Reliable sources

In response to Simon Rolleston’s viewpoint (May 8) I need to be clear my information on the Chinese Communist Party’s actions was not based on chatrooms or dubious social media. Fake news is often used now to negate presentation of facts. We need to be clear about different forms of evidence of actions.

My sources are reliable, including studying and travel, but I will not name them for obvious reasons.

The United Nations and Human Rights Watch have the facts and had them before social media was dominant. The facts include over 1 million Tibetans died in the invasion. Fact is millions of Chinese died in the Cultural Revolution. Fact is hundreds of thousands of Uhgyurs are unable to voluntarily leave re-education camps.

China is not likely to state globally it has intentions of committing genocide or human rights abuse. Read the Universal Declaration of human rights.

The iron grip on media also means recording on events is limited.

This is how China invaded Tibet, an isolated country with poor internal and external communication.

I will finish by saying cultural genocide is most definitely occurring at the cost of Tibetans, Uyghurs and other ethnic groups alongside the plunder of the environment that is contributing to make China a superpower economically.

Thus it’s easy to manipulate smaller and more economically vulnerable nations around, including in the Pacific. Claire Coveney, Opawa (abridged)