AS IF CHINESE COLLECTIVE MOBILIZATION WERE A GOOD THING (via Bryan Francoeur):

Bashing China is not the answer (L. Ling-chi Wang, 4/09/08, CNN)

The media, as usual, have seized the opportunity to pour fuel onto the fire. Politicians are tripping over each other in their eagerness to condemn China, to call for boycotts, and to claim the high moral ground, even though the United States has been treated as a rogue state worldwide because of our invasion of Iraq, and our unlawful detention, torture, rendition, etc.

Sadly, most Americans know little about international issues and for that matter, China, as demonstrated by the conspicuous absence of information regarding historical context and complexity. [...]

What they also don't know is how Chinese in China are viewing and preparing for the Olympics in August. Not since the 10-year nightmare of the Cultural Revolution have the Chinese been more dedicated to and collectively mobilized for a national project: to host the first Olympics in China.

Americans know this: Tibet isn't part of China and the Chinese people have no say in how they're governed. The rest is water-carrying for a dictatorship.

MORE:

Olympic torch journey descends into farce (Dan Glaister, 4/10/08, The Guardian)

The San Francisco leg of the Olympic torch relay descended into farce last night after the authorities cut the route in half and hustled the torch away from waiting protesters and supporters of the Beijing games by driving it a mile inland.

At the opening ceremony preceding the afternoon's relay, the first torchbearer took the flame from a lantern brought to the stage and held it aloft before quickly departing again, running behind the scenes and into a warehouse. It was unclear exactly what had happened to the torch, with even the news channel helicopters unable to find it.

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 9, 2008 8:13 PM