Monks of Tibet under attack by China.
Paramilitary police have surrounded Tibet’s most important monasteries after hundreds of monks shouting “Long live the Dalai Lama” defied Beijing in the biggest protest in the Himalayan region for almost 20 years.
Witnesses described violent clashes between monks and police on the outskirts of Lhasa on Monday afternoon and reported hearing as many as 60 gunshots as troops forced the monks to return to their quarters early yesterday. They said that about 60 monks from Drepung monastery were detained on the edge of the Tibetan capital and about 11 from Sera monastery were arrested after shouting anti-Chinese slogans.
The demonstrations were timed to coincide with the 49th anniversary on Monday of an anti-Chinese uprising in which the Dalai Lama fled into exile in India and tens of thousands of Tibetans were killed. Around the world, Tibetans took to the streets to commemorate the anniversary and to press demands for independence for the deeply Buddhist Himalayan region before the Beijing Olympics.
And the Bush administration is silent, meaning that they have given their consent to these outrages. And this is par for the course both for the Bush administration and for previous administrations. First of all, we need to close Guantanamo and end the rendition program. Then, we need to get out of Iraq and restore our standing around the world. Then, we have to set an example for the rest of the world to follow so that we can put a stop to these outrages.
China is a Socialist state rapidly being transformed by the free enterprise
sytem. Free enterprise cannot thrive without some degree of democracy. But
understand that the Dalai Lama and the Tibetians are no saints. The Dalai
Lama is a spiritual and political leader, like the Catholic Pope used to be
before the Vatican was stripped of it's political authority. The Tibetian
people are not fighting for just religious freedom (China would let them
have that), they are also fighting for political autonomy. For centuries
the Tibetian monks ruled the people like feudal lords. "Two sides to every
coin", huh?
Well, we would have to see what kind of a government they would set up. But
some of the other countries in the area, Buttan and Nepal, have liberalized
their systems. So, just because they were a feudal system back then does
not mean that they would be one now. If they were, they would piss a lot of
people off who have sided with them.
Obamathon
