Sunday, November 15, 2009

A US congressional report that the Chinese government will not like....

On October 22 2009, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China released the 'Special Topic Paper: Tibet 2008-2009', which can be found at http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/tibet/tibet_2008-2009.pdf. If you want to know what's realy going on, I can highly recommend you read it, even just the findings in the very beginning.

Just a few quotes from the 'Findings' chapter:


the Chinese government and Communist Party strengthened the policies and measures that frustrated Tibetans prior to the wave of Tibetan protests that started in March 2008.

both sides have referred to the dialogue as having stalled. ... The principal results of the eighth round of formal dialogue between the Dalai Lama’s representatives and Party officials were the Dalai Lama’s envoys’ handover of a detailed memorandum explaining Tibetan proposals for “genuine autonomy,” the Party’s rejection of the memorandum, and the Party’s continued insistence that the Dalai Lama fulfill additional preconditions on dialogue.

The government has in the past year used institutional, educational, legal, and propaganda channels to pressure Tibetan Buddhists to modify their religious views and aspirations. Chinese officials adopted a more assertive tone in expressing determination to select the next Dalai Lama, and to pressure Tibetans living in China to accept only a Dalai Lama approved by the Chinese government. Escalating government efforts to discredit the Dalai Lama and to transform Tibetan Buddhism into a doctrine that promotes government positions and policy has resulted instead in continuing Tibetan demands for freedom of religion and the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet.

The government pressed forward with a Party-led development policy that prioritizes infrastructure construction and casts Tibetan support for the Dalai Lama as the chief obstacle to Tibetan development.

The potential scale of demographic, economic, and environmental impact that the Sichuan-Tibet railway could have on Tibetan autonomous areas of China may far surpass the impact of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, which began operation in July 2006. Confrontations between Tibetans and Chinese government and security officials resulted in 2009 when Tibetans protested against natural resource development projects.

The government and Party crackdown on Tibetan communities, monasteries, nunneries, schools, and workplaces following the wave of Tibetan protests that began on March 10, 2008, continued during 2009. Security measures intensified in some Tibetan areas during a monthslong period that bracketed a series of sensitive anniversaries and observances in February and March 2009. As a result of increased government security measures and harsh action against protesters, Tibetan political protests in 2009 were smaller and of briefer duration than protests of March and April 2008. The Commission’s Political Prisoner Database (PPD) contained as of September 2009 a total of 670 records of Tibetans detained on or after March 10, 2008—a figure certain to be incomplete—for exercising rights such as the freedoms of speech, religion, assembly, and association.

Why do I sometimes wish the Chinese government had not blocked my website from being viewed in China?....

Love & clear lght,
Rudy

China's bullying tactics - 9 - Dr Mangosuthu Buthelezi

Phalyul.org reports on November 13 on another bullying attempt:

A two-day “5th World Parliamentarians' Convention on Tibet' will take place in Italy's capital Rome from 18 – 19 November. China's Consul General, Liu Yantao recently wrote a letter to persuade Mangosuthu Buthelezi (the South African President of the Inkatha Freedom Party), not to attend a summit of world leaders to discuss China’s rule of Tibet, SAPA news Agency cited a local newspaper of the country as reporting on Thursday.

Buthelezi, who is a friend of the exiled Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama, has refused to turn down the invitation, the paper is said to have reported.

Attempts to persuade the South African government to block Buthelezi also failed as government told the Chinese that South Africa is a democratic country which allowed its citizens to travel anywhere as they wished, the report said.

It must be tough for Chinese officials to face all these people who don't want to bend over backwards to please them, and who think democracy is a good idea...

Love & clear light,
Rudy

China's bullying tactics - 8 - Obama is to think differently

Yes, according to the 'enlightened view' of Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang, President Obama should remember the days of slavery in the US, and therefore appreciate what the Chinese did in Tibet to stop the serf system.

According to Associated Press on November 12:
Asked about a possible meeting between Obama and the Dalai Lama, Qin said the U.S. president should recognize the exiled Tibetan leader — a Nobel Peace Prize winner — as the former head of a slave state.

What the Chinese appear to forget is that their form of government is considered by many as slavery of the entire population, upto and including arbitrary executions. I would say they replaced partial serfdom with absolute slavery...

Love & clear light,
Rudy