Tibet – Strait Talk by Lee Longhwa

Papal Appeasement of Beijing Can Only Lead to the End of Another Religion, Considering the Fate of Tibet

The Pope may figure that 2,000 years of Catholicism can stand against any threat, but Papal appeasement of Communist China this week is a very slippery slope against a ruthless, officially atheist regime in a culture that has 5,000 years of imperial history and intrigue, and strategic planning that covers centuries, not years or even decades. China wrote the book on war and such strategies 500 years before Christianity even existed. Yet this week, the Pope actually allowed Beijing a say in the appointment of bishops to its Communist Party Patriotic Catholic Church, an irony itself considering the Party is officially atheist, and in doing so implicitly approved of the existence of this alternate Catholic universe for tens of millions of Chinese Catholics, who may now feel the Pope threw them under the bus. Atheism hasn’t stopped the Party before from destroying a religion.

In Monday’s Taipei Times, Page 6, October 1, 2018 in an editorial by John J. Tkacik entitled “The Vatican’s ‘provisional accord’ with Beijing”, there are 4 pages and yet the article not nearly captures the alarm I have for these developments. One need only look at Tibet to see how well Beijing plays with religions within its reach. I think recalling the sordid history of Beijing’s kidnapping and rape of the Tibetan religion is warranted to demonstrate Beijing’s nefarious intentions. Why does no one raise this issue to sound the clarion of the danger to any religion, and any sovereign nation within Beijing’s sights?

For those who have forgotten or do not know, in Tibetan Buddhism, when the Dalai Lama dies, the Panchen Lama is the one who finds the reincarnated soul of the Dalai Lama in a Tibetan child, who then become the Dalai Lama, educated and mentored by the Panchen Lama.

When the Panchen Lama dies, it is the Dalai Lama who finds his reincarnated soul in a child in Tibet, and that child becomes the next Panchen Lama.

When China crushed Tibet, just before the Dalai Lama and his administration left Tibet, Beijing understood that if they controlled the Panchen Lama, they would control Tibetan Buddhism, including the appointment of the next Dalai Lama. So, Beijing first poisoned the sitting Panchen Lama in 1989, just before the Tiananmen incident. At the time, the head of the Tibetan region was Hu Jintao, whom you might recall later became the President and leader of China until Xi replaced him.

Once the Panchen Lama was killed, the Dalai Lama was forced to find the new Panchen Lama reincarnated in a child, and did so, finding a child in the hinterlands, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, when he was 6 years old. Shortly thereafter, the child Panchen Lama, 6 years old, was kidnapped by Beijing, and he has not been seen since. Beijing often says he is happily living with his family in a secret place, but since he has never been seen again, it is reasonable to assume Beijing murdered the child and his family. The Dalai Lama indicated he had information that the real Panchen Lama is still alive, but has not given more specific information.

But that was not the end of the story. Beijing thereafter appointed their own Communist Party Panchen Lama, and that person has now served as fake Panchen Lama for twenty years. Since the Panchen Lama chooses the next Dalai Lama, you can see that Beijing will have a Communist Party fake Panchen Lama appoint a Communist Party fake Dalai Lama, ending Tibetan Buddhism. Thus Communist China has waited these 29 years so far for the Dalai Lama to die, so they can completely rule Tibetan Buddhism, making it essentially like the Patriotic Catholic Church, a Communist Party church. How moronic is it to have an official Communist Party Church in a country that is officially atheist?

The U.N. has stood silently by as there have been calls since 1959 to stop the genocide in Tibet. Beijing has sent millions of Han Chinese there to carry out eugenics to dilute Tibetan culture, and has kidnapped the chain of command for the Tibetan religion. When the Dalai Lama dies, Tibetan culture will die with him.

Knowing this, why would the Pope believe China has any intention whatsoever of allowing a freer Catholic church? Every Bishop appointed by Beijing is a Trojan Horse, because technically each can become a Cardinal, and a Cardinal can become Pope. With the blackmail, extortion and bribery that is Beijing’s typical means of working with anyone, it is easy to see how the Pope may have inadvertently killed the Church. China can wait many, many years to kill an institution that constitutes a threat to it – China invaded Tibet in 1959, 59 years ago, and has unfolded its plan to kill off the Tibetan religion by kidnapping it.

Good luck to the Vatican. Appeasement of China is basically the same as gaining permission to die.

The Vatican is Miscalculating if the Pope Believes He Can Resist Beijing’s Control Over the Entire Church, Given the Terms Being Discussed

Rome is miscalculating if the Pope believes he can resist Beijing’s taking control over most of or the entire Church, given the terms being discussed.

It’s not easy to get a clear handle on the ideals of Pope Francis, based on his roots in Argentina. If not sympathy or affinity for socialism, communism, fascism, perhaps at the very least an understanding or tolerance. Does this explain the Pontiff’s willingness to engage Chairman Xi and Communist China? The Church has resisted for quite some time. Latin America is a hundred year history of failed regime after regime, often with the people’s interests and rights subjugated and their future mortgaged for power. Communist China is no different. There may therefore be some affinity .

An avowed atheist regime, one wonders how the Pontiff can accept the Communist Party’s notion of Catholicism in China (an extension of the Communist Party, according to Party dogma, which elevates the Party above all, including and especially above God (and in this case the Trinity)).

The Vatican has tiptoed around Beijing for decades to avoid losing the Church in China, but the Pontiff seems ready to accept the Communist Party having a hand in running the Church inside China. The trouble with this is that the Pope obviously has not read up on the Party’s idea of cooperation with any religion, Tibetan Buddhism being the prime example. In that case, the Party actually kidnapped the number two figure in the religion (the 6-year old Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, in 1995), and replaced him with a fake Chinese Communist Party Panchen Lama (much like the treatment the Vatican’s bishops in China have received, replaced in China by Communist Party bishops). The intrigue here is that the Panchen Lama’s job is to select the next Dalai Lama when the current Dalai Lama dies. In other words, having replaced the Panchen Lama selected by the Dalai Lama, China intends to take over the religion entirely by having the Party’s fake Panchen Lama appoint a Communist Party Dalai Lama as the next Dalai Lama, thereby absorbing Tibetan culture and religion into the Communist Party dogma, a takeover that has taken 60 years.

What could we see about the Catholic Church in 70 years if China were to take it over in China? Since the One Belt One Road plan is basically China’s Trojan Horse to infect every participating country throughout Europe, Africa and Latin America with Communist Party dogma and loyalty, it is likely the Party will attempt to influence all Catholics within its “sphere of influence” to abide by its Catholic dogma with Chinese Characteristics instead of the Vatican’s dogma.

Thus could end Rome’s reign over its own church and the billions of Catholics, replaced by Beijing’s. The Pontiff is seriously miscalculating if he believes he can outlast the Chinese Communist Party. It is a dangerous game he is playing with a regime with no morality. Very dangerous.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness – Taiwan’s Democracy, the U.S. Pledge, and the Chinese Communist Party’s Constant Nightmare – “Freedom”

Regarding the editorial in the Sunday Taipei Times (“The Liberty Times Editorial: Opportunities and independence”, Jul 16, 2017 – Page 6), and speaking of the U.S. position on Taiwan’s independence, the paper notes “Therefore, arms sales to Taiwan, but failure to support its independence is a curious mix-and-match of action and rhetoric.”

Actually, if one thinks about it, this is not so curious. Failing to support independence out loud is not opposing it, even if those words come out of some official’s mouth at some point, because at its root, opposition to independence is not the policy of the U.S., it is merely a tool aimed at defusing a flash point with an arch enemy with nuclear weapons.

However….there is a time to every purpose, and war between the U.S. and China is the potential result of a declaration of independence by Taiwan unless it is the right time, so it is a matter of great importance that the time be right.

What does that mean? It is not so easy to define the right time, or pinpoint. It does depend on the steady progress of Taiwan towards being de facto recognized around the world out loud as a democratic nation on its own, and it could also depend on the resolve of the people of Taiwan. Few believe Taiwanese are willing to take up arms and fight Chinese soldiers in the streets of Taiwan. They say, this is 2017, who does such things, or would want to?

In history, including recent history, there have been very few declarations of independence not accompanied by bloodshed – no country’s overseer will so easily give up its captive.

The U.S. fought a long and very bloody Revolutionary War 241 years ago propelling the U.S. into history and George Washington into the Presidency. In the course of the 8 years of war against England, over 30,000 civilians lost their lives, and there were over 200,000 military casualties. The result was “We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” The bloodshed and resulting democracy has served as a beacon of freedom for billions in the centuries following. Are Taiwanese willing to shed their blood for this?

I think in civil society today, we do everything we can to avoid such conflict, though evil revels in blood and gore, as Tiananmen Square, the Cultural Revolution, the Great Leap and so many other horrific events in Communist China have shown. It also revels in intimidation.

The result? The “One-China policy” that acknowledges that this is what Communist China says, and that the U.S. has its own idea about that. And the purpose of the ambiguity is to allow the U.S. to stand behind Taiwan, firmly, and between Taiwan and Communist China, firmly, and protect Taiwan with the full power and beauty of the U.S. Constitution and the principles of freedom and democracy now inherent in Taiwan’s system of government, and wait for the right time to help bring Taiwan into the family of recognized democratic nations, which it truly already de facto is.

All of the machinations dealing with Taiwan’s de facto independence are designed to avoid a war between two nuclear powers, especially with a North Korean powder-keg sitting just a few clicks away. We have seen how Communist China deals with resistance historically, by its brutality in Tibet and Hong Kong. The U.S. did not stand behind Tibet and wag its finger, having just completed the Korean War a few years earlier. Genocide through eugenics has ensued in Tibet. The U.K. does not have the muscle to stand behind Hong Kong even though Communist China recently stated that the 50-year agreement between the UK and Communist China no longer applies – in other words, England has no power to enforce it, so too bad, Hong Kong’s One Country-Two Systems system is now One Country-One System.

But the U.S., recognizing the tremendously important role that Taiwan plays in ensuring Asia’s democratic existence, and the beauty and grace in having its democracy flourish, and having the same freedoms as exist in the U.S. in Taiwan for its 23 million people, does stand behind Taiwan and wag its finger at Beijing and say “don’t even think of it, buddy”. It has not yet become “Make my day, punk,” but it is implicit in the military presence in China’s neighborhood, and projection of the U.S. military might around the world.

Despite the bellicosity of PLA (People’s Liberation Army) generals, China’s military is no match for the battle-hardened U.S. military might, and for all those nay-sayers in the U.S. who complain about its defense budget, it is like the defense budget for the entire free world (because as we know well, Europe is not going to mount a military that can fulfill that role) and that gives the U.S. power to keep democracy vital and dominant, protecting the freedoms of the people of the U.S., and its friends, despite the efforts of the world’s worst totalitarian regimes, from Communist China to Russia, to Iran to North Korea to Venezuela to Cuba to those in the Middle East.

Were the U.S. to back off Taiwan, I don’t want to think of the consequences. Our law provides support for Taiwan, laws which always pass with overwhelming support in Congress. Presidents follow diplomatic niceties, but the U.S. Congress does not have to follow suit. Few in the U.S. speak glowingly of a unified Communist China and Taiwan. An overwhelming majority acknowledge that Taiwan is already a democratic nation whose own Constitution provides in Article One it is a nation with a government “of the people, by the people and for the people.”

That is the basic foundation of Taiwan today. And it is the basic foundation of Charter 08, offered in 2008 by Liu Xiaobo and his co-writers as the foundation for a future China. Imagine that. Taiwan is the example of what the people of Communist China can look forward to. No wonder the Chinese Communist Party is so damn afraid of tiny Taiwan. And no wonder the Chinese Communist Party is so damn afraid of India, a great U.S. ally and a democratic nation of more than one billion people – demonstrating that the Chinese Communist Party’s argument that China is too big for democracy is nonsense.

To answer the question inherent in the editorial, the democracy and independence dance is not only a dance between Communist China and Taiwan, truly of necessity for Taiwan’s benefit and survival. If it were, it would be a very short and painful dance. It is a very complicated dance and the dance floor is quite crowded, and Communist China is by far not the dancer with the biggest footprint and most destructive kick, and while the U.S. is dancing far from home, Communist China knows that doesn’t mean a thing after over 100 years of projecting power for good across the oceans and seas to stand behind freedom against oppression whenever and wherever it is found.

Also, while the dance is going, and it is going, Taiwan is evolving, and as the pro-Communist China KMT is in steep decline, Taiwan is edging closer and closer to fully realizing the power of those words above…life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in a nation “of the people, by the people and for the people.”

Assimilate that, Chairman Xi and your Chinese Communist Party, anachronisms of despair from the 20th Century, and hollow wraiths in the shadow of Taiwan’s massively free and beautiful society.

China’s One Belt One Road One Noose One Way

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) weekend forum for his One Belt One Road [One Noose One Way] project just ended. As with anything orchestrated by Communist China, there are dangers and intrigue inherent in the plans and the strategy, because it is China’s ambition to purchase influence and fealty around the globe, a kind of immunization against any discussion of its totalitarian system of oppression, hegemony and its plan to remake the world with Chinese Characteristics. Xi, as always, spoke “sincerely” of “mutual respect of one another’s sovereignty, territory and “core interests.” This is one of the key dogmas in China’s initiative of One Belt One Road [One Noose One Way].

A thorough article for Reuters/Beijing (‘Silk Road’ plan stirs unease over China’s strategic goals, Taipei Times, Mar. 6, 2017, p. 9) sets out some of the practical concerns the international community may have about the plan. The article mentions that “Xi’s speech also drew implicit contrast between Chinese-style development objectives and those of the West, saying the initiative will not resort to ‘outdated geopolitical maneuvering’.”

Together, these two points mean that China’s strategy is to hide the evil inherent in the Chinese Communist Party’s one-party dictatorship rule over China in plain view by “suggesting” for the millionth time that countries must respect sovereignty, territory (in other words China will claim whatever territory it deems part of China, including Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the South China Sea, parts of the Moon and possibly Mars if it can get there first) and “core interests”, which means don’t even think of messing around with the CCP’s suppression of all freedoms in Communist China or trying to introduce democracy, human rights or justice there anytime soon, or fail to intone the One China Policy.

Xi’s project will throw tens of billions of dollars at needy or greedy countries willing to do business with the devil, kneel to the devil, and, unbeknownst to them, invite the devil to dinner and get on the Silk Road which is a one-way ticket to Hell. China’s currency has always been propaganda and blackmail. If you want Kommunist Kash, you have to pretend One China is true, even though the world knows Taiwan is not part of Communist China, and that China is not the world’s worst offender of human rights in the universe. For the right amount of Kash, or pretend effort to reign in North Korea, it seems to be no problem for Europe and even for Trump.

“The Chinese government has never wished to control any other country’s government,” according to Ou Xiaoli (歐曉理), a Chinese Cabinet official. Except controlling Taiwan. And Tibet. And Hong Kong. And the South China Sea. And all references to the one-party system in China. And talking about the Great Firewall of China. And Falun Gong. And the Chinese Catholic Church. And the Dalai Lama – and Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the kidnapped real Panchen Lama and the Chinese Communist Party replacement fake Panchen Lama. And North Korea. And Japan. And Democracy. And Human Rights, whatever those are. And Censorship. And Freedom of Speech. And freedom of religion. And due process, whatever that is. And speaking ill of the Chinese Communist Party revolution.

The article notes that “China often is the only entity willing to finance big projects in poor countries. That gives Beijing leverage to require use of Chinese builders and technology.” This is good old-fashioned Colonization with Chinese Characteristics. China will go into a poor country, give the corrupt leadership Kommunist Kash with no strings attached (other than those mentioned in the previous paragraph), but no requirements that the government of the new “colony” be democratic or practice human rights, whatever those are, or benefit the people of the country, rape the natural resources China needs to take, bring in multitudes of Chinese workers under CCP control to do the work, and add another “ally” to the list of who will vote blindly for anything China wishes. Perhaps ultimately we will see a United Chinese Union which will be comprised of all these “colonies” that China has acquired using Kommunist Kash, which will become a bloc of anti-western democratic principles and human rights, whatever those are, and pro-Chinese socialism with Chinese Characteristics, which means an alternate world of dictatorship and tyranny, a silent and impotent United Nations (sort of like today) controlled by China and its allies, the Diktator’s Klub.

One Belt One Road [One Noose One Way] is an insidious very long-term strategy to infect many nations around the globe with China’s own brand of governing and civil society from within, a creeping, silent and devastating darkness designed to cripple democracy and dissent, destroy justice and freedom, and strangle human rights. Xi simply wishes to create a world just like China in each and every country. We simply must not allow it.

Beijing’s Trojan Horse Strategy – foreign college campuses, Chinese non-profits, Hollywood acquisitions and influence

Stephanie Saul’s article for the NY Times Service on Sunday describes Beijing’s use of Chinese students studying abroad and the Chinese Students and Scholars Association as one method for affecting the discussion on campuses in the United States, and elsewhere of Communist China and its policies.

In truth however, Beijing has been constructing these Trojan horses for decades. They take the form of Chinese student organizations, Confucius Institutes, and other organs which offer subtle propaganda to show Beijing’s supposedly kinder, gentler side, its “peaceful rise”.

But make no mistake. China’s aim is to squelch all discussion, all mention, all free speech about its evils. These Trojan horses are in fact filled to the brim with propaganda about how benign is Beijing’s dictatorship, its denial of all freedoms to its people, its oppression of its people, denial of justice, its absolute protection of Chinese companies over foreign companies doing business in China, its anti-democratic policies, hegemony, oppression of Hong Kong, hatred and genocide in Tibet and effort to smear, destroy and replace the Dalai Lama, its murder and abuse of Falun Gong followers, its South China Sea aggression, and its attempts to sideline Taiwan, render it invisible or irrelevant, and destroy Taiwan’s democracy, and most of all its intentions for world peace with Chinese Characteristics (which means peace on its terms, in other words “no peace”, a world led by China’s totalitarian system).

Communist China has vast plans in place to affect perceptions about it around the world, to infect public discourse about its tyranny by whatever means possible. Whether it takes the form of spying through acquisition of businesses (or in the case of Australia, leasing a port in Darwin for more than three hundred million Australian dollars close to an American military installation), or trying to filter any negative mention of China, usually imposing its will on those who fear losing money (as mentioned regarding Australia recently), but certainly true in Europe, Latin America and around the world. Any time a Chinese company (every company no matter private or government run is captive of the Beijing government’s control) attempts to acquire a foreign entity, there is usually a strategic reason for it tied in some way to expanding China’s influence in that area, or infecting the industry or commerce with pro-China influence, or spying.

In Stephanie Saul’s article, when reading it, I felt I was reading not about a student organization, but more about a Communist Chinese platform, a Trojan horse designed to affect free speech on American campuses (something popular these days among the politically correct ultra-left who also seek to squelch discussion of subjects and positions with which they disagree), to basically stop any campus organization or event from even mentioning the Chinese Communist Party’s pet sensitivities, Taiwan, the Dalai Lama and Tibet and China’s longstanding cultural genocide in Tibet, strict limitations on Hong Kong’s democracy, Falun Gong mistreatment and murder in China, Xinjiang’s muslim population and China’s attempts to destroy their culture there. These taboo subjects must be avoided in order to stay within Beijing’s good graces, and disobedience may result in China pulling back students and their foreign student tuition (much as China has done in Taiwan with not just education, but tourists, and business opportunities). The commercial blackmail is one of Beijing’s favorite intrigues.

The Trojan Horse is alive and well in Hollywood as well. Those studios needy enough to take Chinese funding suddenly self-censor so that no movie would dare put Beijing in a bad light (this is ironic considering Hollywood has no problem portraying American Presidents, and government officials, the CIA and FBI, and its military in a very bad light as part of many stories). Those studios selling larger stakes, close to being taken over, well, the censorship will be more direct. As for a Chinese company purchasing a major studio (such as China’s Wanda Group, which already acquired AMC and a piece of Legendary, tried to acquire Dick Clark Productions (including the Golden Globes), and was sniffing around Paramount Pictures), this would be a disaster of tremendous magnitude. Not only would this provide enormous power to the Communist Party regime, allowing it to hobnob with the elite in Hollywood, affecting Hollywood’s discussion of China’s brutality around the world, and its hegemony (Hollywood is quick to hate American government, making it ripe for acceptance of the sales talk by Beijing of its benign intentions), it would open the door to propaganda by the studio in the form of its by then major motion pictures portraying the free world poorly, and Communist China in illusions of grandeur and peace. Also, just to make the plan more horrifying, Beijing currently limits the number of foreign films it allows to be shown in China. A major studio would therefore be better off moving its movie-making to Wanda’s gigantic studio in China, completing the theft of international movie primacy, and killing jobs in Hollywood and the US.

Beijing’s cavalry of Trojan horses is on the march, and it is marching to a college or movie theater near you soon. I ask that you beware, and hold dear our hallowed principles of free speech and constitutional protections for freedom and free speech. Without that protection we are vulnerable to Beijing’s insidious Trojan horse machinations.

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Strait Talk discusses issues affecting Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Tibet, the United States specifically, and Asia and other related world issues in general. The content is intended to focus on government, democracy, justice, freedom and a host of other issues in a frank, and at times ironic way. Please bring your sense of humor for a visit.

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