Monday, July 14, 2008

Ron Paul and Tibet: is he right?

House and Senate Pass Resolutions on Chinese Crackdown of Tibet

On Wednesday, the House overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling on China to “end its crackdown on Tibet and release Tibetans imprisoned for “nonviolent” demonstrations.” The resolution passed on a vote of 413-1, with ”Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, who recently dropped out of the presidential race, was the lone congressman voting against it.”

(Reuters)

This entry is given prominence in Reuters' site (world news section), but is three months old, a point I didn't spot at first. Still, I think the underlying issues are enduring and (given the imminent start of the Games) topical.

The almost-complete unanimity of the vote seems rather suspicious, but although we are used to the army being out of step with Ron Paul in financial matters, is he right in this case? Some might think you cannot have a policy of "liberty in one country", any more than "socialism in one country."

Can't find much in Google News about it, but here's a bit of blog discussion, updated here.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps he was just voting against intruding into other countries' business, or against empty posturing about other countries' business. Perhaps he thought that Congress ought to pay attention to its own duties rather than put the world to rights.

James Higham said...

That's one to indeed think about and later blog on.

Sackerson said...

I look forward to reading your own piece/s.

RobW said...

Ron Paul is right. Interfering in other countries internal affairs is the first step to disaster.

Anonymous said...

If you are interested in Tibet issue, read the article below. It may help you understand the background.

Friendly Fuedalism - The Tibet Myth
http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html