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Tibet a ploy to run down China and Olympics

By Minika Graefin von Borries (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-13 07:42

In the more than 40 conflict areas around the world, unimaginable atrocity is committed everyday. People there are living in poverty and desperation, while the external world can read little reports about most of the areas.

But when the media outlets turn their eyes to Tibet, it is quite different. The casualty during the riots there is far less than that of the daily loss of lives in Iraq.

There must be some other reasons behind the Western media and public's intense focus on it.

A major one is the Olympics, which drew the public's attention as a turbine engine and has been exploited, or abused, by some people.

But there are also some deeper reasons behind the uncommon focus on this event, which are avoided in the media's reports.

Since China appeared in focus in the West, people's impression of the country has swayed between idealizing and demonizing .

Now we have entered another stage that can be called "hysteric demonization of China".

In the West, especially across the Atlantic, some hawkish politicians have fueled fear of the emerging power.

Facing new challenges, all the fears will disappear if we adopt a rational attitude. We should recognize the fact that ultimately we and our offspring should live with the huge dragon on the same planet.

To some hawks, however, Tibet has become an omnipotent instrument to achieve their goals. Their ammunition, made of fears, idealization and pseudo-religious feelings, has brought in unmatched explosive effects.

People have always believed that there is a paradise in the world, a real utopia where souls are retrieved and people can look for the lost harmony and the heaven of life.

Today, people in modern societies believe that they have lost their souls. So they started searching for them in foreign countries, in different religions and in the ever-existing utopia. Tibet is such a place.

But the Tibet in the eyes of many Western idealists is not the real Tibet. The Tibetans who live in the region are not the people of their imagination. To these idealists, all about Tibet is illusion and fantasy.

One theme of the Olympic Games is to enable people, at least during the Games, to go beyond politics, ideology, race and ethnicity.

Unfortunately, the Olympics has been used by some Westerners as a means to "liberate Tibet from China" through intense media propaganda.

For thousands of years, we have lived with the imagination of upholding our "superior" belief, our "superior" religion, or our "superior" race or ideology, and trying to spread it to every corner of the world. We believe that our actions are of good intentions and supreme blessings but often we ourselves have to bear the huge cost and sacrifice.

To defend the Western democracy that only benefits us, we are ready to declare war with any other country. Those who did not receive the baptism of democracy will be eradicated even at the high cost of human lives.

For real Tibetans, mainly those living in Tibet, the anti-Olympic propaganda will not bring them any good. People who have some idea of China know that ethnic minorities in China enjoy favorable policies and many privileges. While China has 55 ethnic minorities, problems are indeed very few.

On the issue of Tibet, both sides could have been able to solve it through rational dialogue.

But the meetings between top Western politicians and the Dalai Lama will not be conducive to the talks.

One consequence is that some young followers of the Dalai Lama became extremists resorting to violence.

Many overseas Chinese, especially Chinese expatriates, felt marginalized and attacked. They denounced the biased media coverage, deliberate manipulation and fabrication. The Chinese people have never been so united on the issue of Tibet. Other Asian countries also tilted toward China's side.

People swing in this new "Cold War". Efforts were made to identify the camp we belong to. But we have yet to know what we will achieve through these efforts. Perhaps the Tibet issue will only create vibrations in the realm of economy.

Rising tension is inevitable as the new East-West conflict is emerging. Maybe the West's confrontation with former Soviet Union is only a prelude to it.

Tibet has been part of China since the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century and there is no country in the world that has ever recognized Tibet as an independent state.

China's sovereignty over Tibet is indisputable from the standpoint of international law. China is the only nation that has been capable of ensuring human rights by eradicating poverty and improving the living standards of millions of people. It now seems the discussion of human rights requires a redefinition of the true meaning of this important phrase.

The current public conflict has been planned for the upcoming Olympic Games. Rioters damaged and robbed shops and killed people on purpose in Lhasa.

Mind you, prior to the deployment of the police, the reports on the Chinese government's crackdown have been all over in the Western media.

History tells us that none of the Chinese will show any sympathy to any kind of secessionist activities.

The Chinese government, especially the one at the local levels, is not good at dealing with Western medias. We do think the government might eventually have a proper and successful way of responding to media criticism. The German police got the point gradually during a 1968 campaign.

The government has to learn to get used to the fact that the foreign media will not always give positive reports. While the Western media seem to never get tired of making false news, the overseas Chinese have offered their great support to the current government.

When the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959, the life expectancy and living standards of the then 1.25 million Tibetans were very low. But now we have a population of more than 2.8 million Tibetans. Given this background, it is easy to see that the so-called Tibetan genocide is utter nonsense.

Just a small number of Tibetans were involved in the riots. Thus any move to drive a wedge between Tibetans and Han people would be a grave mistake.

History shows such action would always bring calamitous results. Fortunately, it has not happened yet. But we should treat it seriously when it is still a threat.

It is absolutely necessary for politicians of both Western countries and China to work together to ensure that violence does not erupt in Tibet again.

The author is a German writer

(China Daily 06/13/2008 page9)