Beijing pledges 'a fight to the death' with Dalai Lama

Pretty interesting rhetoric considering that the Dalai Lama has commited himself to a life of non-violence.

China’s new top official in Tibet has embarked on a fierce campaign to crush loyalty to the exiled Dalai Lama and to extinguish religious beliefs among government officials... Mr Zhang told senior party officials in the region that they were engaged in a “fight to the death” against the Dalai Lama... Ethnic Tibetan civil servants of all ranks, from the lowliest of government employees to senior officials, have been banned from attending any religious ceremony or from entering a temple or monastery.

The Chinese government's enmity towards and excessive focus on the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism shows, ultimately, the insecurity of the communist regime. If communism met peoples needs and aspirations, then the government would not have to force people to be atheists. Because communism falls so terribly far short of this, Tibetans and other Chinese citizens know that they must look elsewhere for the proper values towards life. They turn to faith.

China, as ruled by the communist government, remains a terrible place. Because they are such a closed society and because of the wars that take place with regularity around the world, China does not often show up on our radar screen. We should remember when we shop at places like Walmart and buy product after product with a lable that says "Made in China" that the people of China need more than our money.

It is my hope that some day people in this country will again be concerned about the repression in China, as we were briefly after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

GP