Tibet and the Ghosts of Tiananmen (TIME)

[eppur_se_muova]

It is still nearly five months before the Olympic torch is to be lit in Beijing, officially starting the 29th summer Olympics. But, diplomats in the Chinese capital believe that a high level game of chicken has already begun, one that has now turned deadly — first, in Lhasa, the capital of what China calls the Tibet Autonomous Region, and now elsewhere, according to Tibetan exiles and human rights groups.

Yesterday, in China's Sichuan province, at least eight bodies were brought to a Buddhist monastery in Aba prefecture, allegedly shot dead by Chinese riot control police, according to an eyewitness account quoted by Radio Free Asia. The escalating confrontation in and around Tibet is a nightmare for China's top leadership, but one, some diplomats believe, that could not have taken anyone in the central government completely by surprise. It pits the leadership in Beijing against its domestic opponents — who include not only Tibetan dissidents, but also separatist groups in the heavily Muslim region of Xinjiang, as well as human rights and political activists throughout the country.

Each side understood that the months leading up to the Games would be "extremely sensitive," as one diplomat put it. The government knew "from day one," another diplomat told TIME, that "a successful bid for the games would bring an unprecedented — and in some cases very harsh — spotlight" on China and how it is governed. On the other side, everyone from human rights activists to independence seeking dissidents in Tibet and Xinjiang — "splittists" in the Chinese vernacular — knew they would have an opportunity to push their agendas while the world was watching. "Thought the specific trigger for this in Tibet is still unclear, that it intensified so quickly is probably not just an accident," the senior diplomat says.

According to this view, it was never hard to imagine a scenario in which some group — and maybe several — would push things, try "to probe and see whether they could test limits." The critical issue, now front and center, diplomats say, is just how far angry Tibetan activists will push — and how harshly the Chinese government will push back.

How extensive the violence has been thus far is not at all clear. Tibetan exile groups claimed on Sunday that 80 people were killed in Lhasa on Mar. 13 and 14. Those claims are as yet unconfirmed by any independent reporting and Beijing says just 10 "innocent" people were killed in Lhasa. It denies any deaths elsewhere. The Dalai Lama surely stoked Beijing's anger on Sunday by claiming, from the headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile, when he accused China of "cultural genocide" against Tibetans and by declining to urge his followers in Tibet to surrender to authorities there by midnight tonight, as Beijing had demanded.
***
more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1722883,00.html?xid=site-cnn-partner

[alarimer]

1. I am pissed that China got the games, given their abysmal human rights record.

I wish countries would boycott in protest.

Maybe all the athletes need to wear "Free Tibet" somewhere on their clothing. China wouldn't dare do anything to them with all the cameras on them.

[1monster]

2. Ya think? Harry Connick, Jr. played Beijing this week and was forced to sing

without band accompaniment for most of his songs.

The reason? Well it seems that some Scandinavian artist was there earlier in the week and shouted out Tibet after one of her songs, which claim the Chinese government really hurt the Chinese people's feelings.

So they decided that they were going to crack down on visiting artist to ensure that no one else got the chance to "hurt the Chinese people's feelings.

Connick had submitted a proposed list of songs to sing in Beijing which were approved. However, upon arriving, Connick found that the band did not have the sheet music for many of his songs and changed his program to match songs for which the band did have sheet music.

The Chinese government refused to consider any changes in the program. So Connick had the choice of no band accompaniment or no performance at all.

And this was when there was nothing offensive at all in the proposed changes...

[alarimer]

3. good grief.

Why don't they just refuse to perform? It's bad enough the government had any approval over the set list. Did he make a lot of money for this? Or did his managers make him go on anyway?
N
o way am I watching these Olympics. Giving them to the Chinese just ruined whatever respect I ever had for the ideals of the Games (I know they haven't really been true to those ideals since about 1984 but still).

I have no respect for China. No way will I ever consider visiting there and giving any (more) of my money to prop up that evil government.