On Sunday His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand left the hospital to celebrate his 83rd birthday at the Grand Palace, the streets all along the way lined with his adoring subjects joyfully shouting “Long live the King!” The revered monarch addressed his people from the Amarindhara throne room thanking the people for their birthday wishes. He congratulated the people for all they had achieved in Thailand by working together and doing their duty. The King also warned against carelessness and imprudence and said, “As a result, I would like to ask all of you to be prudent and to keep your determination to perform your duty in line with your reasons for the sake of peace and security and sustainable happiness of our people”. Following some traditional Buddhist ceremonies the elderly monarch was returned to the hospital. The Mad Monarchist wishes the King of Thailand a happy birthday and many years of life for the “Lord of Life”. Also on the birthday front in the Far East, Tuesday HIH Crown Princess Masako of Japan turned 47-years-old. In an official statement she said daughter Princess Aiko was doing well in school (the Crown Princess has been accompanying her) after concern over stress-related problems she was having. Many in Japan are still highly concerned over the mental state of the Crown Princess, and even somewhat Princess Aiko as well. The Mad Monarchist wishes the Crown Princess a happy birthday and hope her and Princess Aiko come through their problems with peace and contentment.
In Europe HH Pope Benedict XVI dealt with some Far East problems this week as the government of Communist China forced Church leaders to attend a meeting in Beijing that saw the election of Ma Yinglin, not recognized as a bishop by the Holy See, as leader of the Chinese Catholic community. On Friday the Pope met with the President of Lithuania, discussing the Catholic presence in that country and the impact of social and economic problems on families and children. Also, on Thursday, the Vatican released documents showing that in 1988 Pope Benedict XVI (then Cardinal Ratzinger) urged for the adoption of swifter measures in dealing with degenerate priests but was blocked in his efforts by the Vatican bureaucracy which feared that his recommendations were too sweeping and could have endangered the rights of unjustly accused priests. Now, of course, harsher measures are being adopted to deal with the problem. Also this week the Bishop of Urgel, Co-Prince of Andorra, visited the Vatican and invited the Holy Father to visit his principality.
Across the Mediterranean in Spain the King and Queen were nowhere to be found. That is, of course, because King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were in Argentina attending the 20th Ibero-American Summit on the subject of “Education for Social Inclusion”. Representatives from across Latin America, Spain, Portugal and Andorra gathered for the meeting where King Juan Carlos paid tribute to former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner saying that he had been a friend to the King and to Spain and that he had, “a prominent place in the history of Argentina and the whole of Latin America”. The King and Queen will next travel to Brazil for a meeting with outgoing President Lula de Silva.
In northern Europe the Kings of Norway and Sweden were on hand with members of their families for the Nobel Prize ceremonies in Oslo and Stockholm. This time the Peace Prize went to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo who was unable to attend as he is currently imprisoned for criticizing the communist government. The Red Chinese regime denounced the award as an attack on their nation and political system, dismissed Liu Xiaobo as a common criminal and boycotted the ceremonies while calling on other nations to do the same. The Red Chinese government has, in the past, expressed similar sentiments when the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet was similarly honored. Several other sympathetic countries boycotted the ceremony but these were a small minority. Considering that the countries which did not and have long been involved in handing out the Nobel Prizes have friendly relations with China and close business ties with the communist regime I can, to some extent, understand the Chinese anger. If those involved with the Nobel Prize truly believed in their principles they would oppose Red China economically and diplomatically. To do otherwise while still honoring Chinese dissidents with such awards does seem like no more than a meaningless annoyance.
In Europe HH Pope Benedict XVI dealt with some Far East problems this week as the government of Communist China forced Church leaders to attend a meeting in Beijing that saw the election of Ma Yinglin, not recognized as a bishop by the Holy See, as leader of the Chinese Catholic community. On Friday the Pope met with the President of Lithuania, discussing the Catholic presence in that country and the impact of social and economic problems on families and children. Also, on Thursday, the Vatican released documents showing that in 1988 Pope Benedict XVI (then Cardinal Ratzinger) urged for the adoption of swifter measures in dealing with degenerate priests but was blocked in his efforts by the Vatican bureaucracy which feared that his recommendations were too sweeping and could have endangered the rights of unjustly accused priests. Now, of course, harsher measures are being adopted to deal with the problem. Also this week the Bishop of Urgel, Co-Prince of Andorra, visited the Vatican and invited the Holy Father to visit his principality.
Across the Mediterranean in Spain the King and Queen were nowhere to be found. That is, of course, because King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were in Argentina attending the 20th Ibero-American Summit on the subject of “Education for Social Inclusion”. Representatives from across Latin America, Spain, Portugal and Andorra gathered for the meeting where King Juan Carlos paid tribute to former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner saying that he had been a friend to the King and to Spain and that he had, “a prominent place in the history of Argentina and the whole of Latin America”. The King and Queen will next travel to Brazil for a meeting with outgoing President Lula de Silva.
In northern Europe the Kings of Norway and Sweden were on hand with members of their families for the Nobel Prize ceremonies in Oslo and Stockholm. This time the Peace Prize went to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo who was unable to attend as he is currently imprisoned for criticizing the communist government. The Red Chinese regime denounced the award as an attack on their nation and political system, dismissed Liu Xiaobo as a common criminal and boycotted the ceremonies while calling on other nations to do the same. The Red Chinese government has, in the past, expressed similar sentiments when the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet was similarly honored. Several other sympathetic countries boycotted the ceremony but these were a small minority. Considering that the countries which did not and have long been involved in handing out the Nobel Prizes have friendly relations with China and close business ties with the communist regime I can, to some extent, understand the Chinese anger. If those involved with the Nobel Prize truly believed in their principles they would oppose Red China economically and diplomatically. To do otherwise while still honoring Chinese dissidents with such awards does seem like no more than a meaningless annoyance.
Concerning the Nobel Prize...
ReplyDeleteI lost respect for the institution after President Obama got the 2009 Prize for not being President Bush, so we say.
I think that it was very unwise to deliberately provoke the PRC in this way, even if they really should let up on the oppression.
You can tell I'm getting sick of all this liberal democracy though, because I'm starting to sympathize with authoritarian China. I've always had a soft spot for authoritarianism, no matter its ideology (though obviously I would never support Communist China).
I lost respect for them when they gave it to an admitted terrorist some years back. As for China, I have no sympathy whatsoever for the current regime but my gripe with this is that the parties involved don't put their money where their mouth is. They don't risk ruining their business with China to actually support a change of regime there, they are perfectly willing to be buddies with the bandit government in Beijing if it is in their own interests and the *only* thing they will do is meaningless such as giving an award to a political prisoner. It does no one any good, it does no real harm to the PRC, it just annoys them. If would be 100% behind them if they openly opposed the PRC but to profit by relations with them while at the same time just giving the occasional minor annoyance strikes me as rather hypocritical.
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