Tibet Crackdown

March 15, 2008

Of all the times to have a flare up in Tibet, a few months ahead of the Summer Olympics is not a good pieace of public relations strategy. And as riots break out in this mountainous nation, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge poured cold water Saturday on calls for a boycott of the Summer Games in Beijing over China’s crackdown in Tibet, saying it would only hurt athletes.

Demonstrations against Chinese rule in Tibet on Friday—the most violent riots there in nearly two decades—left at least 30 protesters dead, according to a Tibetan exile group. China ordered tourists out of Tibet’s capital and troops patrolled the streets on Saturday.

Police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators defying a curfew in the old quarter of the city, and police later cordoned off the centre. “Lhasa is completely closed and there is Chinese military all over,” Danish tourist Bente Walle told Reuters news agency.

China could be exporting the American financial disaster to their own shores if they’re not careful with this.

In a statement quoted by the state-run news agency Xinhua, the Tibetan government urged “the lawbreakers to give themselves in by Monday midnight” and promised that “leniency would be given to those who surrender”. Hey, I’ve got some great property in Arizona and Florida that I’d seel at a great price as well. This Chinese crackdown in Tibet is going to be about as bad a PR piece to them as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright was-is to Obama (can you say not good?).

The violence – the worst in Tibet since 1989 – erupted on the fifth day of largely peaceful protests that began on Monday’s anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. Fires broke out near the Jokhang temple, one of the most sacred sites for Tibetan Buddhists, and Xinhua reported that shops, banks and hotels were destroyed. The demonstrations – like those last September in Burma – were initially led by Buddhist monks and then attracted crowds of ordinary people.

And here I thought Buddhists were peaceful.

Written by Ernie · Filed Under Daily Commentary