tibet
the controversy between china & tibet is back in the global spotlight thanks to the upcoming beijing olympics. to me it feels like it could be one of the final attempts to keep native tibetan culture alive within the country itself. china's built a railroad into the isolated region & shipped their people in to live there. if tourists didn't pay money to visit the potala & monasteries the government they'd probably be gone by now. the current situation is a perfect opportunity to make more native tibetans "disappear."
the beijing olympics are in august, so the government has to appear to play nice until then. even so the area is so isolated reports of what exactly is going on are varied. the crap the government is spouting makes my blood boil, in addition to what chinese living in tibet are claiming they've seen (which the government probably told them to say--the real dish, as usual, comes from sources refusing to give their names for fear of repercussions). the peaceful demonstrations started by the monks definitely would have spread to the civilians, who don't follow the same non-violent ideals. but i'm sure the government sees no difference between the two groups.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/asia/15tibet.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7297911.stm
http://voanews.com/english/2008-03-15-voa2.cfm
the beijing olympics are in august, so the government has to appear to play nice until then. even so the area is so isolated reports of what exactly is going on are varied. the crap the government is spouting makes my blood boil, in addition to what chinese living in tibet are claiming they've seen (which the government probably told them to say--the real dish, as usual, comes from sources refusing to give their names for fear of repercussions). the peaceful demonstrations started by the monks definitely would have spread to the civilians, who don't follow the same non-violent ideals. but i'm sure the government sees no difference between the two groups.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/asia/15tibet.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7297911.stm
http://voanews.com/english/2008-03-15-voa2.cfm