Anyone seen this, this cuts out the Western propagandas, altho there will be detractors, but there is only one truth out there .
Alexandra David Neel, the author has a similar perspective......
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=TW&v=Xsoc4-QnplY&hl=zh-TWPart 2
A bit of history, at the end of the 19th Century, the British demand for Chinese tea, silk, porcelain and spices were so great that there wasnt enough gold and silver to pay for it. So the British sold Opium to the Chinese ( Drug lord pioneer!)
to get the funds.
When the Chinese Govt stepped in to stop this, the result was the Opium Wars, essentially " You let us sell drugs or we shoot you dead". Apparently this type of diplomacy still exists very much with Western Govts.
So is it difficult to believe that there is plenty of Western propaganda?
I have wondered why the CIA provided funds to the DL, hmm for further Buddhist studies???
Comments
2. Compare the numbers to all the wars started by the West.
I do agree there is a "can do no wrong" when it comes to Tibetans and especially the Dalai Lama, which I admit I had in the past but no longer.
When it comes to any situation there is never black and white.. just many shades of grey.
1. It said there were only 2 million Tibetans in Tibet when China invaded, but there were 8 million according to other estimates (including the Tibetan Gov't In Exile's).
2. China bases it's claim to Tibet on the fact that Tibet was part of "China" in the Yuan Dynasty. But the Yuan Dynasty was when the Mongols annexed China and Tibet to make them part of the Mongol Empire. And prior to the Yuan, "China" had been conquered by the Jurchens (the so-called Jin Dynasty), who were the early Manchus (they later renamed themselves in honor of Manjushri), so even then, "China" was a conquered territory incorporated into a greatly expanded Manchuria. China can't claim Tibet under the Yuan, because it was the Mongols who took over Tibet, not the Chinese, who themselves were vassals of the Mongols at that time.
3. Tibet actually conquered China at the peak of Tibet's empire. Notice that they left that out.
4. I see China couldn't resist including a jab at India, trying to justify its claim to NE India's Arunachal Pradesh on the basis that it used to belong to Tibet. Though that's irrelevant to the film topic. It just shows what a blatant propaganda piece this is.
5. Too bad China's using the Dorje Shugden controversy (the NKT monks carrying banners saying, "Dalai Lama Stop Lying") to bolster its position. Sad mess that is.
The round white "tents" the showed toward the end, saying some Tibetans prefer to live in tents rathern than government-built housing, were Mongol yurts. Tibetan tents are black yak-hair arrangements of a completely different shape. Could the government have issued Tibetans traditional Mongol dwellings, or was that short clip shot in Inner Mongolia? :scratch:
Not that any of this invalidates the view of life in Tibet that was presented. But someone really needs to do a better job.
I can imagine that in a place like Lhasa, which has much more cultural/religious/social/political meaning, the iron fist is much more present.
Of course, while they were parading the Tibet exiles in front of the Western World as an example of the evil Chinese communist war machine, they were also bankrolling smear campaigns against duly elected socialist governments in South America and hiring thugs to overthrow them. Just business as usual.
Tibet is a tiny buffer state between India and China, and destined to be a ping pong ball between these two nations. That's the long and short of it. China is never going to voluntarily give Tibet "full autonomy" now, because in reality that would mean India gets to move in. Where is the government in exile now? In India. What nation is their friend now, has developed close relations, and can be guaranteed to pretty much have Tibet's complete cooperation in the future and even have security forces invited in to help secure their borders? India.
None of the nations that engaged in the push and shove of world politics during the last century are guiltless. Two wrongs don't make a right. But if China is evil, then so is the US. You think China wants the bad publicity that goes with Tibetan people setting themselves on fire while the smiling face of the Dali Lama waves at the Western world? So why is Tibet so important to them? It doesn't have a bunch of gold or diamond or uranium mines. Because India is on the other side. And that can't really be changed.
http://www.trimondi.de/EN/deba05.html
After 60 years of being beaten down in so many ways, most Tibetans, like any human population, just want to be left in peace with less harassment. Since this is obviously not going to happen as forced citizens of some "Greater China," autonomy and independence will continue to (increasingly) be on the people's lips.
If the Party had kept its employees in better line over the decades, curbed even the greater excesses, it wouldn't currently be faced with this situation. But Tibet is a long way from Beijing, and any cadre/company taking advantage of that fact knows that most excesses can be gotten away with for some time before Beijing decides to address it, if in fact Beijing chooses to address it at all.
So, whether it's a regional administrative decision to remove Tibetan textbooks, or a mining company's forcible venture into Tibetans' land, there's a time lag that makes many feel it's worth the risk, imo. It's not that Beijing wouldn't be sluggish/disinterested anyway, in many cases, but even in cases where the perp knows Beijing will eventually put a stop to it, there's still a window of money-making/landgrabbing/textbook-napping opportunity.
Right now, the government (either by design or default) feels the balancing act has been workable: excesses --> local trouble --> squash people & information, go to next square. But as we can see over the past five years, the local troubles have galvanized into regional and now finally nationwide trouble, i.e. Tibetans more than ever see themselves as a besieged nation, from Ngari to Kumbum. This kind of solidarity is a completely new game, and not one every occupational force wins. If things flip and Tibet becomes India's toy instead of China's, the Chinese people will have the Party to blame--mainly for its having allowed Chinese businesses and cadres to inflict these excesses, with impunity, for 60 years.
Ironically, Mao's original plan, according to him, was not to assimilate anybody, but instead to convince Tibet, as a separate republic of some kind, to join China in a sort of Asian version of the European Union.
Quotes on the above are to be found in collections of Mao's public communications; I'll dig up a reference for this "Tibet as a republic" idea. If I recall correctly, it is from his earlier writings/communications; obviously over time, a policy of occupation by force was publicly stated.
Inspired by a poem from the 10th Panchen Lama:
The all-seeing Panchen Rinpoche said…
If you are ashamed to speak Tibetan
You don’t have to speak it
If you are ashamed to wear Tibetan dress
You don’t have to wear it
Nevertheless
What will you do about your flesh and bones?
(Translation: High Peaks Pure Earth)
I'm not saying no one should state an opinion. Indeed, having and stating an opinion is fine. Just not let's kid ourselves that they are truly informed opinions.
:coffee:
If I believe that global climate change is a threat to humanity and try to get people to agree with me, I am spreading anthropogenic climate change propaganda, even if it may be for a noble cause.