Declare Independence

Just days before Taiwan's elections, China rears its big ugly head again. [note: when I say, "China," I mean the Chinese government.]

China has put on a great front that they truly care about human rights, especially in the face of increased monitoring by the rest of the world as the summer Olympics approach. But if their prioritization of dangerous, eco-destroying industrialization over the safety, health and dignity of its citizens isn't enough of a clue that justice isn't really a value of the Chinese government, then certainly this week's forceful quelling of Tibetan protesters is.

While politics are incredibly gray and morality is in the eye of the beholder, there are hardly any redeeming qualities for China's policies - internally or externally. But it's becoming more and more evident that China's government operates purely through the lens of saving face. Is it not slightly ridiculous that Beijing will try to force rain just before the Olympics?!

Interestingly, because of the Tibetan riots, the Taiwanese polls have shown a slight increase in Frank Hsieh's (the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate) favor. While the current president's (Chen Shui-bian) term has been smeared with corruption and highly criticized economic policies, it is a big election. If Ma Ying-Jeou wins the election (which unfortunately is being forecasted), then Taiwan will return to the rule of the Kuomintang. The KMT is certainly more democratic and civil than it was just a couple of decades ago. But as my father put it, "Ma may not be a bad person in someway. But he is a dangerous person to trust in regarding to the dealing with the Red China." After sixty years of corruption, martial law, and abusive power, I wouldn't trust the KMT either.

The other day, I was at the 7th session of the Human Rights Council at the UN, and as I watched country representative after country representative respond to the presentations, I realized how sad it was that Taiwan did not have a seat. And how ironic it is that Taiwan doesn't have a seat because of China, which has one of the worst, ongoing human rights records in the world.

Unfortunately, all the petitions in the world won't really help as long as the US and other powerful countries continue to get closer to China, without enforcing accountability measures on their government. At least there is a lot of attention on them right now because of the Olympics. But what happens after the Olympics? And they aren't able to force enough rain to truly purify their air? And they continue to abuse their human resources until they, literally, collapse? How many years will it take for them to embrace the value of one individual?

As Bjork so boldly stated at a Shanghai concert earlier this month, "Declare Independence!"

Left photo taken from democracyinaction.org.