permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@intrex.net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: BD Now! News about the protests against the illegal invasion and 
occupation of Tibet by the chinese thugs.
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 09:06:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dieter Brand <diebrand@yahoo.com>

Anders et al.,

  The immediate trigger for the unrest in Tibet are obviously the PR
  events planned by Beijing around the Olympic games, just like
  Tiananmen was triggered in 1989 by the Gorbatchev visit under
  the combined signs of Perestroika and Glastnost.

  Unlike most other resistance movements in the World, the Tibetans
  have not used terrorism in their resistance against Chinese occupation
  and repression that has gone on for over 50 years. If the Dalai Lama
  qualifies the actions by the Chinese in Tibet as “cultural genocide,”
  than that is a horrendous understatement by a man who knows that
  the only way forward is reconciliation with the Chinese however
  distasteful that may be.

  The World has rewarded the Tibetans for suffering in silence by
  largely ignoring their plight while courting Beijing for market access.

  I don’t see any relation to Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a relict of the
  cold war that was revived by the knee-jerk reaction of a president
  and into which Europe has been dragged under the motto of “you
  are either with us or against us.”

  If you want to draw parallels, it would be more appropriate to compare
  the China-Tibet relation with the previous relation between Moscow
  and Budapest, East Berlin, Prague and Warsaw respectively. East
  Germans could not be free without a free Russia; and Russians could
  not be free without a free East Germany.

  The same applies today in the Far East. The illegal occupation of
  Tibet and the need to maintain a repressive regime is one of the
  principal reasons why China cannot introduce more freedom and
  human rights in its own society. For China to be free Tibet needs
  to be free first.

  Today’s young generation is going to live in a World in which
  China will have replaced the US as the number one superpower.
  The World will not be free without a free China. Already today,
  Chinese influence is such that most of the World’s leaders do not
  dare to meet the Dalai Lama or talk openly about human rights
  abuses for fear of offending Beijing. China is also promoting
  repressive regimes World-wide including Sudan and Zimbabwe.

  The staggering growth of China’s economy and it’s outdated
  smoke-stack industry is gobbling up the World’s resources to
  throw junk onto the World’s market that is more fit for the
  the rubbish heap than for anything else.

  It is not a question of whether the situation is right now or not.
  The struggle of the Tibetan people will go on. And unless we are
  cynical and consider that "might is right", we have a moral duty
  to support them in any way we can.

  This is not a time to be impartial. There is no comparing of the
  Chinese side of events with that of the Tibetans. The men that
  rule China today are the same as those that used military force
  to massacre unarmed civilians with tanks in Tiananmen square
  in 1989.

  Chinese troops have closed off Lahsa so that no foreign observers
  will witness the crimes committed by the Chinese.

  To boycott Chinese goods and the Olympics is a means of peaceful
  resistance that will get the attention of the Chinese government,
  which today, more than ever before, depends on foreign markets
  to sustain its own stability.

  A non-democratic China is one of the great challenges of future
  decades. China cannot relax its repression at home as long as
  the illegal occupation of Tibet continues.

  Dieter Brand
  Portugal

  PS: I don’t believe that anybody in the West is hedging plots to
  torpedo the Beijing Olympics. Just look at the restraint with which
  events in Tibet are commented by Western governments. Everybody
  is hoping that it will soon be over and that we can go back to business
  as usual with the Chinese.


Anders Skarlind <Anders.Skalman@telia.com> wrote:  Lawrence, Dieter et al

While I know only little about the Tibetan people, I feel strongly
for their cause. However I wonder why are protests rising now? Is it
related to the olympics? To a worsening of the situation in Tibet? Or
is the time ripe for a change now, like it was in Eastern Europe in
the 80's? (I doubt the later but I don't know.) Or are there other
interests behind? Is Tibet now becoming interesting to use as a pawn
in the game, similar to how Afghanistan was used during the Sowiet
invasion? Also the situation for the Afghani has for some reason
engaged me (emotionally and to some extent financially) but I have
more and more got the impression that the big powers must withdraw
and agree to establish proper civic conditions before much can be
done there. (BTW I have never been there either.) In Afghanistan
Western/American interests supported militant islamists and warlords
as a weapon against the Sowiet union. I wonder if the support for the
Afghani people have been constructive. I hope some humanitarian aid
has been, but by and large it seems the country has just been torn to pieces.

Also the crack-down on Falun Gong and on the democracy movement in
China comes to mind. There is probably plenty of stuff under the
surface that could destabilise China, for better or for worse. A
democratic China would be a great thing. A China that respected its
neighbours (among which Tibet rightfully should be one) even better,
but back to my initial concern: which forces are behind and what is
their agenda?

Anders