What is Digg?85 Comments
- statuescrumble, on 03/23/2009, -4/+25Why should this be shocking? Since when were monks supposed to have immunity from assault charges?
- Gguillorn, on 03/23/2009, -2/+21I thought monks were supposed to be nonviolent. They stormed a police station.
- Gguillorn, on 03/23/2009, -6/+24Eh, if they attacked the cops, they deserve to get arrested. Not picking sides here, I don't know that much about the issue, but I feel like their arrest was to be expected.
- theskillwithin, on 03/23/2009, -1/+1889 of them TURNED THEMSELFS IN
- fadeout, on 03/23/2009, -2/+18A hundred monks attacking a police station has the potential to be the greatest movie ever filmed.
- ShirenHou, on 03/23/2009, -0/+13In my general experience, members of minority ethnic groups in China are treated very well (the Tibetans are only one of over 50 different ethnic minorities in the country), and are the beneficiaries of a number of privileges from the government, including educational preferences and exemption from the one-child policy.
I have travelled all over China, to many areas which are heavily populated by minority groups, and it seems that in general, inter-ethnic relations are fine. I have met a number of Chinese citizens who had partial minority ancestry - for example, a father who was a member of the Zhuang ethnic group, or a mother who was a member of the Hui Muslim group, yet who far from concealing or disavowing this ancestry, or choosing official Chinese ethnicity, they would pick the minority ethnic group for their official ethnic status. Why? Because of all the benefits they would receive from the government.
The two exceptions to the rule of largely undisturbed ethnic relations in China are the Tibetans and Uighurs. In neither case do I think these populations are gratuitously or wantonly oppressed - they are free to speak their own languages, wear what they want, and for the most part, travel freely throughout the country and engage in whatever work they want. The police even give them greater latitude than other citizens to commit infractions of the law - Uighurs are notorious drug-dealers in the cities of the eastern coast, and the cops generally turn a blind eye to their brazen, hash-slinging ways.
The grievance of the Tibetans and Uighurs is about lack of an independent nation-state. It's not about general, widespread oppression - although the police and the government's armed forces can be brutal when called upon. It's just about lack of national sovereignty, which is a matter of ethnic pride. Their grievance is the same as that of the Basque in Spain. Basque separatist movements occasionally blow up government property and kill government works in the quest for national independence, yet the international community never subjects Spain to recrimination for oppression of the Basque. All this talk - of "cultural genocide" and wilful destruction of Tibetan culture is just wilfully misleading rhetoric.
As for people who think that monks don't engage in violent acts - you're incredibly naive if you think that just because someone has a tonsure and wears exotic clerical garments, they aren't susceptible to all the same human vices and malignant tendencies as the rest of our species.
It's also patronizing to the Tibetans to think of them are some anodyne, peace-infatuated ethnic group - anyone who has interacted with them extensively will tell you that they are a proud and hardy, often surly people, who live in some of the world's most inhospitable and remote environments. They have a glorious military history as well - they were a major threat to the Chinese imperial government during the Tang Dynasty, and their soldiers were renowned for their martial prowess - statuescrumble, on 03/23/2009, -2/+13So if a monk attacks a policeman, its okay? Seems like your the kind of person to blindly try to jump the bandwagon.
- crazlunatic, on 03/23/2009, -0/+11In any country, if you attack a policeman you get arrested. Just because the country here is China, you make that kind of comment...
- nstanosheck, on 03/23/2009, -1/+12Nationalist, Gguillorn seems to have actually read the article. Having a clue would require both that and knowing more about Tibet than the media fed ProPaganDa
- inactive, on 03/23/2009, -1/+11What? They attack people? I thought that when a cop tries to arrest them, they just light themselves on fire.
- crazlunatic, on 03/23/2009, -1/+11This story is true. There are many pictures showing the extreme, poor conditions of Tibet before when Dalai Lama was in rule, but none of the US media reports on it
- nstanosheck, on 03/23/2009, -1/+10But Tibetan Secessionists are not fighting for Freedom. Read what Tibet was like pre-1950. Down right scary!
- Mullinator, on 03/23/2009, -2/+11The Chinese government, and by extension police and military, are officially atheist. It's not Buddhism that is making these monks violent, and it is not atheism that makes the Chinese authorities violent.
- Wrangler76, on 03/23/2009, -2/+11"Assault is not something Monks do"
LOL, you need to get a clue. I remember watching a video of the last riots. You could see monks walking amongst the carnage and even joining in the looting. Just because they're monks doesn't mean they're not human beings. - chungmaster, on 03/23/2009, -0/+9Yes it's good to protest for a cause and stuff but do you really have to attack a policeman? Since when did harming another individual ever help a cause?
- holyskeleton, on 03/23/2009, -0/+9let's see people over here attack the police and find out what happens.
- americanoboy, on 03/23/2009, -1/+9This calls for video of a protest where protesters were asked if they could find Tibet on the map to which they all reply, "???"
- rockhounding, on 03/23/2009, -5/+13No one else sees the irony in this? Tibetan monks assaulting ANYONE is irony.
- mah2cent, on 03/23/2009, -3/+11As an American living in China, I have a little insight. First, I don't care about politics so what I will say is what I have been told by Chinese. Everyone here, without exception, believes that Tibet is, and always has been a part of China. The old silk/tea road ran through Tibet and into China and trade existed on this level for hundreds of years.
Most believe that when the Dali Lama was in power, he ruled with an iron hand, and all except the privileged few, were nothing more than serfs, living from hand to mouth. The former serfs are very happy to have been "liberated" and now have education, and an economy. - whorunbartertwn, on 03/23/2009, -0/+7Monks are people just like you and me, having the label doesn't make them incapable of attacking anyone.
- Gguillorn, on 03/23/2009, -1/+8Yeah, for the most part that's true. What's your point?
- lucy22, on 03/22/2009, -16/+23It makes China look so bad to keep picking on these poor Monks.
- sanskrtam, on 03/23/2009, -0/+7But the Chinese government announced that they want to restore the temples that was destroyed decades ago.
- 55mph, on 03/23/2009, -2/+8the guy went missing while in police custody? it doesn't sound like he escaped and went into hiding.
- taibo, on 03/23/2009, -0/+6I like how you assume something totally contrary to the article, with nothing more than your 'inclination'.
- unorginalityftw, on 03/23/2009, -0/+5Greed, power, and hatred. It's all on how you spin it. At least China is more honest and not using the whole "God wants us to" excuse though...
- nstanosheck, on 03/23/2009, -2/+7Tibetan secessionists are not fighting for freedom. Read about Tibet before the 1950's liberation. Most of the people were slaves/serfs. Restoration of that is enslavement of currently free people!
- nstanosheck, on 03/23/2009, -1/+6That is ShaoLin monks, not Tibetan Monks :-D
- crazlunatic, on 03/23/2009, -1/+6Hell ya China should learn what the ***** freedom and the dignity of human life is. But the media doesn't show all the good China has done to improve infrastructure and living conditions in Tibet.
- crazlunatic, on 03/23/2009, -3/+8do you have any evidence of this?
- taibo, on 03/23/2009, -1/+5of course he does, he keeps it next to the tapes proving that 9/11 was a fake.
- ShirenHou, on 03/23/2009, -1/+5Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha . Yeah, that's not an uncommon story. And believe me - the Chinese police cut them a huge amount of slack. I knew of a drug dealer (Canadian guy) in Beijing who was ripped off by a wayward member of the Uighur hash mafia. He just went to the Chinese cops responsible for the Uighur neighbourhood, and they took him straight to the Uighur godfather, who gave him back his money and punished the wrongdoer. I've heard other stories, about community elders from Xinjiang being flown to the eastern coast to settle disputes between gangs, because local cops aren't supposed to touch minorities.
Still, I've got a lot of sympathy for the Uighurs. They have an awesome cuisine, and the aspects of their culture which are accessible to me (music, visual art) are superb. - sanskrtam, on 03/23/2009, -3/+7"We all want a free Tibet."
Not me. It'll be a huge disaster in Asian geopolitics. - slvrbullet87, on 03/23/2009, -0/+4Not really, the rule of inverse cool in numbers shows you that one monk attacking 100 police will be awsome while 100 monks attacking a police station will be lame
- Gguillorn, on 03/23/2009, -0/+3What about 100 monks attacking 100 police stations?
- taibo, on 03/23/2009, -0/+3I lived in China (Shanghai) and I went on Digg all the time while I was there.
The internet firewall thing is way overblown, and easily passed anyways. - sanskrtam, on 03/23/2009, -1/+4I'm not surprised when the Gelugpa and the Sakyapa sects of Tibetan Buddhism did some long-term bloody civil wars hundreds of years ago.
Tibetan history is a bloody one like in German-speaking states in medieval Europe. - DP84, on 03/23/2009, -2/+5They need to go ***** crazy and use their ninja monk skills to take back their land.
Batons are no match for flying Monks. - inactive, on 03/23/2009, -1/+4The Tibetans' own ethnic cousins don't even want a free Tibet. You'll notice not one single country in that region, including those having recently converted to democracy, don't give a damn what happens to Tibet. It's not because the Tibetans smell funny, it's because they act like ***** when they're sovereign.
- inactive, on 03/23/2009, -0/+3Yep, one of the punishment for disrespecting Tibetan monks was being skinned alive and the skin would be used for drums in religious ceremony. Tibet pre-liberation was a hell hole of slavery and cruelty. China took Tibet back and once again brought civilization, fairness and prosperity to Tibet.
- compucomp2, on 03/24/2009, -0/+3The Western hypocrisy is ridiculous and utterly striking. What did you do in 1992 when blacks rioted in Los Angeles? That's right, you declared martial law, called in the National Guard, and suppressed the riots. Now China does the same and it's a "human rights violation."
The Dalai Lama is a Western pawn and a terrorist who wants to return Tibet to poverty, slavery, and theocracy, where he gets to own everyone's soul at the cost of being a Western protectorate. He is a separatist and a traitor, and it's a wonder we haven't whacked him yet. If I were in charge in China he would have been killed many years ago. - morningmatters, on 03/23/2009, -0/+3When I was visiting Shanghai last year a group of Uighur thieves (you can tell by facial features and the way he dressed) stole something from my backpack in the subways. I was lucky enough to notice this and told some policeman near by. I got my items back but the police did not keep the thieves at all, they were allowed back onto the street shortly after I left the station.
I don't think this applies to Tibetans, but Uighur thieves are extremely common place in most big cities and the police are often stereotyped to be lenient on these people. I didn't believe this at first but now I do. Visiting any forums for expats in China and you will find similar experiences.
The Uighur community does not like the negative reputation but tries to justify this behavior by pointing to their suppression under the Chinese rule. I am not sure what does this have to do with stealing from tourists in big cities though. - inactive, on 03/23/2009, -1/+4A "free Tibet" would be a theocracy, with 95% of the population are slaves to the Tibetan Monks ruling class. Compared to a constitutional Republic with 100% of the population treated equally as Chinese citizens.
Notice the Tibetans who want a "free Tibet" are mostly monks? They want to go back to the good old days where they can enslave the entire Tibetan population. - mah2cent, on 03/23/2009, -0/+3I guess you could always ask the Dali Lama. I am sure he would give you an unbiased answer. I am not sure you will get a completely truthful answer from anyone.
I believe you get the same level of truth from our own government on everything from need to go to war, to the absolute need to bailout all kinds of dead (or near dead) companies and prop up prices of over-priced houses.
The truth is out there somewhere; I just don't trust any of the sources. - crazlunatic, on 03/23/2009, -1/+3I agree. No idea why this read the FP. It's pretty much the equivalent of Priest attacks cops in US and gets arrested...
- taibo, on 03/23/2009, -2/+4The point is that monks attacked a police station, and then were arrested. The fact that China has oppressed Tibet in the past is irrelevant.
- xster, on 03/30/2009, -0/+2Six arrested and 89 turned themselves in?
Wow, this is clearly what I would have deduced from this fox news standard title.
Buried for display of utter stupidity in choice of title - Sabretou, on 03/23/2009, -1/+3The hero is the lone cop on duty in the police station, armed with a katana, skilled in kung-fu and speaks Japanese.
- orsinoduke, on 03/23/2009, -1/+3attacking police? man, they should feel lucky if they only got arrest.
- Zap2, on 03/25/2009, -0/+1you think because the US did it, that means China should be allowed to?
Thats a pretty stupid defense..."he did it too!" -
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