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Dalai Lama Visit to France Stirs Up Talk Of More Carrefour Protests in China
Posted in The Vance Report on 12/04/2008 08:03 pm by Robert Vance
As French president Nicolas Sarkozy prepares to meet the Dalai Lama on Saturday, it appears that many here in China are not willing to learn from the mistakes of the past. This week, my university campus is buzzing with talk of once again boycotting Carrefour in response to this highly controversial meeting that has already drawn strong condemnation from Beijing. Considering the embarrassment that the Carrefour boycott brought upon China in April, I can hardly believe that people are seriously talking about doing it again.
In April, I was fortunate enough (or unfortunate enough depending on how you look at it) to be teaching English very close to a Carrefour store when the protests began. Someone had started a rumour that Carrefour was financially supporting the Dalai Lama. In typical Chinese fashion, people decided that Carrefour was guilty without any proof or even solid evidence. The store had to shut down and I remember that the training center that I worked for had to go into ‘lock down’ mode because the protests seemed to be taking on a very anti-foreigner tone. In fact, when I walked by one night to observe what was taking place, a very rude man insisted that I leave saying that I had no right to be there. Later, I was told that the Carrefour store had remained open until some students had started “spitting on items.” You can read more about that here. Even the Chinese government was not thrilled about the protests and made sure that the stores were well protected by riot police. The government also sent text messages to Chinese citizens urging them to be calm and not do anything too drastic.
Later, after the stores had reopened and the ‘fury’ had died down, I asked students about the protests. While some of them had chosen not to shop at Carrefour, many said that they were dissappointed with the actions of their fellow countrymen. One even admitted to me that the Chinese were simply “venting” their frustration over the cold reception that the Olympic torch was receiving around the world. When I reminded them that their actions probably hurt many of the 50,000 Chinese employees who work in Carrefours across the country, other students admitted that what happened was “shameful.”
“China should be thankful for the foreign companies that have invested here and provided jobs,” a Chinese friend told me recently. Other Chinese aquaintances of mine have said that they think people should continue to shop at Carrefour. One person even remarked that the Dalai Lama’s visit to France had nothing to do with Carrefour which according to reports, carries mostly Chinese products on its shelves.
In fact, I have never understood why Chinese people think that they should have the right to control where the Dalai Lama goes and who he talks to. While he may never again be Tibet’s “secular” leader, he is still the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, which far outdates the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. He is certainly not welcome by anyone in China and would in fact be risking his life most likely if he ever returned. How then, can a people who do not accept him in their country, try to dictate his traveling and speaking schedule? If he is ‘meddling’ in politics, it is only because he wants to pressure Beijing to make good on their age-old promise that Tibet would be an automonous province in China. That promise has been broken time and time again.
If Chinese people do manage to organize another country wide boycott of Carrefour, they are just wasting their time again. Sarkozy is going to meet with the Dalai Lama on Saturday and there is nothing that they can do about it. It really is not even their business. Neither Sarkozy nor the Dalai Lama are even calling for Tibetan independence although plenty of people here seem to be convinced that this is the case. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail and people can focus their attention on other issues such as China’s increasing unemployment rate.
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12/06/2008 at 12:41 pm
By the same token, Vance, I will forever not understand why the West treats Osama b Laden as a most wanted terrorist because, as the way we understand it, he is merely an Islamist patriot/freedom fighter trying to avenge centuries of wrongs the West brought upon the Muslims. Moreover to us internationalists, he justifiably brings about the hastened disintegration of western hegemony on this globe which we so much like to celebrate.
12/06/2008 at 1:16 pm
@Lee Wee Shing,
So you were celebrating when nearly 3,000 innocent men, women, and children lost their lives on 9/11? That’s great. At least you admit it.
Bin Laden and Al Qaeda have admitted responsibility for those attacks. They are already guilty because they have confessed. Of course the U.S. has the right to bring those people to justice. Now how about all of the accusations that have been leveled at the Dalai Lama? Has he confessed to those? Have they been proven?
Personally, I find your comparison of Bin Laden and the Dalai Lama sickening…
12/07/2008 at 11:54 pm
There were banner wielding students protesting opposite Carrefour in Hefei this evening as I left my office.
I would expect that the authorities will shut them down fairly smartly.
Students casually glared at an African associate and I and there was the wondering if we were French in their stares. They laughed when I made a gesture in Chinese lingo.
I enjoyed watching and photographing their protests last time as they were very passionate about what they believed in but the local authorities eventually locked many local university gates and students were restricted from entry and exit until all protestors were rounded up.
The authorities did a great job to peacefully bring an end to an ever increasing band of passionate supporters.
There is always the chance that some protestors may be joined by rebel elements that might target foreigners as potential supporters of some international groups for the so called liberation of Tibet.
What Sarkozy’s stance or the Dalai’s stance is I am not sure - perhaps I will pass judgement on that one at a later posting.
I for one support the Chinese position of responsibly guiding and governing the autonomous region of Tibet.
There are no doubts that Tibetans enjoy a more liberated lifestyle than they did pre 1960’s and have better infrastructure courtesy of moderrn China.
There is significant independent research to support these findings.
http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html
The mistakes of yesteryear need to be forgotten and forgiven as the “dark ages” have now been replaced by internationalisation and inter-cultural awareness.
This is a new day for young Tibetans to have access to knowledge and awareness of the modern world and sustainable scientific support and to access wealth and funds from a responsible government for the preservation of world heritage.
This is not the “cold war” anymore and the current PRC government is doing wonders to win friends and influence nations globally, allbeit for nationally strategic advantages but who can blame them for being self supporting and industrious for the betterment of the cause they believe in.
I would ask the western world what the true motive is for the so called liberation of Tibet and you can bet it may be some kind of multinational plan to hatch access to mineral wealth of some form and description. I am sure there is an equally perhaps more sinister plot as well which is strategically planned by globally enitified strategists for the so called liberation of Tibet.
Before the Dalai lineage was - there was no liberation for Tibetans but decimation at the hands of many including the British. China is not waging a battle of weapons in the current day but a battle to maintain a sustainable future for both Tibetans and the natural and cultural heritage of the region as well.
The global perspective must be one of preserving world heritage listed cultural heritage and naturally significant regions of Tibet for preservation for the generations to come.
With the global economic downturn; who better than the nation of China can provide funding to safeguard and preserve the regional future for a globalised community.
I think the Tibetan region is vitally important to the Chinese people to be preserved responsibly; as the mighty Chang Jiang River has its’ source from the highlands and the annual snowfall feeds the many tributaries that flow down as feeders into the Chang Jiang as well.
Selah!
The Chinese authorities have been responsibly monitoring global temperatures in the region and I believe they are fully aware of the implications of global warming on this vital region for future success of downstream communities and projects, including the multi billion dollar “Sanxia” power generation project located in the middle reaches of the Chang Jiang.
These are only my personal views but I am also currently researching to be better informed if my views are somewhat biased.
To summarise, truth is a vital aspect of morality on what is right and what is wrong and I do agree that protests against Carrefour are unfounded and ineffective.
12/08/2008 at 9:21 pm
@Kaibo,
I certainly do not disagree with anything that you write here. I, for one, do not one am not in favor of a Tibetan liberation and I firmly believe that Tibet is (and has been for a long time) apart of China.
In fact, I would not even call myself a supporter of the Dalai Lama. It just bothers me that they are so obsessed with everything that he does that they will waste time and effort boycotting a store that has done nothing but benefit China’s economy.
If the Dalai Lama is, as many here attempt to claim, working for Tibetan independence, than I agree that the Chinese government has every right to thwart that effort. However, I am not convinced that he is working for independence. He himself has stated that he is asking for the autonomy that was promised to Tibet by the Chinese government. They want to have more of a say than they have now and they want to make sure that their culture is not drowned out by Han culture (it may be too late for that).
I do not regard the Dalai Lama as a Saint but I do think that the obsession with him here is way overboard. Whether the people here like it or not, he is still the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and he has a right to go where he wants to go and visit with whom he would like to visit…
12/09/2008 at 4:45 pm
The Chinese people are easily brainwashed by their government. They will believe any communist bullshit. What has politics got to do with Carrefour? The Chinese are jealous at foreigners because Chinese alays feel inferior to them, so they resort to childish behaviour to solve problems, but only bring more trouble upon themselves. 中國人很悲哀.