By: Diana Thébaud Nicholson

Diana Thébaud Nicholson — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:05:53 +0000

(Stratfor) Chinese Geopolitics and the Significance of Tibet
Beijing’s Three Imperatives
Beijing has three geopolitical imperatives:
Maintain internal unity so that far powers can’t weaken the ability of the central government to defend China.
Maintain a strong coastal defense to prevent an incursion from the Pacific.
Secure China’s periphery by anchoring the country’s frontiers on impassable geographical features; in other words, hold its current borders.
In short, China’s strategy is to establish an island, defend its frontiers efficiently using its geographical isolation as a force multiplier, and, above all, maintain the power of the central government over the country, preventing regionalism and factionalism.
Note that Beijing’s first imperative is to maintain China’s internal coherence. China’s great danger is always a weakening of the central government and the development of regionalism. Beijing is far from losing control, but recently we have observed a set of interesting breakdowns. The inability to control events in Tibet is one. Significant shortages of diesel fuel is a second. Shortages of rice and other grains is a third. These are small things, but they are things that should not be happening in a country as well-heeled in terms of cash as China is, and as accustomed as it is to managing security threats.

By: David Mitchell OWN

David Mitchell OWN — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:36:31 +0000

Tibet: another perspective
Despite my comment Wednesday Night about not comprehending how people could devote so much thought and words to whether or not the Olympics’ opening should be boycotted, I found Jeannie’s contribution fascinating and worth pondering. Serendipitously I received an interesting and informative email today from a Canadian friend who lives in China and have received permission to share it with you and for you to post it to your web site, should you choose, with the proviso that the author receives credit. As you’ll see, it also provides an insider’s view of the complex situation but offers a rather different perspective [from Jeannie’s]. I now feel that I have a much better understanding of the situation and wish our journalists could grasp some of the subtle and less subtle underlying issues that they so blissfully ignore when distracting the public from more important topics (not to mention the “dishonestly cropped wire photos of Indian police beating demonstrators - with headlines placing the event in Tibet, where it did not actually happen”). David Mitchell OWN

Comments on: Wednesday Night #1362

By: Diana Thébaud Nicholson

By: David Mitchell OWN