Open Thread on Tibet and the Middle East.
News from Tibet, unlike other countries, is restricted and what we hear from that country is very limited, snippets about Tibetans being murdered or enforced Chinese rule, but not a great deal and often what comes out has been censored or made such that the Chinese occupation is portrayed in the best possible light.
The BBC highlights the tight grip that China keeps on the Tibetan’s neck:
“China appears to be maintaining a tight grip over Tibetan areas, nearly three months after a series of anti-Beijing protests and riots.
The government suggests life in areas inhabited by Tibetans is returning to normal, but evidence suggests otherwise.
Security is tight, Tibetans face travel restrictions, and monks and nuns have been forced to attend re-education classes.
Chinese tourists are once again being allowed to visit the Himalayan region, but not many are making the trip.
Foreigners are banned. It is difficult to get information about what is going on in Tibet and nearby provinces that are home to large numbers of Tibetans.
Chinese central and local government officials – who keep a tight rein on information at the best of times – are saying little.
….
There are also roadblocks on highways leading into Tibet.The Chinese crackdown follows unrest that began in Lhasa on 10 March.
Monks from several monasteries began a series of protests to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
These protest turned into riots, during which Tibetans targeted Han Chinese people who had moved into Lhasa.
Tibetan students living in India hold a rally on 28 May 2008
China says 18 innocent civilians and one police officer died in the riots.
The Tibetan government-in-exile said about 250 died, most of whom were Tibetans killed in the ensuing crackdown.
Over the last couple of months, hundreds of Tibetans have been arrested, with the first batch of 30 tried and jailed earlier this month.
China said they received fair trials, but this is contested by Tibetans abroad and human rights organisations.
Even on this one issue, there is no agreement on the facts of what is currently going on in Tibet.”
But contrast that situation with the Middle East, leaving aside the various quasi-dictatorships and authoritarian regimes which are fairly numerous, there is no shortage of news about conflict in the region. If we were to look at nearly any Israeli newspaper there would be very critical coverage of the Israeli government and the military’s own conduct in the region.
Which is strange, isn’t it? Barely a critical voice against brutal Chinese oppression in Tibet, but the Israelis often scourge themselves over these issues. What a difference?
Plain and simply a case of the CCP having all the incentives to prevent the world from hearing the truth about their unspeakable crimes committed in Tibet.
For all their vileness, they’ve hatched a plan that at least partially worked.
All the available evidence paints a picture of a most contemptible plot, and of depraved CCP machinations in Tibet. But alas, this is not the first time and really should surprise no one:
• The CCP has orchestrated the “riots” in order to discredit the Tibetans and their cause with their own constituency.
• To divert the anger of 1.3b Han from their vile government towards the Tibetans.
• To mute and discredit any, well inticipated, pro Tibet protests in western countries.
• To ‘train’ their troops on real people in a ‘warlike’ situation.
• To justify their brutal clampdown on the Tibetans and to maintain a complete news blackout on Tibet. Even though they signed up to free access for all journalists from all over the world attending the Olympics, this is their depraved way out of this promise.
Karma works in misterious ways, and China will get its just dessert in unexpected ways.
The following is imperative viewing on this subject:
The background to the riots as it happened:
Eye witness account:
http://www.tchrd.org/press/2008/pr20080519.html
Inside Tibet by Dispatches:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7982410976871193492
History:
Cardano
05/06/2008 at 06:45
forgive me, but I don’t believe that earthquakes are caused by some supernatural phenomena, they are a result of geological instability in parts of the earth.
so the whole notion that “Karma” over Tibet somehow brought about these earthquakes is utter nonsense, intellectually repellent and morally bankrupt.
modernity
05/06/2008 at 14:56
I wholeheartedly agree, earthquakes have nothing to do with Karma.
The reference to karma was not meant to imply this at all, but what goes round comes round and China’s rule in Tibet, and the atrocities committed will have, in the long run, consequences we can’t foresee at the moment.
It’s not religious fantasy or some new age fad, but has more to do with practical application of how things work.
Cardano
05/06/2008 at 23:56
that’s as maybe but it is repellent to blame the Chinese people for the actions of their dictators, they have little or no say in it.
I wouldn’t wish an earthquake on my worst enemy and it does nothing to highlight the plight of the Tibetans, it detracts from their oppression at the hands of the Party dictatorship. It is gesture politics for vacant actresses.
modernityblog
06/06/2008 at 00:53
I think the difference in press coverage you mention isn’t strange at all — it’s one of the defining differences between closed and open societies.
To their limited and accidental credit, even though they are never otherwise willing to cite Israel’s democratic nature, a cliche among its enemies is press coverage of the Arab/Israeli conflict is a lot freer in Israel than it is in the US. While this is intended as a barb against, variously, the American pro-Israel Right, Jewish and Christian American Zionists, neocons, right-wing Jews and the putative Jewish overlords of the American media, it is actually an acknowledgment of Israel’s liberal democracy.
John-Paul Pagano
08/06/2008 at 21:06
[…] ModernityBlog: Open Thread on Tibet and the Middle East […]
Friday Miscellany « The New Centrist
13/06/2008 at 17:18
Hello, Modernity. I cross-posted this to my blog this morning.
Mainstream media (whether private or state operated) coverage in democracies is always going to be better than state-operated media in authoritarian and totalitarian societies.
Also, you have a much greater likelihood of having reporters who are critical of their government, economy, society, etc. in democracies than in unfree states. A Chinese reporter who is openly critical of the Communist Party of China will loose their job, or worse. Israeli reporters regularly lambaste all their parties: Likud, Labor, Kadima, Shas, etc.
newcentrist
13/06/2008 at 17:32