12 July 2008

China - How Deep of a Whole Can They Dig?

One reason I support a full boycott of the Beijing Olympics is Chinese involvement with, shall we say "shady" African regimes, such as Sudan.

And Zimbabwe. And just as most European nations are calling for sanctions against Mugabe's regime, Russia and China have decided to veto the measure.

Chinese Foreign Policy - Because Oppressing Our Own People Just Isn't Enough

Now, I know, Russia is at fault here, too. And either one of them could have vetoed the measure and the effect would have been exactly the same. But Russia did not win the Olympic games by promising to clean up its act (though not an entirely bad idea).

Rock on.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Michael here. China has unfortunately dug a hole for itself. In fact, I think it's a bad idea for them to have sought the Olympics in the first place, considering all the negative attention they've been getting recently. But you know what? It's too late to go back on it. They received the Olympics and I think they still need to go through with it and finish it. A boycott at this point is meaningless considering most countries are already going through the phase of China bashing and then relenting and saying they won't really boycott China and that they're going to attend the games(much like how Bill Clinton behaved in office).

As for the Africa thing, I prefer China not get involved in Africa at all. Not that I care about what goes on in Africa, mind you. It's just that I fear if China does happen to exploit too many raw mineral resources from the region, they could one day face a dire situation where they transform into a liberal democracy and self-loathing Chinese politicians feeling "Han guilt" will start a policy of open immigration and destroy their own culture from within much like how the Western European cultures are doing to themselves right now. I don't want China in Africa but for entirely different reasons than yours. I want to see China's long-term survival and cultural preservation, which can be assured if leaders behave intelligently and not exploit people from other distant cultures .

And as for China oppressing its own people, we've talked about this before. Most citizens simply go about their day to day affairs, living life as it is. They don't think in terms of "human rights" or "freedom" like you or most other human rights activists do. They just want to live their lives. In China, the concept of the Mandate of Heaven has been around for thousands of years. If a ruler's good to his people, he'll stay in power. If the ruler is brutal, tyrannic, and decadent, he'll lose his mandate and the overthrow of his regime will then be allowed. The people currently don't feel "oppressed" because they don't think the CCP has reached that level of degeneracy yet. Don't get me wrong, the CCP has flaws just like with any other government but they haven't yet reached that level where the population as a whole feels they need to be thrown out of power. From the perspective of the average Chinese citizen, the CCP is still doing a competent enough job to allow him to live his life in peace.

Am I saying the CCP will keep its mandate? No, not forever. Every dynasty and every regime will have its rise and fall. The Communists will reach that point someday in the future. But when that time comes, it'll be Chinese people who will make the change. And until that day comes, I think it's best if you'd just leave China to its own affairs.

Here's a quote from Hindu philosopher Ramana Maharshi to think about.

"The power that created you has created the world as well. If it can take care of you, it can similarly take care of the world also. If God has created the world, it is his business to look after it, not yours."