China's Lhasa Stand

It's now Day Two of mainstream media's coverage of the 2008 Lhasa Uprising. New pictures are finally coming out of Tibet.


In my previous post about army trucks of the Burmese junta, I talked about the Chinese-made Dong Feng trucks used to crack down on the Burmese populace. They are now being used in Tibet, although with more opposition. For a city that has been thoroughly and savagely transformed by Han Chinese and soul-sapping concrete and asphalt, Lhasa seems to still have an abundance of fist-sized rocks.

I'm not an expert on this, but that does not look like laminated safety glass.


Here's another Dong Feng (East Wind) meeting head-on with decades of pent up rage.


I did not expect to see Mercedes trucks in the People's Liberation Army, but they're there (or at least a cheap knock-off version). Trucks similar to these were used less than a month ago by those freedom loving Turks when they invaded northern Iraq to eliminate Kurdish freedom fighters.


This small but not insignificant gesture caught my eye. This very brave man is showing his resistance to Han Chinese hegemony with a simple act that has enormous consequences, from his personal safety to the morale boost given to those Tibetans who witness this treasonous crime. This is a perfect example of why flag burning, though repugnant to many, should be a fundamental and universal human right.


CKY