Do you support Tibetan independence?

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I'm watching a documentary called "cry of the snow lion" and it is about the situation in Tibet. It is a bit depressing to learn that the Tibetan people and way of life are being exterminated! I think the west should do more to help these poor people.

Do you agree, or do you think we should continue to ignore the situation?

i agree absolutely. the appalling behaviour and viciousness of the chinese invaders has been known for a long time. and nothing much has been done about it. tony blair, if i recall, was an absolute jerk when the Dalai Lama visited the UK recently.

most of the protest against the situation has come from what is loosely called the counter culture in the UK. but of course, Tibet has no strategic or economic significance, so governments in the west couldn't give a toss.

Last edited by vetivert on 30 Aug 2005, 3:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yes, I've heard about the situation in Tibet only very recently. Unfortunately, China is a country we do not understand very well, and it is growing ever more powerful, so putting pressure on them could have nasty repercussions.

China is an example of Communism gone wrong, so wrong in fact, that it has become almost Fascist. Everyday, I hear of something awful being done by Chinese companies with the support of the government against their own people e.g. driving people from their homes to make way for yet another power station. If anyone tries to speak up, they are jailed, and possibly tortured.

More needs to be done to increase awareness of China and its poor human rights record, before people in the West agree to trade with them.

I doubt you will find too many people in the west that oppose Tibetan independance, though in my case, it falls below my political radar. You're not going to get China to give it up through anything less than military force.

I derived a great deal of joy, cooking dinner for a vanload of Tibetan Monks who came to perform chants and "Throat Singing" in my city. They exemplified grateful living, reflecting the holiness within. They shared their joy by creating a ten foot mandala "painted" by intricately funneling grains of colored sand, depicting an elaborate array of snow leopards and cultural symbols. Upon completion of their masterpiece, they sweep it to oblivion.

To afford these gentle souls anything less than independance in an affront to humanity.

I watched a taped interview once where the Dalai Lama was asked to comment on General Mao

He said "Mao has taught me more about the importance of compassion then any other human being."

This lesson on compassion was a lesson greatly needed by the pre revolution Tibetan leadership who taught their people that suffering was good. This allowed for a limited elite and a great mass of poor people who had little hope of relief. The Tibetan people who participated in the revolution did so because they felt oppressed and hoped that their new rulers would treat them better.

People who buy Chinese goods, thus fueling the economy of China, would due well to remember that China is ruled by an expansionist government with a history of human rights abuses and strong cultural biases.

Free Tibet?
How about we first watch what we purchase, and purchase goods only from companies who contribute beneficially to their workers and communities well being. Then, we can work to save the world, one company, and one corporation at a time from the hand of tyrany.

that's what i do, as far as i am able. i never buy anything from nestlé (spit, curse), due to their appalling behaviour with baby milk in developing countries. i boycotted south african and french goods, due to the obscenities of apartheid and rainbow warrior. i could go on, but won't.

it can require quite a bit of effort, though, as many companies have subsidiaries and brand names which don't have any apparent connection to the parent company, unless you start digging. but there are places where you can find lists of dodgy companies - look under "fairtrade" or "ethical" consumer.

here's an example: http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/

there's information on boycotting specifically to do with china's occupation of tibet here: http://www.boycottmadeinchina.org/

I think the best things we can do is put pressure on our leaders to put pressure on their leaders. It would also be great if we can assist the Tibetan refugees and exile movement by aiding them in fleeing their own country and giving them in anything they need.... like food, medicine, housing, etc.

I don't think a war would be a great idea, but there are other things that could be done. Look at the pressure the world put on South Africa to end apartheid and how successful that was. There are other options besides war.

hear, hear. so many times, economics works better than guns.

When my son was in 4th grade he decided to bocatt nestle bucause of this, their union busting techniques, and how they were bottling water from certain areas. He made it the subject of a class report.

This was also the year that children brought in news articles on a monthly basis for extra credit. Nestle was often his topic, with articles from verious progressive magizens.

The school changed the policy the next year that articles had to be from the local papers...



BeeBee

your thoughts and wishes are irrelevant since a nationalistic-socialistic (they once called themselves communists, but this is no longer true, China is driven more by socialist-fascism supported by the people's nationalism) dictatorship does not respect the wishes of any free people. Not of Brits, not of Americans, not of Tibetans, and certainly not of their own Chinese citizens.

Protests and letters are useless. I hope you see this. They are a brutal totalitarian state which does not hesitate in killing hundreds of its own people over simple, peaceful domestic protests. The only hope is to destroy the government either externally or internally. A combination is preferable.

One day there will be a terrible war with China. The Chinese have declared it inevitable and are building their military around the coming confrontation with the Americans. They want to rule the pacific as they rule their own lands - with an iron fist.

Not my view but how the Chinese view Tibet they see themself as freeing the commoners from the theo-facist than were running Tiben Yes that means the dai lama and the Tiben monks. The temples owned about 90 percent of the land and runned Tibet like the Dark ages in Europe. So my views I think that the Monks sould not have been controling Tibet that way but for the Chinese to come in and use force to remove them and replace it with Maoist control was replacing theo-facist with Maoist an improvement over a feudal state but still not so good the Chinese are still there. As long as the Tibens could could make sure the theo-facist did not have power again again the Chinese might leave Tibet. So Tibet for the Tibetans not the theo-facist monks.

I think any area that the majority of citizens want independance should have it even if it is just a small city or something.

China is a dictatorship. There are no democratic values, hence no popular sovereignty.

plus, there are like no people in tibet. Maybe 2 million in a piece of land that is 1/4th or 1/5th the size of the whole of China

Hmmm (me clearing my throat)
My thoughts, and wishes are always relevant.
At least to me, if no one else,
and if you know anything about modern physics, you know that
there is no such thing as an isolated act.
That means, at the very least, that the actions we take today determine our collective future.

The only thing that it takes for evil to win,
is for good people to do nothing.


Ian MacKaye, Fugazi

So, I reiterate.
If the only voice you have is what you buy in the global marketplace,
then choose wisely.

China is a dangerous authoritarian government, and I am basically an Anarchist. I support the independence of ALL people from the Chinese regime, so damn right I support Tibet.

(Although I had to laugh at family guy: ("Free Tibet? I'll take it" *runs over to payphone* "Hello? China? I have something you want..." *pause* "Yes..... ALL the tea")