Japan and Australia Deny Entry of Chinese Flame Protection Unit: Finally, Some Credibility to This Fiasco

Japan and Australia have announced that they will not allow the Beijing Olympic Games "Sacred" Flame Protection unit to participate in any security proceedings when the Olympic torch arrives in those two nations.

Finally, some common sense!

This Chinese paramilitary unit has established themselves as a gang of troublemakers; fights and scuffles with street protesters in London and in Paris firmly established the true nature of these Beijing Olympic Games.

Good riddance to the Flame Protection Unit.

Prediction: Taiwan Will Declare Independence From China During Beijing Olympic Games

I'm going to make a prediction here, because in a way it makes sense:

Taiwan will declare independence from the People's Republic of China just before the start of the Olympic Games in Beijing this August.

Just about every nation on earth will have Olympians at the Summer Olympics; and in the spirit of the games, 192 nations (every member state at the U.N.) have agreed unanimously to an Olympic truce through the United Nations. This truce is to be observed "individually and collectively." The Chinese Embassy to Jamaica even posted news of the truce on their web site.

But China has also said in the past that if Taiwan were to declare independence that it would attack Taiwan immediately and passed a law in 2005 that made war a mandatory requirement.

China has no more claim on Taiwan than it does on Tibet. But the Chinese are also bound to observe their own truce since they're hosting the games. Last week's riots in Tibet and the Chinese heavy-handiness in dealing with the situation were a major embarrassment to Beijing and highlighted the fact that they are still a violent police state, in spite of their claims to be a happy worker's paradise.

Taiwan is having important presidential and referendum elections on March 22nd. It's asking citizens if they should apply for membership in the United Nations as the Republic of Taiwan, and not the Republic of China. Both of the major presidential candidates have stressed the need for closer relationships with Beijing, but both have also said that Taiwan can govern itself without China's help.

There could be a lot of trouble going on by the time the Olympics roll around in August.

Nation Welcomes Dalai Lama to Washington: Religion-Banning Communist Heathens in Beijing Protest Visit

The White House and Congress welcomed the Dalai Lama to Washington and awarded him a Congressional Gold Medal, while the communist government in Beijing demanded that he not be awarded the medal, which is the highest civilian honor in this country.

China ought to get over it and engage the Dalai Lama in conversation, not try to control him.

And they can begin by returning the right of self-rule to Tibet and pulling it's troops out of there, immediately and forever.

And perhaps they ought to allow their own people to practice religion instead of suppressing it.

Get with the program, China.