Showing posts with label Tibetan demonstrations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tibetan demonstrations. Show all posts

Friday, March 21, 2008

Now Begins the Silence?





Like you, I've been following the news from Tibet with a very heavy heart, with much anxiety. Of course I'm mainly disturbed by the unfolding events, but another part of the reason for my distress is seeing the press distortions. The "spin" as it's called. It is supremely disheartening to see the reports that deny ordinary Tibetan people any local agency, the ones that refuse to see how people power can rise up and move mountains. That's right. Our minds are not in the control of those purportedly ruling over us, even when governments may attempt to limit our powers of expression. This is something we all know. Sometimes we need reminding.

I've been too busy following what people are writing (not to mention the photos and videos) that I haven't had a chance to write much of anything myself.

I never thought of Tibeto-logic as a current news site or an editorial page. It's supposed to be about human culture and its history, not politics.  Not really.

But today I'd like to steer you toward reading what I believe is a very significant story that you may have otherwise overlooked.  In most recent news we hear of huge convoys of elite paramilitary (probably PLA) troops headed for the Tibetan plateau.  Now it's been reported that the last two remaining foreign journalists have been forcibly evicted from Tibetan inhabited territories.

A story I just read helps explain why we may not be getting much news in coming days that has much to do with what is actually going on.  Or most of the stories will be about the lack of reliable information, about the frustration of the news people.

Read it, weep, and understand something about the nature of repression in a country that lacks several basic human freedoms, fair trials, freedom of expression, the ability to receive accurate information. Weep for Tibetans. Weep for Chinese. I'm thinking today would be a good day to curse the whole damned world we live in, perhaps curse ourselves for quite apparently wasting our feeble lives in unsuccessful efforts to make it better, more truth-full, more just, more equitable, more compassionate. Weep for us all. Just don't waste any more time weeping for yourself and your own personal concerns.

Authorities obstruct foreign journalists, step up controls and propaganda in Tibet


Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the methods being used by the Chinese authorities to obstruct foreign journalists trying to cover the situation in the Tibetan regions, and calls for the immediate and unconditional return of the foreign press to Tibet and to nearby provinces with a sizable Tibetan population.


Please do not hesitate to go to the full story by pressing firmly on this word.

 
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