For those of you who are interested in the Tibetan Nationalist movement and it’s goings on, here’s an interesting AP article for you (full version here):
BEIJING – Hundreds of Tibetans attacked a police station and government officials in northwestern China despite heightened security, prompting the arrests Sunday of nearly 100 monks, state media reported.
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The violence is the latest known incidence of unrest following a bomb explosion Monday in an unoccupied police station in predominantly Tibetan Ganzi prefecture in Sichuan province.
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A former resident of the area who now lives in Dharmsala, India, said the protesters were angry because they believed the man, a 28-year-old monk named Tashi Sangpo, jumped in the river to commit suicide after fleeing.
“When Tashi was being interrogated by the officials, he asked their permission to go to the toilet. He then went out and jumped into the Yellow River,” the source said on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisals against his family still living in China. “The dead body is yet to be found.”
So here’s the chain of events as I understand it:
1) Tibetan nationalists plant a BOMB in a police station.
2) Chinese authorities take a nationalist into custody for questioning.
3) The suspect is allowed to use the bathroom and apparently runs off when no one is looking, jumps in the river, and (allegedly) commits suicide.
4) Protesters violently attack a police station in response to the alleged suicide.
So here’s my thoughts. First of all, this guy’s daring escape plan was pretty elaborate: ask to use the bathroom and instead run away. Obviously the notoriously brutal Chinese police were coming down pretty hard on him if he had to resort to such a daring plan as that, right? Yeah. Sure. Oh, by the way, that was sarcasm.
Second, they never recovered a body from the river so as far as any of us know he could still be alive and hiding somewhere. If I’d escaped from jail I probably wouldn’t let anyone find me. Granted, if he did commit suicide, his body is probably at the bottom of the river so it wouldn’t be a surprise that no one would find it. But still, who knows if there is any truth to the claim of his suicide?
Now, finally, the main point. We’re talking about people here who would PLANT A BOMB in a police station, and attack another. Last time I checked, blowing shit up is called terrorism. All the “Peace & Love” people with “Free Tibet” bumper stickers should probably know that they are supporting terrorists who are far from peaceful.
Let me state my position clearly. I am all in favor of national minorities demonstrating for their rights and the preservation of their culture. But there is a section of Tibetans who are very radical. They are pro-theocracy, racist nationalists who will resort to terrorism to ethnically cleanse their homeland of ethnic Chinese. I don’t hate Tibetans and I don’t want to repress or destroy their culture. I also realize that the Chinese police are not some ideally benevolent hug-fest people who can do no wrong. But the people behind the “Free Tibet” movement are not proponents of some progressive cause that we should support; their ideology and tactics are quite similar to that of the American Ku Klux Klan and it makes me sick to see people cheerleading for them.
