It's interesting how the apologists for China basically accuse anybody who supports Tibet of being racist and/or anti-Chinese. Very handy little accusation to wheel out, and it seems to have put many in the West on the back foot, not wanting to be seen as racist. So it seems that China and its supporters think they should be able to act with impunity, on the basis of their invasion of Tibet some 50 years ago. And they also appear to be trying to re-write history by insisting that Tibet has always been part of China - strange that the Tibetans were not aware of that.
As imperialism has declined in the West, so it will eventually become a festering sore for China as well. No people willingly submit to oppression, and though the numbers might seem to be on China's side, while it continues to occupy and brutally repress the people of Tibet there will be a stain on the character of the nation.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Australia Tibet Council Summary of Recent Events in Tibet
See the link below for ATC's summary of events in Tibet since the latest unrest began.
http://www.atc.org.au/content/blogcategory/55/156/
http://www.atc.org.au/content/blogcategory/55/156/
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Change of blog title
I've just changed the title of my blog from John's Trek for Tibet 2007 to Tibet 2008 to reflect what's now happening in Tibet and world wide.
And I have to say congratulations to Kevin Rudd, Australian Prime Minister, for being so forthright in challenging the Chinese leadership on their human rights record in Tibet and elsewhere. If only world leaders had previously had the courage to do the same, China may not have reached the situation where it believed it could act with impunity in the way it treated Tibetans and other minorities, as well as its own citizens who voice dissent.
And I have to say congratulations to Kevin Rudd, Australian Prime Minister, for being so forthright in challenging the Chinese leadership on their human rights record in Tibet and elsewhere. If only world leaders had previously had the courage to do the same, China may not have reached the situation where it believed it could act with impunity in the way it treated Tibetans and other minorities, as well as its own citizens who voice dissent.
Torch Relay Action
Even the torch bearers are carrying Tibetan flags
San Francisco protest reports
It's interesting to see the way China and its supporters are dealing with the protests. Their reactions vary from vilifying His Holiness The Dalai Lama, to denouncing the Tibetans for their ingratitude for everything the Chinese have done for them.
How powerful is the propaganda that these people have swallowed over the decades that they cannot imagine why a downtrodden people would want to resist, would want to grasp the opportunity when their oppressor has the spotlight of the world upon it.
San Francisco protest reports
It's interesting to see the way China and its supporters are dealing with the protests. Their reactions vary from vilifying His Holiness The Dalai Lama, to denouncing the Tibetans for their ingratitude for everything the Chinese have done for them.
How powerful is the propaganda that these people have swallowed over the decades that they cannot imagine why a downtrodden people would want to resist, would want to grasp the opportunity when their oppressor has the spotlight of the world upon it.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Free Tibet Vigil in Brisbane, Australia
A large group of monks and nuns of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition from Chenrezig Institute, north of Brisbane, joined about a hundred people last night in Brisbane's King George Square to hold a prayerful vigil in solidarity with the people of Tibet. The atmosphere at the gathering was very calm as the monks and nuns chanted prayers, followed by loud calls from all present for the Chinese to honour the human rights of the Tibetan people.
The numbers of people participating might be small, but China is being shown to the world very clearly to be an oppressor of human rights, and particularly the rights of the Tibetan people.
China of course promised that in the lead up to the Olympic Games it would improve its human rights record, but as expected, the opposite has happened. For too long the rest of the world has acquiesced, has been fearful to challenge China because of its economic and growing military strength. But world leaders obviously cannot ignore China's most recent killings in Tibet - deaths that are probably just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what China has done in the past, but the difference now is that the eyes of the world are on China as the Olympics come closer.
The numbers of people participating might be small, but China is being shown to the world very clearly to be an oppressor of human rights, and particularly the rights of the Tibetan people.
China of course promised that in the lead up to the Olympic Games it would improve its human rights record, but as expected, the opposite has happened. For too long the rest of the world has acquiesced, has been fearful to challenge China because of its economic and growing military strength. But world leaders obviously cannot ignore China's most recent killings in Tibet - deaths that are probably just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what China has done in the past, but the difference now is that the eyes of the world are on China as the Olympics come closer.
Happenings in Tibet
A comment from Dee in Adelaide on my post from last year when we met His Holiness in Dharamsala after our Trek for Tibet has reminded me of my poor neglected blog.
The recent events in Tibet are tragic, but totally understandable - if Tibetans don't act now when the eyes of all the world are on China, when will they have a chance again to get such wonderful publicity for their cause? And for the Chinese, if they allow unrest in Tibet to go unpunished, it will open the hugest can of worms for them. The authorities there seem terrified that large scale unrest could break out at any time, and therefore any hint of it must be ruthlessly put down.
And of course that is consistent with China's history; it was only when the ruling dynasty became weak and corrupt that the people were able to rise up and throw off their shackles. The Party apparatchiks know their history, and that history inevitably repeats itself - but how long will it take before the people are so fed up that they will risk everything to overthrow the government? Realistically it will only be when the Party loses the confidence of the armed forces that real change is likely to take place, but what could trigger such a change?
In this context, check out this article from The Statesman - I'm not sure of the credibility of the source, but it makes interesting reading.
The recent events in Tibet are tragic, but totally understandable - if Tibetans don't act now when the eyes of all the world are on China, when will they have a chance again to get such wonderful publicity for their cause? And for the Chinese, if they allow unrest in Tibet to go unpunished, it will open the hugest can of worms for them. The authorities there seem terrified that large scale unrest could break out at any time, and therefore any hint of it must be ruthlessly put down.
And of course that is consistent with China's history; it was only when the ruling dynasty became weak and corrupt that the people were able to rise up and throw off their shackles. The Party apparatchiks know their history, and that history inevitably repeats itself - but how long will it take before the people are so fed up that they will risk everything to overthrow the government? Realistically it will only be when the Party loses the confidence of the armed forces that real change is likely to take place, but what could trigger such a change?
In this context, check out this article from The Statesman - I'm not sure of the credibility of the source, but it makes interesting reading.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Day1 of the trek continued
Here's Haidi, Marija, Danielle, Kes, Steph and more of the crew,
doing what turned out to be one of the very easy parts of the trek.
Here's our camp at Kereri on the first night; beautiful spot by a clear
mountain stream, and nice flat ground.
doing what turned out to be one of the very easy parts of the trek.
Here's our camp at Kereri on the first night; beautiful spot by a clear
mountain stream, and nice flat ground.
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