Tibet, And China’s “Coalition of the Willing”

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

I love propaganda. I really do. Even in the darkest moments of human history propaganda can tend so far toward the ridiculous that it makes the cynic in me chortle with macabre laughter.

So, imagine my reaction running across this article on Xinhuanet.com (yes, at least my government doesn’t ban my access to their website. Yet.)

Follow me below the fold…

First, the headline, “China garners broad international support over Tibet riots”. After Pelosi’s comments yesterday, stating that if “freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China and the Chinese in Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak out on human rights”, the Chinese authorities obviously felt some type of show of solidarity was needed.

In response, they’ve issued their own list of nations supporting the way the Chinese government has conducted itself in its handling of the situation in Tibet.

Here’s the country that tops the list:

A spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday strongly denounced the unsavory elements of their moves to seek “the independence of Tibet” and scuttle the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

He expressed support to the Chinese government in its efforts to ensure social stability and the rule of law in Tibet and to defend the fundamental interests of the Tibetan people.

link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/engl…

The other countries in China’s “coalition of the willing” are as follows…(drum roll, summoning dramatic voice):

Mongolida

Nepal

Bangladesh

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Tajikistan

Georgia

Syria

Fiji

Serbia

Zambia

Sierra Leone

Benin

Now, in fairness to the above mentioned countries, the Chinese government does pull what Al Franken terms a “weasel” in some places. For instance, Bangladesh doesn’t state that they support China’s actions in the handling of the protest, but rather stated that:

Bangladesh wishes the Beijing Olympic Games great success and said it opposes the idea of politicizing the sports event, the spokesman said.

But half-hearted support, one supposes, is better than no support at all.

Karl Rove, move over. There’s a new PR department in town…