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The Western Media, China & Tibet issues PDF Print E-mail
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Saturday, 08 November 2008

I see that all over the world the Western media talks about how Tibet should be free and that it doesn't belong to China. Tibet has been part of China, and always will be.

Even people who are pure Chinese don't know everything about China, but yet the outside world chooses to think they know more about our country than we do, as someone of Chinese nationality I feel that I should defend my country from everybody spreading lies about it.
Once I heard someone say "We have always learnt that Tibet is a separate country from China”, I said whoever you learnt that from do not know what they're talking about, Tibet is part of PRC (People's Republic of China) that is a FACT. Some westerners believe in a lie that states Tibet was never part of China, well a majority of them say they're Chinese anyway as they are part of CHINA. Chinese is a nationality, and Tibet, Han...etc. are ethnicities when we everybody understand this? Tibetans nationality is CHINESE not Tibetan.

Dalai Lama is nothing; he's no different to those dirty politicians out there. I can't stand how he goes travelling the world seeking sympathy from everybody and, making him or her think that China is oppressing Tibet. Which brings me to what Sharon Stone said about the Sichuan Earthquake being caused because of karma, just because we apparently are unkind to Tibet. How old is she? Seven? In my opinion, karma is when you've done something unpleasant to someone and it comes back to you, not to every other person around you.

People say Tibet have the right to be free and that there is no democracy in China, well democracy is great when it is improving anything in general to make it better, but nobody likes it when it’s forced on them. For example if the whole country said they want to go to war with another country and it actually happened, that is democracy but in a negative way, right? Democracy is right, but not good when in the wrong hands. People have the right to say that Tibet should be independent so that means people also have the right to say no, that's democracy.

China is a fast developing country we've achieved a lot during the years more than some countries who take 10 years to achieve one thing. All the things they claim are out of jealousy, just another excuse to try and bring us down, also the same reason to not let China host the Olympics for 2008.

To me Westerners are oppressing us with all their judgements and made up facts about China.

Do you agree with reader Katie Chow Mok's views? Share you thoughts here.

 
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Hot Chinese Chips Posted 14:39 on 10 November 2008
This picture says it all...

http://www.quangduc.com/quocte/nhanvat/usa-2007/dalailama-usa-2007-1.jpg
medialies - hot chinese chips Posted 10:17 on 6 December 2008
I dont think your post with the link of a photo of bush and the dalai lama means anything but to say that it says it all is quite naive and insulting no? President Hu has been photographed on a number of ocassions shaking hands with bush and so have many people around the world but does that mean they are all seperatists? I am certainly no fan of Bush but your insinuation serves no purpose except to prove the lack of depth of your understanding of the situation and of international affairs in general.

As for the rant by Ms Chow, its not much different to the rightwing zionists of Israel who claim that Palestinian land belongs to them because passages in the Scriptures say so. I am certainly no anti semite so please refrain from any hamfisted attempt to slur.
chinaman - :S Posted 16:17 on 10 November 2008
Sister,

I understand where you are coming from but is a ill constructed rant helpful for our cause?? your article reminds me of some 3 year old being dragged crying out a sweet shop screaming "it's not fair, I HATE YOU!"

Tibet has MANY problems, racism is a massive problem on both sides. The rapid demographic change by han immigrants are contributing to a rise of anti-han xenophobia, but hans by and large treat our brothers and sisters from other ethnic groups as these sambo, minsterl type noble savages (in this regard we are like the west, look at how popular tibetan and mongol folk music is while we let our own culture die).

Poverty and lack of education is a massive problem. health care is poor, even when compared to the rural western regions. Women's rights are routinely trampled upon. Police ARE heavy-handed, and their presence causes resentment. But what I find amusing is when did our inept, corrupt, PSB become this iron handed, all seeing instrument of an orwellian superstate?

Religious freedoms are curtailed, yes, but no less than the rest of China. Money we spend on developing tourism is basically thiefed from Tibetans: Zhuang AND Han.

A true patriot will concentrate on how we can lift our people out of this mire, solve all the bread and butter issues and let the west think however it wants to think. At the end of the day, what's more important? Some poor illiterate, family-less little brother starving to death, begging from tourists or how we are represented in an article by one of the guardian's "experts"?

Pay no heed to their romanticised, sentimentalist view of ancient tibet or diamond vehicle buddhism in general. They think the Hindu Kush as Shangrila as well... stupid hippies.

Once I watched this newsnight report where the journalist was literally accusing this head of a zimbabwean NGO of having blood in her hands because she refused to endorse the MDC, this was a woman's grassroot social project that tries to encourage health awareness, environmental awareness and crafts - traitors in the eyes of the BBC.
Reba - The Western Media ,China & Posted 0:38 on 11 November 2008
I am mainland chinese origin, proud of China's acheivements and have no sympathy with claims for "Tibetian independence". However this racist, self-pitying rant from Katie Chow Mok really shame me with her ignorant war-mongering article. Her Xenophobia only plays into the hands of "Tibetian Separatists."

I assume that she is one of the "Fifty-Cent Gang" paid to write these articles by the PSB.
Katie Chow Mok - Racist?! Posted 19:26 on 13 November 2008
Excuse me! But how am I racist?
Katie Chow Mok - Reply Posted 19:40 on 13 November 2008
'but is a ill constructed rant helpful for our cause??'

I am not trying to say that my opinions are helpful to solving the issue, I'm simply stating my views.

And no I do not get paid for writing this article, I wrote because I have a strong view about this topic.

I of course have sympathy for Tibetans if the claims are true that they have been mistreated by Chinese people, but wanting independance? That just shouldn't be allowed, my reasons for that is because Tibet is part of China and always will be and the dispute between China and Tibet is just like sibling rivalry so there is no need for anybody else to intervene. Not that they don't have the right to because like personal issues it should stay personal.

I do not have xenophobia, if I did then I wouldn't have friends that are from other countries would I? Think about that, and just because I choose to defend China doesn't mean I hate/fear Tibetan people, because they are part of us. So you can think what you like, and say what you wish, but no ones views are wrong, so there is no right/wrong answer to this issue.
Huangziyang - Tibet Posted 9:33 on 5 January 2009
The 'mistreatment' of Tibetans by the Chinese mainly happened during the crushing of the independence uprising (in 1959), which was as a result of China's invasion of an Independent Tibet in 1950. Tens of thousands of Tibetans died and many fled to India. Tibet has never been formally part of China, and has been a vassal state (like Korea - an independent country) for many centuries - ie they paid China an annual protectorate sum, in return for protection against invaders (just like the Koreans). China's main claim is according to this 'fact' plus the marriage of a Chinese princess to a Tibetan royal during the 18th century.

Chinese brutality in Tibet does not stop there - Tibet suffered great human losses during the Great Leap Forward (as did the rst of China) and great cultural and human losses during the Cultural Revolution (read destroyed monasteries and human lives). Do you call this 'sibling rivalry' or 'oppression' ?

Granted - Tibet has made great economical strides since becoming part of China. Granted - most people in Tibet were literally serfs under the Dalai Lama and have now been freed from that.

However, many people fail to understand that the Dalai Lama does NOT wish to participate in separatist activities. His wish in his own words "what we demand from the Chinese authority is more autonomy for Tibetans to protect their culture". He added that he had told the Tibetan people not to think in terms of history and to accept Tibet as a part of China.".

Tibet's spiritual leader has acknowledged (even though most of the population in Tibet do not) that Tibet is part of China. All he wants is a Tibet with greater autonomy - why do people fail to understand this ? I would rather wish that people, before they rant about a topic, research their argument and back it up with solid evidence rather than nationalistic fervour.
Hot Chinese Chips Posted 12:43 on 11 November 2008
It must be a Chinese trait to love putting people down.
sit on the fence Posted 20:04 on 12 November 2008
The tibet issue is a bit strange, it hasn't been given the deep critical treatment as in the middle east coverage, which is a mess. It s a tricky issue. I like to see peace for all, but I don't have the answers.
Anonymous Posted 23:25 on 16 November 2008
Whatever the claim of sovereignty, I expect the future of Tibet will be much better under Chinese rule in the long term. With Tibet being part of China, Tibetans have the chance to rule China as well.
Tibet needs China, and China needs Tibet as the Dalai Lama acknowledged recently.
The recognition by UK towards China's direct rule in Tibet, it simplifies the political situation.
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7730774.stm
There is no longer any point for Tibetans to campaign for independence anymore.
It is time for everyone to concentrate on making Tibet a better place.
flik_8 Posted 19:04 on 27 November 2008
I am no expert in the matter of Tibet, but this may help you grasp the basics.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hTaT9UgjdZI

Tibet should be independent, just as much as Scotland should be independent.

Yes, they have their own ethnic group, but there is a symbiotic relationship there that it needs to maintain itself. If it were not for the Chinese, Tibet would either be speaking Russian, or praying with the Indians. There is no secure way for that piece of land to remain independent.

For a place where peace is allegedly high on the agenda, it is surprising how it has managed to have less and less tolerance.

I don't think Katie was ranting. She is entitled to a view just like the rest of us.

Perhaps we should all learn to be more tolerant of others views?
goChow Posted 22:49 on 4 January 2009
Ms Chow,
I whole heartedly agree with you, which I don't quite understand is. don't these people have enough on their plate and yet still want to mess with other people's business?
for all I can see, dalai is a peon. he goes strutting around spreading smiles and lies.
Clay Wee - No more chips on shoulders, pl Posted 7:07 on 28 January 2009
Where does this enormous chip on the shoulder come from?

Each time, we Chinese say things like "Westerners are oppressing us with all their judgements and made up facts about China" it does not help as an earlier post said.

It sounds so weak. It sounds so funny.

Further, saying: "All the things they claim are out of jealousy, just another excuse to try and bring us down, also the same reason to not let China host the Olympics for 2008".

Er, didn't China win the Olympic bid (and wasn't it a good Olympics?). Whose jealousy? So why this self-pity?

Isn't it time we grow up?

Mental strength comes from accepting we make mistakes and that criticism is healthy too. Without criticism one grows complacent and then decay sets in.

Oh, and by the way, was there not an invasion of Tibet by Chinese troops in 1959. It does not fit your thesis that Tibet has always been Chinese. It's certainly the geo-political construct since 1959 but before.

Shovelling insults on the Dalai Lama is so unhelpful. It's childish and purile. And, don't think that when he's gone, the idea of Tibetan independence will disappear. This is going to run and run.

Saying that "but yet the outside world chooses to think they know more about our country than we do" can be construed as xenophobic - if not racist (which is what the earlier post implied).

I think you'll find there are British people (since this website is based in Britain) who know parts of Chinese culture, history, music better than the average Chinese person. In the same way, there are people in other parts of the world who know Bronte country better than the average Brit.

Let's not be so insular.
Yugaung - Internet Guide to Tibet Posted 2:48 on 29 January 2009
Internet Guide to Tibet
============ A =============
Everyday News about events relating to Tibet
Tibet Daily
http://www.tibetglobe.com/

Tibet news
http://english.chinatibetnews.com/
http://www.tibetinfor.com.cn/english/xzxw-l.asp?newst=news01
=========== B ==========
Sites presenting the views of the People's Republic of China Gov.
China Tibet Information Center
http://www.tibetinfor.com/en/news/index.htm
One of the largest site on this subject.

Historical Status of Tibet
http://www.tibet.cn/english/services/library/serialise/h_status/menu.htm
A brief chronology of Tibet history


Feudal Serf System in Tibet
http://www.tibetisxizang8.com.cn/xizangnnzdy2.htm


Did Tibet Become an Independent Country after the Revolution of 1911?
http://www.tibet-china.org/serie_book/english/independentframe.html


Songtsan Gambo and Princess Wencheng
http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/ce/cenp/eng/Features/xzwt/History/t167856.htm
========= C =========
Web sites run by organizations actively engaged in Tibet politics and
Known to have received funding from the U.S. or the British Gov.
especially the NED of USA.
(Please read NED-CIA connection:
http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers2/paper115.html
Good analysis of how CIA uses non-gov-organizations (NGOs) as cover
to
subvert foreign gov.)
The first 3 organizations on the list (*) below are quoted in well
over 90% of the
news reports about Tibet published in the English media.
Out of about 400,000 web pages devoted to Tibet, the majority of them
copy their content from these 3 sites.
*International Campaign for Tibet
http://www.savetibet.org/
receives NED funding


*Tibet Information Network
http://www.tibetinfo.net/
receives NED funding, also funding from the British Gov.


*Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy
http://www.tchrd.org/
receives NED funding


Tibet Justice Center
http://www.tibetjustice.org/
receives NED funding


Tibetan Review
http://tibetan.review.to/art.html
English language monthly news
receives NED funding


Tibet Fund
http://www.tibetfund.org/
receives NED funding


Tibetan Youth Congress
http://www.tibetanyouthcongress.org/
receives NED funding


Tibet Times/Tibetan Literary Society
www.tibettimes.org
receives NED funding


Tibet House
http://www.tibethouse.org/
Declassified CIA document mentioned of how CIA created Tibet House.
The website itself is silent about its CIA connection.


Human Rights In China
http://iso.hrichina.org:8151/iso/index.adp
Received millions of dollars from the US gov. via the National
Endowment for Democracy.
Board of directors mostly taken from Human Rights Watch.
=======(D)========
Sites run by organizations with overlapping leadership with NED
Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/
Overlapping leadership with "Human Rights In China".


Amnesty International
http://www.amnesty.org/
NED program officer for Asia, Louisa Coan, also serves as spoke
person for Amnesty International USA.
======== E ============
Miscellaneous sites with no political affiliation
Kham Aid Foundation
http://www.khamaid.org/about_us/contact.htm


LOOKING BEYOND STEREOTYPES
Los Angeles Times story about biased information in Tibet reporting
http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~pamlogan/endfairytale.htm


THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY
http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers2/paper115.html
Good analysis of how CIA uses non gov organizations (NGO) as cover to
subvert foreign gov.
The National Endowment for Democracy of USA (NED) is currently
funding
many Tibet Separatists organizations.


Tibet -A Reality Check by N. Ram
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1718/17180040.htm
Author is an Indian writer who visited Tibet recently.


How Repressive Is the Chinese Government in Tibet?
UCLA ASIA INSTITUTE
http://international.ucla.edu/asia/article.asp?parentid=2732


From Taiwan to Tibet, U.S. Perceptions of China
Dangeously out of Touch
http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/media/releases/2000/050100taiwan...
Essay by Tom Grunfeld


Psychological Warfare(psywar) in the New Millennium
http://www.saag.org/common/uploaded_files/paper39.html
Explains various propaganda techniques of the CIA and British MI6;
also their links with Amnesty International, International
Commission of Jurists, and NED.


TIBET: Mother & Child
http://www.tibet.ca/en/newsroom/wtn/archive/old?y=2001&m=12&p=23_1
A new study led by Mel Goldstein, director of the Centre of Research
on Tibet, at Case Western Reserve University, disputes charges by
Tibetan activists of forced abortions
and sterilizations by Chinese authorities.


Tibet, the 'Great Game' and the CIA by Richard M Bennett Asia Times
http://journeyeast.tripod.com/tibet_the_great_game.html


Life Under the Dalai Lama in Exile
http://www.rwor.org/a/firstvol/tibet/tibet5.htm


The Dalai Lama and the CIA
http://rwor.org/a/firstvol/tibet/cia5.htm


Tibet essays by an ethnic Mongol
http://journeyeast.tripod.com/tibet.html


Millions Spent Subverting "Enemies," Stifling Dissent
http://www.twf.org/News/Y2001/0215-CIAfunds.html


How USA subvert 3rd world countries.
Trojan Horse, The National Endowment for Democracy
http://members.aol.com/superogue/ned.htm


How USA Manufactures Tibet Propaganda
http://groups.google.com/group/talk.politics.tibet/browse_thread/thre...


======== F ==========
Maps of Tibet and China
Tibet map
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/china_india_borde...


Including Xinjiang, Nepal, Bhutan and region annexed by British India
in 1913 Simla Conference (Shaded red eastern sector)
For more detail map of this sector see:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/china_india_e_bor...


1892 map of Asia showing Tibet
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/asia_1892_amer_ency_brit.jpg


Tibet map
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/china/tibet


China map


http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/china_pol96.jpg
http://china.scmp.com/map/


Dalai Lama's map of China
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/uighur-map.gif
This same map appears in Dalai Lama's book, "Freedom In Exile".
Notice the People's Republic of China at the south eastern corner of
the Asian land mass.This is his version of what China look like. The
Dalai Lama’s claims that 30% of China’s current land area belongs to
his Tibet.
========= G =========
Declassified CIA documents on CIA's relation with the Dalai Lama
Questions Pertaining to Tibet Washington, January 9, 1964.
http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/vol_xxx/337_343.html
This document mentioned payment of $180,000 annually to Dalai Lama
and
how CIA set up Tibet House in New York
--------------
USA officially has always recognized China's sovereignty of Tibet.
This can be traced back to the pre-ww2 era. (read statement by Kent
Wiedmann)
US Gov. is at the same time also the biggest source of propaganda
support for the Dalai Lama's separatist activities
Testimony by Kent M Wiedmann, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for
East Asian and Pacific Affairs before Subcimmittee on East Asian and
Pacific Affairs, Senate Foreign Relation Committee.
http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/bureaus/eap/950907WiedemannTibet.html
Yugaung Posted 3:08 on 29 January 2009
The area claims by the Dalai Lama as Tibet covers 30% of China's current territory. It includes the entire Qinghai, most of Sichaun, most of Gansu, part of Yunan and the Tibet Autonomous region (TAR). In this region lived 40 ethnic groups and Tibetans forms only 30-40% of the population.
Bear this in mind when people say "Tibet for Tibetans". Ethnic cleansing will be the next on the agenda of the Tibetan Youth Congress.
CIA have their motives in backing the Dalai Lama
Bill Posted 11:20 on 12 March 2009
While I understand the author's viewpoint and concur with his view I do believe too much emotive language and not enough information is used to support the fact.
China is a developing country, it is now "the workshop of the world" as Britain had been 100 years ago. This reflects upon the social stage it is currently in, we are not afraid to say that we still need to develop and will given time. The greatness of Britain was built upon its empire, China is simply going through the same faze. Eventually Tibet will become independent once views upon it has been relaxed but not right now, the free tibetist activists are simply been impatient on a process that takes hundreds of years to complete.
In my opinion China does not need Tibet, it has very little to offer and is costly to maintain, the government will be better off washing their hands with them.
Lost Posted 9:48 on 15 April 2009
Katie

I'm confused. You (very correctly in my view) say that Chinese is a nationality not an ethnicity. But before that, you refer to 'pure Chinese'. Could you tell me what is a pure Chinese?
woollycat - Tibet Posted 18:57 on 15 September 2009
I have been really impressed by the articles and contributions of people on dimsum. However there are some short articles that are a bit of a let down, like this one. I know its in viewpoint, but its a pointless rant and no hard facts are referenced.

I too can go on a rant about westerners and tibet and their blind belief of the Dalai lama but I dare not speak my mind until I have sought the truth myself and know for sure that I am right in what I proclaim. Be careful, we don't want to be seen as angry hypocrites.
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