Rebecca on Tibet, China, blogs and tweets
Posted on March 17th, 2008
Rebecca on Tibet, China, blogs and tweets
Rebecca MacKinnon has a post that will knock the kneejerk right out of your response to the Chinese repression of Tibet. She points to a post on Global Voices that translates “chatter from Chinese blogs and chatrooms that generally runs along the lines of: those ungrateful minorities, we give them modern conveniences and look how they thank us… ” But there’s lots more in Rebecca’s post… [Tags: china tibet rebecca_mackinnon globalVoices]
To those hypocritical Westerners who champion free Tibet and human rights, may I ask, would you incite and support Hispanics’ riots against White Americans in California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, etc (which all used to be part of Mexico) or get the Whites out (return where your ancestors came from; Europe) and return the land back to the Native American Indians? Same things can be said about the English in Northern Ireland, the Whites Australians occupying the Aboriginals’ land, the Whites New Zealanders occupying the Maoris’ land, and the list can go on. Will you champion free Australia, California (from the Whites’ occupation and colonisation) and the human rights of the Aborigines, the Hispanics and the Native American Indians, etc?
America’s tarnished history of oppression and colonialist expansion notwithstanding, I wonder if Mr. Somer could direct his readers to sources documenting the 20th and 21st century struggles of the “Hispanics” for autonomy with the United States? I find a shameful gap in my contemporary American history. One could hardly question the comparison a century or more ago, but have we not arrived at a new legal and moral plane in the current century? I was always taught to compare myself not with the worst of humanity, but the best.
As one who feels a deep sense of alarm and pain in witness to the brutality in Tibet, alongside a deep fear of Chinese violence born of the perverse thought control of the state, I am averse to any impulse to “incite riots” among ethnic Tibetans. Doing so is nothing short of a death sentence for Tibetan people. I think Mr. Somer has missed the message of Tibetan advocates–and of the Dalai Lama–who ask only for dignity, an abidance to 21st century standards of human rights, and some measure of autonomy to pursue social and religious governance and practice. Have you ever heard the Dalai Lama cry out for “Tibetan Independence”? As for the arguments for warranting such treatment, be they historical, legal or moral, I hope Mr. Somer , in shaping his own opinion about the merits of the Tibetan cause, is open to the notion that Chinese public opinion–the only opinion he is likely to hear to emanate from China–has been crafted by the Chinese communist party monopoly over information. In other words, are you sure you’re getting all the information you need to form an honest opinion?
Note that the Chinese will pull out the same artillery in the argument that Taiwan has “always” been a part of China, despite the fact that it assumed no universal and organized control over the territory until Japan was defeated in WWII and all Japanese colonial territories were rendered “back” to historically legitimate control. And if you wish to speak of indigenous rights, how about the lives of indigenous Taiwan aboriginals–more than a dozen of unique tribes–who’ve endured colonial management at the business end of a gun at the hands of the Dutch, Portuguese, [Qing Dynasty] Chinese, Japanese and [KMT] Chinese, and now find themselves vying for cultural and economic survival in democratic Taiwan? At least Taiwan, recognizing it’s [constitutional] legal and moral commitment to create a pluralistic society, is open to the notion that aboriginals deserve a chance at the “Taiwan Dream.” Reality, as it is in America, and as Obama laid out in his speech, is always more complex.
It seems like the kind of “healing” that we see in a speech like Obama’s is what is missing from this discussion on Tibet. The best way to achieve this is intermarriage – like Obama. Why can’t the Tibetans just marry the Chinese, and vice versa? We should be encouraging people there to make love, and get along, and not separate along ethnic lines. Would anyone say the solution to racial problems among Americans of European, Asian, African, Native American and South American ancestry is separation and independence, or integration through mutual understanding? How can we fight when we share a common parentage? I don’t buy this “cultural genocide” crap – it’s as offensive as saying one should not dilute “white culture” or “black culture” by mixing the races. Let the young people learn one another’s culture. This is the way the get rid of racial prejudices. Why does the Dalai Lama promote racial purity for Tibetans? Isn’t that just racism? Oh, I forgot, he’s a god-king.
Yes, remove all diversity by force, just like the communists want. So the only truth will be Karl Marx!
this site is dumb
i dont think anyone should go here
paige
diversity needs to be there you idiot
does anyone answer on here
SFT announces Free Tibet 2008 Television
Posted August 11, 2008 at 5:43 PM
Students for a Free Tibet has a new online video channel broadcasting from London throughout the worldwide uprising for Tibetan freedom during the Beijing Olympics: Free Tibet 2008 Television, or FT08.TV.
With all the Olympic actions for Tibet taking place and particularly the incredible success of the ‘opening’ banner action outside Beijing’s ‘Bird’s Nest’ stadium on Aug. 6th and subsequent media storm here in the UK, it took some time to get FT08.TV ready for prime time.
But with the dedicated help of lots of people, SFT’s new video channel is up and running, and filled with lots of must-see on-demand content, including inspiring Tibet activist video-profiles, action reports, video-blogs, and more.
We’re also airing a nightly Windhorse Report live from London with SFT leaders Tenzin Dorjee and Han Shan – a roundup of reports from Beijing and around the world during the Olympics, with breaking news about protests, call-in interviews with news-making activists, episodes of SFT-TV (the efforts of SFT’s global grassroots), and info and analysis about the situation on the ground in Tibet.
There will be more and more compelling content to watch every day and we’ll be improving the channel/website as we go (after all, this is but one small facet of our Olympic efforts right now). But please come check it out: surf around the many videos on the channel, or watch the stream (click on “Streaming Now” in the upper left-hand corner). Last but not least, you’re invited to submit video… check out the channel for more on what we’re looking for.
Please help spread the word about FT08.TV– join the facebook group, blog about it, embed the videos, spam your address book – and of course, keep watching.
And don’t forget to visit SFT’s Olympics Campaign website: http://www.FreeTibet2008.org and SFT’s blog: http://www.blog.studentsforafreetibet.org for more news and analysis from the frontlines of the current global effort to make Olympic history for Tibet.
Note: many thanks to Nathan Dorjee, Shannon Service, Andi Mignolo, Alex Fountain, Thupten Nyima, Kala Mendoza, and many others for helping to make FT08.TV happen at this critical time.
5:32 PM
Go on your facebook, etc to announce freetibet2008.tv/live. After go on “social justice” websites like “witness.org” (check it out) to announce ft08.tv. Also check out blogs discussing Tibet issue’s and post the official ft08 announcement.
Check out recent news articles on Tibet. Usually they have “comment” sections, post the ft08 annoucement.
lhakyil
3:19 PM
FT announces Free Tibet 2008 Television
Posted August 11, 2008 at 5:43 PM
Students for a Free Tibet has a new online video channel broadcasting from London throughout the worldwide uprising for Tibetan freedom during the Beijing Olympics: Free Tibet 2008 Television, or FT08.TV.
With all the Olympic actions for Tibet taking place and particularly the incredible success of the ‘opening’ banner action outside Beijing’s ‘Bird’s Nest’ stadium on Aug. 6th and subsequent media storm here in the UK, it took some time to get FT08.TV ready for prime time.
But with the dedicated help of lots of people, SFT’s new video channel is up and running, and filled with lots of must-see on-demand content, including inspiring Tibet activist video-profiles, action reports, video-blogs, and more.
We’re also airing a nightly Windhorse Report live from London with SFT leaders Tenzin Dorjee and Han Shan – a roundup of reports from Beijing and around the world during the Olympics, with breaking news about protests, call-in interviews with news-making activists, episodes of SFT-TV (the efforts of SFT’s global grassroots), and info and analysis about the situation on the ground in Tibet.
There will be more and more compelling content to watch every day and we’ll be improving the channel/website as we go (after all, this is but one small facet of our Olympic efforts right now). But please come check it out: surf around the many videos on the channel, or watch the stream (click on “Streaming Now” in the upper left-hand corner). Last but not least, you’re invited to submit video… check out the channel for more on what we’re looking for.
Please help spread the word about FT08.TV– join the facebook group, blog about it, embed the videos, spam your address book – and of course, keep watching.
And don’t forget to visit SFT’s Olympics Campaign website: http://www.FreeTibet2008.org and SFT’s blog: http://www.blog.studentsforafreetibet.org for more news and analysis from the frontlines of the current global effort to make Olympic history for Tibet.
Note: many thanks to Nathan Dorjee, Shannon Service, Andi Mignolo, Alex Fountain, Thupten Nyima, Kala Mendoza, and many others for helping to make FT08.TV happen at this critical time.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/dont-buy-lhasa-beer.html
,..] http://www.hyperorg.com is one great source of tips on this topic,..]
cool pics