Berlin 1936 Beijing 2008
China won its major makeover. Like Berlin in 1936, a country with major public relation problems has scored a propaganda coup. The colonisation of Tibet, forced abortions as part of its one child policy and harsh repression of religious minorities such as the Falun Gong have faded into a mere backdrop of the Olympic platitudes scrolling across hundred of millions of TV screens.
From multicoloured clothing and spitting to wearing pajamas in the street, the government in China has impressed upon Beijing residents their patriotic duty to make a good impression upon the world. The heavens themselves are not in accord with the party, it seems. Smog has been so awful that many athletes are forced to squint behind face masks in the oppressive heat.The toxic haze is cupped over the city by an Unseen Hand, impervious to the dictates of party bureaucrats and indifferent to the embarrassment of the regime.
How puzzling it must be to CNN, ABC and CBS as well as all the major newspapers.. America refused to sign a treaty on global warming. Everything from spray deodorant to flatulent cows was blamed for global warming. Now, all the big name reporters are there. Who can take their eyes off of the Beijing skyline? Who can see the Beijing skyline? How can these reporters look at the dim sun at noon and not ask some uncomfortable questions about where all the pollution is coming from?
Mainland China has learned how to behave in polite company. Western company logos crowd out communist slogans in the streets and in the shop windows. Ten Yuan notes are circulating without Chairman Mao's picture on them. Communist rhetoric is for domestic consumption only. It is the new opiate for a nation rendered godless in the name of the international working class. China is the sweatshop capitalist's dream come true. Instead of having your working class at arm's length, a mere tram ride away from your mansion or luxury condo, they are stashed conveniently away on another continent, where a twenty five cent a day raise is sought cautiously by government controlled labour unions. The demands of this pacified working class are held to a minimum through China's one child per family policy. Sure it's messy when they abort an eight and a half month old fetus. They even have to pay janitors extra money for some of the messy post op cleanup. But that doesn't concern us. It would be 'interfering in China's internal affairs' . Somehow China's government gets credit for being "pro choice". They have the right to choose if a woman can give birth. This is what you pay for when you buy goods made in China.
Tibet is going the way of the Baltic republics. So many Chinese have colonised Tibet that separating it from China's grasp will be nearly impossible.
China continues to support Iran's nuclear ambitions , a repressive regime despised in Burma and the annexation of Taiwan. It's hand is strengthened with every appliance, every toy and every garment purchased by American consumers indifferent to the type of government they are supporting.
Now, like Nazi Germany in 1936, the Olympics serve as a makeover for a despotic regime. American advertising lulls us with fuzzy talk about international friendship and the Olympic ideal. No makeover can beautify the ugly face of communism, be it Chinese, Soviet or North Korean. Why is it that godless regimes always end up demanding human sacrifice?
The tears of a Chinese woman whose child was forcibly aborted are no less dear to G-d than a woman in Europe or America bereft of her child.
When I see clips of the Beijing Olympics, the sun appears veiled by smog as a woman in mourning. G-d weeps for His children. And so should we.
Please listen to this NPR clip about forced abortions in China
No comments:
Post a Comment