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Quote by: GPIRS88  Where is the basis for this argument?
1989- Democratic protesters stood up to the PRC for liberty
only to be suppressed by the PLA ARMY
divisions and leaving hundreds if not thousands slaughtered! |
The discussion of how other countries view China is interesting.
Russia, for example:
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Long accustomed to regarding themselves as - relatively
speaking - civilised and the Chinese as backward, if not barbaric, Russians
inevitably find it difficult to adjust to the spectacular reversal of roles
today, when China has become an industrial powerhouse towering above its
neighbour, and its great urban centres are exemplars of a modernity that
makes their Russian counterparts look small and shabby by comparison. The
social and economic dynamism of the PRC, brimming with conflict and vitality
of every kind, offers a particularly painful contrast, for those willing to
look, with the numbed apathy of Russia - and this, liberals might gloomily
reflect, without even the deliverance of a true post-Communism. The wound to
national pride is potentially acute.
LRB · Perry Anderson: Russia’s Managed Democracy |
Maybe this is why "Russia voiced support for the Chinese government...over the violence in Tibet, calling its relations with the Dalai Lama an internal matter and saying efforts to boycott the Beijing Olympics are 'unacceptable.'
If a nation lacks pride in itself, it can make up for it by taking pride in the tyranny of others.
Said the Foreign Ministry:
"We are expressing hope that the Chinese authorities will take all necessary measures to stop illegal actions and provide for the swiftest possible normalization of the situation" in Tibet.
Russia warns against boycott of Olympics over Tibet - International Herald Tribune
By sucking up to China, Russia is perhaps reaffirming its trade relationship, no doubt in the name of Russia's best interests.
And, on the other side, we should still consider how national pride is key to the Olympics. We're ultimately in the realm of mass psychology. I have to wonder how much of this is about human rights, and how much of it is only oneupmanship and showboating. Personally, I find that if nations truly cared about why people are so mean to one another, they would minimize their own power and risk forfeiting their place on the world stage.
Grandpa h.