Comments on: Let’s Get Past the China Monolith Narrative

By: What Tibet and Carrefour Can Teach Us About the Chinese Internet | The China Vortex

Fri, 09 May 2008 05:00:00 +0000

[...] have nothing to do with each other, organize in large numbers so quickly in a society which many westerners see as authoritarian? Are they government-led or influenced, or do they do it themselves? How do they come to believe [...]

By: Will Lewis

Will Lewis — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:43:24 +0000

This is the trouble with government conspiracy theories. They imply a level of secrecy, coordination, cooperation and intelligence which are almost impossible to find in any government.

Agreed. I remember the good ‘ole days, or at least what my grandpa tells me of them, when people made fun of the government for its perplexing ineptness rather than its extreme planning and intelligence. The inefficiencies are often so startling that they seem they could not but be the result of conspiracy, but hey, it’s government work.

By: Carl

Carl — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:13:02 +0000

@ Dave Nielsen

What’s China’s excuse?

Perhaps they are just learning from how America deals with Iraq?

By: Tibet » Let’s Get Past the China Monolith Narrative

Tibet » Let’s Get Past the China Monolith Narrative — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 06:11:51 +0000

[...] admin wrote an interesting post today on Letâ��s Get Past the China Monolith NarrativeHere’s a quick excerpt… and even to travel (with some restrictions) outside of China. Politics has taken a back seat, and most care more about their grocery bills (which have been rising precipitously) than what is going on in Tibet and adjacent regions. … [...]

By: Dave Nielsen

Dave Nielsen — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:56:46 +0000

Most of us westerners don’t think the Chinese government is all powerful and all-knowing. Quite the opposite. Just as the top-down, communist style of the Soviet Union couldn’t control its economic resources efficiently, the Chinese government isn’t able to control its inhabitants various world views.

We Americans have made many mistakes, such as slavery as you have mentioned. You could also have mentioned our treatment of Native Americans. Both are examples of undeserved evil perpetrated on people who could not defend themselves. But that was 120 years ago and we know better now.

So what is China’s excuse? Certainly as an enlightened society, it should know that it cannot tell its inhabitants how to think. Should it tell the Tibetan people how to practice religion? Any country that cannot give its inhabitants basic freedoms such as these shows its weakness and is bound to falter. And the sooner China demands its rightful place as an actor on the world stage, the more these warts will show. The protests over the 2008 Olympics are only one example.

For the sake of all Chinese people, I hope the Tibetans are given the freedom to practice their religion and keep their cultural heritage intact. For as the Tibetans go, so do all minority groups in China.

Note: I have and will continue to enjoy your column. It is the best at representing both opportunities and challenges facing China that I have found.