I’ve been reading a lot about the politics surrounding the upcoming Olympics in China this year and decided to finally put some of my thoughts down. This is a bit lengthy so if you would like to receive it via email instead of reading it on my blog let me know.

Free Tibet?
If you’ve driven around your town in the last 20 years you’ve probably seen a ‘Free Tibet’ sticker on the back of someone’s car. If you’ve tuned into the news in the last decade you’ve probably heard a Hollywood star such as Richard Gere, lament about the injustice done to the Tibetan people. If you’ve been reading the news lately you’ve heard about the ‘Chinese crackdown’ in Tibet. The rallying cry for some time has been that the Chinese have been enacting horrible injustice by occupying the Tibetan region since the late 1950’s. As a result the Dalai Lama has become a revered individual around the world and the practice of Tibetan Buddhism has become a popular therapeutic religion in many western countries.

The stereotypical picture of Tibet, pre-Chinese occupation, is one of a peaceful religious utopia – more pure, serene, and moral than any other country. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s little doubt that China has committed injustices during their occupation of Tibet, but their eventual rule brought an equality that didn’t previously exist or was even possible for a majority of Tibetans. Prior to his exile the Dalai Lama and other religious leaders in Tibet lived lives of luxury, with their various monastery’s owning vast amounts of farmland that were maintained by thousands of Serfs (slaves tied to the land). Much like pre-reformation Europe the religious leaders had no problem keeping the lower cast in check through the use of religion. It was widely taught that Karma is why you’re a poor slave and only by working hard for the Lama’s can you hope to be reborn into a better situation. In addition to thousands of Serfs, many children in Tibet were given to the monasteries (and still are today) to be trained as monks and used essentially as slaves for the religious leaders. These young boys were often the victims of repeated rape by older monks.

With the recent incident in Tibet getting so much national attention the cry against injustice has been centered on the Tibetan people’s desire not for independence (as they say) but to preserve their culture. What culture do they want to preserve? A religious culture? A culture of slavery? The interesting thing about Tibetan culture is not its history of seclusion or autonomy from the rest of the world but rather how it has been influenced by other countries and specifically supported by China over the years. Contrary to what many Westerners would like to believe, Tibetan Buddhism isn’t a very pure form of Buddhism at all and has actually in itself (as already mentioned) been the single greatest form of injustice placed upon the Tibetan people. Indigenous Tibetans were actually a very shamanistic culture, relying on divination, incantation, and other animistic practices to dictate the way they lived. Tibetan Buddhism has blended various streams of Chinese Buddhism and even Greek thought (brought by Alexander the Great) along with the indigenous practices to become what it is today. It was in the 13th century that the first Grand Lama in Tibet was appointed by Emperor Kublai Kahn as a way to unite and rule over the warring Buddhist factions. Centuries later an ambitious monk, supported by the Emperor of China and his army, gave himself the title of Dalai (ocean) Lama. Regarding this glorification of the Old Tibet the author Michael Parenti says, “In reality, old Tibet was not a Paradise Lost. It was a retrograde repressive theocracy of extreme privilege and poverty, a long way from Shangri-La.”

While in northern Nepal in the Spring of 2001 I had the privilege of visiting a Tibetan refugee camp. Imagine water buffalo wandering down horribly littered streets. Imagine beggars on nearly every street corner with missing limbs and children with very little education, no healthcare, and at best a shanty with a tin roof to live in. No, this was not the scene in the refugee camps. This is life in Nepal. The refugee camps were vastly different. Stepping off the streets of Nepal into a Tibetan refugee camp I noticed a stark contrast. As I walked around I noticed incredibly nice and well maintained buildings. The people had various facilities for creating clothing, blankets, and rugs which were sold in the West for a good price. The schools were beautiful and well stocked with everything the children needed for learning and the hospital in the middle of the camp/town was free for all Tibetans. This is not the typical picture of a refugee camp but thanks to the generosity of the West (and a lot of Hollywood) the Nepali people are able to see how much better life could be… as a Tibetan refugee.

China’s Oppression
China is not without blame and shouldn’t exactly be seen as a just liberator of Tibet, though it is undeniable that they leveled the playing field for thousands of Tibetans and freed many slaves. The recent protests surrounding the Olympic Torch Run have again brought China’s poor human rights record to light and many western countries are considering a boycott of the opening ceremonies of the ’08 Olympics. China’s motivation for occupying Tibet in the 50’s is the same motivation that drives the Communist Party today – control. Nearly all of its failed grades having to do with human rights stem from the need to maintain control of its 1.3 Billion citizens. Five religions are officially recognized by the State so you’ll find churches, temples, and mosques in most cities in China – but these institutions are controlled. Membership is required, religious literature is printed by the State only and any new church has to be registered by the State or it’s illegal. Over the past 50 years thousands of religious followers have been jailed, tortured or killed by worshipping in venues outside of the State’s control. Most national attention has been paid to followers of Falun Gong and Christianity but the same treatment is given to anyone who is involved in ‘illegal’ behavior.

The communist need to control doesn’t only focus on religious groups but also on population. The One Child Law was enacted as a way to stem the ballooning population of China and has caused massive social problems in the country. Because men hold such a prominence in carrying on Chinese family traditions (such as the family name) if the ‘one child’ that is born happens to be a girl, often times she’ll be abandoned or worse. Beyond the craziness of passing a law only allowing one child is how some of the enforcement of that law has occurred. According to the 2007 United States report on human rights, there are frequent cases of forced abortions or even forced sterilizations of married couples.

It’s All About Money
Most economists are predicting that the balance of power as it pertains to economic wealth will have completely shifted from the U.S. to China within 20 years. Even with the U.S. Government pressuring China on their human rights violations, there has been increased economic partnership over the last couple of decades and it has accelerated greatly in recent years. In other words, while we say we are displeased with how they treat people, it’s been extremely beneficial to overlook injustice in order to gain access to 1.3 billion people that we can market to. One prime example of bowing to China’s leadership in order to reap a profit is Google. In their case both their motto “Don’t be evil” and their mission statement “Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” have been bypassed in order to tap into the Chinese market. How have they bypassed their own mission and motto? It’s been widely reported that Google has allowed certain filters be placed on their search engine to weed out content which casts the Chinese government in a bad light. Before Google agreed to placing certain filters on their google.cn site, Google was not accessible to the Chinese people. Internet censorship has been dubbed ‘The Great Firewall’ as the Chinese Government attempts to control the information its people receive. I found this out firsthand when I attempted to access several U.S. news sites while in China…they would never load.

In going against their own mission statement and motto, Google has shown how much holier Capitalism is than Communism (it’s not) and so the U.S. will never boycott any aspect of the upcoming Olympics because it could cost us too much economically. As a result the last great bastion of Communism will continue to flourish and the West will by and large look the other way on issues of Human Rights, occasionally offering a statement of disapproval while at the same time cutting ribbon at the newest Starbucks in Beijing.

To Boycott or Not?
This is a tough one for me because I genuinely love the people in China. I’ve never met such giving and kind hearted people. I was in Beijing at the same time the International Olympic Committee was meeting with Chinese officials to determine if the Olympics could be held there. It was amazing how excited the Chinese people were about hosting them. After they found out they were going to host the ’08 Olympics it became a great source of pride for the people and it would be a shame to punish them for what their government has done.

A boycott of the opening ceremonies by President Bush really won’t do much unless it was alongside of dozens of other leaders, which at this point probably won’t happen. A total boycott of the Olympic Games would probably shame the Chinese in some way but the affects would most likely just increase Chinese nationalism and anti-American sentiment. Not to mention the people we’d most be punishing are our own athletes who have trained their whole lives for this time. I believe the most effective boycott would have nothing to do with the Olympic Games. In order for the American people to show we really do care about injustice in the world the best boycott would send a message not just to the Chinese but to our own corporations - and that would be a boycott of Chinese goods. With that said, good luck finding something that isn’t ‘Made in China’ these days.