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Posted on 05.01.08 by Stephen Covington @ 12:17 am
The small nation of Georgia, a former member of the USSR that broke away and declared independence in 1991, has recently become something of a proxy battleground for the interests of Moscow and those of the West. As with Ukraine, NATO and the EU have flirted with getting Georgia to join, mainly as it would increase cooperation in Russia’s immediate neighborhood, and also reinforce the ever-important buffer zone. Although it hasn’t made up its mind yet, Georgia is very strategically located - it shares a border with Turkey, the Black Sea, and has already served as a staging area for US aircraft in the Iraq war, using airbases that are approximately 200 miles from the Iranian border. Russia, for its part, has taken advantage of a situation with two Georgian provinces that want to declare independence of their own - Abkhazia and South Ossentia. The Russians have increased forces in the area and support the two separatist states. This seems to be an attempt to balance the situation with Kosovo’s recent declaration of independence, which the West supported and Russia and China both opposed. In some ways, this echoes recent incidents of Russia throwing its weight around to pressure its smaller neighbors (particularly Ukraine) concerning oil and gas. Although the possibility of the two areas becoming fully independent is small, Russia is in a good position to use it as leverage to at least delay Georgia from entering into an alliance with the West. Now, the task before NATO is to either find an effective way to neutralize the Russian move, or decide between Georgia and Ukraine if one or the other decides to back out. Filed under: Foreign affairs Comments: 2 Comments |
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Posted on 04.28.08 by Stephen Covington @ 3:54 am
Zimbabwean security forces beat members of the opposition demonstrating in Harare.Almost a month after Zimbabwe’s recent presidential election ended, the results still have not been released. In the meantime, a Robert Mugabe’s supporters have waged a fierce campaign of violence and intimidation against the opposition, often blaming it on the opposition themselves. There have even been rumors that the African nation is headed for civil war. The United States has been pressing Zimbabwe through diplomatic channels, and calling for its neighbors to decry the violence. Still, little seems to be happening. Mugabe is not the type of person to let go of power without a considerable struggle. In addition to a long history of violence against political opposition, he has publicly compared himself to Adolf Hitler:
Some experts believe that Mugabe will not be prosecuted for his role in war crimes, instead living out his days in a relative degree of luxury, in exchange for releasing his grip on political power - although if he does not go soon, he risks incurring enough wrath by his opponents to make that all but impossible. A larger question is why Mugabe feels comfortable that he can remain a despotic dictator and not have to eventually answer to the citizenry. One possibility is that the Chinese government is running around the world with a torch, glorifying the mistreatment of its own people as some sort of “unity”. All the while, they still continue to sell massacre-bound weapons to Zimbabwe. Curiously, the Chinese government’s argument of “it’s just a business transaction and nothing more” reason for a large shipment of arms strangely echoes the “it’s just a sporting event and nothing more” justification given for the holding the Olympics in a nation where most of the principles of the Olympics are banned. More than likely, China’s government doesn’t see this as anything more than a “business transaction” because for them, like Mugabe, killing citizens is business as usual. Only the immediate future will tell if Zimbabwe’s government will really change. If so, maybe Mugabe will get acquainted with his own brand of Hitler justice, tenfold. Filed under: Foreign affairs and Opinion Comments: None |
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Posted on 04.20.08 by Stephen Covington @ 11:21 pm
Australia has warned the Chinese government that if any members of the People’s Armed Police touches a member of the public, they will be arrested and charged. The PAP previously roughed up protesters in London and Paris, leading to their branding as “thugs” by the governments in those countries. Additionally, the PAP has been the force primarily responsible for atrocities in Tibet, and regularly carries out executions for non-capital crimes. They can be easily distinguished by their green, military-style uniforms. Australia has decided to allow three PAP officers to run next to the torch, not allowed to carry weapons, and will be surrounded by Australian police. China has not been happy with the agreement, but has been forced to agree as a condition for allowing the torch to go through. Below: Three members of the People’s Armed Police preparing to scatter the brains of one of their unlucky people all over a wall.
Filed under: Foreign affairs Comments: 5 Comments |
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Posted on 04.11.08 by Stephen Covington @ 1:36 am
It looks like the chair of the IOC has finally admitted that China may need to clean up its act…
…a criticism which the Chinese government quickly reacted with denial…
The NPC and party CMC have had this bad PR coming for a long time now. It’s a telling reminder of the Chinese government’s complete inability to accept criticism that they’re incredibly touchy about anyone saying that their policies might be causing problems. While the US hasn’t been angelic in thought and deed, government attempts at image control are usually not heavy-handed, and when they are, those attempts fail spectacularly by bringing even more attention to the issue. Why is the Chinese government so paralyzed at the idea of letting anyone have a discussion concerning Tibet policy? Below: Although it looks like a bookmobile, that’s actually a Chinese mobile execution unit.
Filed under: Breaking News and Foreign affairs Comments: None |
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Posted on 04.09.08 by Stephen Covington @ 8:07 pm
The 2008 Summer Olympic torch relay, in anticipation of the games which will be held in Beijing this year, met stiff protest in San Francisco over China’s bloody human rights record in Tibet. The presence of the torch has been protested in virtually every world city that it has traveled to, both by citizens, local government officials, and the athletes carrying the torch.
Below: A Tibetan woman is led to be killed in a makeshift “field execution”.
Filed under: Breaking News and Foreign affairs Comments: 4 Comments |
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Posted on 04.08.08 by Stephen Covington @ 12:54 am
The recent protests along the route of the Olympic flame have involved Tibetans, citizens of the respective countries, local and national officials, and even the torch-bearers themselves. In London, Konnie Huq both carried the flame and voiced her opposition to Chinese policy; San Francisco is scheduled to receive the torch on April 9, but in possibly the only backbone-requiring task committed in decades, the Board of Supervisors has expressed their disdain for China’s disgraceful human rights record. These disruptions will almost certainly continue and may increase, and will likely occlude the importance of the Olympics as a sporting event. Chinese officials have repeatedly expressed that the Olympics are an athletic event for international peace as an excuse for why Tibet should not be an issue. What has not been discussed is that the Chinese government itself is responsible for tainting the Olympics - not Tibet. Communist Party officials have committed egregious acts both against their own people, and against people in areas that they consider their own. Holding an international sporting event in such a place would be somewhat akin to having daycare in a whorehouse. Since the Maoists took over, official Chinese government policy has completely gone against the spirit of the Olympics and anything resembling a free society. Capitalism has unfortunately not brought China any closer to democracy, although it has helped to bring about a more slick image. China has worked carefully for the last decade to sculpt an international image as a benign giant, becoming a significant trading partner in many areas and obtaining leadership roles in intergovernmental organizations. Hopefully the 2008 Summer Olympics will serve as a wakeup call to the world to see the pig behind the lipstick. Related links: Filed under: Breaking News and Foreign affairs and Opinion Comments: 5 Comments |
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Posted on 03.17.08 by Stephen Covington @ 7:16 am
The Chinese government has apparently decided that all climbing on Mount Everest must stop from May 1 to the 10th - so that they can send some climbers up for an Olympics-themed promotion. Enlisting the cooperation of neighboring Nepal, China intends to televise the entire event, and doesn’t want any nosy Tibetans getting in the way. Things have gotten rough in Tibet recently, with Tibetans declaring that their historically separate nation is, in fact, a separate nation. Much as with the situation in Taiwan, the Chinese government doesn’t take this very well, and has responded with a significant amount of police and military action to put down the Tibetan independence movement. The head of the IOC has expressed concern over the recent crackdowns, and the added closure of the mountain will mostly serve to bring more attention to the issue than there would have otherwise been.
These instances point to a much larger issue - with China emerging as a major world power, how can it be expected to act? The Chinese government seems to have an unerringly paternalistic attitude when it comes to quashing ideas that it doesn’t like. While often unsuccessful (such as with the heavily flawed “Great Firewall of China”), the basic attitude is a monopolar “Daddy knows best” way of looking at situations involving adult members of the public. What will happen as China expands its influence? Will their attitude towards foreign affairs continue to revolve around a complete disinterest in talking about any remotely uncomfortable topics? Fortunately, Western values have entropy on their side - it’s no doubt easier to break down a carefully crafted view of pseudo-authority, than it is to build it up. Only time will tell how this will turn out. China’s government will need to lose some of its obsession with issuing commands if it intends to work with the West on any level besides that of a trading partner. Filed under: Foreign affairs and Opinion Comments: None |
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Posted on 03.10.08 by Stephen Covington @ 11:45 am
A Saudi Arabian woman named Wajeha Al-Huwaider has posted a video of herself on the internet driving - an innocuous activity in most areas of the world, but one that has sparked considerable controversy in an oil-rich nation governed by a strict brand of Sharia law. Throughout the video, Al-Huwaider explains that female drivers are fairly common in rural areas, but her aim is to encourage women across the nation to take a more active role in driving, particularly in urban areas. This particular effort was made to coincide with International Women’s Day. Al-Huwaider is a leading women’s driving activist in Saudi Arabia, and supports having the ban overturned by the government. Previous mass protests have resulted in punishment for all involved. It is unclear what the Saudi government response to this might be, but with both cars and gasoline prevalent in the country, along with rapidly changing social norms, the issue will probably not go away soon. Filed under: Foreign affairs and Social issues Comments: 7 Comments |
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Posted on 03.02.08 by Stephen Covington @ 8:57 pm
Colombia reports that they have killed Raul Reyes, a leader within the FARC terrorist group. Part of Reyes’ role has been to direct FARC’s cocaine-related activities, which is a major source of fundraising. The United States has given billions of dollars to the Colombian government to fight FARC, largely because of the group’s effectiveness in generating and distributing cocaine, much of which ends up in the US. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez sharply criticized the killing, calling it “a cowardly murder,” although Reyes was killed at a military encampment. The operation consisted of Colombian aircraft striking the targets in Ecuador while still within Colombian airspace. Military personnel then crossed the border to confirm that Reyes, along with at least 16 others, was among the dead. Chavez has ordered a number of battalions to the Colombian border in response to the attack, further raising tensions in an already difficult situation. Chavez’s aggressive gesture towards Colombia may motivate the US to further back the South American nation. However, any actual military conflict would likely complicate matters as it would further raise the price of oil in an area that has so far seen a relatively low level of conflict (compared to the Mideast). Filed under: Breaking News and Foreign affairs Comments: 40 Comments |
