Quote:
Originally Posted by smallpox
There's no justification outside referendums. Historical possession (more like a default tributary vassal accorded by the British during the Qing Dynasty) mean nothing. Germany used to own Shandong, we should give it back to them, without just cause, just because of what happened in history 
This relies on a giant nationalist contingency. |
First off, elections are held in district levels upwards. There is more than one party although the Chinese Communist Party is dominant. Democratization process in the west took thousands of years. We know that the economic, social and cultural conditions differ from country to country. Many less developed countries collapsed because they could not cope with simultaneous economic, social and political "modernization" following the western model. Gorbachev's Glasnost failed and USSR disintegrated because it was not ready. You need to get the economy right, feed the people before, provide employment, educate them, one step at a time. Rome is not built in a day. Patience. Many countries are impressed and looking at China as the model for development, not "democracy". Note that USA supports many autocratic regimes such as the Saudis and Saddam Hussein before they fell out, and they are not democratic.
German did not own Shandong! China was carved like a watermelon by a conspiracy of western powers. Don't even bring this up as my Chinese friends will be infuriated by this part of history. By the same token the Nazis did not own Europe. However, China has historically governed and had sovereignty over Tibet for a thousand years, and never once did Tibet claimed indepedence even though there were civil wars and skirmishes. The British must not have forgotten that they signed an agreement in 1906 that recognised China's suzerainty over Tibet.
oneworldtalk :: View topic - British and Americans have their share of massacres
If Free Tibet has a claim to independence, then Canadian and American natives, Scots, Irish, and many others could do the same.