Sunday, October 14, 2007

A bit of regional background noise

I thought a map would be useful at this stage, and this one shows how China has artificially grown itself over the past few years. Because China prefers to do things slowly and quietly we are largely ignorant of what has been going on. Ignorant no longer!

You can see that the Uigurs who live in East Turkistan have quite a large land mass. Manchuria was annexed in 1949, as was Tibet. Poor Manchuria has been all but submerged. Inner Mongolia is likely to suffer a similar fate. I was most fortunate to meet some Mongolians when I was on the Great Wall – one of whom bravely explained the real one child policy to me. It was not supposed to apply to her, as she was a minority race, but it was enforced just the same. She kissed me for having three children. I felt dreadful.

All in all, 90% of "minorities" have either disappeared or been dispossessed of their homelands and/or submerged by massive influx of Chinese colonists since 1949. In fact, if you look at the map you can easily see that China is actually half the size it should be.

China also lays claims to large parts of India, so beware, India.

Adapted from "Tibet: The Facts" by Paul Ingram.
Tibetan Young Buddhist Association, 1990.

2 comments:

wombat said...

we must all try to keep our individuality and cultural identities or the great powers will make us all the same a world of sheep people

Unknown said...

We are all mini China's, apprentice imperialists, accumulators and pursuers of wealth and security. We are taught that if we don't take it someone else will, that the early bird catches the worm, and that its a dog eat dog world. The truth is that there are enough worms to go round no matter what time you get up, if you don't behave like a dog. Change the system that breeds those relationships, take control of the economics of exploitation and it will no longer be rational to oppress each other. Until such a time wars and genocide will be justified on the grounds of self-preservation. And the Hobbesian pre-emptive strike will remain a legitimized form of defence. The Uighurs are not alone. They are on the front-line in the fight against imperialism but we are the real clandestine force. The system sustains us against them. For we in the West are as much imperialists as the Chinese. Our cheque books are every bit as lethal as their bayonets. The export of our culture every bit as sterlizing as their imposition in East Turkistan. Capitalism is our Lord and protector, it rules our hearts and governs our minds - it is our maginot line. But the peoples of the world, when they come, will run through the forests, and even the biggest guns of the corporatocracy will be powerless against them. Think about the part you play in the oppression. We're all signed up to the same system. Its time to unsubscribe.