Tibet Watch- 2008-Part 6

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bala
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Tibet Watch- 2008-Part 6

Post by bala »

Old thread is HERE
-Arun_S

*******************************
Image

Dalai Lama begins US visit in Seattle
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader was to anchor a five-day conference on compassion that begins today in his first visit to the United States since the recent turmoil in Tibet.

Earlier Thursday, during a stopover in Japan, the Dalai Lama said he has always supported China's hosting of the Olympic Games this summer, but said Beijing cannot suppress protests in Tibet with violence or tell those calling for more freedom in his homeland "to shut up."

"Right from the beginning, we supported the Olympic Games," he told reporters near the airport outside Tokyo. "I really feel very sad the government demonizes me. I am just a human; I am not a demon."
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Post by Karan Dixit »


Highlighting the plight of Tibetan students in Tibet, Voice of Tibetan Students president Palden Namgyal said many of the students are missing following the harshest ever crackdown by the Chinese forces on protesting monks. "The parents of these children are anxious to know about the whereabouts of their wards and do not know which prisons they have been lodged into," said Mr Namgyal.


http://howrah.org/india_news/9236.html
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Post by Karan Dixit »

Newsom spent much of Thursday defending the decision he and Police Chief Heather Fong made to bypass thousands of spectators and protesters by moving the relay from the Embarcadero to Van Ness Avenue and the city's northern waterfront, a decision the mayor said was made "exclusively" because officials could not guarantee the safety of people at the event.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 103NE3.DTL
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Re: No ban on anti-China protests: India tells China

Post by Venkarl »

Keshav wrote:
joshvajohn wrote:No ban on anti-China protests: India tells China
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/No_b ... 945798.cms
Uh oh! Flip flop! Sounds like turbulence in the corridors of power.
Lovely. Nehruvian party came out with a strong statement there. Lets see what "commies the comical puppets" say....

btw....I understand and extend my support for Tibetans cause. But by just having news articles on media...world will only know what Tibetans have and are still going through painful life. It will not liberate Tibet from Chinese suppression as long as they do this kind of peaceful protests until and unless some powerful league of nations intervene which can penetrate the rust red curtain. Now the intervention can be in any one of the following

1) UN members should formally express their support to Tibetans cause in the face of chinese rep

2) An armed struggle should start regulated by foreign elements.

3) Initiate a covert mission of penetrating chinese intelligence circle and have major nerve points on foreign govt's payroll. This porous shield can be taken as an advantage to loosen the chinese grip on Tibet and prevent china from strong retaliation in any one of the above 2 events occur.

4) or prepare the background by implementing 3rd point above, then 2nd point with active media coverage and then 1st point to alienate china.

It should be like a cancer weakening the country leap year by leap year.

I guess this process or some refined Chanakyan method has already been initiated.

What makes me think is?? The League of Powerful Nations...do you guys think that we belong to that League of Powerful Nations??

Note: The Admin team can delete my post if it is realized as an irrelevant/offensive/OTP/etc. I will assume that the subtle messages have been exchanged.
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China army slams India’s ‘confrontationist’ stance

Post by joshvajohn »

China army slams India’s ‘confrontationist’ stance
Venkatesan Vembu


HONG KONG: Chinese military journals have in recent days and weeks ratcheted up the tough talk against India, accusing it of going on the “same old path of confrontation with China as it had in 1962.â€
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Post by Rye »

The chinese seem to be repeatedly shooting their own foot -- they have no concept of the bad PR they are getting worldwide.
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Re: China army slams India’s ‘confrontationist’ stance

Post by hnair »

[quote="joshvajohn"]
Provocatively titled “A Warning to the Indian Government: Don’t Be Evil!â€
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Post by enqyoobOLD »

Ah! so! It is 1962 all over again. NOW will you ultra-PC types please allow us to represent the Chinese communist goons as what they are?


The Indian Express used to report the threats put out by these bleeping bullies and thugs: In the 1970s they used to threaten us with
Vely vely vely vely glave consequences
until they got whipped in the Nathu La area IIRC.

Bullies don't back down and behave in a civilized manner, out of the goodness of their hearts. They do it when they are confronted, and lose a few teeth and feel the pain in their musharrafs. It is time for China to learn.

By raising the 1962 bogey, the Chinese are explicity threatening India with war. There is only one way to answer that, and it means, for those us not assigned to carry military weapons, to use what tactics we are skilled at using.
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Post by Karan Dixit »

China is in illegal occupation of Indian territory. China is killing our people on a daily basis in Tibet. It is China, which is not sensitive to India's feelings. China is never about just or right. China is all about brute force and thuggery. There is only one way to deal with unreasonable people. I do not need to spell it out. As China issues more and more threats, there are going to be more and more weapons deployed against China.

My suggestion to Chinese thugs is this, pull out of Tibet and there will be peace for all of us.
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Post by Karan Dixit »

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Post by Sanjay M »

I just hope that Rudd is sincere, and is not falsely engaging in posturing just because his political instincts tell him that he has to temporarily keep a safe distance from all the fire China is taking at the moment.
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Post by vsudhir »

Japan says no to Chinese torch guards: reports

Well, hell will freeze over before the japs allow armed chinese onto their territory, whatever the chinese version of their excuse be.

Sanjay,

Rudd's posturing seems scripted and rehearsed in Beijing. Pretty much like our own LS speaker assuring China that the torch run in India will be 'smooth'. What burning compulsion did he have to so open his trap on this issue, I wonder?
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Post by darshan »

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 477_2.html
When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) seemed to encourage demonstrators in San Francisco, for instance, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, accused her of lacking "morality and conscience." Jiang added, "It is clear that kind of person has ulterior motives to disturb and sabotage the Olympic torch relay in San Francisco and elsewhere over and over."
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Han Chinese EJs target tibetans

Post by G Subramaniam »

http://www.inbora.com/gnuboard/bbs/boar ... 96&page=12

However, there has been a major spiritual breakthrough for the Gospel. Today, in Lhasa, there is at least one house-church of some twenty believers. Last year twelve new converts were baptised. However, the majority are Han Chinese, including some who have sacrificed everything to move from the relative comfort of big cities such as Beijing to bring the Gospel to this inhospitable region. Seven Tibetans also attend the meeting, although whether as firm believers or interested enquirers is not known. They have to remain very low key and deliberately asked not to be included in a photograph of the group taken by a recent visitor. House-church Christians from other parts of China occasionally visit the group, taking in much needed Bibles and Christian literature in Tibetan.

There are unconfirmed reports that there is another house-church in Lhasa, and possibly two or three other groups in other major Tibetan cities. After years of spiritual darkness, Chinese Christians have successfully planted small fellowships in the heart of Tibet. Christian witness by visiting tourists and Christian teachers and professionals from overseas has also had an impact. Most of the monasteries in Lhasa and some outlying villages have received Christian tracts.
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Post by Karan Dixit »

India also must not allow Han cops on Indian soil. MMS will be creating a funeral pyre for Congress-I if these Chinese thugs end up roughing up any Tibetan. I hope MMS realizes the intensity of Indian feelings on this issue.

Also there is another issue that government must take into account. What if these thugs get shot? Then the thug regime in Beijing will be threatening another 1962.
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Post by Venkarl »

Where is JCage? I am an avid reader of his analysis of any situation.
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Post by Karan Dixit »


On Thursday, the European Parliament is expected to approve a resolution appealing for a joint position of the 27 EU nations on whether to boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.


http://www.pr-inside.com/protesters-wan ... 528628.htm
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Post by Victor »

1. Regardless of what happens to the Beijing Olympics itself, the protests all over the world and the mere speculation in world capitals about boycotting the opening ceremony is an intolerable loss of face for the Chinese that can't be erased for several decades, and it is a given that they will look to lash out in a blind rage after the Olympics. Maybe even before, if boycott-shoycott gets a lot more airing and a couple of their blue boys get thrashed on live TV.

2. The whole world and a completely new generation are finding out that "the (Xyz) Lama escaped to India" and "Tibetan Government in Exile in India said..." etc. This also must have become intolerable and a direct challenge to Chinese power perception that needs to be addressed and avenged. Hence the extra shrillness from the PLA and the outright threat of war a la 1962.

Arunachal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Ladakh are fair game as far as the Chinese are concerned if something happens and the pakis will be waiting with drooling teeth for Jammu and Kashmir Valley. Conversely, this would also give us an opportunity to redraw some lines of our own. If there ever was a time for Delhi to gird its loin cloth, this is it.
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Post by skganji »

China thinks that it can push and shove India as it likes . It is now time for the MMS & Sonia to understand the serious crisis in its neighbourhood and take brave & bold steps to stop the rogue chinese government from pushing and shoving India.
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Re: No ban on anti-China protests: India tells China

Post by Venkarl »

Venkarl wrote:
Keshav wrote: Uh oh! Flip flop! Sounds like turbulence in the corridors of power.
Lovely. Nehruvian party came out with a strong statement there. Lets see what "commies the comical puppets" say....

btw....I understand and extend my support for Tibetans cause. But by just having news articles on media...world will only know what Tibetans have and are still going through painful life. It will not liberate Tibet from Chinese suppression as long as they do this kind of peaceful protests until and unless some powerful league of nations intervene which can penetrate the rust red curtain. Now the intervention can be in any one of the following

1) UN members should formally express their support to Tibetans cause in the face of chinese rep

2) An armed struggle should start regulated by foreign elements.

3) Initiate a covert mission of penetrating chinese intelligence circle and have major nerve points on foreign govt's payroll. This porous shield can be taken as an advantage to loosen the chinese grip on Tibet and prevent china from strong retaliation in any one of the above 2 events occur.

4) or prepare the background by implementing 3rd point above, then 2nd point with active media coverage and then 1st point to alienate china.

It should be like a cancer weakening the country leap year by leap year.

I guess this process or some refined Chanakyan method has already been initiated.

What makes me think is?? The League of Powerful Nations...do you guys think that we belong to that League of Powerful Nations??

Note: The Admin team can delete my post if it is realized as an irrelevant/offensive/OTP/etc. I will assume that the subtle messages have been exchanged.
No takers on my post :roll:
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Post by Jaeger »

guys,

a friend and i have worked on a couple of Free Tibet/anti-Olympic posters. i want to pass them around to people so they can be printed, put up, displayed on desktop, etc etc - basically do whatever it takes to get other people to see and to comment and think and make a noise.

if anyone is interested, please give email address or mail to:

siddharth dot khare @ gmail dot com

i will forward them to you to do with as you please. just promise to make as much noise as possible... :twisted:
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Hitler worked to keep the 1936 Olympic Gamesto his rise to

Post by joshvajohn »

Hitler worked to keep the 1936 Olympic Games - awarded to Berlin in 1931 prior to his rise to power - in Germany. For good reason: Historian William Shirer says that turned them into a dazzling propaganda success for his barbarian regime. In its eagerness to keep the Summer Games in Seoul in 1988, the then-authoritarian state of South Korea didn't crush protesters, thus arguably paving the way for its eventual political opening.

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_8895614
Last edited by joshvajohn on 12 Apr 2008 21:57, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Mahendra »

MMS will be creating a funeral pyre for Congress-I if these Chinese thugs end up roughing up any Tibetan.
Well Kalan!! The ones who openly sided with the PLA goons in the 1962 wal ale in the Govelnment and indilectry govelning you and me. Arrah ho Akbal nothing is going to happen even if the PLA Goons dlive theil Ar-Kharid Tanks ovel the Plotestols in Derhi. We ale lesponsibre fol the situation by eithel not voting ol not voting fol the light pallty.

the onry thing we can hope fol is that the PLA goons lough up tendurkal(who is nulsing a gloin injuly) then the chinese goons can be sent back without theil gloins
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Post by satya »

China unity at stake in Tibet debate, says Hu
Quoting in full cuz of wht Hu said .
Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Saturday that Beijing's conflict with the Dalai Lama was purely a question of national unity and nothing to do with ethnicity, religion or human rights, Xinhua news agency reported.
His remarks were among the clearest yet from the top echelon of China's leadership to frame the Tibet troubles as an existential threat to the country.

"Our conflict with the Dalai clique is not an ethnic problem, not a religious problem, nor a human rights problem," Hu said. "It is a problem of either preserving national unity or splitting the motherland."
Hu, who made his comments in a meeting with visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, also reiterated China's position that it was open to talks with the Dalai Lama, but that Tibet's exiled spiritual leader was blocking the way.

He said China was ready to meet the Dalai Lama provided he desists from trying to "split the motherland", "incite violence" and "ruin the Beijing Olympics".

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, has rejected claims he orchestrated recent anti-Chinese violence and protests, and said he supports the Olympics and opposes a boycott of the Beijing Games.
PLA comes on top of policy formation & execution "again"
Dont give a damn on demonstrations around the world.
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Post by Kalantak »

Tibetans hold China responsible for protests against Olympics
Apr 12 2008
New Delhi

Justifying protests against China in connection with the Olympic games, the Tibetan government-in-exile today said it was a direct response to Beijing's attitude of treating the international mega sporting event as its own matter.

"The protests are a direct response to the Chinese reaction. It is an international event (but) they (Chinese) are guarding the (Olympic) torch as their own. China is too much obsessed with Olympics," the Dalai Lama's Special Envoy Lodi Gyari told reporters here.

Gyari, who was earlier sent by the Dalai Lama to China for talks, said the Tibetan leadership does not want disruption of the events related to the Olympic Games.

Pointing out that the Dalai Lama wants the Games to be held, Gyari said the Tibetan spiritual leader was "well aware that Olympics can create a profound impact on China as it will bring the lack of freedom and human rights violation in China in international focus."

Emphasising the need for an independent international probe into the recent incidents, Gyari said, the Tibetan authorities may constitute a probe panel comprising well-known persons to investigate the Chinese crackdown in Lhasa and Beijing's allegations against the Dalai Lama.

Gyari said the Tibetan administration holds China "fully responsible" for the violence in Tibet and if they continue to persuade the current policies, it will "push Tibet to the limits".

Link
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Post by Philip »

Japan has said NO to those blue-clothed Chinese special police thugs,the same types who have been bashing Tibetans,protecting the Olympic torch.What is the GOI's stand on this.Are we going to allow these vermin on our soil,especially when the Chinese have started warning us as they did in '62? It is past time to give the Chinese a huge symbolic kick in their backsides and this is the best opportunity now.
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Post by Brando »

What is really funny is that the Olympic torch is being taken from city to city skulking through their streets surrounded by heavy police protection. Its almost like somebody were whisking away a criminal from a lynch mob.

What next? I wonder if they have a secret relay in the night dodging protesters in the cover of darkness. That would make a perfect end to this Olympic's torch relay.
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Post by enqyoobOLD »

They could set up a treadmill surrrounded by PLA-made movie screens showing moving scenery of various cities, and have PLA actors with various face masks run surrounded by those Tarr Han (dsome) Tight-As*ed Thugs.

Maybe they can even show some starving Tibetan monks getting trampled by the PLA's uniformed thugs in the background. If u have been in a movie theater containing a few dozen Chinese, you know that such scenes bring the roof down with guffaws. Most entertaining. Suits their 5000-year civilized mentality perfectly.
Last edited by enqyoobOLD on 12 Apr 2008 21:15, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Gus »

Kiran Bedi refuses to carry the torch after agreeing to it a few days back.
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Nine monks arrested for Tibet bombing

Post by joshvajohn »

organised bombs by the China (orchestrated?)? or frustration of Tibetians and thus giving up non-violence of Dalai and looking for other options?


Nine monks arrested for Tibet bombing
Sat 12 Apr 2008, 20:22 GMT

By Simon Rabinovitch

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police arrested nine Buddhist monks suspected of bombing a government building in Tibet, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

China has accused Tibetan groups of planning suicide attacks following last month's riots and protests, but this appeared to be the first report of a bomb attack during the unrest.

http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnPEK213410.html
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Post by Karan Dixit »

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Post by Karan Dixit »


Congressman Mark Souder has joined a growing number of lawmakers who want to make it illegal for President Bush or any member of Congress to attend the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Olympics.


http://www.wndu.com/indiana/headlines/17584149.html
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Post by Karan Dixit »


Awarding the 2008 Olympic Games to China was a ghastly mistake on the part of the “Olympic movement.â€
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Post by Karan Dixit »


Kenyan Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai said, however, she had pulled out of the torch relay in Tanzania to protest China's human rights record.


http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?fi ... ec=apworld
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Post by Dilbu »

Tibetan protesters rally in New Delhi
NEW DELHI: Thousand Tibetans marched in Delhi on Saturday in one of the largest protests in New Delhi against the Chinese crackdown on unrest in their homeland.

Chanting "We pay homage to the Tibetan martyrs" and "China, liar, liar," they blocked traffic in the city centre, waving Tibetan flags.

The demonstration came amid a report by a news agency that the government here had rejected a request from China to ban protests by Tibetan refugees.

Police estimated the number of demonstrators at around 2,000. "My brothers and sisters are being killed in Tibet, foreign reporters aren't being allowed to go there, this must stop," said Samten Dorji, 38, one of around 100,000 Tibetan exiles living in India.

Some protesters shaved their heads, saying it was the strongest non-violent signal they could send against the crackdown in Tibet.

The Himalayan region last month saw the biggest protests in years against China's controversial rule, on the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising that sent the spiritual leader Dalai Lama and his followers fleeing into exile in India.

Saturday's protest was organised by the Tibetan Solidarity Committee which supports the Dalai Lama's call for greater autonomy for the region.

The unrest has thrown the spotlight on China ahead of this year's Beijing Olympics, with pro-Tibet protesters disrupting the European and US legs of the ceremonial torch relay earlier this week.

India has promised to protect the torch, which arrives in New Delhi next Thursday on its round-the-world tour.

The country has always said Tibetan exiles can remain here as long as they do not use India as a springboard for anti-Chinese actions
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Post by Sanjay M »

[quote]
April 2008
Delhi Takes the Low Road on Tibet
by Ben Frumin

Posted April 2, 2008

New Delhi – While many countries, including the U.S. and Taiwan, have officially denounced China’s use of force in Tibet, India remains relatively silent. Indeed, in one of the government's only public statements on the crackdown, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee gingerly told parliament last month that he is “distressedâ€
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Post by vina »

Brainwashed Automatons

[quote]
The New York Times
April 13, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
China’s Loyal Youth
By MATTHEW FORNEY

Beijing

MANY sympathetic Westerners view Chinese society along the lines of what they saw in the waning days of the Soviet Union: a repressive government backed by old hard-liners losing its grip to a new generation of well-educated, liberal-leaning sophisticates. As pleasant as this outlook may be, it’s naïve. Educated young Chinese, far from being embarrassed or upset by their government’s human-rights record, rank among the most patriotic, establishment-supporting people you’ll meet.

As is clear to anyone who lives here, most young ethnic Chinese strongly support their government’s suppression of the recent Tibetan uprising. One Chinese friend who has a degree from a European university described the conflict to me as “a clash between the commercial world and an old aboriginal society.â€
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Post by svinayak »

[quote="Sanjay M"]
April 2008
Delhi Takes the Low Road on Tibet
by Ben Frumin

Posted April 2, 2008
Further, the BJP’s plank of Hindu nationalism seems incongruous with its declaration last week of India’s “bounden dutyâ€
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Post by Philip »

If this is a yardstick to indicate the difference between democracy and dcitatorship,then nothing more nees to be said.The shitscared Chinese are to employ security forces more than the entire Sri Lankan armed froces at Beijing!
Quote: "Public demonstrations in Chinma is banned.."

http://www.independent.co.uk/

Paramilitary Olympics: Beijing: at least 94,000 security staff – but only 10,500 athletes

After the protests that greeted the torch relay, China is getting ready to put on the greatest show of security the world has ever seen. Clifford Coonan and Richard Osley report

Sunday, 13 April 2008


What used to be called the Olympics are likely this summer to become the Paramilitary Games. China is planning to deploy more than 94,000 security personnel at the Beijing celebration in August, which means that uniformed and plain-clothes operatives will outnumber the 10,500 athletes by nearly nine to one.


Leading what will be the biggest security effort the world has ever seen is the People's Armed Police, a 660,000-strong militia force, which has been involved in the crackdown on Tibetan demonstrators in Lhasa. The PAP is also believed to have provided the squads of blue and white tracksuited paramilitaries who formed the controversial phalanx of guards for the Olympic torch as it made its chaotic way across London, Paris and San Francisco last week. On Thursday, the People's Armed Police News reported that the PAP force was told to prevent any security threats that could upset the Games. The paper issued a "political mobilisation order" to PAP troops telling them to prepare for an arduous time ensuring order and control before and during the Games.

Beijing is worried that activists from abroad, who have disrupted the journey of the Olympic torch relay, will also stage protests inside China over Tibet, Darfur, human rights and other issues before and during the Games. As a result, security experts forecast that the PAP's ranks will swell further. There has already been high-profile shows of strength by the militia in Beijing, public display exercises to show its carefully honed organisation.

The willingness of the torch's minders over the past week to weigh in and protect the flame – even on foreign soil where the guards have no jurisdiction – introduced the force's strict approach to a wider, worldwide audience for the first time and reflects the way security forces in China can pretty much do what they like on their own territory. About 20 government agencies – from the world's largest standing army, the two-million strong People's Liberation Army, to the fire service – will be involved in the security operation for the Olympics, supported by thousands of volunteers recruited from military and police academies. Organisers in Beijing insist they have spent less on security than the Athens Games in 2004, glossing over the argument that the last Olympics were considered a special case because they were the first to be held after the 11 September attacks on the United States. Even then, security personnel in Greece numbered between 50,000 and 70,000 operatives, far fewer than will be ready for action in Beijing.

The worldwide relay passed through Buenos Aires on Friday night with a comparatively smooth ride. Disruption had been expected but a tossed water balloon was the stiffest challenge faced by the heavy police guard. But the path ahead remains rocky. India has severely cut back the route and warned Chinese officials that it will not attempt to stop peaceful protests when the torch arrives. A similar stance has been taken in Indonesia. Japan has also mapped out a strategy, banning the PAP force from running beside its own police officers when it passes through Nagano. And all of that precedes the most controversial passage ofall: an ascent of Mount Everest in May followed by a tour of the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, the scene of rioting in March.

The focus on Chinese state television for the past week has been on the larger crowds of well-wishers who lined the route of the torch relay and showed nothing of the protests, although commentators did mention "vile" disruptive elements. After disturbances in Paris, the communist newspaper The People's Daily led with stirring reports of a disabled athlete who fought to keep the "sacred flame" alight against the threat of Tibetan "splittists". In China, where all areas of media activity are tightly controlled by the government, where dissent is forbidden and can result in a jail sentence, the Olympic torch relay has been portrayed as an outstanding success so far. The coverage on the official news agency, Xinhua, has shown mostly smiling athletes and civic leaders passing the torch. The news reports quote leaders and passers-by wishing Beijing well.

Ever since Beijing was granted the Games in 2001, there has been an automatic assumption that security would be no problem for the Chinese authorities, who have a lengthy track record of keeping the streets safe and a lid on dissent. Public demonstrations of protest in China are illegal and China is ruthlessly efficient at dealing with protest within its borders, as was seen in Tibet last month and in Tiananmen Square in June 1989.

China is freer now than it has ever been. It has the biggest number of internet users in the world, and its citizens enjoy more liberty than they ever did under the emperors or under the Communist Party before or during the Cultural Revolution. They have money in their pockets and they can express their views relatively openly on the streets. That said, the Chinese government is deadly serious when it comes to containing public displays of dissent at the Olympics.

Last summer, dozens of security guards with metal pipes beat up a group of construction workers at the National Stadium, centrepiece of the Olympic Games, who were having a cigarette break in breach of a strict no smoking rule. More recently, Beijing claimed to have uncovered a plot by Muslim separatists in Xinjiang to sabotage the celebrations with suicide bombings and kidnappings.

Asked on US television on Friday whether he wanted the world to boycott the Beijing Games, the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, said no before sending the message to China: "We are not against you – and I'm not seeking separation." Chinese President Hu Jintao said he was ready to meet the Dalai Lama but accused him of trying to "ruin the Beijing Olympics". He said talks could open only if he desisted from trying to "split the motherland" and "incite violence". President Hu said: "Our conflict with the Dalai clique is not an ethnic problem, not a religious problem, nor a human rights problem. It is a problem of either preserving national unity or splitting the motherland."

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, who visited Beijing this week for planning meetings, was pressed on whether he could help to bring the two sides together, but ruled out an intervention. He said: "This is the line we do not have to cross. This is a political matter in which the IOC cannot enter. This is a sovereign matter for China to decide."

Focus has also centred on world leaders who may or may not be at August's opening ceremony. Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not be there – even if both are insisting this does not amount to a boycott. US President George Bush has been left with a dilemma. John McCain, the Republican senator has already said he would not go unless China cleaned up its act on human rights, while Democrat candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have called on Bush to swerve the opening ceremony.

Bush, who needs Chinese help to confront Burma's military junta and North Korea's nuclear programme, has indicated he will go and that it will allow him to put concerns directly to President Hu. His former Asia adviser Michael Green said: "The problem with a boycott is you end up taking 1.3 billion Chinese – who have different views of democracy, of the United States, of human rights, but all want the Olympics to be successful – and you turn them all against the United States."

The Chinese government also has a balancing act on security. If it reacts in too severe a fashion, China risks the ire of the international community. Appear too soft on the terrorist threat, and it risks being labelled incompetent and unstable. More than half a million foreign visitors are expected for the Olympics, and two million Chinese, so if the skirmishes around the torch relay prove to be a prelude to bigger protests, the scope for an international incident is there
Kalantak
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Post by Kalantak »

[quote="vina"]Brainwashed Automatons

[quote]
China’s Loyal Youth
The most obvious explanation for this is the education system, which can accurately be described as indoctrination.

Textbooks dwell on China’s humiliations at the hands of foreign powers in the 19th century as if they took place yesterday, yet skim over the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and ’70s as if it were ancient history. Students learn the neat calculation that Chairman Mao’s tyranny was “30 percent wrong,â€
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