VZCZCXYZ0050
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSO #0138 0781233
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 181233Z MAR 08 ZDK
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8019
INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 9161
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 8652
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 3050

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000138 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD 
 
DEPT PASS USTR 
 
USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION:  SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: CHINA' REPRESSION 
IN TIBET; SAO PAULO 
 
 
"Cultural Genocide" 
 
Liberal, largest national circulation dail Folha de S. Paulo 
editorialized (3/18): "Despit its current high level of 
industrialization andeconomic growth, China continues to be a 
brutal ictatorship. Because Beijing totally controls information 
and has made Tibet a forbidden territory for journalists, it is hard 
to evaluate what is going on there.... Considering the history of 
Chinese authorities' behavior, one should take Chinese official 
statements with skepticism. Even so, according to available 
information, it seems that Beijing is avoiding bloodshed on the eve 
of the Olympic Games.... In addition to systematic human rights 
violations, Tibet's traditions have been disrespected, in a kind of 
'cultural genocide,' as the Dalai Lama has described it. The ideal 
would be to find an agreed solution, through which Tibetans could 
enjoy real autonomy.... To give political and cultural autonomy to 
Tibet would not be unprecedented for China, which coexists with a 
similar situation in Hong Kong. However, nothing indicates that 
Beijing will give up the use of force against the defenseless 
Tibetan population." 
White