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Independence Movements
- Taiwan's opposition leader rejects independence. (2005, April 29). ABC Premium News.
Taiwan's opposition leader and China's President have finished an historic meeting in Beijing, rejecting independence for Taiwan. - BBC - Taiwan FlashpointWhile Taiwan was ruled by Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (KMT) party, independence was not really an issue because the KMT's aim was to take back control of all China. But in the 1980s, as Taiwan introduced democracy, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to prominence, with a clearly-stated goal of independence for the island.
- Taipei Times - Support for Taiwanese Independence, Identity: Think Tank PollA poll conducted by the Taiwan Braintrust shows that nearly 90 percent of the population would identify themselves as “Taiwanese” rather than “Chinese” if they were to choose between the two — and the percentage is even higher among those aged from 20 to 40.
- Taiwan. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://school.eb.com.au.db.plcscotch.wa.edu.au/levels/middle/article/277248After its final retreat from the mainland of China during the last months of 1949, the government of the Republic of China, also known as Nationalist China, went into exile on the island of Taiwan.
- Ross, R. S. (2006). Taiwan's fading independence movement. Foreign Affairs, 85(2), 141-148.This article discusses the effects of various political developments on the independence movement in Taiwan. Although the independence movement enjoyed a high profile internationally, it never won widespread domestic support. With electoral defeats of president Chen Shui-bian and his Democratic Progressive Party, and advocates of mainland cooperation gaining popularity, the independence movement has been effectively ended in Taiwan.
- The Diplomat - Xi Urges Vigilance Against Taiwan Independence (2015)In a discussion with members of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the peaceful development of cross-strait relations – and for “high vigilance” against Taiwan independence.
- Lieberthal, K. (2005). Preventing a war over Taiwan. Foreign Affairs, 84(2), 53-63.
Examines the potential for military conflict between China and Taiwan. View that the U.S. should intervene to prevent war between the two nations; View that China's military policy may provoke a conflict with Taiwan; Description of the conflict between China and Taiwan related to the Taiwan Strait; Influence of the U.S. on relations between China and Taiwan; Recommendations for Chinese policies toward Taiwan's independence. - Swaine, M. D. (2004). Trouble in Taiwan. Foreign Affairs, 83(2), 39-49.This article focuses on the conflict between the U.S. and China concerning Taiwanese independence. China very much wants to avoid conflict over Taiwan. But this does not mean that it would be unprepared to go to war over the island. For China's leaders, the Taiwan issue is inextricably related to national self-respect and regime survival. China's main objective is not to assert direct territorial rule over Taiwan but to avoid the island's permanent loss.
- Baker, M. (2002, September 19). Tamil Tigers drop claim for independence. The Sydney Morning Herald, p. 9.Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have abandoned their claim for an independent state and confirmed they are ready to settle for a deal granting self-government in territory under their control to bring an end to the country's 18-year civil war.
- Tamil Tigers dump Sri Lankan peace process. (2006, November 29). The Australian.Sri Lanka is again facing the prospect of all-out civil war after the leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels dumped the island's peace process and demanded full independence for the Tamils.
- A chronicle of Sri Lankan conflict. (2006, February 26). Toronto Star (Canada).Timeline of Sri Lankan independence.
- ABC News: Sri Lanka's Tamils cast their votes in search of independence after decades of war (2013)Sri Lanka's minority Tamils began voting on Saturday in an election they hope will give them a shot at self-rule after decades of ethnic bloodshed that claimed over 100,000 lives.
- Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://school.eb.com.au.db.plcscotch.wa.edu.au/levels/middle/article/312180(LTTE), separatist rebel group in Sri Lanka. By 1997 more than 50,000 people had died in a quarter century of ethnic conflict between Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils.
- Mapping Militant Organizations: Liberation Tigers of Tamil EelamThe Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, were a separatist militant organization fighting for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority in northern Sri Lanka. Velupillai Prabhakaran founded the group in 1972 and by the late 1980s was the dominant Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka.
- Time: The Tamil TigersThe Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka are undoubtedly one of the most organized, effective and brutal terrorist groups in the world. They invented the suicide vest and, according to the FBI, are the only terrorist group to have assassinated two world leaders.
- Gourevitch, P. (2005). Tides of war. New Yorker, 81(22), 54-63.Discusses the efforts of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the secessionist Tamil Tigers, who control a sizable swath of northern Sri Lanka, to reclaim his people's historic homeland. Preference of Tamils for the establishment of a federal system that would grant them substantial local autonomy within a unified state; Physical aspects of the country; Details of the ceasefire between the government and the Tigers.
Sri Lanka's Secrets by Call Number: 323.1 GRAISBN: 9781922235534Publication Date: 2014-08-13As the civil war in Sri Lanka drew to its bloody end in 2009, the government of this island nation removed its protection from UN officials and employees, who, along with other international observers, were forced to leave the conflict zone. President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his inner circle wanted, it seemed, a war without witness. The end result was the deliberate slaughter of an estimated 70,000 innocent civilians. However, many survivors, as well as some who died, were able to capture on camera the horrifying conclusion to the war and the cruel deprivations of the internment camps that followed. Today, through their images and testimony, Mahinda Rajapaksa stands accused of war crimes. In Sri Lanka's Secrets, experienced journalist Trevor Grant presents the shocking story of the final days of this war, alongside the photographs and eye-witness accounts of many Tamils, including Maravan*, a social worker who fled to Australia by boat after being tortured by soldiers seeking his folio of photographs. Grant also details the continuing torture and abuse of Tamils in Sri Lanka, and some national governments' ongoing support for a regime that has abandoned any pretense of democracy.
- Vick, K. (2014). Iraqi Kurds to vote on independence. Time, 1.The partition of Iraq lurched closer to reality on Tuesday when the head of the country's already quasi-autonomous Kurdish region publicly declared he would schedule a referendum on independence.
- Crowley, M., Newton-Small, J., & Thompson, M. (2014). Into Kurdistan. Time, 184(7), 26-33.The article discusses U.S. military intervention to protect Kurds against the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS). Topics include the effort to supply the Kurdish militia, or peshmerga, with U.S. weapons; the possibility that Kurdistan may serve as a regional base for conducting counter-terrorism campaigns; and details on the history of U.S.-Kurdish political relations.
- Pollard, R. (2014, September 20). Kurds' independence vision receding as fight to save homeland intensifies. The Sydney Morning Herald, p. 28.Kurdish leaders are part of the new Iraqi regime and crucial allies of the US in the Islamic State fight. Ruth Pollard reports.
- Petrou, M. (2014). A new map of the Middle East. Maclean's, 127(32), 30-32.The article discusses the political and social conditions in Iraq, focusing on the efforts of Iraqi Kurds to create an independent homeland in the northern region of the country. Topics include the effect of Sunni and Shia Muslim conflict and the spread of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) terrorist group, the strategy of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and Kurdish relations with other powers such as Turkey and the U.S.
- Glavin, T. (2015). No friends but the mountains. World Affairs, 177(6), 57-66.The article looks at the Kurdish people, with a particular focus on Kurdish independence in the Middle East and U.S.-Kurdish relations. The author examines the persecution of Kurdish people in the Middle East throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
- Marcus, A. (2012). The Kurds' evolving strategy. World Affairs, 175(4), 15-22.This article discusses the evolution of the struggle between the Kurdish people in Turkey under the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the central Turkish government to incorporate political and legal arenas.
- Ottaway, M., & Ottaway, D. (2014). How the Kurds got their way. Foreign Affairs, 93(3), 139-148.The authors offer opinions on the Kurdistan region of Iraq and on politics and ethnic relations in Arab countries. Kurdistan's exploitation of its autonomy within Iraq since the Iraq War to reach trade agreements with Turkey related to both countries' petroleum and natural gas industries.
- BBC - Tibet profile - OverviewTibet, the remote and mainly-Buddhist territory known as the "roof of the world", is governed as an autonomous region of China.
- Wall Street Journal - Government in exile seeks Tibetan autonomy, not independenceThe head of Tibet's government-in-exile on Thursday called for an end to what he called Chinese "repression" in the Himalayan region but said his administration wasn't seeking independence from Beijing.
- Reuters - China rebukes Dalai Lama for seeking Tibetan independence: state mediaA senior Chinese official has denounced the Dalai Lama's long-standing pursuit of autonomy for Tibet, describing it as equivalent to advocating Tibetan independence, state media said on Saturday.
- Tibet. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://school.eb.com.au.db.plcscotch.wa.edu.au/levels/middle/article/277351Long known as the Roof of the World, Tibet was isolated for most of its more than 1,000-year history. It is composed of high plateaus and some of the tallest mountains in the world.
- Anand, D. (2012). Heroism or desperation? New Internationalist, (454), 48-49.The article analyzes the phenomenon of public self-immolation by Tibetans, who are said to be protesting repression by the Chinese government. Topics include the views of Tibetan exiles and the Free Tibet movement on this tactic, its relation to the religious leader Dalai Lama's quest for Tibetan autonomy, and the views of leftist activists regarding Tibet.
- Beech, H., & Chengcheng, J. (2011). Burning desire for freedom. Time, 178(19), 46-51.The article discusses the practice of self-immolation by Tibetan monks and examines Tibetans' feelings of hopelessness regarding Chinese rule of Tibet. Information is provided on how the self-immolation of six Tibetans, including Tsewang Norbu on August 15, 2011, caused a Chinese crackdown on Tibetan protests. Topics include how the Chinese government has jailed thousands of Tibetans, forced some into propaganda classes, and closed Tibetan areas to foreigners. It is noted how the spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has attempted to obtain autonomy for Tibet with no success.
- Chorley, A. (2009). Tibetan voice remembering the 1959 uprising. History Today, 59(3), 46-53.Despite the crushing of Tibetan independence by China 50 years ago this month, and continuing attempts to stifle support for Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, the country is very much alive in the hearts and minds of its exiled community. Asya Chorley investigates Tibet's recent history though the experiences of some of those who fled the Chinese regime.
Walls
- Powerhouse Museum - Brick from the Great Wall of China, 1368 - 1644This brick was most likely used in the construction of the Great Wall of China.
- History - Great Wall of ChinaPerhaps the most recognizable symbol of China and its long and vivid history, the Great Wall of China actually consists of numerous walls and fortifications, many running parallel to each other.
- Great Wall of China. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://school.eb.com.au.db.plcscotch.wa.edu.au/levels/middle/article/274645One of the largest engineering and building projects ever carried out is the Great Wall of China. Originally a defensive system, it is today a major tourist attraction and a national symbol of China.
- China Heritage Newsletter - The Great Wall of China: Tangible, intangible and destructibleThe Great Wall has come to symbolise China itself. Responding to reports on threats to the preservation of the Wall, Deng Xiaoping underscored this identity of nation and wall when in 1984 he penned the exhortation: "Let us love our country and restore our Great Wall".
- BBC - Israeli court rejects Cremisan Valley West Bank barrierPalestinians are celebrating after Israel's Supreme Court rejected a plan to route the West Bank barrier through a beauty spot near Bethlehem.
- West Bank. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://school.eb.com.au.db.plcscotch.wa.edu.au/levels/middle/article/395762Situated between Israel and Jordan, the West Bank is a disputed territory that covers an area of approximately 2,270 square miles (5,900 square kilometers) west of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea.
- Vick, K. (2010). Palestinians, contained. Time International (South Pacific Edition), 176(25), 22-26.The article focuses on the social effect that the separation barrier in Israel is having on Palestinian opinions concerning Israelis. It talks about the opinions and beliefs of Palestinian youth Ramzi Thaer Rafik, who hasn't seen an Israeli since 2005 and whose father used to work as a gardener in a hospital in Jerusalem and now builds houses in Ramallah.
- Sadik, N. (2010). World unites against the Wall. New Internationalist, (437), 9.The article explores objections to a wall being built by Israel. Called the Apartheid Wall, Israel claims the barrier is meant to deter suicide bombers and illegal immigration. Palestinians object to the wall due to it's location near Palestinian cities and on agricultural land in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) rather than on the 1949 Armistice Line (called the Green Line) boundary. Hardships Palestinians face as a result of the wall and protests and activist activities relating to the wall are also discussed.
- Sadik, N. (2009). 'The eye sees, but the hand can't reach'. New Internationalist, (428), 26.The article profiles Palestinian farmer Salah Tahir in Jayyous, on the West Bank side of the Israeli Segregation Wall. The wall, it notes, split Jayyous so that Tahir's olive groves are on the Israeli side. A gate is open three times a day for half an hour, and a permit is needed to pass through. Because Tahir cannot get a permit, he pays someone to harvest his olives. His trees, he says, used to produce half a ton of olives, making 300 kilograms of oil, but now he produces a fraction of that.
- Aljazeera America - Walled off: 12 years of Israel’s separation barrierThe West Bank “separation barrier” or “security fence” or “apartheid wall” or “anti-terrorist fence,” depending on whom you ask, is the largest infrastructure project in Israel's history. Twelve years old this April, it costs Israel an annual average of $260 million for maintenance.
- Cohen, S. E. (2006). Israel's West Bank Barrier: An impediment to peace? Geographical Review, 96(4), 682-695.A new and infamous wall is the barrier that Israel is erecting to keep people in and out simultaneously. It is intended to protect Israelis from the plague of West Bank suicide bombers by keeping them out of Israel and by containing them in parts of the West Bank.