Trouble in Paradise

Posted by stuart on Mar 19th, 2008
2008
Mar 19

I suppose it had to happen. How can you marginalise an entire culture for half a century without breeding resentment? That resentment is more likely to find a voice when the world is watching. On whichever side of the political divide you find yourself encamped on the Tibet issue, it is an issue; and there is trouble relating to that issue happening right now. A good account of events as told through various media outlets can be found at chinadigitaltimes.

If you’re in China you might have problems accessing that link without a proxy, one of the reasons I choose to raise the issue here. The CCP could be a lot smarter in handling its coverage of these incidents in the months preceding the Games. But nobody should hold their breath waiting for that to happen.

A reasonable discussion of current events is underway at Peking Duck. However, some of the party faithful seem unable to contain themselves:

Chinese governement should crush tibetan people as hard as possible. If you have to drop a bomb in the crowd, do it.

We should set an example. Now is the Opportunity. Just crush Tibetans. Maim them, burn them, destroy them. And make the world know, it if you want to take the advantage of Olympic games to destabilize china, you shall pay with your life, your family’s life and your country men’s life!

A more sober and detailed account of events to date can be found at the timesonline:

Anger in Tibet

In the Barkh_r market that winds around the J_khang temple, Tibet’s holiest site, they reported the bodies of two Tibetan men and two Tibetan women. The body of a Tibetan man was seen in the Lugu district and a Tibetan woman lay dead on Qingnian Road, near the city centre. They said all appeared to have been shot but no monks were seen among the dead.

Many ethnic Han Chinese, a minority in Tibet, were wounded in attacks by Tibetans hurling rocks and bricks as they vented their anger against Beijing rule. Residents said a number of Han had been killed but no figures were available as the city was engulfed in chaos.

China Daily predictably puts a slightly different spin on events:

Xinhua reporters in Lhasa saw many rioters were carrying backpacks filled with stones and bottles of inflammable liquids, some holding iron bars, wooden sticks and long knifes, a sign that the crowd came fully prepared and meant harm.

The mobs assaulted passersby, sparing no women or children, witnesses said.

I can just imagine the glee of the Xinhua reporters who found ‘witnesses’ telling them that protesters were “sparing no women or children”. It would be nice if Xinhua reporters could exhibit the same level of journalistic enthusiasm with regard to the police and military excesses against Tibetan people.

That said, there does appear to have been some needless violence directed towards those regarded as occupiers by Tibetans. This will not help their cause. And the Chinese government needs to restrain the brutal inclination of its recent history if it is to keep its Olympic dream alive.

6 Responses

  1. Zhongguoist Says:
    March 19th, 2008 at 12:44 pm

    It’s very scary everything that’s happening in the West of China at the moment. With the current situation I really, even with all the websites I’ve read guardian, times, independent etc. am confused as to how it all kicked off. My Chinese friend has told me that no guard would be stupid enough to attack a monk(as some news outlets reported) as they know how politically sensitive it is. I can’t remember where it came from but there was a newspaper which mentioned the fact that there were ‘2 publicity machines’ feeding us information about the recent events: that of Beijing and that of the Dalai Lama’s group in Daramasala. I feel that once things started, whatever China did it was unlikely to come out well. Even with the fact that international news outlets have reported T1bet@n people stoning Han people to death, China will always come across as the ‘baddie’ and there is no way for them to react that won’t bring criticism from the international community. In the UK when we had the May Day riots, people were for the riot police coming in with tear gas etc. as people were looting and smashing shops as well as attacking things. I know it’s a completely different scale but I’m just giving an example of how in one case it’s OK to use tear gas + force and another case where it isn’t. Last week before this all kicked off I read an interesting article in spiked-online(UK based website) about T1bet. I didn’t completely share it’s viewpoint but the jist was that a lot of Western people want a free T1bet as we in our hearts don’t like the way that we have modernised everywhere and want a place that’s quiet and tranquil and in touch with nature rather than the ideals that people believe China is connected with.

    p.s. Seeing your blog title I so thought it was going to be a picture blog of things you’d just found in China on the street. That would be rather cool.

  2. stuart Says:
    March 20th, 2008 at 2:57 am

    Josh,

    It is no secret that monks have been arrested, beaten, and often murdered for showing dissent since Chinese forces first occupied Tibet in 1951.

    Perhaps they are under orders to show restraint (at least in public) in the political climate of Olympic year.

    It is also possible that some incidents are exaggerated or falsified in order to garner sympathy from a watching world. If so, the opposing camps in Daramasala and Beijing have a bit more in common than they think.

    I agree that China is occasionally portrayed as the bad guy, with critics displaying more than a touch of hypocrisy at times. In this regard, the CCP are their own worst enemy. As Richard Spencer at the Telegraph said yesterday:

    “And of course, to China’s reputation. To reiterate my point from yesterday - the authorities had the chance today to show the world that whether they were rounding up protesters in Luqu, or merely preventing more demonstrations, they were doing so with restraint and respect for their own laws.

    They chose not to take that opportunity, as they have done ever since the weekend, and I suspect that in the wider context China will pay the price. Who believes, when they cannot see?”

  3. Monica Says:
    March 20th, 2008 at 5:32 am

    But most Chiese people think Tibet belongs to China. I discussed that with my colleagues and people around me, none of them think Tibet should be seperated form China.

  4. stuart Says:
    March 20th, 2008 at 10:55 am

    Monica, if you discuss the issue with the people of Tibet you will get a very different opinion.

    Nevertheless, they know (and even the Dalai Lama accepts) that independence is out of the question. They just don’t like being pushed around in their own ‘country’ and seek greater autonomy.

  5. Monica Says:
    March 21st, 2008 at 12:43 am

    if you discuss the issue with the people of Tibet you will get a very different opinion

    Really? Perhaps one day I will go to tibet and have a look by myself. Seeing is beliving.

  6. Monica Says:
    March 21st, 2008 at 2:03 am

    By the way, the issue in Tibet also reported by our media, but they say the women were killed by the riots, and many countries in this world are against the riots.

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