Karena perkara demo2-an soal Olympic masih tetap berlangsung, ada baiknya kita
baca artikel ini yang ditulis oleh international lawyer yang punya
banyak pengalaman soal Tibet.
Beberapa hari lagi obor olympic akan sampai di Canberra. Banyak sudah usaha
dari golongan etnis Chinese disini mulai ber-gegas untuk ke Canberra, menyambut
relay obor, dan disamping itu untuk memberikan demo tandingan. Yah mudah2an
ngak terjadi clash. Tapi pikir2 kadang2 hati jadi panas juga melihat pen-demo
yang tidak tahu bahwa mereka dipakai sebagai foot soldiers dari kekuatan2 yang
ingin memokokkan China. Maklum iri-lah orang2 Barat melihat kesanggupan China
bisa bangkit jadi negara yang disegani era abad ke 21 ini.
.hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { FONT-SIZE:
10pt; FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma }
.ExternalClass .EC_hmmessage P {padding:0px;} .ExternalClass
body.EC_hmmessage {font-size:10pt;font-family:Tahoma;}
A Personal Reflection On Hypocrisy Over Tibet By JOHN V. WHITBECK
I have been watching with growing amazement and concern the assaults on the
bizarrely quasi-religious Olympic Torch as it has staggered through London,
Paris and San Francisco, as well as the self-righteous pronouncements by
certain European "leaders" (and even by the European Parliament, the UN
Secretary-General and John McCain) that they will not be attending the opening
ceremony of the Olympics or are seriously considering not attending or urging
others not to attend unless China bows to their "human rights" demands.
Have they even been invited? Who needs them? Why, aside from the obvious
intention to give offense, should the Chinese care?
I should make clear from the start that I am profoundly sympathetic to Tibet
and Tibetans. I have had the privilege of meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama
on two occasions, most recently when we both spoke at the same human rights
conference in Sweden, and the white kata which he hung around my neck on the
first occasion is proudly displayed in my study. In person, he exudes a quiet,
modest charisma and aura of human saintliness that is captivating even to an
atheist -- unlike any other person whom I have ever met. I wish that he could
return to the Potala Palace and his Norbulingka summer residence and that his
people could enjoy the broad cultural and administrative autonomy which he
seeks for them.
Furthermore, when I traveled in Tibet in 1981 (at a time when I had already
visited all but one of the world's then existing countries), I found it, far
and away, the most fascinating place which I had ever visited. It took my
breath away in every sense.
Having said that, the current anti-Chinese frenzy in the West, pursued in the
guise of pro-Tibetan (and, to a lesser extent, pro-Darfuri) human rights
activism, and the Western media's coverage of it reek of hypocrisy.
As best I can tell, the recent violence occurred when some ethnic Tibetans,
understandably fed up with the ever-increasing presence and domination of Han
Chinese in traditional Tibetan areas, exploded in frustration, burned some Han
Chinese shops and killed some Han Chinese civilians. What, in such
circumstances, would one expect the Chinese authorities to do? When, by way of
example, some African-Americans in Watts and other poor areas of Los Angeles
exploded in frustration, burned some white- and Korean-owned stores and
attacked some non-blacks, did the American police run away? As I recall, they
sought to restore order. So have the Chinese authorities. (As a practical
matter, the most brutal images of repressive police action against ethnic
Tibetan protestors have not come from China but from other countries, most
notably Nepal.)
Can anyone seriously argue that Chinese treatment of Tibetans, who have not
been subject to either genocide or ethnic cleansing and of whom the vast
majority continue to live on their ancestral lands, compares unfavorably with
the treatment accorded to the Native Americans by the European settlers of
North America or the treatment accorded (and continuing to be accorded) to the
indigenous Palestinians by the Zionist settlers of Palestine? Can anyone
seriously argue that it is even in the same league of evil and injustice?
With more than 50 recognized ethnic minorities comprising roughly six percent
of China's immense population, Chinese government policy has always aimed at
cultural integration of all Chinese citizens rather than at multiculturalism.
Inevitably, some peoples are deeply attached to their own distinct cultures and
do not wish to be integrated into another one. If Chinese treatment of certain
ethnic minorities justly merits criticism, most serious observers would argue
that repressive measures against the Uighurs of Xinjiang have been more severe
than repressive measures against Tibetans.
However, although there are many more Uighurs than Tibetans, one hears very
little about Uighurs in the West. They are Muslims. Uighur nationalist
movements are on America's list of "terrorst" groups, and four Uighurs swept up
in Afghanistan were incarcerated at Guantanamo for years, even long after being
exonerated as potential threats to America, before finally being dumped in
Albania, because no other country would provide them asylum.
Furthermore, how reasonable is it to hold China responsible for the human
suffering resulting from multiple separatist insurgencies and governmental
counterinsurgency measures in the Darfur region of Sudan (because China invests
in Sudan's oil industry?) while not holding America and its Western
collaborators responsible for the far worse human suffering resulting from
America's invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq and America's
unconditional financial and diplomatic support for Israel's occupation of
Palestine?
If the Chinese feel that the current anti-Chinese frenzy in the West has its
roots in jealousy at China's 12% annual economic growth rate and its increasing
success in all aspects of world affairs, seasoned with ample doses of racism
and hypocrisy, this would not be an irrational appreciation of the situation.
At least with respect to its role in world affairs, China has proven a rather
gentle and benign dragon in recent decades, focused on improving the economic
conditions and quality of life of its people rather than on military aggression
or full-spectrum domination of mankind and the planet, even while its strength
and potential power have been growing exponentially. Seeking personal emotional
satisfaction or domestic political advantage by gratuitously sticking pins in
the Chinese dragon is unlikely to prove a wise course of action.
The world has enough problems already.
John V. Whitbeck, an international lawyer, is author of "The World According to
Whitbeck".
---------------------------------
Click here Search for local singles online @ Lavalife.
---------------------------------
before someone else does Find the job of your dreams
---------------------------------
Get the name you always wanted with the new y7mail email address.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
