| China Throws its Weight Around |
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| Written by Our Correspondent | |
| Friday, 06 November 2009 | |
 Beijing forces the cancellation of a Tibetan photo exhibit in Dhaka
See also: China: Big, Strong and Really, Really Sensitive Chinese government pressure last weekend forced the closure in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka of a photo exhibit depicting the plight of Tibetans in the wake of the 1949 invasion of the isolated kingdom by the Chinese. The photo exhibit, "Into Exile—Tibet 1949-2009" was organized by Students for a Free Tibet Bangladesh in partnership with the prominent Drik Gallery in Dhaka. It was supposed to open Nov 1. Bangladesh police in riot gear, however, showed up an hour before the opening of the exhibit and prevented the public from entering. The Dalai Lama, of course, remains a singular Chinese enemy. Beijing justifies its occupation of the mountain kingdom as having always been a part of China, and that the development money it has poured into Tibet has saved the remaining Tibetans from a life of serfdom and religious superstition. China has a growing amount of clout in Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries, with annual per capita gross domestic product estimated at only $1,500, ranking it 196th in the world. China, with its vast powerhouse of export resources, in 2006 became Bangladesh's biggest trading partner, particularly in textiles and garments, which Bangladeshi factories re-export to western countries. By contrast, Bangladesh forms a minuscule portion of China's trade, meaning China could pull the plug on Bangladesh with relative impunity if it wished. Bangladesh exports, becoming a mainstay of the economy, grew by 10 percent in the most recent year recorded, with knitwear exports growing by 16 percent and woven garments by 14.5 percent. The Bangladeshi garment trade is expected to hit US$12 billion in 2009. China, according to Xinhua, offers duty-free access for 84 types of products from Bangladesh as part of the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement which effect on January 1, 2006. A list of 75 additional products is currently under the consideration by the Ministry of Commerce. Shahidul Alam, the managing director of the Drik gallery, told reporters that Bangladesh Special Branch police, citing a government order, asked him to stop the exhibition. Police, he said, also demanded to know the names of the organizers. Although the police officers refused to produce the order, they threatened to shut down the show by force if the organizers did not do so willingly. In a blog posted in Dhaka, Alam said he had been visited by Qian Kaifu, cultural councilor of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Bangladesh, as well as Cao Yanhua, the embassy's cultural attaché, who presented with him a silk tie, a 2010 calendar and a container of tea. Qian, Alam wrote, "got straight to the point. 'We would like you to cancel the Tibet exhibition,' he said. Reminding me that Tibet was a part of China, he went on to explain how the Bangladesh China relationship would be affected if the show went on. He also spoke of the many things we could do together, the exhibitions we could bring." Alam said he reminded Qian that the gallery was independent and not connected with the Bangladesh government and asked him "how he felt he had the right to tell us what we could show." That evening, Alam wrote, a high-ranking official of the Bangladesh Ministry of Culture called to caution him against showing pictures of the Dalai Lama. "'China was a friend, you mustn't show pictures of Dalai Lama" the high ranking official went on. "No, no, we are not talking of censorship, but…" When he refused to cancel the show, officials showed up from Special Branch, demanding to know the names and details of the people who had organized the show. "I was familiar with this language, but decided to hold my ground," Alam wrote. " A few calls to 'higher ups' followed, made more for me to hear than anyone else. "He is not being cooperative… Yes he is here… I have explained the gravity of the situation… We have done nothing else yet…" went the conversation." Additional visits did not dissuade the Drik gallery operator from going ahead with the show, with the ultimate result that the police showed up to shut the gates when the exhibition was due to open. As a crowd gathered, the organizers of the show said they would put it on in the streets if the gallery was closed. "If the Chinese government spouts one line consistently it is that other states should not interfere in its internal affairs," wrote Rob Godden with the independent watchdog site Rights Exposure Project, which seeks to protect the rights of bloggers across the globe. "However, this obviously is a case of 'do as I say, not as I do'". It was the second time in a year, Godden wrote, that the Chinese government had sought to stop the showing of an art show. The first was in Australia, when Chinese hackers staged a massive attack on Chinese hackers have attacked the website of the Melbourne International Film Festival, the country's biggest, over the festival's decision to screen a documentary about the exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer. Hackers replaced program information with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans as well as sending spam emails in an attempt to crash the site, the Australian press reports said. See also: China: Big, Strong and Really, Really Sensitive
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(15)
To connect the 'much injustices' the world has done China with allegedly overblown, allegedly commercial-minded news-stories is pretty paranoid. China's internal ethnic problems are not 'little irritations'. They've shut down the internet in those regions, for pete's sake -- think about it!
Votes: +0
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Not Spain
written by T Long , November 26, 2009
I hope Commentor Democrat ("Persecuted", Nov 10 ) is not suggesting that the good king and erstwhile emperor Alfonso XIII had anything to do with 'the fun' of the rescue of the Western diplomat-hostages in Beijing and the crushing of the Boxer terrorists. Spanish diplomats and citizens were indeed among those trapped in the 'Legation Quarter' in the summer of 1900 and, being in justifiable fear for their lives, must have been thankful to see the Eight Allies troops arrive -- but their countrymen did not number among those troops, much less among the large percentage of them who proceeded to sack the city's Tartar, Imperial and Han-Chinese neighbourhoods.
Votes: +2
Alfonso, mind you, had just lost Guam and the Philipine islands (and several American ones) to US imperialism, and was not exactly spoiling for a fight. looted the Imperial Palace is correct. But to say that the USA and Spain report abuse
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Flaunting
written by Mamakthir , November 12, 2009
Flaunt it if you have it. The obese kid in the picture show the extent which the Western Press wish to denigrate their perceived opponent.
Votes: -3
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Suffering Descendants
written by Opium Addict , November 12, 2009
The Chinese don't have to be angry. They hope to provoke you in Western media out of envy & jealousy today.
Votes: -2
Just sit back and watch the Moslems from within take them on. After Fort Hood in the US where's next? In the UK, Germany, etc., Where in Europe? Payback time . . . . report abuse
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Persecuted my arse
written by Christian Democrat , November 10, 2009
Commentor 'Persecuted Chinese' seems to have her facts in a muddle.
Votes: +4
To include emperor-worshipping militarists among 'those thuggish nation states' is no great unfairness. And to say that the British and French looted the Imperial Palace is correct. But to say that the USA and Spain joined in that fun is misinformation (Might she be thinking of the suppression of the mass-murderous Boxers?) And to say that any of these nations continued treating the Chinese 'like sub humans' all the way down 'to the late 1900s' (10 years ago?) is --to be charitable-- a silly mistake. To mention the terrible, occasionally state-directed anti-chinese violence of the indonesians and malaysians is not unfair, though surely she strays from the topic of western hypocrisy here to do so. To say such violence has been 'unrelenting' is a bit much. To call the malays 'those brown savages' is not going to win anyone to her cause. If Persecuted represents how Chinese feel about the natives of the South China Sea littoral, then maybe Chinese shouldnt live 'in their midst'. To connect the 'much injustices' the world has done China with allegedly overblown, allegedly commercial-minded news-stories is pretty paranoid. China's internal ethnic problems are not 'little irritations'. They've shut down the internet in those regions, for pete's sake -- think about it! Reporters and publishers who cover irritations of this magnitude, despite Persecuted's evident wish to closet them, are not setting about 'cheap sensationalism'. It is Chinese silence which is deafening. It is chinese intervention in foreign events which is sensational. Like it or not, Persecuted's big fat state is based on planet Earth, and its actions are rightly subject to human observation and comment -- same as Japan's are, same as USA's, same as those of the brown savage malays. And by the way, Persecuted, your bold, self-righteous title is mis-spelled. report abuse
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Western Hyprocrisy
written by Persecuted Chinese , November 10, 2009
Oh no! China should not only just throw its weight around, it should start to seek redress for all the historical wrongs from those thuggish nation states such as:
Votes: -5
.Japan for its massacre of Chinese during the illegal occupation in the 1930s & 40s .those biggest & most hypocritical sons & daughters of white European thuggish nations like US, Britain, France, Spain etc who looted the Imperial Palaces & treated Chinese like sub humans during their semi colonial incursions/exploits in China from the late 1800s to the late 1900s .all those brown savages in S E Asia who slaughter & persecute Overseas Chinese diaspora in their midst especially the Indonesian & Malaysian Malays (through their unrelenting pogroms), Vietnamese (through their deliberate booting out of boot people) & others The world has done us so much injustices & yet they just don't seem to see & feel anything but they have the audacity to pick on small little irritations & blow them totally out of all proportion just so that they can sell more on their stories! Professional journalism or mere cheap sensationalism? report abuse
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Obese, presumably
written by T Long , November 09, 2009
References immediately below are to commentor Shame (Nov 08 ) and contributor Lam ("Hu 's Journey to the West", Aug 28 ). Sorry for the code-slip.
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...
written by T Long , November 09, 2009
Along with commentor KV, i second the opinion of commentor Shame ("Disgraceful"!, Nov0
Votes: +5
 -- except in the minor matter of her first sentence, which ought to read : " .. the use of an obese, presumably chinese child .. ". The last thing your faithful and appreciative readers want is to see you give any ammunition to the little red net-boys who --without ever seeming to have read your articles-- always drop comments under them to accuse you of bias. i do not second the commentor Zhao, though ("Terrible photography", immediately below) -- i quite like the illustrations here. The one for "Hu's Journey to the West" by Dr.Lam (Aug 2 was a stroke of good-hearted irreverence. report abuse
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Terrible photography
written by Zhao , November 09, 2009
The photography in your website is atrocious! Were the editors asleep when the drunken webmaster posted this?
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Pic
written by kv , November 08, 2009
Yea I don't understand what the picture does here either. Totally irrelevant picture.
Votes: +1
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Disgraceful!
written by Shame , November 08, 2009
Dear Asia Sentinel Editor,
Votes: +5
The right or wrong of the articel's subject matter aside, the use of a presumably obese Chinese child to portray and mock China's "sensitivity" to the Tibetan issue is very poor, disgraceful, nevermind utterly tasteless journalism of the highest order. That nameless child is an individual, whose individual rights Western journalism supposedly presumes to champion and allegedly respect, and yet the use of that image of an innocent child with a recognised medical condition, which could very well stem from diabetes among many other diseases, to advance a political/journalistic purpose is pretty immoral and quite repugnant. It not only demonstrates a singular lack of deeper forethought, but also a lack of editorial judgement and an inability to separate Chinese people in general, nevermind a suffering individual Chinese child, from the greater analysis of a government's policies. Or are only non-Chinese children worthy to be accorded empathy and sympathy? Would the editorial staff of AS ever use the image of an ill American or European child as an analogy of those governments' right or worngs and what would the possible legal consequences be in those instances? Is it precisely the fact that AS is unlikely to be sued by the child's guardians or raise meaningful objections that allow AS to feel it can act with impunity or in a cavalier fashion regarding its editorial judgement and responsibility? Does AS' editorial or political leanings trump all concerns, including the ethics of responsible journalism and balanced reporting, unless of course, contrary to "popular wisdom", an image does not speak a thousand words? Should Asia Sentinel aspire to "serious" journalism, it needs to do much, much better than this and showing greater "sensitivity", empathy, editorial judgement and responsibility would be a very good place to start. Yours faithfully, A disappointed long term reader report abuse
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written by Steve Corry , November 08, 2009
Theprophet,
Votes: +5
It has probably been done already, but if not it would have educational value and the US population, being used to a more democratic system rather than secrecy and twisting of history, has nothing to fear. Lhamo, The Dalai Lama can and does speak Tibetan. Or are you just renaming Tibetan Xining Putonghua for your own convenience? The national disgrace is the CCP continual efforts to re-write history and hold the Chinese population in ignorance (won't work in the information age), and double standard of stating they don't interfere in the internal affairs of other countries while continually doing so (telling other countries what they can and cannot show, arms sales to African dictators....I could go on). If China wants the respect that it so obviously craves it needs to start earning it by acting responsibly on the international stage and giving other nations respect in return. report abuse
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All Praise CCP
written by We Love Ignorance , November 07, 2009
Release yourself from mental slavery, because they can not free your mind.
Votes: +4
If Tibet is really a part of China, then why does the government try so bloody hard to always convince everyone. The whole world knows that China is all FACE. That nothing behind the face is real. China is a joke of epic proportions. For thousands of years China was the only light of knowledge and science in a rather dark world, but now it is the epitimy of ignorance. Keep Tibet, Keep Taiwan, Keep XingJiang, but for f**ks sake, stop the genocide and cultralcide. report abuse
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