Akmal Shaikh

[SteveT]

Mockney piers wrote:- Four MPs have broke the law and are being charged and may well go to prison, I too hope so.

It's not nearly enough!

[mockney piers]

Hang them? Only four broke the law, many have had to pay money back, some have lost their jobs others have had demotions and the gravy train has been stopped.

I understand anger, I was pretty angry myself on reading all the revelatins but not sure what else should be done, remember, on the whole, rules weren't actually broken as unbelievable as it may seem.

[Huguenot]

It's worth bearing in mind that there is widespread resentment in China that Western Society receives huge benefits at the expense of the Chinese.

They believe (rightly or wrongly) amongst other things:

* We prevent them obtaining fuel (by invading the middle east and shutting the market)

* Violate their nationhood (by defending Taiwan, to which their tory party decamped and stole the national jewels)

* Threaten their integrity (putting forces in Korea and Aircraft Carriers in the South China Sea)

* Hide their terrorists (Uighur separatists masterminding riots in Urumqi)

* Threaten their social system (sending evangelical Christian political movements to set up underground networks)

* Diminsh their language and culture (generating an expectation that English is the international language, and setting up distribution networks for English language music and films)

* Restrict economic and living standards improvement (by requesting them to cut their emmissions when we take 5 times more per head)

That list excludes historical wrongs they've suffered.

Their history and heritage has enormous influence on their thinking, making historical wrongs seem like yesterday (just like the Balkans)

Given the history the UK has in delivering in delivering opium to China to enslave the population, you could understand how sensitive the Akmal Shaikh issue is.

If the criminal carrying 4kg of the stuff had then been given a bye on the usual penalties suffered by the Chinese population (because he's a Westerner) it's entirely predictable that it would have resulted in massive social unrest.

It's worth bearing in mind these points before seeking trivialise the court case as a political sham.

[EDOldie]

I knew I shouldn't have had a look at this thread, but here goes. Difference between China & the West? China is a one party state. The people who committed this dreadful crime, the execution that is, were all appointed, none elected. Whatever we think of our electoral system at least we have some sort of a say in our affairs. The Chinese people have none. We also have freedom of speech. The Chinese have no freedom at all. Any dissent is dealt with ruthlessly and no quarter is given. Tiananmen Square? And dare one mention Tibet? The Chinese govt have even tried to substitute their own 'Dali Lama'. The repression of the people endured during this current economic 'revolution' makes the Cultural Revolution look like a children?s tea party.

I am not anti Chinese by the way, I am anti dictatorship. Perhaps if the Chinese govt paid some more attention to human rights the world would be a far better place.

[Huguenot]

Good points all EDOldie, I'm not an apologist for Chinese political doctrine.

I'm observing that any debate about Akmal needs context, that's all.

There are misapprehensions about China, mainly the idea that you've suggested... "The repression of the people endured during this current economic 'revolution' makes the Cultural Revolution look like a children?s tea party."

That's weak.

The concepts the Chinese state espouses are not even out of place on this forum.

It takes only a short amount of time in China, mine was a mere 18 months, to recognise how close the Chinese system is to our own.

For 'bribery' read 'consultancy'.

For 'party' read 'Oxbridge'

For 'democracy' read 'party politics'

It's a weird old junket ;-)