AsianWeek » Letters to the Editor: Asian Americans, China, Tibet and the Olympics; The Real Reason for the Tibet Protests; Obama and Affirmative Action

Letters to the Editor: Asian Americans, China, Tibet and the Olympics; The Real Reason for the Tibet Protests; Obama and Affirmative Action

Asian Americans, China, Tibet And The Olympics
The spirit embodied in the Olympic torch is one of peace, friendship and progress (“An Asian American Viewpoint on China, Tibet and the Olympics,” Editorial, April 4). The majority of Americans and world citizens (99 percent) support the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. However, radical fundamentalists (1 percent), driven by a narrow ideology of extremism, are using violent tactics to force their unwanted ideology on others. These protestors represent the opposite of what the Olympics are about.

The spirit of the Olympics will survive in the torch. Let’s not spoil the Olympics for all of our athletes who have trained so hard to compete.

Nancy Rose
Via asianweek.com, April 8

The Tibetan people suffered during the Cultural Revolution, and this wouldn’t have happened if the Beijing regime hadn’t intruded upon them. That’s all we need to know — no “complicated economic, cultural and political forces” can excuse that, or the slaughter in Tiananmen Square in 1989, or the intrusion of the Beijing regime on the First Amendment rights of the Tibetans, the Uighurs, and, indeed, the Han Chinese as well. The support for an Olympic boycott doesn’t stem from ignorance; instead, it is based on, to quote Thomas Jefferson, “eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

John Savard
Via asianweek.com, April 6

The Real Reason For the Tibet Protests
The fact that the protesters on horseback were shouting “Free Tibet,” and then went on to storm a government building and replace the Chinese national flag with a Tibetan one, might suggest they are concerned with more than the price of meat (“The Real Reason for the Tibet Protests,” Voices From the Community, March 28). Like getting their country back.

Joshua Schrei
New York, N.Y., April 6

Obama And Affirmative Action
If Obama were elected president, it would be a good case for the original affirmative action (as opposed to Ward Connerly’s mythical version), and therefore should be reintroduced in Obama’s policies for his “new” America (“Barack Obama’s ‘Model Minority’ Problem,” Emil Amok, March 28).

Obama often lists African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, etc., together as if he were speaking to the concerns of all. Many of us have common issues, but denying the unique problems of various ethnic groups is going the way of Ward Connerly. Obama needs to recognize the ethnic/cultural diversity of America, and get rid of that “whitewashed” Pollyanna version of the liberal elite.

Nicolee Bradbury
Inchelium, Wash., March 31

Unfortunately, women and minorities still have to be ten times better than others in order to compete. Even then, some people still would not want women or minorities, regardless of how qualified they are. This is still a fact of life in these United States.

Affirmative action has been made into a dirty term by those who think they are good enough and who think they are being reversely discriminated. In our society of different races, affirmative action is needed to ensure equality for all unless every one of our citizens is multiracial.

Kathleen To
Alamogordo, N.M., April 9

Correction: In the April 4 article “Framing the Games: SFSU professor at work on official 2008 Olympics film”: the Olympic Museum is located in Lausanne, Switzerland.

CLARIFICATION: The April 4 Voices From the Community article, “The Real Reason for The Tibet Protests,” by Yoichi Shimatsu, was originally published by New America Media.

Comments

while you’re at it, Kathleen To and 80-20 Initiative, why haven’t you launch your vicious attack campaign on Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain who have yet to sign your Questionnaire with all Yeses?

–Sabastian on Apr 16, 2008
“driven by a narrow ideology of extremism, are using violent tactics to force their unwanted ideology on others. These protestors represent the opposite of what the Olympics are about.

Nancy Rose ”

So when the PRC issues (or more likely revokes) reincarnation permits in Tibet, and anoints itself the “true Buddha”, that doesn’t pass for “unwanted ideology”?
I get the sense you are a bit thick.

–Jim Erbes on Apr 16, 2008
There is something the west will have to understand and accept: China will never let Tibet achieve independence. It’s the same reason that the US will never let Texas or Hawaii achieve independence.

–Marcus H on Apr 16, 2008
What happens in China 50 years ago is water under the bridge just like what happens in the rest of the world 50 years ago could not be changed. The China of today has a set of law governing its people, just like every country on this planet. We may not agree with their laws, but by supporting law breakers, we are supporting criminals.

The average Chinese of today could finally put food on the table. For a country so poor, it means so much that they do not have to go to bed hungry. Being able to feed their family and putting a roof over their head is by far the highest priority. We take this for granted here in the land of plenty. If the government fails to stabilize the country and it falls into chaos, no government on this planet will be able to feed 1.3 billion mouths.

We have it good in this country, stop trying to change something we can’t. We should worry more about the starving people of our country and the world.

–slant-eyes view on Apr 16, 2008
I was watching the Daily Show with Jon Steward the other day; the topic was about China’s Olympic and its human rights violation against woman and girls. They talked about the one child policy and how bad it is for little girls. I then realized that there is something the people in the west don’t understand. Yes, the one child policy is harsh. Parents often have to give up little baby girls in favor for boys. But the policy is really the lesser of two evil.

As of right now they have some where between 1.3 to 1.6 billion people in China. Imagine what would happen if they don’t enforce the one child policy. Millions of people will starve to death. Do you want to tell the parents their 3, 4, 5, 6 kids will starve to death? Or do you want to tell the parents they can only have one kids and he/she won’t die of starvation?

Not trying to justify a bad policy, but again, it’s really the lesser of two evil.

–Marcus H on Apr 17, 2008
The above article posted by me is written by a renown expert who has over 30 years experience. His article opened my eyes about what is behind the Tibet Independent and the true face of the US and its Western allies. It is an eye-opener for me. From the article, I can infer that the world’s real problems are caused by the Western countries’ desire for hegemony and domination. I think that the Western countries’ influence will decrease as the rise of China. This is inevitable trend because China advocates harmony instead of hegemony. So countries can live in peace and enjoy the global prosperity rather than fighting and wars. There are a lot of countries in the world embrace the China’s concept of harmony. We will have a peaceful futures.

–Roger Liu on Apr 17, 2008
The following article about the Western countries and their unstopping wars and hegemony and domination in the world. There will be some severe consequences to themselves in this globalized world. Please read the article, think about it, and ask some hard questions about US foreign policy and its consequences. Most importantly, quesion the Bush administration’s foreign policy and its consequences to the country. American’s democratic system is going downhill and no one can stop it. I feel sad to see what is going on in America.

West is ‘waging a new Cold War against China’

Updated: 2008-04-17 06:52

BERLIN: A German politician has accused Western countries of waging a “new Cold War” against China as a prominent China expert in Germany deplored the West’s demonization of the country.
“Every generation seems to need its own war before it is capable and wise enough to draw lessons from that, be it a hot war or a cold war,” Antje Vollmer, a former vice-president of the German parliament, wrote in an article published in the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Tuesday.
“It took barely 10 years after the end of the last Cold War before a new hot war was declared - the war on terror,” she said.
“Can the war on terror be won with weapons?” Vollmer asked. Her answer was “No”.
“At a time when we are already in an ideological confrontation with Islamic and Arab countries, at a time when we have maneuvered ourselves into a sort of diplomatic confrontation with Russia, now again a general system confrontation with China? Every fifth person in the world is Chinese. Obviously the West has too much self confidence,” said Vollmer.
Meanwhile, Thomas Heberer, a leading China expert in Germany, accused the West of “demonizing” China in an article published yesterday in the German daily Die Tageszeitung.
“After the idolization of the 1990s, we are now at a stage of demonization,” Heberer said.
“This is partly due to the rise of China and the associated false fears that China could become an economic and political threat to the West.
“What is especially fatal is that the huge successes and changes in the course of China’s reform policy since the late 1970s are now forgotten.”
He also pointed out that the real causes and background of the Tibet issue are not understood by the West.
“No country in the world has ever recognized the independence of Tibet or declared that Tibet is an ‘occupied country’. For all countries in the world, Tibet is Chinese territory,” he said.

–Roger Liu on Apr 18, 2008

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