Tibet.
I've been quiet about the situation in Tibet for awhile now. It's such a horrible, violent time for both the Tibetans and Chinese citizenry. One side is finally sick and tired of playing non-violence while being oppressed and treated like less than human beings. The other is caught between state doctrine and personal fears about the changing political climate. It's all very sad.
My sympathies are largely with the Tibetans. Who could stand fifty years of this bullshit? The British treated Indians with at least some moral and ethical dignity. Democratic roots in the British Empire gave them the very idea of treating even subjugated peoples with decency and granted them rights. But the Chinese, who went from Emperors and warlords into the totalitarian communist regime learned no such grants of dignity. It is only through economic necessity that an area like Hong Kong even has its autonomous rights. Otherwise it might well be swallowed up by mainland policies instead.
I don't hate the Chinese people, and even the government has had its great leaders. Everyone mourns Chou En-lai, that great man of compassion. He was the mollifying, velvet hand that stayed the slings and arrows of the Red Guard and, with Deng's help, destroyed the Gang of Four. But where are such people today? It seems the communist regime is full of nothing but lackeys and sycophants. It's disgusting. No one is even willing to talk about compromise, compassion, or basic dialogue with the Tibetans. It's just this horrid show of force, coercion, and hatred.
China really is 1984 people. Think about the 'Ministry of Love' -- You dare not love anyone but the Party, on pain of torture and even death. Funny how the Chinese government is called the 'Party'.
Tenzin Gyatso, I pray for your people and their happiness. Freedom may not be possible yet, but they deserve better than this.
My sympathies are largely with the Tibetans. Who could stand fifty years of this bullshit? The British treated Indians with at least some moral and ethical dignity. Democratic roots in the British Empire gave them the very idea of treating even subjugated peoples with decency and granted them rights. But the Chinese, who went from Emperors and warlords into the totalitarian communist regime learned no such grants of dignity. It is only through economic necessity that an area like Hong Kong even has its autonomous rights. Otherwise it might well be swallowed up by mainland policies instead.
I don't hate the Chinese people, and even the government has had its great leaders. Everyone mourns Chou En-lai, that great man of compassion. He was the mollifying, velvet hand that stayed the slings and arrows of the Red Guard and, with Deng's help, destroyed the Gang of Four. But where are such people today? It seems the communist regime is full of nothing but lackeys and sycophants. It's disgusting. No one is even willing to talk about compromise, compassion, or basic dialogue with the Tibetans. It's just this horrid show of force, coercion, and hatred.
China really is 1984 people. Think about the 'Ministry of Love' -- You dare not love anyone but the Party, on pain of torture and even death. Funny how the Chinese government is called the 'Party'.
Tenzin Gyatso, I pray for your people and their happiness. Freedom may not be possible yet, but they deserve better than this.