Beijing pledges 'a fight to the death' with Dalai Lama

[MethuenProgressive]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25689-2312796,00.html

Beijing pledges 'a fight to the death' with Dalai Lama
From Jane Macartney, of The Times, in Beijing

China’s new top official in Tibet has embarked on a fierce campaign to crush loyalty to the exiled Dalai Lama and to extinguish religious beliefs among government officials. <snip> Ethnic Tibetan civil servants of all ranks, from the lowliest of government employees to senior officials, have been banned from attending any religious ceremony or from entering a temple or monastery. Previously only party members were required to be atheist, but many of them quietly retained their Buddhist beliefs.

[msongs]

1. so why doesnt BUSH declare war on China the terrorist nation in Asia?

china acts just like sadaam, china is a threat, china is a terrorist supporting government.

doh, the have nukes and can fight back.

bush never picks on people who can fight back.

that's why the republicans will not attack iran, because Iran will fight back.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/2007politicalcalendars.htm

[Bob1984]

5. I wonder the same thing...

I really don't understand why a tougher stance hasn't been taken on China. Why do the Repubs seem to be afraid of them ?

:shrug:

[MethuenProgressive]

17. Ask daddy (GHWB)

George was the ambassador to China before he was Ray-gun's veep. Asl him why we were soft on supportting Tiawan, and how that lead China to decide we would do nothing if they moved against Tibet.

[Deja Q]

7. China, unlike Tibet, has American interests at heart.

The Iran fight is a different issue; one that I certainly can't be against. For one thing, most countries know Iran is ran by a raving nutter who is currently trying to goad everybody into a war just for kicks. What worries me is when somebody decides "enough is enough" with that bully and actually do bomb them. (Nor would I blame them, the guy is a lunatic to the depths even Bush would be blushing over...)

[McCamy Taylor]

19. China has China interests at heart. Iran is run by muslim clerics.

Anyone who "can't be against" a war should probably spend a lot of time at their nearest Buddhist temple seeking to understand what sickness afflicts his or her own heart.

On the other hand, "raving nutter who is currently trying to goad everybody into a war just for kicks" is as apt a description of the NeoCons as I have ever heard.

[lgn19087]

12. There's probly

a bank account in some carribean country with Bush's name on it filling up as we speak. Saddam must have just missed his "protection" payment.

Remember, its allllllllllllllllllllllll about the money.

[JeffR]

2. Something else for the champions of Western "democracy"

to ignore.

[northzax]

8. you know Tibet was, and under the DL would be again,

a theocracy, right? not a Democracy?

[JeffR]

10. Course. I should have used the phrase

champions of "Freedom", I guess.

[McCamy Taylor]

20. Tibet would probably not become a theocracy again. That was then.

Tibet is a more like a Mecca or Vatican now. With the Chinese out, it would become the religious center for a lot of people around the world. I expect that the influx of all those westerners would bring in western ideas of democratic government. Plus, recall that many religious refugees from Tibet have sought refuge in India. Some of them might bring back democratic ideas, too.

Is it possible that the theocracy was not so much a worship of the religious ruler as it was a way of keeping a corrupt secular ruler (like the Chinese Emperor) from taking power in Tibet? The Communist Chinese are not the first Chinese to have set their sights on Tibet. The Irish clung fiercely to their Catholic Church as a way of fighting British rule. There are now few Europeans as devout as the Irish.

[northzax]

21. and you don't think the Vatican is a theocracy?

the head of state is the infalliable messenger of God.

Remember that the Dalai Lama, for all his good works, is still an inerrant homophobe and a believer in the divine right of kings.

Look at the neighboring countries (Nepal: quasi-Constitutional Monarchy; Bhutan: absolute Monarchy) why would Tibet be any different?

[sweetheart]

3. in every single beating heart

They might seek to destroy the words and the beliefs, and buddhism has
morphed and spread around the world, until the bejing supressors are surrounded
by smiling buddha's at how totally they are outwitted... the world is become tibet,
and no ground is belong to the hungry ghosts.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. I guess the US will side with walmart on this one.

[maxsolomon]

6. China is our friend & partner in business

Cuba gets no quarter

see how consistent & logical? :sarcasm:

[Warpy]

9. Uh....

"Previously only party members were required to be atheist, but many of them quietly retained their Buddhist beliefs."

Buddhists ARE atheist. Buddha was an ordinary man, not a superman and certainly not a god.

I guess the businessmen find that the daily meditation time cuts into their profits, somehow.

[unschooler]

14. Tibetan buddhists believe in reincarnation.

Deity or no, I'd call that a religious belief system. Not that it matters.

[Warpy]

16. Rebirth, not reincarnation

and yes, there's a difference. I have a lot of quibbles with the Tibetan variety, but it's still a psychology and philosophy at heart, even though ordinary people are a little lost in the folk religion/ritual surrounding the temples.

[MethuenProgressive]

18. rebirth/reincarnation: GWG would return as...

1) a child in Darfur, homeless, ill, parentless, and hungry
2) a 19 year old Marine, on patrol in Falujah, with poor equipment, little training, and no understanding of why he is where he is
3) a single mother of two, working two jobs with no health insurance, - and a bad cough
4) a Dad in Beruit, digging through the rubble of his home, hoping to find enough pieces of his family to bury
5) a 90 year old grandmother, pounding on the roof from the inside of her home as the hurricane's flood waters rise past the rafters

[Lefty48197]

11. Sounds like Stalin

when he asked how many (military) Divisions the Pope had.

[xchrom]

13. lol -- good luck with that buddy.

people just carry their beliefs underground with them.

what china CAN do is drive the tibetans extinct by genetically overwhelming them.

[slampoet]

15. That's the problem with fighting a death match with the Dalai Lama

He keeps coming back for more!!