British and Westerners' "Shangri-la complex" stymies rational perception of Tibet

 Shangri-La, China

LHASA, Aug. 13 -- Since British novelist James Hilton introduced the fictional "Shangri-la" to Western readers eight decades ago, foreign minds have often perceived Tibet as a mystical but harmonious paradise.

 

China.org.cn ‏@chinaorgcn Aug 12  China opens Tibet forum with focus on development  http://on.china.cn/VercN1  pic.twitter.com/bun6R8K9tV

They believe the mythical Himalayan region, isolated from the outside world, has been a permanently happy land where most inhabitants are meditative lamas clad in crimson robes, holding prayer beads and chanting scriptures.

But scholars and journalists from China and abroad attending the ongoing forum on the development of Tibet said that Westerners' "Shangri-la complex" is hampering and limiting rational understanding of the autonomous region of China.

In many Chinese eyes, Tibet used to be a backcountry with an inhumane serf system. The highland craves for development and civilization as any other part of the world.

Hilton had never been to the Tibetan areas he wrote. When journalists, film directors and politicians in his time portrayed Tibet as a heavenly place, the region was under the feudal system -- a form of society the same cruel as, if not worse than, its European alternatives in the dark Middle Ages.

It was also a land where the average life expectancy for Tibetans was no older than 36 years and wives with extramarital affairs would have their noses and ears cut off for punishment.

"Despite the British invasion of Tibet in 1904, the West did not have the opportunity to understand Tibet," Alessandra Spalletta, China news editor of the Italian news agency AGI, spoke at the forum. "They started a mystification of Tibet while building the mythology of 'Shangri-la.'"

"Western people are fond of their own images of Tibet," she said, "rather than the real Tibet."

As some scholars pointed out, Tibet has become a "spiritual supermarket" for Westerners, who are trying to find what they have lost in their own societies in the process of industrialization and modernization.

Some believed that Tibet, as the "last pure land on the earth," should be immune from any development which they are afraid might lead to destruction of the traditional Tibetan culture and annihilation of Tibetan Buddhism.

"Those people believe that Tibet should remain in a primitive stage for ever and Tibetans should always ride yaks and live in tents," Cui Yuying, vice head of the State Council Information Office, spoke at the opening ceremony of the forum.

For the past half century, however, Tibet has been on an irreversible path of development and civilization, which complies with the general trend of the development of the human society, the senior official said.

With the "Shangri-la complex," many Western scholars have opted to study Tibet's history before the 20th century. Some even suggest the history of Tibet after 1951, when the region was peacefully liberated, is not worth studying at all. Some Western media have shunned the economic achievements Tibet has made over the recent decades.

The notion of Shangri-la, created by the Westerners, has been utilized by separatists for splitting Tibet from China.

"Romanticization (of Tibet) is a part of the Dalai Lama's campaign for separatism," said Narasimhan Ram, chair of Kasturi & Son Limited and publisher of the Indian newspaper Hindu.

He said that the Dalai Lama always talks about beauty and isolation of the old Tibet rather than its backwardness and extreme poverty, taking advantage of the "Shangri-la complex."

Matevz Raskovic, a board member of the Confucius Institute, the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, told Xinhua that some Western media's skewed depiction of Tibet that has reinforced the "Shangri-la complex" hinders and limits rational understanding of Tibet.

"When you look at Tibet the way some Westerners perceive it, it always goes to religious issues," he said. "It should be responsibility of journalists to expose other faces of Tibet, such as tourism opportunities and cohabitation of diverse cultures." - Xinhua

 Related:

International forum issues the ´Lhasa Consensus´

The 2014 Tibet Development Forum concluded on Wednesday in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Re...
 International forum issues the 'Lhasa Consensus' - CCTV News - CCTV.com English http://english.cntv.cn/2014/08/14/VIDE1407986050448705.shtml#.U-yqKnXS_FY.twitter

US government monitoring its oversea citizens by Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

Malaysia to ink pact in line with FATCA

KUALA LUMPUR: All local financial institutions will be required to declare their American customers to the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under a new agreement to catch its tax evaders who hide their money overseas.

Malaysia will be entering into an inter-governmental agreement with the US in line with the implementation of its Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca).

Inland Revenue Board (IRB) chief executive officer Tan Sri Dr Mohd Shukor Mahfar said Malaysia would fully enforce all the requirements of Fatca by September next year.

“Fatca is a very interesting move by the US to monitor its citizens who have income outside of the country. The rest of the world is required to abide by Fatca or the US government will impose a withholding tax of 30%.

“So, IRB, as the tax authority for Malaysia, along with Bank Negara, will be signing the agreement,” he said at the National Tax Conference 2014 here yesterday.

The tax is imposed by withholding earnings on the funds in the account of the US citizen and paid to its government.

Under the Act, all foreign financial institutions must declare the financial holdings of any US citizen or cough up a 30% withholding tax on their own.

The US imposes income tax on its citizens, regardless of which country they reside in.

Many countries, including Switzerland which was previously considered a haven for those who sought to keep money overseas in secrecy, have signed the agreement.

Other countries listed by the US Treasury website are Britain, Australia and France while Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and China are those which have consented to entering the agreement.

Earlier, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said the proposed amendment to Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia Act would be tabled at the Dewan Rakyat sitting in October.

Previously, a controversy had erupted when it was alleged that the amendments would transform the tax agency into a firm that invested taxes collected on behalf of the Government.

The Finance Ministry later denied this, adding that all direct taxes collected by the board would be channelled to the Federal Consolidated Fund.

By P. Aruna The Star/Asian News Network

IRS Notes:

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act

FATCA Current Alerts and Other News
The provisions commonly known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) became law in March 2010.
FATCA targets tax non-compliance by U.S. taxpayers with foreign accounts
FATCA focuses on reporting:
	By U.S. taxpayers about certain foreign financial accounts and offshore assets
	By foreign financial institutions about financial accounts held by U.S. taxpayers or foreign entities in which U.S. taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest
The objective of FATCA is the reporting of foreign financial assets; withholding is the cost of not reporting.

Individuals		Financial Institutions		Governments
U.S. individual taxpayers must report information about certain foreign financial accounts and offshore assets on Form 8938 and attach it to their income tax return, if the total asset value exceeds the appropriate reporting threshold. Form 8938 reporting is in addition to FBAR reporting. > Learn More ...		Foreign To avoid being withheld upon, a foreign financial institution may register with the IRS, obtain a Global Intermediary Identification Number (GIIN) and report certain information on U.S. accounts to the IRS. > Learn More... U.S. U.S. financial institutions and other U.S withholding agents must both withhold 30% on certain payments to foreign entities that do not document their FATCA status and report information about certain non-financial foreign entities. > Learn More...		If a jurisdiction enters into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) to implement FATCA, the reporting and other compliance burdens on the financial institutions in the jurisdiction may be simplified. Such financial institutions will not be subject to withholding under FATCA. > Learn More ...

Do not let USA stoke South China Sea disputes; Round one of Asia pivot ends with tie

FM: China, ASEAN able to safeguard S. China Sea´s peace, stability

Dismissing the so-called tense situation advertised by the US over the South China Sea, Chinese Fore...



Do not let US stoke disputes 

South China Sea issues and thoughtless moves of some countries should not hinder ASEAN's continued exchanges with Beijing

The annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held recently in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, with the disputes and situation in the South China Sea on the agenda.

This is not the first time that the ARF has touched upon the South China Sea disputes. In July 2010, at the ARF Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Hanoi, then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the disputes were concerned with the United States' national interests and solving them in line with international laws would be the key to regional stability. Her speech was considered to mark a new twist of US policy line vis-à-vis the South China Sea disputes.

The disputes have since then become a key part of the implementation of the US' "pivot to Asia" policy, as well as an increasingly thorny issue in China-US exchanges. Especially so since China operated an oil rig near the Xisha Islands in April, which many US observers believed was part of China's speeding up of its "salami slicing" strategy and called for a response to it.

Before the current ARF Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the US and its allies made multiple moves. In July, US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel advised a "freeze" on actions aggravating disputes in the South China Sea, namely that related parties stop occupying more islands or reefs and establishing outposts, avoid changing landforms and do not take unilateral actions against any other country. While on the surface this initiative might reasonably opt for peace, but in the eyes of Beijing at least, it would actually legalize certain nations' illegal occupying of islands and reefs in the South China Sea in past decades, as well as bestow on the US the status of "arbiter".

The Philippines echoed the US' initiative by claiming it would propose a three-step process to the ARF, namely suspending all actions, setting up a code of conduct among involved parties and solving disputes through international arbitration. Both initiatives seemed to gain support from several nations, and, as Washington and Manila expected, China would face the most coordinated pressure at the ARF.

The US is also trying to improve the binding effect and enforcement mechanism of international arbitration. For example, whether a nation accepts arbitration of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea can be taken as the prerequisite of participating in multinational military exercises or the Arctic Council. The US can also consider strengthening economic pressure on the involved Chinese SOEs like China National Offshore Oil Corp, which is reported to build floating liquefied natural gas carriers and explore underwater gas.

Meanwhile, the Philippines has been strengthening its maritime force. Since Benigno Aquino took office in 2010, the Philippine government has already invested 40 billion PHP ($910 million) on purchasing frigates, anti-submarine helicopters and long-range patrol aircraft, with a further plan to install advanced radar and a coastal warning system in the disputed sea area. Japan and Vietnam signed an agreement in early August, according to which Japan will give six ships to Vietnam to empower its maritime police. The Vietnamese government issued an order that all vessels of its Fishery Resources Supervision Department be equipped with weapons like pistols and machine guns as of Sept 15.

On July 11, Nguyen Phuoc Tuong, a former adviser to two Vietnamese prime ministers, said Vietnam must form an alliance with the US "to defeat the new Chinese expansionism" in an op-ed on The New York Times. Japan is preparing for the first Japan-ASEAN Defense Ministers' meeting in November, which many believe is to counterbalance China's emerging maritime power.

All the heated disputes about the South China Sea make the ARF Foreign Ministers' Meeting especially important. On Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China supports and advocates a "dual-track" approach to solving the South China Sea disputes, namely that disputes should be addressed by the concerned countries peacefully through friendly negotiations, while peace and stability in the South China Sea should be jointly maintained by China and ASEAN countries. That means China is willing to embrace a multilateralism spirit in pacifying the situation and willing to negotiate with the parties involved in the disputes in a rule-based manner, though it will not accept any new trouble caused by certain nations.

 

 ("Countries outside the region can express reasonable concerns, but we are opposed to 'bossy gestures'", Foreign Minister Wang Yi , adding: "China and ASEAN are totally able to safeguard well the peace and stability of South China Sea.")

To some extent, China and the US are competing over South China Sea issues and such competition is on proposing initiatives and rules that can attract more international support with a firmer legal and moral basis.

It should be noted, specifically, that China as a committed supporter of ASEAN and related mechanisms should clarify that it is not seeking to divide ASEAN. Over the years, China has hosted about one-third of the cooperation programs within the ARF framework; in 2015 it will co-host six programs together with ASEAN nations, which cover disaster-relief, maritime security, preventive diplomacy and cybersecurity.

These are good opportunities for ASEAN and China to improve their relations. Both sides need to prevent the maritime disputes from poisoning mutual relations. They cannot afford to be strategically misguided.

 By Zhao Minghao (China Daily)/Asia News Network

The author is a research fellow with the Charhar Institute and adjunct fellow with the Center for International and Strategic Studies, Peking University.

Round one of Asia pivot ends with tie 

The latest ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting wrapped up on Sunday with a joint statement, in which quite an emphasis was given to the South China Sea crisis. Washington has shown its approval for the result, and some US analysts believe US backing has inspired ASEAN countries to be more united in facing China. But there are also other voices claiming that the US was cold-shouldered in the meeting as China was not mentioned in the statement and Washington's call for a South China Sea "freeze" was also missing from discussions.

Perhaps a more convincing conclusion would be that China and the US reached a tie in this engagement in the South China Sea issue.

It was quite a surprise to China when the Obama administration pitched the "pivot to Asia" strategy in 2009. Washington has kept pushing so the dormant controversies in the East China Sea and South China Sea have become more explicit. Countries like Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam keep posing challenges to China's geopolitics.

But in these years, China's neighborhood has become more controllable, as some principles have become a consensus. For example, in the Diaoyu Islands dispute, both China and Japan have expressed their determination to avoid military confrontation, although squabbles and spats never cease about the East China Sea. In the South China Sea, China is taking more initiatives to check the recklessness of the Philippines and Vietnam.

The first wave of force sent by Washington's "rebalancing to Asia" strategy has died down. The US has achieved some of its goals effortlessly, but China has exerted some strength to deal with it. Both sides drew in the first round, as neither side can push their strategies without limitations.

Washington boasts military strength and the support of allies, but China's economic influence in this region gives it leverage to win over many friends. In this case, the US parry has been fended off by China's shield. If we must make these East and Southeast Asian countries pick sides between China and the US, the result would be unpredictable. This is because standing on neutral ground benefits them the most.

Washington will find it more difficult to inflict problems on China after the first round. It will face more resistance. If conflicts surrounding the South China Sea escalated, it would be an unfolding and resource-consuming disaster for both sides.

China has clear goals in its neighborhood policy, which is to safeguard its sovereignty and development environment. But as for the US, a rebalancing to Asia strategy to maintain its dominance in this area is not where its core interests lie. China is more determined than the US. Washington should become more level-headed and stop making calculations. There won't be a united front going against China in this area, and this truth also applies for China, as it is unable to drive off the presence of US as well.

- Source:Global Times Published: 2014-8-12 0:43:02  

Related: 

ASEAN FMs focus on Asian regional issues

Foreign Minister Wang Yi and top diplomats from Europe and Asia are in Myanmar to discuss regional s...

Studio interview: China is committed to resolving disputes peacefully

For more in-depth analysis, we´re joined in the studio by Mr. Zhang Junshe, Vice President of ...

Studio interview: China supports ´dual-track´ approach to resolve S. China Sea issue

For more insights, we´re joined in the studio by Su Xiaohui, Deputy Director of the Department... 

Why is the US going in hard in the South China Sea disputes?

The South China Sea is a critical strategic point.As the mid-term presidential elections in the US approach, Obama wants to show a hard-line attitude. 

US should stop trying to make waves

By confusing right and wrong and throwing its weight behind countries such as the Philippines, Washington's real intention is to contain China's rise in the region and expand its own interests here.

Philippines' plan destined to fail

The Philippines has developed a "three-step" solution plan for the South China Sea dispute with Chin[Read it]

Philippines’ three-pronged plan for South China Sea doomed to fail

Obama whining a result of US decline
Where those responsibilities lie is not decided by Washington. What the US desires does not equal the welfare of all humankind.