Good Call from Nancy Pelosi

A senior US lawmaker, Nancy Pelosi, has called for an independent investigation into China’s claims that the Dalai Lama instigated the violence in Tibet.

Ms Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, also called on the international community to denounce Chinese rule in Tibet.

She spoke out while holding talks in northern India with the Dalai Lama.

The Chinese authorities are continuing to tighten security following days of protests by Tibetans.

China says 16 people have been killed by rioters in Lhasa, the main city. The Tibetan government-in-exile – headed by the Dalai Lama, regarded by many Tibetans as their spiritual leader – says at least 99 people have died in the crackdown by Chinese troops.

The situation in Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world Nancy Pelosi

Chinese officials have accused the Dalai Lama and his supporters of organising violent clashes in Tibet in an attempt to sabotage this summer’s Beijing Olympics and promote Tibetan independence.

This is a nice and accurate call by Nancy Pelosi, the question is if the International Community will heed this call. China’s Human Rights violations in Tibet, and its accusations against the Dalai Lama has been going on since the 1950’s, and nothing has basically been done by the UN or others. Why would it be any different this time? I agree that something has to be done, but I don’t know who would have the power and strength to do that, except the US, and they are in bed with China on this issue. The US will not Iraq China, simply because they have nothing to gain – no oil, no other natural resources the US can grab as their reward. It maybe that Pelosi is a democrat, and someone I like and wouldn’t mind as the President of the United States, but not even a democrat in the White House will make any difference for Tibet.

China has a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, so an independent investigation conducted by the UN will not happen – all China has to do is use their Veto, and nothing will come of it, even if the other members (minus the US) votes for an investigation.

What might work are sanctions, trade embargoes and diplomatic pressure. However, since China is a Totalitarian State, we would most likely see what we saw in Iraq – the general population suffering, rather than the Leaders, and we know that the Chinese People is already poor and suffering from the actions of their leaders. So all we can hope for is that keeping focus on China, internationally, supporting the dissenters and natural political evolution will eventually make China a democratic nation.

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National Egotism

NEW YORK (AP) — Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan questioned whether all countries on the Security Council have lived up to their responsibility to protect civilians in Darfur from atrocities.

Annan said there was “quite a bit of hypocrisy on all sides” in trying to resolve the five-year conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region, especially in encouraging the African Union to take on peacekeeping without sufficient resources.

The overwhelmed A.U. force struggled for years to stem the bloodshed in Darfur until it was replaced by a joint A.U.-U.N. force that began deploying in January after months of wrangling with the Sudanese government.

The new force is authorized to have 26,000 troops and police but only a fraction are on the ground. Annan criticized well-equipped countries for refusing to provide essential helicopters for the mission despite repeated appeals from the U.N.

At a dinner in his honor on Thursday, Annan said U.N. member states had placed the duty to protect civilians threatened by genocide or war crimes in the hands of the members of the Security Council.

“It is fair to question whether all of them have yet fully lived up to that responsibility — notably in Darfur,” Annan said.

I am not surprised… It’s good to see someone like Annan finally speak out about the horrible record of inaction so many UN member countries have shown in respect to Darfur. I guess it’s because Darfur has no real resources, so the members with the most basic resources are also those who refuse to help. “If you have nothing I can steal, why should I help you?” That’s the nature of National Egotism.