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The 2008 Olympics in China just ended on Friday


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The olympic torch is due to be run through San Francisco. I am annoyed and dissapointed to see that the local authorities are setting uo so called "free speech zones" to keep any protesters from getting in the background of pictures of the runners.

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It's horrible. We (The Tibet Connection Radio Show) have some people reporting in Dharamsala. They were reporting on the protest march going from Dharamsala to Tibet, obtaining an interview when they were arrested. But on Friday, some people in Dharamsala who were in contact with Lhasa, where the violence is occurring, have reported that possibly as many as 300 Tibetan monks and laypeople have been killed by the Chinese military. We are very concerned for their welfare.

 

This link is from a post I left yesterday in this thread:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080315/ap_on_re_as/china_tibet

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They still think any decent people will travel to the Beijing.


What a bunch of irresponsible opportunists, including the olympic committee here in Lausanne, Switzerland

 

 

I hope all the decent people attending the Olympics will unfurl FREE TIBET banners like

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No, no. You guys don't get it.

 

According to the Chinese government, the protesters killed themselves.

 

 

Just like the kids in Tien'anmen Square.

 

You freedom-hating liberals just can't seem to say anything nice about our important trading partners and allies -- not to mention future economic overlords -- the Chinese, can you?

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IOC: Speak Up About the Tibet Crisis!

The crackdown by Chinese authorities this week on peaceful protests by hundreds of Tibetan monks and nuns has demonstrated China's complete disregard for international human rights norms. After years of repressive policies and repeated denunciations of the Dalai Lama, China's violent response has triggered the desperation felt by Tibetans and led to widespread protests in Lhasa and throughout Amdo province (present-day Qinghai and Gansu provinces). In Lhasa on Friday, police fired live ammunition into the crowd of protesters and unconfirmed reports place the number of dead at at least 100.

 

These are not the actions of a responsible Olympic host country.

 

The International Olympic Committee's continued silence about Tibet will only embolden China to crack down harder on Tibetans. Urge the IOC to remove Tibet from the Olympic Torch Relay route now and to speak up publicly about the situation in Tibet.

 

http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/tibet_IOC

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Tibet is in fact a province of China and is called Xizang - check any world map or Google Earth. To call it Tibet is like calling Beijing - Peking.

 

This is not an uprising by the people of Xizang, it's a protest by Buddhist Monks and their supporters.

 

Considering that China has had a "NO Religion" policy since the Cultural revolution of the late 60s - note how they treat the Falun Gong, this reaction by China is totally predictable and the Dalai Lama and his followers must have expected this outcome.

 

This is nothing more than grandstanding by the Buddhist religion, as they did in Burma where they received similar treatment.

 

religion of peace you say?

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Tibet is in fact a province of China and is called Xizang - check any world map or Google Earth. To call it Tibet is like calling Beijing - Peking.


This is not an uprising by the people of Xizang, it's a protest by Buddhist Monks and their supporters.


Considering that China has had a "NO Religion" policy since the Cultural revolution of the late 60s - note how they treat the Falun Gong, this reaction by China is totally predictable and the Dalai Lama and his followers must have expected this outcome.


This is nothing more than grandstanding by the Buddhist religion, as they did in Burma where they received similar treatment.


religion of peace you say?

 

 

I don't think you're going to find a very sympathetic reading here or anywhere among free thinking, fair-minded individuals, of your blanket condemnation of an entire religion.

 

And when that religion is one founded on principes of love for humanity and respect for life, it's going to be especially tough for many to swallow your broadside.

 

It would have some parallels to condeming all Christians and all of Christendom for the sins and crimes of, say, the Inquisition or the so-called Crusades. Except, of course, you haven't even cited these crimes against humanity by Buddhism.

 

You apparently see unruly criminals -- while much of the rest of the world sees a people who have never come to love the yoke of oppression and subjugation by a foreign culture imposed on them by violence.

 

 

The twisted reasoning of your take on the plight of the Tibetans and your willingness to make a broad and absolute condemnation of a religion suggests a deep-seated inability to see differentiation and nuance that suggests rather greater problems than just simplistic and rigid social views and lack of respect for the intellectual and human rights of others.

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Tibet is in fact a province of China and is called Xizang - check any world map or Google Earth. To call it Tibet is like calling Beijing - Peking.

 

 

"Xizang" is a name that the Chinese gave this region after they conquered it. "Tibet" is the name that Tibetans call it. Google Earth has to call it that because 1.) China calls it that and China is unfortunately occupying Tibet and in political control, and 2.) Google is doing business with China, where they regularly block information on the internet from 1.2 billion people.

 

Beijing was not relatively recently renamed as a result of a military army rolling in, suppressing and killing its inhabitants, persecuting people's religions, and causing many people to flee for their lives.

 

 

 

This is not an uprising by the people of Xizang, it's a protest by Buddhist Monks and their supporters.

 

 

"Xizang", which means "Great Storehouse" in Chinese, was brutally taken over with no provocation, where they had been an independent nation for hundreds of years.

 

"Xizang" has long considered a "Great Storehouse" by the Chinese dictatorship for its rich and plentiful mineral deposits as well as a fantastic strategic location, where they currently are mining its deposits and have weapons aimed down at the rest of Asia. They are building roads and are almost ready to complete a railroad there so they can bring up more supplies. Why do you suppose they are doing this? Hint: it's not for "tourism".

 

 

This is not an uprising by the people of Xizang, it's a protest by Buddhist Monks and their supporters.


This is nothing more than grandstanding by the Buddhist religion, as they did in Burma where they received similar treatment.

 

 

This is a protest by monks and laypeople which occurs EVERY March 10th, which is Tibetan National Uprising Day, marking the anniversary of the Chinese takeover. This is the 49th anniversary of Chinese occupation. The protest represents monks and laypeople protesting against the Chinese occupation and human rights abuses of Tibetans, something that I feel we can all get behind.

 

Since the Dalai Lama has already agreed to be part of China and a self-governed region by Tibetans, the continued non-communication by China for almost 50 years is especially laughable.

 

~~~

 

Your example of Burma is a poor one. First of all, to use YOUR "logic", you would be calling Burma "Myanmar", not Burma (Burma was renamed after the current military dictatorship took power, and most Burmese still refer to the country as "Burma"). Second of all, the monks were peacefully protesting the rise in the cost of gasoline, and were brutally suppressed by the military dictatorship.

 

The current military junta in Burma, by the way, is considered one of the most brutal military regimes in the world. After Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi (see my photos of her here) of the National League of Democracy fairly won the election in 1989, she was imprisoned, where she has mostly remained ever since. The government can then get rich on opium and likely mining uranium ore for Iran's nuclear aspirations, as well as possibly their own (!).

http://www.dictatorwatch.org/articles/burmanuclear2.html

 

But hey, John...never mind any of that. Let's continue to attack the monks!!!

 

 

religion of peace you say?

 

 

No one said it. You said it. But now that you mention it, it's the only religion that hasn't started a war. Buddhist countries are easy to conquer, though, John, because they don't have giant armies that can fight back. Not coincidentally, that's how China and the military junta in Burma were able to take over so easily.

 

Did a Buddhist monk look at you cross-eyed or sumpin'?

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"Tibet is one of two provinces in China, along with Xinjiang, where the Chinese government places restrictions on reporters' access. Government permission is required for foreign media to enter Tibet and Xinjiang, and CNN has not received permission to go in."

 

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/16/tibet.unrest/index.html (from Deanmass' link)

 

Zinjiang is also one of the most brutally suppressed places in China, where they regularly kill Uighurs and treat them as second-class citizens, stripping them of education and religion.

 

Hmmm, why do you suppose China doesn't allow foreign media in these two regions?

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Yeah, I saw the Chinese government's statement....wow, this is ridiculous!!!!

 

 

It's pretty typical.

 

I watched in fascination and then shock, horror, and disgust when the Tian'anmen Square pro-democracy demonstration turned into a brutal slaughter by regiments of the People's Army brought in from distant provinces especially for the job of crushing the protest. (The government made sure the soldiers did not speak Mandarin so they would be "deaf" to the protestors.)

 

I joined a silent protest at the Chinese government offices in LA in the immediate aftermath. It was interesting, because there were people from all across the political spectrum protesting with us, from libertarian to communist -- and they were all filled with shock and disgust at the slaughter -- and the insufferably tepid response from the Bush (1) administraton. I think Bush's true colors were never more evident.

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If you loved what the chineese Goverment did to the tibetans , wait till you see what they'll do to the environment!!!!!

 

 

(Ignore the environment, It'll go away!!!)

 

 

 

 

 

In a related story , the mexican government announced that it will not be sending any athletes to the '08 games ...... when asked why , a representative stated

" all the people who can run, jump or swim have already left the country":freak:

 

 

:poke::poke:

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The Chinese govt has always had the art of the ridiculous bald face propoganda lie thing down pretty well. And, of course, since most Chinese are just like most people everywhere else in the world, i.e. fairly nationalistic and willing to believe whatever their govt tells them, it generally probably works, just as it does here all too often. The only difference is that our govt. understands that the lie has to be at least plausible.

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If you loved what the chineese Goverment did to the tibetans , wait till you see what they'll do to the environment!!!!!



(Ignore the environment, It'll go away!!!)






In a related story , the mexican government announced that it will not be sending any athletes to the '08 games ...... when asked why , a representative stated

" all the people who can run, jump or swim have already left the country":freak:



:poke::poke:

:badump: Buh doom.

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The Chinese govt has always had the art of the ridiculous bald face propoganda lie thing down pretty well. And, of course, since most Chinese are just like most people everywhere else in the world, i.e. fairly nationalistic and willing to believe whatever their govt tells them, it generally probably works, just as it does here all too often. The only difference is that our govt. understands that the lie has to be at least plausible.

 

 

Oh... I think you're giving our government far too much credit for intelligence. I mean the smartness kind of intelligence. Not the Saddam-had-nukes variety.

 

[Of course, it's BS to say that our intel agencies actually said that. They most definitely did not. The recent congressional report -- like the Iran-Contra report 20 some years ago -- is a biparty white wash -- political cover for a bunch of people on both sides of the aisle who did not do their jobs.

 

If one reviews the newspaper archives, one will see that there was a good deal of reportage at the time (not in all papers or media -- to be sure -- jingoism was super-high right then -- but reportage from responsible, straight journalism sources, particularly from Reuters and the UK) of info from the intel services and analysts -- both official and off the record -- suggesting that while it was considered highly likely that Saddam had WMD programs and possibly existing weapons that there was no significant, credible evidence to support it.]

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