I got an interesting reply from an anonymous person to my post: Will the Olympic Games Be China’s Worst Nightmare?
There are two views of China’s current Olympic crisis and I thought it would only be fair to let the pro-China lobby have their say.
Here is their comment:
“The Chinese government is not the idiotic liar in all of this; its opposition is. The news has shown Tibetans being violent, going against what they’re supposed to believe in, which is peace.
Why protest against China making Tibet more developed? China has helped increase the numbers of tourists going to Tibet, and therefore, the economy has improved. If the Tibetans had to protest, they could just sit down and have a civilized talk. Tibetans had reporters removed from the scenes of violence so that the truth would not get out.
Even in ‘developed countries’, people are also killed during protests. Don’t even try to say you haven’t seen such examples about France, the US..and lots of others on TV. Would you call them accidents? Or are you saying that the governments of these countries are also as ignorant as you’re calling the Chinese? The police would be killed if they did not try to stop the activists. It’s not as if the Chinese are killing on purpose. The Tibetans are burning down shops and vehicles, for goodness’ sake!
China has spent a long time preparing for the Olympics. Why are the Tibetans only acting now if they’re so mad? Why do they need to bring politics into the Olympic Games?
Dali Lama? More like? Lie Lama
I don’t believe I’m wrong in saying you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. How much do you really know about China and Tibet? I’m quoting a previous comment I found on your profile kman Says:
‘August 2nd, 2007 at 4:58 pm
I don’t know why I am wasting my time writing this,but what gets me is your know all attitude to things you have absolutely no clue about.’”
And here is my reply:
“Thanks for your comment. It’s good to hear from people of differing opinions and I hope you leave many more comments in the future.
I am sure there are idiotic liars on all sides Chinese, Tibetan and Westerners. When I wrote this piece I was very careful not to express support for violent protest. The fact is China is in charge of Tibet and it is their responsibility to keep law and order. And you are right some people do die it in protests.
My main issue was with the Chinese government telling us that the Dali Lama was behind the violent protests. It was just so convenient and the Chinese government have a long track record of dishonesty (think of the Tiananmen Square massacre and the Chinese government refusal to recognize it as such). It was just so obviously a lie.
There are several other reasons why I believe that Dali Lama wasn’t behind it. The Dali Lama is a champion of non-violent protest. He knows that non-violent protests work and that any form of violent protest is a complete waste of time and counter-productive.
Non-violent protest has been used many times to defeat totalitarian regimes. Think South Africa, India, Serbia, Russia and Poland. The violent protests in Tibet have most likely set the free Tibet movement back years.
Why protest against China making Tibet more developed?
I would assume that no one would protest about China helping Tibet. What people do protest against is the fact that China invaded Tibet. China continues to import vast numbers of ethnically Chinese people making Tibetans a minority in their own country.
Before I continue, I will tell you a bit about how we do things in the ‘developed world.’ Unfortunately, sometimes in this world violence is necessary. If a country is invading their neighbours or killing vast numbers of its own people an invasion might be necessary. Think about Germany after World War II. Germany was occupied, the Allies rebuilt the country, instituted a functioning government and economy. Then over a period of many years they left.
According to the Chinese government Tibet was ruled by a theocracy basically a Buddhist Iran. The Chinese have had years to rebuild the country create a functioning government and economy. Why are they still there?
In the developed world we have a little thing called the right of self-determination. All peoples have the right to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. It was this principle that allowed for the decolonisation of the developing world. After World War I this principle was used to split Europe into distinct cultural and language groups the way the people wished. This did more than anything to stop the near constant state of war that tore Europe apart in previous centuries. The Tibetan people want China to respect their rights.
It is not all bad news in China. China has the capacity to be one of the greatest nations on earth. They just need to respect the principles that help make the world a better place. The Chinese government needs to learn that not everyone will agree with them. Instead of attacking dissenting voices, trying to discredit them or going on the defensive they need to say: ‘You have the right to your opinion, but we respectfully disagree.’ Instead, we hear the Chinese government attacking one of the most respected leaders in the world - the Dali Lama. How do you feel when somebody verbally attacks someone you respect - you fight back.”