The Empire State Building and 60 Years of Communist Rule in China...

New York City has decided to commemorate, and perhaps honor, sixty years of communist rule in China by lighting up the Empire State Building in red and yellow lights.

This has not pleased everyone. Those that oppose the move, albeit now being too late, state that this act in effect endorses China's totalitarian government and abysmal human rights record in places like Tibet and the recent crackdown on the Uighurs in the Xinjiang region.

It is certainly an interesting choice considering the Chinese government has a record of suppressing freedoms, such as the freedom of speech, the freedom of expression, and the freedom of association, to name but a few. So, a legitimate question would be, "why is the home of the brave and the land of the free honoring a land whose government seemingly does not believe in those ideals?"

(Photo courtesy of AP)

China, Tibet, and Sharon Stone

The fact that celebrities are always hungry for just that, celebrity, it must not be surprising to see Sharon Stone throw herself into the thick of things in the fight for a Free Tibet. Yet, this might come at some cost, personal and professional, to her. However, one might argue that this is in fact karma.

The 12 May earthquake that struck China was devastating in terms of not only the destruction of infrastructure but in human life! The official death toll is now above 68,000 and is expected to continue to rise.

The Sichuan province where this quake occurred has been beset by aftershocks and the biggest current fear is that dams in the area have become unstable and are likely to burst. The Chinese government is currently evacuating people from in and around the most seriously threatened dams. So far some 160,000 people have been moved and that number could swell to more than 1.3 million in the worst case scenario.

The idea that there is 50,000 Olympic sized swimming pools of water that could be released in a catastrophic dam burst is difficult to visualize in terms of the sheer scope of what that would look like.

With more than 45 million people affected by the quake and some 5 million homeless the idea that this is bad karma coming back to level the score is in bad taste. The idea of what goes around comes around in individual cases may be acceptable but when the bad karma to which you claim affects the lives of so many innocents then there are issues of common human decency to be explored.

I think that Tibet should be free of Chinese rule. I think that Tibet should be independent. However, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has recently been on the record stating that he only wants greater autonomy to be afforded to the people of Tibet rather than independence. Whether he harbors other desires for an independent Tibet he is not saying so publicly at the moment.

Back to Sharon Stone. A brief interview with her where the comment were made has appeared on You Tube where she is claiming that the destructive earthquake that caused such huge loss of life was just a case of bad karma coming back to haunt China for the way that it has mistreated Tibetans.

The response has been swift. Chinese biggest theatre chain has decided to ban her movies from their theatres. This will severely limit the revenue that her films will take in Asia's biggest film market.

I guess though that bad karma is true as the remarks she made have also come back to haunt her as well. I am all for people expressing their personal opinions and beliefs. I am more than happy for Sharon Stone to express her disgust at the treatment of Tibetans by the Chinese government. I am a lot less sympathetic to comments that justify the extent of the human suffering on karma alone.

This in no way belittles the suffering of the Tibetans at the hands of the Chinese. The idea that bad karma comes back to haunt you might logically be applied in reverse, that is maybe the Tibetans have done something to deserve their bad karma.

Thinking before one speaks is always good advice!

Speaking Mandarin

Australia has managed to elect a Prime Minister that speaks a foreign language. There have been others before him but most of their foreign language skills were restricted to the Queen's English...

You would think that speaking Mandarin would be an advantage for the PM as the issue of Tibet has recently re-exploded onto the world scene with some fierce crackdowns by the Chinese in Tibet as a means of suppressing dissent in the region. Well, it seems it is an advantage although so far the advantage has been limited to discussing the Tibet issue with Chinese students at Peking University.

It is refreshing that a foreign leader (even more so because the foreign leader is an Australian) has the testicular fortitude to go into China's own backyard and talk in the local lingo and suggest that Chinese has some issues to deal with, particularly some significant human rights issues in Tibet. Apparently, he is going to broach this subject in no uncertain terms with Chinese leaders in the future.

Australia recognizes China's sovereignty over Tibet. Okey dokey on that front as most other countries do to and so does the Dalai Lama. The issue is one of effective and substantial autonomy that allows Tibet to remain a part of China but perhaps a self-governing territory (the above map from Al Jazeera).

But this statement from Qiangba Puncog, the chairman of the Beijing-appointed Tibet Autonomous Region government, that the rioters were "an extremely tiny minority" of Tibetans and "do not, and cannot, represent Tibet and the Tibetan people" should be cause for concern as it implies that the Chinese government's response will continue to be ruthless in suppressing dissent against its rule (photo from AFP).

Australia has two competing realities here, the Olympics aside, actively promoting better human rights for Tibetans while simultaneously not alienating the Chinese government altogether as Australia's resource sector has found a large and increasingly demand friendly market for raw materials. Perhaps this is what is known as the "business of human rights"!

This is an issue that is set to continue right up until the opening ceremony in Beijing if the protesters coming out to greet the Olympic Torch in protest as it makes its way around the world on its four-yearly pilgrimage.

Tibet, China, and the Olympics

Is a boycott of the Olympic Games by athletes a good thing?

It would certainly be a slap in the face for China and perhaps a wake up call but would it help the Tibetans? Probably not, and probably not even a little bit. Simply, the Chinese would be smarting from the perceived embarrassment of the whole thing. So, access to Tibet would likely become increasingly difficult and with the Chinese sure to blame the Tibetans for any boycott, then conditions in Tibet are likely to deteriorate even further.

Okay then what about a boycott by world leaders of the opening and closing ceremonies, is this a good thing? The answer to this question is also a resounding no! If you're are going to boycott then it needs to be the real deal and countries keep their athletes home and not their leaders.

There are serious problems in Tibet and these are not just human rights violations against the Tibetans. Although it is the human rights problems which might serve as the best means of engagement with the Chinese. However, indigenous Tibetans are a quickly becoming a minority in their own territory with the rapid movement of Chinese citizens from other regions into Tibet. This program of transmigration is not something unique to China. Indonesia also has a pretty comprehensive transmigration program that has often been considered to be a public policy aimed at Javanizing the archipelago in order to make governance easier.

The world needs to engage China in constructive dialogue and highlight the mutual benefits of improved human rights in an increasingly inter-dependent global market! The Dalai Lama is on record as saying that his struggle is not one for an independent Tibet but a Tibet that has fully functioning autonomy within a greater China. But the Dalai Lama does call for better treatment, more respect for the human rights of Tibetans, and the need for dialogue.

Perhaps this is now as good an opportunity as any to engage China in this dialogue.

Sir Edmund Hillary (1919 - 2008)

Sir Edmund Hillary passed away overnight and his passing is worthy of a blog post on my little blog. It is probably worthy of so much more but this is the best I can offer.

Why bother you might ask, well when I was growing up and much more adventurous than I am now (although in my mind I will always remain adventurous) I used to dream of climbing mountains and being like Sir Ed. I still harbor dreams of going to Nepal and Tibet and climbing mountains albeit with each passing year the mountains I aim for get shorter in stature.

For these dreams I have Sir Ed to thank--thank you!