China’s ‘Psychological’ Defeat In Tibet?
Beijing is in a state of shock after the recent Tibetan uprising, and not just because the Beijing Olympics are only a few months away. News reports indicate that the Chinese government is showing signs of bitterness, nervousness and hostility following the outbreak of sudden violent protests in different parts of Tibet.
“Despite 20 years of iron-fisted security, huge investments and mass migration since the last Tibetan uprising, the roof of the world once again looks like a hostile place to most Chinese,” writes The Times of London. (Echoes of Iraq and Afghanistan…What???)
(Meanwhile China rebuffed the international community on appeals for dialogue with the Dalai Lama, vowing to “smash anti-China forces in Tibet”. And the White House said the unrest in Tibet will not dissuade President George W. Bush from attending the Olympics Games in China.)
The Times continues: “For all its overwhelming force in the lonely mountain passes, where military convoys toil towards the clouds, or in the dark alleys of Chengdu’s Tibetan quarter, where soldiers stand watch, the sour tang of a debacle for China is in the air.
“The uneasy sense of psychological defeat emerged from interviews with Chinese citizens and soldiers in Sichuan province, a vast region that includes a swathe of the Tibetan plateau, over the past week. Almost without exception, people said they had lost faith in government propaganda and feared that Tibetans would turn to violence against China.
“Yesterday the (Chinese) foreign ministry was reduced to issuing a list of nations that had supported the crackdown – Russia, Syria, North Korea, Vietnam, Belarus, Benin and, perhaps for the sake of variety, Fiji.”
The Wahington Times has an interesting piece on China’s Dilemma in Tibet…click here… “Does China go ahead and risk more adverse reports from the horde of 10,000 athletes, 20,000 foreign journalists, and tens of thousands of spectators who will descend on Beijing? Or do the Chinese renege on their promise to open the country for the games? Or, as has already been speculated in Asia, does China call off the games rather than be subjected to close-up international scrutiny?”
An AFP report says: “The lighting of the Beijing Olympic flame in Greece on Monday will trigger a new wave of protests against Chinese authorities over Tibet and other issues, according to activists. ‘We have been talking and we have been planning,’ said Lhadon Tethong, spokeswoman for Students for a Free Tibet, a group of activists leading protests against China’s rule of the region. “The next phase is all about international accountability and action’.”
One Response to “China’s ‘Psychological’ Defeat In Tibet?”
These are some brave Chinese Citizens:
NY Times: Scholars Urge Dialogue With Dalai Lama March 24, 2008
SHANGHAI, March 23 — A group of prominent Chinese intellectuals has circulated a petition urging the government to stop what it has called a “one-sided” propaganda campaign and initiate direct dialogue with the Dalai Lama.
The petition, which was signed by more than two dozen writers, journalists and scholars contains 12 recommendations which, taken together, represent a sharp break from the Chinese government’s response to the wave of demonstration that have swept Tibetan areas of the country in recent days.
They come, moreover, at a time when the government is working hard to convey a sense of strong international support for putting down what is being depicted here as a civil disturbance by lawless people being instigated by the Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who Beijing denounces as a secessionist, or “splittist.”
In recent days, the state controlled press has also stepped up its criticisms of the international press for what it says has been biased and overblown coverage of the Tibetan crisis.
China has barred international journalists from Tibet and expelled most tourists and other foreigners from the province since the beginning of the crisis. As trouble has spread to neighboring provinces where many Tibetans live, the government has blocked access to these areas, as well.
“In our view the current news blockade cannot gain credit with the Chinese people or the international community, and is harmful to the credibility of the Chinese government,” the petitioners wrote, adding, “only by adopting an open attitude can we turn around the international community’s distrust of our government.”
Given the government’s stringent censorship of the media, including the Internet, it is not clear how widely knowledge of the intellectuals’ letter will spread within China, but many of its points challenge or dispute the government line head on.
“We support the Dalai Lama’s appeal for peace, and hope that the ethnic conflict can be dealt with according to the principles of goodwill, peace, and non-violence,” it reads.
The petition goes on to cite government claims that the unrest was “organized, premeditated and meticulously orchestrated by the Dalai clique,” and calls on Beijing to invite the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to carry out an independent investigation of these charges.
“In order to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future, the government must abide by the freedom of religious belief and the freedom of speech explicitly enshrined in the Chinese Constitution, thereby allowing the Tibetan people fully to express their grievances and hopes and permitting citizens of all nationalities to freely criticize and make suggestions regarding the government’s nationality policies.”