China's War of Terror: 2008 Olympics

There is no weapon more powerful than ignorance.  It is a self-defeating power.  Sure, you say, we have enough to worry about in the U.S.: a recessive economy, a quagmire in the Middle East, an incompetent school system, etc.  We've successfully ignored Tibet's crisis for decades, so why should it come up now? We've lived with the inhumanity of the Chinese government for so long (the female infanticide, the Tiananmen Square massacre, the quelled peasant uprisings), and Tibet is of no political-economic significance to us, so why politicize the Olympics?  Because allowing brutal totalitarian rule and inhumane atrocities to go uncondemned adds to the cloud of fear that is seeping into the new international culture.  Evil only prevails when good men do nothing, and so we are contributing to evil if we stand idly by.

Anyone who thinks that the Olympics Games has historically been an oasis from political maneuvering is ignorant of the facts.  Each Olympics in history has had explicit political overtones.  It has always been a competition between countries to see who is the strongest, richest, most influential.  If an athlete wants nothing more than world-class competition s/he can enroll him-/herself in one of the many sport tournaments that are held all over the world, but the moment s/he steps on the world's stage and represents a government it becomes unavoidably political. 

Sometimes, however, much more serious issues are brought to the world's attention through the Games.  The USA strongly considered boycotting the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi-controlled Germany due to the openly racist and militant propaganda ordered by Adolph Hitler himself.  The USA, Canada, China and several other countries boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in protest of the USSR's military occupation and treatment of Afghanistan.  The Russians in turn boycotted the 1984 Summer Games and instead organized their own counter-Games.  Eight years ago Cathy Freeman was given permission to display the Aboriginal flag as a political protest while running in the ceremonial torch relay to protest their mistreatment.  

Such "political" statements are not being tolerated this time around, however.  In Paris, London, San Francisco and other places, both local police and elite Chinese guards have personally escorted each and every runner in this year's torch relay, regularly changing routes unannounced and beating back protesters that have attempted to extinguish the torch and unfurl Tibetan flags in protest of China's nearly 50-year history of oppression and human rights violations in that country.  It was painful to watch American cops literally throw American torch runner Majora Carter into the gutter, interrupting her run, grabbing away the torch and stealing the Tibetan flag she unfurled.  Though her action was identical to Cathy Freeman's she will likely be barred from the games, as will others who dared speak against the host of this year's Games.  China and the other local cooperating authorities defend their actions as efforts to keep the Games free of political interferences. 

But besides numerous examples of past political influences in the Olympics, it was the International Olympic Committee themselves that brought up China's destructive politics in the first place.  Hesitant to offer the Games to China, the IOC made them promise to clean up their human rights record before they were formally announced as the hosts of the 2008 Olympic Games.  Now that China's actions have actually gotten worse, the IOC says it isn't an issue, making their obviously politically-motivated solidarity with China clear:  They are now declaring that civil disobedience in protest of China is "abusing Democratic freedoms." What happened to the so-called Olympic spirit of world freedom and unity?

Anyone who thinks that our nation's relationship with China has been open and friendly is likewise ignorant.  China attacks our national security and interests daily.  They now have nuclear submarines that play strategic war-games with our naval ships, subs that they built with libraries of nuclear technology they stole from us.  Due to their unfriendly trade regulations, their currency continues to rise as ours deflates. They frequently participate in e-espionage attacking Pentagon computers.  They of course condemn our foreign policies in the Middle East, even though the new Iraq's first oil shipment went entirely to China. Politically, militarily, economically, ideologically, China has actively threatened all democratic nations for some time.

Now that China's traditional brutality has progressed to outright genocide of the Tibetan people it's unthinkable anyone would support them.  With the great threat to the free world that China represents, why on earth are some American conservatives actually criticizing pro-Tibetan protesters?  Follow the money.  NBC has invested billions in the Olympics, as have other powerful media groups.  In order to end the decades-long ban on international media presence in Tibet (which China did to mask what was really going on there), the Associated Press had to publish dozens of Chinese-approved talking-points (naturally excluding and criticizing any Tibetan perspective) before China granted them exclusive access to report in Tibet.  (As soon as the pro-democracy civil-disobedience demonstrations recommenced, however, China quickly ushered them out of the country again.)  Coca-Cola, also heavily invested in the Beijing games, had the audacity to say, "It's unfortunate that Ms. Carter used an invitation to participate in the torch relay as a platform to make a personal, political statement." With such strong business opposition to "rocking China's boat," along with fear of China's economic and military power, it is no wonder that our government has remained neutral (if not pro-Chinese) on the issue. You'll be hard pressed to find an op ed in any major media or government organization that condemns China and calls for a free Tibet.  This is the scariest aspect of this silent war: our corporations and leaders are already bought by the enemy.

It is only by overstepping the compromised major media channels through certain independent and international media sources and actual video footage of China's actions posted by individuals on sites like YouTube that we can get an unadulterated look at just exactly what China is doing. Despite the mainstream media's silence, exposés that the Tibet riots were an inside job are pervading the internet, with convincing arguments that Chinese agents instigated the violence. China's intolerance for free speech only accelerates this trend as the Chinese people question their brainwashing government. It was Chinese bloggers who first revealed to the world it was really a Chinese agent dressed up as a Tibetan that attacked the disabled Chinese torch carrier, a video clip that the Chinese media widely circulated as proof of Tibetan terrorism.

China's state-run media's tales of Tibetan violence--"monks pouring boiling lime on police," "monks forcing people to loot stores," "monks burning piles of innocent people into skeletons", "monks trained in guerrilla camps entering Tibet's south border to plan bomb attacks", etc.--are an organized attempt to make the peaceful protesting monks of Tibet sound like the desperate, inhumane terrorists of the Middle East with which we have become so familiar.  China wants us to see Tibet as another Iraq and feel justified with their brutal strikes against its citizens.  For months I've detailed China's ridiculous allegations, which are full of flip-flops, lies, logical fallacies, and emotional propaganda.  China is counting on the vast population inside and out of the U.S. that believes that Bush "duped" us into "the wrong war at the wrong time" to believe it hypocritical for us to condemn China for simply stamping out domestic terrorism when we are doing the same thing. No wonder Bush is reticent to act.

China knows that it doesn't really matter if our war is justified and theirs is not. What matters is the appearance of how brutally we crackdown on the terrorists, setting a precedence for others to do so.  China is attempting to quell the Tibetan independence uprising while at the same time discrediting the United States' anti-terrorist actions by kicking all journalists out of Tibet but their own so that they can lie about the situation and then criticizing anyone who reports whatever they don't like, calling their reports baseless. Then they slaughter hundreds, maybe thousands of innocent monks and their brainwashed people cheer on their war on "terrorism," while they slam western media for cropping an image in a way they don't like.

The atrocities of Nazi Germany and Communist Russia were destructive to humanity is so many ways. In addition to the millions of lives that were lost in wars and executions, the fact that derivitive white supremacy, ethnic cleansing and oppressive communist governments still continue is proof that their totalitarian-communist philosophies continue to haunt and hurt the world. Countries today like Iran and North Vietnam that continue the legacy of Nazi Germany and Bolshevik Russia have been referred to as the "axis of evil" for their current (as well as threatened) oppressive actions. But they are nothing compared to China. China's "People's" government was the true evil empire from the very beginning when Mao killed over 20 million of his own people and
offered 10 million of his women like cattle to Henry Kissinger so that their babies would not be his problem. China's government continues to oppress its billions by keeping all but its party members in poverty and encouraging the slaughter of untold millions of unborn girls in order to raise workers/soldiers. They are the greatest enemies of democracy in the world by far, menacing over the freedom of Hong Kong, murdering patriots in Tibet, harvesting organs from innocent Falon Gong members, killing Vietnamese fisherman and threatening Taiwan. (We can never know the true extent of their evil because so much has been censored.) Their own news agency has stated their reasons for wanting control of Tibet:

Tibet is of strategic import to China not only for its geographical location astride the border with India, Washington's newest anti-China ally in Asia. Tibet is also a treasure of minerals and also oil. Tibet contains some of the world's largest uranium and borax deposits, one half of the world's lithium, the largest copper deposits in Asia, enormous iron deposits, and over 80,000 gold mines. Tibet has large timber reserve. Tibet also contains some of the largest oil reserves in the region.

On the Tibet Autonomous Region's border along the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is also a vast oil and mineral region in the Qaidam Basin, known as a "treasure basin." The Basin has 57 different types of mineral resources with proven reserves including petroleum, natural gas, coal, crude salt, potassium, magnesium, lead, zinc and gold. These mineral resources have a potential economic value of 15 trillion yuan or US$1.8 trillion. Proven reserves of potassium, lithium and crude salt in the basin are the biggest in China. And situated as it is, on the "roof of the world," Tibet is perhaps the world's most valuable water source. Tibet is the source of seven of Asia's greatest rivers which provide water for 2 billion people. He who controls Tibet's water has a mighty powerful geopolitical lever over all Asia.

Source: Chinay Daily

Michael Moore said the American war on terrorism was really just a campaign to instill fear into the American people in order to extend more control over them.  Whether or not that is true, clearly that's the name of the game for China: fear all around.  Their war with us is a war of terror, and our leaders are terrified.  China holds so many of our interests, so much of our economy, and has their hands in so many of our pockets.  It seems that there is little individuals can do in such a vast power-play.  What will it take before you or I boycott anything made in China?  Would it even make a difference?

Just as when USSR oppressed Poland, East Germany and the rest of Eastern Europe, it is our moral duty as the most powerful free nation in the world to again stand as defenders of democracy. China's genocide in Tibet and surrounding Muslim areas, and their war of words against our western media is just the next step in their power-play. In our age of progress to greater democracy and individual ethical responsibilities a global dictatorship must not be tolerated. It's clear that our government won't give us another Reagan any time soon to tear down China's great walls. We have the "straight-lies express" and the empty "hope and change" suit. But we the people of the United States and of the world have what no one had in Reagan's day. And this is the reason why Tibet isn't just another hushed-up Tianenman Square. It's the digital age and our voices count. We the people have the power to find out what is really going on and to organize powerful protests to shake up the powers that be. Though our government may be hesitant to take a stand now, they cannot remain inactive when the majority of the people demand something to be done. Already a coalition ranging from independent conservative Michael Savage to liberal democrat Barack Obama is demanding that China stop their oppression of Tibet. A republic is a government in which the leaders act according to the will of the people. Though China's claim to be a "People's Republic" is obviously false, ours is not. We have the power to change things for the better.

China promised to clean up their human rights record in exchange for hosting the games but it has only gotten worse. The sympathetic government agencies' and International Olympic Committee's Gestapo scare tactics against those who oppose them have made it clear that the Games are nothing more than a coming out party for China's rise to international power. Just like China's population has done for decades, we are supposed to fall in line and cheer the ushering in of the evil empire. However, I do not believe that the true Olympic spirit lies in remaining neutral and letting China have its brutal way with Tibet. The modern Olympic logo consists of five interlocking colored rings, representing the freedom and unity all people of the five continents, over a white field representing the world. The Olympics represent peace and brotherhood, the ability to come as equals and participate in healthy competition. I believe that the true Olympic spirit lies in the few who risk their careers and even lives to stand up for humanity. It lies with those monks who dare peacefully protest for their God-given rights and get tortured and killed as a result. It lies with all people around the world who show their support for Tibet and make it clear to their leaders that this must not be tolerated. Once the United States stands up and protects the pro-Tibetan cause, we will be able to regain our status as champions human rights, putting human lives before dollars and yen, and Chinese people will be able to start breaking loose of their oppressing, brainwashing government. For ourselves and the world community, we will finally be able to break free of the strong distrust and criticism of our government's post-911 anti-terrorism wars and activity. Terrorism in all of its forms must be opposed.

-B