China, Tibet and George Orwell

I am back. Just thought I would get a little political on your asses today. I was thinking about what is going on in Tibet and the official Chinese response. I have to say that what is boiling over in Tibet is no shock, nor is the response of the Chinese government. That does not mean that they are not Han, er ham, handed (a little ethnic humor there) in their means.

The Communist regime in China ignored its nation's own history when it "invaded" Tibet and forced the Dalai Lama into exile. They have forever branded him a traitor and agitator. They have gone as far to claim he controls the "violence". It is all so deliciously Orwellian and that is why it appeals to me.

Like any totalitarian regime, China has the need to try and control the perception of reality. Like North Korea, the official party line is that there is nothing wrong in the state and nothing will ever be wrong. In fact, everybody's shit smells like roses. The reality is starkly different. As long as they believe they control the message, they believe they control reality.

How fucking laughable! They control the guns and the press, they do not control the reality, try as they might. They cannot see the futility of it, it is beyond their dumbass comprehension.

So, here we have the Chinese government trying to paint the Dalai Lama as the creator and controller of violence in Tibet. The Chinese in China may "buy" it but they are trying to sell that made up pig of an excuse to a cynical and better knowing Western world. It ain't happening and they look foolish for trying to sell it. In Ayn Randian terms, they are trying to tell us all that "A is not A".

As the Chinese keep coming out with statements claiming that the Lama, himself, is responsible for the uprisings by Tibetans it belies the reality of his explicit proclamations preaching non-violence (and his Nobel Peace Prize, but that means nothing since they gave one of those puppies to Yassir Arafat and Kofi Annan, as he presided over, or at least did NOTHING to stop the genocide/violence in Rwanda). It is pretty hard to convince "free" people that "A is not A" if you do not control the media and all the observational evidence that is out there.

It is like the Chinese government has only one tool, a hammer, in their aresenal, so all their problems look like nails to them. In reality, there talk is not selling because it is just so ridiculous. With the Lama saying he would renounce his political position as leader in Exile of the Tibetans if they continued the violence, he has outflanked the Chinese in the eyes of the World.

Again, they are playing the us vs them card (being embarrassed in the eyes of the world as a political weapon while China looks to make a grand impression with the Olympics). It is just not working here. Yet, they keep ratcheting up the rhetoric. It is like they are trying to provoke a response that cannot turn out to be good (for anybody).

They pretty much have to go back to their history to find a solution. What the Chinese have brought to Tibet is not all bad. They have modernized an impoverished territory on Top of the World. It has also been done with an insensitivity (almost like the Bush White House in Iraq) to the native population. They really need to look to their past.....when the Mongol Empire and Ming Empire viewed Lhasa (Tibet's capital) as Rome and Paris viewed The Vatican, the seat of spirituality. There was a split between politics/government and the spiritual or religious side of the people. This is similar to what the Lama proposes, so let us hope they can get there.

Like in all negotiations, both sides need to be able to "spin" it as a victory. That will not be easy and the Chinese are making it all the more difficult by increasing their bellicosity. I mean, this ain't Burma!

Ciao!