction. Almost every other one was wrecked. It soon became difficult to navigate the alleys because of the scattered merchandise. Chilli peppers, sausages, toys (child looters descended on those), flour, cooking oil and even at one spot scores of small-denomination bank notes were ground underfoot by triumphant Tibetan residents into a slippery carpet of filth.
During the night the authorities sent in fire engines, backed by a couple of armoured personnel-carriers laden with riot police, to put out the biggest blazes. By dawn they had also sealed off the Tibetan quarter with a ring of baton-carrying troops and stationed officers with helmets and shields in the square in front of the Jokhang temple, Tibet's most sacred shrine, in the heart of the old district. But they did not move into the alleys, where rioting continued for a second day. Residents within the security cordon attacked the few Han businesses left unscathed and set new fires among the piles of debris.
Posted by: Basil on 10:47pm Sat 22 Mar 08
Fanning the flames of racial hatred is dangerous. The Western powers eagerness to support hooliganism by Tibetans will not bring any moral ground for their position. More oppression has occur in Iraq.
Fanning the flames of racial hatred is dangerous. The Western powers eagerness to support hooliganism by Tibetans will not bring any moral ground for their position. More oppression has occur in Iraq.
Posted by: Manmohan Singh, new Delhi on 10:51pm Sat 22 Mar 08
Tiber is China's internal matter.Does not make any sense for rest of the world to interfere.
Lets be clear on that.
Tiber is China's internal matter.Does not make any sense for rest of the world to interfere.
Lets be clear on that.
Posted by: J. Huang, GA, USA on 11:06pm Sat 22 Mar 08
I have been living in USA for 25 years. I don't always agree with What Chinese Government do, but in this case, I support Chinese Government to put down the riots. CNN's James Miles in his report said he saw with his eyes that Tibetans stone a 10-year-old boy, simply because he is an ethnic Chinese. That makes me very mad! James said he stepped in front of the mob and saved this boys life.
I strongly condemn Nancy Pelosi. She is so quick to take side in this matter and lashed out at Chinese. I want to know what she would do, if that's her boy?
Any government will not tolerate this kind of riots. Nor will USA government.
Chinese is not posed as victim. They are victim!
I have been living in USA for 25 years. I don't always agree with What Chinese Government do, but in this case, I support Chinese Government to put down the riots. CNN's James Miles in his report said he saw with his eyes that Tibetans stone a 10-year-old boy, simply because he is an ethnic Chinese. That makes me very mad! James said he stepped in front of the mob and saved this boys life.
I strongly condemn Nancy Pelosi. She is so quick to take side in this matter and lashed out at Chinese. I want to know what she would do, if that's her boy?
Any government will not tolerate this kind of riots. Nor will USA government.
Chinese is not posed as victim. They are victim!
Posted by: The Man, Moral Hight Ground on 11:46pm Sat 22 Mar 08
J.Huang perhaps you could ask that silly woman Pelosi why she constantly walks around with her hands joined together with a stupid smile on her face every time she has anything to do with Tibet or The Dilai Lamah . She looks like a Hare Krishna freak from the 1960`s . I say it again get over it folks Tibet means nothing and roll on the Olympics which will be the best the world has ever seen . China is dealing with trouble in their domain their way we allow foreigners and the liberal freaks to dictate the way we live . And please remember no racism accusations..... boring really
J.Huang perhaps you could ask that silly woman Pelosi why she constantly walks around with her hands joined together with a stupid smile on her face every time she has anything to do with Tibet or The Dilai Lamah . She looks like a Hare Krishna freak from the 1960`s . I say it again get over it folks Tibet means nothing and roll on the Olympics which will be the best the world has ever seen . China is dealing with trouble in their domain their way we allow foreigners and the liberal freaks to dictate the way we live . And please remember no racism accusations..... boring really
Posted by: graham on 12:52am Sun 23 Mar 08
The Man says "roll on the Olympics which will be the best the world has ever seen ."
Han Chinese may make up 90% of the population, but the remaining 10% equals 100 million people who are well cheesed off.
Everyone with a grudge to bear will make sure these Olympics never take place.
Expect a huge upturn in violence and demonstations from these groups, who have been waiting for just this moment to strike.
The Man says "roll on the Olympics which will be the best the world has ever seen ."
Han Chinese may make up 90% of the population, but the remaining 10% equals 100 million people who are well cheesed off.
Everyone with a grudge to bear will make sure these Olympics never take place.
Expect a huge upturn in violence and demonstations from these groups, who have been waiting for just this moment to strike.
Posted by: tony, CA USA on 2:28am Sun 23 Mar 08
Read the news carefully and do not let media mislead you. The Tibetan monks committed violent crimes against innocent people and should be punished as criminals. Chinese government should use necessary force to bring stability. Remember Rodney King riots. Do we still remember we sent NG to LA? Did we sympathize African American's violence against whites and Korean?
Read the news carefully and do not let media mislead you. The Tibetan monks committed violent crimes against innocent people and should be punished as criminals. Chinese government should use necessary force to bring stability. Remember Rodney King riots. Do we still remember we sent NG to LA? Did we sympathize African American's violence against whites and Korean?
Posted by: Andrew, America's Finest city on 2:54am Sun 23 Mar 08
J. Huang- you are so right about Nancy Pelosi, who is from our congressional district in San Diego. That's the reason why I switched to FoxNews from CNN. At least those conservative Republicans are honest about what they want (money and oil). Democrats always talk about social justice and moral highground. Well, remember Eliot Spitzer, Obama's Wright pastor? Our Democratic friends have become so hypocritical that Nancy Pelosi would spend so much time hobnobing with our big llama instead of getting the Iraqi mess sorted out ASAP. Honestly speaking, this whole Tibet rioting is more like the 1992 L.A. riot, where emotionally disaffected (or angry) and socially disadvantaged African Americans looted the heck out of those Asian storekeepers out of jealousy and ignorance and social hatred. What did the U.S. govt do? Sent in the National Guard and restored law and order by force. Sounds familiar?
J. Huang- you are so right about Nancy Pelosi, who is from our congressional district in San Diego. That's the reason why I switched to FoxNews from CNN. At least those conservative Republicans are honest about what they want (money and oil). Democrats always talk about social justice and moral highground. Well, remember Eliot Spitzer, Obama's Wright pastor? Our Democratic friends have become so hypocritical that Nancy Pelosi would spend so much time hobnobing with our big llama instead of getting the Iraqi mess sorted out ASAP. Honestly speaking, this whole Tibet rioting is more like the 1992 L.A. riot, where emotionally disaffected (or angry) and socially disadvantaged African Americans looted the heck out of those Asian storekeepers out of jealousy and ignorance and social hatred. What did the U.S. govt do? Sent in the National Guard and restored law and order by force. Sounds familiar?
Posted by: mou yin, beijing on 3:46am Sun 23 Mar 08
The international community, beginning with the UN and followed by the EU, ASEAN and other international organizations, as well as individual countries, should use every means possible to step up pressure on the Chinese government to do the following:
* Allow foreign media, as well as international fact-finding missions, into Tibet and adjoining provinces in order to enable objective investigations of what has been happening.
* Release all those who only peacefully exercised their internationally guaranteed human rights, and guarantee that no one is subjected to torture and unfair trials.
* Enter into a meaningful dialogue with the representatives of the Tibetan people.
Unless these conditions are fulfilled, the International Olympic Committee should seriously reconsider whether holding this summer's Olympic Games in a country that includes a peaceful graveyard remains a good idea.
The international community, beginning with the UN and followed by the EU, ASEAN and other international organizations, as well as individual countries, should use every means possible to step up pressure on the Chinese government to do the following:
* Allow foreign media, as well as international fact-finding missions, into Tibet and adjoining provinces in order to enable objective investigations of what has been happening.
* Release all those who only peacefully exercised their internationally guaranteed human rights, and guarantee that no one is subjected to torture and unfair trials.
* Enter into a meaningful dialogue with the representatives of the Tibetan people.
Unless these conditions are fulfilled, the International Olympic Committee should seriously reconsider whether holding this summer's Olympic Games in a country that includes a peaceful graveyard remains a good idea.
Posted by: A-Bian on 5:47am Sun 23 Mar 08
[quote][bold]Manmohan Singh[/bold] wrote:
Tiber is China's internal matter.Does not make any sense for rest of the world to interfere. Lets be clear on that.[/quote] But many Tibetans don't agree that Tibet is China's internal matter, that's what causes these problems.
I believe it's more than an LA style riot caused by social problems - at the heart of it is the issue of self-determination from a political party whose claims for territory on historical grounds are tenuous at best
Manmohan Singh wrote:
Tiber is China's internal matter.Does not make any sense for rest of the world to interfere. Lets be clear on that.
But many Tibetans don't agree that Tibet is China's internal matter, that's what causes these problems.
I believe it's more than an LA style riot caused by social problems - at the heart of it is the issue of self-determination from a political party whose claims for territory on historical grounds are tenuous at best
Posted by: tim, usa on 7:04am Sun 23 Mar 08
China is a victim? For occupying Tibet and massacring Tibetan. Tibet was a free country long before when China was occupied by the western powers.
China is a victim? For occupying Tibet and massacring Tibetan. Tibet was a free country long before when China was occupied by the western powers.
Posted by: Tibetan, usa on 7:07am Sun 23 Mar 08
[quote][bold]A-Bian[/bold] wrote:
[quote][bold]Manmohan Singh[/bold] wrote: Tiber is China's internal matter.Does not make any sense for rest of the world to interfere. Lets be clear on that.[/quote] But many Tibetans don't agree that Tibet is China's internal matter, that's what causes these problems. I believe it's more than an LA style riot caused by social problems - at the heart of it is the issue of self-determination from a political party whose claims for territory on historical grounds are tenuous at best[/quote] Tibet was a Free country. China has no right to occupy or interfere with Tibet's internal matter.
A-Bian wrote:
Manmohan Singh wrote: Tiber is China's internal matter.Does not make any sense for rest of the world to interfere. Lets be clear on that.
But many Tibetans don't agree that Tibet is China's internal matter, that's what causes these problems. I believe it's more than an LA style riot caused by social problems - at the heart of it is the issue of self-determination from a political party whose claims for territory on historical grounds are tenuous at best
Tibet was a Free country. China has no right to occupy or interfere with Tibet's internal matter.
Posted by: Who gives a...., Glasgow and this week China on 3:46pm Sun 23 Mar 08
In todays China Daily, english language paper, the Chinese press have shown images presented in the western media. They have shown the complete picture, not the cut and pasted ones used by the BBC, CNN and major photo news agencies.
The press and media editors are all too often keen to sensationalise a story and can often use miselading photos. One of the photos used by the BBC, is reported to be of Protests and riots in Lhasa but is shown in full, and is from a protest across the border in India. Me thinks the Chinese may have been unfairly treated and represented in the western press.
In todays China Daily, english language paper, the Chinese press have shown images presented in the western media. They have shown the complete picture, not the cut and pasted ones used by the BBC, CNN and major photo news agencies.
The press and media editors are all too often keen to sensationalise a story and can often use miselading photos. One of the photos used by the BBC, is reported to be of Protests and riots in Lhasa but is shown in full, and is from a protest across the border in India. Me thinks the Chinese may have been unfairly treated and represented in the western press.
Posted by: Namgyal, NY on 5:00pm Sun 23 Mar 08
Some of you who have no idea or knowledge about Tibetan history. Your comments only echoes the comments of the Chinese Communist oppressors who regard Tibetans with contempt.
Tibetans want what all peoples want - freedom.
Some of you who have no idea or knowledge about Tibetan history. Your comments only echoes the comments of the Chinese Communist oppressors who regard Tibetans with contempt.
Tibetans want what all peoples want - freedom.
Posted by: Tsering, NY on 5:26pm Sun 23 Mar 08
[quote][bold]the man[/bold] wrote:
I could not care less about Tibet and neither could the majority of the public . It might not sound nice but it is true . There was a demo in London yesterday showing support for Tibet and a handful of the usual suspects showed up . A major issue I dont think so . Even Ken Livingstone and George Galloway stayed away . I am more concerned about the fact an asylum seeker was health screened declared healthy allowed into this country and is now in Intensive Care in Gartnavel Hospital Glasgow with T.B. . We should realise that Queen Victoria is dead we do not rule the world . Lets protect our own country and way of life for a change and let the majority rule . And please no accusations of racism as I have a right to express views that differ from the freaky 2% who constantly support regimes that they know little about . The Tibetans dont even have a restaurant here . When I saw Prince Charles looking like a right Charlie bowing to the Dalami Lama recently and looking rather foolish I thought oooooopppps here comes another P C movement which means nothing to most people . [/quote] Your statement for me is the joke of the day. You say not to accuse you of racism but one can so easily smell it steaming from you. Just because one asylum seekeer has T.B doesn't support your comment on turning against that whole community. Human body can get sick against ones wishes. You never know, you might turn out to be the next patient with cancer or aids. Its ok if you don't care about Tibetans. But when you make remarkS against Tibetans please do it with some logic, as it makes you look more like a fool online.
the man wrote:
I could not care less about Tibet and neither could the majority of the public . It might not sound nice but it is true . There was a demo in London yesterday showing support for Tibet and a handful of the usual suspects showed up . A major issue I dont think so . Even Ken Livingstone and George Galloway stayed away . I am more concerned about the fact an asylum seeker was health screened declared healthy allowed into this country and is now in Intensive Care in Gartnavel Hospital Glasgow with T.B. . We should realise that Queen Victoria is dead we do not rule the world . Lets protect our own country and way of life for a change and let the majority rule . And please no accusations of racism as I have a right to express views that differ from the freaky 2% who constantly support regimes that they know little about . The Tibetans dont even have a restaurant here . When I saw Prince Charles looking like a right Charlie bowing to the Dalami Lama recently and looking rather foolish I thought oooooopppps here comes another P C movement which means nothing to most people .
Your statement for me is the joke of the day. You say not to accuse you of racism but one can so easily smell it steaming from you. Just because one asylum seekeer has T.B doesn't support your comment on turning against that whole community. Human body can get sick against ones wishes. You never know, you might turn out to be the next patient with cancer or aids. Its ok if you don't care about Tibetans. But when you make remarkS against Tibetans please do it with some logic, as it makes you look more like a fool online.
Posted by: jomellon, Lodève, France on 12:29pm Mon 24 Mar 08
The violence against ethnic Chinese, or Hui Muslims is to be condemned.
But much more so is the massive violence committed against the Tibetans over decades...
- From a population of about 6 million, probably more than 1 million killed (no-one was counting)
- occupation and dismemberment of historical Tibet
- systemtic and wide spread torture such as severing the thumb with bolt cutters for using buddhist rosary beads
- massive concentration camps
The Dalai Lama has on principle consistently used his best efforts to restrain violence.
As for the Olympics being non-political: the torch bearing through Tibet is supposed to be a political symbol that Tibet is a part of China, and recognised by the world as such. This is very important to the criminal regime running China.
Which is why there is no chance of them saying volountarily "Bringing the torch through Tibet is seem by some to be political, and is causing unrest, so as a symbol of peace we will cancel it"
The violence against ethnic Chinese, or Hui Muslims is to be condemned.
But much more so is the massive violence committed against the Tibetans over decades...
- From a population of about 6 million, probably more than 1 million killed (no-one was counting)
- occupation and dismemberment of historical Tibet
- systemtic and wide spread torture such as severing the thumb with bolt cutters for using buddhist rosary beads
- massive concentration camps
The Dalai Lama has on principle consistently used his best efforts to restrain violence.
As for the Olympics being non-political: the torch bearing through Tibet is supposed to be a political symbol that Tibet is a part of China, and recognised by the world as such. This is very important to the criminal regime running China.
Which is why there is no chance of them saying volountarily "Bringing the torch through Tibet is seem by some to be political, and is causing unrest, so as a symbol of peace we will cancel it"
Posted by: jomellon, Lodève, France on 12:36pm Mon 24 Mar 08
The issue is the regime running China, not a Tibetan / Chinese issue.
That criminal regime have shown that they are just as willing to murder Han Chinese people in Beijing, as Tibetan people in Lhasa.
And the West, in particular Britain and the US, having murdered hundreds of thousands in Iraq in defense of Exxon and BPs right to exploit Iraq as opposed to Elf and Lukoil have no right to claim the moral high ground.
The issue is the regime running China, not a Tibetan / Chinese issue.
That criminal regime have shown that they are just as willing to murder Han Chinese people in Beijing, as Tibetan people in Lhasa.
And the West, in particular Britain and the US, having murdered hundreds of thousands in Iraq in defense of Exxon and BPs right to exploit Iraq as opposed to Elf and Lukoil have no right to claim the moral high ground.
Posted by: David, Denver, Colorado on 4:00am Tue 25 Mar 08
It's very odd how so many people here sympathise with the totalitarian Chinese communist government. A regime that, like its Stalinist Russian counterpart, is so desparate to hang on to power (with all the financial benefits that that entails) that it commits obscene slaughter of its own citizens (remember how the Chinese secular mandarins ran tanks over Chinese students in 1989) and genocide against others, like the Ukrainians and the Tibetans. I would imagine that most of the posters here who profess indifference to the plight of the Tibetans are like the 1930s appeasers in Britain who kow-towed to Hitler.
For all others who are genuinely horrified at the thuggery of this paranoid regime remember that the Chinese have a fixation on not losing face. So, do what you can to help the Tibetans cause these monsters to lose face. For example, stop buying Chinese goods, a lot of which appear to be inherently unsafe. And boycott sponsors of the Olympics; companies like Coca-Cola and McDonalds, and write their chairmen and tell them why you are doing this.
By the way, "Andrew, of America's Finest city," Pelosi represents San Francisco in the House. And, unlike her fellow, Chinese-supporting, Californian Democrat--Senator Feinstein, whose husband Richard Blum has extensive business interests in China--she has spoken out against Chinese repression. While normally I am repulsed by her politics of death, in this case I have some respect for her.
It's very odd how so many people here sympathise with the totalitarian Chinese communist government. A regime that, like its Stalinist Russian counterpart, is so desparate to hang on to power (with all the financial benefits that that entails) that it commits obscene slaughter of its own citizens (remember how the Chinese secular mandarins ran tanks over Chinese students in 1989) and genocide against others, like the Ukrainians and the Tibetans. I would imagine that most of the posters here who profess indifference to the plight of the Tibetans are like the 1930s appeasers in Britain who kow-towed to Hitler.
For all others who are genuinely horrified at the thuggery of this paranoid regime remember that the Chinese have a fixation on not losing face. So, do what you can to help the Tibetans cause these monsters to lose face. For example, stop buying Chinese goods, a lot of which appear to be inherently unsafe. And boycott sponsors of the Olympics; companies like Coca-Cola and McDonalds, and write their chairmen and tell them why you are doing this.
By the way, "Andrew, of America's Finest city," Pelosi represents San Francisco in the House. And, unlike her fellow, Chinese-supporting, Californian Democrat--Senator Feinstein, whose husband Richard Blum has extensive business interests in China--she has spoken out against Chinese repression. While normally I am repulsed by her politics of death, in this case I have some respect for her.
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