Tibetian Revolt & Olympic torch relay discussion thread

[mazuac]

a- K0KO-

Cat-Whiskers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GAAP9bbggo

warning:　lots of swearing, so don't hurt your virgin ears if you can't handle a few strong words.

People can't boycott China, its products are basically in everyday life.

If we boycotted China, the U.S.A wouldn't know how to produce it's own products with fair labor XD

 

[Minielf]

Mazuac: Please don't double post. If you want to address two separate people or make two different points, just edit your initial post and address the person using @name:

Niph: Indeed, it's kinda ridiculous how China's been portrayed by the media. The media bias is even worse than it was during the Tiananmen Square massacre. Still, the PRC government deserves some responsbility for getting itself portrayed this way. It's apparent that China is still very naive in its approach to soft diplomacy. The only two ways it knows how to deal with situations are either to deny there's a problem and pretend to keep quiet, or attack the problem with an iron hammer. Unfortunately, neither approach does its international image any good.

The way I see it, this farce over the Olympics and Tibet will continue to boil over until either the PRC government realizes it's made of a fool of itself and tries to settle the Tibetan problem using negotiations, or we overseas China somehow band as a group and convince the governments and media of the countries we live in that China is not the evil dictatorship that it's represented as. The first outcome is unlikely I know, but the second one will require a garguation level of grassroots organisations, something that I am afraid we probably won't be able to achieve. It is a sad fact that we Chinese tend not to get involved in the politics of the countries we live in, unless we are become targets of racial abuse. I've experienced this in Australia, where members of the Chinese community banded together to defend themselves against Pauline Hanson and One Nation, but then drifted back to their apathetic selves when One Nation became a spent force.  

[mymiridon]

Tis the season to be pseudo activists. By the time the Beijing Olympics actually starts no one's going to care unless maybe another riot starts and kills maybe 600 hundred people. But in reality everything is going to die down in August and people (not from China) will tell the Free Tibet people to shut up because they're disturbing everyone's peace. 3nodding  

[Cat-Whiskers]

mazuac

Free Tibet~ Or atleast, keep it part of China as a province, like Taiwan so that they can have their own laws...

Taiwan is an exception in China, just so you know, all other regions such as LiaoNing GuangZhou etc are considered "provinces" and they have less autonomy than Tibet.

mazuac

Honestly, I think the people of China would be much happier if their government let them be whichever religion they want to be, and ran the country through peace and democracy, not guns~

Honestly I think you don't know what you're talking about... but hey, to each their own I guess?

mazuac

Also, I think having the Olympics in China wasn't the best idea... I mean, so many nations are gonna' be tense while it's going on their... But maybe it could change things in China ^^! I hope China becomes a democracy! I would like to live in Taiwan or maybe Japan one day! XD (Kinda' off topic razz )

Again, I think you don't know what you're talking about... who will be tense? Are athletes held at gun point to compete? Are there nukes buried under the stadium? And I have still yet to understand why democracy is the always the best and nothing but the best possible route for any and all countries to take with blatant disregard towards their development progress.  

[Darkaznstargoddess]

More additions to the first post?
Cnn gets sued.
I'm sure most of you have seen these on the facebook group, but for those that don't use facebook.
Goons and Thugs.
Petition

I wonder if ICU should invest in a sticky with information regarding Chinese History? confused
Neutrality issues?

sweatdrop -Probably not as up to date about it as others-  

[IxianMace]

Here's the latest news I've read so far:

Trouble in Japan
China to talk with Dalai side

I have mixed feelings about Beijing opening up talks with the Dalai 'side', as it has been described. Maybe renewed talks might yield some progress and put an end to all the trouble with the Olympic flame. On the other hand, it might be sending a message to the rest of the world that Beijing can be bullied into submission if people yell and scream loud enough.  

[Niphz]

I'm personally in favour. But then, I agree, it does look weak.. sigh. Can't win, really, can you? xP

DASG could just edit them in herself.. xD

There was always going to be trouble in Japan anyway..

 

[Minielf]

There's been another torch protest, this time in Seoul:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23607415-663,00.html

It seems that China is in hot water again over its treatment of North Korean sympathisers and its support for North Korea in general. What will be interesting is seeing what will happen to the torch in North Korea. For the first time in the entire relay, we may see a leg that isn't marred by clashes between Tibetan/Chinese protesters and incidents involving the chinese torch attendants and domestic security forces.

It's really disheartening to hear news of clashes and violent protests at every stage of the international torch relay. After two very successful Olympics at Sydney and Athens, I don't want Beijing to be a disaster. The way it's going now, it looks headed that way. A torch relay race is only successful if no one hears about it in the news until it touches down in the host country.  

[Darkaznstargoddess]

rofl Niph~ xD I know.

I think I will not be voting in the upcoming 2008USA election in
Novemeber. Is it me or do none of the candidates from Republican and Democrat favor the sovereignty of China?

I was rather disappointed when I found out that both Obama and Clinton asked Bush to boycott the Beijing opening. As much as I dislike the Bush administration's policies.

Quote:

U.S. President George W. Bush has not yet committed to attending the opening ceremony, and Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have urged him to boycott it, but he does plan to attend the games

Source

McCain's

Quote:

If Chinese policies and practices do not change, I would not attend the opening ceremonies. It does no service to the Chinese government, and certainly no service to the people of China, for the United States and other democracies to pretend that the suppression of rights in China does not concern us. It does, will and must concern us."

Source

Slightly a little better? Still I don't think thats good enough for me..

¬_¬ I guess its an election to vote for the less worse candidate like usual. Eh? Do I really want to put the time and effort in trying to figure that out?
 

[Minielf]

Well, even without the boycotting of the Olympics issues putting you off, I wouldn't really have expected you to vote in the election Dasg. Frankly, none of the candidates are any good McCain's far too old, Obama has charisma but he's too inexperienced, and Clinton...well *ahem* you know what happened when the previous Clinton was in office. rofl It's not a surprise that all three candidates would play the China card and boycott the Olympics; it's one of the most popular issues to support at the moment, and supporting the pro-Tibetan lobby is likely to get them more votes.

I'm glad we have complusory voting in Australia. Since we're forced to vote, there's no need for so much public advertising and politicians using populist slogans to convince us to vote.  

[cold_blooded_chick]

They didn't cut back on the ads, though. They always make them semi-dramatic, like a TV ad for a soap that's coming up next or something.

And I don't like how they're using the word "suppression" in this context. Who exactly is being suppressed here?! People started trouble and the government responded in kind. It's only peaceful if we let people smash whatever shops they want because they saw an opportunity to play up their issue?!  

[Etaf Evael]

damn, China should use Jackie Chan as the torch bearer in London, Paris, etc...

He could have dealed harshly with those who tried to harm the torch, lol.  

[Celestial Tennyo Senshi]

Well the torch and Olympic drama seem to have calmed down for now. Just wait until the torch goes into Tibet.. Things are going to be interesting.  

[Niphz]

x650863441

damn, China should use Jackie Chan as the torch bearer in London, Paris, etc...

He could have dealed harshly with those who tried to harm the torch, lol.

rofl rofl rofl

 

[IxianMace]

I haven't been hearing too much lately. Or maybe I'm just not reading as much as I should. But apparently, athletes from Australia will be allowed to voice their opinions/concerns regarding China and the situation in Tibet. The possibility of athletes voicing their criticism while on the medal podiums hasn't been ruled out. I don't believe that their right to criticize should be taken away, however I also don't believe a medal podium would be an appropriate place to make such comments, considering what the Olympic games stand for. And what happens if almost every medal presentation involves a speech from one or more athletes who are only too happy to use the medal podium as a public spotlight for putting political pressure on China?

I'm thinking there's going to be a certain breaking point that when reached, everyone will be aware of the situation but will just want to get on with the games. Or, we'll be hearing widespread disapproval from the start of the games to the finish.

All I have to say is that it's most likely going to be very awkward if that were to happen.