and to ensure that we in the rest of the country don’t know anything about it, YouTube has been blocked, once again. There are news reports on Chinese websites about the protests/riots, but as you would expect, the Tibetans and the Dalai Lama are squarely to blame. Chinese bloggers are saying the usual (as usual, they really can’t express any other opinions!) – why can’t the Tibetans just be law-abiding? Why can’t they just accept unity? Have they forgotten where the development of their land came from? (I’d love to know the Tibetan’s viewpoints, too, but I can’t. Not here.) The city has been locked down and no foreigners are being allowed in.
The rest of the world is watching closely, urging the Chinese government to “show restraint” as they deal with the aftermath. Is “showing restraint” code words for “don’t slaughter them all”? I hope so.
The Tibetan question is too complex to discuss here, besides, I don’t want my blog blocked. But I am sad to hear about the riots and the killings, and I am sad that the blame is being laid in only one direction.
I’ve just come across this commentary at EastSouthWestNorth (a great China resource) that really should be read, so I’m posting it here:
Tibet! (03/15/2008) This may be the most significant subject of the moment, but I can hardly find anything to say. My reservations are contained in these words from Wang Lixiong that I translated more than three years ago in History Textbooks in China:
Today, information on Tibet is duopolized by two different political propaganda machines. One machine is located in Beijing, and the other in Dharamsala. Since Tibet is to a large extent still under a state of blockade, other individuals or organizations find it very difficult to obtain independent information (especially at the macroscopic level). Like it or not, people who are concerned about Tibet are getting most of their information from these two propaganda machines.
The bad thing is that the information from these two sources is almost surely conflicting with and even completely opposite to each other. Faced with this absurd situation, the solution is to choose your position first and decide which side you want to stand with, and then you treat the information from that side as true and everything from the other side as false.
This formula is not adopted by everybody, and yet there is no alternate way to make assessments based upon data. The western world is suspicious and disgusted with the propaganda machines of communist countries, so the western world and its media tend to believe in the Dalai Lama. Meanwhile, the “patriotic” (nationalistic) Chinese, even though they may object to the Chinese government on other issues, stand with the Communist Party on the Tibet issue.
If you have any level of understanding about Tibet, you will realize that the determination of truth from lies is not that easy. Both Beijing and Dharamsala have elements of truth in what each say, but they also tell many lies. Even if the Dalai Lama is respected by everybody, his propaganda machine still issues propaganda for political purposes that are as removed from the truth as the Beijing propaganda.
Whereas ordinary lies are deliberate attempts to deceive people, some of the lies about Tibet are often sincere. As far as Communist China is concerned, they honestly believe that they have cause to boast about their rule in Tibet and the many resources and money that they have invested there, and so they are aggrieved and angered when they are accused of oppressing Tibet. As for the accusations from the Dalai Lama side, no matter how removed from the facts they might be, the basic sincerity should not be in doubt.
There are always at least two sides to every story, and I would love to be in a position to know more than one…
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Across the United States over the last week, many in the larger cities have protested the treatment of Tibetans by the Chinese government.
Many in USA ARE listening to several sides of the story and are deeply concerned about the oppression. Our thoughts are with you, and those in your country, and those of your neighbors.
Iraq Is Burning
The rest of the world is watching closely, urging the US government to “show restraint” as they deal with the aftermath. Is “showing restraint” code words for “don’t slaughter them all”? I hope so.
Iraq is burning – clever.
I try not to run a political blog here, but I see I’ve opened this window by posting about the events in Tibet. I should point out my personal philosophy is one of non-violence. I hope restraint will be used by both sides of the Tibet issue. As for Iraq, what a sad, horrible debacle that should never have taken place to begin with….