Is there ANY solution to the human rights issues which plague China, and is being met with international pressure over the Olympics scheduled in Beijing this summer?
What is the appropriate action(s) to take?

Dear DK,

Thank you for bringing this up. I would think that the Chinese re-action is a very positive development in a way. It shows that the watery, half measured protests, at Govt. levels, and the mass protests by ordinary people all over have struck home. That the average Chinese citizen is a nationalist and averse to criticism should not come as any surprise. It would be surprising if they did not react.

What should, however, be worrying is the two step backwards MNCs have started taking already. All it proves to me is that if you want to muzzle someone, hitting their till is as good as going for the jugular.

As they say "Its all about money, honey!"
Does anyone feel a churning in their stomach?

Regards,
Dara

"Does anyone feel a churning in their stomach?"

I'm curdled Dara, curdled ;)

Human Rights must prevail, regardless .... ignore oppression and it spreads like a cancer, as it reaches out to touch each and every one of us. That's my take.

Love, Char

I wonder what organization is responsible for the boycott against Carrefour supermarkets. I fully appreciated the Chinese man who was heckled and whose response was that most of the goods carried there are made in China. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!

But my point is that some organization is probably responsible for this action against the French, and I am wondering how many like organizations exist in China. If they do this to the French there, who in the world would feel welcome to come to the Olympic games? It appears to me that this is a statement that would discourage most interested spectators to bother to go to China to visit, spend money, or attend Olympic events. It is certainly a strong influence on me now. I find this a very sure sign of ill will towards the right to protest Chinese behaviour in the world, especially towards Tibet.

Whoever the organization is that has brought this boycott agains the French markets is surely making outsiders think that the Chinese are narrowminded and irresponsible towards tourism and sporting events.

Last night, I watched the documentary film "Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion", which I recommend highly.

This morning, I read "A North Korean defector tried to set himself on fire to halt the Olympic torch relay through Seoul, while thousands of police guarded the flame Sunday from protesters blasting China's treatment of North Korean refugees...", here:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Olympic-Torch.html

Watching "Cry of the Snow Lion" last night, I was struck by the Chinese representative who was interviewed, and how he seemed to believe the lies he was presenting. And I wondered: is he that good at fooling himself, or is he being skillfully fooled, or does he know the truth and is he skillfully attempting to fool us? The difference between the Chinese position, and the reality on the ground, is so striking.

A few years ago, the organization called Students for a Free Tibet had their New York City office in the space in which my employers also had our offices. The quiet strength, determination, and moral and emotional balance of the SFT staff members was obvious, consistent, impressive, and unforgettable. Their unshakable yet gentle inner commitment would enter the spirit of anyone who spent half an hour in their presence. Yet they were just kids. "Just."

There's a weightiness to what's truly right for humanity, that, when you encounter it, is inescapable. Tibet's position, and the positions of many other peoples who are oppressed, suppressed and/or abused by an insensitive, greedy, noisy majority, carry that sense of weightiness, that inescapable rightness.

It is wrong to oppress others, to take what's theirs away from them. There is no excuse on earth that can justify it.

Tibet is more whole than we in the west can imagine it to be, unless you have been there or see this film. We have been hearing the Chinese position in the media for too long. Some people are afraid of the loudest voices, and believe what they hear because it's stated loudly. But the loudest voices are often loud to cover up a kind of shiver implicit in the words, because the words are lying. Often the words to hear, remember and believe are the ones from quiet voices, telling gentle truths.

Near the start of the film, the following quote from the Dalai Lama is shown on the screen in golden letters:

"When I see beings of wicked nature, oppressed by violent misdeeds and afflictions, may I hold them dear, as if I had found a rare and precious treasure."

This attitude, exercised consistently over time, is the only -- the only -- solution to something we have discussed a lot at IB -- man's inhumanity to man.

The story behind the film "Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion" is here:

http://www.cryofthesnowlion.com/Storyline.html

Here's a review of "Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion":

http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/films.php?id=6608