I have already said something like this, but I do not find the subject boring

[fpb]

This is not to put down the oppressed Tibetans. But all the people who now notice that there is oppression, ethnic swamping, cultural suppression and destruction in Tibet - did they only notice it now? And why is Tibet special, when the rest of China is ruled with the same methods? Does tyranny only become unacceptable when it touches an ancient (and frankly backward - Tibet before 1959 was no haven of freedom or enlightenment) culture that has a faddish hold on certain areas of Hollywood? Did the regime that gave you the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, the Tien-an-men Square massacre, and infinite other acts of inhumanity and cold-blooded criminality, only begin to be despicable a month or two ago? I find the West's attitude to China quite incomprehensible.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

People are faddish in what they get outraged about, just as they are faddish in everything, sadly. People "noticed" Chinese oppression after Tiananmen, but then they put it out of their minds. Most Westerners have no idea about the horror of the Great Leap Forward or the chaos of the Cultural Revolution.

[jordan179.livejournal.com]

My attitude toward Red China is quite consistent, as indicated by my use of the adjective. They're a nasty murderous dictatorship and always have been a nasty murderous dictatorship. The sucking-up to them that we've done since 1972 has been primarily for cynical reasons; some of the Old Boomers have much eviller reasons to support China (those were the ones who grew up with Mao posters on their walls).

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

Thank you for saying that. It needed to be said.

As far as US history with China, I nearly pulled my hair out when we gave China "favored nation " status.

The US is willing to ignore GORSS abuse of human rights, dignity, and souls, so what . . Wallmart and Target etc. can be cheap and destroy our domestic economy?

Oh that makes total sense *sigh*

[rfachir.livejournal.com]

No chore to give my support to anti-Chinese government rants. It's just very sad - so many people, and so much overwhelming misery. (At least we've found a nobility in the Olympics again - that disgraced institution can shine an appropriately corrupted light to expose other horrors.)

[theswordmaiden.livejournal.com]

did they only notice it now?

Not from my point of view. I've been hearing "Free Tibet" type things for as long as I can remember. I've always heard people complaining about it. Though not much discussion otherwise, that is, I don't know if Tibet before 1959 as you mentioned is really common knowledge (as well as the Cultural Revolution et al. Besides, there are so many people in the West that I can hardly say what the West's attitude is as a whole -- where do I look?).

[fpb.livejournal.com]

What really annoys me is the way that the media are treating the insurrection of Tibet as though it were something new and unexpected, rather than one of the longest and bloodiest running sores in the international body politic. I already remarked on the absurdity of someone like Stephen Spielberg taking a commission from the PRC to design the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, when everyone knew what the Chinese government was like, only to resign noisily when Tibet began to be an issue. As I already said, the perfect word for this kind of attitude is in the Gospel: "You blind guides, who strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel!"

[patchworkmind.livejournal.com]

The West tends to tolerate China because they make things on the cheap. So they tolerate their "eccentricities" over things like human rights, dignity, the worth of life, tyranny, and murder. As long as things are inexpensive... it's worth it. That's not everything, but that's a good part of the bottom line, in my opinion.

Tibet and China

[lametiger.livejournal.com]

I have somewhat mixed feelings on the subject of Tibetan autonomy from the perspective of the son of a former missionary (late 1930s to early 1940s) in the Tibet-China border area. My mother very much loved the Tibetan people in general, but the Lamaocracy was not necessarily any better for the people (ruling by superstition and fear) than the Chinese Communists have been. I would dearly love to see an end to the Chinese "colonization" of Tibetan territory, but I am not eager to see the lamas back in control, either.

Re: Tibet and China

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I did mention that "Tibet before 1959 was no haven of freedom or enlightenment." I might add that in some international Buddhist omnium gatherums, I heard that the Tibetan lamas have stood out for ignorance and bad manners. The Dalai Lama is a very fine ambassador for his cause, but I agree with you that one would not want to see clerical rule restored to Tibet.