My View on Congressman Wolf's Visit to Tibet
by Grain

Congressman Wolf visited Tibet in 1997. Much ado was made on the fact that Wolf went on the trip undercover, disguised as a regular tourist, and therefore was able to find the truth. As one Free Tibet supporter posted Wolf's report on the AOL Tibet Board, I wrote a rebuttal. Interestingly enough, the board, which was usually full of debate, became silent after my rebuttal. No one had another word to add.

Here is my rebuttal:

As I read the Wolf site, the words of Blue Gjian kept ringing in my head:
[Note: Blue Gjian was an AOL member who posted the following message on the Kosovo situation.]

"It is now long apparent that this country lost its best young men in Vietnam because 3 presidents and 3 administrations lied repeatedly to the American public. I bought a black wall of honor in the capitol inscribed with 58,000 names. It is also a testament to the lies and deceit that politicians will use for vanity and large companies for greed. Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon all lied, and I bought it all.
 
I was a "good," citizen supporting our troops. I supported them right into their undeserved graves. I bought the pontification of supposedly learned men who were paraded before the television cameras to tell the American public our men were dying for a righteous cause. I bought the words of journalists who, in league with these same politicians, to further their careers, echoed these same refrains. Old gray-haired men sang of wars of patriotism and justice, but grieving families discovered too late, to their unending sorrow, the words were hollow."

"How do we hold our politicians responsible for bad judgment? Do we try them in a court? Do we castigate and scorn them?"

It is very sad that politicians like Wolf is writing articles that sound like propaganda right out of an Tibetan sympathizer's mouth.

It is obvious that Wolf went to Tibet with his mind already set on the lack of understanding. In his report, he calls Tibet "a country", misleading his countrymen into a gross mistake. He slips blanket statements in his report on what happened in the Cultural revolution as if it only happened in Tibet.

Wolf went accompanied by, according to him, "a Western man fluent in Tibetan and steeped in its culture, history and religion". Now, who could this Western man be? Chances are he's pro-Tibet Independence.

Wolf wrote, "Before my trip I was told that individuals would seek me out as an obvious Western visitor to hear their story. I was also told this was very dangerous to them; that informers were everywhere and being caught talking to a westerner was a guaranteed ticket to prison and more."

Guess who is aware that the great Congressman is now going to Tibet undercover?

And Wolf said, "Frankly, I was skeptical that anyone would approach us. I was wrong. Someone took advantage of almost every opportunity for a guarded word or two."

Brilliant.

If America loses one single young man over statements by Wolf, it's only the stupidity of this country to fall for this kind of crap.

When push comes to shoves, I'm sure more Americans will be savvy like BlueGjian. We learned a lot from Vietnam.

[Note: A few months after my writing this rebuttal, news reports confirmed my suspicion. The Western man who accompanied Wolf turned out to Daja Meston, the son of American hippies who had grown up in a Tibetan monastery in Nepal, and married to a Tibetan woman in exile. Both Meston and his wife had been arrested at a raucous protest at Massachusetts Institute of Technology during Premier Zhu Rongi's visit there, and were charged with disorderly conduct. They had long been an active member of the Tibet Independence movement. I really do hope the Americans will read every piece of information with care, even when they come from our own Congress members. Nothing should be taken for granted.]


copyright reserved by the author