Posted on 03/22/2008 3:44:09 PM PDT by kronos77
Why is China behaving as it is in Tibet? What makes Tibet so important to the government in Beijing? At the heart of the matter is the fact that nothing worries China's rulers more than when the country's unity is called into question. Kosovo's recent declaration of independence sharpened the Chinese government's anxieties over the protests in Tibet. Although supporters of Kosovo's independence argue that it sets no international precedent, China's rulers fear otherwise. Moreover, Taiwan's presidential election has further ratcheted up the tension for China's government. ... This is the fear gnawing at China's rulers as they confront the unrest in Tibet. Of course, to judge from official rhetoric, there is no threat to unity. All of China's peoples, including non-Chinese in annexed territories such as Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, are firm and loyal supporters of the system, Beijing says. But the government's frequent rotation of local officials tells a different story. Keen to prevent any coalescence of regional identity and local authority, senior officers in China's seven military districts are also rotated regularly. ... The West has historically stressed two bright lines with respect to Taiwan: no independence and no use of force by China. But, in view of Kosovo's independence against the will of Serbia and without UN sanction, these bright lines have become blurred in China's eyes. ... The West does not have an interest in helping either Tibet or Taiwan become sovereign countries, and efforts by some Tibetans and Taiwanese in this direction present the danger of a miscalculation that could create lasting enmity.
Some Chinese suspect the US of seeking an independent Taiwan as an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" for use against a future Chinese enemy. Such suspicions can feed a climate of excessive nationalism in China.
(Excerpt) Read more at taipeitimes.com ...
Told Ya So...
China WILL invade Taiwan and WILL crush Tibetans, only cause they belive that there is no other option left to do.
recgognising Kosovo was idiotical mouve that WILL cost thousands of lives on Tibet and Taiwan.
Why?
Chinese wont take any chances. Not after Kosovo. Right or wrong, they WILL attack.
The Kosovo precedent is dangerous, but the reality is that Tibet was an independent nation, invaded by China, which has sought independence continuously since.
These are radically different situations.
Yes, that is true, yet Kosovo destroyed any effort in resolving most of simmilar problems worldwide by peacefull means.
Example, a Muslim Azarbeyjan is preparing to attack Nagorno Karabakh, a armenian-Christian enclave.
China WILL crush the Tibetans and WILL manage the news coverage of it.
China WILL have an Olympics, no matter how many die or get disappeared in order to pull it off...the press will swoon. Unless, of course, someone DOES slip through and blow up a couple of buildings.
Meanwhile, they WILL rattle sabers at Taiwan, a lot, intending to muffle any independence noises coming across the straits.
I really doubt they would invade without US concurrence and that would upset the great game as it has been played in that edge of the Pacific for half a century and more.
On the other hand, we tossed Yugoslavian Serbs, there isn't much reason to doubt we'd toss the Taiwanese.
Note to the article: As I understood it, Tito (a Croat) encouraged Albanian and other immigration into Kosovo as a balance against the more dynamic Serbs...who he considered as a threat to his federation and his interpretation of a "Third World". Worked out just fine didn't it.
Note to the article: As I understand it, China has always practiced rotation of mandarins and generals in order to keep them from going native and in order to allow localities enough latitude to continue sending in taxes without feeling oppressed. That's worked well enough to be continued today.
PS: A general question.
Speculation is raising the possibility of western elements traveling to China for the Olympics and using that access to foment 'counter' revolutionary unrest...outside agitators disguised as tourists and Olympic minions. (Another reason for their short fuse in Tibet)
Does anyone besides me remember a Ted Koppel white paper addressing western students taking part in the Tienanmen fiasco all those years ago?
What interest did the U.S. have in supporting independence of Kosovo? We already have enmity from China so we lose nothing by supporting independence of Tibet, Mongolia, Taiwan and the Uiguirs. Hong Kong too if they want it.
China has only had unity by force in its entire history. Unity has only existed in the minds of its elitist tyrants.
Group tied to al-Qaida backs McCain for prez
Bush's Kosovo policy, like Chamberlain's Munich policy, could lead to war
so what?
Azerbaijan Criticizes France, Russia, U.S Over Karabakh Resolution - 03/15/2008 - Azerbaijan has warned that Baku will re-examine its relations with France, Russia and the United States after the three countries voted against a UN motion on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The UN General Assembly on March 14 adopted a non-binding resolution demanding the "immediate, complete and unconditional" withdrawal of all Armenian forces from Azerbaijan's territory. Thirty nine countries voted in favor. But more than 100 countries abstained. Seven countries, however, including Russia, the United States, and France, voted against.
Can you clarify your post?
If you look back at the ancient Chinese history, Tibet are once a part of Chinese dynastic region and the Qing Dynasty is another dynasty who ruled Tibet.
In a bitter irony, Tibet was once Qing Dynasty’s ally during their campaign to crush the Han Chinese’s uprising. And now, it’s the modern Chinese government that against any Tibetian’s uprising for independence.
And one thing, Kosovo for me is not a country at all. Not without the mandate from U.N. I mean. And I doubt my country Malaysia will even consider to recognise this new nation (hope my assumption is right anyway).
Who Else is Afraid of Kosovo?
http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2008/03/who-else-is-afr.php#comments
Michael J. Totten
Comments
I believe collectivist/tribalist personalities (and by extension, countries where a collectivist culture is dominant) are particularly sensitive to issues of national unity.
To perceive a great part of your identity as derivative from the collective leads to feeling personally threatened by the prospect of some province you might have never even set foot in
breaking away from the Mother Nation.
About a week after Kosovo declared its independence I had to take a cab to school. I remembered the driver from previous cab rides, a very friendly Serbian woman who had always been a sweetheart to talk to.
Nothing but pleasant small talk throughout most of the ride, but then she just had to ask about my take on the Kosovo issue.
I tried to tell her, as delicately as I could, that I don’t care whether Kosovo falls under Serb jurisdiction, Albanian jurisdiction, becomes its own country, or is under international administration, so long as the life, liberty, and property of all its inhabitants were vigorously protected, regardless of their ethnicity. I half-jokingly said the ideal solution would be for Kosovo to become a US territory but in the realm of realistic possibilities, I didn’t think Belgrade had a good history of providing productive government services for Kosovo.
Now this is a sweet good-natured little woman but she got so upset and sour over this I was a bit taken aback. She said she understands that over 95% of the population there is Albanian, but that has got nothing to do with it, because the LAND is Serbian land.
I asked “what do you mean?” People have real estate and properties there and each owns the land his/her house is built on. It’s private ownership not collective ownership: members of the Serbian minority each own the piece of land their property lies in, same thing for members of the Albanian majority.
She got even more frustrated, as if I was willingly not understanding what she was saying: “Well, take Quebec for example. Its nation is French majority, but that is nevertheless Canadian land, and they can’t just break away from Canada!”
I asked her whether she owned any land or property in Quebec, she replies “no”, and I ask her in what sense then does she as a Canadian own Quebec. All Canadians do is subsidize Quebec, why would she as a Canadian be negatively affected if Quebec broke away from Canada, stopped receiving subsidies, and started managing itself, so long as she was allowed to freely visit there as before, and to buy/sell property, including land.
She got even more upset, and told me I was too young to understand, but Kosovo was Serbian land.
This is crazy. This woman was a Serb from Croatia, she had never set foot in Kosovo, she didn’t even live in Serbia anymore, she had immigrated to Canada many years. Yet she cannot think of these issues in anything but collectivist terms and feels threatened and humiliated by a territorial loss of her distant motherland, a loss of no more than nominal value anyway.
Do I need to get into much even crazier it is for Russians to give a damn, Russians who have never stepped foot in Serbia, let alone Kosovo? These second-hand collectivist delusions are insane!
My understanding of government’s legitimate role is the protection of its citizens and their property from acts of violence/coercion and destruction, through courts, police, etc. Whenever Serbs express such attitudes toward Kosovo, they just reinforce my judgment that they could never run the province justly. “Kosovo is Serbia” was probably the mantra many of them felt could justify treating the Albanian population as half-slaves, imposing on them quotas for higher education and employment, and finally driving them off their homes or killing them off in 1999. After all they were just unwelcome visitors/usurpators of “Serbian Land”…
The only legitimate actions a Belgrade administration could understake in Kosovo would be to protect the rights and property of the citizens there, about 95% of whom are Albanian. I highly doubt Serbs have any interest in doing that.
Local government is always better than central government. The new local administration of Kosovo will now be held accountable to its own people.
Posted by: medaura at March 23, 2008 12:46 PM
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