China: Tibetan Shadows

With the coming Olympics in China the world has been keeping a close eye on the internal issues that China continuously brings up. Pollution has been a large issue and has sparked a lot of uneasiness with the international community. There is a bigger issue though that has continued for some time that of the Tibetan protests. An article covers some new information,

It was 1997, and about 50 Communist Party workers had come to his monastery to conduct what is called a "patriotic education" campaign... and a requirement that all monks sign a document accepting Chinese rule in Tibet and rejecting the Dalai Lama as a "separatist." For many followers, that amounts to painful renunciation of their religion's central figure. "It was not our wish, not our thought, but we don't have hoices," Arjia said. "We have fear." Such campaigns are now a standard feature of life in Tibetan monasteries and nunneries. They are one of many tools Chinese leaders use to tighten party control of a religion whose charismatic leader, the 72-year-old Dalai Lama, is revered in Tibet, respected around the world and viewed in Beijing as a threat to the party's supremacy."

I didn't know that China practiced such campaigns against its internal populace and I find it surprisingly no one has taken much notice. Looking into the political fallout I think this kind of story would be disastrous publicity for China. It doesn't seem like China has hardly any negative feedback though from the international community. China somehow manages to keep a pretty tight lid on these kinds of developments. I think with this type of information coming out that China's internal security is slightly falling apart and that it seems to control that security through "education campaigns" should be significant news for the future. Perhaps it is time some international voice came out to denounce the actions that China is taking.