Letters to the Editor
-
Regarding Blank
"So you tell me - why is it Tibetans shouldn't rise up?"
Regardless of any American's opinion on this, some Tibetans are rising up. But the question is what will be the consequences? This is not the first time young monks have taken to the streets and when it has happened in the past it has started a cycle of arrests, repression and violent persecution. Tibet is not Kosovo, or even Chechnya. The geopolitical situation is quite unique in that Tibet is so remote and China so very tightly in control of the area. These young Tibetans have few arms or access to arms and no allies to speak of who would come to their aid. (Not to mention that they don't come from a militaristic culture.) They obviously can't defeat or even damage China militarily, so they would have to do so politically. Certainly, disrupting the Olympics will draw the eyes of the world to their cause, but what then? Are Americans going to rise up and demand that we go to war to against China in order to save the Tibetans? Is the UN going to get involved, when most of their membership fears and needs China? For years, the Chinese committed grievous human rights violations in Tibet and caused a large swath of the population to disperse and the world watched and mourned and wrung its hands but did little, in part because it was never clear what could be done outside of quiet, gentle diplomacy. What would make it different this time?