If You Go Carrying Pictures Of Chairman Mao...

Let me begin by saying that I have no problems whatsoever with Chinese people in general. I enjoy their food, culture, bootlegged movies, lead based toys, and the long running joke of a little album called “Chinese Democracy” as much as the next person. However, their government is really starting to piss me off….

I am going to assume that everyone is well aware of the seemingly endless instances of human rights violations in China. Whether it be child labor, sweat shops, or the torturing and murder of anyone who doesn’t “tow the line” of the Chinese government, the horrific stories have been told many times already.

That being said, a few days back, the Chinese government sentenced a man named Yang Chunlin to five years in a state run prison. His charge? “Subverting the Power Of The State.” Yang spent the last few weeks getting over 10,000 of his brave countrymen to sign an open letter titled, “We Want Human Rights In China, Not The Olympics.”

Yep, no violence or open protests, just a group of words on a page. Now, I understand that we are talking about a country that has blocked YouTube, put HEAVY filters on Google, and just this morning, cut away to a pre-taped scene so that Chinese citizens could not see the protests at the torch lighting ceremony in Olympia (Greece, not Washington).

An optimist would look at this as a “pen is mightier than the sword” moment…I, however, am not that optimist.

Moving away from the Olympics for a moment, I am sure you have been aware of the happy, friendly discussions that have been taking place on the streets of Lhasa (that’s the capital of Tibet for those of you who forgot). China, who doesn’t play well with people who disagree with them, did their best (and failed) to spin the recent protests in their favor. Blaming the exiled (since 1959) Dali Llama for the violence, the clashes between Tibetan-independence protesters and Chinese military ended with nearly 200 dead.

How did China respond? They kicked out all of the foreign reporters and closed the Tibetan borders to any incoming foreigners. No more pesky foreign reporters will be able to disagree with “official” reports from the Chinese government. The Chinese government also issued a statement that, "Citizens who declare and expose these criminals (the protesters) will be protected and rewarded." What better way to cause all out chaos than to turn ones neighbors against each other? Divide and conquer.

The reality remains, China is one of the largest economic powers in the world. No nation wants to hurt these relations by insulting the Chinese government by requesting that they relax with the countless violations of human rights and allow their people to have access to information that is not state run.

If the Chinese government says the sky is red, then DAMNIT, you’d better comment on how lovely it is that the sky now matches the flag. I am not going to pretend that China’s government is Communist…let’s be realistic, it’s a dictatorship. They exert full control over what can be seen, heard, accessed, discussed, etc in their country as well as in any other areas over which they exert their power.

Sound like anyone else we know?

*think about it*

c’mon….THINK! Who else do we know that exerts complete control over the country they run and kills anyone who disagrees?

OH NO! We can’t group Hu Jintao (and isn’t ironic that his name is pronounced the same as the Chinese villain in 1998’s Rush Hour?) with the likes of Saddam Hussein or Kim Jong-il! Both Saddam and Jong-il controlled the media in their respective countries. Both were accused of endless mistreatment, torture, wrongful imprisonment, and murder of their own people. THEY were/are crazy and did/do horrible things to their people! China is different!

No, China is an economic super-power and has a large army (and nuclear weapons).

THAT is the difference!