The West may have a planned agenda to bring China down

By China Watcher

The West especially the 300 million odd United States residents, understand China for two main things: a country which suppressed its people (amazing for a nation with 300 million internet surfers) and a place where loads of cheap, often poor quality and dangerous goods are produced and imported into their countries. Beyond that, there is a nothing coming from this nation of backward yellow stinking people who does want to play by any level playing rules and competition.

I hate to bring out the racial theme here but I dare say 80% of the Caucasian whites do have this in their mindset though they claimed that they are openly against all sorts of racial discrimination. Even in the US, the current Democrat election ticket for the White House which is fiercely contested, the race issue will eventually become an important factor in deciding the candidature. In Europe, it is the same racial discrimination of North African immigrants where the right wing politicians still promote racial based politics. If developed countries cannot even completely eliminate racial stereotypes, do you expect this to change on its many dealings with the people who have a different skin tone, narrow eyes and vastly different beliefs with contrasting cultures and mannerism? Not many Westerners truly understand this. A Westerner who resides and mingle with the Chinese people will have a far more favorable opinion of a typical Chinese as compared to one who has not set foot there.

Last century in the 70s’, the Japanese huge trade deficit with the US created a huge uproar over its massive exports that led to the rise of unemployment in the US. Labor unions and activists warned o f the "yellow peril" clamored for a higher tariff as well as a boycott of Japanese goods. In terms of size, Japan is only 1/6 of the size of China so the economic threat is magnified six times presently and, using this reason alone, you can bet how those Westerners, the activists and media will response accordingly?

The Western media, which is an important voice of the people, has an important role to play in its own societies, that is, to educate its people - that there are other types of civilization or government styles besides the Western based democracy - has virtually failed in this aspect. In fact the media has been exploited over the past 10 years by certain activist groups, the Tibetan exiles, the politicians and trade unionists to assist these self interest groups to achieve its objectives, even to the extent of perpetuating lies. The Western media using photos taken in Nepal and the cropped up images to convince its readers of the “brutality” of the Chinese government in handling violent protests are some of the evidences of Western media prejudicial and bias reporting on anything related to China. If you view any negative articles on China focusing on civil rights, I can bet you that in most occasions, the photos that accompanied the news content will always be showing a platoon of uniformed army or police holding guns marching somewhere. What are these Western media trying to imply? Yes, China is a fearful military state. Is that true? For a more detailed Western media agenda on Tibet, please visit http://www.anti-cnn.com.

China is still a developing nation (the Western part of the country is still very backward) with a population size of 1.3 billion people comprising 56 ethnic racial groups although the Han Chinese alone is the majority race. Being racially and culturally divided, it is therefore a daunting challenge to manage the diverse country. China was able to raise about 400 million of its people above the poverty level within a period of just 15 years. In fact, China has pleaded with the West to leave them alone as it wanted to develop the country in a peaceful and orderly manner. But is anybody in the West listening?

The rise of a peaceful China published by the West created a lot of anxieties among the Western community who cannot believe that a country administered by communist cadres can grow and advanced so fast economically which will someday encapsulate its very own civilizations. This fear led the Western governments to counter China economic initiatives in Africa, a continent neglected by the same colonial masters for the past two centuries. There are proposals on the table to form a league of democratic nations to ward off the rise of China. The perceived fear is also translated into the increased annual military expenditure of the Chinese and the modernization of its military force. The improvement in a country’s defense is always the prerogative of a sovereign nation.

Perhaps there is a well thought plan to bring down China. One approach is to split off China so that it will not be so formidable – starting with Tibet and Xinjiang. This is why the West has been very supportive of any efforts to create unrest in the 2 regions – making statements and taking actions to rally the independence cause of the activists in the two provinces without giving any thought to the suffering of the other communities – the Han Chinese and Hui Muslims. One obvious example was the Speaker of the US House of Representatives trip to India with a one-sided viewpoint to use the violence in Tibet as an excuse to demonize the Chinese leaders.

All these past events arising from the Tibetan violence only reaffirmed the Chinese conviction that there is a hidden agenda of the Westerners and its media to try to weaken China in the medium to long term. Not many in the West truly understand China’s concern that separatists in Tibet could feed the flames of separatism in other provinces, most notably in the autonomous region of Xinjiang. Taiwan and Hong Kong are also watching the political developments earnestly to see whether this protest will lead to a weakened China whereby they could demand more concessions in any negotiations with the Chinese government. A revisit of a destabilized China in the last days of the Ching Dynasty in the early 1900s’, demonstrated how China was forced to offer territorial concessions to the Western powers and Japan in the most lop-sided agreements in history and as one historian appropriately called it as “the free wheeling and slicing of the Chinese melon”.

The West except Russia could never understand China because it does not face the problem of the division of land and the violent cry of independence by the separatist. Maybe the protest of the Quebec people in Canada, the voice for independence in New Mexico-US, the Northern Ireland demand for separation from Great Britain and the wishes of Southern France to be alienated from the France’s Federal government will wake them up.

In conclusion, "Sinophobia" as I would like to coin it for those China haters in the West will lead to a rise in hatred for anything Western by the Chinese both in China and overseas, and that certainly does not bode well for world peace in the future.

He May Be a God, but He’s No Politician

By PATRICK FRENCH

Published: March 22, 2008

NEARLY a decade ago, while staying with a nomad family in the remote grasslands of northeastern Tibet, I asked Namdrub, a man who fought in the anti-Communist resistance in the 1950s, what he thought about the exiled Tibetans who campaigned for his freedom. “It may make them feel good, but for us, it makes life worse,” he replied. “It makes the Chinese create more controls over us. Tibet is too important to the Communists for them even to discuss independence.”

Protests have spread across the Tibetan plateau over the last two weeks, and at least 100 people have died. Anyone who finds it odd that Speaker Nancy Pelosi has rushed to Dharamsala, India, to stand by the Dalai Lama’s side fails to realize that American politics provided an important spark for the demonstrations. Last October, when the Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to the Dalai Lama, monks in Tibet watched over the Internet and celebrated by setting off fireworks and throwing barley flour. They were quickly arrested.

It was for the release of these monks that demonstrators initially turned out this month. Their brave stand quickly metamorphosed into a protest by Lhasa residents who were angry that many economic advantages of the last 10 or 15 years had gone to Han Chinese and Hui Muslims. A young refugee whose family is still in Tibet told me this week of the medal, “People believed that the American government was genuinely considering the Tibet issue as a priority.” In fact, the award was a symbolic gesture, arranged mostly to make American lawmakers feel good.

A similar misunderstanding occurred in 1987 when the Dalai Lama was denounced by the Chinese state media for putting forward a peace proposal on Capitol Hill. To Tibetans brought up in the Communist system — where a politician’s physical proximity to the leadership on the evening news indicates to the public that he is in favor — it appeared that the world’s most powerful government was offering substantive political backing to the Dalai Lama. Protests began in Lhasa, and martial law was declared. The brutal suppression that followed was orchestrated by the party secretary in Tibet, Hu Jintao, who is now the Chinese president. His response to the current unrest is likely to be equally uncompromising.

The Dalai Lama is a great and charismatic spiritual figure, but a poor and poorly advised political strategist. When he escaped into exile in India in 1959, he declared himself an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance. But Gandhi took huge gambles, starting the Salt March and starving himself nearly to death — a very different approach from the Dalai Lama’s “middle way,” which concentrates on nonviolence rather than resistance. The Dalai Lama has never really tried to use direct action to leverage his authority.

At the end of the 1980s, he joined forces with Hollywood and generated huge popular support for the Tibetan cause in America and Western Europe. This approach made some sense at the time. The Soviet Union was falling apart, and many people thought China might do the same. In practice, however, the campaign outraged the nationalist and xenophobic Chinese leadership.

It has been clear since the mid-1990s that the popular internationalization of the Tibet issue has had no positive effect on the Beijing government. The leadership is not amenable to “moral pressure,” over the Olympics or anything else, particularly by the nations that invaded Iraq.

The Dalai Lama should have closed down the Hollywood strategy a decade ago and focused on back-channel diplomacy with Beijing. He should have publicly renounced the claim to a so-called Greater Tibet, which demands territory that was never under the control of the Lhasa government. Sending his envoys to talk about talks with the Chinese while simultaneously encouraging the global pro-Tibet lobby has achieved nothing.

When Beijing attacks the “Dalai clique,” it is referring to the various groups that make Chinese leaders lose face each time they visit a Western country. The International Campaign for Tibet, based in Washington, is now a more powerful and effective force on global opinion than the Dalai Lama’s outfit in northern India. The European and American pro-Tibet organizations are the tail that wags the dog of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

These groups hate criticism almost as much as the Chinese government does. Some use questionable information. For example, the Free Tibet Campaign in London (of which I am a former director) and other groups have long claimed that 1.2 million Tibetans have been killed by the Chinese since they invaded in 1950. However, after scouring the archives in Dharamsala while researching my book on Tibet, I found that there was no evidence to support that figure. The question that Nancy Pelosi and celebrity advocates like Richard Gere ought to answer is this: Have the actions of the Western pro-Tibet lobby over the last 20 years brought a single benefit to the Tibetans who live inside Tibet, and if not, why continue with a failed strategy?

I first visited Tibet in 1986. The economic plight of ordinary people is slightly better now, but they have as little political freedom as they did two decades ago. Tibet lacks genuine autonomy, and ethnic Tibetans are excluded from positions of real power within the bureaucracy or the army. Tibet was effectively a sovereign nation at the time of the Communist invasion and was in full control of its own affairs. But the battle for Tibetan independence was lost 49 years ago when the Dalai Lama escaped into exile. His goal, and that of those who want to help the Tibetan people, should be to negotiate realistically with the Chinese state. The present protests, supported from overseas, will bring only more suffering. China is not a democracy, and it will not budge.

Patrick French is the author of “Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land.”

China should blacklist unfriendly nations

By China Watcher

Two backward European countries trying to champion the disguised human rights cause of the Tibetans have indicated that they will stay away from the Beijing Games opening ceremony on 8 August 2008 because of China’s action against the Tibetan criminals.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus announced a personal boycott Wednesday, but said his decision was unlikely to weigh heavily on the Chinese government. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Thursday also pledged to stay away from the games opening ceremony but he still think that his country has a lot of political leverage. The Western media took this golden opportunity to announce that Poland and Czech Republic have decided to boycott the Games. Once again, if we look at the bigger picture, the Czech leader said that it is a personal boycott and the other leader comes from a country which was almost annihilated during the Nazi invasion in the Second World War. It is best I do not comment on that country any further. My question: Why boycott the opening ceremony only, and if the two leaders feel so right about their opinion just tell their athletes to stay away as well? They will not be missed.

I have stated earlier that China has to be prepared for a total boycott of the Games by Western nations like US, Germany, United Kingdom, France and perhaps a few more European nations and the Chinese government must conduct a review and withdraw the invitations to these leaders in those countries most likely to follow a boycott. Did China invites those obnoxious politicians or is it required under IOC rules? If politicians stay away from sports event it would be better as it will be less political and I do not think it is a warning as the right groups claimed.

With the human right groups and the Western media pushing for their agenda of a boycott, it saddened me to note that it has became a political tool of the Western politicians. The Olympics which is supposed to be a major sports event for athletes and fans throughout the world has been hijacked by the West for a political cause.

Other than the US due to its economic and political influence, China should not be blackmailed and told to do this and that by these countries who in terms of population or land size in aggregate cannot even compare to that of the Chinese.

I would like to urge the Chinese government to take note of these countries actions and grade them accordingly like what the US comes out annually - a watch list of unfriendly nations under Tier 1, 2 or 3.

China should use its present economic power to its advantage and offer trade concessions and promote investments to those countries friendly with China. The policy to economically engage with Latin America, African countries, Middle East, Asian nations should be pursued more aggressively to diversify the trades away from Europe and US in due course. Anyway, the world economic swings from Western developed countries to BRIC has already set in – the European countries are on the way down. And the rise of Asia – notably China, India, Russia and Brazil will dominate the world’s economy in 40 years time.

More countries supported China’s stand on Tibet

By China Watcher

Yesterday, the Singapore government made a bold statement strongly supporting China's stand on Tibet. In response to media queries on the situation in Tibet, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says "Singapore supports the declared policy of the Chinese government to protect the lives and property of its citizens from violent demonstrators with minimum use of force."

The ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore added that Singapore is "opposed to the politicization of the Olympics".

To date there are more than 100 countries who have expressed their understanding and support for China's handling of the Tibetan riots and this clearly shows that the majority of the international community are strongly backing Chinese action to curb the violence created by the Tibetan rebels.

The West claimed that they believe in democracy but in this situation they choose to ignore the majority. In China alone, 1 billion nationals are clearly behind the Chinese government stand.

The Western media and the human rights groups are pure hypocrites and from what I see, they choose to practice selective condemnation in their reporting. And they coordinate their efforts to attack China in every manner they could. Some of these acts have been exposed by the Chinese netizens and published in Xinhua news.

To the fence sitters, please voice your support. Do keep it coming!

Consequences of a Western led boycott of the Olympic Games in Beijing

By China Watcher

There are lots of developments surrounding the present hot topic of the possibility of a total boycott of the coming Olympic Games by the West. The Western reporters, after being chased out of Tibet for inaccurate and bias reporting, are united with an agenda to push for the total boycott of the August’s Olympic Games.

The latest Western leader to fall into the trap of the human right activists and Western media is the French President who was hounded by the press to give an affirmative answer to the question of boycotting the Games. Everywhere he goes, the press keeps pressuring him with the same question until he relented with a response. He was criticized in the media for being relatively silent on this matter. Yesterday, he mentioned that there is a possibility of a boycott of the opening ceremony in Beijing. The media, once again, wrote that the French’s President comments’ appeared aimed at persuading other world leaders to join him in boycotting the Games. I find this amusing since it was the press that applied pressure for him to make a reply and he could have given a reply which they wanted but not necessarily meant for other Western leaders to join him. Here we have a Western media twisting the content to its way of getting other to see it – a support for a total boycott of the Games. This is very dangerous and unfair reporting of this nature can stoke public emotions. It is sad that the Western media has to stoop so low as to get attention to achieve its goals.

If the West uses the issue of Tibet to boycott of the Games, my question is why do it now? Tibet as the Westerners claimed have been suppressed for the past 49 years and things have changed in Tibet since then but the West choose to view the issue only from the Tibetan perspective without giving consideration of the livelihood of the other major ethnic groups – the Han Chinese. Tibet is an inalienable part of China since the Mongol era even before the founding of the United States of America and the establishment of a convict colony in the now called continent of Australia. How come it is so difficult for the West to accept this? I will write an article on this matter after I complete my research.

Let us look at a scenario where the human rights group and the Western media have succeeded in getting a total boycott of the Games. The countries that would boycott the Games will be those from the Western Hemisphere – the US, France, United Kingdom, Germany and possibly a few countries from the European Union (like Czech Republic, Poland etc). Western media said the Chinese government is losing friends over the Tibetan rebellion but are these Western countries mentioned above sincere friends of the Chinese people? They are only friends when they want to do business with the Chinese. These countries are important for the fact they are technologically more superior and they are more advanced in which the Chinese could learn from them. In another 20 years – the world order will change – I see only the US being the only country standing in the Top 8. Russia, Brazil, India and of course China will replace the few Western countries listed above.

I am very certain countries like Russia, Brazil and India will not fall into the trap of the human rights activists and Tibetan exiles. Most Asian countries except notably Japan will attend the Olympics. African nations in majority supported the Chinese staging of the Olympics and they would willingly participate. Latin American countries except maybe, Colombia (pro-US) would not boycott the Games. There is a strong possibility that Australia and New Zealand may not follow the call for boycott due to its sizeable Asian population who does not agree with staying away from the Games.

From this angle, it appears that if a boycott of the Games comes true, only a handful of WESTERN nations will be missed from the prestigious sporting festival. There is no doubt that Germany and the US are strong sporting nations which may affect the overall quality and standard of the Games but the spirit of the Games will not be affected.

The immediate fallouts of the Beijing Games from the Western led boycott will be the Chinese boycotting of the London’s 2012 Games, an increase in the hatred among the Han Chinese (numbering 1.3 billion worldwide) towards Western nations, the changes in the Olympic Charter and the possibility of the non cooperation by the Chinese in the international arena to solve global issues.

On the trade issues, the Chinese will continue with its policy to diversify its economy away from these Western nations and hopefully, it will succeed in the future. Business dealings with the West will continue to decline. From the technological point of view, it is important for the Chinese to focus on home grown technology. By having one of the largest Research and Development budget and with the returnees from the West, I am confident there will be more scientists in China, in the forefront of technology, in about 20 years from now.

As for the Beijing Olympics, the show will go on.

The West and the human right activists are using the Olympics as “hostage” in its coordinated attempts to tarnish the image of China

By China Watcher

Yesterday, I read an English paper from China (in which the West will not hesitate to label it as pure Chinese government propaganda) about an interesting report on the allegations against the Dalai Lama of having conspired to wreck the Olympics Games by masterminding a series of protests, both in Tibet and in a few Western nations friendly to the Tibetan cause, with a peaceful rally that began on March 10, 2008. As this is deemed an allegation, without any circumstantial evidence, I choose not to read further.

Then a friend prompted me of the date – March 10 – which is the anniversary date of the 1959’s failed uprising against the Chinese government. Now it is starting to make some sense. If you analyze the waves of protests which spread to the surrounding Tibetan population, there is a certain element of truth in the allegations.

If we were led to believe that the Dalai Lama was not the initiator of the wave of protests then the Tibetan exiled government headed by its so called PM jointly with the Tibetan youths, funded and supported by the Human Rights activists, called for the simultaneous March 10 peaceful protest in Daramsala and at one of the monasteries in Tibet. Unfortunately, the protests turned violent which resulted in the loss of lives of both the Tibetans and the Han Chinese. Using wireless communications network via the mobile phone, the exiled Tibetan government directed its “provincial” leaders in other parts of Western China to come out in protests against the Chinese government. Similarly, the protests also turned violent and the Han Chinese was the targeted victims in the process. If there is no proper coordination and financing from the West, I doubt the series of protest could take off so smoothly?

The objective is obvious, that is, to try to encourage the West to boycott the Olympics by portraying the Tibetans as the victims of suppression arising from the “brutal” crackdown and ultimately, to pressure China to allow Tibet to be independent.

The exiled Tibetan government together with the human right groups continued to churn out the death figures from 70 to 99 and the latest is at 140. I am amazed at their monk to monk interconnected network, which by far is more efficient than the Internet. On one hand, they claimed that the Chinese has cut off all communications to Tibet and the surrounding areas in which the mobile phone is not reachable currently, but yet they can offer us the unconfirmed death figure. The death number also did not state the racial origin of those who died from the violent protests. I believe a large number of those who died are of Han Chinese origin. Officially, the Chinese government death figure is at 22. The continuous whipping of the death figures confirmed my suspicion that they are trying to evoke the natural human compassion to react especially from the many sympathetic Westerners so that a partial boycott of the Games be taken, if a total boycott is unsuccessful.

The Chinese government would not sit still when all the negative publicity was created to tarnish its image. Over the past 3 days, the state-owned media began its broadcast to show its versions of the violent protests and how the Tibetans carried out the premeditated killings and the vast destructions of government buildings. Chinese nationalism was played up with the theme that Tibet will always be a part of China. A “YouTube” video clip on the same theme attracted 1.6 million hits since March 15, 2008.

With the many anti-China bashing articles by the Western media (8 out of 10), it is of no surprise that China is viewed in the negative light especially in the West. China is more widely accepted in Asia (excluding Japan) and Africa as there are less anti-Chinese commentaries in their national dailies. According to the Chinese media, there are now 104 foreign governments who have voiced their support of the direct action taken by Chinese government to restore law and order in its rebellious provinces.

I have also taken the liberty to review certain comments by some participants of Chinese origin in forums on the Internet – both from China and overseas – and I gathered most of them are supportive of a stronger action against the violence in Tibet. One blogger was disappointed by the poor knowledge of the Westerners on Tibetan history and the bias reporting against China. Another one added that the Tibetan being a minority race enjoys far better government care than the Han Chinese in that there are not restricted by the one-child policy and they have an easier passage to secure university places at the prestigious Beijing University as quota is reserved for the minorities. There is another participant who said that it is a natural survival instinct for the Han Chinese to seek greener pastures by moving to Tibet when there are already limited small business opportunities in the Eastern coastal provinces but instead the West choose to call this migration a threat to the Tibetan livelihood. Despite the many pro-China comments underlying the broad support the Chinese had towards their government in handling the Tibetan issue, it nevertheless failed to convince the western participants. As usual non Chinese participants choose to ignore it by merely saying that the Chinese people are brainwashed by the state media and its government. Just a note here - China has one of the largest Internet communities numbering 300 million to date and they can actually surf various political news and I was informed last night that the BBC website which was banned earlier in China is now unblocked.

Some western media commented that China “brutal” crackdown of the Tibetan protests and the eviction of the Western reporters from Tibet has tarnished its image and reputation. One point I wish to illustrate here is, in the eyes of the many Westerners does China still have a reputation to protect – given the various unfair reporting like the Darfur crisis in Sudan, the poor quality and safety of its goods, the allegations of dumping of its goods, the manipulation of its currency, the threat of its military, the Taiwan issue, the persecution of Moslems and Christians, the very bad pollution in Chinese cities, the forced repatriation of Chinese residents and more recently, the erosion of Tibetan culture etc. When you start from ground zero, there is only one way for your reputation that is to go up regardless of what action you take.

Olympic flame lit in Ancient Olympia but the Western media pays more attention to disturbances

By China Watcher

In a traditional ceremony, the flame lighting event proceeded well and it now began a worldwide tour to selected destinations, which will last 130 days and covering 137,000 kilometers.

The Western media as usual continues it anti-Chinese barbs by highlighting the disturbances and commenting deviously that the protest overshadow this particular ceremony. The minor annoyance involves a walking protest at a main street by 10 Tibetans, including a girl, whose face was covered in red paint, chanting anti-Chinese slogans. The Tibetans appeared to be so desperate that they even resort to using small children for its independence cause. If any untoward incident happened to the girl during the protest, are the Tibetan rebels willing to shoulder the responsibility and answerable to its Western sympathizers?

Later, three French members of the media rights group Reporters Without Borders, unfurled a banner and tried to seize Chinese Olympics organiser Liu Qi's microphone as he spoke at the ceremony. The violent act displayed by this group of human right activists is despicable, whom I think is a butch of hypocrites and their rude behavior was very unbecoming, more so if there are from a developed Western country. I am now having deep reservations of these human values of the West where we perceived are more civilized and that they hold the highest respect for its fellow human beings.

The “mini-war” has already been declared by the human rights activists and the exiled Tibetans to disrupt the run-up to the Beijing Olympics. With this knowledge of an announced “war”, China should use its growing influence to organize appropriate anti-protest strategies to minimize the disruption and ensure that the forthcoming Olympics to be the best in its series.

Athletics achievements, friendship and respect among civilized people should take priority in the Olympics Games and there should be no politics in sports. Otherwise, it is the sports fans and the athletes throughout the world who will suffer most if an Olympics Games cannot be staged as planned.

Germany diplomacy towards China is unfriendly and relations go back to a shaky path

By China Watcher

The Germany government headed by its obnoxious Chancellor Angela Merkel has been adopting an anti-China stance since she took over the leadership in 2005. Though the Chancellor visited Beijing in 2007, she caused a controversy by meeting the exiled Tibetan leader officially for the first time in her office, offending the Chinese government and the many Chinese nationals and Chinese overseas.

Even though the relations appeared to have patched up by a meeting between the foreign ministers of both countries, I have commented in my article earlier that the relationship is fragile and could be broken not months but in weeks to come.

The announcement by the German government to freeze aid talks with the Chinese government in retaliation to the so called “brutal” crackdown by the Chinese paramilitary forces on the Tibetan criminals has confirmed my forecast of the ongoing unsteady relationship which is correct and appropriate. There are just too many political and social elements in the German government that dictates a condition that would promote a relationship based on mutual respect and understanding. The German’s cabinet is a coalition of political parties with different political ideas and style in handling the day-to-day running of the affairs of the government. A sign of this was the previous riff over the meeting of the Chancellor with the Dalai Lama between the Christian Democrat and Social Democrat members.

The suspension of the inter-government aid talk will continue until China stops the “bloody” clampdown on Tibetan protesters. If this is not a threat, then what is it?

The aid involves a total grant of 67.5 million euros (US$105 million) which will mainly be used to finance Chinese companies operating dirty electricity plants. Berlin said it offered the help because China had the world's second-largest emissions of carbon dioxide and was the world's worst sulphur-dioxide polluter.

On the same tone, an European Parliament President from Germany, Hans-Gert Poettering, was quoted as saying in another anti-China paper, Bild am Sonntag, that if the crackdown continues there is a possibility that a boycott of the Olympics is justified.

If we viewed the amount of aid in discussion, it is just a token sum given the magnitude of the pollution problem which of course is largely contributed by the many foreign companies which had moved to China in the past decade to escape the strict pollution laws in their own countries.

Personally, I think the Chinese government is not desperate for the aid and if there is financial assistance– fine and good – if not they will find other ways to do so, one of which could be to solicit the funds from the many rich Chinese overseas who are more than willing to help. Maybe, the government can re-look at the huge foreign reserves of about US$1.5 trillion to tap into as a temporary measure.

The announcement by the German government is just a publicity stunt.

The Chinese government has every right to issue its version of the protest but the West claimed that it is pure propaganda. Isn't the anti-China bashing articles I have come across not a propaganda of the West?

When the Chinese government moves its troop to restore law and order, the Westerner twisted it and called it a brutal crackdown but in its own country it will be known as "maintaining law and order". Why the double standards? Maybe, they would love to see the country in chaos with ethnic clashes between the Tibetans and other racial groups – the Han Chinese and Moslems. And of course, they hope, out of this turmoil, to see the rise of democratic societies and institutions in China.

Even if there is a boycott of the Olympics, as envisioned by the many so-called human rightists – the last stage of the planned move to push for it - a western centric society sulking to the West for direction will never happen in China. China is truly a sovereign nation and with the passage of time, a proud democratic state with Chinese characteristics.

Kuomintang Party claims back Presidency in Taiwan

By China Watcher

It is Saturday, 22th of March 2008. The Kuomintang Party 's (KMT) candidate, Ma Ying-jeou has soundly beaten Frank Hsieh, the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) challenger with a 58 % vote compared to 41.5% for the President post, a large difference of nearly 17%. The Election Commission announced that the turnout was 76 percent. This completes the annihilation of the DPP which has now lost both the position of President and the Legislature.

Economic issues take priority over the play up concerns of the events after the recent Tibetan protest. The DPP knows very well they have fumbled in managing the economy for the past 8 years under Mr. Chen Shui Bin and as such, had childishly played up the fear of the Taiwanese public of a "bullying" China and the perceived good rapport the KMT had with the mainland government. This time around the Taiwanese people are much smarter and voted for someone who could turn the economy around which was sluggish with a high unemployment rate.

A vote for the KMT is an approval for Ma to expand economic ties and also, to enhance direct transportation links with the mainland, The people has spoken and they wanted peace and not take a confrontational stance on its relations with China, much to the disappointment of the Western media who wishes to create a condition of enmity in order to create a buffer for all freedom loving people, as we can deduce from the many China bashing news and articles. There is no threat to the evolving democracy as the West has mentioned in its news report. The recent article from the Western media on the closure of the voting gap between the two candidates from a high of 20% to nearly 5% as a result of the so-called "brutal" crackdown of the Tibetans criminals, did not turn out as expected much to the chagrin of the Westerners.

Ma's victory also signified an end to the DPP's presidential reign and it is important for the KMT's government to initiate legal corruption proceedings, once Mr. Chen steps down officially as President of the Taiwan. The outgoing President and his family will lose all the immunity protection and he and his family cannot delay any more for justice to take its rightful place. The people's vote also demonstrated that they wanted a clean government.

Though the new Taiwan's President-designate may stick to the status quo of a free Taiwan on one side with Mainland China on the other side, the resumption of mutual beneficial dialogue between the two sides is a step in the right direction. We hope to see more development of trusts to resolve the ideological differences, a legacy problem which can only be resolved by the Chinese people and without any inteference from the meddling West, especially the US.

Congratulations to the KMT!

Two faced US is supporting criminals in Tibet

By China Watcher

Bloomberg, another US media, quoted US senior lawmaker Nancy Pelosi as saying that the world stands united with Tibet during her visit to the exiled Tibetan rebel base in Dharamsara in supporting the separation of Tibet from China. I am still wondering which WORLD that loud mouth lady was talking about.

Probably the WORLD she is referring to is the Western world only which is trying to promote a Western centric society of human goodness where everything else is bad. According to the West, the Dalai Lama is not seeking independence and is open to negotiation with the Chinese government for a political solution for the Tibetan people. So for the past 2 decades, he has been traveling to most western nations and continues to draw support from these governments to add pressure on China to achieve his objectives – only he himself knows what it is. The West strongly believed that this outcast monk is a divine person with a good heart who is committed to a peaceful solution. Wherever he goes, the West provided him with red carpet welcome befitting a leader of an independent nation. If you make a simple analysis of the situation, the official welcome mat is only given in small number of Western countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Italy, and Australia and of course the two faced US.

But over the past two weeks, he was a catalyst to all that is wrong – a riot which resulted in the death of innocent lives and if I am not mistaken a large number could be Han Chinese. If he is such a strong and reveled spiritual leader for the Tibetan people, how come he did not condemned or called for a stop to the violence, instead he used the word "cultural genocide" or "rule of terror", which are inflammatory and irresponsible. The violence took its toll with damages to large swath of public properties including the loss of lives of other ethnic groups. A Hui Moslem exclaimed that the Tibetans were the real trouble makers by disturbing the peace and burning of our Mosque. The Dalai Lama’s resignation threat following the rampage was a carefully scripted stage play for the West to notice, because a spiritual leader NEVER resign and from the text he said that if the violent continues – and he knows fully well that the protest will die off in one week. If he is a proponent of non violence, the happenings last week in Tibet definitely did not demonstrate this human virtue.

The congressional medal given by the US Congress to the Dalai Lama in 2007 was a real act of provocation to all Chinese nationals and overseas Chinese. The US speaker extolled that in the name of human rights all freedom-loving people throughout the world should speak out against China and the Chinese in Tibet constitute not only an offensive act against the Chinese government but also all Han Chinese throughout the world. From this statement, it clearly implies that she is also against the Han Chinese who moved to Tibet to earn a living. I observed from the few video clips on the Tibetan protest, the Tibetans are the ones who were very aggressive. They burned and vandalized buildings, poured acid on Han Chinese bystanders and throwing stones at the riots police. We noticed the police were restraining the crowds using protective shields. There are domestic laws in every country which must be respected and in these situations; it is clear who the criminals are.

When there are riots and illegal protests upsetting the stability of a country, it is the prerogative right of any Federal government to send police and military forces to restore law and order. In China case, paramilitary troops have moved into Tibet and the surrounding Chinese provinces where there is a huge Tibetan population like Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan to restore peace and stability. This is quite normal.

As usual, the West twisted the script by condemning the crackdown as brutal and short of labeling the Chinese as “butchers”. I am quite suspicious at the timing of the riots to the spreading of violence in three other Chinese provinces and these "peaceful protests" could have been synchronized and staged. This could be a coordinated attempt to generate as much attention to the Tibetan rebels' independence cause and smear Beijing in such a way to provoke China to act harshly, eventually resulting in a boycott of the Olympics. I deployed this devious attempt at using violence to attain its objectives and strongly supported the move by Beijing to restore stability and bring back economic activities to these areas and also, to ensure the ethnic rights of other racial groups are not infringed or denied.

The US reminds me of a two-faced creature – one side which is always smiling and the other which attempts to strike at you if you are not watchful. The US Congressmen delegation to the Tibetan rebel base in northern India is challenging the authority of the Chinese government over Tibet and in breach of the US government official recognition of Tibet as an inalienable part of China.

The Chinese government should not only condemn and criticize the provocative action but reviewed its relation with US seriously and for a start, stop cooperating with them so willingly on international issues. On the trade side, international strategies must be developed to diversify the dependence of exports to the US. Learn from the Russians, from what I see, the US is actually PLEADING with the Russians to allow them to place a strategic shield in Poland and Czech Republic.

The cry for Tibetan Independence infuriates Chinese nationals and overseas Chinese

By China Watcher

Due to the Tibetan protest last week in China that turned violent, there were so many anti-China articles namely from International Herald Tribune, BBC, New York Times, Associated Press etc. Asian newspapers in certain countries which paid for its content from Western news agencies unashamedly published the same content without giving a thought to the unfair bias of such reports towards China and its people.

The Chinese voices as taken from the many Chinese bloggers were angry at such reports and there were a significant populace who actually defended the Chinese efforts to quell the riots which has resulted in the loss of lives including innocent Han Chinese who were beaten to death.

The Han Chinese makes up quite a sizeable percentage of the population of Tibet and Qinghai. Tibet, alone, has about 40% Han Chinese. Qinghai has a far larger make-up of other ethnic groups other than the Tibetans. Hence, it is important for all the races to co-exist and live together and it is just impossible to listen to the plight of the Tibetans. Without the Chinese investments to develop the backward counties and the Chinese entrepreneurial skills, Tibet will not be what it is now. Tibet is a land-locked hinterland and its survival is dependent on its sizeable and resourceful neighbor. Foreign critics claimed that there are undiscovered minerals in Tibet but most of these parts are inaccessible due to the harsh high altitude and its unforgiving climate.

Many westerners would like to see Tibet under developed so that the nature pristine of its environment is preserved but it is for who to see. – the tourist only. They also denounced Chinese efforts to teach the Tibetans a new way of life to upgrade themselves by learning Mandarin and they twisted the whole matter into what they termed as “genocide” of Tibetan culture as though they are so concern about their livelihood. But those westerners are not a stakeholder in the Tibetan Province so they should just keep their mouth quiet. If Richard Gere passionately loves the Tibetan so much, why don’t we ask him to live in Tibet with his friends? Then he will have a better story for us.

Even the Taiwanese Presidential candidate from Kuomintang began to pander to the news media by saying that he will support a boycott of the Beijing Olympics if he is elected. Perhaps, the pressure from his other political opponent who never failed to surprise me with their “childish” games was affecting his normal sound judgment.

With or without the Olympics, Tibet will remain securely under the People Republic of China. For the many Tibetan independence supporters, it will be a very long and unfulfilled dream. Please don’t wake up.

Russia strongly supports China to curb independence movement in Tibet

By China Watcher

In a strongly worded text from Moscow, Russia supported China stance to curb independence activities in Tibet.

The Foreign Ministry said, “We express hope that the authorities of the People's Republic of China will take all necessary measures to curtail unlawful actions and ensure the speedy normalization of the situation in the autonomous region."

It takes another country who suffers similar type of independence pressure supported by the US led Western initiatives and media to understand the crux of the matter. Russia is confronted with Chenchen rebels fighting for an independence cause.

There has never been a period throughout history where Sino-Russia relations are at its best and it will get better where trade which is the main impetus is growing at an encouraging rate that will continue to cement stronger people to people relations. In the 1950s’ era, the relationship was good but it was certainly not sincere where the influence is stronger at one end. The strategic relationship with Russia must be further promoted and deepened to counter US led dominance in world’s politics. Western media, however, is trying its best to drive a wedge in painting and highlighting the negative aspect of the relationship by saying that if Russia is not careful, the size of China itself will threaten Russia’s survival. I find this comical and there are many devious attempts to promote a Western centric society.

On the other hand, Western countries called for restraint in the handling of the unrest situation in the Tibetan autonomous region and its surrounding provinces. Australia, Great Britain, the European Union were more pragmatic in offering limited criticism on China’s efforts to bring the situation under control, knowing very well that it is better to engage than to confront a mighty China. China is not Myammar.

If I am not mistaken, only Germany and Russia are the only two Western nations to openly declare that Tibet is a province of China. Both critical as well as supportive comments from abroad surrounding this issue will assist China now to differentiate and understand those countries which are friends to the Chinese people and those which are not.

Reviewing certain reports, I am perplexed that the exiled Tibetan rebels mentioned that there were 100 deaths. The Chinese media announced that there were only 16 deaths as at 17 March 2008. What about the deaths of the Han Chinese who were bludgeoned and beaten to death by the Tibetan youths? If the Chinese government did not show restraint the figure could have been many times higher. On the moral and humanity side, the Chinese have learned to exercise restraint in handling this delicate situation. This is commendable from a growing and potential superpower.

The Western media continued to play up the issue by inviting Chinese dissidents to give their opinion on the incident. I am disappointed that these so called born again “liberalists” and “human right seekers” have responded to the hidden agenda of the West to become “traitors” to the motherland and all Chinese overseas by calling for independence of Tibet.

As one blogger from China who rightly put it, “Westerners think they know all about China, telling us that this, that and the other is bad,” Another one commented, “Most foreigners have been brainwashed as far as this issue is concerned.”

China should take note that the Tibetan radicals are now the one who are calling the independence cause and not the Dalai Lama and hence, more concrete and effective measures must be in place to deal with this group of rebels.

Tibetan monks inspired protests turned violent

By China Watcher

The scenario started as a peaceful march by about 300 monks at one of the monasteries and over a spate of just 5 days, the situation turned ugly with rampant destruction of public as well as private properties and other assets. A burned down mosque, scorched police stations, smashed police trucks, and destroyed privately held vehicles were remnants of the aftermath of the violent protest as a result of instigation by Tibetan monks and camps of the exiled government of the Dalai Lama.

I have always been reminded that monks are religious “officials” who have given up material attachments to opt for “a state of living” free from sufferings and to bring happiness to the common people. The majority of these groups are non violent. After viewing some of the video clips on the Internet, I was truly wrong as Tibetan monks do have very strong political affiliation and do harbor a hidden agenda to attain independence for its so-called native lands. More so, they intend to bring back the good old days of the feudal systems.

Throughout history, monks, priest or even imans possessed very strong influence on the people because religious beliefs are infused into the way of life of its believers. Religious authorities occupy important roles in the political strata of the government, with its leaders even heading the top political posts especially during the feudal era. Nowadays, most of the elected governments have constitutions written to separate religions from the State because the people are of the opinion that a theocratic government cannot make fair judgments especially in multi-religious and multi-racial societies.

Initially, we were informed that the Tibetan authorities exercised restraint on the peaceful march even though public protests are not allowed in Chinese autonomous regions. But when the peaceful protests widened and became ruthless that turned violent with damages to government buildings and assets, the Chinese government began to send paramilitary troops and the military to quell the riots. There were incidents that some of the migrated Han Chinese were brutally injured and killed in the riots. Foreign reports claimed that there were 80 “confirmed” deaths this far but Chinese media mentioned that there were only 10 deaths. We must use our judgment to verify the figures and not relied on any biased reports.

In the light of the inspired riots, the non violent path advocated by the Tibetan monks are pure hypocrisy and the Tibetan exiled government in northern India headed by the Dalai Lama calling for UN investigation into the unrest is also another well planned attempt to promote independence for Tibet and the neighboring provinces. No country’s government in the world will allow secession especially if it involves lands where the racial compositions are very mixed. Furthermore, many foreign governments had recognized Tibet as an inalienable part of China.

The Western media and the New York based human rights activists, as usual, have been promoting a Free Tibet campaign and are telling the Tibetans to take this opportunity of China’s staging of the Olympics this year to create a hue and cry so that attention is given to the Tibetans’ dying plight. The Western media and the self-appointed activists should take a leaf from a famous comic superhero, “with power in the news media (the many written comments and pictures) come great responsibilities”.

The damages to so many public properties and the loss of lives as a consequence of the instigated protests bring forth a very pertinent question. Is this worth it? To the activists, there is a need for sacrifices to be made if there is success to be achieved in the future. Buoyed by the international attention given by the Western media, the Tibetan exiles even confidently declared that this is just the beginning.

But if you are facing a big gun barrel at the other end, it is just plain foolish talk.

US, the self-appointed leader on human rights continues to bark but is the world listening

By China Watcher

The US, the self-appointed leader in this particular aspect of human social development, recognized China rapid economic development and social change and hence, decided to remove the country from the list of world’s top human rights violators, as stated in the latest US State Department's annual global human rights report. Countries like North Korea, Myammar, Sudan and Iran remained on the top of the list of greatest human rights offenders.

The US report however continued to label China as an authoritarian country that has "not undertaken democratic political reform”. The report further stressed that China's "overall human rights record remained poor" in 2007, citing tightened controls on religious freedom against Buddhists in Tibet and against Muslims in northwestern Xinjiang. It also highlighted the Chinese government unrelenting actions to monitor, harass, detain, arrest, and imprison activists, writers, journalists, and defense lawyers and their families, many of whom were seeking to exercise their rights under the law.

I was taken by surprise of the heightened criticism leveled at Hong Kong's human rights record. The report criticized the Basic Law for requiring separate majorities of geographical and functional constituencies to pass individual member bills, and for banning the Legislative Council from pushing forward bills that affect public expenditure, political structure or government policy. The US published report also claimed that the rights of residents to change their government peacefully were limited by the Basic Law. It highlighted other concerns, including claims of press self-censorship, violence against women and the fact that workers do not have collective bargaining power. It also condemned the slow-paced of democratic reform.

The Hong Kong government hit back saying the present system allowed government policies and proposals to be frankly discussed and for government to make adjustments when necessary based on the input. The spokesman said the comment was "untrue," and that relation between the executive and legislature was one of "mutual regulation and co-ordination."

A political professor, at Hong Kong City University, was also disappointed with the report arguing that the slow-paced democratic reform did not suggest that the citizens had worse rights. He added that citizens enjoy a wide spectrum of rights, including freedom of expression and that the media held the government accountable. If there were no rights of free expression, how come the internet users recently have the unobtrusive means to spread the celebrity nude-photos among its subjects? If you picked up a Hong Kong Daily, you can quickly noticed that there are editorials which speaks against the Hong Kong governor and the Chinese masters.

In conclusion, I think that the report is oversimplified and is written with a hidden agenda. I am also questioning the US authority in this aspect of civil liberties and by what means do they nominate themselves to speak as the world’s spokesperson. If I am not mistaken, we do have the United Nations, the legalized authority, in which there is a human right office to promote the human rights agenda. Well, the US is the arrogant superpower as it is and when it speaks, we listen…but is the world listening when they themselves could not even take care of its own backyard which is littered full of human rights infringements.

Activists stirred up Tibetan protest to undermine China’s run up to the Olympics

By China Watcher

After the huge international publicity created by the resignation of a prominent Hollywood film director as artistic director for the Beijing Olympics to commence in August this year, human right activists, once again, stirred up the Tibetans in-exile in Dharamsala, India to conduct a protest march all the way to Tibet from India to commemorate the anniversary of the 1959 failed uprising. There were only 100 protestors. I would view this matter more symbolic than anything else since trekking across the Himalaya into Tibet is certainly very dangerous as it is a long and treacherous path, which may cost human lives. And the Western media obviously loves to highlight this small event to discredit the Chinese government.

Simultaneously, the Chairman of the Tibetan government in China, Champak Phuntsok, confirmed on Monday, 10 March 2008 that there were about 300 monks from Drepung monastery outside Lhasa who set off on their march to the city but the issue was resolved without incident. I am of the opinion that the protest is confined to a small group of pro-Dalai Lama Monks and there are certainly not representative of the larger Tibetan population. This is clearly an act of desperation on the part of the monks who wanted to bring back the past feudal system whereby the monks have a complete hold on the lives of the Tibetans for centuries.

I am sure the average Tibetans would not want to relive the past of serfdoms and masters. China has brought development to Tibet, a land-locked country, but the Western media always play up this stale agenda to highlight the damages to the colorful surroundings and environment, the eradication of Tibetan Culture and the restriction of places of worship for the Tibetans. Why don’t the critics take a trip to Tibet and see it for your own what the Chinese has done for Tibet?

Maybe the migrated Han Chinese from other parts have done well economically but the Tibetans are also faulted for not attempting to learn Mandarin, the business language, and acquire entrepreneurial skills from the various training institutes across the country. There are already Tibetans who are educated from Beijing University who have not only been successful in Tibet but in other parts of China. The Chinese autonomous government in Tibet has always provided education as a means to raise the standard of living of the average Tibetans and it will take some time for the success of this program to take root.

In most Chinese internet forums, the online users are supportive of a Tibet which is part of China and not the other way around like the Western media puts it. The internet users also expressed their dissatisfaction recently over a foreign singer who shouted for Tibet's autonomy in a concert at Shanghai. The West has tried to champion an independence Tibetan cause but I view the matter as clear hypocrisy because when the British ruled India at one time, they have the opportunity to free up Tibet with their influence but they did not do it. In fact, the British is a party to the division of the border along the northern part of India with China which to this day these “grey” regions are hotly contested between the two countries.

Personally I believe that the activists protest is merely an act to take advantage of the publicity to disrupt the Games run-up so that they can achieve their agenda of a Free Tibet. But I am confident this will never happen.

Japanese right-wing activists opposed the warming of ties between China and Japan

By China Watcher

Prime Minister of Japan, Yasuo Fukuda, is a pragmatic politician, who believes in the deepening of Sino-Japan ties for peace and stability in Asia and the World. The recent warming of ties between the two countries is affected to a certain extent over the disputes in the handling of the poisoning of imported frozen dumplings whereby 10 persons were reportedly sickened.

There was conclusive evidence to indicate that the poisoning issue was deliberate. China claimed that the packaging could have been tampered in Japan. We suspect that this could be the work of either the anti-Japanese groups who feel that the Japanese has not atoned to the sufferings it caused during the Second World War especially in China or the right-wing activists in Japan who will oppose anything to do with China.

Yesterday, a right-wing activist from Osaka died shortly after shooting himself in the head with a pistol in front of the Diet building in central Tokyo. The man was believed to be unhappy with the present Prime Minister in forging good relations with China.

I am of the opinion that this suicidal person is representing a larger group of right-wing conservatives who are debating within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to at least sidetrack Japan’s plan to warm up to China.

I have always maintained that it is crucial and strategic for Japan to build a good rapport with China for the fact that the countries are close to each other and also, the increased political and economic dynamics that is pointing favorably towards China. On the part of China, the relationship will strengthen Asian solidarity and brings benefits to the whole of Asia.

The LDP’s leadership must continue to defend its moderate stance and not allowed the right wing camp to takeover the running of the government. It will be sad if such a thing happened. There is so much to gain mutually from a strong Sino-Japan relation.