The protests and violence in Tibet was predictable. There has been relative quiet in the past 20 years but the oppression of freedom in Tibet continued during that time. With the Olympics this year and China's plan to take the torch up Mount Everest, it was predictable that the activists would try to cause trouble for Beijing. I guess the Chinese plan was simply to use overwhelming force (after it was caught short-handed in the beginning). There is no creative strategy to meet this expected situation.
As I have pointed out before, I don't know why China wants to hang on to this piece of land. It is a money loser. There are no natural resources worth stationing lots of soldiers there. It just causes bad international publicity. China keeps pointing their fingers at the Dalai Lama as the voice of the independence movement. In reality the Dalai Lama is a voice of reason, advocating nonviolence and is willing to compromise. Most of the problem is with the young who wants more economic improvement. They see many parts of China getting richer and they feel that they are being exploited. Of course, Tibet was backward economically before China took over and without China it would be more difficult for it to improve economically. Nevertheless it is true that China denies Tibetan religious rights and is an oppressive presence.
China is counting on the rest of the world not to boycott the Olympics. They are right about this since China is an economic power and nobody wants to anger it. But if violence lingers it would hurt China's prestige enormously. If I run the Chinese government, I would invite the Dalai Lama back to visit this homeland and discuss Tibet's future. No treaty needs to be signed. Just this gesture would ensure the Games will go on and make China look good. Of course a communist government will never think of a creative solution like that.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
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That's a great idea to invite him back but you're right, it won't get done. I would assume that China think there's opportunity in Tibet and for it to pull out is to lose face. Almost sounds like the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
ReplyDeleteWhat is scary is the fear of almost every nation not to anger China. It seems the U.S. economy is so reliant on the Chinese and foreign oil that it has to walk on pins and needles. I don't agree with boycotting the Olympics. But I do think that China has so much riding on the games that maybe the nations should threaten to boycott and see if China can somehow get its act together.
-LBOAYM