It is no surprise that China’s crackdown on the protests in Tibet have brought backlash and outcry from the international community. There have been talks of a possible boycott of the Olympics in Beijing over what is going on in Tibet. That adds onto the possible boycott because of China not doing enough to end the violence in Sudan’s Darfur region.
His Holiness, the Dalai Lama has accused China’s government of committing “cultural genocide.”
Wen Jiabao, the Premier of China, said that it was a pack of lies. He accused the Dalai Lama of ruining Beijing’s image as it is set to host the 2008 Olympics games in August. US Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, one of the fiercest critics of China’s record on human rights had urged the international community to launch an investigation. She warned China that the rest of the world is looking over its shoulder.
The protests throughout Tibet began as they near the start of the Olympic Torch relay. Many pro-Tibet independence groups plan to use the relay points to stage their protests.
While in France meeting President Nicholas Sarkozy, GOP nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona was the next to give criticism towards China. This came in responding to a question by a Chinese TV reporter.
McCain said that it was not acceptable of a world power such as China to be subjecting people to mistreatment. In that regard, McCain has said: “There must be respect for human rights, and I would hope that the Chinese are actively seeking a peaceful resolution to this situation that exists which harms not only the human rights of the people there but also the image of China in the world.”
While McCain said that China must respect human rights such as those that live in Tibet, this could possibly come back at him in the future. Recently, US President George W. Bush had vetoed a bill that would ban waterboarding on terror suspects.
Waterboarding is an interrogation method which simulates a forced drowning. In a sense, waterboarding could be deemed as a violation of human rights to many critics.
Back in February, McCain said that Bush should veto the bill. However, it was deemed controversial on McCain’s part as he opposed this type of interrogation method.
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