| I continue to be surprised by some of the coverage this is getting on CCTV. While it is one sided in support for China (as much of the coverage outside of China is pretty one sided in condemnation of China) I think that their evidence has been much more significant in supporting their position. Just yesterday there was a report that had interviews with 5 or 6 foreigners of various nationalities who were present during the riots, giving their first hand accounts of what they had seen, including video footage shot by a South Korean tourist from his hotel room. All reported (and the one even had video) of the beatings of Han Chinese and the fact that they only saw police attempting to contain the riots to small areas and that they did not directly confront the rioters. While this is only part of the story, I can think of many other governments who would not hesitate to unapologetically meet the rioters with brutal and overwhelming force from the outset. Though, it would appear that the Chinese government operated with a measure of restraint. While the area is admittedly controlled in regards to foreign media, I have seen no evidence of the police brutality many media are alluding to in the west. Burma is similarly controlled, though reports (and photos and video) of the violence against protesters there finds its way to international media outlets regularly. I'm just saying that occasionally there is a need to review the stereotypical depictions media (of all countries) perpetuates. In the past 60 years it has become fairly ingrained in western media to take as fact that "Communist China = Bad" and "Tibetan Buddhist = Good". Not in any way am I purporting that China was/is 100% in the right in regards to the Tibet issue, but if you are to continue swallowing whole the idea being presented by Western media that this was a brutal regime oppressing a bunch of oppressed, peaceful, law abiding monks then perhaps you shouldn’t be pointing fingers as to who has actually been "brainwashed". |
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