| Pro-independence protests marking the 49th | | | | of rail service in several southern provinces impacted |
| anniversary of the March 10, 1959 revolt against | | | | millions with hundreds of thousands stranded in |
| Chinese rule have spilled over from Tibet into Tibetan | | | | railway stations for days as cities were racked by |
| communities in three neighboring provinces this | | | | recurring electrical brownouts and sporadic blackouts. |
| weekend, even as Chinese authorities embarked on a | | | | Trying to prevent the troubled province from |
| harsh security crackdown in the wake of week long | | | | sparking wider political unrest and upheaval, Chinese |
| anti-Chinese violence. Reminiscent of events this past | | | | authorities find themselves walking a fine line in Tibet. |
| fall in Myanmar, the protests were initially sparked | | | | Though the natural tendency is to respond in |
| and led by Buddhist monks. Fearful that events might | | | | overwhelming and oppressive fashion, Beijing fears a |
| quickly spiral out of control, Chinese authorities have | | | | potential international backlash that would tarnish |
| resorted to deploying plainclothes security agents | | | | China's debutant introduction at the upcoming |
| dressed as monks in order to infiltrate and cut short | | | | Summer Games. Both cases directly call into question |
| any potential protests. Suspected participants in the | | | | the foundations of the Communist Party's legitimacy, |
| protests have been trucked handcuffed through the | | | | the maintenance of public security and services as |
| streets of the capital, Lhasa, as loudspeakers order | | | | well as its ability to provide uninterrupted economic |
| anyone involved in the recent violence to surrender | | | | growth. |
| to authorities immediately or face severe punishment | | | | Having cast their lot with the authoritarian Communist |
| should they not comply. In response, the Dalai Lama, | | | | government, the International Olympic Committee |
| the spiritual leader of Tibet in exile in India since the | | | | has attacked the idea of a boycott of the Beijing |
| 1959 uprising, has condemned the crackdown and the | | | | games as "penalizing innocent athletes" even as it |
| Chinese government's policy of encouraging ethnic | | | | issued a statement calling for "peaceful resolution to |
| Chinese migration into the controversial Himalayan | | | | the tensions..." in Tibet. This comes after the recent |
| heartland as "cultural genocide". All of this plays out | | | | resignation of Steven Spielberg as a creative advisor |
| against the backdrop of the imminent Summer | | | | to the opening and closing ceremonies of the games |
| Olympic Games in Beijing and highlights the duality of | | | | over China's continuing involvement in Sudan and its |
| the Rat's personality in the Chinese zodiac. | | | | stonewalling on the crisis in the African state's Darfur |
| Given the propensity for the Rat to bring chaos, | | | | region. Clearly human rights activists plan to seize the |
| conflict and even death, one wonders why the | | | | spotlight of the Games to highlight China's |
| Chinese would choose to host the Olympics during | | | | humanitarian and political record both domestically and |
| such a potentially volatile and tumultuous year. The | | | | abroad. |
| answer lies in the Rat's resourceful nature and the | | | | Given the increased media exposure, a growing |
| prosperity that often accompanies it. At the heart of | | | | awareness of it's domestic and foreign policies and |
| the Rat's nature is change. It is adaptive and | | | | the need to maintain domestic political stability, the |
| steadfast in its labors. As we all know, change is a | | | | question is what will be the ultimate impact on China's |
| two-sided coin and the Rat is one given to extremes. | | | | international image and the success of the Beijing |
| Accordingly, while there is potentially great gains and | | | | games? Will action in Tibet tarnish the luster and |
| profits to be made during the year of the Rat, there | | | | draw of the upcoming games, resulting in smaller |
| is also the potential for great calamity and chaos. In | | | | crowds, diminished ticket sales and low television |
| light of the ongoing troubles in Tibet and the series | | | | ratings? Or will the throngs of international tourists be |
| of crippling blizzards that brought large parts of the | | | | spectators to baton-wielding riot police in addition to |
| country to a frozen standstill over the recent lunar | | | | medal-pursuing athletes? Are the games destined to |
| New Year, it appears as if the negative aspects of | | | | join the infamous 1936 Berlin Olympiad as nothing |
| the Rat's personality rule the day. | | | | more than a glossy commercial and gaudy window |
| While officials in Beijing feared potential conflict with | | | | dressing for an otherwise insular and oppressive |
| Taiwan casting a pall over this year's Olympics, it has | | | | regime? As the clock winds down to the opening of |
| been matters on the mainland that have created | | | | the games, Beijing anxiously hopes the benevolent |
| nightmares for the image-obsessed Chinese | | | | side of the Rat's personality will be in attendance as |
| government. As the Rat swept in on the tail of a | | | | the "new" China makes its debut on the world stage. |
| series of blizzards, coal shortages and the suspension | | | | |