Giant Mao statue erected in Tibet

BBC News World Edition ^ | Monday, 17 April 2006 | BBC

[LeoWindhorse]

The Chinese authorities say they are putting up a huge statue of Chairman Mao Zedong in Tibet.

The 35-ton memorial is being built to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the former leader's death.

It is being erected in Gonggar County, near the Tibetan capital Lhasa, China's state-run news agency Xinhua said.

The statue will rise 7m from a 5m pedestal strengthened to withstand earthquakes. Mao Zedong ordered the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1950.

The statue will be the central landmark of Gonggar County's Shangcha square, which covers about 40,000 sq metres, and is scheduled for completion in July.

[TEXASPROUD]

Leaving aside the ridiculous idea of planting a forty-foot tall statue of Mao inside a nation that he violently invaded and occupied, how in the name of all that is sacred and holy does forty feet of solid stone Mao constitute “aid for Tibet?”

I'm not sure, but as I sat here contemplating the visage of Comrade Mao I suddenly had this urgent need to take a dump. Constipation may be a thing of the past in Tibet.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Mike Tyson is happy, Richard Gere is saddened.

(The most important thing about news is its impact on celebrities.)

[dagogo redux]

Hello Dalai, how's that pacifism working out?

Interesting to note, many Tibetans could not believe that Mao himself was personally aware of and responsible for the repression there, since his face looked so much like that of a Bodhisattva. The Dalai Lama wept when informed Mao had died.

[Candor7]

The fact is that there is no longer a Tibet.

Tibet ended when the people put down their arms as instructed by the Dalai Lama. The population chose religion over their nation and look what happened.

This should be a lesson to everyone who puts religion before patriotism. As our founding fathers knew, that does not work.

We trust in God but put action into bearing arms to secure freedom.

God helps those who help themselves.

[taxed2death]

......just warms the cockles of my heart knowing that China has the "most favored nation status" pertaining to trading partners...

[1Old Pro]

SAVE TIBET.... There, now I feel better.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

[Mcirrus]

I also take a Mao shortly after coffee in the mornings.

[LeoWindhorse]

I view this film and I have one thought : " the enemy!"

[Navy Patriot]

Your anger is justified. The most evil human to walk the face of Earth is Mao or Stalin and I lean toward Mao.

And to think, it might have been but a pipe dream for the commie genocider if Truman had a little smaller ego.

[sergeantdave]

Does the statue "oink" when you push its belly?

[Wormwood]

It takes a special kind of jerk to oppress Buddhists. They never mess with anyone.

I really don;t have a dog in this fight. The Chinese are brutal occupiers, but the ousted Lama caste was also repressive to the common people.

No easy answers over there.

[RonDog]

Does the statue "oink" when you push its belly?

Almost!

See also THIS thread:

Mao turns Buddhist for Tibet
London Times ^ | March 31, 2006 | Jane Macartney
Posted on 03/31/2006 7:00:00 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe

Chairman Mao’s features are to gaze over Tibet for the first time. A 7.5m (24½ft) statue of Mao Zedong, whose Red Armies entered the deeply Buddhist Himalayan region in 1951 to extend Communist Party rule, is to stand in the newly built Changsha Square in Gongga.

The figure, which weighs 35 tonnes, is a gift to the small Tibetan town from Mao’s birthplace, the Chinese city of Changsha, where it is seen standing before transportation by lorry. A government official said: “Tibet does not need only material development. It must also meet the more spiritual needs of its people.”

Though Tibetans still have a love-hate relationship with Mao, they apparently requested the gift. The statue was designed by Zhu Weijing, president of the Changsha Sculpture Institute, who said: “I tried to understand how Tibetans feel towards Mao. Because they have deep feelings about Buddha, I tried to make Mao more like that, with a plumper face.”

CLICK HERE for the rest of that thread

[LeoWindhorse]

Thanks . I am struck with the thought that throughout recent history people and other nations have stood by until men like Mao gain ultimate power in their countries for awhile,and then they are too powerful for any to depose. Few are willing to make the proactive strike to remove them and all then later bemoan their rule and cruelty . Until George W. Bush .....
I hope our President sticks to his guns (literally!) and
takes out the entire leadership of Iran and North Korea now
(soon!) while we may still have the chance . I hope we do not wait long. These are just more Mao types waiting their hideous place in the shameful annuls of human monsters.
The stakes are too high these to be ambivalent.

[Conservative Firster]

How the CIA sponsored and betrayed Tibetans in a war the world never knew about

[cmsgop]

I am sure the Beastie Boys will be Outraged....

[Liberator]

What??

Isn't there already a statue of Richard Gere petting his gerbil there?

[LeoWindhorse]

you know, I don't really agree that that is the case. I read 'that book' ,and what I got out of it was that we trained the heck out of as many Tibetans as we could find that were willing but they themselves were quite inept once put 'back in ' and most were killed right away. Neighboring nations (read:India) did not want to be involved and denied us air landing and support bases and our people had to fly all the way from Thailand for every mission (and back!) The UN turned it's face 100% as well. The CIA tried ,but under those circumstances it was an impossible feat . There was certainly no President Kennedy pulling the plug on ops , ala Bay of Pigs. If we made any mistake it was failing to have the OSS whack Mao when we had the chance , long before things went so far....

[LeoWindhorse]

sorry , different book .
I trust this one:
The CIA's Secret War in Tibet
by Kenneth Conboy, James Morrison

[LeoWindhorse]

I do not know what some people or countries want from us .
If every effort for them turns to a failure , or a dog & pony show of missteps and errors , if cultural considerations doom well planned missions to failure , at what point do we pull funding and walk away ? Again I say it is probably far better to take out the main players long before they can consolidate and become such major pains in the World's backside.