Dear friends,

As triggered by the protest during the Olympic torch relay in Paris, London and San Fransisco, the world is suddenly becoming polarized about China's human rights record.  There are very angry people on both sides of the argument (majority of Chinese on one side and a significant number of people in the West on the other side). This is very unfortunate as many of us believe that the recent attack on China was the results of manipulation by some groups who are cleverly still hiding behind the scene, and long-time lack of understanding in the West of what's happening in China. Hopefully the following email and attachments written by some individuals in the West but with perspectives different than that promoted by the general media can provide an opportunity for people to think more objectively.

Please do something to minimize the emerging conflict in the world, please forward this email to as many people as you can.  Thanks.

Best Regards,

Ray

Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:46:49 -0400 (EDT)

Subject: FW: What happened with Tibet and Beijing Olympic?

Hi,

I am forwarding this on behalf of a good friend of mine. He is a Chinese-Canadian who for many years has lived and worked in Canada, of which he calls "an example of how a global village supposed to be". Just like you and me, he is a peace-loving fellow citizen that earns a living and pays his dues to society; he is not a politician or someone that has been paid to do what he is doing now. I know that because of the tears in his eyes that he was trying to stop, and the anger that I could feel from his heart that he was trying not to show. I also know his mind is set in stepping into something that he has not done in his life: to speak out and tell people in the West the other pieces of what is happening, with a perspective that you and I might have not heard before.

I decided to help him to spread his information. I think everyone, who are believers in democracy, fairness and truth, should stop and listen to the view of him and that of people living outside US, EU, Canada and Australia (which is, by the way, at least 851206f the world population!). If you want to help them to break the blockage of news by the popular western media, please pass the following message and sources of information on to three or more of your friends.  Thank you!

This is the message from him:    

Dear friends,

If you live in the USA, one of the EU countries, Canada, or Australia, you may not be aware of the recent development that Chinese, almost all of them without exceptions, everywhere in China and in the rest of the world, are sadly troubled by what is being portrayed in the Tibet and Beijing Olympic-related news reported by the western mainstream media. Our anger and protests to the prejudice shown by the media and some politicians/people in the West, including large-scale demonstrations in many cities in the world denouncing the current campaign against China, are being ignored or only inappropriately and indifferently mentioned by the mainstream media in the West.

Many Chinese including myself are very proud and excited about the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games. With the opening-up of China, the standard of living of the people in China has raised significantly in the past 30 years. The Chinese enjoy much greater freedom in speech, culture, work, politics and many other aspects in life today.  For example, newly emerging free discussions on Chinese Internet has been instrumental in shaping some of recent Chinese government actions including its response to the slandering by CNN and some western media.  This could well be the beginning of a new form of democracy in the world, as we are entering the information-age in this century. However, the Chinese understand and expect that there is much more to be done and improved in their country.  When athletes from all over the world are gathering for the Olympics this August, we would like to take the opportunity to showcase what we have achieved so far, to demonstrate what we can contribute to the world and to cultivate friendship among our young people. All of these will create better communication between Chinese and people in the other countries so we can learn more from the world to continue improving our country.

Like many people in the West, most Chinese people are disturbed by the recent events in Tibet. But after watching the scenes of violence and arson by the rioters, the Chinese believe that their government is doing the right thing to restore order. What the Chinese government has done is not more than what any responsible government should be doing in handling a situation like the 2005 civil unrest in France or the Los Angeles riots of 1992. But clearly this is not what is depicted by the western mainstream media in the past few weeks.

However, we believe, if you are presented with facts, additional information and other perspectives, you will take all information into account, establish your own judgment, and perhaps do more researching on your own.  That is what we would like you to do, just listen to some other sources of information that you may have not known before, starting with the attached article “Why Washington Plays ‘Tibet Roulette’ with China”, written by William Engdahl, who is the author of a book that you may have read, “A Century of War”.

Some people feel that their culture and political system are superior and should be adopted by others, and they also think that any different points of view are the result of brainwashing by a government or a party. Contrary to this, Chinese including those in China do have the capability in forming their own opinion.  Majority of them are interested in understanding events in the world, and begin to develop appreciation for which of the things in the outside world is good for them. We want greater freedom and more individual rights, but we know this cannot be achieved over-night, and should not be done at the expense of the collective rights. This may be different than what people could accept in the West, but it is part of our life philosophy.

Due to the stigma of foreign imperialism in the past, the Chinese people do not want their domestic policies to be dictated or monitored by outside powers. There are probably two significant achievements related to human rights that the Chinese have made in the past 50 years. The first one is that all Chinese people can now be the master of their own country.  You will not able to find a sign in China today similar to that posted in front of park-gates in foreign concession areas in Shanghai in the 1940’s, forbidding Chinese and dogs entering the parks.  The second achievement is the elimination of probably the world’s last slavery system under the Lamaist state in Tibet, controlled by the Dalai Lama with the support of British imperialists before 1951.

For decades, anti-China human rights groups in the West have spent millions of dollars denouncing China. To many Chinese, it seems that this lobbying is the only voice that's acceptable or newsworthy by the mainstream media and governments in the West. But times are changing: we need to be open-minded and objective. The recent well-organized and funded sabotages of the Olympic torch relay in Paris, London and San Francisco (and not in other cities) and their aftermath have sparked a confrontation between the very angry Chinese all over the world and some people in the West who now feel that China is No.1 threat to the world’s peace. Many of these people are belong to our younger generations. These young people will soon replace us to manage the affairs in the world. Do we want them to continue moving toward the two extreme ends of a polarized world in the future? It is especially more important that we show them how to be open-minded, objective and fair.  Let's help our children enjoy a better world of peace and harmony in the 21st century - it is our moral responsibility!  If you agree with me, please forward this message and the attachment to at least three of your friends or colleagues, so they can also think over this matter.

    Thank you.

    GLH

This is the article that he mentioned in the message:

      (first attachment)

More background on and similar view from William Engdahl can be found on this site: http://www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net/index.html

If you interested in reading books presenting Tibet-related background material with perspectives (not necessarily Chinese) that is not mentioned by the media, here are some that I found:

http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/2403.php http://www.historycooperative.org/cgi-bin/justtop.cgi?act=justtop&url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/90.1/br_107.html

Some articles also with different perspectives:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8731

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/ausland/artikel/921/169428/

(in German, written by a former German Ambassador to China)

Here is one article criticizing some Hollywood movies related to Tibet:  (second attachment)

Cheers,