The Tibet situation... is it really like we think it is?

I think it's safe to say that everyone of us has heard about the situation between Tibet and China. Usually, we see things like "Free Tibet" and "Justice for Tibet". However, we have to understand that the Chinese have their reasons for having that relationship with Tibet, and Tibet also has its reasons for not getting out of China's control. So what if the Chinese power over Tibet has brought some positive consequences? Or could it be that the media has lied to all of us during all this time?

This is a video I found that explains the truth behind all the situation and says that the media has manipulated the situation in order for us to build up a kind of hatred towards China. This would benefit the United States in various aspects, as we can notice. So, I invite you to watch it and form your own opinion. Enjoy...

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China - Tibet

As we recently saw in class, the relation between China and Tibet has never been good. I was reading this article about how the government from China murdered two men from Tiben because they participated in some "disturbing" acts one year ago in the region of himalaya. A few days ago China rejected some critics that the European Union realized; China just said that they warned the EU to stay out of their business. Pekin is accusing Dalai Lama to stop every independentist manifestation from Tibet, he just denies it and says that they're just asking for regional autonomy for Tibet.
China said that these two man caused 21 deaths and their security forces just caused 1 death. Althoug, the Tibetan government declares that in the exile more than 200 tibetans were murdered in the chinese represion after the disturbes. Is interesting how China is still refusing to accept this deal and consider Tibet as a property with no rights, no freedom, no liberty of doing what they really want.

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The 14th Dalai Lama

Some interesting facts

Here's a short biography on the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, head of state and spiritual leader of Tibet.

• At the age of two the child, who was named Lhamo Dhondup, was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and patron saint of Tibet.
• The child began his monastic education at age six. At 23 he sat for his final examination in the Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, during the annual Monlam (prayer) Festival in 1959. He passed with honours and was awarded the Geshe Lharampa degree, the highest-level degree equivalent to a doctorate of Buddhist philosophy.
• In 1950 Dalai Lama was called upon to assume full political power after China's invasion of Tibet in 1949. In 1954, he went to Beijing for peace talks with Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders, including Deng Xiaoping and Chou Enlai. But finally, in 1959, with the brutal suppression of the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa by Chinese troops, he was forced to escape into exile--India.
• In 1992 His Holiness issued guidelines for the constitution of a future, free Tibet. He announced that when Tibet becomes free the immediate task would be to set up an interim government whose first responsibility will be to elect a constitutional assembly to frame and adopt Tibet's democratic constitution.
• The Dalai Lama is a man of peace. In 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent struggle for the liberation of Tibet. He has consistently advocated policies of non-violence, even in the face of extreme aggression.
• Since 1959 His Holiness has received over 84 awards, honorary doctorates, prizes, etc., in recognition of his message of peace, non-violence, inter-religious understanding, universal responsibility and compassion. He has also authored more than 72 books.
• He considers himself a simple, Buddhist monk.

Be kind whenever possible... It is always possible.

- Dalai Lama

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Did you Know?...

It is funny to see that after so much time working on this blog, no one has actually established a "Did you Know?" section. So why not start now? Of course I'm going to have to set some copyright or trademark or something like that.

So now, I'm officially beginning this "Did you Know" section, and stick with us for further posts!

"Did you Know?..."

...that Hong Kong belonged to Great Britain some time ago. We are starting to talk about this in class, so I decided to post a brief introduction to this topic before we get deeper in class.

China lost Hong Kong to Great Britain during the Opium Wars of 1839 and it was in 1997, in Pekin, when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her Chinese counterpart Zhao Ziyang signed the "Joint Sino-British Declaration"; an historic agreement returning Hong Kong to China. Finishing a British rule of over 155 years and transferring Hong Kong from a British colony to a communist China marking a historic change and launching a new era in trading and diplomacy between this two countries. The Chinese president at the time Dent Xiaoping greeted Mrs. Thatcher and further celebration took place in the Great Hall of the People with several guests from Hong Kong.

Today, Hong Kong is one of the biggest, most powerful and populated cities in China & the world. City of opportunities, money & power, Hong Kong is... "The Crown Jewel" of China.

"Did you Know?..." is a private section in this blogger and if used

you must add this image & tag Roberto Arrizon (A00957551).

On the contrary you'll be violating a trademark and your post

will be submitted to trial, with elimination as a possible result.

Please respect this trademark, follow the rules established,

and then feel free to create your own "Did you Know?..." posts!

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60th Anniversary of Communist Rule in China

Yesterday, the Chinese were celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong, which took place on 1 October 1949. The celebrations in Beijing started when President Hu Jintao appeared on Tiananmen Square, along with some former Chinese leaders. Then, the Chinese flag was raised in the center of the square, and a huge military parade with tanks, soldiers and missile launchers started. Finally, the president gave a speech praising China’s progress and their nation’s promising future.

Here’s a link to an article about the celebrations in Beijing
BBC News - China marks Communist anniversary

Here’s a link to a video with images of the parade
YouTube - China's 60th anniversary parade 2009, Tian'an Men Square, Beijing

Anf finally, a video on Chinese art and politics:
BBC News - Audio slideshow: Art and politics in China

Mao Zedong

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A New Barrier to American-Chinese Trade

Well, since we won’t have any videos this week, and teams won’t be analyzing any new issues, I’d like to share a link to a short article that I found on Foreign Affairs some time ago. I think this article is quite interesting to analyze, especially because its content is closely related to what we have seen in class during this partial.

Here’s the link to Robert McMahon’s “Daily Analysis”:
Foreign Affairs - Ill Trade Winds with Beijing

This article discusses the reasons behind a new tariff that the Obama administration placed on imported Chinese tires, after a petition was filled by the United Steelworkers Union. Some claim this tariff was necessary, since the great percentage of Chinese imports (17% of tires in the US) caused American factories to close. Most analysts, however, comment on the negative outcomes that this decision could have. First of all, many are concerned about a Chinese reprisal against American products, which could end up in an escalation of protectionism between the economies of these two countries, or even trade war. Then, there’s the risk of raising Chinese nationalism or of triggering China’s return to a more closed market. Besides, this shouldn’t have happened just before the G-20 summit, when cooperation between these powerful countries was most needed.

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China & India, "Two Economic Monsters"

We've all heard that China is becoming one of the most powerful countries, economically speaking, yet there is another country who does not want to be left behind, and it is a country not everybody is aware of; India.

Both countries have somehow found a way to improve their economic situation across the years. But, how have they done this?...

We can say China's Economic improvement started after 1978, after World War II was over. Before this, China's average growth per year was of roughly 6 percent a year. After 1978, it's average growth was of about 9 percent. There were also several years that it reached 13 percent of average growth.

Even today their economy is still on the rise. Though, today, China's impressive GDP growth might face a few threats, such as: Undervalued Currency, Nonperforming Bank Loans, Inefficient state-owned prices, and growing income disparities.But still, there is another fact, development, both economical and social in China go hand to hand; what used to be the lower classes can now we considered middle class. The countries' infrastructure has been improved as well, and there is a chance that China could stop being just a "very large industry" that supplies treats all over the world.This issue has created a worldwide doubt... Will China become a threat to the world? Especially, for its major rival, The United States.

"Per capita income has nearly quadrupled in the last 15 years, and a few analysts are even predicting that the Chinese economy will be larger than that of the United States in about 20 years". Say Zuliu Hu & Mohsin S. Khan in their article "Why is China Growing so Fast"

For more information visit this link: [http://www.imf.org/EXTERNAL/PUBS/FT/ISSUES8/INDEX.HTM]

China and India are countries recognized by all the world. Their economic growth has been really fast in the last century. Both countries have developed their economic situation using infrastructure, low labor and high trading range to raise their position in comparison with other power countries. Indiaprincipally started to trade with high industry products, not only with products of rawmaterial.This is how their numbers have increased since 1980.

To know more about the way India's economy has being managed visit: [http://www.indianchild.com/india_economy_growth.htm] and

[http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/indian-economy-overview.html]

- Globalisation, a current issue.

How positive can Globalisation be? What are it's negative aspects?

In one hand, globalisation has really opened doors to new cultures in different countries. It is easy now to see anItalianin Mexico, a French in Tokyo or a Mexican in Los Angeles (haha).

Trading opportunities has also being encouraged by this matter. Countries are now basing its economy a little bit more in trading than they used to.

Also the appearance of new technologies thanks to globalisation, although most of the time you read in tags "Made in China", "Made in Japan", "Made in Taiwan" etcetera. But still, it has become a positive aspect in countries development.

But Globalisation is still not a fairytale. The mixing of cultures is slowly "destroying" them. This new technologies, well, if you've seen the film "I Robot", you might think about it twice before having a robot doing your chores.

Another issue of globalisation is the fact that countries have become more and more dependent to each other; and this, in the long run, could become worse.

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China's young communists

A recent CNN article shows us some insight on communism in China, and how it is regarded by the people. It is an interview to three members of the Communist Youth League and the China Communist Party (currently the largest political party, with 75 million members). When talking about communism, Natalie Chen, an 18-year old freshman at Peking University said that she thinks communism is "an ideal state of society that everyone should pursue" and that it is a great society as everybody has equal opportunities. In the interview, they talk about how the Communist Party started as a group of revolutionary farmers with a tumultuous rule, and how in the next 30 years China was transformed with the implementation of new economic goals and gradual openness to the outside world, which is why the Communist Party now is largely credited with delivering the country from isolation to economic prosperity.

Despite all this, the Party's biggest achievement has been surviving for 60 years as the one and only political party... in the most populated country of the world. When asked about fairness in China and what the Communist Party really stands for, these students couldn't respond but with vague answers. Still, this article got me thinking how a point of view can vary so much in a different country or culture. A lot of people in China see Communism as the best form of government (backed up by the number of members in its party) but if you went to the US, the European Union or here in Mexico and asked the people which form of government is the best, I don't think the answers would fall that much towards communism. This talks about how a different culture (and education) provides a different point of view, also about how even the youth in China agrees with Communism, while people may think that it is imposed by the higher ranks. Also you can comment on communism.. What do you think of it? Do you think that Communism could bring wealth and power to our country as it did to China?

A conversation with China's young communists - CNN

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China set to provide first swine flu vaccines

China has developed a vaccine for swine flu and is set to become the first country in the world to begin mass inoculations, but there are concerns over possible side effects, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. China is the first one to have an approved vaccine for the swine flue and will be the first one to distribute, What does this means? that China is starting to be the number 1 country in several cases, this one is the a good example the numer one who invented this vaccine, the number 1 that always is innovating to create new things that attract countries and institutions in this case the WHO to have relationships with China, and what does China win? Economic Power and Political Power in the world , if China follows this procedure of being the one that is innovating, the Countries and The institutions would give China a big power in the choises that the countries have to take and these one would start to be more dependt to China, and with this power and relationships i think China would become in the Number 1 Power of the World.

Here is the link of this New so you can read it and have a better conclusion: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/09/china.swine.flu.vaccine/index.html

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China a great country that by time has become such an importat country
turned into one of the countries that lives through one of the major ecological crises of the planet.



Check this!!
* 70 % of the rivers and lakes of China are seriously contaminated up to the point that by only if people touches the water can harm their health.

* In China are 16 of 20 cities more contaminated of the planet!!!

* The quality of the air provokes near 410.000 premature deaths.

* Nowadays, China is the second issuer of gases greenhouse effect that they cause the climatic change in world.

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