China’s influence on Tibet

Re “Volcano in the Himalayas,” Opinion, March 23

I am in sympathy with the Tibetans in their fight for home rule but find fault with some of the details in Joshua Kurlantzick’s Op-Ed. Barbershops with girls offering sexual services in back rooms are ubiquitous in the major cities throughout China and are not solely symbolic of oppression and poverty in Lhasa and Tibet. It is as if to say that Americans are impoverished and oppressed because an occasional massage parlor offers sexual services. Surely, if Tibetans regain home rule, there will continue to be red-light districts in Tibet.

Michael Cockayne

Redondo Beach

President Bush’s reluctance to publicly criticize China’s repression in Tibet cannot be disassociated from the fact that China owns a significant portion of our national debt. America’s moral authority and its economic self-interest have always shared a tangled relationship. In this case, it is clear that, with the U.S.’ economic ascendancy now over, its moral authority may well follow.

Bill Tilden

Kensington, Calif.