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April 29, 2008

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Ah ah! A Controversial Topic at last! That's my cup of tea. Thanks Konchog!

Just joking, just joking.

I was aware of the thruth of your first paragraph for years, after meeting countless Chinese students in several countries. And professors. All the same.

I think that this kind of rhetoric is not worth the trouble. It reminds me of the negationists who, despite several restrictive laws on free speech in several European countries, keep denying the Holocaust, the harshness of the German occupation etc. (Read the French news today about J-M Le Pen.)

So, basically, these negationists use a complex nitpicking guerilla in order to deflect attention from the obvious facts, documents and first-hand witness accounts.

Our American friends have their creationists, who use the same tactics.

It is of utmost importance not to enter in a discussion with these people. (I do not want to diminish the importance of this post, though:-)

One danger (which lama Konchog avoided) is to end up exchanging analogies, which are the parody of reason. Like, say, Britain should be French, since it belonged to the Duche de Normandie, which in turn became "French." (They are all French to me, you know. I consider the Britons our closest cousins. Don't tell them, though:-)

Korea, which used to pay a tribute to China for a long time. It is Chinese, then.

I even read in the French newspaper a Chinese asking whether the French would accept to discuss independence of Corsica.

...

In the meantime, the topic at hand is not discussed and monks are jailed for life after being accused of arson.

Well, well.

The attitude of France in the recent events is disgusting, by the way. In the end, it all comes down to this: MONEY.

Funnily enough, the Chinese jingoism is boosted by the economic development in their country, without noticing that this development is the result of massive foreign investments.

I don't think the international press got the point of what happened here, in Seoul, with the olympic torch, so let me set the record straight. The uniqueness of this relay was that there were more Chinese students than opponents to China in the streets, and that there was not enough police. As a result, the Chinese students have beaten foreigners and Koreans... in Korea. I hope that these events will help the Koreans understand what is the nature of Chinese nationalism and grant a visa to the Dalai-lama (which was refused three times since 2002).

"Aggressively ignorant", I like that hehehe, spot on. I've known a number of Chinese students in my university and their ability to parrot out the garbage their gov't feeds them never ceased to amaze me.

From them I learned that all foreigners who were successful in invading & ruling China automatically became Chinese. Never mind if they knew or approved of that fact themselves hehehe. Thus, today, the term "Chinese" apparently includes Mongols, Manchus, TIbetans, Uigurs, etc. Good thing the British didn't stay on following their 1860 capture of Beijing, otherwise they'd now be your ordinary, run-of-the-mill Chinamen hehehe.

Tibet is slowly being transformed into a second Nei Monggol. This is a tragedy. Its relative remoteness and inaccessibility appear no longer capable of keeping the billion Chinese away. Now, armed with the new railway, the aggressors are really at it and I suspect the window of opportunitiy is rather short - a decade or two at most.

Would further economic growth bring about greater openness and liberty in China? Would discontent and riots reach such proportions so as to force China to back off? International pressure? Any hope left at all?

For once the deed is done, it will be exceedingly difficult to reverse it. Just take a look at Nei Monggol.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7370903.stm

Some Free Tibet flags were found to be made in China! The Chinese police found this out, but some flags have already been shipped.

Very interesting indeed!

I also appreciate the phrase "aggressive ignorance" and intend to use it myself if I may. Those hypernationalist slogans and faulty analogies are meant to be thrown at you (and not returned or answered) just like that water bottle that was thrown at the Tibetan teacher. Non-returnable bottles so to speak!

Hypernationalism is the nicer term, but I believe what is really meant by this is fascism. Many people are afraid to use this word because it sounds too much like a polemic all by itself, a bad word you would throw at someone just because you're angry. Still, one recent author has the fascist transformation of Chinese society taking place during the rule of Deng Xiaoping. I think it's worth reading:

http://tinyurl.com/create.php?url=http://www.feer.com/essays/2008/may/beijing-embraces-classical-fascism

In tinyurl:

http://tinyurl.com/447wkd

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Mongolia Bird List: "L" = Lifer

  • Amur Falcon -- L
  • Arctic (Hoary) Redpoll -- L
  • Arctic Warbler -- L
  • Asian Brown Flycatcher -- L
  • Asian Dowitcher -- L
  • Asian Short-toed Lark -- L
  • Azure Tit -- L
  • Bank Swallow
  • Bar-headed Goose -- L
  • Barn Swallow
  • Bean Goose -- L
  • Black Grouse -- L
  • Black Stork -- L
  • Black Woodpecker -- L
  • Black-billed Magpie
  • Black-eared Kite -- L
  • Black-headed Gull -- L
  • Black-tailed Godwit -- L
  • Black-winged Stilt
  • Blyth's Pipit -- L
  • Bohemian Waxwing -- L
  • Booted Eagle -- L
  • Brown Shrike -- L
  • Carrion Crow
  • Chinese Penduline Tit -- L
  • Chukar -- L
  • Cinereous Vulture
  • Citrine Wagtail -- L
  • Coal Tit
  • Common Cuckoo
  • Common Goldeneye
  • Common Greenshank -- L
  • Common Kestrel
  • Common Merganser
  • Common Pochard -- L
  • Common Raven
  • Common Redpoll
  • Common Redshank -- L
  • Common Rosefinch -- L
  • Common Sandpiper
  • Common Shelduck -- L
  • Common Snipe -- L
  • Common Starling
  • Common Swift
  • Common Tern
  • Crested Lark -- L
  • Curlew Sandpiper -- L
  • Dark-throated Thrush -- L
  • Daurian Jackdaw -- L
  • Daurian Partridge -- L
  • Daurian Redstart -- L
  • Demoiselle Crane -- L
  • Desert Warbler -- L
  • Desert Wheatear -- L
  • Dusky Thrush -- L
  • Dusky Warbler -- L
  • Eared Grebe
  • Eurasian Bullfinch -- L
  • Eurasian Coot -- L
  • Eurasian Curlew -- L
  • Eurasian Griffon
  • Eurasian Hobby
  • Eurasian Jay
  • Eurasian Nutcracker -- L
  • Eurasian Nuthatch -- L
  • Eurasian Skylark
  • Eurasian Sparrowhawk
  • Eurasian Spoonbill -- L
  • Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker -- L
  • Eurasian Tree Sparrow
  • Eurasian Treecreeper -- L
  • Eurasian Wigeon -- L
  • Eurasian Wryneck -- L
  • Eyebrowed Thrush -- L
  • Falcated Duck -- L
  • Fork-tailed Swift -- L
  • Gadwall
  • Garganey -- L
  • Godlewski's Bunting -- L
  • Goldcrest -- L
  • Golden Eagle
  • Gray Heron
  • Gray Wagtail -- L
  • Great Cormorant
  • Great Crested Grebe
  • Great Gray Shrike -- L
  • Great Spotted Woodpecker
  • Great Tit
  • Greater Short-toed Lark -- L
  • Greater Spotted Eagle -- L
  • Green Sandpiper -- L
  • Green-winged Teal
  • Greenish Warbler -- L
  • Hawfinch -- L
  • Hazel Grouse -- L
  • Hen/Northern Harrier
  • Herring Gull
  • Hill Pigeon -- L
  • Hoopoe
  • Horned Grebe
  • Horned Lark
  • House Sparrow
  • Isabelline Shrike -- L
  • Isabelline Wheatear -- L
  • Kentish (Snowy) Plover -- L
  • Lesser Spotted Woodpecker -- L
  • Lesser Whitethroat -- L
  • Little Bunting -- L
  • Little Owl -- L
  • Little Ringed Plover
  • Long-tailed Rosefinch
  • Long-tailed Tit
  • Long-toed Stint -- L
  • Mallard
  • Marsh Sandpiper
  • Meadow Bunting -- L
  • Mew Gull -- L
  • Mongolian Finch -- L
  • Mongolian Ground-jay -- L
  • Mongolian Lark -- L
  • Northern Lapwing -- L
  • Northern Pintail
  • Northern Shoveler
  • Northern Wheatear
  • Olive-backed Pipit -- L
  • Oriental Plover -- L
  • Oriental Reed Warbler -- L
  • Oriental Turtle Dove
  • Pacific Golden-plover -- L
  • Paddyfield Warbler -- L
  • Pallas' Reed Bunting -- L
  • Pallas's Leaf Warbler -- L
  • Pallas's Sandgrouse -- L
  • Peregrine Falcon
  • Pied Avocet -- L
  • Pied Wheatear -- L
  • Pine Bunting -- L
  • Pine Grosbeak -- L
  • Pintail Snipe -- L
  • Red (Common) Crossbill
  • Red-billed Chough -- L
  • Red-crested Pochard -- L
  • Red-flanked Bluetail -- L
  • Red-necked Grebe
  • Red-throated Flycatcher -- L
  • Richard's Pipit -- L
  • Rock Dove
  • Rock Sparrow -- L
  • Rook -- L
  • Ruddy Shelduck -- L
  • Ruddy Turnstone
  • Ruff -- L
  • Rufous-tailed Robin -- L
  • Saker Falcon -- L
  • Scaly Thrush -- L
  • Sharp-tailed Sandpiper -- L
  • Siberian Accentor -- L
  • Siberian Rubythroat -- L
  • Smew -- L
  • Spotted Flycatcher -- L
  • Spotted Redshank -- L
  • Steppe Eagle -- L
  • Swan Goose -- L
  • Temminck's Stint -- L
  • Thick-billed Warbler -- L
  • Tree Pipit -- L
  • Tufted Duck -- L
  • Twite -- L
  • Upland Buzzard -- L
  • Ural Owl -- L
  • Water Pipit -- L
  • White Wagtail
  • White-cheeked Starling -- L
  • White-naped Crane -- L
  • White-winged (Two-barred) Crossbill -- L
  • White-winged Scoter
  • White-winged Tern -- L
  • Whooper Swan -- L
  • Willow Tit -- L
  • Wood Sandpiper -- L
  • Yellow-billed Grosbeak -- L
  • Yellow-browed (Inornate) Warbler -- L