JosefStalinator
Я буду снова здесь
Oh please Joseph, I don't adore the PRC, it has its faults like every other government if not massively more. What really riles me is the way she is viciously attacked by almost everyone, being "ganged up upon" with no consideration at all for the Han view. Tibetans in Lhasa riot and start going after Han and Hui people in the city and some people see that as "Oh, China should let Tibet go, they're completely in the wrong. How could they treat the Tibetans in such a violent manner using riot police and etc?" Tibetans this, Tibetans that, who cares? If they launch a riot, they'll get put down like one. The PRC has shown great restraint and that seems to be something most people simply find unable to understand.
It is against China's policy and self-interest to utterly destroy Tibetan culture. At the moment, there isn't much to be gained from Tibet economically (long term there are all those minerals but...) except tourism. Yep, tourism to see Tibetan culture, their monasteries, their temples, their native dress, the whole package. As such, it can be expected that while Tibet will surely become "Han-nified," they can rest assured that their culture will remain intact if only for tourism purposes
And Political freedom means nothing if you don't have a roof over your head and three square meals a day. We shouldn't take it for granted that the vast majority of people in China want political rights, most of them would care less as they try to improve their standard of living by making more money. In their opinion, political freedom is not a right, but a luxury of the developed world.
EDIT: I mean, has it occurred to you that China has no desire to completely eradicate the Tibetan culture nor people? In the long run, what are 6 puny million people in the great sea that is China? The ethnic minorities don't get all those sweet benefits for nothing you know.
If the Olympics are ruined by Tiananmen Square Protests and Tibetan unrest, I'm sure the people responsible for such a catastrophe will pay dearly, very dearly. This is China's greatest moment in the last 200 years of misery, the people in China know that, and if it's ruined because of something like Democratic or Tibetan Protests, you can be sure the popular reaction will be terrible to behold. You think the riots in Lhasa were anything? God grant mercy to whoever will pay the price of a ruined Beijing Olympics because neither the PRC nor the vast majority of people in China will.
A successful Olympics will only encourage Beijing to slowly open up, instead of a swift and vicious crackdown.
And you call yourself American Alex? Because your political philosophy seems to suggest otherwise
. Whatever happened to "give me liberty or give me death?" (Which incidentally, today is the anniversary of his speech). Are you really arguing that if a people do not desire freedom, they do not deserve it? I suppose there's at least one person who agrees with you..."Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
And my apologies if I can't look on the Olympics as anything more than a trumped up farce used purely for propaganda, on par with the 1936 Olympics
. When China can hold their Olympics without having to enact mass censorship, turn off its factories for a week to make the air breathable, and lock up dozens of dissidents who may threaten their "harmonious society", then maybe I'll take it more seriously.
