Candis Little/Intellectuals in China Condemn Crackdown/04/25/08/12:30a.m./ethnic conflict

Because of the consistent ethnicity controversy over the setting of this year’s Olympics, is causing continuous violence between the ethnic groups. A group of prominent Chinese intellectuals has circulated a petition urging the government to stop what it calls a “one sided” propaganda campaign about Tibet and initiate direct dialogue with the Dalai Lama.Their petition accused the government of “fanning racial hatred” in China by blaming ethnic Tibetans for the violence and seeking to inflame passions among the Han to support the crackdown.
The petition, which was signed by more than two dozen writers, journalists and scholars, contains 12 recommendations. Taken together, they represent a sharp break from the government’s response to the wave of demonstrations that swept Tibetan areas of the country in recent weeks. The Chinese government has sought to convey a sense of strong domestic and international support for putting down what is depicted here as a civil disturbance by lawless people being instigated by the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
My question is is why is this problem still in existence? Someone needs to make a decision and move on to another conflict. Week after week something is always new dealing with this topic. But their answer is, “In order to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future, the government must abide by the freedom of religious belief and the freedom of speech explicitly enshrined in the Chinese Constitution, thereby allowing the Tibetan people to fully express their grievances and hopes and permitting citizens of all nationalities to freely criticize and make suggestions regarding the government’s nationality policies.”