China's Economy, Taiwan, Tibet and the US

The BBC is heralding 2012 as a year of major change in China and it's not hard to see why.

China's leaders will be replaced later this year - which is no doubt driving a silent crackdown on dissent and an avoidance of any kind of controversial decision.  And with their economy already set for its worst quarter in years, the upcoming American presidential elections must also have them worried.  A Chinese-dominated market has been on the cards for over a decade, but it seems that even that behemoth can't avoid the minefield of the global recession.

And on top of that has been the bombshell about the "streamlining" of America's armed forces, pulling away from the hornets nest of the Middle East and shifting their focus to the Asian-Pacific region - which, experts generally seem to agree, means China.  On the one hand, Obama proclaim's their welcome of China's peaceful rise to economic power, but at the same time openly proclaims their military restructuring as a way of maintaining their global leadership and military superiority.

Now, why does this concern Taiwan, or indeed Tibet?

Well, Taiwan also has elections forthcoming, and the continued self-immolation by various Tibetan monks and nuns are of massive global concern.  The very nature of such acts of protests is guaranteed to bring the issue to the world stage.  First the act is reported, then condemned by the Dalai Lama, who is then blamed for insiting such protests by the Chinese government.  Every step on this path is a step towards full recognition of the problem.

And the problem is, that China is looking to be accorded the title "superpower" in terms of its economic strength and perhaps, ultimately, its military strength.  This is, no doubt, America's worry, and why they are pressuring China in terms of their military presence in South-East Asia, and a presumably state-engineered decline in demand for Chinese exports (something that is being mirrored in Europe).

With so much pressure, and so much spotlight on its human rights abuse record - in a year that may be more about saving money on military campaigns than truly about authentic concern for human rights welfare - China is in no position to upset anyone.  If there was ever a time that Taiwan might successfully push for global recognition, and Tibet might at last be free, it must surely be now.  China's proposition to extend national benefits to Tibetan monks back in November seems to support this idea, but with China, it's impossible to tell.

The tragicomic element of all this is that China's actions are only a very grey area - never mind dividing line - away from the actions of the US or the UK or any other significant globally powerful country.  But because its rise and spread threatens the security of America's position as THE global superpower, they too are coming under fire.  Still, if the end result is to be independence for Taiwan and Tibet, perhaps it is something to be tolerated, for now.

http://www.freetibet.org/

In other news, the emotion of Grief, has been linked to a higher risk of heart attack.

It seems one can die of a broken heart after all.