Tuesday, April 08, 2008

The dawn came up like thunder out of China 'cross the bay

I’m finding myself bemused by all the breast beating, fulminating and posturing over the China versus Tibet and the Olympics that has been going on lately. I mean, really, have people just discovered that China is a ruthless, remorseless and utterly unapologetic dictatorship? Are their memories too short or are they too young to remember Tiananmen Square in 1989 and the defiant kid standing in front of that tank?

Nobody really knows how many people were slaughtered at TS. The Chinese never really said, and we never really asked. Therefore, I must ask, re the China-Tibet question, what’s new?

China subscribes to the belief that legal right is on China’s side regarding Tibet. It has ‘owned’ the region since the 1500s. Indeed, legal right is on China’s side. Cultural and hence moral right is an entirely different matter. In that regard, maybe we could state ‘our’ views to our own native Indians. An unsavoury truism of history is that ‘might maketh right’, whether or not we like it. The bullies prevail.

Furthermore, the Chinese hold to a ‘realpolitik’ that would have even impressed Bismarck. The Chinese do what it takes to prevail; they always have and always will. They are also unremitting in their quest for world domination and will show no cowardice in that regard. Knowing at this moment they do not have the military power to decimate us – yet – they make nice. They open their land and invite us to come and call and take tea. They trade with us, and send missions and delegations all over the world and we fawn in their direction. It’s how diplomacy works.

At the same time, I don’t choose to forget a comment made by Mao many years ago, in which he stated (in paraphrase), If the west were to launch a nuclear attack on China and if that nuclear war took out 90 per cent of China’s population, we would be left with a population we could handle, so it would be to our advantage. In other words, China is quite prepared to forsake nine people out of ten, so do we think they are really worried about Tibet and what ‘our’ opinions are on the matter?

But, there is another question at issue here; the matter of the Olympics themselves. China, of course, wants the Olympics, and they want them to be a success. They believe the Olympics will add to their street creds on the international stage. And, they will.

At the same time, we could be forgiven for asking why the IOC awarded the Olympics to China in the first place. We will get no answers. This dictatorial body almost equals the attitude of China in its refusal to answer hard questions. After all, the same outfit gave the Olympics to Nazi Germany in 1936, and to the Soviet Union at the height of Soviet aggressiveness. Again, it looks good for a ‘bad’ (in terms of human rights) nation to score all the fun of the games.

This will go nowhere further because there are no answers. The Olympics will go on as usual in China; China will make some minor concessions regarding Tibet (the Chinese are patient, the matter doesn’t have to be resolved right now) just to keep the peace, and our good leaders will flock to the games and there will be lots of hugs and kisses in the name of international brotherhood and all of that bullshit.

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17 Comments:

Blogger Tanya Brown said...

The word that comes to my mind regarding China is "implacable".

12:21 PM  
Blogger Tai said...

Implacable is a good word. Unrelenting seems to spring to mind as well.

2:50 PM  
Blogger geewits said...

My question has been the same as yours: Why award them the games in the first place? I'm glad I am not a struggling athlete having to deal with all the horrid politics.

3:20 PM  
Blogger laughingwolf said...

that's just it, the 'olympics' is more about politics than about athletes, or even sports... even without the cheats

4:44 PM  
Blogger heartinsanfrancisco said...

What you've said here makes sense, all of it.

I wish I could disagree with your analysis because that would offer a shred of hope, but I can't.

Tomorrow the torch will be in San Francisco and I intend to go as an observer. I hope it doesn't turn into another Tiananmen Square.

6:11 PM  
Blogger heartinsanfrancisco said...

Ian, what happened to cause you to approve comments? I thought Blogger had swallowed mine.

6:13 PM  
Blogger Mel Avila Alarilla said...

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6:55 PM  
Blogger Ian Lidster said...

As Ricky used to say to Lucy, "You got some 'splainin' to do," so I am going to do some 'splainin' as to why I am currently going the approval route for comments. I was visited by a nasty bit of virus-ridden spam, so I decided I should cover my cute ass for a while. Just for a while, since it is sort of a pain in that aforementioned cute ass, and none of it is directed at you, my faithful and cherished blogger friends. All it takes is one jerk to ruin a party, however. Be assured I won't keep this in place forever.

7:21 PM  
Blogger dragonflyfilly said...

yep, interesting reading, AND points well made; for all their protestations people are still madly in love with the jocks of all colours, so, as people march one day a year for peace, then go home and fight with their next door neighbours, so will the Games Go On. The older I get the less I understand this wierd world!

(and for aanother controversial read, check me out at Flamingo's Hideaway)

cheers for now,
pj

11:53 PM  
Blogger laughingwolf said...

'ditaur' and its ilk proliferate many sites, but you only have to trash them without clicking on them grrrrr

6:31 AM  
Blogger Janice Thomson said...

My sentiments exactly. And I will add this: For an event that was supposed to be a way to bring nations closer together, to have the youth of the world compete in sports, the Olympic event has sadly lost sight of this objective.
When will it ever happen that two people from different cultures can throw aside their differences and sit beside each other in respect as just two ordinary humans? Or is that just a fantasy in my mind? If so... how terribly sad.

7:23 AM  
Blogger Liz Dwyer said...

Absolutely agree with this post. I'm glad all these folks want to protest right now, but what about all the crap that goes on day-to-day in China? I don't think they should have been awarded the Olympics, but maybe all the pressure/attention will cause them to reform a bit, even if it doesn't seem like things are going that route.

9:03 AM  
Blogger Dumdad said...

Spot on, once again, Ian!

That's a bummer re virus-spam. I got a bout of that and I installed the letters thingy. That seems to have worked.

10:50 AM  
Blogger Dr. Deb said...

My hubby is convinced that China has been trying to kill us for years. Lead in children's toys. Poison found in food products from there, just to name a few.

I *do* wonder how the Olympic Committee makes their choices sometimes.

12:13 PM  
Blogger jmb said...

So why didn't everyone rise up in horror when China was awarded them? Or have I forgotten that with my selective memory?
The problem is we all are courting that huge market for our goods and raw materials and the mighty dollar always wins.

11:10 PM  
Blogger dee said...

the olympic committee is a corrupt and vile group of people who sell themselves to the highest bidder. When you do business with the devil you suffer for it. I was hoping that someone would get the opportunity to grab that stupid torch and fling it off the Golden Gate. Alas, it was not to be and all of the money people, like NBC, Coca Cola, and other corporations will get back down on the floor and roll around with trash again in the name of $$$$$$, lots of $$$$$$$
The people of Tibet have suffered for years and no one paid any attention to the horror. It's al about $$$.

9:57 AM  
Blogger heartinsanfrancisco said...

I got the same virus-infested spam on my photo blog yesterday. When I clicked on the stranger's link, it opened a lot of windows which basically promised that if I didn't buy their virus-finding product, my computer would die.

I was lucky. I managed to (finally) get rid of it and reboot, but it was pretty tense there. Interestingly, though, I never got an email from Blogger informing me of this "comment."

9:12 AM  

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