Portland mayor, commissioner rebuff Chinese Consulate on Tibet – China News
www.oregonlive.com — About time someone grew a pair!! Portland, Oregon Mayor Sam Adams proclaimed Wednesday, March 10, “Tibet Awareness Day.” Soon officials with the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco met with Adams and Commissioner Randy Leonard asking "that the city rescind the proclamation, order a new proclamation in support of China, and deny Tibetans a planned celebration at City Hall on Wednesday. Leonard said no to all three requests; he said he expected the mayor to do the same."
"About time someone grew a pair!!"
Seconded.
I can't believe the utter balls on those guys making those demands. If that's what they ask of the mayor and city commission, imagine what kind of demands they make of others. I'm glad someone finally has given the Middle Kingdom the middle finger when they try to interfere in the internal affairs of -not even a country- a city.
Maybe they should issue a new proclamation referring to Portland now as the "Middle Finger Kingdom."
I'm confused, are they utters, or are they balls?
They're utters the size of balls.
I used to work for a state governor and we were always getting such demands from the Chinese consulate and embassy. If some university in our state put up a Taiwan flag to recognize its students from Taiwan we'd get an urgent demand from the Chinese Consulate to take it down. Of course we explained that people and institutions in the US can put up any flag they want to but the Chinese didn't accept this. If Taiwan officials visited the Governor the Chinese were there the next day to warn us not to misbehave anymore and telling us not to welcome Taiwanese to our state. Our governor would explain that we were a sovereign state and we'd do as we pleased, thank you.
The only way to deal with the Chinese government is to not give an inch on your principles because they are always there pushing - and way over the line. This goes on in every country, every state and every city. The public just never hears about it.
I wouldn't say never. In recent years it seems like we the public have heard quite a lot about it. But yeah, you definitely get the sense of that "always pushing".
What I meant to say was that the public almost never hears how much the Chinese Government tries to push around (or influence) state and city officials. We have a good idea of what goes on in nation-to-nation give and take but not the local level.
China Daily weighs in this morning:
"While many in the international community are watching with anxiety to see if Washington moves to repair its ties with Beijing, a reckless decision by an American city is rubbing salt into the unhealed wound of the world’s most important bilateral relations.
The city of Portland, Oregon, proclaimed Wednesday, March 10, their “Tibet Awareness Day” despite strong opposition from the Chinese government.
While most people and most countries in the world recognize Tibet as part of China, the decision by the American city interferes in China’s internal affairs and is an open defiance of China’s state sovereignty.
It could have an adverse effect on Sino-US relations, which has yet to recover from major deterioration following Washington’s $6.4-billion arms sale to Taiwan and US President Barack Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama.
The designation of the “Tibet Awareness Day” was apparently orchestrated by the Dalai Lama clique, which has been engaged in activities aimed to separate China and undermine Tibet’s stability in the guise of religion.
It is still beyond our belief that politicians in Portland have chosen to celebrate a handful of fanatics trumpeting Tibet independence while turning a blind eye to either history or the status quo of present-day Tibet. History has told us that Tibet has always been a part of China, and there is ample evidence proving the fact that Tibetan people now enjoy a much better life and enjoy the full freedom of religion.
Americans are well-known for putting individual freedom above everything. While the city of Portland entertains a few Tibet separatists, has it ever occurred to its decision-makers that their move are infringing on the interest of 2.8-million Tibetans here in China?"
Well, there are some real gems in that diatribe. The comments on this piece of CCP rhetoric are similarly blinkered and nationalistic.
Oh oh, somebody has hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.