Trading with tyrants

In the US and in the UK and Europe, we have all been enjoying the effects of a liberalised Chinese Economy, cheap goods from china now proliferate the shelves of most shops. It is in fact the economic boom in China that has funded the American economy, including tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As America needs to borrow more, don’t forget it has a borrowing requirement of three trillion dollars and the whole of the annual tax revenue goes to pay for the tiny federal Medical Care system, most of that borrowing has to come from China.

Thus at first glance it appears odd that America should be playing host to the Dalai Lama, something that the Chinese government have criticised for happening. The spiritual leader of Tibet, who has to live in exile, will meet with president Bush, when the Dalai Lama will receives the Congressional Gold on Wednesday.

The BBC Story

Tibet was annexed by china in the 1950s and has occupied it ever since. Moving ethnic Chinese to the territory and repressing the native population. Well it represses its own population too, but that’s a whole other story.

Because of the economic links with China it seems odd for the Bush administration to risk upsetting the Chinese, but the links are a two way street, and China needs the American government to keep on borrowing from them to fuel its expanding economy. Without the US borrowing so much the rate of expansion of the Chinese economy would be less than a tenth of what it is now. Therefore beyond a bit of posturing nothing will happen that will really do anything to help Tibet, its people or even the Chinese people.

Therefore, buying Chinese goods keeps Tibet repressed, it helps prolong the war in Iraq, and more importantly it is helping to turn China into a global super power. One day we will learn not to trade with repressive regimes and more importantly stop allowing them to develop into global threats.

Further Reading

Burma

It was this issue that spurred me on to creating this on line journal more than any other story in the news. For years I have despaired at the fact that any country could have a craving for freedom yet have their rights so repressed. However it’s the fact that unlike so many other conflicts or disputes around the world, here the protestors have always been peaceful.

The greatest mistake that most groups or organisations make when calling for democracy or freedom is to use violence. No matter how noble the cause is, as soon as violence is used in or for that struggle towards freedom, they loose the support of so many people around the world. Also, it provides governments across the globe the excuse for doing nothing, as they can then argue that the protestors used criminality to provoke a reaction from whatever regime it is. However, here in Burma the protests were and always have been peaceful. The only real violence has been from a military dictatorship that has used its troops to kill its own people.

While the situation in Burma is no longer on the front pages, the repression still continues and the people who lined the streets and just clapped as the Monks walked past are being arrested, beaten and tortured.

We cannot allow yesterdays news to be forgotten, the last time there was a substantial call for freedom in Burma, and it ended with three thousand civilians being shot dead. This was not in one single event, but spread out over an eight-month period as troops went around liquidating opposition.

Even the thought of that makes me shudder, and can you imagine what it must be like to live in a country where just by speaking out against your government, you risk being murdered? That demonstrates the bravery of the monks that took to the streets in Rangoon, we owe them our support.

The Free Burma Campaign can be found at:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk

A Spectator on the HUMAN RACE

For some time now I have felt that my other environmental on line journal did not allow me the scope to comment on all that was going on in the world. This is partly because I do try to keep that one focused upon the positive side of practical conservation work and my observations of the wildlife within my own little patch of the countryside. However, my concerns and interests extend far beyond what is happening in conservation and to the environment, as while we all have to learn to share our planet with the natural flora and fauna, ultimately it is how we share the planet with our own species that is vital.

Ever since I was a child I have despaired at the wars, the killings and the cruelty of man. I even drew a map of the world that I could stick pins in so that I could see, visually, where all these wars and conflicts were. I was only about ten when I did this, and while I am in my forties now, I can see even more cruelty and conflict in the world. The difference is that I now see what’s going on in the world much more clearly than I did when I was a child. While I know that had the internet existed when I was using pins in a map to try to understand what was happening I would have been utilising the web to garner information I doubt that anything I said or wrote then would have changed anything.

However, the internet has and does provide a clear open window on what’s going on in the world, and unlike the periods in recent history where dictators and despots could conceal the truth from the wider world, the technology now means that repression can be exposed.

As the readers of my other Blog will know, I moved to blogger.com after discovering that Yahoo in China had directly aided the Chinese authorities in helping to arrest dissidents in china. This included a Journalist who was just trying to find out the truth on a particular story, and is now serving a ten-year sentence.

I have no idea if anyone will read this Blog, nor if it will do anything to help change the world for the better, but even if it only records the depravity of the Human Race, then so be it.