Rewriting history
It was only a couple of short years ago that Chinese people smashed Japanese businesses in Shanghai and marched on the embassy in Beijing over former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine and the use of school history textbooks that Chinese people felt washed over Japanese atrocities during World War II.
Well, how the tables have turned. While we know certain facets of Chinese history (ahem... like a little demonstration in a big square in 1989) are omitted from local history textbooks, the Chinese government is taking it one step further.
China is getting ready to open a museum on Tibetan history, and one in which the Dalai Lama will be edited out:
"He will not appear after 1959," said Lian Xiangmin, a Chinese scholar involved in the museum, referring to the year the Tibetan spiritual leader fled to India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. "This is a Tibet museum, and we don't recognize him as part of Tibet anymore."
The problem with this, of course, is China's version of "history" and "reality" are becoming far more distant and isolated from the rest of the world. And that leads to misunderstandings like we're witnessing now.
(Photo of Chairman Mao with the Dalai Lama (right) and Panchen Lama from the New York Times)
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This is how dalai's speaker explain the violence in Tibet riot.
记者：就以上一系列问题我们采访了“西藏流亡政府”中国事务负责人达瓦才仁，达瓦才仁先生你好！中国官方多次对dl喇嘛的非暴力主张提出质问，并且提问说，如果dl真的主张非暴力，那他为什么没有对“3。14”在西藏发生的藏人屠杀汉人的残暴行为做出谴责？
达瓦才仁：
首先必须要声明的是，藏人从头到尾使用的是非暴力，从藏人的角度来讲，暴力指的是对生命的伤害。（从头到尾藏人）从镜头里可以看打汉人，但都是打而已，打完以后那些汉人都会跑掉，仅仅是殴打，而不是伤害生命。那么那么那些被杀的人全部都是出于意外，从中共的报道里面都可以非常清楚的看到，他们（汉人）都是在藏人砸门的时候，跑到楼上躲起来，躲起来藏人放火烧的时候，他们都没有逃跑，而是藏起来，结果后来就意外的烧死了，而那些点火、放火的人他们根本不知道楼上有汉人躲藏。所以被烧死的人不仅有汉人，也有藏人，所以这些事情都是一种意外，不是屠杀。
The interview was conducted by Radio French International in Chinese, this is the English script:
Q: The Chinese government on numerous occasions has questioned Dalai Lama's position on non-violence, and asked that if Dalai Lama truly advocates non-violence, why has he not condemned the cruel acts of murdering the Han Chinese committed by the Tibetan rioters during the March 14, 2008 riots in Tibet?
A: First of all, I must make it clear that the Tibetan (rioters) has been non-violent throughout (the incident). From Tibetans' perspective, violence means harming life. From the video recordings you can see that (the Tibetans rioters) were beating Han Chinese, but only beating took place. After the beating the Han Chinese were free to flee. Therefore (there were) only beating, no life was harmed. Those who were killed were all results of accidents. From recordings shown by the Chinese Communist government, we can clearly see that when Tibetan (rioters) were beating on their doors, the Han Chinese all went into hiding upstairs. When the Tibetan (rioters) set fire to the buildings, the Han Chinese remained in hiding instead of escaping, the result is that these Han Chinese were all accidentally burnt to death. Those (Tibetans) who set and spread the fire, on the other hand, had no idea whatsoever that there were Han Chinese hiding upstairs. Therefore not only were Han Chinese burnt to death, some Tibetans were burnt to death too. Therefore all these incidents were manslaughter, not murder.
I think the interviewee Dawa Tsering,China Affairs Officer of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, would agree that if those mob with sharp knives were instructed to beat up the ethnic Hans with the sheathes instead of stabbing them with the blades,it would be much more humane and just.
I stand corrected, Dawa Tsering is not DL's speaker, but China Affairs Officer of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.
Real reason behind Tibet trouble:
http://www.revcom.us/a/125/tibet-background-en.html
Communism liberated Tibetan slaves to equality to love for Mao to marginized Dalai and peace.
Recent Capitalism to gap between rich and poor to poor Tibetans to anger at wealthy dominating Han to revived leadership of Dalia to unrest to.....
http://www.amazon.com/Bell-Curve-Intelligence-Structure-Paperbacks/dp/0684824299
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_the_Wealth_of_Nations
As long as there is competition, there always are winner and losers. With IQ difference between Han and other ethnic minorities, the result is predictable.
To achieve true peace, you need to go back Mao's equality, but poor.
To achieve wealth, you need to be competitive, but inequality with trouble.
Since no one should criticize China ever, unless he/she is perfect, and that Chinese government is the only authoritative interpreter of Chinese history, we must all support the Chinese government's effort in presenting the "true" Tibetan history. Who are we westerners to know anything about history, the study of history, etc, especially when it is applied to China. Chinese history has always been written by the winner, the one with power and authority to write them. Therefore, history written by the current Chinese government will be totally unbiased and truthful.
Pierre, in his most ironic tone has presented his flawless argument that nobody can ever refut.
Yet, the greatest irony is that, there's actually a sense of truth in his ironic statement. "The history is written by the winner". not just the Chinese history. Currently, the freedom fighters, the democratic leaders are fighting to implement their ideology, simply cos they're the winners. Well, a few years down the road, maybe when the ideology changes to another type, the type that seems to benefit their political agenda more, even if it's Neo-Communism or something fancy (whichever way they'd like to market it), they'll start 'civilising' the rest of the world that didn't practise that ideology.
It's all about power isn't it in the end? Everyone's acting in the way that benefits himself. Altruism is probably just another mask worn by hypocrisy and sanctimony.