Has The Great Unraveling Begun?
March 17th, 2008
The Olympics are closing in. As I predicted some time ago on this blog, human rights stories and arguments, posturing on both sides, violent protests in Western China, etc., are starting to take place and heat up . This includes protests in “that place” (hereinafter referred to as “__” as I want to stay online in China).
Has The Great Unraveling in China begun, as some have predicted would come? If so I would be surprised, but time will tell.
I have followed the __ issue somewhat over the years, read a fair bit about it, and candidly, I am still undecided as to where “truth” in this mess lies and dispute?
For example:
Pro-Separation and recent WSJ and NY Times articles and YouTube segment on recent protests and clashes on T:
Anti-Separation and recent YouTube video, “__ Was, Is, and Always Will Be a Part of China”
Both sets of materials are thought provoking, both sets of materials contain some elements of fact, both sets also contain pieces of propaganda, and both pieces draw conclusions that have merit and others that are not based on credible, unbiased facts to support their position. In other words, both sets of materials are pretty normal “__ for Dummies” pieces. Whichever side you may support, I hope you dig deeper.
One of the better pieces I have read that helped me try to get up to speed on the __ issue, to the extent a non-Chinese or non-__ person even can, was a chapter in John Bryant Starr’s book, Understanding China: A Guide To China’s Economy, History and Political Culture. You might check it out for your Spring book review. It’s one of the books on your book review list. It may also help you better understand the position of both sides to this debate. In my view its a reasonably balanced book.
Then, once/if you are 100 percent sure where truth in this __ mess and dispute lies, and, you are able to back it up with historically verified and uniformly accepted facts (not conclusions), please send me your piece and I look forward to reading it. Until then, I will continue to have to heed Mark Twain’s advice.
By the way, think back to Dr. Morris’ very good lecture on Chinese history Fall quarter. You will recall that he talked about a number of facets of China we are now seeing come to life through the __ debate and protests. Whether you realize it, at this point in time if you have rolled up your sleeves, jumped in, and done the work and heavy lifting in this course thus far, you really do now know more than 90 (perhaps 99?) percent of America when it comes to China, just by having spent a some time each quarter trying to get your hands and head around the different faces of the place.
I welcome your thoughts, but note that on this post I reserve the write to edit and in an extreme case even delete your comments, if needed, in a way so as to maximize the likelihood that this blog stays online in China during these controversial times. I do not want to lose readership of this blog and comments on this blog in China, and even the emails I get from readers in China, as they have much to offer our course and learning experience. So please choose your words carefully. Thanks.
Entry Filed under: Pre-Departure, Beijing, China, Misc.
2 Comments Add your own
1. Simeon Trieu | March 18th, 2008 at 8:33 am
I wouldn’t consider Texas to be an independent country, even though they could very well be. Some seem to think that secession is a good thing for the state of Texas. But when we consider the United States, it’s strange, and even somewhat repulsive to think of 49 states that make up the great nation of the United States instead of 50 states (because Americans like round numbers).
But at any rate, it appears that T___ isn’t held to the same standard as the US, since it becomes a HR issue. I’ve noticed in politics that when someone says they want equal rights, what they really mean is they want more power than the groups they are protesting against. How many other poorer provinces are there in China that don’t get the same governmental support that T___ does. It seems that, if anything, T____ wants more power, even at the cost of their own people’s lives. The violence is not coming from the Han Chinese, but in fact, Han Chinese are the targets. My girlfriend’s mother lives in Sichuan, the neighboring province to T____. The rioters are being labeled as “terrorists” and have attacked people at random who they suspect to be Han Chinese. Isn’t it the duty of a country to protect their own people, even if it’s violence from within their own country? The DL is very cunning to spin this into a HR issue, when in fact, it is a T____ secessionist issue. He has, to this point in time, not denounced the riots.
T____ has been the victim of both the DL’s fuedal system and also that of the Chinese occupation. Unfortunately, they have suffered a lot, but currently under the Chinese administration, since they are the current occupiers. The people are generally peace loving buddhists, but have had just about enough of repression. But violence is not the answer. Secession is also not the answer.
I do not know the answer to this issue, to be honest, but from what I have read, I find extremists on both sides. Don’t just read the Western media and believe their spin, nor should you believe China’s spin either. The truth lies in the middle, neither of the two extremes. Maybe some others can contribute their thoughts on this issue.
2. Simeon Trieu | March 21st, 2008 at 9:52 am
To follow up with the latest news, in the article, Germany Warns China Olympics at Risk, Germany’s foreign minister, Frank Walter Steinmeier, comments that China needs to be more open to the press about political issues within the country. In the past, China has taken a stance that other countries should not interfere with their internal affairs. In other words, they don’t want accountability, but I can see where they are coming from. Foreign countries may find it hard to understand the history, motivations and culture of Beijing when dealing with its own people. According to the the German foreign minister,
While it’s true that Beijing is an authority figure that should be respected by all according to Confucian principles, T___ans follow their spiritual leader, the DL, not necessarily Confucius. So, it may be difficult for Beijing to get the unconditional support from T___ that they demand. In this case, Beijing may need to bend the rules a little to get what they want and enter talks with the DL, as Steinmeier suggests.
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