Dear Scott
I respect your value. Basically, all the civilizations share the core of it. You can find the respective doxies either in the Christianism, Islamism or Buddhism, etc.. But it's as too arrogant as stupid to think that only you westerners are Enlightened, China and other places are plunging in the dark age, where the folks are stretching their hands for your Enlightening. Also, I don’t believe in the Selected. I believe that all the human lives should be treasured, no matter is it as American, Brit or Iraqis; the lives either of Tibetan’s or Han’s should be protected. You read Xinhua, you must know that we Han’s are only allowed to have one child, the Tibetans are free and prolificacy.
A western reader here told me that democracy is a tool, but not the end. I very appreciate this. Democracy should not always be pushed by sanctions, boycotts and wars which only can bring hatred, poverty and death. It’s ridiculous that you ask China more open but so hastily lock the door.

chen, beijing, china

Ordinary westerners always have a sense that they are holding a sort of moral high ground, which justifies they pointing fingers to others, especially to China. I've not seen the CNN talking about what ordinary lives were like before the takeover of Tibet by the PRC, not even once. Why they don't tell people the truth about Tibet under control of Dalai Lama's theocratic feudalism and how brutal and atrocious it was? Why don't they do some research on the demographic fact that showing there were only 1.2 million people living in Tibet back in the 1950s. If the Dalai Lama really is a peace lover, he should tell his people, the former surfs living in Tibet what he's done to them before 1950 was wrong and inhumane. Disappointingly he hasn't denounced his brutal dark Theocracy for once. I would like to know the opinions of editors and anchors of CNN about this in particular.

Peng Yan, Jinan, China

Scott, Durham, NC, USA

You are right when you said that 'every single human has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' but when you say that " a very Western approach to life founded in the Enlightenment (umm Buddhist word) but applicable to all the World's people" there is a difference. What is applicable to the West may not be readily acceptable and applicable to other countries. The West must accept that its approach to life cannot be forced on others.
West is saying that China is oppressive, brutal and lacks human rights. Even if so, the way you Westerns try to address these matter is very wrong. China does not need your interference nor does she appreciates it.
China changes by itself the way it deems fit. Today China is on the rise. Its people live & travels freely. In fact the change is frighteningly fast. Because it is now so opened, people with ill intention easily have access to the country to incite trouble. Am I right?
A coin has two sides.

Lim, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Scott, Durham, NC, USA

You are absolutely right when you said that one should read as wide as possible. I also assume you know the Chinese language because you referred to Xinhua. Biasness in news reporting must be seen from two angles and the degree of biasness e.g. some Western media recent reports on the Tibetan unrest. Not only are headings and words in articles biased, pictures too do not show the actual truth. You must now be aware that the Chinese side has shown how the these media used events in Nepal and said that they happened in Tibet. This itself is sinister.

I have viewed the video you mentioned in your earlier comment. Sorry to say it is not convincing at all. The human figures were too distant and small and cannot be truly made out Who could really say that the fallen figure was that of a nun. Some scene grainy some sharp. The kids did not appeared frighten among soldiers. Can accounts by ICT be biased too? Did not bother to read further.

Lim, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Dear Chen, Beijing:

Actually, I believe that the media in the West, like other media, is absolutely and incredibly biased. Especially CNN!! That's why I try to keep up with news feeds from all around the world. Whether it's news published in The Times, or the NY Times, The Wall Street Journal, Le Monde in France, or Xinhua in China, news from Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Russia, even IRNA from Iran, not to mention Al Jazeera, the more sources one reads, the more one is able form a more complete picture. An incredible amount of foreign news is available to anyone who cares to look for it.

Of course anyone who believes that their national media is a source of absolute truth is an idiot - Chinese, Brits and Americans alike.

Am I completely free of my own biases? Absolutely not! I entirely believe that every single human has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - a very Western approach to life founded in the Enlightenment but applicable to all the World's people.

Scott, Durham, NC, USA

There are 6mil Tibetans live in China with average lifespan 67. Most are eager to see olympics and consider themselves to be Chinese. Certainly Tibetan exile don't mention this that back under DL's rule, there were only 2 mil with average lifespan of 35 years old.

The incidence's unfortunate, but individual.
she was going to cross border illegaly with a group of kids with 6-8 years. She also refuse to stop after warning. It's possible the police was afraid cause he thought once they leave Chinese territory, it's impossible for him to find the children again.

lilly, Peking,

Dear Scott in Durham, NC, USA

A sensible discussion. I totally agree with you that Chinese Government should not block the internet, even though I can read the Times, New York Times, Sankei Shinbun (a Japanese righty paper) and so on like a lot of guys here. On the other hand, though you can freely access to anywhere you don’t, do you? You are channeled by your preconception and tend to think that yours is the ultimate value, your media the absolute truth. Do you know that CNN cut a photo of the riot published by Xinhua and showed a half to you to manifest the mercilessness of Chinese Gvmt. Don’t you think it is a shame for media? Do you think that from a media like this you can get the real picture of the riot?

chen , beijing, china

Times, let me say, please.

chen , beijing, china

"sounds more like a stray bullet, fired of as a warning."

Not a chance in hell in my opinion. Watch the video, read the account, read the witness interview. As one witness stated in the video, "They are shooting them like dogs."

Scott, Durham, NC, USA

sounds more like a stray bullet, fired of as a warning.

David, Weymouth, Dorset

Dear Chen, Beijing:

Yes, we are sorry that your government finds it necessary to block the Internet so that access to information is often so limited. In the U.S. we block access only when necessary to keep our children from viewing pornography, otherwise we believe that all adults should be able to decide for themselves what to read or view online. Most adults can handle this without problems.

You make a good point about the shooting of the Brazilian in the UK. Yes, the officers who killed him will indeed be held liable civilly and possible criminally for their actions. I would be the first to admit that and call for their public prosecution.

However, there is a large difference between the shooting of the Brazilian who those officers thought, mistakenly, was a terrorist about to explode a bomb based on their earlier active surveillance, and the Chinese police who intentionally shot and killed an unarmed defenseless nun from hundreds of meters away who posed absolutely no threat.

Scott, Durham, NC, USA

Dear Scott in Durham, NC, USA

I tried to access the site and failed. Yet I'd rather believe there is possibility. So large a country as China, there likely be an unarmed person shotted here and there, either in Tibet or anywhere else. The kind of things even occured in so developed country as, say last year in Great Britain, an unarmed Brazilian were shotted. Only that I'm sorry to point out your logic's false: the Romanian site is not the balance, it
is used to reinforce the bias. Even were it true, it can not prove your media's stance in the reporting of the riot. I don't care whether China hold the Olympics or not, but much more Chinese( and you fellows too, in some meaning) appreciate it. It's not a good thing to humiliate so many people by suggesting the Nazis only for an very restrainted reaction.

chen, beijing, china

ebrahim khodadoost, Ardebil, Iran

because the tibetans are a minority chinese and due to this their apperance is different from Han (the majority) chinese the appearances are only slight but after being in chian for a few years it is obvious who is and who is not Han chinese

David Wichester, Beijing, China

Dear Scott in Durham, NC, USA

I tried to access the site and failed. Yet I'd rather believe there is possibility. So large a country as China, there likely be an unarmed person shotted here and there, either in Tibet or anywhere else. The kind of things even occured in so developed country as, say last year in Great Britain, an unarmed Brazilian were shotted. Only that I'm sorry to point out your logic's false: the Romanian site is not the balance, it
is used to reinforce the bias. Even were it true, it can not prove your media's stance in the reporting of the riot. I don't care whether China hold the Olympics or not, but much more Chinese( and you fellows too, in some meaning) appreciate it. It's not a good thing to humiliate so many people by suggesting the Nazis only for an very restrainted reaction.

chen, beijing, china

Funny how the British media was bizzarely devoid of any reports of protests against the awarding of the Olympics to London 2012, on the basis that the UK does not deserve it due to Iraq and Afghanistan.

I guess its one moral compass for us and another for them, eh?

Pete, Cov,

Funnily enough, the Western media claims that the "world's media" is covering the Tibetan riots. Not quite, it is just the Western media that represents around 5% of the world's population. Oh, and 95% of past colonizers too.

John, New York, US

Look at the title "Smiling Tibetans greet Olympic flame in lockdown Beijing". How do you know the smiling ones were really Tibetans and not the Chinese clothed like the unlucky Tibetans, as is the norm in many dictatorships, where they bus the paid and and two faced and the ignorant to their rallies? Unfortunately we are mostly victims to what tv cameras show and papers write.

ebrahim khodadoost, Ardebil, Iran

Chinese media and Western media, no one is innocent and pure like an angel, It is funny to see western media declaim their chinese colleagues, maybe they need a mirror to look at themself inside first.

Romeman, Lhasa, China

I have lived in China and in Tibet, travelling back and forth for nearly 10 years. Most of what Chinese media says is a lie. A lot of what Western media says is also biased. I think Tibetans are treated very poorly and they know that very well.

Steve, Hong Kong, China

As a Chinese person I am deeply embarrassed by the behaviour of the Chinese Government with respect the Tibet as well as human rights and corruption. However, I don't believe that some of the immoderate language being used will help Tibet. This will simply play into the hands of hard-liners and agents of the Chinese government (who are posting in large numbers) who want to reduce this debate to name-calling and slogans to avoid discussing the issues in a rational way.

Neville, Melbourne, Australia

If you believe the mainstream Western media is too biased, then take a look at Romanian media for balance.

Take a look at what the Chinese government did in Tibet only eighteen months ago when it thought the world wasn't watching - the unprovoked shooting of unarmed religious pilgrims in the Himalayas, an unarmed Tibetan nun shot and killed from hundreds of meters away by Chinese police, the death then lied about in People's Daily and Xinhua as caused by "altitude sickness." One should avail oneself of the truth before blindly defending the indefensible.

Video: http://tinyurl.com/2upsuc

Account: http://tinyurl.com/23auku

Eyewitness: http://tinyurl.com/3c7owh

These cold-blooded killings occurred in the Nangpa Pass near Cho Oyu. Perhaps, in the future, China will be a country which deserves to host the Olympics. But a country whose government countenances, actually approves of, the killing of unarmed minorities within its own territories in this modern age, isn't quite there yet.

Scott, Durham, NC, USA

we think that it is a problem of beliefs, they could solve it if they split the political problems from Olympic games.It is a typical problem of most countries: they mix politics with everything.

roberto, zaragoza, ESPAÑA

Frank from Halifax, you are talking nonsense. It is not just the Tibetian people that people in the West have sympathy for but many others as well. Look at the response of Nato to the Serbs attempts at ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, look at the aid missions to Sudan, look at the British intervention in Sierra Leone or the French intervention in Ivory Coast or look at the huge sums of money that the EU has spent in Palestine. Europe tries more often than not to bring hope and peace to other countries that have none.
The real problem here is that alot of Chinese people seem convinced that we in the West are attacking them when that is not the case at all. In fact if you did any research at all you would know that the majority of westerners are most concerned about the lack of respect for basic human rights for all Chinese people, not solely Tibetians. It has been the success of the Communist party to make any attack on them appear to be an attack on China.

Tim, London,

By using Beijing Olympic to advance Tibetan cause will only hurt the Tietan cause itself. At this point, sure the Tibetans and their supporters can gain all the attention they want, what happen then after the Beijing Olympic end? China is not nation that will likely to forget, they will surely retaliate then. Furthermore, Beijing Olympic is wholeheartedly supported by 1.3 billion plus overseas Chinese, these are the people Tibetan and their supporters up against not the Chinese Govt.

Hanjaya, Singapore, Singapore

Actually , it is the last biased comment drives me to write this piece. China is so special that we can not simply apply western, which is considered as morden, persipecitives to illustruted what has happened to it. I am not trying to convince you that China is innocent, but please at least be objective.
Thank you,

Judy, Hong Kong, China

come here, belive in your own mind.
not what U see or hear from others"
i belive you will change your mind.
China is not like that what you think.
i am confident!

jovian, Beijing, China

Boycott London over the iraq war!! The protesters didnt have the guts to even go to beijing. Just make noise in little sattelits around the world. Why? were they afraid that theyde get stage fright when shouting at the millions of people in Beijing?

David, Weymouth, Dorset

This will happen to China whether the olympics is held in Beijing or not. 20 years ago and ever since then there were Tibet sympathisers in the West and they are all white and of the European races. No other country or people ever get the sympathy of these do gooding white people, not the Aborigines, not the Maoris, not the Palestinians, no the Chechens, not the Sioux, not the Mohawks, not the Innus, not the Cheyennes. Just the Tibetans.

Frank, Halifax, UK

I wonder how many more people will have to be killed, unjustly treated and have their human rights violated by the chinese government, before the international community dares to speak out?

Makes you wonder if the free world actually cares about sudan, burma and tibet or human beings in general

zaw aung, london, uk