西藏（之五）

Chinese Netizens versus Western Media is not bad. It is not an every day affair that you see a western media on the defensive. On the other hand, the author is still trying to imply, however subtly, somehow all these bloggers are linked to the Chinese government -- maybe that is just my impression after reading the article.

"A Little Understanding, Please"

"A Little Understanding, Please" is kind of an interesting article. It is amusing to see those media dudes wonder why all of a sudden "the Chinese" hate them so much.

Indeed, a little understanding, please!

People in the west (that includes me) have much shorter attention span which seems to lead to shorter memory span. Nobody seems to deny that the CIA was involved in Tibet back in the 1940's and 1950's, but everybody seems to choose to forget or ignore that bit of history. When the US (although it is the government not the people) did and continue to do bad things all over the world, these American journalists wonder why their words are not being trusted? They are not really that, well, simple minded. Are they?

西藏（之四）

Now these are some believable accounts.

Will you vote for John McCain?

As much as I respect John McCain -- I trust him to be an honest person, I will not vote for him. Republicans may all be respectable individually. Yet the party is simply not. I have no respect nor trust in them whatsoever. I am not a Democrat, not even an independent. I am just me.

I am curious where those 19% of Obama supporters, or the 28% of Clinton supporters, who would vote for McCain live.

I guess I may donate to Hillary Clinton's campaign, just for the sake of supporting her staying in the race. It is supposed to be a competition. Is it not?

"Western Media Bias or outright fabrication on Tibet Riots"

Lies don't help anybody: Western Media Bias or outright fabrication on Tibet Riots

Pictures linked in the original posting, just in case that posting disappears:

"Journalism in China: Reality and Patience"

Mouthpiece, propaganda -- the Chinese government obviously has much to learn about western political correctness.

I find the term "patience" realistic, and "procrastinating" unfair.

I believe that China should have invited reputable media outlets like BBC and CNN into Tibet so that they can report on the "protects" "protests" as well as ordinary Tibetans -- not just those who beat people up in the streets. They don't need to worry about the safety of reporters in Tibet any more than the Americans in Iraq. I can understand why the Chinese government is so timid but don't see a reason for them to be.

Journalism in China: Reality and Patience

"China's True Face"

这篇文章真的是魏京生写的吗？他的英文现在挺棒的。

西藏（之三）

今天在 Google Reader 上读到《Root causes in Tibet》跟着读到华盛顿邮报上 Abrahm Lustgarten 的《What They're Really Fighting for in Tibet》，写得还有点意思。

不过，这篇文章的作者跟多数西方文人的毛病一样，动不动就是“China”、“Chinese”。例如：

“The Chinese had taken sledgehammers to large swaths of Lhasa's historic streets -- narrow cobblestone alleys pinned in by 400-year-old whitewashed buildings. They replaced entire neighborhoods with hastily built office buildings and dreary shops with all the hospitality of self-storage units. A $10 million shopping complex, its five stories bedecked in glass and billboards of scantily clad underwear models, opened blocks from the Jokhang. (The complex was torched in the protests.) Chinese dominated all sectors of the economy; they sold all the fruit, drove most of the taxis and mined all the minerals. And finally, in July 2006, the acclaimed Qinghai-Tibet railway opened for service, a transformation that released the floodgates.”

不知道别人的感觉如何，我读完这段的印象是全中国的人民（The Chinese）都扛着大锤到拉萨去砸那儿的街道去了。先不说在中国藏人也是 Chinese，他们还享有一些一般的汉人没有的权益，现在在中国并非只有汉人去拉萨，在北京的街上也同样有新疆人卖烤羊肉串、开店，即使汉人在拉萨垄断了水果和计程车生意，这也都是“Chinese”的错吗？不尽然吧？中国不应该修青藏铁路，而应该让西藏在高原上呆着，让藏人永远生活在与世隔绝的“香格里拉”幻境？

也许有很多在西藏发生了的事情不应该发生，拉萨的街道应该保有西藏的人文风格，但是这恐怕是当地政府的失责更多些。许多事按照美国这个民主社会的准则应该靠法律法规来解决，而不是靠杀人、放火。否则的话，北京人也可以到前门大街上放火烧了 KFC 的店了。中国有无穷多的事可以做得更好，包括政府对于人权的态度，急待改进。但是，杀人放火就是杀人放火，怎么修饰也还是杀人放火。

“China has consistently pursued a policy of "taming" its far-flung western regions through economic and ethnic assimilation. It has crafted tax incentives to encourage Han business owners to move west from eastern cities and has loosened migration rules. "Go West, Young Han" is the clarion call of the times. Chinese state-run firms have staffed large construction projects such as the railway and even local road building with Han Chinese contractors and crews, who send their earnings home.”

不知道文章的作者有没有跟汉人聊过这个问题，不知道有多少汉人愿意离乡背井到西藏高原去生活。至少我这个 Chinese 如果要下决心到西藏去安家的话，绝对不会是一个轻易的决定。中国是有鼓励去西藏投资的政策，不过即便如此，我想这种政策鼓励的不是“汉人”而是“资本”。如果西方真的关心藏人的福祉，在高喊人权和宗教自由口号的同时，不如也鼓励一下外面世界的资本到西藏去。我想那才是真正对于生活在西藏的藏人的关爱。

五年之后

今天是美军入侵伊拉克第六年的开始。CNN 在播一个片子《Shock and Awe -- 5 Years Later》，刚刚播完，Anderson Cooper 说，五年前谁也没想到这一战会打这么久，而五年之后我们又会怎样，谁也无法预料。我反感这种说法。真的没有人预料到五年之后会是今天这种样子吗？事实并非如此，至少 NPR 就报道过几个前 CIA 分析师的预测分析，其准确程度让人吃惊。

翻看我自己的笔记，2004 年 4 月 9 日有这么一段：

“ 猜测一下伊拉克的未来，不难看到最好与最坏的结局。最好的结局，就是伊拉克再出现一个强人，能够镇住暴乱的各方，然后出现的伊拉克国家或许分裂，或许保持统一，或许变成伊斯兰国家，或许真的出现民主——尽管可能性极小。而最坏的结局，恐怕伊拉克斯四分五裂，内战云起，而伊斯兰极端份子乘虚而入，建立基地，制造事端。”

今天看伊拉克的局势，似乎介于我估计的最好与最坏之间，但是偏坏的一端更多。美军在伊拉克的数量尚足够维持大的局面。但是今年总统大选民主党胜出的机会极大，这样明年开始美军从伊拉克开始减防势在必行，如果 Obama 当选，撤军的速度大概会更快一些。这样一来，伊拉克目前的政府能否控制局面，看好的人大概不多。

文明社会向往民主是必然的，然而，民主制度本身是脆弱的，它必须有强大的人文力量和武装力量的支持，否则，民主不见得比强权更能给一般百姓带来好处。从伊拉克的现状看，民主的力量似乎不足以对抗宗族之间的仇杀，甚至少数人的权利欲望。就是美国，当年如果没有军队的保护，九个小石城的黑人学生要上学都没有可能。

西藏（之二）

早上从 BBC World 的广播里面听到一点西藏的消息，有目击报道中国的武警紧急反应部队大量往西藏和边缘省区增兵。BBC 的报道说甘肃也有藏人抗议活动，但是 BBC 报道本身似乎平淡一些了。

对于达赖喇嘛在藏人中的“精神领袖”地位有多高，我感觉这似乎是一个某些人在利用这一点在有意识地误导视听。如果他的地位真的象神一样，为什么在他呼吁平息暴力之后，藏民的暴力活动仍然不止？为什么达赖喇嘛一边阐述他的不独立但自治的主张，其他人口中高喊的口号还是独立？我不是怀疑他在普通藏民人群心目中的地位，而是怀疑在那些挑起暴力的人中间，“拉大旗作虎皮”的大有人在。那些为政治而政治的人，为独立而独立的人都是我怀疑的对象。

昨天和今天，断续读完了 Michael Parenti 的 Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth。确实是很值得一读的文章，不过他整篇的叙述、评论，与他最后的结束语却有极大的矛盾：“If China is the great success story of speedy free market development, and is to be the model and inspiration for Tibet’s future, then old feudal Tibet indeed may start looking a lot better than it actually was.” 也许是他对中国不顾一切的急速发展带来对自然与人文环境的破坏有切齿痛恨，“But still, a gouged eye is a gouged eye; a flogging is a flogging; and the grinding exploitation of serfs and slaves is a brutal class injustice whatever its cultural wrapping.” 这些都是他的原话。

今天也读了 Joshua Michael Schrei 写的《A Lie Repeated - The Far Left’s Flawed History of Tibet》，觉得水平很低。首先，他卷首引用的那句“谎言重复一千遍就变成真理”不是“毛主席语录”，一上来就这么生搬硬套，后面能有什么高见也就可想而知了。