It is unfortunate that South Africa has refused a visa to the venerated Dalai Lama. I cannot shake the feeling that the beacon of democracy on the African continent has let us all down.
The South African government has confirmed that its decision was influenced by trade considerations with China. And not like some soccer fans would like to think that the presence of the Dalai Lama - albeit a year in advance of the Fifa World Cup 2010 - would steal the thunder of the sporting event. Huh?
But what the leaders in South Africa have made clear to the rest of the world and to all citizens of this continent is that China matters most. And what China wants matters most. Considerations for human rights come later. Because this matter with the Dalai Lama, in my view, is a human rights issue.
One wonders how this decision will impact on how Africa in future will handle human rights issues in trade considerations with China.
Be that as it may, I am certain that this very unpopular decision will have an adverse effect on how South Africa will be viewed henceforth. Not so much how the Zimbabwean situation has been - and still is being - handled. Not the xenophobic attacks last year that splintered people's lives into thousand pieces. Not the violence it is known for.
I think the refusal of the Dalai Lama, as an international spiritual guru, will leave a lasting effect on the image of South Africa as a champion of human rights.
I think those who made the decision badly underestimated the international clout of this man. Or seen otherwise, I think those decision makers badly miscalculated what effect the Dalai Lama's presence in that country could have meant for it.
This decision may be good for trade with China, but it is possibly the worst public relations error it has made.
And let's face it. Like any company needing good publicity, so do governments and countries. In my view, South Africa has lost a golden opportunity to shine.
No country can rest on its laurels of a heady history seen as a battle between good and evil, and where good eventually reigned supreme. People - and especially a younger and more impatient generation of people - want to see such bravery sustained and repeated in decisions leaders and governments make.
Leaders claiming that they carried the flame for freedom must be seen to do so for others. China has violated Tibet. Let China take responsibility for what it has done. And let our liberation governments stand up for human rights.
For this decision it made, I say suga man to South Africa.
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The othersde of the coin is that p'haps the chinese will learn about freedom of expression.
Many authors have expressed their opinion about the Dalai Lama in the world press/media and about the only publication which does'nt provide this facility is the chinese government newspaper "Xinhua"
Strange that people think the act of one is attributable to many. I have had many lively exchanges with the Chinese Newspapers. One thing is clear that now they are expresing themselves as is it should be. Time to drop the Cold War rhetoric and focus on what is and not what one pretends to be. Moving forward, " an enemy a friend, a friend and enemy, treat everyone with equanimity for tomorrow always bring changes. China is actually trying to help other impoverished Nations to bring them into a more stable condition. The Dalia Lama only takes and causes dissent between Nations. South Africa will one day appreciate the position the government has taken to avoid unnecessary rifts between the two countries. Maybe the Dalia should wave a white flag of Truce and take the Train to Lhasa to see what improvements have been made since he ruled the roost. Then he should say what he has seen with his own eyes.It's the only way to be sure that China is telling the truth about the socio-economic situation has dramatically changed for the Tibetans who actually live in China. Otherwise,he might as well curl up and join the isolated North Koreans with their heads in the sand. Grasping a futile nightmare that has receded into the sands of time. The Beijing-appointed Panchen Lama praised Chinese rule of Tibet [AFP] China is marking "Serf's Emancipation Day", a new public holiday commemorating what it calls the overturning of the feudal hierarchy system in Tibet 50 years ago.
Chinese authorities have compared the end of the Dalai Lama's rule in Tibet to Abraham Lincoln's emancipation of slaves in the US.
Celebrations on Saturday in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa were being prepared in secret, although they were to be nationally televised.
Marking the occasion, the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama, who Beijing says is Tibet's second-highest ranking spiritual leader, praised China's communist rule of the territory.
"The freedom of the Tibetan people to inherit their ethnic and cultural heritage and their freedom of religion are protected by law," he said. "Religious culture has been respected, protected and passed down."
"The effects are more powerful than words. Only with the Chinese Communist Party could we have those who were serfs get human freedom and dignity."
Funny people, the unelected/unrepresentative Chinese government leadership! No, not even the puppet Chinese parliament has been convened this year and were already into the 5th month of 2009. Yes, they use their restrictive internet facilities to mount campaigns in the foreign media Letters to the Editor to surreptitiously support dangerous Kampuchean criminals in Cambodia and denigrate historic Tibetan leaders, thereby creating the fake impression that it is enthusiastic public response filling those columns. But visit the [this unelected/unrepresentative] Chinese governments own newspaper, Xinhua and youll find that very option denied to the citizens of China. No Letters to the editor permitted, no Comments allowed, no Contact us facility. These very freedoms which they use to [furtively and slyly] froth at the mouth in the foreign media are not even available to their own populace. That, in essence, is the Chinese leadership. Bogus, insecure and very insincere! They are demonstratively ashamed of their own ideology hence this underhand method of supplementing their goals. Their stunted scholarly ability cannot stand on own merits in the limelight of international scrutiny and their technical capacities are only augmented by the theft of intellectual properties from outside their borders rather than the use of their own mental faculties.
Recently, in South Africa, the inept government there made such a mess of refusing a 2009 Football World Cup Publicity Event visa to this Dali Lama, after firstly withdrawing their original invitation to him to participate, and subsequently acknowledging that this was only done to appease Sino/South African economic relations at the specific request of the Chinese leadership. This visa denial evoked even more unfavourable publicity for the unelected/unrepresentative Chinese government and illuminated their incompetent machinations and stunted intellectual ability for all the civilized world to enjoy. If they had both taken two years to plan for this negative objective they couldnt be have been more successful! Both the Sino and South African governance have lost so much face it is understandable if they resign from public office forthwith. But of course their venality is an obstacle to this action. All the other Nobel Peace Laureates promptly cancelled their own appearances at this occasion resulting in the abandonment of these festivities!
I note that many of the local embassy chinese have been insructed by their senior officials to use this facility to flood this comments page with anti-Dalai Lama sentiment - an opprtunity which they certainly do not have in their own "Xinhua" newspaper.
A famous American once wrote "I may not agree with someone but I will fight to the death for their right to say it"!
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