MORFORD: Note to China: Please Implode

Is that wrong? Is it ill-minded and somehow unfair to wish that the Chinese government's notorious record of human rights abuses and absolutely horrid treatment of Tibet be exposed to the world — and the Chinese people themselves — to the point where it is shamed and humiliated and perhaps even forced by unprecedented international scrutiny to upheave its oppressive ways and improve conditions and even (heaven forfend) honor religious and political freedom within its borders? No, I do not think it is.

Let me admit outright: I am no expert on Chinese-Tibetan relations. I do not know the full histories, the deeper conflicts, the enormous prejudices, the religious oppression that goes back decades and generations.

But I do know something of Tibet, of the Dalai Lama, of his unadorned messages of peace and love. And I know something of Tibetan Buddhism, of China's abduction of the true Panchen Lama, of the brutal oppression and the massacres and the cultural genocide, the forced relocation of Han Chinese into Tibetan holy land, of the Tibetan's peaceful rallies and chanting and nonviolence, all contrasted with images of jackbooted Chinese riot police stomping on the heads of protesters marching in the street.

And I know whom I tend to believe when I read "unconfirmed" reports of soldiers firing on Tibetan protesters, of dead bodies in the streets of Lhasa, of tanks rolling through crowds and hundreds of students arrested, Tibetan monasteries being locked down and Tibet again under martial law, all media cut off, all access denied, as sour and rather vile hardline Communist leader Zhang Qingli...

Also via Falun Dafa Information Center

Hundreds of Falun Gong Adherents Arrested in “Preparation” for Olympics
Chinese security agencies offering cash rewards for turning in Falun Gong practitioners
(3/12/2008 13:26)
NEW YORK – Chinese security agencies have been conducting large-scale arrests of Falun Gong adherents throughout China in recent months as authorities step up efforts to “stamp out” the practice in advance of the Olympic Games, in August, the Falun Dafa Information Center reported today.
In recent weeks, the Center has been receiving regular reports from adherents and their families inside China of door-to-door searches and arrests. According to statistics compiled from these reports, there have been 1,878 arrests across 29 provinces, major cities, and autonomous regions since January 1 of this year. In Beijing alone, 156 arrests are known to have taken place.
The Center released today a list of names and details of 67 representative cases of individuals detained in Beijing since December 2007 (list). Out of this group, 16 adherents were arrested from Chaoyang District, which is set to host the beach volleyball and tennis events, and 10 from Shunyi district, the site of the Olympic rowing and kayaking venues.
“The International community had hoped that awarding the Olympics to China would spur an improvement in human rights,” said Information Center representative Mr. Erping Zhang. “But the facts on the ground tell a very different story. The Olympics seem to have given the Beijing regime a new incentive, and excuse, to hasten its abuses of citizens’ rights. The arrests make a mockery of the regime’s promise to improve its dismal record on human rights. It is now imperative that the international community speak up, leverage real pressure, and stop these deplorable actions.”
Door-to-door Arrests
According to the reports, many of the arrests follow a common pattern, whereby officers from the local police station or Public Security Bureau (PSB) branch come to the adherent’s home or workplace, conduct a search for any Falun Gong-related materials, and take the individual into custody at the district detention center. In some cases, family members or co-workers who do not practice Falun Gong have been taken into custody as well.
The systematic nature of the arrests suggests that authorities are using a previously compiled list of local adherents – a common practice of the PSB. According to former PSB and 610 Office agent Hao Fengjun, who currently resides in Australia, authorities in the city of Tianjin, where Hao formerly worked, had a database of 30,000 Falun Gong practitioners’ names.

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Could the Olympics rain down shame on Chinese oppression and Tibet abuses? Let's hope.