No Monolithic View of Darfur and Tibet

Ever since the BooYahoo discussion days (Jeely Kly?) - heck, ever since 1949 - the People's Republic of China has been defined as evil. Everyone from the Constitution Party to Sharon Cobb has condemned Chinese actions in Tibet and Darfur. The news that China has overtaken the United States as the world's biggest polluter adds more...um...fuel to the anti-China attitude.

But, as was seen during the San Francisco Olympic torch run, there are people who support China. Michael Arrington of TechCrunch noted that the Chinese people themselves are supporting their country:

A virus is spreading through Chinese Internet users - they are adding a “Love China” icon to their MSN chat names by the thousands to show support for their country. [more]

Meanwhile, True Discernment linked to a WorldNetDaily article that talked about another supporter of the People's Republic of China.

On his "700 Club" TV show recently, [Pat] Robertson said: "I'm just appalled at this. This isn't the time to make some political statement. … The Olympics [go] all the way back to Greece. For these protesters to take this opportunity to slam China is just wrong."

WorldNetDaily thought it had an explanation for Robertson's unexpected support.

Robertson, who has several potentially lucrative business interests in China, says changes there during the past 20 years "are nothing short of fantastic. … It's just been astounding what's happening – the opening of China, the market economy that's taking place. The way to deal with China is to continue to encourage them to enter into the free market of the world." [more]

Robertson's friendliness with China dates back to at least 1998:

America's "religious right" has long been home to the harshest critics of China -- until Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition, visited China late this summer [of 1998] and met with Premier Zhu Rongji in Beijing. The visit and the "summit" may do more to improve U.S.-China ties than President Clinton's earlier trip....

Roberston himself first went to China in 1979. He called the change in China between then and now "breathtaking." [more]

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