Ok, I know a lot of you hate this political stuff, but China is pissing me off again.  With the repressive crackdown in Tibet, I am really upset that the issue of China's human rights record is not being brought up.  For those who haven't seen, here's a good article from Reuters about what is currently happening in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.  For those who are not really familiar with China's history regarding Tibet, in short, the communists after they gained power in 1950 invaded Tibet.  Tibet, and it's traditional religious leader, the Dalai Lama have been brutally repressed by the Chinese since then.  This is just the latest example.  When the Chinese arrest political prisoners, they generally are not very nice with what they do to them.  Often, if they are not outright killed (a service that the government bills the victim's family for) they are imprisoned and mistreated.  With regards to Tibet, China is making a targeted effort to do what has been labeled as ethnic cleansing in the Balkans; killing native Tibetans and settling ethnic Han Chinese in their place.  This has greatly accelerated with the opening of a high speed rail line that links Lhasa with the rest of China.

I really find this interesting in light of the Olympic Torch Relay being set to start on Monday.  The route of this relay is very interesting.  First, relating to Tibet, the torch is paying a visit to Mount Everest.  Second, thankfully the planned tour through Taiwan was canceled after the People's Republic demanded that during the route, no flags or anthems of the Republic of China be displayed or played.  So again, as we saw in Salt Lake City, China tried to dictate to a sovereign country how they should treat their own citizens.  Thankfully, unlike in SLC, Taiwan told them to shove their torch up their ass and withdrew from the torch run.  Then the Chinese make the theme "The Journey of Harmony" which I think is something that could have been thought up by Joseph Goebels or Heinrich Himmler.  I believe they came up with this little irony for their camps.



It is also interesting to note that the torch will pay visits to five cities along the ancient Silk Road, which the Chinese have historically regarded as a symbol of their cultural superiority.  The Chinese have turned the torch relay into a very political statement about their standing in the world.  They are, afterall, the Middle Kingdom and everyone needs to give deference to them. 

I still hold hope that instead of just rolling over to China, the West will lead the rest of the world in holding Chinese leadership responsible for their actions and not just bowing down to them in hopes of being accepted into the Chinese market.  Of course, never underestimate the power of the Almighty Dollar (well, guess the dollar isn't so Almighty lately, but it sounds better than the Almighty Euro).

        

 

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