Politicisation of flags

I am not really sure how I got embroiled in a political conflict, here at tmy summer school of space studies. I am at an institution founded on top-class education based on international exchange and intercultural understanding. But somehow the issue of my Taiwanese nationality has become an issue of debate. Unhappily so.

It all began as we were entering our final preparation stage for the report due next week. Historically, because the team compiling the report consists of dozens of people from all over the world, the tradition is that on the back cover there is a list of names, with next to the names the flag of the country where the person comes from. There have been incidences where people who have two nationalities have two flags next to their name.

So I do have dual-nationality, and like everyone who has the right to have both his/her country represented, I asked the person responsible for designing the cover to include the Dutch and Taiwanese flag.

Then came the email. From a fellow Chinese student who protested against the inclusion of Taiwan or the Taiwan flag in the flag. As if echoing the speech of an official from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this issue (before I realised it became an issue at all!) became labelled as a "serious matter".

So I took steps to stop things going any further. Believe me, the last thing I want is to be in the middle of a debate about sovereignty and never-ending "Taiwan-is-a-part-of-China" claim. It is simply futile and does not get anywhere. I wrote a very diplomatic and carefully phrased email to our programme director, requesting that he clarify the issue, and I cc-ed the email to people in our team, thinking they should be informed about the latest development in this very unpredicted protest from our Chinese colleague(s).

Hours later, I was spoken to by the chair. Though it was right to refer the matter to the director, and though the Chinese student had no right to decide what goes in or out of the final group report, it was a terrible mistake for me to cc the email to everyone. It was escalating things further, and putting the matter on the public forum, I was told.

I came away from that meeting somewhat disheartened. I am not sure what I had done to provoke anything, and if I did do anything (like write that email and send it to everyone) then it was only because I wanted the input from a neutral party with the authority to decide on such matters of controversy. And somehow the issue has come back to bite me, and I've made a number of people irritated.

It is funny.... even at an academic institution of learning and international cooperation, that politics can raise its ugly head and wreak discord and sow upset. All because of a flag... all because certain people cannot tolerate dissent or another opinion, and feels the need to shoot down all semblances of what has so often been labelled "splitting the Motherland" or "subversion".

And all I wanted was to be represented. All what I wanted was to be represented fully like everyone else has a right to. I am Taiwanese and Dutch, and those are my identities, those are the cultures and countries that have shaped me. Am I to deny that because someone else protests?

Once again, the politicization of everyday mundane things unveals its ugliness.

Game on!

Have you seen the latest Coca Cola cans? It bears the Olympic rings, and printed on one side are the Chinese characters for the world’s favourite soft drink. Another example of how the world has become drunk with the Beijing Olympics.

But have you read the latest reports of crackdowns on Free Tibet supporters just moments after Mr. Bush called upon China to reform, or the wave of bombings and deaths in the Uighur province of Western China? And do you know about the ‘unexplained’ disappearances of Chinese democracy activists, or the clean-up operation to rid the streets of Beijing of beggars, prostitutes and other ‘unwanteds’? Amid the pictures and broadcasts of the and glitz of the Opening Ceremony in Beijing is the sad overshadowing of China’s continuing violation of fundamental human rights. Sad states of affairs, which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or leaders like Mr. Sarkozy would sooner want to forget.

Sports should not be mixed with politics, as the IOC has repeated told the rest of the world. But wait… how could the IOC take a very political decision to ban (then) Apartheid South Africa from the Olympic Games, yet fail so miserably to voice its opinion on the human rights situation in one of the biggest violator of human rights in the world today? Sure, sports has nothing to do with politics. Hitler would today scoff at this, for he had successfully shown off the new prowess of Nazi Germany during the 1936 Olympics, while openly hiding the effects of anti-Semitic laws, and discrimination against homosexuals and other races. And why is Taiwan not allowed to compete under its own name, but must be repeatedly degraded and humiliated under the title of “Chinese Taipei”? And if sports had nothing to do with politics, then why did 61 States boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan?

The Olympic Games is being openly used by the Chinese Communist Party to justify and legalise its oppressive regime in China. It is being used to trump the Party’s successes, and sideline the internal pressures of an increasingly unequal society, and the rampant practices of corrupt officials. The Games are openly being promoted as China’s “coming out party”, after which China can join the world as a responsible and equal power. Yet, no State in the world deserves any respect or recognition as a world power, however virulent its economic might is, when it does not respect the fundamental freedoms and basic human rights of its own people.

“From the outset, Chinese leaders saw the games as a chance to boost China's image, to redefine it as a worthy, humane global partner - and not a menacing behemoth. Ordinary Chinese thought it a ripe opportunity to mark the tremendous strides made in casting off poverty and totalitarianism and building the fourth-largest economy in the space of a generation.

In their bid for the Olympics seven years ago, Beijing officials said the games would increase interaction with the international community and spur improvements in human rights and media freedom. The Chinese government called on party image-makers to devise ways to appeal to foreigners and on officials to stoke popular enthusiasm at home. "Integrate with the world" became a catch-phrase.”

Yet, various independent human rights and press monitoring organisations have observed a noticeable decline in freedoms in the run-up to the Games.

Reporters Without Borders writes:

“When the International Olympic Committee assigned the 2008 summer Olympic Games to Beijing on 13 July 2001, the Chinese police were intensifying a crackdown on subversive elements, including Internet users and journalists. Seven years later, nothing has changed. But despite the absence of any significant progress in free speech and human rights in China, the IOC’s members continue to turn a deaf ear to repeated appeals from international organisations that condemn the scale of the repression.

[…]The repression of journalists and cyber-dissidents has not let up in the past seven years. Everything suggests that it is going to continue. The IOC has given the Chinese government a job that it is going to carry out with zeal - the job of “organising secure Olympic Games.” For the government, this means more arrests of dissidents, more censorship and no social protest movements.”

And Human Rights Watch comments:

“The Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee have had seven years to deliver on their pledges that these games would further human rights. Instead, the Beijing Games have prompted a rollback in some of the most basic rights enshrined in China’s constitution and international law”

I was strongly opposed to the awarding of the Olympics to China back in 2001. I have repeatedly expressed disbelief in the fact that the IOC can overlook the bids of world-class cities like Paris, Osaka and Toronto in favour of China’s severely polluted capital Beijing. It was simply self-delusion then to believe that the Olympics would improve, or change in any shape or form to say the least, the human rights situation in China. In fact, the Olympics were awarded based on the promise that China would commit to improving the fundamental freedoms of its people, yet seven years on, the country is just as, if not in some ways even more repressive, as ever.

And so Amnesty International reports solemnly a few days earlier that:

“In fact, the crackdown on human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers has intensified because Beijing is hosting the Olympics. The authorities have stepped up repression of dissident voices in their efforts to present an image of “stability” and “harmony” to the outside world. This has resulted in the detention and imprisonment of those who wish to draw attention to the other side of the picture, which includes human rights violations perpetrated in preparation for the Games.

[…] However, the IOC has shown a reluctance to follow up on such statements and speak out on human rights in the context of the preparations for the Games in a more specific, consistent and forceful way. Amnesty International believes it is not appropriate to publicly refer to progress in certain areas, while ignoring a marked deterioration in others. […]

The IOC’s diplomatic, non-public approach on human rights cases and issues does not appear to have yielded significant results. International pressure from other governments for human rights reform has also been insufficient, sending a message that it is acceptable for a government to host the Olympic Games in an atmosphere characterised by repression and persecution. The danger now becomes that after the Olympic Games these patterns of serious human rights violations may continue or intensify with even less attention paid by the international community than has been the case so far.”

In the light of the glorious and wonderful Games in Beijing, here is the “Top Ten List of Possible New Events the Chinese Might Want to Include in the XXIX Olympiad”:

10. Synchronized Waterboarding.

9. The Barbed-Wire High Hurdles.

8. The Tibetan Monk Toss.

7. Starving Doberman Obstacle Relay.

6. Speed Wheezing.

5. The Re-Education Spiky Bamboo Pit Leap.

4. The Beach Border Minefield Crawl.

3. The Twelve-Year-Old Factory Worker Pee Hold Marathon.

2. Rhythmic Baton.

1. The Baby-Girl Bayonet Stack.

Game on.

Oppression, crackdown, arrests and silencing media: 1
Openness, basic liberties and press freedom: 0

Free Tibet!

Cartoon by Jeff Stahler at Cagle.com

“Due to security reasons the name of the author is omitted”

This line appeared in the Dutch Volkskrant under a report on the recent protests in and around Tibet. In all my years of reading the news, I have yet to see simply the words “From a correspondent” underneath the headline with no mention of the correspondent’s name. But in the climate of the ongoing crackdown by soldiers and security forces, together with reports of censorship and of deportations of international journalists by the Chinese government, this is the reality.

Another reality is that eight years ago, a regime that could never have been too proud of its human rights record and democratic credentials was to the surprise of many awarded with the honour of hosting the 2008 Olympics. How Beijing has rejoiced since, and how Beijing is doing all it can to ensure that this will be the Olympics to overshadow all others in history, as a homage to China’s “peaceful rise” to becoming a world power. Continuously the International Olympic Committee shrugged off critics of Beijing Games by reiterating that sports has nothing to do with politics. In the words of IOC President Jacque Rogge, the “IOC is a catalyst for change in China but it is not a panacea, […] It is a sporting, non-political organization and we cannot solve the problems of the world."

The tanks and machine guns are rolling into Tibet. Over 100 protesters, or perhaps even more, are dead, some due to the Chinese government, which itself has admitted to firing upon civilians. The IOC can at least try harder than merely congratulate China on improving its air quality ahead of the Games. Indeed, as the coordinating body of world’s foremost sporting event, it has great influence and leverage over the host states. While martial law falls on Tibet, there is not a mention of the unrests and crackdown by the Chinese authorities on the website of the IOC. Whatever happened to the promises China made upon winning the Olympic bid to make significant improvements in its human rights situation?

Wei Jingsheng, a Chinese winner of several human rights and democracy awards who spent over 15 years in prison for his pro-democracy activities, wrote in the International Herald Tribune:

The IOC's unwillingness to pressure Beijing at this moment is tragic because these Olympics are a turning point in modern Chinese history.

By acting as host to the Olympics, the Communist Party's rulers have turned their palace into a global glass house. They can no longer show the smiling face of the "peaceful rise" of China to the world and the stern face of brutal suppression at home.

The Olympics will force China to show its true face. Only international pressure, by the IOC and others, will make sure it is the face we all want to see.

Due to China’s continual inaction over the continuing bloodshed in Darfur, Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg (rightfully) resigned back in February, after mounting pressures calling for his disengagement from what has been deemed the “Genocide Olympics”. With the deteriorating situation in Tibet, the Dalai Lama has repeatedly warned of a China’s active engagement in a “cultural genocide”, that has in the past half a century threatened to wipe out all remnants of Tibetan language, religion and culture. What pride the Olympics dream is, to be hosted by a country now coupled closely with two of the most severe atrocities in modern history! So much for the ideals of “peace and progress, harmonious development, living in amity, cooperation and mutual benefit” that the official organisers of the Games trump on their website.

Of course, as with everything and anything related with 3 Taboos (Tiananmen, Tibet or Taiwan), the Chinese government’s propaganda machine has ensured any sensitive news is moulded to reflect the great visions and twisted lies of the Chinese Communist Party. Thus, ordinary people and anti-government dissidents are not being rounded up or placed under constant house arrest in order to preserve Beijing’s image of a peaceful and clean city… the unrests in Tibet were caused by unruly Tibetans under the instigation and control of the Dalai Lama, and only 13 people have died, all caused by mob anger… and there are no free and fair presidential elections in Taiwan this Saturday.

Cartoon by Jeff Koterba, at Cagle.com

A commentary in the Chinese government’s mouthpiece, Xinhua, ran the following tirade against the internationally acclaimed His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

“…the monk in a crimson cassock has many tools for disguise to survive the international criticism against violence and terror: his preaching of peace, tolerance and benevolence to the Nobel honor and U.S. medal which added to his undeserved aura.

Make no mistake people, we have all been fooled by this conniving two-faced monk, who is the equivalent of the Catholic Pope in Tibetan Buddhism! The Chinese government went as far as to insinuate that the Dalai Lama’s eye for terrorism comes from having been educated by an old-Nazi. The slur against the latest winner of the US Congressional Gold Medal continues:

“this impudent politician did not show any sign of shame when he disassociated himself from the conspiracy as an innocent monk, leaving his followers standing as cat's paws by persuading them, in a canting manner, "not to resort to violence" reportedly in a statement after the serene abode of the gods was disturbed.

What flowerly language. Similar sentiments are echoed by an irrate and finger-pointing Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, who at a press conference blurted out:

There is ample evidence that this incident was premeditated, masterminded, incited and organized by the Dalai clique. This once again shows that the claims made by the Dalai clique over the years that they seek peaceful dialogue and not independence are nothing but lies. Their hypocritical lies cannot cover the indisputable facts.

Indisputable acts of what? That the Dalai Lama, who has lived in self-imposed exile for half a century, is in fact a terrorist mastermind on par with Osama Bin Laden? That this inspiring spiritual leader with millions of followers, whose consistently promotion of “peace, understanding and harmony” is the reason he won the Noble Peace Prize, should be unmasked as a fake?

I would personally trust the Dalai Lama over any government that is constantly ranked at the bottom along with other human rights violators and oppressors of freedom of press. I would rather trust what I freely hear and freely read in the news about Tibet than believe the views of a government which will not blink to throw you in prison for merely carrying a photograph of the Dalai Lama.

A commentary today in the Chinese government’s mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, praised the crackdown in Tibet as being “restrained”. And China’s restrained reaction to the Tibetan uprising apparently enjoys “broad international support”... from the likes of Syria, the Democratic People’s Republic of (North) Korea, and the very important Fiji, as well as Serbia (still sour of its loss of Kosovo).

In yet another commentary, the Chinese government has vowed to “resolutely [crack] down on and severely [punish] a handful of lawless criminals”, and clarifies in what is widely seen as the strongest language by China on its handling of the Tibetan uprising that:

we must see through the secessionist forces' evil intentions, uphold the banners of maintaining social stability, safeguard the socialist legal system and protect people's fundamental interests, and resolutely crush the "Tibet independence" forces' conspiracy and sabotaging activities so as to foster a favorable social environment for reform and development and for people's happiness and welfare. [...]

After decades of construction and development, Tibet is enjoying its best-ever time of progress and stability, the paper says. Accelerating development, improving livelihood, maintaining stability and opposing separation are the road the region has to walk on if it is to prosper. Secession is against the people's will and sabotage is doomed to fail […]

To be clear, Tibet has never been an integral part of China. If it were, why did China need to invade in 1950 and forcibly oppress uprisings that have to date caused over 1 million deaths? Under international law, Tibet can even be said to have enjoined sovereign independence before the Chinese invasion. Admittedly, Tibet’s relations with China has historically been that of a vassal under the suzerainty of the Chinese Emperors. However, Tibet has always enjoyed much freedom to govern its internal affairs according to its own distinct culture and religion under the reign of the Dalai Lamas. This peaceful coexistence ended with the so-called “liberation” of Tibet. Atrocities and a reign of terror ensued that has repeatedly been classified as a genocide outright. The so-called “Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet”, under which Tibet recognises its “return to the big family of the motherland - the People's Republic of China” was not more than a diktat signed by the then Tibetan government as Chinese troops were already brimming on the borders. Immediately after the Dalai Lama and Tibetan government fled into exile, the Agreement was repudiated, and since then the Dalai Lama has called for “a meaningful autonomy” for Tibet, whereby Tibetans have freedom in cultural, political, religious and economic affairs. He is willing to meet and negotiate with the Chinese leadership, and has repeated extended the olive branch. It is Beijing, with its warped vision of the Dalai Lama as a “splittist” and “terrorist”, that is refusing to acknowledge His Holiness’ goodwill.

The cause of the recent unrest, like those back in 1989 and even before, is the Chinese government’s strategy of turning Tibet into any other Chinese province. By actively attracting Chinese people to emigrate to Tibet, the economic and political powers are now unfairly biased against the Tibetans in favour of those with loyalties to Beijing. Monasteries are under surveillance, Tibetan language and culture is increasingly marginalised, while even the Panchen Lama, who will be he Dalai Lama and according to tradition can only be reincarnated, is handpicked by the Chinese Communist Party, and resides in Beijing. A then unknown Communist Party cadre by the name of Hu Jintao was the Party Chief of the “Tibet Autonomous Region”. It was he who ordered the violent suppression of similar uprisings in early 1989. Today, he has been “elected” (twice, no less!) to the position of President of the People’s Republic of China. So who is responsible for the brutal suppression of the uprisings in Tibet now? Hu.

What a message Nancy Pelosi sent to the international community, when yesterday she stood side by side with the Dalai Lama in a show of her solidarity with the Tibetan people. Dubbed the third most influential political figure in the US, the Congressional Speaker attacked China’s violent handling of the Tibetan uprisings. In an emotive speech, Pelosi could not have put it in better words:

“Today, this delegation from the United States Congress is here to shed the bright light of truth on what is happening in Tibet. In sanskrit the word non-violence means ‘truth insistence.’ Insistence on the truth is what this is all about. We insist that the world know the truth about what is happening in Tibet.

“If freedom loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression in China and in Tibet we have lost all moral authority to speak on human rights anywhere in the world. The cause of Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world.

Why is the rest of the world silent as China continues to oppress the Tibetans? Why is the UN silent when human rights are constantly being trampled on by one of its veto-wielding powers? Why is the IOC playing dumb when the country it foresaw would usher in “a landmark moment in Olympic history, and is obviously an event of huge national interest in China” is now revealing its true ugly nature? And they claim to be freedom loving?

The Olympic Games are a great opportunity for China to show off its huge strides in development and economic progress indeed. But it is also an opportunity for the world to pay attention to many of the abuses and failings that continue to plague this self-proclaiming super power.

A tyrant that puts on a lavish suit that many are envious of is still a tyrant. And a China that can put on a stunning Olympic Games is still the oppressive and brutal regime that it has always been. The Olympic dream has not improved the lot of ordinary people in China, nor has it lived up to the promises of greater media freedom and transparency as previously trumpeted. Instead, the outburst of violence in Tibet reveal all too well the continual suffering and fears of the oppressed Tibetan people, of the democracy activists and political dissidents, that China would rather the world forget under the limelight of the glitz and glamour it tries so hard to showcase.

But China has invited the world to its doors when it accepted the honour of hosting the Games. And besides the glory and gradeur that it boasts, it should not be afraid show the dark and shameful sides which will forever present an obstacle to achieving that superpower status it so aspires to reach.

And we, the citizens of this world, the very citizens who love freedom and abhor the suffering of those who have none, should not be afraid to look and to see.

Not just to look what is fundamentally hypocritical about the Olympic Games which are supposed to celebrate unity and humanity, but also to see the silence of our leaders who claim to love and support freedom, yet fall suddenly despicably silent when it comes to dealing with a China where there is none.

Links:

See The Guardian’s excellent coverage on Tibet and the recent uprising.

CNN reports on China’s media censorship, as does the BBC.

For commentaries offering a more “balanced” side of the uprising in Tibet, go to the

Chinese government’s mouthpiece, Xinhua New Agency. And here you see a whole site of the Chinese government dedicated to condemning the “separatist activities” of the Dalai Lama. Additional reporting by China’s official news channel (ironically abbreviated as) CCTV.

A good website keeping a monitor on China’s censorship of news and the Internet.

Official site of the Dalai Lama.
Website of the Free Tibet movement.

"Wrong move by the US"

A few days ago, the China Daily carried the following headline:

“Wrong move by the US”

No surprise, as the Chinese government-controlled media machinery spread propaganda about the despicable and utterly unacceptable fact that the Dalai Lama was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal—the most prestigious civil award in the US. A severe interference in China’s sovereignty, a completely disgraceful violation of the conduct of international relations, an act that the US will need to bear the consequences of.

The reason, as the opinion piece explains, was that the Dalai Lama:

“has been engaged in secessionist activities for many years in his vicious attempt to split Tibet from the motherland and instigate political unrest in the autonomous region”.

This is referring to the same Tibetan leader-in-exile who, along the likes of Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The same person who last year was granted Honorary Canadian Citizenship for being a leading champion “peace and non-violence”. It makes you wonder, how can a spiritual leader universally recognised as a man of harmony and piety be as evil and as violent as the Chinese government likes to denigrate and defile him on every occasion?

Of course, the background to this is the fact (or at the very least, the official statement repeated time and time again by the Chinese government) that:

“Tibet has been an integral part of China since ancient times and Chinese central governments of several dynasties have exercised sovereignty over it”.

Yes. Exactly the reason why Tibet had to be invaded in 1950, and why millions of Tibetans, monks and nuns have been, and continue to be, oppressed and persecuted since. Former British Prime Minister Thatcher, commenting that the “Chinese claim to Tibet is dubious on historical grounds”, wrote:

“The Chinese now appear to have resolved upon a programme of ‘modernisation’ that involves shifting the ethnic balance in favour of Han Chinese and away from Tibetans, as a final solution to the continuing resistance. […] For two years running, Britain and the rest of the European Union have refused to co-sponsor a United States resolution at the UN Commission on Human Rights condemning China’s record. This attitude is not just shameful: it is also foolish. Any plaudits from the Chinese authorities for such actions are short-lived, nor are they needed: after all, in almost every field, the Chinese need the West more than we need China”.

Shame the rest of the world does not realise that… or at least does not dare challenge China on the issue of its dictatorial practices at home, and elsewhere. No matter, because there are improvements yet. Just witness the groundbreaking event heralding changes and great leaps forward will be happy to note that the President Hu Jintao has just been unanimously re-elected to serve another term in office, and in his speech he mentioned the word ‘democracy’ no less than 60 times. On the issue of Tibet, the chairman of the regional (read puppet) government of Tibet called the award by the US Congress an “injection of cardiotonic to secessionist activities”. Big words and beautiful rhetoric. He assured the public that the Dalai Lama’s “splittist and diversionist” actions won’t stop much of the social and economic progress that the people of Tibet have enjoyed since the Chinese occupation rule.

Indeed, as China sees it,

“Great changes have taken place in Tibet since the autonomous region was established in 1965 and especially after the economic reform and opening up in the late 1970s. Anyone who visits Tibet will witness how living standards have improved for the Tibetans.

The hardly accessible high plateau region can now be reached by air and land transport which was unimaginable when local Tibetans were under the rule of a serfdom system more than 40 years ago.

As far as religion is concerned, local Tibetans enjoy complete freedom to participate in any religious activity they choose.”

Hail to the Chinese Communist Party! If that’s the case, then Human Rights Watch must be spreading lies for the seventeenth year running, when it again reported last year:

Suspected “separatists,” many of whom come from monasteries and nunneries, are routinely imprisoned. In January 2006, Gendun, a Tibetan monk, received a four-year prison sentence for opinions expressed in his lectures on Tibetan history and culture. In June 2006, five Tibetans, including two nuns, were detained for publishing and distributing independence leaflets. In July, Namkha Gyaltsen, a monk, received an eight-year sentence for his independence activities. In August, armed police detained Khenpo Jinpa, an abbot. In September, Lobsang Palden, another monk, was charged with “initiating separatist activities.”

On September 30, Chinese People’s Armed Police shot at a group of approximately 40 Tibetan refugees attempting to cross the border into Nepal, killing a 17-year-old nun, Kelsang Namtso, and possibly others. The rest of the group fled, though witnesses reported seeing Chinese soldiers marching approximately 10 children back to a nearby camp. The official press agency Xinhua claimed that the soldiers were “forced to defend themselves,” but film footage showed soldiers calmly taking aim and shooting from afar at a column of people making their way through heavy snow.

In spite of plans for economic development of Tibetan regions, the opening of the Qinghai-Lhasa railroad in July 2006 exacerbated concerns among Tibetans that they would be unable to compete economically with an anticipated influx of Han migrants”.

And this BBC reporter must form part of a conspiracy of decadent conniving Western imperialists, why are trying to wreak havoc and social unrest within China:

Although people can worship openly, Beijing maintains ultimate control over Tibetan Buddhism.

An example of this control came earlier this month when China's State Administration for Religious Affairs issued new guidelines about who can and cannot be declared a "living Buddha". From 1 September, all reincarnated living Buddhas - eminent monks - will first have to be approved by the government.

[…]China seeks to control the selection of senior religious leaders in Tibet because it fears their political power. Although Beijing says Tibet has been part of China since the mid-13th century, eight centuries on there are still many who dispute that claim.

Beijing believes senior monks provide a focal point for those advocating Tibetan independence.

Familiar images of Burmese monks parading the streets spring to mind. Which cannot be separated from the images of brutal police crackdown and bloody repression.

Indeed, various Dutch local reported that just days after the Dalai Lama was awarded the US Congressional Award, hundreds of Tibetan monks who were celebrating the occasion clashed with policemen. It was said that these monks were surrounded by some 300 armed policemen, who forbid anyone to leave or enter the compound. Whether there have been casualties or deaths is unknown, and with China’s most sophiscated censorship machinery in the world, it is unlikely we will ever know.

One World, Different Dreams

Six foreign activists unfurled a banner on the Great Wall of China today. Scribbled on it was the official slogan of the 2008 Beijing Olympics: “One world, one dream”. Celebrating the one year countdown to the greatest sporting event in the world perhaps? Underneath, the words “Free Tibet” on the same banner was less cause for celebration. The group of six has been detained, and their fates are unknown.

In 2001, there was much commotion when the Olympic Games were awarded to Beijing by the slimmest of votes by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This self-proclaimed “non-profit organisation” decides who gets the Olympic honour in secret ballots, and has been trying hard to salvage its tainted reputation of being a corrupt club of self-serving internationalists. The Beijing decision did not help improve its image.

Critics cried foul and disbelief, when the Chinese capital triumphed over Toronto, Paris, and even Osaka—which was deemed one of the most hospitable cities in Asia. But rest assured, the IOC said. It will be a clean game, and it will bring great changes to China. To placate those critics who point to China’s poor human rights record, the IOC was adamant that the Games would bring the world to China, and China to the world, and in doing so put pressure on the regime to liberalise. Deals were struck with the regime to allow unprecedented press freedom to foreign journalists in this infamously repressive state, where news is known to be government propaganda and strictly censored.

Thus the Olympic dream began. In the past few years magnificent architecture and landscapes have been erected from the ground up. There is no doubt preparations is right on target to deliver what has been promised the most spectacular Games in history. To borrow those wise words of Chairman Mao, the opportunity to host the Olympics is perhaps the ultimate symbolism showing the rest of the world that China has finally “stood up”. The slogan “One world, one dream” is supposed to capture the spirit of “a great nation, with a long history of 5,000 years and on its way towards modernization, that is committed to peaceful development, harmonious society and people's happiness”. Applaud here.

But the nightmares of human rights and other abuses are far from having ended. A former UNICEF spokesperson and Hollywood began a campaign to dub the 2008 Games “Genocide Olympics”, in the face of China’s continuing financial and armaments support of Sudanese government:

That nightmare is Darfur, where more than 400,000 people have been killed and more than two-and-a-half million driven from flaming villages by the Chinese-backed government of Sudan.

That so many corporate sponsors want the world to look away from that atrocity during the games is bad enough. But equally disappointing is the decision of artists like director Steven Spielberg — who quietly visited China this month as he prepares to help stage the Olympic ceremonies — to sanitize Beijing's image. Is Mr. Spielberg, who in 1994 founded the Shoah Foundation to record the testimony of survivors of the holocaust, aware that China is bankrolling Darfur's genocide?

[…] Whether that opportunity goes unexploited lies in the hands of the high-profile supporters of these Olympic Games. Corporate sponsors like Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, General Electric and McDonalds, and key collaborators like Mr. Spielberg, should be put on notice. For there is another slogan afoot, one that is fast becoming viral amongst advocacy groups; rather than "One World, One Dream," people are beginning to speak of the coming "Genocide Olympics."

Does Mr. Spielberg really want to go down in history as the Leni Riefenstahl of the Beijing Games? Do the various television sponsors around the world want to share in that shame? Because they will. Unless, of course, all of them add their singularly well-positioned voices to the growing calls for Chinese action to end the slaughter in Darfur.

Despite assertions by the Beijing Organizing Committee that the foreign press is being
“treated kindly”, Reporters without Borders begs to differ:

The Chinese authorities promised the IOC and international community concrete improvements in human rights in order to win the 2008 Olympics for Beijing. But they changed their tone after getting what they wanted. For example, then deputy Prime Minister Li Lanqing said, four days after the IOC vote in 2001, that “China’s Olympic victory” should encourage the country to maintain its “healthy life” by combatting such problems as the Falungong spiritual movement, which had “stirred up violent crime.” Several thousands of Falungong followers have been jailed since the movement was banned and at least 100 have died in detention.

A short while later, it was the turn of then Vice-President Hu Jintao (now president) to argue that after the Beijing “triumph,” it was “crucial to fight without equivocation against the separatist forces orchestrated by the Dalai Lama and the world’s anti-China forces.” In the west of the country, where there is a sizeable Muslim minority, the authorities in Xinjiang province executed Uyghurs for “separatism.” Finally, the police and judicial authorities were given orders to pursue the “Hit Hard” campaign against crime. Every year, several thousand Chinese are executed in public, often in stadiums, by means of a bullet in the back of the neck or lethal injection.

And so does the Committee to Protect Journalists, which warned of a

[…] yawning gap between China’s poor press freedom record and the promises made in 2001 when Beijing was awarded the Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee awarded the 2008 Games to the Chinese capital based on assurances that authorities would allow the media “complete freedom,” and that they would apply “no restrictions” to coverage. While the government has eased some travel and interview rules that apply to foreign journalists, it continues to impose severe constraints on the domestic press. Chinese journalists are in jail. Vast censorship rules are in place. Harassment, attacks, and threats occur with impunity. China has fallen short thus far in its pledge to the international community.

To echo this, Amnesty International reports:

growing crackdown on Chinese human rights activists and journalists as well as the continued use of ‘Re-education through Labour’ (RTL) and other forms of detention without trial. Official statements suggest that the Olympics are being used to justify such repression in the name of ‘harmony’ or ‘social stability’ rather than acting as a catalyst for reform. […] the image of the Olympics continues to be being tarnished by ongoing reports of the ‘house arrest’, torture or unfair trial of Chinese activists and the extension of systems for detention without trial in Beijing as part of the city’s ‘clean-up’ ahead of August 2008. If the authorities fail to take significant action to reform such practices, reports of abuses are likely to increase as the Olympics approach with adverse publicity potentially affecting not only China, but other stakeholders in the Olympic movement, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the corporate sponsors of the Games.

And so does Human Rights Watch, which wrote:

On paper, the temporary regulations appear to free foreign correspondents from a decades-old regulatory handcuff of time-consuming and rarely granted foreign ministry approval for interviews and reporting trips o[…]. However, the new latitude granted by the temporary regulations is conditioned on being “in conformity with Chinese laws and regulations.” This is problematic, as many Chinese laws and regulations limit free expression. The continuing applicability of these other laws and regulations and the lack of independence of the judiciary limit the chances that the temporary regulations will be enforced, or enforceable.

[…]In addition, foreign journalists must still apply for rarely-granted official permits for reporting visits to Tibet. Worse, many say that they are often harassed, detained, and intimidated by government and state security officials in the course of their reporting activities. More disturbingly, such treatment is increasingly being meted out by threatening and occasionally violent groups whom journalists often suspect to be plainclothes police personnel […]

Human Rights in China wrote that the Chinese regime is (ab)using the Olympics to package and advertise its strengths and overshadow its failings. Stories are being revealed of small children driven to the brink all in the name of “Honour for the Nation”. Further, news reports that have leaked out of the country report that Olympic merchandise are being produced by child labour. Whereas big multinationals stand to reap billions in profits from selling their shoes, clothes, puppets and pens at exuberant prices, workers are being forced to work long hours in poor conditions:

Yet the Olympics movement, particularly the International Olympics Committee, has refused to acknowledge that labour violations in their supply chain exist, and that they need to take responsibility to create an ethical marketing and licensing program in the face of these contraventions. […] Even though the IOC Code of Ethics stating clearly that “The Olympic parties must not be involved with firms or persons whose activity is inconsistent with the principles set out in the Olympic Charter”, the IOC refuses to accept responsibility for even the most minimum adherence to basic labour standards in the production and sportswear bearing the Olympic Games logo. […] The IOC has consistently favoured an approach of denial and rebuttal of claims that it address the need for oversight and responsibility in the production of Olympic logo goods.

And yet, despite all these well-founded criticisms and misgivings, the IOC President just yesterday praised Beijing for its “excellent work”. “One world, one dream”, indeed.

Ironic. The UK (and others) can proudly announce their intention to boycott sports competitions in Zimbabwe, yet when it comes to China, a regime perhaps just as, if not more, oppressive and obnoxious, they welcome it with open arms. What kind of signal did the IOC want to send to similarly brutal governments out there when it gave China the gift of the Olympics? That it’s alright to torture your own people, and send them into gulags where they slave away manufacturing cheap goods? That it’s alright to stifle dissent and arbitrarily detain opposition, and to censor the internet and all negative news about the country? And that’s it’s perfectly alright to invade Tibet and destroy the last vestiges of that country’s cultural and religious heritage? Or perhaps the IOC wanted to condone China with its continuous war-mongering and warnings of invading Taiwan?

Whatever the message, whatever the motivation or incentive, in a year’s time fanfare and fireworks will fly over Beijing, as the city, and the country, proudly invites the world to see. See the proud achievements and progress it has made in recent years, see the beauty and magnificence of this up-and-coming economic and political dragon that has now reawakened, and see how civilised people have become through the ‘no spitting’ campaigns.

But there are things that the regime does not want you to see… people who have been forcibly rounded up and sent away to make room for the Olympic dream, the people who spoke out too loudly and are now being persecuted in prison… and those resisting in silence of one day seeing their own country freed from occupation and intimidation.

Look.

And you will see.

More cartoons here.