On a nation’s struggle and agony; the nature of democracy; Trump vs. Canada; and more
On Monday, next to the Hudson River in New York, there was a demonstration. It was essentially across the street from the Chinese consulate. The demonstration was by Tibetans and Tibetan Americans. March 10 is an important day for them.
On that day in 1959, Tibetans rose up against their Chinese captors and oppressors. Thousands of Tibetans were killed. (A precise number is impossible to come by.) March 10 is known as “Tibetan Uprising Day.”
The ruling Chinese have done to Tibet what they are now doing in the Xinjiang region, where the Uyghurs live. That is: all things Tibetan, and all things Uyghur, must be crushed out.
In 2008, there was further rebellion in Tibet. Three years later, the Chinese government sent a man named Chen Quanguo to that “province,” to establish perfect totalitarian control. He did such a good job, they sent him to Xinjiang in 2016, to do the same.
Chen Quanguo was the Gauleiter in both places.
Alongside the Hudson River on Monday, people held signs: “Tibet Is Not Part of China.” “Independence for Tibet.” “Stop Cultural Genocide in Tibet.”
A 16-year-old girl spoke to the crowd. (I did not catch her name.) She lives in New Jersey. She read a beautifully prepared speech in a confident, defiant, passionate way. She said she had skipped school to be at the demonstration — but she made no apologies for it.
To see her giving her speech, look at the photo above this column.
Students in Tibet, she said, have no chance to learn about their history, their culture, etc. They are forced into “Chinese colonial schools.” She, however, has been able to learn about Tibet in America.
She said,
The Chinese government wants to erase us. They want to destroy our culture and our traditions. But how can you erase something that refuses to die? How do you erase a community that is unwilling to stop fighting? The Chinese Communist Party has spent billions of dollars to destroy the Tibetan way of life, but they have yet to make a dent in our spirit.
She went on to say,
When I look at all of you, I see a nation that refuses to be silenced or erased. All of us standing here are proof that the Chinese government has failed. We are the living proof. The fact that I am here, that I can speak Tibetan, that I know my history — that is resistance. Every word that you speak in Tibetan, every time you learn something about our past, every time you show pride in being Tibetan — that is resistance.
In her peroration, she said,
Tibet will be free. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but one day we will return home. Until that day arrives, we must continue to speak out, we must protest, and we must fight back, no matter how long it takes.
I can hear some readers saying, “These people are not proper Americans.” True, they are people in exile, people scattered in a diaspora. I am glad they are here. If Tibet is ever Tibet again, some will go home. (This 16-year-old girl, for example, refers to Tibet as “home,” even though she has never set foot there.) Some will stay.
The same is true of Cuba. Were Cuba to throw off the yoke of dictatorship, some Cuban Americans would return to the island — or go there for the first time. Others would stay, being principally American.
Think of Israel. When the state was reestablished — 2,000 years later — some went home (or “home”). But others felt principally American or French or Australian or what have you.
An old story. I’m glad to live in a country that opens its arms to refugees, or some of them. It is good for the refugees, obviously, for they need a haven; and it is good for America, enriched in various ways. For one thing: we are reminded of the American purpose, our whys and wherefores. We are not an ordinary, run-of-the-mill nation.
Are we?
• With a Brazilian intellectual, I was talking about democracy — liberal democracy, or ordered liberty. I mentioned an old kindergarten lesson: Democracy means extending your arm as far as you can, before it grazes someone else’s face. My friend was reminded of something a Portuguese writer said.
That writer is João Pereira Coutinho, who writes for a Brazilian newspaper, the Folha de São Paulo. Coutinho said,
I have an immediate distrust of “engineers of the human soul.” My political bible can be found on the door of any hotel room: “Do Not Disturb.” And, when circumstances require it, just turn the sign over: “Please Clean the Room.”
Highly interesting.
On a related note — just a mundane one — I’ve noticed that these doorknob signs are changing, in America. There used to be “Do Not Disturb” and “Please Clean the Room” on front and back. These days, I’m seeing “Do Not Disturb” only, on both sides.
• Last month, President Trump published a statement: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” I have often quoted something Patrick J. Buchanan wrote in 2016. This was when Trump was refusing to say whether he would accept the result of the forthcoming election. The “populist-nationalist Right,” said Buchanan, was “moving beyond the niceties of liberal democracy to save the America they love.”
Were we ever to ditch liberal democracy, I think we would find that “niceties” are more like essentials. The rule of law is priceless. Our Founders bequeathed us something rare and great.
• In Canada, the Liberals were far down in the polls, and the Conservatives looked set to romp. Then Trump was sworn in, again, and made belligerence toward Canada a signature of his new administration. Canadians, being patriotic, like most peoples, rallied around their government, which is now in the hands of Liberals. The Liberals may win again.
If they do, they should say, “Thank you, President Trump.” (The administration is very big on thank-yous, certainly where Ukraine is concerned.)
• Here is Lauren Boebert, a MAGA congresswoman:
My question: Should the Canadians have any say in the matter? Or just MAGA?
• Daniel Hannan, the British Conservative, wrote,
The last couple of weeks have been revealing. A number of Americans, including some whom I counted as friends, have been prepared to spew bile about Canada — Canada, for God’s sake — simply because they have been given a new party line. I can’t now look at them in the same way.
Many of us could sing that song, and have been singing it for years. It is not so much a song as a lament or wail. A famous American poem begins, “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.” I don’t know about “best minds.” But recent years have been a trip, no doubt.
• Did you see this story? I have linked to an Associated Press report that begins,
References to a World War II Medal of Honor recipient, the Enola Gay aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan, and the first women to pass Marine infantry training are among the tens of thousands of photos and online posts marked for deletion as the Defense Department works to purge diversity, equity, and inclusion content . . .
The Enola Gay, huh? Wait’ll they find out that Gay Brewer won the 1967 Masters.
• Kind of related:
A top acting State Department official deleted at least half a dozen tweets that ridiculed his now boss, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, including ones calling him “low IQ” and repeating a false rumor about Rubio’s sexuality.
Ah. Another day in MAGA-town. (For the story, if you can digest it, go here.)
• A scene in New York — a scene that plays out most anywhere. A young woman, upset, walks out of a brownstone. She calls behind her, “Have a great life. Good luck.” I wish only the best for both of them. (Hell, they may be back together by now.)
• Let’s have a little music. For a review of Angel Blue (soprano) and Lang Lang (piano) in recital together, go here. For a review of the London Symphony Orchestra, under Sir Antonio Pappano, with the pianist Yunchan Lim as soloist, go here.
And for my “New York chronicle,” published in the current New Criterion, go here.
Lotsa music.
• I’m not sure that these are the first blooms of spring — but they are the first I have seen. In Central Park on Sunday:
Have a good one, my friends. Thanks for joining me. A free and independent Tibet — Tibet for Tibetans. Wouldn’t that be something?
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