Kow-tow Watch
Step forward Brian Roper, Vice Chancellor of London Metropolitan University (or City and North London polys, as were):
"Brian Roper, vice-chancellor of the university, expressed in a letter to the Chinese embassy in London on June 16 his regret of his school's move, saying that offering the degree to the Dalai Lama was not a well-considered decision, according to an embassy official last week.... Angered and offended by the move, Chinese students and Internet users at home and abroad called for a boycott the university, saying its conferment of honours on the Dalai Lama had hurt the feelings of the Chinese people".
Sensitive flowers, aren't they?
"It also has a Free Tibet Society, which advocates the "Independence of Tibet."
A staff member of the Chinese embassy in London said the university's apology is sincere but it is not enough to completely offset the negative effect. "The university should do more to repair its image in the eyes of Chinese students, such as not providing speaking platforms for Tibetan separatists," he said".
Here's a list of other institutions for Beijing to get upset with.
Meanwhile, China Daily has come up with a list of '30 reasons to watch the Beijing Games'.
These include the following:
13. Babies named after the Olympics - "A total of 4,104 Chinese have been named Aoyun (Chinese for "the Olympics")"
20. Highest number of mascots - five. "Multiple Olympic mascots are not uncommon, but for the first time more than three figures will share Summer Olympic mascot duty when the five Fuwa take center stage. Featuring four of China's most popular animals - the fish , the panda, the Tibetan antelope and the swallow - and the Olympic flame.."
21. Venues on fengshui
Well that's certainly overcome my cynicism, and I will be glued to the box for the duration. Blogging may well be light.....
"Brian Roper, vice-chancellor of the university, expressed in a letter to the Chinese embassy in London on June 16 his regret of his school's move, saying that offering the degree to the Dalai Lama was not a well-considered decision, according to an embassy official last week.... Angered and offended by the move, Chinese students and Internet users at home and abroad called for a boycott the university, saying its conferment of honours on the Dalai Lama had hurt the feelings of the Chinese people".
Sensitive flowers, aren't they?
"It also has a Free Tibet Society, which advocates the "Independence of Tibet."
A staff member of the Chinese embassy in London said the university's apology is sincere but it is not enough to completely offset the negative effect. "The university should do more to repair its image in the eyes of Chinese students, such as not providing speaking platforms for Tibetan separatists," he said".
Here's a list of other institutions for Beijing to get upset with.
Meanwhile, China Daily has come up with a list of '30 reasons to watch the Beijing Games'.
These include the following:
13. Babies named after the Olympics - "A total of 4,104 Chinese have been named Aoyun (Chinese for "the Olympics")"
20. Highest number of mascots - five. "Multiple Olympic mascots are not uncommon, but for the first time more than three figures will share Summer Olympic mascot duty when the five Fuwa take center stage. Featuring four of China's most popular animals - the fish , the panda, the Tibetan antelope and the swallow - and the Olympic flame.."
21. Venues on fengshui
Well that's certainly overcome my cynicism, and I will be glued to the box for the duration. Blogging may well be light.....
Labels: 'People's Republic' of China, Tibet, WLOSAF
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 at 11:48 am.
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The customer is always right!
Can I just make a point here that never seems to get mentioned because people prefer drama over reality?
The Dalai Lama is not part of the independent Tibet movement. He just wants freedom of religion. He has noted several times in public that Tibetans have otherwise benefitted from having the Chinese there in that they have modern comforts they had never previously dreamed existed. When you live at the top of the Himalayas, these things count.
V - All very true, and seeing what has happened to Inner Mongolia where the indigenous culture has been reduced to sideshow for the tourists such is the Han domination, the DL is right to be concerned for the culture - in the broadest sense - of the Tibetans.
".... conferment of honours on the Dalai Lama had hurt the feelings of the Chinese people".
The simple riposte to that is that the allocation of the Olympics to the Chinese hurt the feelings of people worldwide.
Why does everybody feel it is essential to always agree and bow down to whatever the Chinese think? What about telling them to go forth and multiply for a change?
(ooh, sorry, they already do that quite effectively, don't they).
Nomad - indeed, although I think Roper's excuse is that he is looking after the business.
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