If these Uighurs were Buddhists, Bjork, Sting, Bono and all those other one-named saviors of the world's poor and oppressed would have held "Free Xinxiang" concerts already.
In response to an outbreak of violence, the instigation of which remains unclear, the Chinese government has cracked down, and cracked down hard, on the Uighur minority in China's northwest province, Xinjiang.
I remember as a child that whenever the 4th of July rolled around, I would try earnestly to reflect on the significance of the holiday. That is not an...
Both Iran and China are modernizing autocracies committed by a combination of ideology and fear to maintaining control over their peoples' access to information. Iran's lesson for China's leaders is that the technologies of censorship, despite their increasing sophistication, may not be sufficient to prevent determined citizens from using technologies of communication to organize dissent and political opposition on a mass scale.
15 years since bringing us the critically acclaimed documentary Hoop Dreams, Frederick Marx is again giving us the opportunity to study how people sacrifice in order to gain.
The Dalai Lama is a big fan of Amjad Ali Khan, one of India's most famous classical musicians, who was in New York last week to perform in the grand ballroom at the Indian Consulate.
The report challenges the official government position that the Dalai Lama "incited" the protests and criticizes the government's response.
Americans come across as know-it-alls, believing we have the solutions to everybody else's problems and turning a blind eye to issues, like poverty and racism, in our own country.
The Buddhist concept of reincarnation, while both mysterious and enchanting, is hard for most Westerners to grasp. A new film from Israel is out to change that.
Unfortunately, what Nick Kristof does today is ensure that his readers will continue to ignore the moral imperative to help people achieve freedom and democracy.
In these times, the doubt often arises as to whether the world is going to make it. I feel the same way, but intellectually I am certain we will make it. Why? Because the real Day of the Mothers is coming.
Let us not wait for "God" or anybody or anything else to act, while the ball is so obviously in our own court!
While governments negotiate about negotiations and debate who they can talk to the world's preeminent Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, does things differently.
Buddhism is deadly serious about nonviolence, because karma has serious consequences. Morality is never about a person's right to choose, but about understanding the consequences of ones actions.
Here's some good automotive news for a change: The Danica Patrick IndyCar racing juggernaut keeps rolling along. And just in time for the biggest auto race of the year.
As the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai approaches, the government has been making a push to showcase the city as a model of social harmony. Just how they are making the sell misrepresents the minorities of China.
Facts are that if there's a flu pandemic it's in the United States, not Mexico. Some 36,000 Americans died of influenza-induced illness in the last few years or 99 per day.
Meet Eugene Lee, a mid-level associate at a Top 40 law firm on Wall Street who succeeds in business by being real, honest, and kind. Good news.
Governor Rick Perry of Texas brought up the specter of Secession recently and upon polling, a fair amount of Texans and other Americans seem to think Texas seceding from the US would be a good idea.
The truth about Tibet is perhaps more nuanced than it has been presented by either side of the highly polarized debate.
Well, most of the times! My first thought to tell parents is that kids are here to help YOU develop your spiritual essence
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Finally, your last stanza, as many commenters have pointed out, is riddled with problems. If I have it correct, you're saying the United States is openly biased towards Jews because we have nothing to gain from them. This is where your logic turns on itself. We should speak up for oppressed minorities in Asia but support the Israeli state, whose hardliners have been more than unfriendly to Muslims and Arabs? (I'm not trying to equate Jews with Israel as you had Han Chinese and China, but if I take your label literally, your intentions become even more confusing in that you're using this as an opportunity to talk about anti-Semitism.) I don't take sides in volatile conflicts, and do not support the actions of either extremist Israelis or Palestinians, and suggest you do the same for the parties involved in the Xinjiang riots.
One more thing: Rebiya Kadeer ain't no Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama calls for peace during ethnic clashes...Rebiya, well, read her biography and watch her do her rounds in the television news circuit.
Thirdly, how much do you actually know about Chinese Uighur- Han relations? There are always two sides to a story. This is not a classic case of oppressor and oppressed. Many Han Chinese migrants to the Xinjiang region are poor laborers in search of a better life. Uighurs see the Chinese influx as even more detrimental to their tenuous lifestyle in a part of the world that has been less than friendly to their beliefs and culture. This, coupled with a ravaged economy and shrinking job market, has resulted in an explosion of ethnic tensions. And I hate to say it, but reports from that area suggest that Chinese police forces have actually been careful not to use excessive force, refraining from the use of "arms and fists" that you speak of.
It pains me to see such an oversimplified perspective of Chinese Uighur- Han relations represented in this poem. First of all, the "Han Chinese" are an ethnic group, not a government or political entity, and are dispersed all around the world from countries in South America to Europe. Many Han Chinese disagree with the actions of the PRC and native activists call for reform in the struggle for peace and democracy.
Secondly, would you call Al-Qaeda "freedom fighters?" How is it that the United States can call on other nations to join us in the "war on terror" and use the word "terrorists" without the implication that we are calling all Muslim groups "terrorists?" I don't condone the word and have always hated it for its divisive qualities, but I think it's appropriate for the PRC to condemn the actions of a few violent individuals. It's especially troubling that you would, without distinction, call these guys "freedom fighters."
Clarence Darrow:
"You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free."
Americans are too divided to respond with a unified voice on this and many other events in the world. Biased reports from corporate media lack credibility. There are two sides to this story, but we should condemn violence from both sides. Our government's role is not to police morals around the world but to protect our national interests. We have deteriorating race relations in the U.S. despite the election of a mixed race president. We should focus our attention and spend more resources to resolve racial tensions in our own country. We don't want the simmering tensions to explode like they did to Katrina victims and the LA Riots.
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