This subject seems to have provoked a good deal of interest (!) among readers. We may come back to the historical discussion later, though the comments pretty well wrap up the issue for me. But as I do like someone who can bite back, I am posting part of the very first comment, an excoriation by one Saul Midmay:
To Simon Elegant and
…
Some interesting comments on our blog about Tibet over the last few days….and a great many others that were of the tediously nationalistic, your-coverage-is-biased, Yankee go home, China-good-America-bad type.
Anyway, one of the former came from Champson Liu, an editor at the People’s Daily. Here’s what he had to say (and the …
In this deal—a bid for US based 3COM, which among other things provides network security software to the US military– it was always hard to fathom why Bain Capital, a big time private equity firm, ever thought it could front for China’s Huawei, a Cisco competitor that is one of the least transparent big companies in a country not …
Here are some eyewitness accounts from various points of the uprising, compiled over the last few days, courtesy of RFA. Alas the link is not likely to work for readers here in China.
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/politics/2008/03/15/tibet_interviews/
For some reason, Hong Kong’s outgoing British Consul-General Stephen Bradley couldn’t resist playing the charmless expat when he gave a valedictory speech at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club last week. All that’s asked of you on these occasions is that you tell a few anecdotes, propose the odd toast and give a vote of thanks to the …
Here’s a selection of clips from my trip. And yes, there is a theme. We spent three days on the only road to the town of Litang (and on to Tibet and Lhasa) watching these army trucks roll by endlessly. As I say in the story (see previous post) these guys were ready for a full scale fight: full combat kit, supported by field kitchens, …
Just back from a long trip into far west Sichuan province to see what the situation is like in the Tibetan areas of China. Many of my colleagues have been turned away from Tibetan regions of China bordering Tibet. I was lucky enough to get into the town of Litang. My report of what we found is on the Time.com website. I also paste it …
Although news is still sketchy it is clear that there have been fresh and much more serious demonstrations in the Tibetan capital Lhasa today. Activists, academics and residents said the protests, which had been peaceful until now, turned violent. Unconfirmed but credible reports spoke of police vehicles and a large market in flames. …
The hijack story is fading fast, partly because of other stories replacing it in the news cycle and also because the lack of new information or coverage (the People’s Daily never did mention it at all) is killing it, presumably as the government wishes. However, in the interests of updating –and fairness (having been skeptical and still …
Here’s a link to some tourist video and stills from Tibet, where the three days of protests by monks have been contained but the security situation remains extremely tense, with the three main monasteries cordoned off and reports beginning to surface of possible hunger strikes or even suicides. This is a nightmare scenario for Beijing. A …
The line between fully functioning metropolis and plague-ridden ghost town is a surprisingly thin one, as anyone who lived through Hong Kong’s 2003 SARS epidemic can attest. One day it’s all horse races and cocktail parties; the next it’s isolation wards, empty restaurants and paranoia.
I was reminded of that line again while …
Well, as expected, the inflation bear is coming out of hibernation and has a very sore head indeed. February’s rate was 8.7 per cent, the worst for 11 years. As we noted recently, this is a huge issue the Communist Party and is a major problem for ordinary people. Interestingly enough, the announcement about inflation was matched by one …
