Chinese Protest the Protests

As people around the world are uniting and protesting the bearing of the Olympic torch through their respective homelands, China is protesting its reception in certain countries. In France, hostile protests led to the torch taking a shorter route than originally scheduled—in response, thousands of Chinese citizens have mobilized outside of the French supermarket chain, Carrefour, in several cities.

The protesters were armed with images of Mao Zedong and Chinese flags, and even some pictures of Jin Jang, a rather unknown fencing athlete who clung to the torch as he ran through Paris earlier in April, despite determined interference from a Tibet supporter.

While the world protests China’s violation of human rights, the Chinese themselves are retaliating with a protest that advocates a united China, in which Tibet forms a legal part. Chinese media has taken advantage of this countrywide protest to make an international showing of its own citizens’ support for the government in relations to its dealings with Tibet. While the international community continues to support Tibet in its independence movement, segments of the Chinese population are rallying to display their own support for issue that (to them) should be considered a domestic, as opposed to international. While protests continue as the torch makes its way through the world, it is evident that this has become a China vs. the Rest ordeal.

So what is the touchiest change a Tibetan must make according to the Chinese government? Sacrificing the Dalai Lama as a spiritual leader for the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama. Assimilation therefore requires more than simply a central political belief, but also a unified religious belief. To that end, the Dalai Lama is currently in exile. Any dissent by Tibetans has been met with harsh government actions—which have been seen as violations of international law. While Chinese protesters assert their right to host the Olympics, they are simultaneously endorsing their government's clear violations of international. If it is a question of a unified China through violent means, then the end certainly doesn't justify the means.