This past year, the world has been watching the People’s Republic of China as the 2008 Beijing Olympics are approaching. As this is the case, certain people around the world have attempted to “bring to light” the People’s Republic of China’s alleged “horrible” human rights record to the World. One particular issue that comes to mind is the recent uprising in Tibet and the surrounding provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, and Gansu.
Although both the Tibet government-in-exile and the Government of the People’s Republic of China have both made claims, no one outside that particular region of China knows what exactly has taken place there. This is due to the fact that the PRC Government has decided to maintain its traditional policy of censorship and to ensure that all foreign journalists are kept out of the volatile area.
As the 2008 Beijing Olympics approach, certain people have decided to demonstrate either for or against the 2008 Beijing Olympic and/or the fact that Tibet is part of the People’s Republic of China (or as some people POVs would state, occupied by the People Liberation Army).
Over the last month or so, I’ve been watching “news reports” from different sources in the Western World (BBC, CBC, CNN, CTV, GlobalTV, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, The Guardian (UK), etc.) and all I can really say is that their reports are extremely biased against the People’s Republic of China. Our Governments here in the West are biased. Our Media is biased. The whole damn population is biased. Lopsided. Unbalanced.
Although I usually trust the media, that I’ve mentioned above, to attempt to maintain a non-biased view and diction in their news reports, in this case, the Western Media has NOT maintain that non-biased view and has NOT maintain that non-biased diction that they are expected, to a degree, obligated to use.
The problem with the Western World is that we always believe that we are the greatest, the superior, the almighty. As a result, our views of the interaction between different cultures, different peoples, and different states is biased, lopsided, and is a POV that has been created out of ignorance and the lack of understanding of the situation in a political and historical context.
Speaking of the Western World belief that we are the most “civilized, superior” culture, look at the picture below. This is a photo of a Tibetan supporter, right, arguing with a Chinese supporter at a rally for the PRC’s Olympic torch at the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco on April 9:
Who looks more “civilized“? Who? Is it the the person of the “Western World” on the right who supports the Tibet Independence? Or is the person on the left who supports the PRC?
That is for you to decide.
A major headline or phrase that has been repeated in the Western Media is “Military Crackdowns in Tibet“. Let me ask you:
Is the People Liberation Army in Tibet?
Yes.
Is this any different than a possible United States military presence in Hawaii, in Porto Rico, or in Alaska? Is this any different than a United Kingdom military presence in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland?
No.
Is the PLA conducting any possible crackdowns in Tibet?
No.
Then who is dealing with the uprising and the rioters in Tibet? Guess?
The obvious answer is the Police. Images that had been released and that were coming from the region clearly showed that it was not the military that dealt with the rioters, and the protesters. The Government officers were clearly people who wore riot gear and marked with the words “POLICE”.
This is no different than when police in the Western World deals with riots and protests.
And what right does the people, the Governments, and the media of the Western World have to say that another culture’s and another state’s definition of what Human Rights is wrong? Or how one state or culture uses its definition to create its policies? None at all. As outsiders, we do not have that right. Unless we are citizens of that state, unless we are immersed in and have thoroughly analyzed and studied the socio-political culture of that state and unless we understand the history of that state and its predecessors, we have absolutely no right to state that they are wrong and that they have a “horrible” Human Rights record because our definition of what Human Rights are differs from those of other parts of the World.
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