Saturday, March 22, 2008
China, Tibet: please sign the petition
One of the things that amazes me is that in China a handful of people control the lives of about one fifth of the world's population. My observation, at least in the cities that I visited, was that generally the government was doing a good job. But people I spoke to about it were not happy that they had no say in who should govern them.
The huge empire known as China was created by a warmonger in 221 BC. Because of the acts of this brutal tyrant the present government feel they have a right to control the lives of 1.3 billion people today.
The concept of Europe is not a bad one. Each country has its own government but they get together for their collective benefit. Something similar to this would perhaps give the people of China more say in their lives. Unfortunately the present government doesn't appear to be keen to devolve power or to give their citizens the right to reject them. Indeed they are keen to take over Chinese people who are currently outside their control.
Whether any of this gives them the right to control Tibet is a moot point. Instead of killing people who are protesting against Chinese rule, they could give Tibetans the right to choose democratically whether they want to be ruled by China.
In this year of the Beijing Olympics China is promoting a slogan of 'One World, One Dream'. What a wonderful dream. But whose dream is it? What is being implied by this slogan? China is not one unified country as much as it would like to proclaim otherwise.
AVAAZ is an organization bringing a voice to people of the world. They are collecting signatures to present to the Chinese government in a petition calling for restraint in handling the Tibetan protesters and for dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Over 600,000 people have signed in four days. Please join with them.
The huge empire known as China was created by a warmonger in 221 BC. Because of the acts of this brutal tyrant the present government feel they have a right to control the lives of 1.3 billion people today.
The concept of Europe is not a bad one. Each country has its own government but they get together for their collective benefit. Something similar to this would perhaps give the people of China more say in their lives. Unfortunately the present government doesn't appear to be keen to devolve power or to give their citizens the right to reject them. Indeed they are keen to take over Chinese people who are currently outside their control.
Whether any of this gives them the right to control Tibet is a moot point. Instead of killing people who are protesting against Chinese rule, they could give Tibetans the right to choose democratically whether they want to be ruled by China.
In this year of the Beijing Olympics China is promoting a slogan of 'One World, One Dream'. What a wonderful dream. But whose dream is it? What is being implied by this slogan? China is not one unified country as much as it would like to proclaim otherwise.
AVAAZ is an organization bringing a voice to people of the world. They are collecting signatures to present to the Chinese government in a petition calling for restraint in handling the Tibetan protesters and for dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Over 600,000 people have signed in four days. Please join with them.
Labels: Asia, AVAAZ, China, politics, Tibet
