The emergence of China as an economic superpower

A recent comment on one of my entries caught my eye. Reader Ravi said the following: "let's all focus on stupid celebrity news [Edison Chen and Gillian Chung] and ignore the evils the chinese government is doing - supporting burma's military junta, funneling money to sudan's government which sponsors genocide of black africans, and destroying tibetan culture and its people!" And for some reason, I felt like responding to that comment right here on my new entry.

Now I always love a debate and love comments on my blog, so it's definitely high time for a discussion.

First of all, I'd like to argue that the scandal is not just some "stupid celebrity news." It would be if Edison Chen were Paris Hilton, but he didn't use the scandal as a leverage for further popularity (who's heard of Paris Hilton before One Night In Paris?). What the scandal was, however, is news, for two reasons in particular:

1. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, this sex scandal is the biggest news story in Hong Kong. Newspapers (free press, if you give them a chance) reported the scandal on the front pages for 20+ consecutive days, outrunning any records made during the last "important" event in Hong Kong, SARS. Not only did the scandal rock the entertainment industry as a whole, it changed Hong Kong's impression of canto-pop idols forever.

2. At the same time, the scandal slowly became bigger than itself. What I mean by that is that the implications of the scandal began to spread as more agents got involved, leading to city-wide reprecussions. Perhaps at one point in time, the average Hong Kong Joe could say that he doesn't trust the government, the police (for obvious reasons), the media and the entertainment industry, and mean it. Not that the economy was looking great either. Yet all these emotions were brought together by the heat of the moment, through massive spotlight on the scandal. The scandal revealed mistrust and hypocricy in our society, so that is why it is important.

Second of all, we move to the evils of China. Granted, I wouldn't say that I'm an expert in Chinese "evils" in Burma and Sudan (in Sudan, I am pretty sure, China is in there to do business with whoever holds the oil fields. Warren Buffet would agree with me. But its extension of resources does not infer in any way that China is "funneling money" into the country for genocide. In fact, one could say exactly the same for the United States, for invading Iraq for oil. No excuses. Both countries have the same objective but a different "reasoning." The US believes it must first root the evil from the ground before it can take the oil. China believes it can root the oil and resolve the evil on humanitarian grounds. There, I said it), but I would rightly debate anyone on why Tibet is a part of China (and Taiwan for that matter), as well as how China is building rather than "destroying Tibetan culture and its people."

A great summary is found in one of the Youtube videos I posted in my last Tibet-Angry-Mob-Riot entry. Here I will list out the gist of that video in words:
1. China is represented by 56 ethnic groups, and amongst the 56, Tibetans. Just like Native Americans who appreciate Cauasians who further appreciate African-Americans in America, China is multicultural.
2. Tibet has been a part of China since the Yuan Dynasty, 1271 AD, before Columbus discovered America.
3. During late-Qing Dynasty, the British colonized Tibet and enslaved its population.
4. Before the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Tibet was ruled under Dalai Lama's puppet regime.
5. Tibet's government in exile is funded by the CIA to rise up against and seperate from China.
6. The Chinese government spends $40 million on Tibetan hospital, education and general infrastructure.
7. The author goes on to question whether similar problems in the western world: Scotland and Ireland in Britain, Texas and the rest of the United States in the United States, Quebec in Canada, Hokkaido and Okinawa in Japan, Australia in Australia.

I'll admit to two things: if you knew me, you would probably call me a liberal, because I find myself supporting the Democrats year after year--and because of that, I don't necessarily agree to everything that is said in this video. For example, I don't believe that the Dalai Lama is an evil Hitler-like man fustrated with his loss of power. That is obvious propaganda. Yet I do believe that Western governments have a tendency to split countries up (through my Cold War history lessons), and Tibet is no different in this case. And the fact that Chinese Tibet does have a longer history than most Western nations is not simply just some Chinese rhetoric against accusations, it is a historical fact.

I do believe this: that until China gives greater civil liberities to everyone, including Tibetans, it will go down in history as being an oppressor like Britain and the United States. Even the innocuous Canada has a history of supressing minorities. Yet the fact is, China does have a problem with human rights, for it is a communist country, but the potential of getting better is there. As Deng Xiaoping said of the June 4th Massacre, it may or may not have been the right thing to do, killing innocent students in a riot, but he did it for the greater good. And what is that? Maintaining the stability of China. Only through slow progression can China succeed, as East Germany and Russia has come to learn. So how is it fair that each and every Western country is denouncing China's actions when: 1. China is harmonizing internal violence for slow external growth, and 2. Europeans and Americans are constantly trying to break the country apart?