Dr. Marshall Windmiller is a respected scholar on international relations. He wrote an insightful letter to the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday concerning the Torch protests and China. His argument parallels mine in my recent post on the protests. Anyone who would like a brief history of militant Buddhism and the relations between Tibet and China can read my post http://www.dailykos.com/...
Editor - One hopes the massive demonstrations for Tibetan freedom may stimulate interest in its history of relations with China and the United States.
One way for a nation-state to annex territory is to begin with settlements. We Americans sent settlers into Indian territories, and then took control with military force. The Dutch and the British did the same in South Africa and fought the Boer War over it. The Israelis are doing it in Palestine. The Chinese are doing it in Tibet. It took a long time for South Africans to reclaim their country. It will take a long time, if ever, for the Tibetans and the Palestinians. Their fate could be in reservations like those where we put our Indians. After World War II, the United States sent intelligence operatives into Tibet on what was known as the Tolstoi Mission. Its purpose was to determine the feasibility of establishing airfields there from which American military planners believed they could dominate all of Asia. While Chiang Kai Shek was in power in China the US recognized Chinese suzerainty over Tibet. After the Communists came to power in China, the CIA recruited Tibetan tribesmen, flew them to Colorado for guerrilla training, and then sent them back into Tibet to harass the Chinese. Is it possible that some Chinese believe that this is happening again, and that this is the cause of Tibetan independence demonstrations?
Today, the Chinese own so much of the American economy that they could easily cause a financial disaster for us. Therefore, is it in our interest to sabotage the Olympics which are so important to them? Or would it be wiser to begin educating our own people, and use the Olympics to improve international relations as was their original intent?
MARSHALL WINDMILLER
Professor Emeritus
International Relations
San Francisco State University
China, Tibet and Militant Buddhism