Girlwithoutawatch

For a long time neither of us speaks. He turns to me and gives me a bow so deep I think he is going to topple over. Straightening up again, he says, ‘I am sorry, for what we did to you. I am deeply sorry.’

‘Your apology is meaningless,’I say, taking a step back from him. ‘It’s worth nothing to me.’

His shoulders stiffen. I expect him to walk away from the pavilion. But he stands there, not moving.

‘We had no idea what my country did,’ he says.

[Tan Twang Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists]

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/whyfactor/whyfactor_20140711-1830a.mp3

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/15/opinion/learning-to-forget-tibet-in-china.html?_r=

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/14/opinion/nicholas-kristof-dont-dismiss-the-humanities.html