"Free Tibet" – A Slogan for the Naive?

2008-11-17

Bartłomiej Magierowski

Each armed conflict, bloody demonstration or simply the massacre of innocent people should be condemned. It is understandable that the events in Tibet cause us concern. The recent violently suppressed demonstrations have made us increasingly openly oppose the violation of human rights in China. We, ordinary people, rebel against it; we feel sorrow, we stand in solidarity with the oppressed, we sympathize with them — these are natural human reactions. The problem, however, is that the world is not governed by emotions, but by money and interests. This is precisely why no government will officially and categorically condemn the Chinese authorities. Individuals, groups and organizations may protest. Internet users can organize rallies, demonstrations and boycotts, but nothing will stop the blade directed by Beijing toward Tibet.

The Chinese authorities will never allow any province to think about independence, and they will certainly not allow other countries to dictate how they should deal with their own citizens or how they should solve problems within their own borders. In the Middle Kingdom, human life has never had much value. Today this can still be observed even on the streets of major cities, where no cars give way to ambulances; vehicles carrying sick people simply remain stuck in traffic with their sirens on. Street lynchings of thieves happen, and neighborhood disputes can turn into deadly fights. Crowds are capable of watching such a "spectacle" because nobody intervenes; people wait until the dramatic finale takes place. In a country where hundreds of thousands of voluntary and forced abortions are carried out every day, where death sentences are executed and organs are traded, human life does not have great value. The Chinese have been accustomed to this for thousands of years; they are merely small gears in a huge machine. Their feelings and opinions do not matter. Only the good of the whole matters — which here actually means the good of the Party.

I would not be objective if I did not write that China is slowly changing. In a country where fifty years ago millions suffered from hunger, the situation is now completely different. Many ordinary people have a chance for a better life. Education and a good job provide them with stability. At present, there are millions of newly wealthy Chinese — relatively few on the scale of the entire country, but if the number of affluent people continues to grow, it contributes to improving the situation throughout the country. And the right to a decent life belongs to all those who have received an education, work for a respectable company and... do not interfere in politics.

The Chinese authorities cannot be discussed with; they do not talk to anyone and no one has the right to express their opinions. Nobody is allowed to disrupt the work of the machine that is the new, powerful China. There is no place here for religion, art, individual opinions, discussions or debates. Every newspaper (even a local one) begins the day by analyzing information from the central censorship office — instructions are provided there about what should not be written about on that particular day. There is no freedom in China.

Ironically, the whole world has an interest in China remaining, in some sense, enslaved and the Chinese being oppressed. Every Polish businessman expects the lowest possible prices from suppliers in the Middle Kingdom. The average Pole wants to buy cheap, good shoes; everyone wants to have the cheapest possible MP3 player with the largest possible storage capacity.

Would such products be available in a democratic China? Would manufacturers keep prices low if factory workers went on strike and ordinary Chinese people demanded better treatment, insurance, specific working hours and additional pay for overtime? The answer is simple — from an economic point of view, no country in the world needs a democratic China. Such a China would no longer be a business partner, and free and independent workers would not supply Poland with products on which entrepreneurs can earn one hundred, two hundred, or perhaps three hundred percent.

Another obstacle to creating democracy in China is the mentality of the Chinese themselves. These people cannot stop at a red light. Why? Because usually they are not punished for it. Now let us imagine such a "green light" in other aspects of their lives. Thousands of political parties, millions of opinions, freedom for every individual, independence for several provinces, a powerless government, an ineffective police force and a weak military, millions of Chinese living abroad. The entire country would be overwhelmed by chaos, and it could even end with the division of the country. Such a revolution would damage the economy of the entire world. The great machine producing millions of toys, digital cameras, clothes, household appliances... every day would suddenly stop. Here, strong and sometimes bloody rule dominates; it cannot be changed five months before the Olympics. Freedom in China must be born by itself, not from conflict and poverty, but from prosperity. The awareness of educated and wealthy people will slowly change; they will become an increasingly larger group demanding new freedoms and rights, and the government will have to take this group into account. The authorities will not care about protesting monks, workers or farmers fighting for land needed for the construction of factories.

Poles are already shouting slogans such as "Freedom for Tibet" and "Stop human rights violations in China". They want to boycott Chinese products (which would actually mean boycotting almost everything, from furniture to branded iPods and Nokia phones), and they want to disrupt the Olympics. It is beautiful solidarity, it is humanitarian behavior, but the Chinese government will not be moved by it. Here, nobody counts the victims, and certainly not the opinions of a Polish volleyball player or a student from Kraków. China will stop at nothing to keep its citizens under control. This is the tragic truth, and this is what the suffering of the Chinese nation looks like. Even sadder is the fact that, in reality, we do not truly care about democracy and freedom in China, Tibet or Taiwan. We like these lofty slogans, but we also like low prices. We are happy that we have trading companies and that we earn money from cheap Chinese products — goods must be cheap and delivered on time, so the oppressed Chinese worker must work day and night so that we can live more comfortably. Freedom for Tibet would mean further privileges for all citizens and concessions made in their favor, and this cannot be combined with fast and cheap production. One concession from the communist authorities would start a whole series of changes, for which not only the Middle Kingdom, but also the entire world is not prepared.

A tragic hour has come for Tibet; no words written on Polish internet forums will change reality. China will settle accounts with the protesters in Tibet, but the world will never know the number of victims. Will we forget about these suffering people in a few months and remember only the number of gold and silver medals from Beijing?