Imagethief

Doht! I can't believe they didn't see this one coming.

It looks like China has failed at every turn to improve their PR image abroad, while the government seems to be gaining a lot of nationalist support domestically.

Do you think it's even possible for China to shine it's image abroad now (as far as Tibet is concerned)?

Tibet...tibet...it's like a nasty cold sore on the China's stiff upper lip. If they just ignore it long enough, it will fade away...

In the end, I doubt the protests, Chinese handling of them, and the Western reaction will amount to much, if anything.

The protestors do not have the power to directly challenge Beijing.

The Chinese seem to have "quieted" the region without a nasty massacre.

The foreigners will be loath to put investment in China in jeopardy; I expect a bit of jawboning and then a nervous attendance at the games...kind of like going to your newly divorced friend's dinner party...when you were better friends with their ex! One goes out of a committment to the general, and not the specific, idea of friendship.

Can the Chinese leaders be encouraged to open up dialogue with Dalai Lama as he seeks peaceful reconciliation and peace for all involved.  

quote from Dalai Lama '....With these points in mind, I also seek the international community’s support for our efforts to resolve Tibet’s problems through dialogue, and I urge them to call upon the Chinese leadership to exercise the utmost restraint in dealing with the current disturbed situation and to treat those who are being arrested properly and fairly. '

Let justice prevail ..... for Tibet and its people

On reading the Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi comments regarding Dalai Lama's intentions are mis-represented.  As the issues are around religious beliefs and ethnic and humanity issues and the rights of Tibet personnel are at the core.

'BEIJING - The Dalai Lama issue is not a religious or ethnic issue, but one concerning China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Wednesday.' - this statement needs to be withdrawn...

The French Prime Minister and Gordon Brown state on today's visit to London, that new dialogue need to be opened up with Dalai Lama and Chinese leaders to move to reconciliations for all concerned.  

It is nationally recognised that Tibet is being alienated.

Germany has openly recognize that Tibet is an inalienable part of China, and said it would not support any attempt to seek "Tibet independence", Yang said.

More and more countries have realized the Dalai Lama's conspiracy to split Tibet from China and his secessionist attempt is doomed to fail, he said.

Shame on those bad, bad monks.  They must have doped the Chinese officials that they will praise PRC for their efforts in promoting religious freedom, and broke their promise.   We must punish those who do not respect their promises, contracts and agreement.

One cannot say the destruction of monasteries, kicking monks out of monasteries, and forbidding boys from joining monasteries are against religious freedom.  These were just measures to improve the economy of Tibet.

The monks were particularly upset at hearing a government official (dressed in robes, of course) spouting the party line during the tour.

What on Earth makes Beijing think that they can get the west on board by organising a cheap propaganda party? Any vestige of credibility left in the promise of free journalistic access during the Games has vaporized.

I see you've upset the nanny, Will. And it also appears that you've attracted the attention of the lunatic fringe. Well, that's life in the PR lane, I guess.

Hope all is well with Zach & mother.

I have to wonder.  Can you really censor the media these days if they aren't tacitly going along with it?  Can you really stop a live feed, short of interfering with a satellite transmission?  I could go to a store today and buy a video camera that uploads the video directly to the internet.  You would have to pry the camera out of my hands to prevent it from going out uncensored.  Is China prepared to physically detain foreign media during the games if things get (in their opinion) out of hand?

Will, you have always hung out with the "lunatic fringe", which sounds like a haircut I had in college.

I have been reading these Tibet entries with interest, but I have no snappy combacks about it, so I haven't commented.

Not that having nothing smart to say has ever stopped me before...

This is all China Daily had to say about the temple visit:

"On Saturday morning, the delegation came to the Jokhang Temple and talked with a monk of the temple."

http://tinyurl.com/2gcbh5

The BBC reports these comforting words for the monks who spoke out:

"We will never do anything to them," the vice-governor of Tibet, Baima Chilin, told reporters on the trip.

"We will never detain anyone you met on the streets of Lhasa. I don't think any government would do such a thing."

http://tinyurl.com/ytjg2s

What I can never get my head round is this: normally most Chinese I talk to will openly admit they don't trust the Chinese press, and some will also talk about 'problems in Tibet'. But when a crisis emerges they will all rally together and shout the same slogans, some of which only days before they would have laughed at. It's like a kind of schizophrenia.

Ah the old classics test Peter!

"What I can never get my head round is this: normally most Americans I talk to will openly admit they don't trust the American press, and some will also talk about 'problems in Iraq'. But when a crisis emerges they will all rally together and shout the same slogans, some of which only days before they would have laughed at. It's like a kind of schizophrenia."

The best sentence to use for this kind of fun is the old standby:

"[Name of your nation here] reserves the right to defend its interests anywhere in the world. Sometimes this means putting boots on the ground."

Now replace "[Name of your nation]" with "China" and feel the dissonance! All kinds of sentences can be used to experience the same effect.

You can even do a phrase swap for more Classics fun. First remove the name of the country, then change an article that's implicitly about Western countries "sending in the riot police" or having a "heavy police presence" to an article about China by exchanging those phrases for "crack down".

Games the whole family can play!

True, isn't it?

I run a community radio station for the Chinese in London and a few weeks ago I brought in some newspapers which all generally have one or two mostly negative articles about China or Chinese, (if it's 'China' then it's about suppression of freedom, if it's 'Chinese' then it's about dangerous toys or nasty people trafficking mafia gangs) and asked them how they felt, hoping to get a recording which would capture their emotions. Some people started saying stuff, but then the fear factor seemed to kick in and I started getting Party line stuff, and then it all just went a bit sterile.

What was interesting in retrospect was it was only when one person started giving the official take that all the others changed their tune to match.

I suppose it's the herd instinct. I think that happens when people feel threatened in one way, which can be when you are a minority in a foreign country.