Opinions

Economic sanctions can help topple unjust regimes. In South Africa, we have direct experience of this. This makes it all the more ironic when South African companies invest in countries whose human rights records leave much to be desired or that are occupied by invaders.

It was a September afternoon and I was freezing in the bus as it laboriously chugged up the mountain pass. The bus was old and rickety, the windows wouldn’t close and holes in the floor allowed me to see the road.

Donkeys are a common form of transport here.

All major traditions in the world agree that negative emotions cause both physical and mental suffering. To be happy and free of suffering we need to cultivate positive attributes like compassion, generosity and loving-kindness.

The issue was covered widely by the Indian media which also showed its solidarity with the six victims. But for the Tibetans it is a matter of joy since the man in question is the same man who once carried a thirty six page cover story filled with blatant lies and unethical reporting of his short visit to Tibet

It takes guts for foreign dignitaries on state visits to China to depart from their hosts' strictly choreographed script and raise the issue of human rights. When German President Johannes Rau paid a visit to China in mid-September, however, he did not bend to pressure.

The status of the Tibetans refugees in Nepal is a long standing issue that is often raised in Katmandu. Tibetans in Nepal are virtually stateless. The fact is that the Tibetans residing in Nepal have no legal status.

There have been several rounds of talk with the Chinese government authorities in order to solve the Tibetan issue. Yet, no results have emerged out of them. The main reason behind the failure of the talk

testing

In September 1995 I accompanied Australia's ambassador to China, Michael Lightowler, and Australia's minister for women, Carmen Lawrence, around a site near Beijing hosting women from around the world gathered for the United Nations World Conference on Women.