(Unit 3 Lesson 1)
“Arms found in
This is the title of a BBC article published on Wednesday April 16, 2008.
As we have all been reading and closely following, there has been violence, rioting and fighting since March. Reports have stated that Tibetan rioters are targeting shops and vehicles owned by Han Chinese (CNN, BBC March 2008).
Not only are the monks behaving in unnatural violent behavior, they are targeting other ethnic groups.
The list of weapons include: 3 rifles, 571 bullets, 10kg of dynamite, five detonators and 38 satellite receivers. Anyone who thought globalization had not reached the peaks of this region is likely to think again!
I am truly speechless!
Here is the link to the full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7351227.stm
2 comments:
Jeanette-
Wow. When I think of monks, I do not think of weapons or violence. The photo you included in your post, seems so unreal. I think the events in Tibet portray how many are feeling towards the larger part of the Chinese government or as the CNN report says, towards the Han Chinese.
I can't say I'm surprised. I agree with Amanda. When I think of monks, I don't think weapons or violence (at least not firearms).
I keep noticing the same patterns over and over again. It all sounds the same... authoritarianism, corruption, violence, censorship, cultural suppression, oppression, torture, wide-spread misery, abject poverty, starvation, lack of health care, lack of education, pollution (sigh).
Out of those 1.3-billion people, only the tiniest fraction are thriving and doing well. China just might be the largest assortment of miserable souls in the history of the mankind.
So we have to ask the next question. Does the manner in which one suffers matter?
Allowing people to starve; allowing people to waste away and die from curable disease; or allowing people to die from corruption that pollutes and poisons entire villages... these are the calling cards of ineffective leadership.
How is that viewed as *better* or *more acceptable* than Nazis throwing Jews into showers to breath toxic gas? It all looks like suffering and atrocity to me. It’s an open invitation to take up arms.
If violence is the way diplomacy works in China, I say violence begets violence. When diplomatic doors slam shut, the choice to take up guns isn't much of a choice. If silent obedience = despair, and dissent/protest = imprisonment and/or torture, and there are no viable mechanisms in which to be heard, the final solution is to fight or die in silence. The CCP is fueling the flames of dissent. They will be the cause of their own demise if they continue to ignore the needs of their people.
Post a Comment