Diatribes 謾罵 : Chinese Government (and the U.S. response)

10/30/2009:

One thing at the top of my to-watch-list is Leaving Fear Behind, a 25 minute documentary about Tibetans living under Chinese rule (which I believe can be watched in full toward the middle of the above page).

Unsurprisingly, the filmmaker, Dhondup Wangchen, is now being tried for subversion. His lawyer was barred from the court. "Before he was forced to drop the case, the lawyer, Li Dunyong, said Mr. Wangchen had told him that he was tortured and that he had contracted hepatitis B while in custody. Since then, he has been held incommunicado."

So far, the Obama administration has been pretty disappointing on this front. This best sums up the failure of the administration's overly conciliatory approach: "'Beijing is emboldened by such moves,' said Ms. Tethong. 'They see a weakness in the U.S. government, and they’re going to exploit it. This idea that you’ll gain more through some backroom secret strategy does not work.'"

You'd think people would have learned something from the complete failure of the Olympics to bring about any tangible change in human rights in China.

10/20/2009:


08/13/2009:

The things China apologists and cheerleaders ignore:

  • Chinese artist reports being barred from trial - "Earlier this year, Mr. Ai, the artist, sent volunteers to Sichuan to collect the names of students who had been killed. He began posting the names on his blog and kept a running tally. Government censors then blocked his blog, Mr. Ai said, while police officers in Sichuan detained some of his volunteers and beat a few of them."
  • Chinese polic detain 11 who planned to attend activisit's trial - more here - "'I insisted on them showing me their police identification and during the chaos I was punched on my chin.'"

More:


07/20/2009:


Big update, 07/10/2009


06/23/2009:

Tiananmen round-up (articles I missed the first time around):


Other human rights abuses in China:


06/20/2009:


China's ridiculous censoring software (06/12/2009):


06/04/2009

Tiananmen tank man


5/17/2009:



There are some Westerners who like to defend the Chinese government by saying that we shouldn't be imperialists and try to force our Western notions of democracy and free speech on China, and that we should just leave the Chinese Communist government alone. Whenever I hear that, I can infer that the person in question either has the IQ of a turnip, has an intense Asian fetish that blinds him or her from reality, or is very greedy and wants to make money off of China without really caring about anything else. Obviously these three things are not mutually exclusive, and chances are that all three apply at the same time.

Clearly I have great disdain for such people. On the other hand, I have the highest respect for those Chinese people who stand up for democracy and free speech within China, knowing full well the likely consequences. These people are the clearest counter-arguments to the claims of the Chinese government-apologists mentioned above.

Here is just one recent example: a 75 year old retired professor entered a cemetry on tomb-sweeping day to honor a former Communist party member punished for sympathizing with the Tiananmen Square protesters. He was then set upon by four or five thugs, thrown into a ditch, and beaten for more than 10 minutes. Although other people were watching, none tried to help him.

The next time you hear a Chinese government apologist sprouting on about how we should leave China alone, realize that what they really mean is that we should just let the Chinese government have its way. In light of incidents like these, it makes you realize that such apologists are not just stupid, they are morally repugnant.

(copied to diatribes 謾罵 - Chinese government)

Concerning Tibet:

50 years after revolt, clampdown on Tibetans
Dalai Lama harshly condemns China
Dalai Lama says China has turned Tibet into a 'Hell on Earth'
NY Times editorial on the Dalai Lama's speech
China heaps scoren on the Dalai Lama

After 50 years in exile, the Dalai Lama seems close to despair
China protests a US resolution on Tibet
US Congress pans China over Tibet

Tibet Atrocities Dot Official China History
“ As he left the exhibit on Tuesday, Dai Zhirong, an electronics salesman from Tianjin, said what he saw only reaffirmed his disgust for the Dalai Lama and his disappointment with the Tibetan people. "I don’t understand how they can eat our food and still hate us," said Mr. Dai, 57, who stopped by after seeing a promotional segment on television. "When I am reminded of the truth, and see what the separatists are trying to do, I hate them, too." ”

Tibet prospers under China: Wen
Friends of Tibet march in Taipei
China blocks YouTube for about a week, most likely due a video circulating about the situation in Tibet
Rejoice, damn you - China's motto when it comes to Tibet

China scares prominent Chinese artist, Chinese dissident, and former Chinese spy, yet Ma Ying-jeou is still rushing to get in bed with China:


Unregulated materialistic capitalism meets totalitarian thought control:

Chinese grease the wheels of power with luxury gifts
Seeking justice, Chinese land in secret jails
Dissident reflects after 8 years in Chinese prison
“ Overall, Mr. Yang said that his treatment was far better than that of his friends, who have reportedly been ailing. According to Human Rights in China, Mr. Xu became mentally ill after being subjected to torture and hard labor, and Mr. Jin has been suffering from an untreated intestinal ailment. ”

Disappeared rights lawyer's family defects from China
“ Gao, once a prominent lawyer and communist party member, has been an outspoken defender of people seeking redress from the government, including coal miners, underground Christians and the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.

After he wrote an open letter to the US Congress in 2007, Gao said he was subjected to several weeks of torture including suffering electric shocks to his genitals and having his eyes burned by cigarettes. 		”

On the March 2009 'ship' incident:

China says US ship violated international law
US and China quarrel over sea confrontation near Hainan

First, just listen to the conduct of the Chinese sailors: "Chinese sailors used hooks to try to snag cables the Navy boat was using to tow sonar equipment", "Chinese sailors dropped pieces of wood in its path and wielded hooks", "the Impeccable's crew sprayed some of the Chinese sailors with a fire hose, causing some of the sailors to strip to their underwear", "two of the Chinese ships stopped directly ahead of the USNS Impeccable, forcing the Impeccable to conduct an emergency 'all stop' in order to avoid collison".

Man, what a bunch of yahoos.

As for China's ridiculous claim that the US ship was in their territorial water, take a look at the map on this page, and look at the huge discrepancy between what China thinks is their territorial water and what everyone else in the world thinks. They have their territory going all the way down past Vietnam! Ridiculous.

More updates on the Chinese government:

Things continue to look grim in Tibet - "'They said they punished us last year by putting us in jail. This year, the punishment will be this — ' The monk held up a thumb and index finger in the shape of a pistol." And "International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), an NGO based in Washington, DC, says official figures suggest that some 1,200 of these detainees remain unaccounted for. More than 70 have been given prison sentences. There have been abundant reports of torture and other mistreatment." Of course the Chinese government, no thanks to the recent comments made by Hillary Clinton, may not even be worried - "China’s officials seem to be contemplating nothing of the sort. Indeed, they may believe things are going their way."

It is, at least, refreshing to see that the State Department didn't mince words in a critical report it issued on human rights issue with China. Of course, the Chinese government gave its predictable response, first trying to completely flip truth on its head by claiming it made "historic achievements" in human rights, "widely recognized by the international community" (only true if the achievements they refer to are the trampling of human rights), and then going on to accuse the United States of human rights abuses, including "widespread violent crimes". How predictable was the response in fact? So predictable that even the Chinese government didn't bother spending that much time with it, as its "five-paragraph statement largely repeated, sometimes word for word, its 2008 response".

Again though, why should the Chinese government care at all if the U.S. is just going to say things like, human rights can't get in the way of things like making money? Even if China is only going to repeat the same laughably petulant remarks over and over again, does that mean that the United States should stop talking about human rights? Moreover, the United States should be doing more than just talking about it, but actually doing something about it, such as what this article suggests, like funding something similar to Radio Free Europe in the past.

This article on Clinton's trip to China set me off, and now I have had to rename this diatribe, as can be seen above.

“ "Human rights cannot interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crises," Clinton said in talks with China's foreign minister. ”

So money is more important than human rights? The sad thing is that I had been reading from Taiwanese news sources that China would pressure the United States to give in on issues like Taiwan and Tibet in exchange for cooperation on climate change, and it appears like the U.S. just gave in entirely. Here's another article with a ridiculous quote:

“ "Now, that doesn’t mean that questions of Taiwan, Tibet, human rights, the whole range of challenges that we often engage in with the Chinese are not part of the agenda. But we pretty much know what they are going to say," Clinton said. ”

How does knowing what they are going to say translate into making these issues secondary? Giving in only makes it that much easier for the Chinese government to go on saying the same things.

It's not as if human rights abuses are getting better or going away. Here are two headlines from the same day: China: 4 Jailed for Tibet Protests and China: Law Firm [known for its human rights work] to be Shut Down. On top of that, here are two more headlines for the next day: Wife of Chinese dissident claims confined during Clinton visit, and After 5 Months, China to Try Would-Be [62-year-old] Protester.

So at a time when China is cracking down on Tibetans for even trying to boycott the Tibetan New Year, the U.S. is essentially telling China that the U.S. won't do anything about it if it might possibly "interfere" with other issues like the economy?

The United States needs to start getting serious about human rights, which means having as single-minded a focus on improving human rights as China has for denying them. Here's one example: Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (known for many human rights abuses) bought a home in Hong Kong, and China not only defended his right to own a home in Hong Kong (Mugabe is banned from the U.S. and E.U.), but also threw in this jab on top of it:

“ "Hong Kong is a free port, and even Falun Gong practitioners can buy a property there, am I right?" a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing told yesterday’s South China Morning Post.

 ”

That kind of response just boggles the mind. Comparing believers of a peaceful religion to a man who once compared himself favorably to Hitler ("Hitler tenfold")? Bring up the issue of Falun Gong in the first place when the rest of the world condemns their persecution by the Chinese government? It's as crazy as China calling the anniversy of the defeat of a Tibetan uprising and flight of the Dalai Lama Serf Liberation Day.

Older stuff:

Twice I've felt compelled to comment on blog articles about China.

First, I felt Jon Taplin was a little too quick to brush over the problems with China, and had an incorrect view on the effect "Chinese pride" would have on the Chinese government. My comment is second from the bottom.

Then, the other day, the New York Times had an entry about Coca-Cola's recent acquisition in China. I thought the first commenter hit it on the mark with his concerns over quality control, which of course predictably led on the China-apologists to attack him. Fortunately, my comment (#38) and the one directly below helped balance out the issue.

Collected articles about the Chinese government, nationalism, human rights, and the Olympics: