By Michael Allen on February 23, 2010
Beijing’s aggressive response to the Dalai Lama’s meeting with President Obama was predictable, but it said more about the regime than it may have intended:
Much of the reason Tibet touches such a raw nerve in Beijing is that the unrest there goes to the heart of the Communist Party’s lack of democratic legitimacy. The more [read full story]
Posted in communist regimes | Tagged Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama’s meeting with President Obama, democratic legitimacy, lack of democratic legitimacy |
By Michael Allen on September 10, 2009
China’s communist authorities today protested the contributions of Dalai Lama and exiled Uyghur activist Rebiya Kadeer to a Prague conference on human rights and democracy in Asia.
“We have expressed our view that we are against the visit (of Kadeer) because its aim is to promote her separatist views,” a Chinese Embassy spokesman said.
The Dalai Lama [read full story]
Posted in Asia, Democracy assistance, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, promoting democracy | Tagged Dalai Lama, Democracy and Human Rights, democratization, Forum 2000 Foundation, Peace, Rebiya Kadeer, Vaclav Havel |
By Michael Allen on July 20, 2009
“Tibetans have the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere, Burmese have Aung San Suu Kyi, Darfurians have Mia Farrow and George Clooney,” notes human rights activist Suzanne Scholte. “North Koreans have no one like that.”
The torments of life in North Korea’s gulag are documented in this must-read article in The Washington Post:
Before guards shoot prisoners [read full story]
Posted in Asia, Closed societies, Democracy assistance, Human rights, Must Read, National Endowment for Democracy, corruption, dissidents, north korea | Tagged Aung San Suu Kyi, Broadcasting Board of Governors, Carl Gershman, Dalai Lama, George Clooney, Mia Farrow, National Endowment for Democracy, north korea, North Korean defectors, Pyongyang, Richard Gere, Rimjingang |
By Michael Allen on June 17, 2009
Democracy advocates are concerned at press reports that Taiwan’s Kuomintang government is planning to “purge” the country’s democracy promotion foundation of programs that could allegedly antagonize the mainland’s Communist authorities.
Reports suggest that President Ma Ying-jeou’s nationalist government plans to replace senior staff at the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. The political composition of the TFD’s leading [read full story]
Posted in Asia, China, Democracy assistance, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, democracy promotion, promoting democracy | Tagged Dalai Lama, democracy promotion, Democratic Progressive Party, Freedom House, Kuomintang, National Endowment for Democracy, President Ma Ying-jeou, promoting democracy, promoting human rights and democracy, Taiwan, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, Tiananmen Square Massacre, U.S.-Taiwan relations |
By Michael Allen on March 24, 2009
A conference of Nobel peace laureates has been postponed after South Africa refused to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader. The event was supposed to promote the 2010 soccer World Cup and highlight sport’s potential to unite diverse races and nations.
A government spokesman said the Tibetan leader’s presence “would not [read full story]
Posted in Africa, China, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, Soft power, Zimbabwe | Tagged Africa, china, Dalai Lama, Human rights, NGOs/Civil society, Soft power, visa, Zimbabwe |
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