The Maoist in Nepal fought a long war to get rid of a repressive regime based on feudalism. Recently they won the largest number of seats in a freely contested election.

If not for China, Tibet today would be worse than any of the Islamic country you can think of. The totalitarian Tibetan upper class which made up 5% of the population then use religion to subjugate the other 95% of the people. They are taught that they would be reincarnated into the upper class in the next life.

Tibet: A political history http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsoc4-QnplY

Thanks for this article. It is curious how quickly apologists of this totalitarian regime resort to the specious polemic that China swept aside feudalism and brought modernity to Tibet to justify the savage suppression of a whole people reduced to second class citizens in their own land.

Official hectoring of critics has become more strident and pro-China supporters more fanatical the closer we get to this tarnished Olympics. The IOC must be alarmed that China obviously hoodwinked the movement to win the games and is now rubbing its collective noses in it. Did'nt the criteria for awarding the games include improvements on the human rights front and greater press freedoms? We are now seeing censorship of local and international media covering the earthquake.

The world has been subjected to rent-a-crowd spectacles of unrestrained hyper-nationalism, which has left a sour taste at all stops along the way, except of course in supplicant client states. The Chinese populace should have been free to celebrate these games in an atmosphere of cultural pride and international inclusion.

Rather, the policies and strategies of the regime have exposed China to opprobrium. We have been regaled with a latter day version of the red brigades stamping on dissent and shouting down opposition.

If this was to be an open platform for China to showcase her economic and cultural wares and to progress her claims for due recognition as a good international citizen, it is failing on all fronts. Propaganda and dissembling shadow plays don't work. They might satisfy a quiescent and credulous population yearning for international respect, but this is not the way. What a shame!

I'm not going to watch TV for the two weeks of the Chinese Shame Games.
I'm not going to buy newspapers for the two weeks of the Chinese Shame Games.

These games are as shameful in their propaganda as Hitler's olympics.

There is an old, and I might add a rather cynical or derisory saying that Possession is nine parts of the argument.
There are however also the more evolved and enlightened notions of morals, ethics, justice and fair-mindedness.
China has clearly violated all those civilized notions and much, much more than that with its actions in Tibet, and might I add all the occupied territories in what they call China.
The Han Chinese Communist regime, like all contemptible felons caught red handed, have distorted the facts, fabricated history and invented excuses and lies to justify their indefensible actions.
As for the IOC and its indefensible awarding of the Olympics to one of the most depraved regimes in all of human history; they have to fight a deplorable rearguard action in face of international outrage.
All their squirming and mealy mouthed posturing confirms the fact that China is just not a fit host for the Olympics, whose ideals are anathema to the Han Chinese Communist cabal in Beijing, for they would not even recognize any of the notions they embody.
Time has truly come for the world to finally make a stand and do more than pay lip service to the ideals and moral principles it purports to espouse.
Get the ‘issue’ of Tibet on the agenda at the UN and pressure the Chinese Cabal to do better than spew forth venom, lies and vitriol while committing all the crimes it tries to deflect onto the Tibetans and the Dalai Lama.
Get the true background on Tibet and the riots http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhjad2MJsT0
A careful look at history http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a2ory5hr4g

China – the host state

“The laws of the host state” are the laws of a country far advanced in the science of neo-feudalism.

China’s mega-cities look shiny and brand new (after a sudden downpour) but is it a capitalist veneer over a community sinking itself with soul-destroying jobs?

Freedom of the press is a long past in China and even here it is marginal at best. That the IOC has put politics ahead of improving human rights should not really surprise anyone. Letting the truth out of the bag is not an option for IOC. Those with the biggest egos will be the last to call for a free Tibet.

Truth and China

Recently, found that truth and China are not mutually exclusive - look for works by either Hsing Yun or Sheng Yen. Both are contemporary Chan (Zen) Masters.

Tibet

100 years ago few in the West would have given much thought to Tibet and even fewer to Tibetan Buddhism. Today, what a different story. The behaviour of China towards Tibet both during the initial invasion and today leaves the Chinese with next to no credibility. There is however an upside.

Just as the seeds of a dandelion flower are spread far and wide by the slightest breeze, so too, the seeds of Tibetan Buddhism have found new soil in the West.

China, thank you.

All the water and drink you've consumed
Through beginningless time until now
Has failed to slake thirst or bring you contentment.
Drink therefore this stream
Of enlightenment mind, fortunate ones.

—from the Songs of Milarepa

We are not off the hook, karma exists, we have only one planet to take care of.