OLYMPICS

China’s Agony of Defeat

It's impossible to understand what the Games mean to the Chinese without understanding their history of humiliation.

By Orville Schell | NEWSWEEK
Published Jul 26, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Aug 4, 2008

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  • Posted By: Taiwan_Go @ 09/12/2008 8:11:29 PM

    Your definition to "domestic" issues in China is too ridiculous. I couldn't help but luaghing at your point of " domestic "issues-Tibet, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. TAIWAN is IN your list? How come? One thing I'd like to clear is that Taiwan is an independent country. Taiwan is NOT a province of China. Taiwanese is belong to Taiwan. We were born in Taiwan and we will die as a TAIWANESE. Taiwanese have our own cultures, languages, president, political system, education system, identity. All of them are totally different from China. From here we can see that you probably failed your geography and history class. So, I feel sorry to your history teacher. That's right I'm a Taiwanese. And I'm proud to be a Taiwanese. And most importantly, Taiwanese have Taiwanese identity. "WE ARE NOT FROM CHINA." That' s what I teach you today. Can Orville Schell get all this TRUTH?

    • Posted By: TamagotchiChick @ 10/06/2008 6:16:33 AM

      Taiwan is clearly not an independent country. There is no Republic of Taiwan. But it is called Republic of China instead. History said that civil war happened between Kuomintang the nationalist and the communist and ended up with the defeat of Kuomintang in 1949, and they were forced to retreat to the south and since then they separated themselves from the mainland. Don't forget that the Republic of China itself was established after the fall of the last Dynasty in China. Taiwan's history has a very tight connection with the mainland. That is something that cannot be denied. Taiwan will remain as a sensitive domestic issue for mainland government to solve. I am very optimistic that reunification of both can happen, when both sides acknowledge their shared past.

  • Posted By: TamagotchiChick @ 10/06/2008 6:14:15 AM

    Taiwan is clearly not an independent country. There is no Republic of Taiwan. But it is called Republic of China instead. History said that civil war happened between Kuomintang the nationalist and the communist and ended up with the defeat of Kuomintang in 1949, and they were forced to retreat to the south and since then they separated themselves from the mainland. Don't forget that the Republic of China itself was established after the fall of the last Dynasty in China. Taiwan's history has a very tight connection with the mainland. That is something that cannot be denied. Taiwan will remain as a sensitive domestic issue for mainland government to solve. I am very optimistic that reunification of both can happen, when both sides acknowledge their shared past.

  • Posted By: Pianoforte @ 10/02/2008 11:12:22 AM

    It is useless to argue the issue about Taiwan's independence. Take a look around the world, and you will never fail to see how many country admit Taiwan's independence from China. Furthermore, see what the United Nation and the United State's conclusion about Taiwan. China is no longer a weak country in this world as it was. In fact, at least economically, without the support of China mainland, Taiwan will turn out to be an isolated island only. Think about it.

  • Posted By: pug_ster @ 08/28/2008 10:19:24 AM

    This article about 'China's Agony of Defeat' is nothing more than Western Propaganda.

  • Posted By: newsworld @ 08/28/2008 3:16:19 AM

    Newsweek, your article failed to explain why Chinese all over the world began protesting against bias western media and it has little to do with exposure to PRC propaganda.

    CNN and other western media (e.g. Germany) altered and falsified photos to superimpose their vision of the Tibetan riots; video evidence taken by foreign tourists of Tibetan rioters beating up Han and Muslim Chinese and burning some of them to death were omitted, the looting and destruction of city infrastructures were intentionally swept under the carpet; Ambulances and medics photographed for saving people's lives were reported by the West to be armor vehicles driven by the army ready to commit genocide; police action to restore LAW and ORDER and protect innocent civilians from more harm suddenly became criminal. Articles written by the West claiming of a resurrection of the 'yellow peril' were rampant (UK); it became popular and acceptable to call the Chinese civilization "thugs and goons". New nationally published Cartoons of the Chinese labelled as the return of the 'yellow peril' were similar to WWII depictions of tiny buck-toothed squinted eye Japanese people.

    Westernized Chinese all over the world (Canada, US, UK, Germany, Australia, ...) suddenly realized that their adopted country's trusted media taught to be most reliable and impartial felt totally betrayed. The closet racists were all welcomed in public. All the pillars of good journalism: Thoroughness, Accuracy, Fairness And Transparency were set aside so that the West could indulge in propagating politically-driven age-old Hate, Racism, and Sinophobia. Western romanticizations of theocratic Tibet, blame on China for the Arabs??? prosecution of Africans in Sudan, environmental concerns...anything that???s not right about China somehow was comparably more evil than anything the West has demonstrated it is capable of: genocidal treatment of North and South American aboriginals, America???s direct support of dictatorships against entire populations desiring socialist reform, the industrial revolution, our consumption habits, Friends with the Saudis, the death penalty, racial profiling, police taser deaths, Iraq, Afghanistan mass civilian bombings, Guantanamo Bay, Torture, ...

  • Posted By: newsworld @ 08/28/2008 3:15:57 AM

    Newsweek, your article failed to explain why Chinese all over the world began protesting against bias western media and it has little to do with exposure to PRC propaganda.

    CNN and other western media (e.g. Germany) altered and falsified photos to superimpose their vision of the Tibetan riots; video evidence taken by foreign tourists of Tibetan rioters beating up Han and Muslim Chinese and burning some of them to death were omitted, the looting and destruction of city infrastructures were intentionally swept under the carpet; Ambulances and medics photographed for saving people's lives were reported by the West to be armor vehicles driven by the army ready to commit genocide; police action to restore LAW and ORDER and protect innocent civilians from more harm suddenly became criminal. Articles written by the West claiming of a resurrection of the 'yellow peril' were rampant (UK); it became popular and acceptable to call the Chinese civilization "thugs and goons". New nationally published Cartoons of the Chinese labelled as the return of the 'yellow peril' were similar to WWII depictions of tiny buck-toothed squinted eye Japanese people.

    Westernized Chinese all over the world (Canada, US, UK, Germany, Australia, ...) suddenly realized that their adopted country's trusted media taught to be most reliable and impartial felt totally betrayed. The closet racists were all welcomed in public. All the pillars of good journalism: Thoroughness, Accuracy, Fairness And Transparency were set aside so that the West could indulge in propagating politically-driven age-old Hate, Racism, and Sinophobia. Western romanticizations of theocratic Tibet, blame on China for the Arabs??? prosecution of Africans in Sudan, environmental concerns...anything that???s not right about China somehow was comparably more evil than anything the West has demonstrated it is capable of: genocidal treatment of North and South American aboriginals, America???s direct support of dictatorships against entire populations desiring socialist reform, the industrial revolution, our consumption habits, Friends with the Saudis, the death penalty, racial profiling, police taser deaths, Iraq, Afghanistan mass civilian bombings, Guantanamo Bay, Torture, ...

  • Posted By: superduper @ 08/07/2008 11:58:28 AM

    From the Onion: "Citing Poor Conditions, China Refuses To Send Delegation To Olympics"

    "When factories have to be shut down for a month beforehand just to clear the air, when automobile traffic is artificially thinned to reduce smog, when thousands of uniformed men have to dredge the river mere days before the regatta, in a city that is supposed to be the pride of a nation and the athletic center of the world for two weeks???disgusting is not too strong a word."

    • Posted By: martialguy @ 08/07/2008 1:19:46 PM

      If you have to cook for a large family, and all you have is wood stove. Would you rather go hungry to breath fresh air?

      • Posted By: irenemorningstar @ 08/07/2008 7:56:34 PM

        Think creatively. Do without the wood stove. Eat healthy Salads:)
        China is way too resourceful. I hope you will enjoy the Olympic opening ceremmony. The stadiums are not to be rivaled.
        Irene Leung from London

        • Posted By: martialguy @ 08/07/2008 10:46:28 PM

          Don't eat an all-salad diet. Not enough calories for... the cold.
          Leaving some of them in the field can be beneficial. With sunlight, they absorb CO2 from the...smog and produce oxygen
          I will enjoy watching this Olympic. The sign of its success is the envy trailing it as shown in this article

    • Posted By: irenemorningstar @ 08/07/2008 8:06:40 PM

      One more example Sir: It took Pittsburg a long time to change its dreary steal town image into the current lovely city with its charming waterways. Disney World was nothing but swamp land before its developments....
      Irene from London

    • Posted By: irenemorningstar @ 08/07/2008 8:02:57 PM

      Superduper, when it comes to Beijing, I do not think your comprehension of this city is that superduper after all. Beijing has not been a "flashy" capital. China's prosperity rests heavily in Shanghai / Xiamen/ Guangzhou. Beijing has been catching up fast however. When Seoul ,Korea was preparing their 1988 Olypmics, similar process needed to be implicated. Once done, the city set a new standard for all its citizens and visitors. It is a irreversible transformation for bettterment of life. If you want to point fingers, just look in some of our U.S. domestic toxic dump sites in New Jersey. What will it take to clean our Garden State up?
      Irene Leung from London

  • Posted By: Sonnie @ 08/07/2008 8:12:08 PM

    It's not humiliation, it's humility ;-)

  • Posted By: martialguy @ 08/07/2008 11:14:50 AM

    Guess who should have the "inferiority complex" in the following events in history:
    * Germany was defeated by the Allies in WW2
    * The Soviet was defeated in Afganistan
    * The French was defeated by Vietnam in 1954 ( Martin Windrow claimed Dien Bien Phu was "the first time that a non-European colonial independence movement had evolved through all the stages from guerrilla bands to a conventionally organized and equipped army able to defeat a modern Western occupier in pitched battle ) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dien_Bien_Phu)
    * In 1257, 1284, and 1287, the Mongol armies of Kublai Khan were repeatedly defeated by Vietnam

    • Posted By: irenemorningstar @ 08/07/2008 8:09:51 PM

      Interesting examples. However the four nations over the course of history were way too full of themselves to be able to feel inferiority complex.
      Irene Leung from London

  • Posted By: superduper @ 08/07/2008 11:57:38 AM

    From the Onion: "Citing Poor Conditions, China Refuses To Send Delegation To Olympics"

    "When factories have to be shut down for a month beforehand just to clear the air, when automobile traffic is artificially thinned to reduce smog, when thousands of uniformed men have to dredge the river mere days before the regatta, in a city that is supposed to be the pride of a nation and the athletic center of the world for two weeks???disgusting is not too strong a word."

  • Posted By: irenemorningstar @ 08/06/2008 5:29:31 AM

    The true Olympic sports events' spirits mean to bring harmony amongst all nations. I was deeply saddened and outraged to read the cover story declaring China's driving force was based on "inferiority complex". The article added more uncalled for, biased, slandering insults to China. Britain's infamous smuggling of opium into china to reap high profits in trading started in the early 1800's.Opium had weakened the entire Chinese military and her people when China fought back. China lost the Opium War to Britain in 1842, that was 155 years ago. Under the unfair "Treaty of Nanking", Hong Kong was ceded and a large amount of indemnities was paid. Since then, total of eight Western powers including the United States got into China and sliced up major cities and ports into colonized districts. Mr Schell , I do not think you would imply that all current world class Chinese Atheletes/ Scientists/ Nobel prize winners all needed the so-called "inferiority complex" as a crutch to climb to their pinnacles of success. To use the Olympic slogan "Agony of Defeat" for China before the games started was truly indecent. China's 2007 national economic growth rate reached 10.9%. And its merchandise exports have raised to $1.2 trillion, currently ranked the world's 2nd largest exporter, surpassing the U.S. and only next to Germany. The sleeping giant is awake now. The least Newsweek can do is to pay this nation an ounce of respect.
    Irene Leung
    Sarasota, FL USA

  • Posted By: irenemorningstar @ 08/06/2008 4:09:38 AM

    Comment by Irene Leung
    Mr Orville Schell, In your article, you mentioned Dr Sun Yut Seen's observation (loosly translated)" Chinese are a heap of loose sand", however this was only HALF of the famous inspriational quote! The complete quote, I am sure you are so familiar with but you selected to delete the other half of the sentence. And that is:" Chinese shines like pearls individually however as a group (sic) due to lack of unity, leadership, the Chinese people as a whole is a heap of loose sand." Growing up with this quote, I focused only on the PEARL word. then bettered myself and China by implementing Western managerial skills and the concept of Western logic to cultivate tens and thousands of people I have touched in China via my business. I demand an aplogy for your purposeful intention to have omitted the second half of this quote and created slandered perceptions to your readers who did not know China the way you do.
    Irene Leung

  • Posted By: irenemorningstar @ 08/06/2008 3:59:53 AM

    To Orville Schell, you have been a very learned critique of China and are a genuine "old China hand". LIke a grandfather, if your children and grandchildren had been humiliated, wouldn't it be only ethical, humane and sensible to encourage them to wipe away the old shames and metamorphosize into a respectable status just to show the world? Instead, you EXPOSED the family's "Hundred Year Shame" (The precise number of years ought to be more than 170 rather than your 100). You omitted MaCau, which was ceded by the Portugese from Tibet Hong Kong and Taiwan. I am surprised as a historian so keen on China, you rambled on with so many misinformation however so very focused to make your points of "Inferiority Complex". I cannnot comprehend what you attempt to do. To make the mostly not as informed world more leary or China? The cover story plus the article painted yet an ugly picture to China. It is okay, Mr. Orvelle Schell. The Chinese will overcome your sticks and stones. I sincerely find your "insider's snippets" as a historian had not informed the readers with the right materials at the right time. Shame on you.
    Irene Leung, Sarasota, FL

  • Posted By: irenemorningstar @ 08/03/2008 10:57:15 PM

    by Irene Leung, Sarasota, FL. irenel@post.com

    The true Olympic sports events??? spirits mean to bring harmony amongst all nations. I was deeply saddened and outraged to read the cover story declaring China???s driving force was based on ???inferiority complex???. The article added more uncalled for, biased, slandering insults to China. Britain???s infamous smuggling of opium into china to reap high profits in trading started in the early 1800???s.Opium had weakened the entire Chinese military and her people when China fought back. China lost the Opium War to Britain in 1842, that was 155 years ago. Under the unfair ???Treaty of Nanking???, Hong Kong was ceded and a large amount of indemnities was paid. Since then, total of eight Western powers including the United States got into China and sliced up major cities and ports into colonized districts. Mr Schell , I do not think you would imply that all current world class Chinese Atheletes/ Scientists/ Nobel prize winners all needed the so-called ???inferiority complex??? as a crutch to climb to their pinnacles of success. To use the Olympic slogan "Agony of Defeat" for China before the games started was truly indecent. China???s 2007 national economic growth rate reached 10.9%. And its merchandise exports have raised to $1.2 trillion, currently ranked the world???s 2nd largest exporter, surpassing the U.S. and only next to Germany. The sleeping giant is awake now. The least Newsweek can do is to pay this nation an ounce of respect.

    Irene Leung

    Sarasota, FL USA

    • Posted By: DWPitts @ 08/04/2008 8:44:17 PM

      The Agony of Defeat is not an Olympic slogan Irene. It was the old tag line from ABC's Wild World of Sports. The whole tag was "The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat", and it was not meant as an insult to the losers of sporting events. It reflected more on the human spirit as being able to dust oneself off and continue, in spite of, either winning or losing. It was reflective of the spirit being greater than the outcome of a mere sporting event.

      For reference, you can see this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinko_Bogataj

      In recent Olympic memories, who could forget Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards. He had absolutely no chance of "winning" (he was a British ski jumper), yet, he won something far greater, as he continued in spite of everything against him (he won no medals). This is what the author was attempting to get at, at least from what I read, not that China is a 2nd rate nation, as many here have apparently misinterpreted.

      The juxtaposition of an old, out of date, United States sports television program onto and paralleling Chinese history perhaps isn???t such a smart literary device. However, I do not think the author???s intention was malicious, at least to a degree, warranting the hostile and vindictive statements being made within this discussion.

      I do appreciate the points you made about the Unequal Treaties of the mid 1800s (Nanking was the first in a series). Events surrounding those treaties still have an impact on the modern world. One cannot read of their history, without realizing that Shanghai was once the epicenter of global capitalism. The buildings are still standing, but apparently, the memories have long since faded....

      • Posted By: irenemorningstar @ 08/06/2008 3:36:46 AM

        DWPitts, Thank you for clarigying the origin of the phrase of "The Agony of Defeat". Regardless, China, a nation war torn, ravaged, then divvied up geographically by Western Impererialists in the 1800's, then ffurther plunged into self destruction by The Boxer Rebellion, the warlords, the Japanese's slaughter during WW II and then China's own genicide by the Communist Red Guards, has finally reached the point to have reached and crossed over a very pivotal hurdle with rapid technological growth / with www Internet osmosis that enable extradinarily positive changes to progressive modern thought process individually and in private business sectors to have made so many breakthroughs. Any Chinese national, any overseas Chinsese Diaposa and Chinese support "friends", ought to be extra sensitive about bringing the bloody history. Would anyone i.e."attack" Poland or Armenia, only because is has a long sad history? No of course. If Poland or Armenia were to host the Olympics, would then "inferiority complex" and the "Agony of Defeat" be mentioned? I truly find the angles to aim at the former and the usage of the latter were utterly shockingly cruel and humiliating. How many more millennims would China need to bear these crosses? At the dawn of the 2008 Olympics, I feel that the world ought to be encuarged to take a new look at the reformed China, rather than being fed a whold bunch of sad history and its impact for its people who need to erase and rise above the ashes.
        Sincerely
        Irene Leung, Sarasota. FL

    • Posted By: martialguy @ 08/04/2008 6:54:02 AM

      The article's author wants to look to history for comfort, but totally ignores the fact of history that China had been a superpower for thousands of years.
      History aside, according to CIA's the World Facts' Book ( https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html), China's export in 2007 was 1.217 trillion, while the USA's export in 2007 was 1.149 trillion

  • Posted By: Vivian Brown @ 08/05/2008 2:20:58 PM

    I am searching, apparently in vain, for an apology from Newsweek for slamming Robert Novak in The Dignity Index in the August 4 issue. I was sure it went to press before he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and just as sure that an apology would appear the next week. Utterly shameless, Newsweek.

  • Posted By: irenemorningstar @ 08/03/2008 10:55:23 PM


    The true Olympic sports events??? spirits mean to bring harmony amongst all nations. I was deeply saddened and outraged to read the cover story declaring China???s driving force was based on ???inferiority complex???. The article added more uncalled for, biased, slandering insults to China. Britain???s infamous smuggling of opium into china to reap high profits in trading started in the early 1800???s.Opium had weakened the entire Chinese military and her people when China fought back. China lost the Opium War to Britain in 1842, that was 155 years ago. Under the unfair ???Treaty of Nanking???, Hong Kong was ceded and a large amount of indemnities was paid. Since then, total of eight Western powers including the United States got into China and sliced up major cities and ports into colonized districts. Mr Schell , I do not think you would imply that all current world class Chinese Atheletes/ Scientists/ Nobel prize winners all needed the so-called ???inferiority complex??? as a crutch to climb to their pinnacles of success. To use the Olympic slogan "Agony of Defeat" for China before the games started was truly indecent. China???s 2007 national economic growth rate reached 10.9%. And its merchandise exports have raised to $1.2 trillion, currently ranked the world???s 2nd largest exporter, surpassing the U.S. and only next to Germany. The sleeping giant is awake now. The least Newsweek can do is to pay this nation an ounce of respect.

    Irene Leung

    Sarasota, FL USA

  • Posted By: chongyeeyap @ 08/02/2008 10:41:11 AM

    I totally endorse the opinion of Mr Gundam; but a few of my posts were not accepted, but that is OK.The difference between the USA & European democracies and the Asian model (which I will call the CVonfucian model) are wqorlds apart. The west & USA tout their model of democracy as the one size fits all. This is American bullshit because the peoples of the world are as ddifferent as cheese and chalk. An Indian is different from a Chinese; while the Indians & the west will identify India as a democracy, but in truth Indian democracy can striped down to just one wrod, India is desceribed as a democracy because India holds ELECTION. Is that not all that is Indian democracy. Do you think that India practise equality of opportunity; that all men are born equal ? That is what the USA & the west believe of India, but that is a lie. Is the dalit the equal to a Brahmin ? Is ther equality of opportunity in India, that will be another lie becase all the good jobs and places in Universities and colleges are reserved exclusively for the HIGH CASTE INDIANS.

    The People's Republic of China gives everybody a fair chance based on merit; and men are equal to men. I think Mr Gundam has already listed what is right with China and Confucian nation like Singapore. I will cite Malaysia as an example of a so called democracy that is everything that is not a democracy but in name only. The judiciary is totally and openly corrupt and the judiciary does not care that the people know that they do not enforce the LAW as would a common Law democracy ought to. Elections are a total fraud and the people and government know that the people know that the government grab elections by fraud. Right at this very moment the leader of our Opposition has been outrageously framed for committing sodomy and the police reports were concealed from the accused person. There were two doctors' report, one showing there is absolutely no evidence of sodomy while the second was obtained by the police investigating the sodomy report BY COERCION compelling the doctor to contradict the first report that says there was no evidence of sodomy committed; these two reports contradicting each other can be proven to be so. This is the democracy that has passed muster by the USA and accepted as a democracy because they hold fraudulent election.

    It is unacceptable by Asians in general and much detested by us for external forces to interfere in our internal affairs, but the USA & the west make their business to do what we detest the most. If only the USA & the west will leave us to do our own thing the USA will be more acceptable in Asia.

    • Posted By: DWPitts @ 08/02/2008 12:42:30 PM

      Hi Chong,

      Thought of you this morning when doing my daily reading. The author has had an influence all over the world, not just in Asia.

      ====

      It is said in the Book of Poetry, "The hawk flies up to heaven;
      the fishes leap in the deep." This expresses how this way is seen
      above and below.

      The way of the superior man may be found, in its simple elements, in
      the intercourse of common men and women; but in its utmost reaches, it
      shines brightly through Heaven and earth.

      The Master said "The path is not far from man. When men try to
      pursue a course, which is far from the common indications of
      consciousness, this course cannot be considered The Path.

      "In the Book of Poetry, it is said, 'In hewing an ax handle, the pattern is not far off. We grasp one ax handle to hew the other; and yet, if we look askance from the one to the other, we may consider them as apart. Therefore, the superior man governs men, according to their nature, with what is proper to them, and as soon as they change what is wrong, he stops.

      "When one cultivates to the utmost the principles of his nature, and
      exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, he is not far from the
      path. What you do not like when done to yourself, do not do to others.

      ====

      I have found this passage to be a very good filter for looking at both the myriad differences and similarities in people and structures around the world. Any movement that would change peoples essential nature, is destinied for hardship and misery, as the strain cannot be maintained over generations.

      And just as the hawk and the fish have different goals, in the end, they are the same (in the deisre to live life as intended by their nature).

      The examples you have given, are all examples of certain people and governments going to far in their demands to change the course of common men and women. But in corallary, such agents, are not broadly representative of the general population of people living at a specific geography.

      Have a good one. Gotta run. (quote is from Doctrine of the Mean)

  • Posted By: tdwatkins @ 08/02/2008 12:28:10 PM

    I suspect it???s the Uighurs the world will be hearing more about in the future. I hope for the sake of the Chinese, Uighurs and all of humanity we do not hear of the Uighurs around conflict, terror and bloodshed ??? yet, I further suspect we will in one fashion or another.

    Many call the Uighurs the Tibetans??? Muslims. The Uighurs, like the Buddhist Tibetans, are asking for more accommodations for their disparate culture and beliefs. The Chinese will respond that many Uighurs are a terrorist faction in bed with al-Qaeda and bent on violent separatist activities. There is fear that Uighurs are planning on disrupting the Beijing Olympics to begin on ba-ba-ling ba, or 8-8-08, to gain notoriety for ???their cause.???

    There have been historical crackdowns on the Uighurs that have been stepped up since 9-11. Many believe the Chinese have used the ???international war on terror??? as justification to tighten the grip on the Uighur people. Human rights groups contend the Chinese government exaggerates Uighur terrorist threats so it can clamp down on the Uighurs and arrest and torture those they suspect of being dissidents.

    Like the Tibetans, the Uighurs believe the Chinese government has instituted cultural genocide against them. The Chinese would respond by claiming that after the 1949 liberation, old feudal religious habits and privileges were abolished and they have removed the control of the ???reactionary ruling class??? while today the Uighur people enjoy a higher standard of living and more economic opportunities. The Chinese Government sees some Uighurs as terrorists espousing separatist ideology linked with the larger Islamic Jihadist goal to overthrow existing governments and install a religious theocracy. They claim it is for these reasons China must clamp down.

    Given these extreme views between the ethnic minority Uighurs and the Chinese government it is just a matter of time before the scab will be removed and the internal Chinese festering sore will come into full view. When the scab is removed, it is likely to be ugly and difficult for the world to ignore. Will the cause be seen as oppression, cultural genocide, employment and economic deprivation as charged by the Uighurs; terrorist attacks of a people longing for independence; or linked to al-Qaeda or Muslim extremists as an act of civil war against the Chinese government?

    The Chinese have vowed to never again be splintered by external or internal forces. These realities dictate that we will be hearing more about the Tibetans and Uighurs in the future.

    .

  • Posted By: chongyeeyap @ 08/02/2008 11:50:57 AM

    Do remember that if diiots run a democracy, they will only be capable of making idiotic decisions. DEMOCRACY DOES NOT MAKE AN IDIOT INTO A WISE MAN.

    Democcracy is nothing but an empty vessel. It will be as good as the men that run it. At least socialism with Chinese characteristics has made the People's Republic of China a major player on the world stage.

  • Posted By: oohkuchi @ 08/01/2008 6:02:39 PM

    Yesterday China ran its first bullet train, joining the handful of countries that have mastered the technology. This week, too, it was reported that Shenzhen ???legalized??? its 12 million migrant workers, a significant step towards ending a major injustice. A step forward. But what people read about in the west this week was Internet blocks and an Amnesty International report, which Western news organizations treated, as usual, like hungry circus seals getting their kippers???honking, dribbling, unquestioningly regurgitating. They never check or challenge anything Amnesty says.

    Bad news is all they want, and the sexiest bad news at the moment comes out of China. On June 29, the IHT (alone) reported that more than 30 people were killed when police fired into crowds of protestors in a major outbreak of unrest. You didn???t see this on CNN or the BBC because it happened in India, not China, and the victims were Gujjars, not Tibetans. Nor do westerners ever hear much about the open sore of caste, which condemns tens of millions of Indians to squalor and suffering. China doesn???t have caste. It???s an egalitarian society. Boring. One journalist in China gets unjustly banged up for a month, and it???s front page news. Ten dalits lynched and burnt to death in UP???another day at the office.

    It isn???t that the western media lie about China. It???s just so many (Newsweek is fairer) are so absurdly one-sided in their coverage, so obsessed with human rights that they are unable to view the country in any other terms. They, more than the Chinese, are the ones who are blinded by propaganda, the propaganda of democratic fundamentalism. They are the ones who keep on missing the big picture as they line up to interview the latest star dissident that nobody in China cares about. Like it or not, the CPC is now arguably the second most important organization in the world, but I cannot think of a single western journo capable of writing authoritatively about it, who has personal experience of it, good contacts within it, who really knows how it works. Lacking these insights, western media crank the same formula story over and over--do a few ???nice??? paras at the top, and then, about halfway down, get stuck in with the ???buts??????corruption, pollution, the dissident quotes, the rest of it???that make up the meat of the story. I have no love for China???s propaganda machinery, but to understand what is happening there you simply have to read the China Daily, because western coverage is so poor.

    • Posted By: Gundam @ 08/02/2008 7:20:24 AM

      I agree completely wid oohkuchis' comments. Very well said. As I typed on my previous comments, the thing that irked most Chinese (asians in general actually) is the bias reporting by big western news networks like CNN. Instead of being a professional and objective source of information CNN and BBC seems to be one big propaganda machines of Western Countries. To be fair tho BBC is much farier than CNN. In this day and age it really does not matter as much wat kind of gov't a country has. What matters more is who is at the helm. Democracy may be an ideal gov't to have but if u have corrupt and bad leaders it will do u no good compared to dictatorship under a wise leader. Case in point is Singapore under Lee Kan Yew. Singapore was the most heavy-handed dictatorship during its early years but look where it is now. Contrast that to alot of so-called American democracy in Southeast asia where corruption and abuse is common. Democracy,tho the best one to have, is not the be-all end-all solution that western gov't espouses it to be. Democracy did not enable the Indian gov't to abolish slavery and the caste system, Yet Western Rights grp does not seem to mind or make a fuss about it. In China during the revolution Mao Ze Dong immediately declared women and men equal. Everything else Mao did tho i hate lol. Todays Tycoons in China are ppl who was once very poor. You dont have that much social mobility in India if u belong to the slave caste. You just stay a slave. Yet Western Media always criticizes China for repressing its ppl lol. Alot of countries in the world is proof that just because it does not have the exact democratic model of gov't with the west does not mean its a tyrant and evil. Just as every parents in the whole world has his/her own way of raising their child. Each country and culture has their own way of doing things. Democracy is such a wonderful concept. Its sad that it is being used by individuals or countries as a means to further their self-interest instead of promoting wat it really means which includes respect for others to be heard and understanding.

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