Well, they're at it again. Those monks with their international conspiracy of chanting constantly and refusing to engage in violence, even in self-defence. This time it's Tibet. No wonder the Chinese government felt it was necessary to kill a few monks and Tibetan civilians. If they would just accept that they are now and always have been part of China, even though they do not speak Chinese, have anything in common with China or actually want to be part of China, then none of this would be necessary. Anyway, what's the worst that can happen? There might be a sphincter clenching visit from a UN envoy with thinly veiled criticisms of your housecleaning methods and calls for renewed dialogue with the dirty little troublemakers.
Look what happened to the dictatorship in Myanmar. A few monks get beaten after leading protests against the dictatorship and the UN was right in there, making suggestions and trying to serve as a communication bridge with the activists. You know, no one likes to hear criticism. I have heard that Senior General Than Shwe was moping around for days after his last meeting with the UN envoy, but none of the reporters asked how he felt.
If only there was some important event that mattered to the Chinese government more than a few troublemakers. Oh, wait, there is. The Olympics.
The Olympics certainly matter to the scummy dictatorship that rules China. It matters so much that the reservoirs in Hebei and Shaanxi provinces are being diverted to Beijing to ensure that the flush toilets actually have water and to transform the Chaobai River from its previous resemblance to a desert into a suitable venue for the rowing and canoeing competitions. The residents of those provinces truly deserve to be called heroes. Anybody else would be pretty ticked off if their taps were dry just so that some team can paddle their canoe to win glory for their native land.
The powers-that-be have so far been united in their reaction to the situation. Many late night phone calls must have been required to determine who gets to use which permutation of "please show restraint when beating unarmed protestors." As ever, Taiwan is kept outside the diplomatic loop and apparently was not permitted to use the word "restraint" in its official reaction. Instead, it had to settle for condemming China's use of force. Sigh, when will the cool countries let Taiwan hang out with them and follow the same fashions.
International Olympic Committee head Jacques Rogge has said that a boycott would be unfair to the athletes. Apparently dead Tibetan protestors, massive environmental damage in China, and an overall failure to grasp the concept of human rights is less vital than seeing who saunters off with the gold in badminton, synchronized swimming, and table tennis.
I just want to state that I have no problem with cooperating with scummy people, it’s called a job. You give them a portion of your time and mental energy in exchange for money, which you can use to pay for rent, beer and an Internet connection with which to download porn. This arrangement makes Western society the stunning achievement that it is today. The problem with the refusal of many powers-that-be to call for a boycott is that the scummy people that rule over China get what they want, namely respect, without having to give anything in exchange.
The cynics among you are probably saying that if the Chinese dictatorship is really so scummy then a boycott won’t work, therefore we might as well watch the women's beach volleyball team (a personal favorite). Actually, a boycott might work. Hu and the rest of the board of dictators are not insane megalomaniacs like Mao who did not blink an eye when millions starved to death. They want to stay in control but they want more pull in the international community than a country like Myanmar. The scummy dictatorship is all too aware of China’s rich history of violent change of leadership and pretty much non-existent history of peaceful handovers of power. That is why they recently passed several laws guaranteeing health insurance and paid overtime for workers. These laws seem like they will be effective since a number of Chinese companies have whined that they will no longer be competitive if they have to pay a living wage and Taiwan’s government has been swamped with inquiries about whether there is any space left in the new science parks.
As I have said, there is nothing wrong with making a deal with a scummy dictatorship. By all means, let the Chinese have their Olympics and those of us who appreciate the finer details of women's beach volleyball can have what we want as well. However, would it hurt to mention that no one will take part in the Olympics unless the dictatorship actually talks to the Dalai Lama, releases a few of its dissidents, and maybe even lets the people in Shaanxi province have a shower twice a month.
Or everyone can continue to look the other way in the hope that the Chinese dictatorship will decide on their own to play nice and take the lead out of the toys, the viruses out of the computer gadgets and the beatings out of peaceful protests.
