Chinese iron-fisted response to protests is unacceptable

When riots and protests in Tibet broke out March 14, it was easy to predict that the Chinese government would move quickly to diffuse the situation.

But no one could have envisioned the kind of brutal response from Beijing — not with the opening ceremonies for the summer Olympic games less than five months away.

What it suggests is that China, which is hosting the games for the first time in its history, sees itself as such a major player in the global economy that it is not worried about a wholesale boycott.

Indeed, only France has publicly warned that it would stay away from the opening ceremonies Aug. 8 if the Chinese leaders did not stop the violent crackdown of the growing number of Tibetans who are demanding independence from China and want their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who is living in exile in India, to return and lead the new government.

No compromise

But China is in no mood to indulge such thinking and the actions of the Chinese military and police over the past couple of weeks weren’t designed to signal a willingness to compromise.

However, on Wednesday, the government seemed to realize that France’s willingness to use the Olympic games as a hammer could embolden other countries to also threaten boycott.

For the first time since the riots and protests began, foreign journalists were allowed into Tibet’s capital Lhasa.

The Associated Press reported that helmeted paramilitary police with batons checked identification papers of the people and teams of security forces stood in the lanes near the sacred Jokhang Temple.

“An acrid odor hung in the blocks near the old city where rows of burned out buildings stand as evidence of the violence,” the wire service reported. “Many shops were closed, some from lack of business, others from looting that left their migrant Chinese owners with little to sell.”

The Chinese government has pointed the finger of blame at the Dalai Lama, even though he early on urged the demonstrators, many of them young, to embrace nonviolent civil disobedience.

He also advised against making independence the keystone of the movement. However, many Tibetans have grown tired of Beijing’s intransigence with regard to Tibet. The Dalai Lama’s exile is a major point of contention for his Buddhist followers.

International commission

Given the long list of complaints from Tibetans and from those in exile, the Chinese government should agree to an independent international commission to review what has taken place since early March and also evaluate the demands for independence.

Why should Beijing agree to such a review? Because its reputation has been damaged as a result of the response to the riots and protests.

The White House, which has walked on eggshells with regard to the issue because of China’s direct involvement in the U.S. economy, insisted last week that President Bush has taken a no-nonsense stance with Beijing.

But what was missing in the administration’s approach was the kind of hammer that France has put on the table.