Commentary: On hypocricy of Pelosi's double standards
Updated: 2008-04-13 08:35
BEIJING -- If an opinion poll were to be carried out on the Internet in China to choose the most disgusting figure, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would probably be on top of the list, as she confused right with wrong on the issue of Tibet, held double standards to interfere in China's internal affairs, hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and impaired China-US relations.
The fact that Pelosi is detested by the Chinese people is closely connected with her recent move to clamor for "Tibet independence" and instigate "boycotting the Olympic Games".
From meeting with the Dalai Lama in India to calling on US President George W. Bush not to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, from making irresponsible remarks on the Olympic torch relay to proposing an anti-China resolution on Tibet passed Wednesday by the US House of Representatives, Pelosi has never hesitated to flagrantly interfere in China's internal affairs with double standards. However, her show was anything but wise.
As is known to all, the Lhasa riots were masterminded by the Dalai clique and organized by Tibet separatists in and outside China. The riots have been condemned by the Chinese people of all ethnic groups.
The Beijing Olympic Games is a grand festival for people all over the world, especially for the 1.3 billion Chinese who have been anticipating the games with keen enthusiasm and have made serious preparations for it. But Pelosi and other US congressmen spared no trouble to make harsh discords on the two issues, which seriously hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. How can such an irresponsible political figure not be detested by all the Chinese people?
What she has done is simply an irresponsible act and a move to interfere in China's internal affairs, but Pelosi ostentatiously showed herself off as "a moral authority". When she met with the Dalai Lama in March in India, she appealed to the international community to exert pressure on China on the issue of Tibet, lest the highest standard of morality be lost. But what she has done runs counter to what she has trumpeted as "morality".
Pelosi, a California Democrat, was elected to the House of Representatives in 1987. Four years after the election, massive ethnic clashes broke out in Los Angeles and some other cities in California. At that time, the Federal and state governments moved in 10,000 security forces from the National Guard, the army and the navy to restore order. Thousands of people were arrested. However, She turned a blind eye to the violence in a state where she came from, without moving any motion on the Los Angeles riots. Where was her "moral authority"?
Aleksandr Salitzky, an Economics and International Relations researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Vladimir Fisyukov, a commentator at the Voice of Russia radio station wrote in a recent article:
Pelosi was cynical while commenting on the situation in Tibet. The Chinese are fully justified to call her 'a protector of mobsters, arsonists and murderers. Why doesn't she give a thought to Iraq? The death toll of Iraqi civilians has risen to nearly 1 million as a result of the US invasion.
Pelosi has played double standards when it comes to the so-called "moral authority."
Missing no chances of exerting pressure on countries she dislikes, the house speaker has already lost her moral credibility. Beneath the double standards lies her stubborn anti-China sentiment and uneasiness about China's peaceful rise.
No one has given more incisive comments about Pelosi than Tom Pratt, a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy. He said Pelosi is habitually unforgiving and skeptical when it comes to China. With little good feelings towards the country, she is always uneasy about its peaceful rise.
He recalled a conversation with Pelosi several years ago when she said China was not entitled to free preferential treatment granted by the West because of China's many problems, its huge population and a miserable history.
"I was shocked by her remarks," Pratt added.
Pelosi has emerged as a leading critic of the Chinese government after being elected a member of the House of Representatives.
She has persistently voted against China on every single legislation concerning China.
She opposed granting the Most Favored Nation (MFN) status to China under the lame excuses of "China's poor human rights and democracy records".
She also repeatedly slammed the US government on issues concerning China such as human rights, trade, weapons sales and Tibet.
During a congress trip to China in 1991, Pelosi, along with two other congressmen, unfurled a "pro-democracy" banner in Tiananmen Square, staging a "deliberately planned" anti-China farce.
Pelosi's acts, as commented by Thailand's Asia Times, are "more compatible with the Cold War atmosphere in the 1950s, which, however, is incongruous with the complicated world of the 21st century."
What the house speaker has done will only strengthen the firm determination of the Chinese people to safeguard the social stability in Tibet, promote national solidarity and host a successful Beijing Olympics.
Pelosi would remain the least popular person for China if she stiff-neckedly clings to her double standards and an anti-China stance.
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