Buddhist Monks Call for Dalai Lama

I. Citation

Title-
Date Written- 4-9-08
URL- ABC News
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0408/510106.html



II. Summary
Tibet as you may or may not know is a small country that is located west of China. China hopes to conqueror this land since Tibet does not have a strong military and happens to be a very poor country. Many riots and small occasional battles have happened in the Tibet-China border line leaving many Tibetans and Chinese wounded or dead. Tibetan inspiration to fight China come from the man, “Dalai Lama” who is an exile living in India because of the chance that he may be assassinated by the Chinese. Tibetans want him to come back so that he could help bring back independence to Tibet. Many people don’t know what’s going on in Tibet due to the fact that China has taken over the media leaving Tibet in the dust. Tibet has now come up with a strategy to have the media look upon what is happening in their nation and not in China. This year China is the host of the Olympics causing the runners holding the Olympic torch to have a lot of publicity. Tibetan monks try to show the strife they have gone through and freedom they want from China by running and interrupting the Olympic Torch runs. The Olympic Torch represents economic and political power in China, through Tibet’s actions people, “Human Right Activists” have looked at China with a totally new perspective. Tibetans monks have also used Gandhi liked tactics such as passive resistance (protesting in front of monasteries in China about Tibetan freedom.) China does not want to give into Tibet’s needs and many areas between these two countries have been restricted due to the never ending violence. Although Tibetan people have had the opportunity to speak to world about what is going on I their country, many countries have already taken actions to help Tibet.

III. Reaction

This article relates best to the theme, “Impact and interaction among and within major societies.” This is because China and Tibet have been arguing over who should have the Tibetan area. These societies could not come to a decision which led to many riots and protest led by

Tibetans Monks who feel their independence is needed. This also caused much publicity to be upon the opinions and thoughts of Tibetan monks which led to other countries looking at China in a very different way. This causing the theme for the situation between China and Tibet to be, “Impact and interaction among and within major societies.”
2,000 years ago Tibet was a state that was founded and governed under one ruler. During this time Tibet was recognized as a strong state by China, and it was influenced by the Mongols in creating an elaborate kingdom. Records have shown piece treaties between Tibet and China. Although since the beginning on the 20th century China has been mocked and tossed around Tibet. Now that China is an imperial giant, it feels that is can take over a Tibet since it’s a very small and poor country. By the 21st century many inspirational people such as the Dalai Lama have supported Tibet and its pilgrimage to hold its independence.

The point of view of the article in from a reporter Aurdra Ang who is a female for Associative Press. After doing some research I learned that she is an insider from China and that most of her reports had to do with the Chinese developing growth as a united country. (From creating new vaccines to helping other needy people all over the world.

We must approach this article with caution due to that fact that most of the reports she writes are about China and its growth as a unified country. She includes a lot of information on how badly China has been hurt though this situation, but doesn’t put enough emphasis on how badly Tibetans have been affected. Also as a fellow Chinese herself she is reports the article in a way that represents the Chinese as the good people in this situation. When she states how many Tibetans died she back up the statement by saying that, ‘None of the reports or figures can be ... verified.”

Most quotes in the article come from Chinese political leaders who say that they are doing the right things. Not many quotes from the Tibetans can be seen or read in this article. Therefore the point of view that is mainly missing is the Tibetans point of view. I would like to here their side of the story and why they feel they are being harassed and overtaken by the Chinese government.

I believe that Tibet has every right to stand up for them, and since they are not given much publicity they should be able to show themselves during the Olympic ceremonies. They show other countries that Tibet is going through a period of darkness and cannot stop it because it is not a very wealthy country and does not have the necessary military to combat the Chinese. People must learn that China is covering up a big bruise in its body and Tibetans need to bring it out to the world. I believe that protesting and rioting about this is fair since China has harassed Tibet and their monks for too long. Hopefully, Tibetans will have more publicity and media so that more and more people could hear this news. Once people hear this news more nations will take actions to help out Tibet for its independence. China is only hurting there image in how the govern themselves and others around them. This is not a tributary relationship that China has had with Korea Japan and Vietnam. This is forced militant conquest representing China’s greediness to expand at all means. Although Tibetans look onto Dalai Lama for support (he is exlied and cannot help Tibet and its need for independence) they must learn that they can still pose a threat to China due to the fact that other people and nations are backing them up.