What bothers me is the self-righteous
Westerners' failure to examine
themselves in the same light
China has a shaky record on human rights,
but the West, particularly the US,
has a human rights record that has
created suffering around the world
Nancy Pelosi Peddles Western Bullshit
ARTICLES
Western Reaction to Tibet Unrest Reveals Widespread Hypocrisy
The Unrest in Tibet - Viewed from China
China Hits Back at US on Human Rights, says Iraq War a Disaster
Western Reaction to Tibet Unrest Reveals Widespread Hypocrisy
Just months before the opening of the Beijing Olympics, China now faces a grave situation in Tibet.
In Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, weeklong peaceful demonstrations for Tibet's autonomy turned into deadly riots Friday. The rioters now hold an area of the city, surrounded by government forces.
With biased reporting from the media and common misconceptions of the China-Tibet relationship, many Westerners are quick to condemn China and its human rights record, and the call to boycott the summer Olympics is renewed.
The demonstrators question China's historical claim over Tibet, a topic that arguments can be made for both sides.
While Tibet has enjoyed prolonged periods of practical autonomy in the past, beginning in the 13th century, Chinese dynasties from Yuan to Qing had always claimed it within their borders.
In other words, while China's claim over Tibet may not be absolute, it is infinitely more legitimate than the United States' claims over Texas, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
Those who chant the "free Tibet" slogan must understand that for all practical considerations, Beijing can't allow Tibet to split from the central government.
Strategically, Tibet, with its vastness and geographical obstacles, serves as an important buffer region against India.
Taking Tibet out of China's grasp would leave the rich and populous province of Sichuan and the inner provinces exposed and vulnerable.
More importantly, Tibet is not the only region in China calling for its independence:
Muslim separatists in Xinjiang province and the island of Taiwan are paying close attention to how Beijing handles the Tibet situation.
Granting it independence, or even showing any signs of weakness, will set a dangerous precedent and encourage other separatist movements in the country.
While I am deeply worried about the situation in Tibet, I remain optimistic that it will be resolved with minimal bloodshed. After the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989, Beijing knows better than to repeat history in Lhasa.
As for those who fear an ethnic cleansing following the riots, they should ask themselves: What do you know about the China-Tibet relationship?
China's treatment of Tibet suggests the exact opposite. In the past two decades, it has invested heavily in Tibet without consideration of economic returns.
Huge sums were spent in improving the region's transportation - including building a railroad that connects Tibet to the rest of the country, diversifying its economy and providing free education to Tibetans.
What bothers me more is the self-righteous Westerners' failure to examine themselves in the same light.
One cannot dispute that China has a shaky record on human rights, but one would be equally ignorant to say that the West, particularly the United States, has a human rights record to be proud of.
Currently, the United States and the rest of the "coalition forces" remain in Iraq, locked in a five-year-old war that, if presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain has his way in the election, may last another 100 years.
According to a September 2007 survey by Opinion Research Business, the estimated total number of war casualties in Iraq since the 2003 invasion exceeded 1.2 million.
Reports of U.S. soldiers and mercenaries committing atrocious crimes surface regularly, yet the so-called human rights advocates don't seem to care.
One doesn't hear calls to investigate the United States' handling of the war and the staggering civilian casualties, yet riots in Tibet can raise overwhelming sympathy and finger-pointing from the West.
It's safe to say that Beijing doesn't have the patent to hypocrisy.
Countries act in their self-interests. Sometimes such acts are controversial, and often one country's self-interest conflicts with others'.
China is no exception, but at least it doesn't cry foul at the first news a controversy emerges in another country. The West should do the same.
The Unrest in Tibet - Viewed from China
"Religion is the last subject that the intellect begins to understand," the late Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and philosopher Will Durant said.
The power of religion and belief was often used to further the political ambitions of kings and emperors. Even in modern times, religious shrines and the faith of the faithful can still be used by those with ulterior motives.
Sometimes by cliques that attempt to split a country.
There could be only one real purpose for the bloody riot in Lhasa: to separate Tibet from China.
Otherwise, why did the rioters kill and attack innocent civilians, set fires and destroy public facilities?
Why did groups of monks start a "March to Tibet" across the border in India, on exactly the same day that 300 aggressive monks from the Drepung Monastery paraded into downtown Lhasa?
Why did similar turmoil occur in other parts of China and why did mobs attack Chinese diplomatic missions overseas?
And on top of everything, why is the man behind the bloodshed playing the good guy and making false claims that the Chinese government, rather than the rioters, was to blame for the violence?
Anyone with the least common sense can see through this: by pleading innocence, he is seeking sympathy from innocent people across the globe and soliciting international support for his independence claim.
The chain of events that took place in Lhasa and elsewhere was apparently organized. The Lhasa mobs, who seem to have been equipped with stones and flammable liquid, were ready to kill, sabotage and trigger public fear.
What happened in Lhasa is not even remotely close to what the Dalai Lama and his clique claim: that the events were "spontaneous" and "peaceful" protests.
When the Dalai Lama clique allegedly tried to defend Tibet fromso-called "cultural genocide" and "religious repression", they were using the same old trick to put their anti-China stance under the camouflage of religion.
"The rioters who wore cassocks were no real monks and what they did is completely against Buddhist codes," said Ngawang Daindzin, a living Buddha.
If the Dalai Lama really wanted to be worthy of his self-proclaimed title of spiritual leader, he should at least have stopped abusing the power of religion.
And if he really loved his homeland and his fellow Tibetans, he shouldn’t have disrupted the peaceful Buddhist holy city with fire and blood and left innocent people groaning in pain.
Even children became victims.
My heart ached when I read that more than 20 knife-wielding mobs set fire to a school in Lhasa after failing to break into the campus on Friday.
More than 800 teen-aged students huddled together in fear and felt anguish over their lost classrooms, satchels, books and the danger of losing their lives.
I have no idea how long the painful memory will cling to these children, Tibetans and Hans alike. Not all their lives, I hope.
The Dalai Lama's hypocrisy has put the power of his religion at stake, but he cannot cheat all the people all the time. Buddhism is no harbor for separatism.
All in all, it's China's Tibet, now and forever.
China Hits Back at US on Human Rights, says Iraq War a Disaster
China has accused the United States of human rights hypocrisy, as it branded the US invasion of Iraq the "greatest humanitarian disaster" of the modern world.
In an annual response to Washington's criticism of China's human rights record, the Chinese government labelled the United States arrogant, and highlighted what it said were widespread US failures at home and abroad.
"(America's) arrogant critique on the human rights of other countries are always accompanied by a deliberate ignoring of serious human rights problems on its own territory," said the report, released by the state Xinhua news agency.
"This was not only inconsistent with universally recognised norms of international relations, but also exposed the double standards and downright hypocrisy of the United States on the human rights issue, and inevitably impaired its international image."
The US-led war in Iraq that began in 2003 was one of the many issues of concern highlighted by China in the report, entitled "The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2007."
"The United States has a notorious record of trampling on the sovereignty of and violating human rights in other countries," it said.
"The invasion of Iraq by American troops has produced the biggest human rights tragedy and the greatest humanitarian disaster in modern world."
It also criticised civilian deaths in Afghanistan, secret prisons and torture of detainees.
"'Secret prison' and 'torturing prisoners' have become synonymous with America," the report said.
The report added that US citizens' right to join unions had been restricted, prisoners' rights had been violated, and authorities attempted to manipulate the media.
The report launched attacks on the United States' inability to tackle poverty, fight crime and even the exorbitant cost of running for president.
China said it had released the report to give the world a clearer insight into US failings and address the imbalance of the State Department's annual report on human rights, released Tuesday.
The State Department report removed China from its list of the world's worst human rights violators, but said there were still widespread problems.
The US report singled out tightened controls on religious freedom against Buddhists in Tibet and in Muslims in China's northwestern Xinjiang region as areas for concern.
"The government also continued to monitor, harass, detain, arrest, and imprison activists, writers, journalists, and defence lawyers and their families, many of whom were seeking to exercise their rights under the law," it said.
Rights groups complained that China should not have been removed from the list of worst violators, saying it sent the wrong signal ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
In response, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the report was still harsh on China.
But she cited China's willingness to renew a dialogue on human rights with the United States as a reason for its improved status.