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Tibet, China and Human Rights  What is happening in Tibet is horrible, though not so bad as in Burma. The media and governments on both sides of the reporting are cooking the books, as it were. Propaganda, after all, must be used; it is often more effective than military might. However, there are some misconceptions and anomalies that are not being addressed.
The Dalai Lama has noted that Tibet is a sovereign nation with a long and illustrious history. This is just not so. The Yellow Hats, his sect of Buddhism in Tibet, only came to power via war and the support of the Ming Dynasty emperors. Since that time and into the 20th century, Tibet paid tribute to the country that made its religious elite all-powerful. The Dalai Lama has said that he's no such person to make his monks and the people stop rioting, in other places he has noted that he told his monks to protest, albeit non-violently. However, the Dalai Lama is such a person to control his Tibetan horde. The Dalai Lama is stronger than god but, like god, withholds his power to save his people for some unknown reason. That is, by not helping to put a stop to the violence, he is abetting the deaths of his own people. Great guy, the Dalai Lama. But that's the way it is in the world, no? Some people are worth saving and some are worth less. In Burma, the Buddhist monks were non-violent in their protests; not so in Tibet. But, then, remember they came to power by violence. This truly tarnishes the patina of the Buddhists as non-violent people, people who will not support violence. This truly is a wake up call for those who follow the Dalai Lama and Buddhism, at least the Tibetan strain, that the great patriarch found by following a star is talking out of both sides of his mouth, like any politician. Tibet is, as the Chinese are handling it, a human rights violation. But the outcry, and the protests, come at an interesting time: right when the US is making a move against the Olympics in Beijing. There has been a spate of China-hate and a call for boycotting of the Olympics because of China's human rights violations. The US is the only country to have boycotted an Olympics--and the athletes were angry. Many, because the US government does not support its athletes, suffered extra-Olympically. The US is the only country who, when confronted with athletes protesting the rampant racism of the country, sent the athletes home and stripped them of their medals. That is, silenced them. Surely not! Surely not something one is ONLY likely to find behind the Iron Curtain or the SILK SCREEN or in Burma or Pakistan. . . The US is after creating a problem for China and its Olympics, if not for the sake of embarrassment, then to divert the world's attention from its plans for the next Middle East debacle. For all of the vicious military involvements in countries by the US, not once has any country called for a boycott of the Olympics when held in the good ole US of A. ONLY the US. Think about it. And then think about this: The Information Office of the State Council published a report titled "Human Rights Record of United States in 2007" This is not to say China does not have human rights violation problems: it does. But the US needs to take a firm look at itself before pointing its pot black fingers at a kettle. The US has brutally take care of any group that protests its war and terrorism policies, utilizing not only beatings and tasering but chemical weapons by police. The full extent of the two Patriot Acts and the Military Commissions Act are not at all approached in the above report but it's easy to put it in simple terms: your house and be broken into and you arrested and confined without warrant or reasons given for your arrest/imprisonment; there is no ability to defend yourself, that is, the writ of Habeas Corpus has been taken away. Anyone can be listened, followed on line or their mail read at any time for whatever reason--even no particular reason at all. These are the kinds of things that happen in military dictatorships, socialist dictatorships and tyrannies. Why, then, do they happen in the US? In truth, both countries--China and the US--should be taken before the International Criminal Justice Courts and dealt with accordingly.
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 Jim is a retired professor, a writer-playwright living out on the edge of the Gobi Desert where the skies are clear, the air fresh and the water possibly the only non-polluted water in the country: mountain run-off from the year-round snow-capped Qilian Range, which he can see from his front patio. He can be reached at: znzfqlxskj@gmail.com any time night or day.
Other articles by this author: http://mwcnews.net/Jimsecor
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