Wednesday, November 09, 2005
So is this "appeasement" or not?
Hu Jintao is here in London and once again the British government is falling head over heels to accommodate a tyrant. China has been the world leader in the number of executions carried out over the last few years, and its undemocratic rule crushes any dissent.
On Newsnight yesterday I had the pleasure to watch two opposing points of view on this visit. Mike Gapes MP, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Commitee was in favour of the visit, despite the, ahem, baggage. At one point he adequately summed up what the Blair government was saying, and simultaeneously what it should have been thinking, when he spluttered that it was important to have good "democrati- err, diplomatic relations". "Oh shit" he must have been thinking, "I'm a one-man Chinese whisper".
One the other side of the fence (I suppose Great Wall is better, but lets stick with dissing the government) was Liu Hongbin, who participated in the Tianammen Square demonstration, and still suffers under the Chinese government pressure aimed at him and his family. He graciously conceeded that Hu Jintao was a "human being", which is apparently more than Hu Jintao can bring himself to do when he sizez up his Falun Gong, Tibetan and Uighur opponents. But he also strongly criticised the UK for snuggling up to the world's fastest growing economy. Most importantly, he stated that Labour's "ethical foreign poicy was a joke". These are the people we want on our side, not some cruel tyranny which, no matter how rapidly it develops economically, is still in its democratic infancy. Blair and his cabinet should be pressing the Chinese government to develop peacefully in the direction of democracy, and more importantly, to form a strong human rights framework that stamps out torture, the death penalty and the confetti-burst of prison sentences dished out for the most insignificant trangressions. While in the past they have claimed to be doing this, the public are actually in the dark over what is going on here.
On Newsnight yesterday I had the pleasure to watch two opposing points of view on this visit. Mike Gapes MP, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Commitee was in favour of the visit, despite the, ahem, baggage. At one point he adequately summed up what the Blair government was saying, and simultaeneously what it should have been thinking, when he spluttered that it was important to have good "democrati- err, diplomatic relations". "Oh shit" he must have been thinking, "I'm a one-man Chinese whisper".
One the other side of the fence (I suppose Great Wall is better, but lets stick with dissing the government) was Liu Hongbin, who participated in the Tianammen Square demonstration, and still suffers under the Chinese government pressure aimed at him and his family. He graciously conceeded that Hu Jintao was a "human being", which is apparently more than Hu Jintao can bring himself to do when he sizez up his Falun Gong, Tibetan and Uighur opponents. But he also strongly criticised the UK for snuggling up to the world's fastest growing economy. Most importantly, he stated that Labour's "ethical foreign poicy was a joke". These are the people we want on our side, not some cruel tyranny which, no matter how rapidly it develops economically, is still in its democratic infancy. Blair and his cabinet should be pressing the Chinese government to develop peacefully in the direction of democracy, and more importantly, to form a strong human rights framework that stamps out torture, the death penalty and the confetti-burst of prison sentences dished out for the most insignificant trangressions. While in the past they have claimed to be doing this, the public are actually in the dark over what is going on here.
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Mike Gapes MP, the Sun, Melanie Phillips and pro death penalty Singaporeans... There must be a pandemic outbreak of stupidity and idiocy that combines into a potent strong enough to kill an elephant (one that's allergic to stupid people of course) 10 times over.
No matter how much bullshit you shoot out of political aerospace, the brown clouds just keep coming.
No matter how much bullshit you shoot out of political aerospace, the brown clouds just keep coming.
this world is gettig crazier. unfortunately i'm going on holiday next week, so I can't monitor the excesses of Holy Cow Phillips. I hope she has some garbage prepared for wher I return. how did the free-speech petition go in Singapore?
ps, here is a Turkish free speech petition (how is Bobby..?) As you can see, I got in there pretty fast. http://www.aramyayincilik.org/
The petition for the film-maker is still open for signatures. Although it is only at a disappointing 357 signatures given that it's been open for this long. Political apathy and the fear of retribution from the government (aka Big Brother) for any dissent play their parts. Singaporeans tend to have a very heightened sense of paranoia when it comes to Big Brother. It's probably why most people who engage in in such forums like Singabloodypore use anonymous identities. My my, i wonder if I should hide more than just my name...
A petition against the death penalty has recently been linked there if you have time to kill (no pun intended). Including a poll on the death penalty.
Have a great holiday and may it be free of encounters with stupid people. Will forward that petition to Boby and check on him...
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A petition against the death penalty has recently been linked there if you have time to kill (no pun intended). Including a poll on the death penalty.
Have a great holiday and may it be free of encounters with stupid people. Will forward that petition to Boby and check on him...
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