I have to add, though, that I think the position of some Western leaders IS hypocritical, because they are responsible for human rights abuses and global warming as well. I’d also like to suggest that one reason they can get away with the hypocrisy more easily is simple racism. The ‘yellow peril’ label alluded to early in the piece was a shameful characterization of China in the 19th and early 20th Century, but the racism behind it hasn’t disappeared.

However, my main point is that the whole idea of “we” and “you” is wrong. The situation in Tibet and the other human rights issues are not the Chinese people’s fault. People are not morally responsible for everything their country does–for things that their government does, or even for things that a large number of their compatriots do. They’re only responsible for what they themselves do. Therefore Chinese people should not feel personally attacked when someone speaks about Tibet, unless they themselves support the official Chinese policy there, and similarly–I disagree with Stephanie here–Americans or other Westerners do not as individuals lose the right to have an opinion about China just because our own countries are far from perfect. (In fact, the people who are concerned about Tibet might well be the same ones who are concerned about Iraq and America’s role there.) Talking about hypocrisy in these cases seems to assume collective guilt, which is not a concept with a particularly pretty track record. If I suggest Chinese people shouldn’t drive cars while I drive everywhere, that’s hypocrisy; if I say China should move toward a more democratic government and should change its repressive policy toward Tibet, it’s not, I think, even if my own government does things that I also disagree with.

To see the dangers of this “you have no right to criticize” argument, look at Mugabe: he eliminated any semblance of freedom of press or assembly, gave the land taken from white farmers to his own cronies, did nothing to help the poor but caused a previously prosperous economy to collapse, creating famine and massive migration to neighboring countries, and then started murdering political opponents and destroying the houses of people who voted against him to displace them. If anyone from a Western country, indeed any white person, pointed any of this out, he screamed about the old colonial powers and how they had no right to criticize anyone. If any of his African neighbors criticized him, he claimed they were beholden to the old colonial powers. Surely these are not valid moral arguments.

As long as so many are dependent on China (and we are), I’m afraid you can’t win with us, but I think that’s where much of the problem is, too.