Why is China afraid of the Dalai Lama?

On the 6th July, Chinese police shot at and injured a dozen or so Tibetan Monks, as they were trying to celebrate the birthday of the Dalai Lama in Sichuan province, China. News reports indicated that two monks were shot in the head and many more were injured by scuffles with the police and army.

This incident is just one of the many that have taken place over the past decades since China's invasion of Tibet in the 1950’s, and forced the Dalai Lama into exile in India. The last major crackdown on Tibetan monks protesting against Chinese rule was in 2008, when many were killed in clashes with Chinese security forces.

The Chinese have brutally ruled over the Tibetan people ever since the invasion in 1950, banning them from openly worshipping the Dalai Lama, and repressing their religious and political freedoms.

China has claimed that they have helped develop and modernise Tibet, even gave them an autonomous region status, but most of the development has been in favour of the Han Chinese immigrants, not the native Tibetans.

The Dalai Lama has in recent years acknowledged that China will probably never grant independence to Tibet, but he has called for more autonomy to the Tibetan people; however this seems to have fallen on deaf ears back in Beijing. The Tibetans are still treated like second class citizens with no rights for choices over their lives. Only a couple of weeks ago there were reports that the Chinese authorities in Tibet have forced hundreds of thousands of Tibetans from their nomadic lives, and moved them into newly built housing complexes, where they had to pay for half the construction costs. Majority of Tibetans are poor farmers, and by this action alone they have become indebted to the Chinese state.

I think that although the Dalai Lama as the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people has a point that China is unlikely to grant independence to Tibet, especially since millions of Han Chinese have migrated to the region and billions of dollars have been spent on infrastructure projects, the Chinese authorities should relax their repressive policies, and allow more autonomy for the Tibetan people.

I have been to Tibet, although many years ago, and I noticed that at every monastery and on the streets of the capital, Lhasa, the Chinese have uniformed and undercover security personnel everywhere, spying on the activities of the Tibetans.

From my personal experience, the Tibetan, like all those who are spiritually connected to their religions (and their connection to their religion not associated with political and economic powers) are peaceful and accommodating of others. Hence I do not understand why the Chinese are so threatened by the Dalai Lama, a man who promotes peace among his supporters rather then violence. 

I also can not understand why the Chinese do not allow the Tibetans to practice their Buddhist faith openly, without repression from the authorities.

I think that the Tibetans, whose faith teaches peace and harmony, are unlikely to take up arms and begin a violent revolution any time soon. Like all others who feel desperate for freedom, it is their last resort. All they would probably wish for is just some basic human rights and freedom to practice their faith.       

Australia’s Political Situation is Calm Compared to Egypt

How exciting. With in less than a week, one country has replaced its leader and another looks on the verge of changing its leader. 

I am writing about the political situations in Australia and Egypt. 

In Australia, the governing party internally ousted the Prime Minister and re-installed a man that once experienced the fate of the unfavoured PM. All was done in a matter of hours, some cared, some didn't, and the public continue to live their lives without much interruption. 

In the case of Egypt, if the large amount of the population and the military, get their way, are intent of removing their President from office, even if the outcome is for more violence.

The political situation in Australia is calm compared to the situation in Egypt, and last week's leadership change was conducted without violent protest or threats from the military. But if you have been watching or reading the news, you would know that Egypt is once again on the verge of further political and social unrest, with violent protests and the military announcing that if President Morsi and opposition parties do not resolve the crises by this Wednesday, they may step in again, meaning more violent conflict between the different political and social groups.

In case of Australia, nothing much has changed in the daily lives of most Australian’s after Kevin Rudd ousted Julia Gillard from power, and the leadership change has not  greatly impacted on the lives of most. But in Egypt, a leadership crisis or change seems to have major implication for majority of the people. They have and still do suffer from economic and social issues that in Australia, where I am from, do not suffer on the scale as Egyptians do. Australia has a stable political and social system, with a constitution, which has protected the rights of its citizens for over 100 years, but in Egypt, this does not seem the case.

In Australia there is a peaceful manner in which most leaders are removed, and is reasonably orderly, with some short of rules governing a political coup, either through a general election, or a party ballot. But it seems in many countries around the world, political crises turns into almost a civil war, has been experienced in Egypt of the last few days, and even decades. 

The last few days has shown me that I am lucky that a political leadership change did not affect me personally and most of my fellow citizens. Of course, we will always suffer from quite mundane issues, like small rises in petrol or milk prices, or even a slight hike in our electricity bills, but compared to the situation in Egypt and other countries, facing political and social unrest, I feel quite lucky to be an Australian.

For me, I cannot imagine any short of mass violent protests on the streets of the Australian capital, Canberra, or even the military calling for the government and opposition parties to resolve any crises or they will step in and take charge of the country. For this I hope that in the future, Egypt and the many other courtiers around the world, suffering the extent of political and social unrest, that they can peacefully resolve their issues, and perhaps even one day be able to change leaders without so much violence and unrest.    

Can Kevin Rudd Save the Australian Labor Party?

Last Friday I wrote a blog post on the speculation of a leadership change in the Australian Labor party and government, arguing that I think would be unwise for both the Labor party and the nation. I still stand to this argument, even as of last night Kevin Rudd returned to the leadership of the party and will become Prime Minister again.

At 7pm last night, former Prime Minister Julia Gillard seemed to have had enough on the months, if not years of speculation and criticism of her performance as the nations leader, and chose to call caucus vote to decide her future. To me, and I suspect many others that such a call would be risky, as Kevin Rudd seemed to have the numbers to regain power, and this was the case. Rudd won last nights ballet 57 votes to Gillard’s 45, ending a three year term as Prime Minister for Gillard, and her political career, which as promised she will retire after the next election.

I think that the events of last night were a shame for the labor party and the nation, as I think that Gillard as Prime Minister was doing an ok job. She might have introduced policies that many Australians were told (by Tony Abbott) not to like, for example the Carbon tax, but at least she was trying to improve education for future generations and help the disabled. Although she did lie on a few issues, every leader in politics has done and will do the same in the future, even john Howard would have lied, as to gain votes.

The reinstatement of Kevin Rudd as Labor leader and Prime Minister will not necessarily return the party to government. Even if some of the media speculation is true, that Rudd will reform some of the Gillard policies on the carbon tax, education reform and on boarder protection, the voters are now sick of the infighting taking place in the Labor party and may change their support. Rudd also has a hard task of rebuilding the party, as many senior Cabinet members have resigned as the result of last night's caucus, further destabilizing the party. This I think in the long term will affect the preferences for voters at the next election.

The next few weeks and months will be interesting, to see how Rudd’s return can turn around a 29 percent primary support, and lead a party to at least not a total wipe out as predicted. Hopefully Rudd can prevent a Liberal majority, but at this stage, this looks unlikely.   

Is Berlusconi's Political Career Over

It looks like the political career of former Italian Prime Minister and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi might be at an end, after he was found guilty, and sentenced to a seven year jail term for having sex with an under age prostitute, and abusing his power when as Prime Minister. On top of this verdict, Berlusconi is also contesting two other cases of tax evasion and corruption charges.

The case has been a long drawn out affair, with Berlusconi and the girl denying that they had sex, even though she did attend many of Berlusconi’s so called ‘banga banga' parties at one of the tycoon’s villas. The verdict has been condemned by Berlusconi’s lawyer, who said after the trial, “"This is beyond reality," and "the judges even went beyond the prosecutors' request."  Although it seems if the reports are correct that with a long appeal process which is expected, he will probably never see the inside of a prison cell.

What gets me is how can a man like Berlusconi ever be elected as a nation's leader in the first place. He has been in and out of office for over 20 years, with many millions of Italians seeming to agree or just put up with the playboy antics of the billionaire media mogul. If any other Prime Minister or President in any other democratic nation behaved the way Berlusconi has, with all the extravagant parties and strippers, they would be condemned as immoral and unfit for office. But for some reason Berlusconi has got away with it for years, until now of course.

Although I do think that even with such a damaging verdict against the former Prime Minister, this may not be the last time we see him influencing Italian politics. This is not the first time that he has been found guilty of various crimes, and he seems to find his way past judicial rulings, through either appealing or using his status to escape prison time, and then reappear on the political stage.    

I do believe his return would be unwise.

Should there be a leadership change in the Australian Labor Government?

As the federal election in Australia gets closer, so does the speculation of a leadership change in the Labor government. Ever since the 2010 election, the media and the Liberal party has been on a long campaign of speculating that any moment now, Prime Minister Julia Gillard will be removed as leader of the Labor party and government to be replaced by previous Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. On a couple of occasions the reports have been true with Rudd challenging Gillard in  caucus meetings, but in both cases failed to regain the leadership, most recently been in March this year.

“There are no circumstances under which I will return to the leadership of the Australian Labor Party in the future.” - Kevin Rudd on Sunrise

As the federal parliament sits for the last few weeks before the September election, the media and other sources are jumping over hoops to declare that Gillard will be ousted as Prime Minister, although supporters of both Gillard and Rudd have been frantic at playing down any leadership challenge. On a morning show this morning  Kevin Rudd said “there are no circumstances under which I will return to the leadership of the Australian Labor Party in the future.” Hopefully this is an indication that there will be no challenge next week, as been predicted by the media.

I agree with Labor backbencher Gary Gray’s assessment of the situation, that Rudd and his supporters should contest the leadership or “shut up.” This whole talk and rumors are getting a little tiresome to me and I suspect to the rest of Australia. All that I want is a party to govern without waking up one morning with the news of a new Prime Minister, or constant reports that there might be a leadership challenge.

The last think that the embattled Labor government needs is a disruptive leadership change, just a few months before an election. I think that Gillard is performing as good of a job as Kevin Rudd could do if he was able to take over as leader, which is a little late now.

If the polls are correct, opposition leader Tony Abbott and his Liberal party are predicted to win the September election and any leadership change this close to the ballet would likely not affect the outcome. So perhaps, before Rudd and his supporters try going for the top job they should sit back and consider that any action will probably not reinstate the Labor as the governing party. The only way of a victory for the government is for all party members to concentrate on supporting Gillard as Prime Minister and coming up with sound policy, demonstrating that they can still offer a better future for Australia, rather then a government led by Tony Abbott. 

Iran Turning To A More Transparent Nuclear Plan

If the words of Hassan Rouhani, the newly elected Iranian President are true, the nuclear standoff between Iran and the international community looks to be turning a corner. Over the weekend, Rouhani announced at a post election press conference, that Iran needs to be more transparent with its nuclear program.  

Rouhani is seen as a moderate leader than his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who became a thorn to the international community’s actions to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions. While Rouhani stated that Iran will come to the negotiation table with the international community to solve the nuclear issue, he also said that Iran will not stop uranium enrichment, as the program is within the rules of the international framework.    

This re-engagement by President Rouhani is welcoming, that’s if the words will translate into actions. Although the international community cannot relax sanction or pressure on Iran just yet, until there are concrete efforts by the new government to convince that their nuclear program is for peaceful means only. I think to progress the stated willingness by President Rouhani, is for the 5+1 group (UNSC permanent five and Germany), to openly welcome a turning point in the relationship between Iran and the international community. 

The only resolution I can see of this issue, is not through military action (which has been the argument of Israel) but for peaceful negotiations, which will have to include the reality that Iran is entitled to a peaceful nuclear program. On Iran’s part, the stated transparency will hopefully consist of allowing International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to monitor the program. I do think this crisis can be resolved with more open dialogue from both Iran and the international community. And let’s hope for the people of Iran and the rest of the world, that this stand-off can be resolved soon, as we do not want another unnecessary conflict in an already volatile region.   

North Korea open for talks

Early last month I wrote a post on the escalating crisis on the Korean Peninsula,where North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un was destabilizing regional peace and security with rhetorical threats of invasion of the South and destruction of the United States presence in Asia. For more than a month, he was carrying out these threats by isolating the Communist regime further from the international community, by cutting communication links with the South and just being all out antagonistic towards the US and the rest of the world.

As I argued in my last post concerning the most recent crisis, these actions by the North Koreans is just another one in the line of many that have happened over the last few decades. Every time the Communist regime feels under pressure or scrutiny from the outside world, the leaders looked to release their own personal tension by defying calls for nuclear disarmament with testing of its nuclear capabilities. I cannot even count with all my fingers, how many times North Korea has gone down this path, with the status quo still intact.

So it seems my predictions were correct in the past few months. North Korea seems to be crumbling on the inside, as by one minute they are antagonizing the US and threatening the South, and the next minute, wanting to make peace. Small dog syndrome for attracting attention perhaps?  

Last week, the North Koreans, indicated that they are willing to reopen the Kaesong industrial park and reconnect communication lines with the South. To me, this indicates that the Communist regime and its leaders are in a desperate situation. On the one hand they feel threatened by the outside world and its capitalist ideology, but on the other their continuing self isolation is going to bring further hardship to its people, who surely are not going to sit back now and let the regime destroy their future.