What’s the biggest issue internationally right now? The 2008 Olympics linked with the catchy slogan “free Tibet.” Who is the biggest participant in this “conspiracy?” THE WESTERN MEDIA. Tibet would have never became such a blown-up-a-gazillion-size-over issue without the primary Western support. What degree of support? Pelosi started the riot; McCain, Clinton, and Obama all took the free-Tibet position, Clinton to the biggest degree; Britain’s former defense minister Portillo suggested the West use the Olympics to blackmail China.
MR. PORTILLO, GREAT IDEA, LET’S ADD POLITICS AND THE OLYMPICS TO THE BLENDER AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS! Western media? Just keep making Tibet look like the poor victim and China the oh-so-horrifying country full of oppression. Americans? Continue to believe everything your media tells you, despite the fact that the number one goal of the U.S. media is to make as big a profit as possible.
Who said China oppresses Tibet? Why are all of China’s effort to help and modernize Tibet so undermined?
“Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, is far ahead in modernization than India’s biggest northern cities across the border. This is the place where China spent a staggering U.S. $ 4.1 billion just to build the world’s highest rail track, a luxury service stretching 1,142km from Beijing to Lhasa. It’s part of an elaborate Chinese vision to ‘open up’ the country’s sparsely populated western regions and make them key to China’s growth in the 21st century.”
What’s the ugly reality of Tibet? What’s Dalai Lama and fellow Western-sponsored separatists doing during the Tibet riots? They burned five young waitresses alive in a restaurant. They snatched a young Chinese boy from his father, put him on the ground and then stomped on his chest and abdomen. An ethnic Tibetan doctor who tried to save the Chinese boy’s life was beaten by Dalai Lama’s insurgents. The Tibetan doctor is hospitalized in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. The kid couldn’t make it. What about the infant who was burned alive in her parents’ apartment set on fire by the separatists? How are none of these stories EVER reported? You call the Chinese government and media close-minded and oppressive and one-sided, but aren’t you just the same thing?
Now back to the attempt to boycott the 2008 Olympics. I’m honestly asking, does anyone, ANYONE, think that it will work? Yes, Tibet is a big issue, everyone is talking about it, but does that mean anything? No. It doesn’t. Inside China you will find a unified citizen body who are with their government. Outside China you will find little protesters - only 150 anti-China protesters showed up at a demonstration in CA.
And anti-China protesters, may I ask what you were thinking when you tried to snatch the Olympic torch away from Jin Jing, a one-legged wheelchair athlete? Why do some people always resort to this kind of stupid violence?
I don’t claim to be an expert on the Tibet issue. In fact I admit that I don’t know nearly as much as I would like to about it (partially because the Western media is so extremely biased). But from what I read (both U.S. and Chinese journalisms, mind you), I can clearly see that the Western media is attempt the turn the issue into one of those annoying-long-winded dramas with the leading U.S. officials going with the trend of the media. Why can’t we have a true, outspoken and straightforward leader like Churchill again?
Dear media, thanks for your biased reporting. If you really blow this up out of its already exaggerated proportion, then I must congratulate you on lowering yourself to the most absurd standard of journalism.
17 Comments
i was surfing the web and found this site
it’s actually kind of an interesting coincidence…i was just planning to start a site on the media’s portrayal of tibet
i’m really glad i found this blog post
Julia - That is a great idea! Please come back and keep me updated on it! I would love to visit
I’m against your point of view.
A nation is not just a geographical region. It is a group of people who considers themselves to be part of that country. If Tibet does not consider itself part of China, they shouldn’t have to be. If Tibet doesn’t want to be “modernised”, why force them to be? What’s seen as good by one person may be considered bad by another. But the Chinese government is stronger than Tibetans. I don’t see the wrong in other more powerful countries like USA trying to assist (even though they may really be assisting for their own private interests).
China is extremely closed. News within China were not allowed to report the truth about the medal-snatching. People in China only knew that it was a great success. (Unless they heard from other people overseas or read the news from abroad etc.) That cage is a form of oppression.
Hmm, I suppose I am a very very loyal supporter of China and its government. I generally support all of its policies and decisions, and I guess this is one of the cases.
I do agree with you that what is seen as good by one person may be considered bad by another, but this may not be the case for Tibet. All the world hears is how Tibet will be better off without China, but how do we know that for sure? How do we know that all of Tibet, not just Dalai is advocating for Tibet independence? From either the Chinese viewpoint or the American one, we get a biased perspective.
Yes, China is a very closed country media-wise, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t want the best for her outer territories like Tibet.
There was a recent TIME article (if I remembered correctly) about the politics in China. It said that a great majority of Chinese citizens (at the age where in America citizens are actively participating in the polls) don’t care much about politics. So my question is, if the people are living comfortably and don’t seek to actively participate in politics (which is possible, just a little harder than in the U.S.), then are they really being oppressed?
I’m glad someone else finally has another view on this whole China-Tibet thing. It’s pretty ridiculous how North America tries to jump in and be the “righter” person in everything. We don’t operate like the Chinese do, nor do they operate like how we do, so it’s quite politically incorrect to impose one’s sovereignty over the other. That’s what I feel like is happening, and I agree, why is politics being brought to the Olympics?? Let’s face it, that’s what they wanted to do in the beginning. That’s just too bad, I’ve watched many debates of this on tv, and they both have good points, but ultimately, I think the games should be left out of the politics. PS… isn’t this Clinton-Obama thing OVER yet?? Gosh!
I’m staying a bit neutral on this topic, simply because it has nothing much to do with me (although I’m from a Chinese heritage).
And sure, I’ve added your link to my blogroll already.
Destiny - oh absolutely. America the “world police,” or at least that’s how people elsewhere call it. It is SO ridiculous that they are associating politics with the Olympics; I guess they think that it could do some economic damage to China, but no one thought about what China could do as a counterattack economically - China’s not exactly weak in that aspect. And yeah, Clinton-Obama deal is STILL going on, absolutely annoying now - I don’t want either of them as president anymore =_=;;
Chien Yee - Link added as well ^^ Thanks
I actually side with China on this Tibet issue though I will say now, some of your facts are wrong. America’s president chose not to take part in the boycott, many western leaders chose not to take part in a boycott, France though did choose to do so. (I got this from a Korean site it may have changed by now though but that’s what I know as of now.) I am purely dumbfounded though by the fact the Dalai Lama has so many supporters since he has not been in Tibet since the 50’s. I’m purely dumbfounded why we as Westerns wish to free Tibet, like I said eariler I side with China.
This isn’t the first time the Olympics have been boycotted and it’s not the last and no I don’t believe it’ll work just like it didn’t in the past because no one is willing to not send their athelets to this event. The bigger issue that Tibet is being used for is China’s human rights issue. Tibet was their chance to jump in and seize that. China promised to improve human rights and that’s why they were awarded the win, but 7-8 years later, human rights has not improved enough to go “look at what China’s done!”. Tibet I guess is their cover up. Also the Olympic co. ruled that it had no rights to interfer in China’s government, so really the only thing fueling this on further is media. Clinton and Obama are only commenting because they have to, if they didn’t it they would lose. If you want to get onto America about protesting get on Europe as well, they’ve done the same as America. Like I said France actually agreed to a boycott.
But I really don’t know why Tibet bothers westerner’s as much as it does.
I saw some pictures in the paper the other day, they showed some bloodied tibetan monks and i was like : O
The reports I read was very one sided.. I guess the only way you want to get a fair view, and hear two sides of the story is through the internet.
My country is the mother of all biased reports, when it comes to mainstream media.
There’s almost zero freedom of speech, we are (or used to, :D) very oppressed and controlled by the government.
We don’t know. Which is why it’s up for people to ask what the majority of Tibetans want for themselves. My point is just that if Tibet see themselves separate from China, then the Chinese government shouldn’t so stubbornly bind Tibet to China. I have a biased view against China myself. Just because how they alsi won’t recognise Taiwan as an independent country even when China and Taiwan have completely separate political and economic systems and the majority of people in Taiwan don’t see themselves as part of China. It could just be the same case as Tibet.
And are the people actually living comfortably though? There is a huge gap between the wealth and the poor in China. Are the majority of the people feeling comfortable this way?
At first I fell into the propaganda trap set forth by the media.
But after doing some personal investigation on the situation it seems the media is lying.
Tibetans are the ones responsible for the turmoil there, not the Chinese.
Just visit a pro-Tibetan website or blog to see the venom and hatred spewed by these people. They’re liars.
Don’t let these fanatical people destroy the hopes and dreams of our athletes.
We’ve finally gotten the Chinese government to open the doors to their country, don’t screw this up over lies.
While I agree w/ you that the western media is biased, it seems to me that your opinion is also a little biased, just the other way.
Struggles that have lasted this long.. decades and decades of strife.. can’t be categorized so black and white. It isn’t about China being the monster, or Tibet supporters being crazy.. It’s about so much more.
both parties have done horrific things in the name of their causes. but it’s more than just politics. The Dali Lama is a spiritual leader. And when you throw religious fanaticism into the mix. It’s going to be messy.
You quoted “make them key to China’s growth in the 21st century”….
Who gave them the right to decide another country would be their key? How is it any diff from the US trying to make Iraq’s oil fields key to their growth? It’s more complicated then any of us can imagin. I read the news like crazy and I won’t even gave my opinion cause i don’t feel educated enough. so before anyone tries to pin blame on china, or tibet, just remember it takes two to dance.
Rilla - I think the Taiwan issue has much to do with national pride. Chinese people are all for the whole perfection thing and Taiwan just seems like a black dot on a perfectly white piece of paper (at least on the outlook). It’s hard to understand myself sometimes, I’m usually extremely democratic and liberal, but whenever on issues of China, I’m 100% loyal to China. I think it’s the way I was educated in elementary school and all the stories we read. Chinese education really does rewrite your mind. I think that we can say that the majority of people are living comfortably, but most of them probably don’t even know what’s going on politically in China - the wealthy just enjoy their economic well-being and the poor are just happy that they did not starve for another day. So I guess it’s very hard to categorize.
Christine - I definitely agree that my opinion is biased. It’s VERY biased actually. Like I said in my reply to Rilla’s comment, I have a loyalty issue with China that I tend to not let go no matter what
But I think I am a little more concerned with the bias of the media than actually which side is at fault. I think I just never realized that the U.S. media has the ability to magnify an issue to this extent. I wouldn’t try to pin blame on either China or Tibet - I just think that the media should report both sides of the story, instead of only showing China’s bad side.
I’ve always said the media is too biased, but then, people are like, “No, they’re just too liberal.” and I havtah’ say - they’re biased. It’s all about America. Not about anything. They MUST interfere and “try” to help. >.>
With regards to your reply to Christine, it’s just the issue I raised in my first comment as well. That the Chinese government is also forcing biased media, is it not? And also that it has blocked off certain areas to disallow international reporters to go to. Just what is China hiding?
Rilla - Oh yes, absolutely. Even my website is blocked in China (it’s totally ridiculous). The media there is definitely very biased and forced, although there are many independent news sources, they generally don’t publish too extreme of any opinion. As a result, the average Chinese citizen, no matter how intelligent or well off, tend to not pay any attention to politics because all the reportings are one sided. As a country operating under Communism (at least on principle), China has to do this in order to keep that perfect image of the government. Educated, intelligent citizens know that the news reports may very well not be what’s really going on, but they tend to just not do anything about it.
You know the US plays its parts in manipulating the media. My uncle from Canada was horrified at the one sided stories they told here a year go when he came down to the US. He said it was worse than Communism on how little the Americans see on the news.
The sad truth is, America hates to see China getting so strong as a nation. One minute they’re screaming to buy American products, the next second companies are desperate to find cheaper labor. The Tibet issue has definitely been blown out of proportion due to very bias media. Have any of you even BEEN TO TIBET? People who report things other than what the US mainstream media shows are quickly silenced. It’s a good thing the internet is available, although sadly not many people go out to search for info on their own. (rather than play online games…) True China’s restrictions are great (I couldn’t even access my site in its other server when in China…), but quite frankly, they’re not the ones bothering other nations halfway across the world on issues they’re not apart of.
May I remind you that TEXAS wanted to cecede from the US and that indeed, the South DID at one time cecede from the Union. Civil War ring a bell to anyone? I’m sure the North took a real liking to the South ceceding since it was run by a different government… The US can do no wrong huh?