As China showed with brutal ferocity in 1989, it does not take demonstrations lightly. So when it gives a deadline to the protesters in Tibet and promises 'harsh punishment' for anyone not turning themselves in at a police station, you know they will act and act with terrifying violence.
Knowing that the eyes of the World are upon them, the Government are quick to insist they have not used lethal force to quell the protests although there are claims of over 80 deaths so far.
China has been on a bit of a Public Relations blitz since Deng Xiaoping sent his troops into Tienanmen Square to massacre hundreds of demonstrating students and as its global power grew, it has been feted by various Governments around the World who have diplomatically not mentioned the firing of missiles over Taiwan, the continued military occupation of Tibet or the Amnesty reports of Human Rights violations.
China has managed to keep its more authoritarian side buried from the rest of us but anyone who scratched the surface was able to see just what lay festering beneath.
China may be the planets super power in waiting and an economic powerhouse but the rest of us need to put pressure on the Chinese Government to not do what it is threatening and as this is China's Olympic Year and the spotlight was already shining brightly on this part of Asia, there is its Achilles heel.
As we have seen far too many times with Israel in Palestine, Russia in Chechnya and the Sudanese forces in Darfur, doing nothing just emboldens the aggressors to greater and bigger massacres.
6 comments:
the u.s. will not step in and intervene, because we are china's bitch.owned. tienanmen square is one image that is permanently etched in my brain.
I don't think anyone will annie, nobody wants to upset it when it is much easier to pretend to be looking the other way.
Lucy,
China has proven it can and will out wait everyone else. Unless something unforetold happens, China will be THE super power militarily and economically. In out life time. Only time will tell if the world bends to China, or if China bends to the world. I suppose it will be a bit of both.
Q
PS - how did I do Cheezy? I kept the personal remarks to myself (refrained from remarking on annies remarks). still too serious?
Please do not restrain your opinions on my account, Q! I mean, it's clear that they will differ from mine.
Why an embargo on Cuba, but not China? Oh, right-all our stuff comes from there.
Q: You're coming along nicely, mate. A big improvement - long may it continue! Hey, but you don't need to keep on asking me how you're doing though - see if you can regulate yourself from now on! :)
Annie: A bit of background about Q's comment. He's now making a real effort to improve his blog etiquette, since attempted to mock our host on this thread here -
http://bruisefalling.blogspot.com/2008/03/working-for-charidee.html
-and when that didn't work, he merely sounded testy. The good news is he's been doing a lot better since then, but I think it's wise of him to desist from making remarks about other's... mainly because, a bit like that 'harmless' beer for a reforming alcoholic, it might be a 'little' thing that sets him off again.
Back onto the topic though, I absolutely agree that the 21st century will be the Chinese century. The pragmatism with which they handled the Hong Kong handover showed that they're not going to let a little thing like dogma stop them from becoming the world's major superpower.
On your list of nations committing atrocities, Lucy, I didn't see the U.S. mentioned!
Cheers.
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