http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j7cV8KRfDpcE1792bvS9XMvLbGqQD96RCEJG2
Crowds protest around world for freedom in Tibet
By JENNIFER PELTZ
3-10-9
NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of pro-Tibetan protesters marched in New York City on Tuesday, the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.
The protest was mirrored by similar demonstrations in Europe and Asia as Tibetan exiles and their supporters urged an end to Chinese rule in the region.
Demonstrators marched to the United Nations wearing T-shirts saying "Tibet — 50 years of resistance." They planned to move on to the Chinese Consulate and other locales.
A consulate spokesman said officials have taken security precautions but have no other response to the protests.
Tuesday marks a half-century since the March 10, 1959, riots inside Tibet that led to a Chinese crackdown and, later that month, the Dalai Lama's dramatic flight across the Himalayas and into exile.
There has been a widening rift between those still in Tibet and their Chinese rulers since new violence engulfed the region last year.
In India, thousands of young Tibetans marched through the streets Tuesday in Dharmsala, the town where the Dalai Lama set up his base after fleeing Tibet.
The spiritual leader, now 73, told followers there that Chinese rulers were treating his people "like criminals deserving to be put to death." In unusually harsh language, he said they have pushed Tibetan culture and identity almost to extinction and "brought untold suffering to the land and people of Tibet."
In London, more than 100 protesters marched near the Houses of Parliament, some dressed in monk outfits or bright traditional Tibetan dresses.
"I can hold this flag here, but a Tibetan person couldn't hold their flag in their country," said Julie Speechley, one of the protesters in London. "I could say `freedom for Tibet' here, but a Tibetan person could be imprisoned and tortured for that."
Similar protests were held Tuesday across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
In Germany, Green Party lawmaker Volker Beck called on world leaders to encourage China to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama. A small group of demonstrators gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in Berlin.
Some 80 people lit white candles in front of the Chinese Embassy in Warsaw, Poland.
In Canberra, the Australian capital, a handful of protesters scuffled with police outside the Chinese Embassy after about 300 had marched from Parliament House.
Police arrested four people after they broke through temporary fencing bordering a designated protest area, police said. The phone at the press office in the Chinese Embassy in Canberra rang unanswered Tuesday.
In Nepal, home to thousands of Tibetan exiles, police blocked about 100 Tibetans who demonstrated on the outskirts of the capital Katmandu chanting "Stop killing in Tibet! Free Tibet!"
Associated Press writers Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia; Gavin Rabinowitz in Dharmsala, India; and Laura Nichols in London contributed to this report.
Showing posts with label Tibet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tibet. Show all posts
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Beast of the Month - August 2008
Robalini's Note: Still a little behind, but catching up...
Beast of the Month - August 2008
Hu Jintao, Chinese President
"I yam an anti-Christ..."
John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) of The Sex Pistols, "Anarchy in the UK"
"One World, One Dream"
Slogan of the 2008 Summer Olympics
On August 8, the Summer Olympics will be held in Beijing. It will begin at 8PM, which will make it the eighth hour of the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the century. (In case you didn't know, eight is considered the luckiest number in China, and the Chinese people are particularly superstitious about it.) When it is, it will be viewed in the korporate media as the final coronation of China as one of the few world superpowers. Like it actually needs one.
It's hard to believe it's been nine years since someone from China has won BOTM, and eleven since Jiang Zemin took home the trophy. Why that's particularly hard to believe is because in the past nine years, China has not gotten weaker, but rather frighteningly stronger.
Want the proof? Just walk down the aisle of your local Best Buy, Target or (of course) WalMart. Try to avoid buying products which aren't made in the People's Republic. Good luck. Freelance writer Sara Bongiorni did that a full year in 2005 with her family. Needless to say, it often turned shopping for even everyday products into an epic journey. Her four-year-old son, despondent over the cool toys and gadgets he was unable to obtain, had this to say about the end of the boycott: "When we can buy China things again, let's never stop." Ms. Bongiorni summed up her dilemma thusly:
"The funny thing about China's ascent is that we, as a nation, could shut the whole thing down in a week. Jump-start a 'Just Say No to Chinese Products Week,' and the empire will collapse amid the chaos of overloaded cargo ships in Long Beach harbor. I doubt we could pull it off. Americans may be famously patriotic, but look closely, and you'll see who makes the flag magnets on their car bumpers. These days China delivers every major holiday, Fourth of July included."
Of course, if China was merely destroying Team USA's manufacturing sector while poisoning kids with lead-filled toys, it would be bad enough. Currently, China is the number two holder of US Treasury securities, ahead of the UK and only trailing Japan. It is number two with a bullet. What this means is that increasingly China will have a major say in the decisions of our political establishment. It's hard to ignore that in the late 80s and early 90s, for all the hysteria that was directed at the evil Japanese empire, they were nowhere near the economic threat to America that China is now, and a fellow democracy to boot as compared to a communist dictatorship. So where are the panic-stricken pop novels like Michael Crichton's Rising Sun over China?
Okay, maybe that's a little over-the-top: China, after all, is no longer a communist dictatorship, it's a capitalist dictatorship. China has a $7 trillion a year GDP when measured in purchasing power parity, second only to the USA. Since 1978, when free market reforms were implemented, it has grown at an annual rate of over 8 percent. This growth has been aided over the last decade by the reacquisition of both Hong Kong in 1997 and Macau and 1999. Hong Kong long has been the world's shining example of free market economics (Milton Friedman gushed about it in his 1980 book Free to Choose) while Macau has surpassed Las Vegas as the world's largest gambling center, and now only Dubai exceeds it as an example of 21st century capitalism on steroids. Meanwhile, China's biggest oil producer PetroChina became the first trillion dollar company in value last November, and Shanghai has become the world's largest cargo port. With all this money flowing to China, talks of reunification with Taiwan can no longer be dismissed as merely a dream.
But China is definitely still an ugly dictatorship. The crackdown on Tiananmen Square may have happened nineteen years ago, but an environment toxic to freedom still is alive and well. When Hu Jintao (The Konformist Beast of the Month) was selected to take over China's presidency in 2002 from Jiang Zemin, there was widespread hope that he would become the nation's Gorbachev, that political freedom would be unleashed by what was suspected to be a closet liberal. This was aided by his close relationship with Premier Wen Jiabao, who is about as close to a populist figure that can be found in the Chinese establishment. Nearly six years later, this has been proven to be a bogus fantasy, a fantasy exposed most blatantly by the continuing suppression of the people of Tibet. Indeed, the recent crackdown on Tibetan followers of the exiled Dalai Lama has become so intense, there has been a heavy push for nations to boycott the Olympic opening ceremonies as protest. Other noted examples of China's continued repression are the persecution of the Falun Gong religious movement, the backing of a ruthless military junta in Burma and its ties to the bloodshed in Darfur via continued support of Sudan.
Some refer to the 2008 Games as the "Genocide Olympics" thanks to these crimes against humanity, and has led to further calls for a boycott, most notably from actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow, actor and Tibetan activist Richard Gere, director Steven Spielberg and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu. The most in-your-face example of China's continued autocratic style is the nation's crackdown on the Internet, which is already a major hurdle for journalist attempting to cover the Olympic Games. This is despite being lied to repeatedly by China that Internet censorship would be lifted on journalists during the games. (Hard to believe a dictatorship would use deception to land an esteemed multi-billion dollar reward.) According to an International Olympic Committee commissioner: "Had the I.O.C., and those vested with the decision to award the host city contract, known seven years ago that there would be severe restrictions on people being able to enter China simply to watch the Olympics, or that live broadcasting from Tiananmen Square would essentially be banned, or that reporters would be corralled at the whim of local security, then I seriously doubt whether Beijing would have been awarded the Olympics.” The climate of persecution that pervades the Summer Games has been so vast, criticisms of Beijing's toxic smog due to intense air pollution have been almost an afterthought. It appears that for all the talk of open markets leading to freedom, it's going to take longer to achieve Chinese democracy than it has taken Axl Rose to finish his GNR album of the same name.
Over the last eight years, two camps of the GOP have been divided over whether to continue treating China as a trading partner or turning them into an adversary for a Cold War sequel. (These two camps can be referred to as the "Shopping Mall Fascists" and the "War & Oil Fascists" for those keeping score at home.) This division is illustrated in the pro-China positions of both Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch and Christian televangelist Pat Robertson, both having normally anti-Communist views apparently trumped by their desire to profit in the untapped Chinese market. (Robertson's mammon is particularly telling, as he actually has defended China's forced abortion policy to control population, a step beyond the mere "pro-choice" position of American abortion activists he regularly bashes.) The general results of this debate has led the Bush Team to continue the plunge into transferring dollars into China's coffers while getting any dig into them whenever they can, no matter how petty. One noted example: the April Fools 2001 crash between a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet that led to the death of PLA pilot Wang Wei. Immediately, the Bush Administration insisted the incident happened in international airspace (a dubious claim) and demanded the release of the entire crew. (It's hard to imagine that if a Chinese spy plane near US borders caused the death of an American navy pilot, Team USA would immediately release the crew and their plane without investigation.) Ten days later, when the Bush Administration gave a belated and unconvincing apology after an increasingly shrill hysteria swept through the press, China released the crew, but by then the diplomatic damage had been unnecessarily done. Cut to 2006, when a visit by Jintao to the US was littered with snubs that showed a calculated pattern. Among the greatest hits: referring to China as “the Republic of China" (the actual title for Taiwan) during the official White House greeting. Perhaps even worse was granting a Falun Gong anti-China activist press credentials to a joint Bush-Jintao press conference. The press conference was interrupted for three minutes by an angry denunciation of Jintao and China by the activist, something which would've been halted immediately if it was an attack on Bush's failed War in Iraq. Normally, the granting of a press pass is so controlled, only right-wing closet gay prostitutes who sleep at the White House overnight can evade the tight scrutiny, which indicates the Falun Gong supporter's activities were sanctioned by the Bush Administration all along.
Of course, not all battles between China and the US are so minor. Both countries have used bogus excuses to use military weaponry in space, moves that indicate a "Star Wars" may eventually explode between the two nations for control of the Earth's skies. And as PetroChina's rise clearly shows, there is a huge battle already being covertly waged between the two countries over the vast Caspian Sea oil reserves. This covert war may go deeper than most suspect: while 9/11 conspiracy theories mainly focus on the US military, Israel, Saudi Arabia or the UK as the alternative culprit, Gordon Thomas makes the case in the book Seeds of Fire that the terrorist attack was actually a Chinese operation to punish the US and strengthen ties between China and Islamic nations. In particular, the book details the close financial relationship between China and the Taliban before 9/11. (Coincidentally, the Taliban was run from power almost immediately after China was voted into the WTO in November 2001.) That being the case, perhaps the tensions between the US and China will become increasingly overt as China continues to gain power without firing a single weapon.
In any case, we salute Hu Jintao as Beast of the Month. Congratulations, and keep up the great work, Hu!!!
Sources:
Barboza, David. "Macao Surpasses Las Vegas as Gambling Center." New York Times 23 January 2007 <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/business/worldbusiness/23cnd-macao.html>.
Bodeen, Christopher. "Under Hu, China Tightening Media Reins." Washington Post 21 April 2006 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/21/AR2006042100951.html>.
Bongiorni, Sara. "A Year Without 'Made in China'." Christian Science Monitor 20 December 2005 <http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1220/p09s01-coop.html>.
Bongiorni, Sara. A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy. Hoboken: Wiley, 2007.
Chin, Larry. "Is the Anglo-American Empire Losing the 'Great Energy Game'?" Online Journal 8 January 2007 <http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1612.shtml>.
"China's Hu Vows to 'Purify' Internet." Reuters 24 January 2007 <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSPEK9570520070124>.
"Dalai Lama: China Causing 'Cultural Genocide'." CNN 17 March 2008 <http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/16/tibet.unrest>.
Eimer, David. "China Earthquake: Superstition a Potent Force." London Telegraph 24 May 2008 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/2021715/China-earthquake-Superstition-a-potent-force.html>.
"The Genocide Olympics?" Washington Post 14 December 2006.
Harnden, Toby. "Outrage as Preacher Refuses to Condemn Chinese Abortions." London Telegraph 20 July 2001 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1316790/Outrage-as-preacher-refuses-to-condemn-Chinese-abortions.html>.
Hilton, Isabel. "China's One-party Monopoly of Power Is Coming to an End." London Guardian 12 July 2007 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jul/12/comment.china>.
Kahn, Joseph. "China Confirms Test of Anti-Satellite Weapon." New York Times 23 January 2007 <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/world/asia/23cnd-china.html>.
Kluger, Jeffrey. "Was A Satellite Shootdown Necessary?" Time 20 February 2008 <http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1714811,00.html>.
Lou, Ying. "PetroChina's Value Tops $1 Trillion, Surpassing Exxon." Bloomberg November 2007 <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQyRJI72Kor8>.
Marquand, Robert. "E.U. Weighs Olympic Boycott Over Tibet." Christian Science Monitor 27 March 2008.
Mone, Gregory. "Choking at the Olympics." Popular Science August 2007.
Musil, Steven. "Internet Censorship Plagues Journalists at Olympics." CNET News 29 July 2008 <http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10002097-93.html>.
Ritter, Peter. "The New Space Race: China vs. US." Time 13 February 2008 <http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1712812,00.html>.
"Shanghai Now the World's Largest Cargo Port." Asia Times Online 7 January 2006 <http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/HA07Cb02.html>.
Stelter, Brian. "Networks Fight Shorter Olympic Leash." New York Times 21 July 2008 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/sports/olympics/21nbc.html>.
Thomas, Gordon. Seeds of Fire: China And The Story Behind The Attack On America. Tempe: Dandelion Books, 2001.
"WHO Fears Over Beijing Pollution." BBC 17 August 2007 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6950883.stm>.
Beast of the Month - August 2008
Hu Jintao, Chinese President
"I yam an anti-Christ..."
John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) of The Sex Pistols, "Anarchy in the UK"
"One World, One Dream"
Slogan of the 2008 Summer Olympics
On August 8, the Summer Olympics will be held in Beijing. It will begin at 8PM, which will make it the eighth hour of the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the century. (In case you didn't know, eight is considered the luckiest number in China, and the Chinese people are particularly superstitious about it.) When it is, it will be viewed in the korporate media as the final coronation of China as one of the few world superpowers. Like it actually needs one.
It's hard to believe it's been nine years since someone from China has won BOTM, and eleven since Jiang Zemin took home the trophy. Why that's particularly hard to believe is because in the past nine years, China has not gotten weaker, but rather frighteningly stronger.
Want the proof? Just walk down the aisle of your local Best Buy, Target or (of course) WalMart. Try to avoid buying products which aren't made in the People's Republic. Good luck. Freelance writer Sara Bongiorni did that a full year in 2005 with her family. Needless to say, it often turned shopping for even everyday products into an epic journey. Her four-year-old son, despondent over the cool toys and gadgets he was unable to obtain, had this to say about the end of the boycott: "When we can buy China things again, let's never stop." Ms. Bongiorni summed up her dilemma thusly:
"The funny thing about China's ascent is that we, as a nation, could shut the whole thing down in a week. Jump-start a 'Just Say No to Chinese Products Week,' and the empire will collapse amid the chaos of overloaded cargo ships in Long Beach harbor. I doubt we could pull it off. Americans may be famously patriotic, but look closely, and you'll see who makes the flag magnets on their car bumpers. These days China delivers every major holiday, Fourth of July included."
Of course, if China was merely destroying Team USA's manufacturing sector while poisoning kids with lead-filled toys, it would be bad enough. Currently, China is the number two holder of US Treasury securities, ahead of the UK and only trailing Japan. It is number two with a bullet. What this means is that increasingly China will have a major say in the decisions of our political establishment. It's hard to ignore that in the late 80s and early 90s, for all the hysteria that was directed at the evil Japanese empire, they were nowhere near the economic threat to America that China is now, and a fellow democracy to boot as compared to a communist dictatorship. So where are the panic-stricken pop novels like Michael Crichton's Rising Sun over China?
Okay, maybe that's a little over-the-top: China, after all, is no longer a communist dictatorship, it's a capitalist dictatorship. China has a $7 trillion a year GDP when measured in purchasing power parity, second only to the USA. Since 1978, when free market reforms were implemented, it has grown at an annual rate of over 8 percent. This growth has been aided over the last decade by the reacquisition of both Hong Kong in 1997 and Macau and 1999. Hong Kong long has been the world's shining example of free market economics (Milton Friedman gushed about it in his 1980 book Free to Choose) while Macau has surpassed Las Vegas as the world's largest gambling center, and now only Dubai exceeds it as an example of 21st century capitalism on steroids. Meanwhile, China's biggest oil producer PetroChina became the first trillion dollar company in value last November, and Shanghai has become the world's largest cargo port. With all this money flowing to China, talks of reunification with Taiwan can no longer be dismissed as merely a dream.
But China is definitely still an ugly dictatorship. The crackdown on Tiananmen Square may have happened nineteen years ago, but an environment toxic to freedom still is alive and well. When Hu Jintao (The Konformist Beast of the Month) was selected to take over China's presidency in 2002 from Jiang Zemin, there was widespread hope that he would become the nation's Gorbachev, that political freedom would be unleashed by what was suspected to be a closet liberal. This was aided by his close relationship with Premier Wen Jiabao, who is about as close to a populist figure that can be found in the Chinese establishment. Nearly six years later, this has been proven to be a bogus fantasy, a fantasy exposed most blatantly by the continuing suppression of the people of Tibet. Indeed, the recent crackdown on Tibetan followers of the exiled Dalai Lama has become so intense, there has been a heavy push for nations to boycott the Olympic opening ceremonies as protest. Other noted examples of China's continued repression are the persecution of the Falun Gong religious movement, the backing of a ruthless military junta in Burma and its ties to the bloodshed in Darfur via continued support of Sudan.
Some refer to the 2008 Games as the "Genocide Olympics" thanks to these crimes against humanity, and has led to further calls for a boycott, most notably from actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow, actor and Tibetan activist Richard Gere, director Steven Spielberg and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu. The most in-your-face example of China's continued autocratic style is the nation's crackdown on the Internet, which is already a major hurdle for journalist attempting to cover the Olympic Games. This is despite being lied to repeatedly by China that Internet censorship would be lifted on journalists during the games. (Hard to believe a dictatorship would use deception to land an esteemed multi-billion dollar reward.) According to an International Olympic Committee commissioner: "Had the I.O.C., and those vested with the decision to award the host city contract, known seven years ago that there would be severe restrictions on people being able to enter China simply to watch the Olympics, or that live broadcasting from Tiananmen Square would essentially be banned, or that reporters would be corralled at the whim of local security, then I seriously doubt whether Beijing would have been awarded the Olympics.” The climate of persecution that pervades the Summer Games has been so vast, criticisms of Beijing's toxic smog due to intense air pollution have been almost an afterthought. It appears that for all the talk of open markets leading to freedom, it's going to take longer to achieve Chinese democracy than it has taken Axl Rose to finish his GNR album of the same name.
Over the last eight years, two camps of the GOP have been divided over whether to continue treating China as a trading partner or turning them into an adversary for a Cold War sequel. (These two camps can be referred to as the "Shopping Mall Fascists" and the "War & Oil Fascists" for those keeping score at home.) This division is illustrated in the pro-China positions of both Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch and Christian televangelist Pat Robertson, both having normally anti-Communist views apparently trumped by their desire to profit in the untapped Chinese market. (Robertson's mammon is particularly telling, as he actually has defended China's forced abortion policy to control population, a step beyond the mere "pro-choice" position of American abortion activists he regularly bashes.) The general results of this debate has led the Bush Team to continue the plunge into transferring dollars into China's coffers while getting any dig into them whenever they can, no matter how petty. One noted example: the April Fools 2001 crash between a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet that led to the death of PLA pilot Wang Wei. Immediately, the Bush Administration insisted the incident happened in international airspace (a dubious claim) and demanded the release of the entire crew. (It's hard to imagine that if a Chinese spy plane near US borders caused the death of an American navy pilot, Team USA would immediately release the crew and their plane without investigation.) Ten days later, when the Bush Administration gave a belated and unconvincing apology after an increasingly shrill hysteria swept through the press, China released the crew, but by then the diplomatic damage had been unnecessarily done. Cut to 2006, when a visit by Jintao to the US was littered with snubs that showed a calculated pattern. Among the greatest hits: referring to China as “the Republic of China" (the actual title for Taiwan) during the official White House greeting. Perhaps even worse was granting a Falun Gong anti-China activist press credentials to a joint Bush-Jintao press conference. The press conference was interrupted for three minutes by an angry denunciation of Jintao and China by the activist, something which would've been halted immediately if it was an attack on Bush's failed War in Iraq. Normally, the granting of a press pass is so controlled, only right-wing closet gay prostitutes who sleep at the White House overnight can evade the tight scrutiny, which indicates the Falun Gong supporter's activities were sanctioned by the Bush Administration all along.
Of course, not all battles between China and the US are so minor. Both countries have used bogus excuses to use military weaponry in space, moves that indicate a "Star Wars" may eventually explode between the two nations for control of the Earth's skies. And as PetroChina's rise clearly shows, there is a huge battle already being covertly waged between the two countries over the vast Caspian Sea oil reserves. This covert war may go deeper than most suspect: while 9/11 conspiracy theories mainly focus on the US military, Israel, Saudi Arabia or the UK as the alternative culprit, Gordon Thomas makes the case in the book Seeds of Fire that the terrorist attack was actually a Chinese operation to punish the US and strengthen ties between China and Islamic nations. In particular, the book details the close financial relationship between China and the Taliban before 9/11. (Coincidentally, the Taliban was run from power almost immediately after China was voted into the WTO in November 2001.) That being the case, perhaps the tensions between the US and China will become increasingly overt as China continues to gain power without firing a single weapon.
In any case, we salute Hu Jintao as Beast of the Month. Congratulations, and keep up the great work, Hu!!!
Sources:
Barboza, David. "Macao Surpasses Las Vegas as Gambling Center." New York Times 23 January 2007 <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/business/worldbusiness/23cnd-macao.html>.
Bodeen, Christopher. "Under Hu, China Tightening Media Reins." Washington Post 21 April 2006 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/21/AR2006042100951.html>.
Bongiorni, Sara. "A Year Without 'Made in China'." Christian Science Monitor 20 December 2005 <http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1220/p09s01-coop.html>.
Bongiorni, Sara. A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy. Hoboken: Wiley, 2007.
Chin, Larry. "Is the Anglo-American Empire Losing the 'Great Energy Game'?" Online Journal 8 January 2007 <http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1612.shtml>.
"China's Hu Vows to 'Purify' Internet." Reuters 24 January 2007 <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSPEK9570520070124>.
"Dalai Lama: China Causing 'Cultural Genocide'." CNN 17 March 2008 <http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/16/tibet.unrest>.
Eimer, David. "China Earthquake: Superstition a Potent Force." London Telegraph 24 May 2008 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/2021715/China-earthquake-Superstition-a-potent-force.html>.
"The Genocide Olympics?" Washington Post 14 December 2006.
Harnden, Toby. "Outrage as Preacher Refuses to Condemn Chinese Abortions." London Telegraph 20 July 2001 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1316790/Outrage-as-preacher-refuses-to-condemn-Chinese-abortions.html>.
Hilton, Isabel. "China's One-party Monopoly of Power Is Coming to an End." London Guardian 12 July 2007 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jul/12/comment.china>.
Kahn, Joseph. "China Confirms Test of Anti-Satellite Weapon." New York Times 23 January 2007 <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/world/asia/23cnd-china.html>.
Kluger, Jeffrey. "Was A Satellite Shootdown Necessary?" Time 20 February 2008 <http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1714811,00.html>.
Lou, Ying. "PetroChina's Value Tops $1 Trillion, Surpassing Exxon." Bloomberg November 2007 <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQyRJI72Kor8>.
Marquand, Robert. "E.U. Weighs Olympic Boycott Over Tibet." Christian Science Monitor 27 March 2008.
Mone, Gregory. "Choking at the Olympics." Popular Science August 2007.
Musil, Steven. "Internet Censorship Plagues Journalists at Olympics." CNET News 29 July 2008 <http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10002097-93.html>.
Ritter, Peter. "The New Space Race: China vs. US." Time 13 February 2008 <http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1712812,00.html>.
"Shanghai Now the World's Largest Cargo Port." Asia Times Online 7 January 2006 <http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/HA07Cb02.html>.
Stelter, Brian. "Networks Fight Shorter Olympic Leash." New York Times 21 July 2008 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/sports/olympics/21nbc.html>.
Thomas, Gordon. Seeds of Fire: China And The Story Behind The Attack On America. Tempe: Dandelion Books, 2001.
"WHO Fears Over Beijing Pollution." BBC 17 August 2007 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6950883.stm>.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Internet censorship plagues journalists at Olympics
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10002097-93.html
July 29, 2008
Internet censorship plagues journalists at Olympics
Posted by Steven Musil
With the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games a mere 10 days away, members of the media have learned that there is at least one thing they can expect not to be open: the Internet.
Despite earlier assurances that journalists would have unfettered access to the Internet at the Main Press Center and athletic venues, organizers are now backtracking, meaning that the some 5,000 reporters working in Beijing during the next several weeks won't have access to a multitude of sites such as Amnesty International or any site with Tibet in the address, according to an Associated Press report.
When Chinese officials were bidding for the right to hold the games seven years ago, they assured international organizers that there would be ''complete freedom to report.'' In April, Chinese organizers told International Olympic Committee members that Internet censorship, which is routine for China's citizens, would be lifted for journalists during the games.
However, IOC members issued a clarification Tuesday, saying that Internet freedom applied only to Web sites related to ''Olympic competitions.'' Some journalists expressed frustration at the slow download rates and even voiced suspicion that it was deliberate and intended to discourage use.
''This type of censorship would have been unthinkable in Athens, but China seems to have more formalities,'' Mihai Mironica, a journalist with ProTV in Romania, told the AP. ''If journalists cannot fully access the Internet here, it will definitely be a problem.''
This development is only the latest in a long string of headaches the media have suffered in China while preparing to cover the games.
When a senior vice president for NBC Sports, which paid about $900 million to broadcast the games, asked organizers last month to lift broadcast and interview restrictions at Tiananmen Square, the response was reportedly clear: "Don't push the issue."
Having the Chinese government telling you where you can and can't go on the Internet is not only frustrating but a bit unnerving as well. You can bet they are also watching journalists very carefully. Considering the way China dealt with YouTube during the Tibet crackdown earlier this year, what kind of "journalism freedoms" will reporters have if their stories offend Chinese officials?
July 29, 2008
Internet censorship plagues journalists at Olympics
Posted by Steven Musil
With the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games a mere 10 days away, members of the media have learned that there is at least one thing they can expect not to be open: the Internet.
Despite earlier assurances that journalists would have unfettered access to the Internet at the Main Press Center and athletic venues, organizers are now backtracking, meaning that the some 5,000 reporters working in Beijing during the next several weeks won't have access to a multitude of sites such as Amnesty International or any site with Tibet in the address, according to an Associated Press report.
When Chinese officials were bidding for the right to hold the games seven years ago, they assured international organizers that there would be ''complete freedom to report.'' In April, Chinese organizers told International Olympic Committee members that Internet censorship, which is routine for China's citizens, would be lifted for journalists during the games.
However, IOC members issued a clarification Tuesday, saying that Internet freedom applied only to Web sites related to ''Olympic competitions.'' Some journalists expressed frustration at the slow download rates and even voiced suspicion that it was deliberate and intended to discourage use.
''This type of censorship would have been unthinkable in Athens, but China seems to have more formalities,'' Mihai Mironica, a journalist with ProTV in Romania, told the AP. ''If journalists cannot fully access the Internet here, it will definitely be a problem.''
This development is only the latest in a long string of headaches the media have suffered in China while preparing to cover the games.
When a senior vice president for NBC Sports, which paid about $900 million to broadcast the games, asked organizers last month to lift broadcast and interview restrictions at Tiananmen Square, the response was reportedly clear: "Don't push the issue."
Having the Chinese government telling you where you can and can't go on the Internet is not only frustrating but a bit unnerving as well. You can bet they are also watching journalists very carefully. Considering the way China dealt with YouTube during the Tibet crackdown earlier this year, what kind of "journalism freedoms" will reporters have if their stories offend Chinese officials?
Friday, March 28, 2008
E.U. weighs Olympic boycott over Tibet
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0327/p04s01-woeu.html
from the March 27, 2008 edition
E.U. weighs Olympic boycott over Tibet
The European Union meets Friday to discuss ties to China after the unrest in Tibet.
By Robert Marquand Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Paris
If the government of China hopes the world will go for its line on Tibet and the nefarious Dalai Lama and his purported "clique" – Europe isn't buying it.
The response to the Tibetan crisis in London, Paris, and Berlin, rather, is a call for "dialogue" between China and the exiled Tibetan leader, and"restraint" by Beijing.
A boycott of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games is being discussed as a leverage point in Austria, Belgium, Britain, and France – to be determined by how China handles the frustrations of its Tibetan minority.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has "left open the option" of boycotting the ceremony, Germany has blocked talks with China on economic development, and Britain's foreign secretary, David Miliband, says that Tibet demonstrations will be authorized as the Olympic torch is carried through London on April 6.
Prince Charles, a friend of the Dalai Lama, had already decided in January not to attend the opening ceremony, he said, in a letter to a human rights group.
Europeans have long had a fascination with and sympathy for the Himalayan region and its Buddhist spiritual traditions – and the Dalai Lama is a frequent visitor to the Continent.
This Friday, Europe's foreign ministers meet in Slovenia, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, to adopt a common position on relations with Beijing and "the suffering of Tibet," as French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner describes it.
The question in Slovenia is how to balance appreciation for the progress China has made with concern about the heavy handed tactics of an unelected government that has long eschewed any dialogue with those disagreeing with it. Most European states also have significant business interests in China.
While no European Union state is preparing to boycott the 2008 Games – "Let's not be more Tibetan than the Dalai Lama," who did not advocate boycott, says Mr. Kouchner – there is a general revulsion at the scenes out of Tibet, and at what is seen as an overheated Chinese propaganda effort to demonize the Dalai Lama and hold him responsible for violence.
In a clear rebuke to the Chinese position on Dalai Lama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown plans to meet the spiritual leader in May, and the Dalai Lama was invited to speak at a conference in Nantes, France, during the games in August.
As the British Foreign Office issued a human rights report critical of China this week, Mr. Miliband said, "There needs to be mutual respect between all communities and sustained dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese authorities."
On May 22, the Dalai Lama will give a speech at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
On Wednesday Robert Menard, general secretary of Reporters Sans Frontières in Paris, the journalistic watchdog group, stated that Mr. Sarkozy should boycott the opening if China does not release 30 political prisoners who are on the lists of nearly every human rights group, and if foreign correspondents are continued to be banned from working in Tibet.
Mr. Menard's group raced to unfurl a Tibetan flag at the opening ceremony of the games in Athens this week while a Chinese official was speaking – an act widely criticized in the journalistic community, which has depended on RSF to report on press violations.
Prior to the China-Tibet dissatisfaction in Europe, many protest groups here demanded that China stop its support of the Sudanese government, widely regarded as a main culprit in the starvation and chaos in Darfur. The phrase "Genocide Olympics" has been used in Europe among human rights groups to describe the twinning of the Games with China's policy toward Sudan.
from the March 27, 2008 edition
E.U. weighs Olympic boycott over Tibet
The European Union meets Friday to discuss ties to China after the unrest in Tibet.
By Robert Marquand Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Paris
If the government of China hopes the world will go for its line on Tibet and the nefarious Dalai Lama and his purported "clique" – Europe isn't buying it.
The response to the Tibetan crisis in London, Paris, and Berlin, rather, is a call for "dialogue" between China and the exiled Tibetan leader, and"restraint" by Beijing.
A boycott of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games is being discussed as a leverage point in Austria, Belgium, Britain, and France – to be determined by how China handles the frustrations of its Tibetan minority.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has "left open the option" of boycotting the ceremony, Germany has blocked talks with China on economic development, and Britain's foreign secretary, David Miliband, says that Tibet demonstrations will be authorized as the Olympic torch is carried through London on April 6.
Prince Charles, a friend of the Dalai Lama, had already decided in January not to attend the opening ceremony, he said, in a letter to a human rights group.
Europeans have long had a fascination with and sympathy for the Himalayan region and its Buddhist spiritual traditions – and the Dalai Lama is a frequent visitor to the Continent.
This Friday, Europe's foreign ministers meet in Slovenia, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, to adopt a common position on relations with Beijing and "the suffering of Tibet," as French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner describes it.
The question in Slovenia is how to balance appreciation for the progress China has made with concern about the heavy handed tactics of an unelected government that has long eschewed any dialogue with those disagreeing with it. Most European states also have significant business interests in China.
While no European Union state is preparing to boycott the 2008 Games – "Let's not be more Tibetan than the Dalai Lama," who did not advocate boycott, says Mr. Kouchner – there is a general revulsion at the scenes out of Tibet, and at what is seen as an overheated Chinese propaganda effort to demonize the Dalai Lama and hold him responsible for violence.
In a clear rebuke to the Chinese position on Dalai Lama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown plans to meet the spiritual leader in May, and the Dalai Lama was invited to speak at a conference in Nantes, France, during the games in August.
As the British Foreign Office issued a human rights report critical of China this week, Mr. Miliband said, "There needs to be mutual respect between all communities and sustained dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese authorities."
On May 22, the Dalai Lama will give a speech at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
On Wednesday Robert Menard, general secretary of Reporters Sans Frontières in Paris, the journalistic watchdog group, stated that Mr. Sarkozy should boycott the opening if China does not release 30 political prisoners who are on the lists of nearly every human rights group, and if foreign correspondents are continued to be banned from working in Tibet.
Mr. Menard's group raced to unfurl a Tibetan flag at the opening ceremony of the games in Athens this week while a Chinese official was speaking – an act widely criticized in the journalistic community, which has depended on RSF to report on press violations.
Prior to the China-Tibet dissatisfaction in Europe, many protest groups here demanded that China stop its support of the Sudanese government, widely regarded as a main culprit in the starvation and chaos in Darfur. The phrase "Genocide Olympics" has been used in Europe among human rights groups to describe the twinning of the Games with China's policy toward Sudan.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Confirmed - Obama Is Zbigniew Brzezinski Puppet
http://www.rense.com/general81/abig.htm
Confirmed - Obama Is Zbigniew Brzezinski Puppet
Commentary By Webster Tarpley
3-21-8
Any lingering doubts about Obama's status as an abject puppet of Zbigniew Brzezinski and the Rockefeller Trilateral Commission ended this morning when the withered mummy of imperialism himself appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe* to campaign for Obama, urged on by his own moronic daughter, Mika Brzezinski, an Obama groupie and sycophant.
Zbigniew, a low-level Polish aristocrat whose life has been devoted to hatred for Russia, lauded Obama for his 2002 speech opposing the Iraq war, saying that he himself was the source of Obama's arguments back then - thus confirming Obama's long-term status as his puppet, which probably began in 1981-1983, when Obama was a student at Columbia University, and Zbig was directing the anti-Russian institute.
The aging revanchist showed all the misogynism of his szachta origins with a scurrilous attack on Sen. Clinton as a mere housewife, a Mamie Eisenhower running against charismatic a JFK played by Zbig's own Manchurian candidate, and as a woman whose foreign policy experience was worth as much as that of Zbig's own travel agent.
Zbig, who was kept in the closet for many months during the Carter administration because of his hideous Dr. Strangelove persona, portrayed Obama as a peace candidate who wanted to end the Iraq war and usher in peace in the Middle East. Zbig is an infamous Cold War hawk who has managed to re-invent himself in the eyes of some dupes by opposing the Iraq adventure, mainly because it is bad for imperialism.
Zbig did not mention that the reason he wants to downplay certain aspects of US aggression in the Middle East is to free up resources for use in the much bigger and more dangerous adventures which the Trilateral Commission is now directing.
Zbig is the mastermind of the Kosovo secession under KLA terrorist auspices, a gambit against Serbia and Russia to prepare a coming Operation Barbarossa II against Moscow. With the help of his son Mark Brzezinski, another top foreign policy controller of Obama, Zbig is also behind the new Euromissiles crisis involving US ABM installations in Poland. Zbig is the enforcer for the new CIA policy of killing Pakistanis (as "terrorists") without consulting the government of that country, a nuclear power twice as big as Iran.
Most dangerous of all, Zbig is the obvious mastermind of the massive destabilization of China now ongoing, starting with the CIA/MI-6 Tibet insurrection, which has placed the US on a collision course with China, a superpower with 1.4 billion people and thermonuclear weapons which can strike US cities, a far cry from the helpless and defenseless targets preferred by the neocons. It is an open secret that Zbig intends to attempt a color revolution or CIA people power coup in China under the cover of the Beijing Olympics later this year. He may also make the Taiwan crisis explode. The dangers of these lunatic policies are infinitely worse than anything that could ever come out of the Middle East.
Senator Jay Rockefeller and Trilateral/BIlderberger boss Joseph Nye are also actively campaigning for Obama. Nye is the theoretician of "soft power," a new form of imperialist aggression based on economic warfare, subversion, deception, and people power coups. They want Obama to mobilize soft power to give a face lift to US imnperialism.
Brzezinski's goal is confrontation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the main world center for resistance to US-UK global domination.
Anti-war activists are still fixated on Iran, but Brzezinski is not - his target is China, TWENTY times bigger than Iran, with ICBMs ready to launch, followed by Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power. Such confused activists need to focus on stopping the next war - the final global showdown with Pakistan, China, and Russia. That means rejecting Brzezinski's puppet candidate Obama.
Confirmed - Obama Is Zbigniew Brzezinski Puppet
Commentary By Webster Tarpley
3-21-8
Any lingering doubts about Obama's status as an abject puppet of Zbigniew Brzezinski and the Rockefeller Trilateral Commission ended this morning when the withered mummy of imperialism himself appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe* to campaign for Obama, urged on by his own moronic daughter, Mika Brzezinski, an Obama groupie and sycophant.
Zbigniew, a low-level Polish aristocrat whose life has been devoted to hatred for Russia, lauded Obama for his 2002 speech opposing the Iraq war, saying that he himself was the source of Obama's arguments back then - thus confirming Obama's long-term status as his puppet, which probably began in 1981-1983, when Obama was a student at Columbia University, and Zbig was directing the anti-Russian institute.
The aging revanchist showed all the misogynism of his szachta origins with a scurrilous attack on Sen. Clinton as a mere housewife, a Mamie Eisenhower running against charismatic a JFK played by Zbig's own Manchurian candidate, and as a woman whose foreign policy experience was worth as much as that of Zbig's own travel agent.
Zbig, who was kept in the closet for many months during the Carter administration because of his hideous Dr. Strangelove persona, portrayed Obama as a peace candidate who wanted to end the Iraq war and usher in peace in the Middle East. Zbig is an infamous Cold War hawk who has managed to re-invent himself in the eyes of some dupes by opposing the Iraq adventure, mainly because it is bad for imperialism.
Zbig did not mention that the reason he wants to downplay certain aspects of US aggression in the Middle East is to free up resources for use in the much bigger and more dangerous adventures which the Trilateral Commission is now directing.
Zbig is the mastermind of the Kosovo secession under KLA terrorist auspices, a gambit against Serbia and Russia to prepare a coming Operation Barbarossa II against Moscow. With the help of his son Mark Brzezinski, another top foreign policy controller of Obama, Zbig is also behind the new Euromissiles crisis involving US ABM installations in Poland. Zbig is the enforcer for the new CIA policy of killing Pakistanis (as "terrorists") without consulting the government of that country, a nuclear power twice as big as Iran.
Most dangerous of all, Zbig is the obvious mastermind of the massive destabilization of China now ongoing, starting with the CIA/MI-6 Tibet insurrection, which has placed the US on a collision course with China, a superpower with 1.4 billion people and thermonuclear weapons which can strike US cities, a far cry from the helpless and defenseless targets preferred by the neocons. It is an open secret that Zbig intends to attempt a color revolution or CIA people power coup in China under the cover of the Beijing Olympics later this year. He may also make the Taiwan crisis explode. The dangers of these lunatic policies are infinitely worse than anything that could ever come out of the Middle East.
Senator Jay Rockefeller and Trilateral/BIlderberger boss Joseph Nye are also actively campaigning for Obama. Nye is the theoretician of "soft power," a new form of imperialist aggression based on economic warfare, subversion, deception, and people power coups. They want Obama to mobilize soft power to give a face lift to US imnperialism.
Brzezinski's goal is confrontation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the main world center for resistance to US-UK global domination.
Anti-war activists are still fixated on Iran, but Brzezinski is not - his target is China, TWENTY times bigger than Iran, with ICBMs ready to launch, followed by Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power. Such confused activists need to focus on stopping the next war - the final global showdown with Pakistan, China, and Russia. That means rejecting Brzezinski's puppet candidate Obama.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Dalai Lama: China causing 'cultural genocide'
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/16/tibet.unrest/
Dalai Lama: China causing 'cultural genocide'
Story Highlights
NEW: Dalai Lama accuses China of "cultural genocide" of Tibetans
Live footage shows Chinese police searching door to door in Lhasa
Tibetans in exile say 80 dead in protests; China says 10
(CNN) -- The Dalai Lama on Sunday called for an international probe of China's treatment of Tibet, which he said is causing "cultural genocide" of his people.
The exiled spiritual leader of Tibet spoke at a news conference Sunday in Dharmsala, India, two days after violent clashes between pro-autonomy demonstrators and Chinese security forces in the Tibetan capital Lhasa.
A spokesman for the Tibetan exile government said it has confirmed at least 80 deaths in Friday's violence and that protests were continuing outside the capital on Sunday, further undermining China's hopes of a smooth run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Tibet Watch, a group based in Daramsala, India, told CNN that 34 people have died in the Nwaga County area of Sichuan province in western China.
The dead include women and children, the group said in an e-mail, adding they were killed by Chinese police attempting to stop the protests.
Eight bodies were brought to the Nagaba Kirti monastery, the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Dharamsala told CNN. Of the eight, two are the bodies of monks, the center said.
Another protest took place in Machu County in northwestern China, the group said. It was started by some Tibetan students distributing fliers.
They were later joined by monks and laypeople. During the demonstration, several shops and a security headquarters were burned, Tibet Watch said. An estimated 2,000 Tibetans were using firecrackers in the streets, the group said.
Rare live video broadcasts from Lhasa Sunday showed dozens of Chinese police searching a section of the capital, near the palace where the Dalai Lama lived before going into exile 49 years ago.
The Dalai Lama said China, as the world's most populous nation, deserves to host the Olympics but it must look seriously at repairing its human rights record "in order to be a good host."
He laughed at suggestions that the exile government was fueling the anti-Chinese protests, saying it was the natural result of deep resentment caused by China's treatment of Tibetans as second class citizens in their own land.
The Dalai Lama -- who fled his homeland 29 years ago after a failed uprising, said Tibet's "ancient cultural heritage" is threatened with extinction by China.
He said the officials in the Chinese government's local administration in Tibet were "very, very negative" toward the native Tibetans, which prevents development of a "harmonious society."
Tibet, he said, is seeking autonomy necessary to safeguard its heritage.
"We are not seeking separation," he said. In fact, he said, Tibet can enjoy modernization through its connection to China.
China was using force to gain stability and peace, but it would always be superficial, he said.
True harmony and unity must come from the heart, the Dalai Lama said.
Although Chinese authorities are keeping a tight control over communications out of Tibet in recent days, the world got a rare live glimpse Sunday inside the Tibetan capital Lhasa.
Video provided live by CNN affiliate Hong Kong Cable showed armed Chinese police, dressed in riot gear, searching door to door through the Tai Yan Dao section of Lhasa -- near the Potala Palace. Watch police conduct searches. »
There was no sign of violence between the police or residents.
CNN International's live rebroadcast of the video was not blacked out by the Chinese government to viewers in that country. The government sometimes exercises its power to censor CNN's broadcast of stories sensitive to China by interrupting the broadcast as it is fed into the country.
The Hong Kong Cable camera appeared to be pointed out a window above the area being patrolled.
A spokesman for the Tibetan government in exile told CNN Sunday it had confirmed from "reliable sources" inside Tibet that at least 80 people were killed during protests Friday in Lhasa. Many others were shot to death by police in other areas, but the numbers have not been confirmed, an exile spokesman said.
The exile government said Chinese authorities had effectively imposed martial law, although it has not been officially declared. Schools, shops and businesses have been closed, it said.
Home telephones and cell phones have been cut off and the movement of people is restricted in many parts of Tibet, it said.
"Monasteries have been completely sealed off by [the military] and remain under extremely strict surveillance," the exiles said. "Monks are being followed even as they try to move within the compounds of the monastery."
Still, there were protests going on outside the Tibetan capital, the exiles said.
More than 200 people protested in Nyangden -- near the Sera Monastery north of Lhasa -- Sunday, the exiles said.
Police used tear gas against demonstrators who took to the streets of Kama Kusang, east of Lhasa, on Sunday, they said.
The exile spokesman also said there were major protests at the Labrang Tashikyil Monastery and at least four people were taken into custody by Chinese soldiers.
Xinhua, China's official news agency, quoted police in Tibet giving protesters a deadline of midnight Monday "to stop their criminal activities and offering leniency to those who surrender themselves."
"Those who surrender and provide information on other lawbreakers will be exempt from punishment," Xinhua reported the police notice said.
Tibet is one of two provinces in China, along with Xinjiang, where the Chinese government places restrictions on reporters' access. Government permission is required for foreign media to enter Tibet and Xinjiang, and CNN has not received permission to go in.
Dalai Lama: China causing 'cultural genocide'
Story Highlights
NEW: Dalai Lama accuses China of "cultural genocide" of Tibetans
Live footage shows Chinese police searching door to door in Lhasa
Tibetans in exile say 80 dead in protests; China says 10
(CNN) -- The Dalai Lama on Sunday called for an international probe of China's treatment of Tibet, which he said is causing "cultural genocide" of his people.
The exiled spiritual leader of Tibet spoke at a news conference Sunday in Dharmsala, India, two days after violent clashes between pro-autonomy demonstrators and Chinese security forces in the Tibetan capital Lhasa.
A spokesman for the Tibetan exile government said it has confirmed at least 80 deaths in Friday's violence and that protests were continuing outside the capital on Sunday, further undermining China's hopes of a smooth run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Tibet Watch, a group based in Daramsala, India, told CNN that 34 people have died in the Nwaga County area of Sichuan province in western China.
The dead include women and children, the group said in an e-mail, adding they were killed by Chinese police attempting to stop the protests.
Eight bodies were brought to the Nagaba Kirti monastery, the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Dharamsala told CNN. Of the eight, two are the bodies of monks, the center said.
Another protest took place in Machu County in northwestern China, the group said. It was started by some Tibetan students distributing fliers.
They were later joined by monks and laypeople. During the demonstration, several shops and a security headquarters were burned, Tibet Watch said. An estimated 2,000 Tibetans were using firecrackers in the streets, the group said.
Rare live video broadcasts from Lhasa Sunday showed dozens of Chinese police searching a section of the capital, near the palace where the Dalai Lama lived before going into exile 49 years ago.
The Dalai Lama said China, as the world's most populous nation, deserves to host the Olympics but it must look seriously at repairing its human rights record "in order to be a good host."
He laughed at suggestions that the exile government was fueling the anti-Chinese protests, saying it was the natural result of deep resentment caused by China's treatment of Tibetans as second class citizens in their own land.
The Dalai Lama -- who fled his homeland 29 years ago after a failed uprising, said Tibet's "ancient cultural heritage" is threatened with extinction by China.
He said the officials in the Chinese government's local administration in Tibet were "very, very negative" toward the native Tibetans, which prevents development of a "harmonious society."
Tibet, he said, is seeking autonomy necessary to safeguard its heritage.
"We are not seeking separation," he said. In fact, he said, Tibet can enjoy modernization through its connection to China.
China was using force to gain stability and peace, but it would always be superficial, he said.
True harmony and unity must come from the heart, the Dalai Lama said.
Although Chinese authorities are keeping a tight control over communications out of Tibet in recent days, the world got a rare live glimpse Sunday inside the Tibetan capital Lhasa.
Video provided live by CNN affiliate Hong Kong Cable showed armed Chinese police, dressed in riot gear, searching door to door through the Tai Yan Dao section of Lhasa -- near the Potala Palace. Watch police conduct searches. »
There was no sign of violence between the police or residents.
CNN International's live rebroadcast of the video was not blacked out by the Chinese government to viewers in that country. The government sometimes exercises its power to censor CNN's broadcast of stories sensitive to China by interrupting the broadcast as it is fed into the country.
The Hong Kong Cable camera appeared to be pointed out a window above the area being patrolled.
A spokesman for the Tibetan government in exile told CNN Sunday it had confirmed from "reliable sources" inside Tibet that at least 80 people were killed during protests Friday in Lhasa. Many others were shot to death by police in other areas, but the numbers have not been confirmed, an exile spokesman said.
The exile government said Chinese authorities had effectively imposed martial law, although it has not been officially declared. Schools, shops and businesses have been closed, it said.
Home telephones and cell phones have been cut off and the movement of people is restricted in many parts of Tibet, it said.
"Monasteries have been completely sealed off by [the military] and remain under extremely strict surveillance," the exiles said. "Monks are being followed even as they try to move within the compounds of the monastery."
Still, there were protests going on outside the Tibetan capital, the exiles said.
More than 200 people protested in Nyangden -- near the Sera Monastery north of Lhasa -- Sunday, the exiles said.
Police used tear gas against demonstrators who took to the streets of Kama Kusang, east of Lhasa, on Sunday, they said.
The exile spokesman also said there were major protests at the Labrang Tashikyil Monastery and at least four people were taken into custody by Chinese soldiers.
Xinhua, China's official news agency, quoted police in Tibet giving protesters a deadline of midnight Monday "to stop their criminal activities and offering leniency to those who surrender themselves."
"Those who surrender and provide information on other lawbreakers will be exempt from punishment," Xinhua reported the police notice said.
Tibet is one of two provinces in China, along with Xinjiang, where the Chinese government places restrictions on reporters' access. Government permission is required for foreign media to enter Tibet and Xinjiang, and CNN has not received permission to go in.
Friday, March 14, 2008
'Most luxurious train in the world' to Tibet
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080310/lf_afp/lifestylechinatibetrail_080310145702
China plans 'most luxurious train in the world' to Tibet: report
Mon Mar 10, 2008
China will launch "the most luxurious train in the world" to ply the route from Beijing to Tibet's capital Lhasa, state media reported Sunday.
However, a ride on the train, which will begin operations on September 1, will be about 20 times more expensive than the ordinary fare of about 2,000 yuan (280 dollars), Xinhua news agency said.
"The interior of the train will be decorated according to the standards of a five-star hotel, making it the most luxurious train in the world," said Zhu Mingrui, general manager of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Corporation.
"Such a train can only seat 96 passengers. The fare would be about 20 times the normal price and also much more than an airline ticket," he said.
There will be three trains, which will head from Beijing to Lhasa every eight days. The luxury journey will take five days.
Each train will have 12 passenger cars, two dining cars and a sightseeing car. Each passenger car will have four ten-square-metre (108-square-foot) suites featuring a double bed, a living room and bathing facilities.
The train line to the Himalayan "roof of the world" went into operation in July 2006.
Chinese authorities see the 1,142-kilometre (710-mile) railway as an important tool in modernising and developing Tibet, which has been part of China since its troops occupied the region in 1950.
However, critics say that the line is allowing the Han Chinese, the national majority, to flood into Tibet, leading to the devastation of the local culture as well accelerating environmental degradation of the region.
China plans 'most luxurious train in the world' to Tibet: report
Mon Mar 10, 2008
China will launch "the most luxurious train in the world" to ply the route from Beijing to Tibet's capital Lhasa, state media reported Sunday.
However, a ride on the train, which will begin operations on September 1, will be about 20 times more expensive than the ordinary fare of about 2,000 yuan (280 dollars), Xinhua news agency said.
"The interior of the train will be decorated according to the standards of a five-star hotel, making it the most luxurious train in the world," said Zhu Mingrui, general manager of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Corporation.
"Such a train can only seat 96 passengers. The fare would be about 20 times the normal price and also much more than an airline ticket," he said.
There will be three trains, which will head from Beijing to Lhasa every eight days. The luxury journey will take five days.
Each train will have 12 passenger cars, two dining cars and a sightseeing car. Each passenger car will have four ten-square-metre (108-square-foot) suites featuring a double bed, a living room and bathing facilities.
The train line to the Himalayan "roof of the world" went into operation in July 2006.
Chinese authorities see the 1,142-kilometre (710-mile) railway as an important tool in modernising and developing Tibet, which has been part of China since its troops occupied the region in 1950.
However, critics say that the line is allowing the Han Chinese, the national majority, to flood into Tibet, leading to the devastation of the local culture as well accelerating environmental degradation of the region.
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