Ottawa - Thousands rally for China

Thousands rally for China

Former Tibet serfs say they cherish present happy life more than ever

As I've mentioned before, I don't know a lot about Tibet. But, when I get the chance, I'll be sure to visit. I want to see for myself this place. While I was in Beijing, it was one of the places my friends mentioned, proudly, as a must see place. Yet, now, it has become a focal point for every criticism of China.

In many respects, looking at its history over the last hundred years, the Chinese government ought to be able to hold up Tibet as a shining example of their progress. In 50 years, the Chinese have doubled the life expectancy, radically reduced infant mortality and promoted literacy in Tibet.

I do hope that the fashionable students who marched in the face of the pro-China demonstrators in Ottawa over the weekend with clear intentions, complete with props and fake blood, of provoking a confrontation have the opportunity to visit Tibet one day. I also hope that they check the racist rhetoric. Mr. Hillier, as quoted in www.canada.com, seems to think that his fellow Canadians do not hold to "the ideals of freedom and justice that Canada is built on" by virtue of their Chinese heritage. And, Ms. Demers, you and your 14 friends showed up to detract from the pro-China message. Moreover, by virtue of your props, you were hoping for more than just detraction; you sought provocation. You wouldn't let them be thousands of people voicing their opinion in a free country.

Is the Dalai Lama pro-democracy or pro-theocracy? What does he say about the human rights abuses under his theocracy? Serfdom. I am confident that the young people of Students for a Free Tibet don't understand what that word means. Hell, I'm almost 48 years old, and I don't fully understand what it means. What does it mean to be property, to be so much human trash? When Mr. Hillier and Ms. Demers march for a "Free" Tibet, how do they reconcile that the Dalai Lama represents a system of governance that, in the past, treated human life in such a way?