Yesterday I blogged about South Africa’s refusal to issue a visa to the Dalai Lama to attend an international peace conference in Johannesburg- the reasoning given by the SA government was that it was not in their best interest to allow His Holiness into the country lest it upset China, with whom SA has increasing economic ties (as does just about every other nation on earth).
This latest example of bullying from China was a depressing reality check which further solidified the view that human rights would take a back seat to economic interests, particularly where China is concerned.
As the day progressed yesterday and word spread of South Africa’s actions, there was an increase in anger and outrage and some big name conference participants put South Africa on notice that they found the governments treatment of the Dalai Lama unacceptable and publicly announced they would boycott the conference altogether. Today, there is now word the conference has been canceled altogether, at the behest of the SA government and it would be reasonable.
Stumble It!
2 responses so far ↓
1 tehehehe // Mar 25, 2009 at 8:00 am
Hmmmm. One wonders “why”?
May I proffer a theory? Many of the participants at the conference have religious connections or religious beliefs, and they expressed solidarity with the Dalai Lama when he was embargoed?
Sometimes religion can do the right thing in the face of secular domination. This may be an example.
2 Stacy // Mar 25, 2009 at 8:24 am
Yes, that is likely a key factor.
The Dalai Lama is recognized the world over as a man of peace who promotes religious tolerance and compassion- I think the SA govt wanted to cancel the event to prevent the PR disaster that was developing- once Tutu and DeKlerk bowed out, it was likely that many more would follow and that would mean more headlines and more criticism of SA and China. Unfortunately, I think SA cancelled the conference for the wrong reasons and in a way, China still wins although Tutu and others made their point loud and clear.
What would have been nice is if the SA govt had changed it’s mind, issued the visa to the Dalai Lama and let the conference move forward. But again, China was in the background refusing to allow that.
Leave a Comment