For example, concerning the number of deaths, she quoted the Students of Free Tibet, who are the riots themselves. For first person accounts, she used one who is irritated being locked up in a hotel during the riot – though there were hardly anything about the riot except trucks filled with soldiers. Meanwhile, there were articles in Guardian and blog articles from those who live in Tibet that she could use, if she really wants to report anything there in details. Here she quote a whole response of BoingBoing reader in China, but she missed other blog articles also written by other BoingBoing readers in China, in which links were posted in the comments.

If you read the comments from her few previous articles, you will find links posted by readers that illustrate other points of view.

The other time she quoted from an article that talks about blog reactions in China, she picked the one that has a Han Chinese who is indifferent to the situation, while she did not point out that there were also comments who cares about the people living there.

If you really spent enough time reading all the history, commentary and news articles concerning Tibet (like I did), you know that this report has its bias and objective. Note that this is different from me saying that I disagree with everything that is reported here – there are points here that is agreeable, say, China blocking Youtube.

#50:

I think China did exactly that because it knows even though there would be people like you protesting or questioning it, most of the world wouldn’t care. Therefore, taking the experience of the June 4th massacre, the solution to protests with aims that can potentially overthrow/undermind the central government is to eradicate it quickly, and cover it with a layer of propaganda.

I may sound nihilistic to you, but that is only because I don’t believe in revolution in a day, but rather evolution through generations.

I’m not sure where your sources are to form those last 3 questions. I don’t know if you can prove them unless you had lived in Tibet for 7 years. In fact, even if you had lived 7 years in Tibet, I would still take it with caution.

An important difference between US and Chinese media is that US media are allowed to oppose the government and have done so on many occasions. Chinese media may not do so without risking the freedom and lives of their people. That US media have, for the moment, given up some of their independence, is a source of much concern for many of us here in the USA, including our proprietors here, for whom this a major subject. Even so, just about anything that is not outright libel may be published in the USA. Could you imagine anything like boingboing.net being left to itself in China?

As to the broader question, the philosophers of both cultures have throughout history advised reading, listening, and watching critically, and warned that wealth and power are no reliable source of truth for centuries. I can only add my voice to this long chorus.

He has. Every indication is that he believes what he’s been saying all these years. As for “concentrating on their spirits,” I believe HH might reasonably say that that is all he ever does.

“But why do you have to bring the hammer of oppression down so mercilessly on a tiny minority trying to hang on to the shreds of a decimated culture? What is the point? You have already won by sheer force of numbers. Why do you need to erase every vestige of Tibetan culture and history?”

Because they remember, and what they remember is shameful. And because the oppressors believe that the way they are is the only way to be. If history is any guide, no amount of suppression of Tibetan culture will be enough, because the Tibetans are not the problem; the Chinese are. As for the talk of “hooliganism”, I am just old enough to remember what was said when the Freedom Rides began in the US South. It was not so very different. The Chinese say they are victims. Perhaps they are. But they must look in a mirror to see their abuser.

Olympic sponsors include McDonnalds, VolksWagen, CocaCola, Lenova (watches,) Samsung, Adidas, Omega. I don’t know about you, but I will think of the Tibetans being repressed, beaten, tortured, and killed every time I consider purchasing a product produced by these companies. Every time.

Webmasters, bloggers, blog posters and BBS posters, please use the following code on your website, blogs, and posts, substituting ‘v’ brackets for “L” brackets. [a href="http://www.freetibet.org/"] “I support the Tibetan people in their struggle for religious freedom and human rights [/A]

I support the Tibetan people in their struggle for religious freedom and human rights

Viral marketing for Tibetan rights can help!

Here in Seattle, we recently had a protest at a WTO meeting. There was indeed violence, most of it initiated by the city police. And, yes, there was a tiny minority of violent protesters, but it was a small minority, condemned by the overwhelming majority of the protesters. Guess who showed up on the television news? Funny thing about that. But, the television news was not the only source of information on the protests, and the record has been, for anyone who wishes to know, set straight.

The pattern of mistreating a group until someone breaks and commits a violent act, and then using it as an excuse to rob, imprison, and even kill, many members of the victim group is a common one. Sometimes agents provocateur (French for police agents who are sent to provoke a violent confrontation) are even used to precipitate the conflict. From my distance, it looks to me that this is what has occurred in Tibet. I am open to correction, but you are going to have to stop sounding like our own violent authoritarians before I will pay much attention.

Henry Kissinger and Yasser Arafat are both laureates. I agree it’s ridiculous the Dalai Llhama was some kid of mastermind but let’s not imagine the nobel peace prize is an authentication of pacifism.

Tibet is a cause celebre in the western world thanks to the mystique around its religion and culture but isn’t this essentially another fight for self-determination?

#1: I’m organizing a movement/petition to detach all Civlib and politics to its own BBPolitics site. Now let’s see how the moderator army would react.

I’d totally agree with this notion. That or make a BBFuhShizzle where everything that might end up creating “issues” for places like DIA could go. Fark was smart enough to create foobies.com to keep things happy.

Will you be continuing your coverage?

Oliver! winning the Best Picture Oscar rather pales in comparison to those decisions.

and if a great many inconvenient people die and get out of the way,so much the better?

Tibetans have families.How do you feel about your family?

Ask yourself, did I see what happened with my own eyes? Whose opinion do I choose to believe? If you were born and raised in China, you tend to believe the Chinese media. Likewise, if you grow up here, it’s your second nature to believe what the American media says. It’s true that all the international media is blocked by Chinese government, so how can you tell that the report you see is true? When we can’t trust either side of the story completely, we can at least look at the history: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9QNKB34cJo

If you still don’t believe in this video, just keep questioning yourself, and stay open minded.

Another fact, my parents live in Chengdu, which is close to Tibet. They told me the protest was violent, and two Chinese people were killed by the protesters. The troops came in after that. I wonder if that’ll be considered terrorism if it were in the U.S.

Another classic case of Bushian truthiness: it doesn’t matter what China actually _does_ do; all that matters is what George Bush _says_ they do.

I’m finding BoingBoing a little depressing today. You?

What makes you say that? He has had much to say on the subject. Are you saying he’s not doing enough? What should he be doing exactly?

With regard to point number 1, the subsidized housing program sounds reasonable and may indeed be beneficial in some cases, but it is also a way to force a nomadic population to settle in one place, making them easier for officials to govern. The new homes are sometimes located miles from the lands that Tibetans use to graze their herds, making it difficult and inconvenient for them to subsist as they traditionally would. Also, when the resettlements are near urban areas, Tibetans are living among Hui and Han peoples, and are therefore required to compete with them in the new market economy. Given that many Tibetans cannot speak or read Mandarin Chinese, they are naturally at a disadvantage when trying to compete in the urban environment.

With regard to point number 2, I would suggest that you look at some of the scholarship (for example ‘State Schooling and Ethnic Identity’ by Zhiyong Zhu) on Inland Tibetan Schools. Partly because the educational system in Tibet is generally poorly funded and partly because the Chinese government wishes to ensure educated Tibetans are taught specific ideologies, special boarding schools have been established all over China specifically for Tibetans. The top Tibetan students are (voluntarily) sent to these schools to study and are not allowed to return home until they are finished (a period of at least four years). The education in these schools is virtually all in Mandarin Chinese, and many of the students begin to lose their Tibetan language abilities. Also, according to the study mentioned above, the schools have been very successful at transmitting state-approved ideologies (including the condemnation of the Dalai Lama) to the Tibetan students. Thus, while such programs may indeed help Tibetans participate in the “global marketplace” it seems that such education comes at a very large price. In the face of such educational initiatives, it is therefore understandable why many Tibetans are concerned about the preservation of their language and cultural values.

So when you ask: “Would you rather than they stay a nice quaint impoverished ethnic zoo at which fancy white tourists can gawk?”
I would reply, no, I would not prefer that and I don’t think that’s a choice people are being asked to make. I do not think that the Tibetans who are currently protesting view the situation so narrowly either. I think they are unhappy with current Chinese policy and the situation has simmered to a boiling point and has unfortunately become violent.

I have lived in China and I do not agree that everything is rosy in Tibet, nor do I think that everything is utterly awful. The situation is complex, but I hope I have made it clear that economic and educational development do not necessarily result in a stable, satisfied populace. Having spoken to Tibetans both in and outside of China I would say that the effects of Han Chinese governance have been decidedly mixed, and that economic development has tended to be more beneficial for the Han Chinese in charge of the development than for local Tibetans.

The biggest problem is the lack of respectful dialogue between the Chinese government and average Tibetans. The relations between the two are too often marked by Han chauvinism and paternalism. And certainly, many Western countries are guilty of similar mistreatment of minority peoples, but that doesn’t make the China/Tibet case either ethical or justifiable.

HOLD THE IOC TO THEIR PROMISE!!! Contact the IOC directly, contact your local Olympic committee. For an excellent action campaign, visit http://www.freetibet.co.uk.
Also search to see if there is a Free Tibet committe in your country. Send postcards. Sign petitions. China must know that the secret is out and we are all seeing what is happening in Tibet. They can’t hide behind their press censorship and internet blackouts anymore.

Lhasa’s a sad place. The Tibetans are treated poorly and are placed in the “old part of town” while Chinese had taken over the “new part of town”. It was obvious such a situation wouldn’t last.

The PRC is less likely to let go of Tibet than it is Taiwan, since Tibet has more strategic value and unexploited natural resources. So constantly protesting and getting stomped down by PRC cops and troops isn’t going to do Tibetans any good — whereas the huge amount of food aid (remember that you can’t grow much of anything in Tibet because of the altitude — the federal gov’t send them food aid even during the famine caused by Mao’s so-called Great Leap Forward), subsidized housing (which only ethnic Tibetans can get) and college education from the PRC central gov’t (there are special quotas for minority ethnic groups) actually helps Tibetans get educated and participate in the global marketplace.

Would you rather than they stay a nice quaint impoverished ethnic zoo at which fancy white tourists can gawk?

Penn and Teller’s “Bullsh*t” episode on the Dalai Lama was quite informative. Despite their rather high bias towards debunking, it’s a good summary of why you shouldn’t trust the DL any more than you should trust the PRC gov’t.

DEAD PEOPLE TALKING

By Tsoltim N. Shakabpa

You can tell we were shot to death

By the holes in the back of our heads

You can tell we were buried alive

By the mud in our noses and mouths

You can tell we were bludgeoned to death

By the cracks on our skulls and bones

You can tell we were hung to death

By the marks on our bare necks

You can tell we were electrocuted to death

By the burns on our naked bodies

You can tell we were drowned to death

By the fluid in our collapsed lungs

You can tell we were starved to death

By our stomachs devoid of food

You can tell we were tortured to death

By the torture instruments lying in the prisons

You can tell we cry out for justice

By the voices of our living brethren

By the thousands we have been killed

By the thousands in death we speak out

So you can bear witness to the atrocities

Committed by the murderous Chinese

Against the innocent Tibetan people

Copyright: Tsoltim N. Shakabpa – 2008

http://karmacino.com/out.php?title=Cartoons__Daily_Cartoons__The_Australian

or

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5941550,00.jpg