Tibet

[Ivy]

As I promised on Oolas French Prime Minister thread yesterday I wanted to tell you about the demo I went to yesterday. Unfortunately it was a relatively small demo that only got little attention from the media. The time was picked well though as shoppers and commuters were lining the streets of the city and traffic had to be stopped for the, what the newspaper called 400 people . Many were Exiled Tibetans (didn't know we had any here but must be a thriving community) wearing their National Flags around their shoulders. As I feared many local politicians (from the opposition parties) held long and boring talks before the march actually started. I was frozen when we finally set off. At the end more politicians talked about how important it was that we tell China that human rights are not an inner Chinese issue and and that we consider economic sanctions. Well I knew all that before but nobody told us how to do it. Obviously not buying goods any more that are produced in P R China would make a difference. When I still had my shop we used to import shoes that were made in China only the laces were added in Hungary and hey ho what do you guess stood on the box? MADE IN HUNGARY. So how can we boycott China? My daughter and I went through our wardrobes the other day and only 5 items said where they were produced..... I am not planning to buy a new tv for the forseeable future and no new car so what can I do to make a difference?

[Oola]

Hey Ivy, good on you for going to the march. By the way, it was Healing Hands' post originally ;)


The problem with China is that they have basically saturated the market place, so it is INCREDIBLY hard to buy anything that's not entirely or partly manufactured there. CLothes, utensils, tools, sewing equipment, anything technological or plastic. And that is a hell of a lot of stuff.

Even if the population of Britain stopped buying Chinese imports, I doubt it would make a dent, given their grip on global manufacturing and exporting. The Chinese and their Govt. are all about 'saving face' and 'keeping face' and I would imagine denting the Govt's pride in another way would actually do more. What we need is loads of country's governments to stand together and make a very public show of how they disagree with China's hold on Tibet.

But I fear that governments do not want to upset China, mostly for trade and financial reasons.

We need to stat seeing high profile demonstrations. For instance, all athletes refusing to start their races, all standing together in silence after the start gun has gone, all different nations together condemning China's actions, for all the world to see.

[Healing Hands]

Well put Oola, it is hard not buy anything from China these days, even some of the designer clothes are made in China, which I find incredibly fustrating. As you said Oola the goverments want to keep in with China for trade and finance. But well done Ivy for going on the demo even though there were 4oo of you, still that is a good number and if you got a bit of media press all the better.

[Ivy]

What struck me when I stood there is :the only thing we risk when we go to a demo is cold feet but how brave the monks must be to continue their demos even if they know what treatment they have to expect. Torture , starvation or death.

[jazzactivist]

Hi Ivy, good for you for going on the demo. I go on quite a few where I feel that the issue needs the visible support of a mass of people. A lot of people are scared of being seen publicly supporting a cause, but you are quite right that the only thing that you really risk is cold feet. I think that once you have done it once and experienced what it is like to proudly stand up for a cause among like-minded people then you will feel more comfortable about going on other demos and marches for issues that you feel strongly about. I agree with you that the monks in Tibet are very brave, and sensible to continue with their demonstration in a range of different ways. The least that we can do is support them.