Comments on: China’s Tibetan Shooting Team in Olympics Training

By: St Trinians

St Trinians — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:24:59 +0000

Mr Brown’s timely Cresta run down Everest is very welcome news ( of course, he was probably going to meet the DL all along ? ) if not on the evidence so far, for the Dalai Lama , who might be subjected to another international nose-picking ceremony

( miss it ? http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6VaP1HB7Vew )

At any rate, GB’s timely adoption of Obama’s intelligent and poll-friendly message ” It’s good to talk ” must have been a nose-picking decision ; given that for many over-paid UK politicians, politics is now an industry ( arm in arm with the media, Prospect apart, that is ) ever drumming up business, and the barometer of Labour’s social engineering policies ( removal of cultural and religeous identity and brainwashing the electorate into protection racket tax to a
no-neck state ) since WWII reveals communist party rule is in fact their ultimate role model, if not main goal

Moreover, Obama and the magnificently humble Dalai Lama both glow peace, in stark contrast to Tony Blair’s chief of staff 1996-2007, Jonathan Powell. In a recent BBC interview he declared that Britain should engage in talks ONLY if a military solution is not possible. Apparently there is another chap out there keen to talk … who knows, may be Mr bin there done that might get invited along too

By: The Bolter

The Bolter — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:26:38 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLYvTQMORt4

JK, Thanks for your Olympic concern.

Just adding the above link again re. the Dalai Lama illuminating the Beijing Olympics, and in so doing be a harmonious way for China both to save face and do the right thing ……..

By: john Kelly

john Kelly — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:15:54 +0000

Credit where it’s due. According to reports, Gordon Brown has today agreed to meet the Dalai Lama in the UK in May, after talking to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. “The Premier told me that subject to two things that the Dalai Lama has already said - that he does not support the total independence of Tibet and that he renounces violence - that he would be prepared to enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama,” Mr Brown said. According to the Telegraph, The Dalai Lama said last Sunday that he would resign as spiritual leader of the Tibetan government in exile if the violence by Tibetans continues: “If things become out of control then my only option is to completely resign,” he told reporters at his Indian base in Dharamsala. He added: “Even if 1,000 Tibetans sacrificed their life [this would be] not much help”. “Please help stop violence from Chinese side and also from the Tibetan side.” Aides later explained that he would only renounce his political status as leader of the government in exile and would remain the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.” So no need for a summit meeting round at the Prospect offices after all. Buttered tea all round.

By: john Kelly

john Kelly — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:56:11 +0000

Yes, that’s fine, Daniel. Tell Sue to email. Climate considerations are paramount - good point - but I don’t think that Tibet should be put under any sort of protectorate status, given the terrible record of these sort of arrangements. Indeed, part of the problem appears to be that China thinks it’s doing Tibet a favour by modernising it and maybe some of this is true. It has invested hugely in infrastructure (though it would have been nice to have first asked whether Tibet wanted all those flats and highways). We’ve got to be a tad careful about imposing a western Shangri-la utopian mindset on all this. There is clearly a democratic deficit in China but lovely as it may be to think otherwise, medieval theocracies haven’t got a great record either. I don’t know the answers or even where to start and it’s dangerous to pontificate from afar: that’s why it would be good to hear from the highest authority - The DL would be a good place to start.

By: Daniel Taghioff

Daniel Taghioff — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:47:01 +0000

Interestingly John, there is a climate change angle in all this (surprise, surprise) since Tibet is sitting on the Glaciers that are disappearing, which help support agriculture for 1/3 of the world’s population.

There is an argument in all of this for Tibet being under a governance framework for the benefit of both India and China, in order to help safeguard political stability in Asia, which is, after all, the workhouse of the global economy.

By: Daniel Taghioff

Daniel Taghioff — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:41:37 +0000

Sue Burn at Tibet Watch would be interested in seeing if the DL can take you up on that offer, or at least one of their researchers. I will direct her here and give her your email if that’s OK.

By: St Trinians

St Trinians — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:51:06 +0000

This is a welcome turn up for the post. Unfortunately, the deadline for the petition has now passed ( 17 March ), but we can continue to do our bit by writing to Mr Brown in person at his temporary home :

10 Downing Street, London, England, SW1A 2AA, UK

or, fax him on 020 7925 0918

( from outside the UK, the number is + 44207 925 0918 )

or, send an e mail via the satirical website http://www.pm.gov.uk
which lists ” Contact Details for Prime Minister Tony Blair ”

Item 1 on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour today featured an eye witness Tibetan female former prisoner ( 11 years in brutal captivity just for shouting “Free Tibet, long live his holiness the Dalai Lama” ) who described Chinese wardens using electronic cattle prods on prisoners trussed up and left hanging them from trees; and measured, expert analysis from the Professor of Contemporary Tibetan Studies at Colombia University, Robbie Barnett; along with extracts from the incredibly moving Songs of Hope ..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/mainframe.shtml?http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/index.shtml?button