Chinese Version of "Dialogue"

People in China know that the West is protesting their country's human rights abuses, but they feel Western people just don't get it. They feel Western people are being unreasonable.

A student of mine, a young Chinese woman, hearing the recent news (at least the Chinese version of it) asks me about Tibet. She asks me why Westerners have such a problem with Tibet. She tells me that until a few weeks ago, she had no idea that there was any problem in Tibet at all. To her, and most Chinese people, Tibet is just another province, the Tibetan people are just another minority.

I am happy to give her an "alternative view." I explain that Tibetans in the West tell of their culture being wiped out, their religion being restricted, their temples, their holy places, their books destroyed. Communism doesn't really value religion, does it?

But my friend believes that there are always two sides to every story. People in the West have their story. We in China have our story.

I don't say anything to my friend (I try not to talk about politics when I teach English), but I think to myself, "There are always two sides to every story. Does your government allow you to have access to both sides so you can make up your own mind?" The answer, of course, is no.

I'm hanging out with an American friend who likes to watch the government-run English channel on TV (CCTV). I've never seen it. My friend says she likes like channel, as it has helped her understand a lot about Chinese culture. Today, they have a program called "Dialogue."

The host of the show says we're going to talk about Tibet today, and to his right are three Tibetan scholars. Before beginning his "dialogue" with the scholars, they show a short historical summary of the plight of the Tibetan people before and after the revolution. In sum, a few wealthy Tibetans enslaved the majority of poor Tibetans, that is until Mao's men came onto the scene and made things right.

After the historical short, the host begins discussing the plight of the Tibetan peasants, emphasizing how they had been exploited. The three Tibetan scholars all confirm what we just saw in the short historical film.

I have a hunch that not only is the host on the government payroll, but our three Tibetan professors also get extra cartons of cigarettes in their mail several times a month, courtesy of party-central.

I wonder, if Chinese people saw this show, would they look at me with pride and say, "You see, China has only helped the Tibetan people!"

And then I would ask them, "Is this show the Chinese version of a dialogue?"