My example of what the Chinese official said is a perfect example of what the Chinese state media report to their citizens. And the fact is, the media in China and what it reports IS controlled by the Chinese government.

AND, the fact is is that the western media IS NOT controlled by the government.

And regarding the politics of the Olympics. It is my strong opinion that the Olymopics are political and is used by nations such as China AS WELL AS the United States for political reasons or propaganda. Therefore, the athletes have to understand that. I respect the athletes but that is the reality of the Olympics and they need to live with it.

The world gave the Olympics to China yes. But the world also asked that China repsect some freedoms and human rights for example reducing restrictions on the press. It was not a contractual agreement but it was mentioned to them as part of them receiveing the Olympics.

To state that people are just “picking” on China because they are protesting what some things the Chinese do is ignorant. Free people protest against many things and governemnts. I’ve seen many protests against the Unites States government both around the world and within the U.S. That is part of a free society. IT’S NOT PICKING ON CHINA.

Yes, some of the torch protestors went over the line. But they were a tiny majority.

So the fact that the U.S. oppressed the black people 40 years ago means that Americans can now or never protest against injustice in China or elsewhere? Please, it was both black AND white Americans who worked to end the oppression of the African Americans 40 years ago so don’t use that excuse.

Plus, I’m sorry but I have to disagree about your statement that racism still lingers “heavily” in the U.S. as well as your flawed use of the fact that the prisons are filled with blacks and minorities.

Regarding Tibet. Yes, many in the west are ignorant of the situation over there. The Dalia Lama himself states he does NOT want independence, just some form of autonomy.

Be sure to comment on tomorrow’s post, as it’s my attack against Western politics, and how it’s only hurting Tibetans rather than helping them.

That said … you should really write about Asian history and start setting the record straight on the misinformation and misdirections being fed to us both online and from “real” news sources.

Also, China has access to foreign media through television, printed press and the internet. To simply label the Chinese as believing any and everything the Chinese government tells them is to look down on the Chinese as naive. Read the news from “the rest of the world”, and read how the International Chinese find the media being presented is distorted from the actual situations occurring in China. We can not simply just look at one point of view and not see that the Chinese in Tibet are the victims of violence.

Sure the Olympics can be political, but show some respect to the athletes and the hosts. The world gave China the Olympics and if people can not accept that then they can at least try to be less hypocritical. Will these people protest their own Olympics addressing issues that their own nation suffer from? The world is globally connected and to simply pick on the Chinese reminds us how the Cold War still lingers in the mind of Western nations. China is trying to enter the world at a progressive and peaceful pace that would have shocked Western nations less than 2 decades ago. Protesting violently and harassing Olympic athletes does nothing to justify democracy or human rights, except show the lack of class these protesters have. The fact most of these people know very little about Tibet and China and choose to retain a closed mind by not learning objectively shows how ugly human nature still is in our civilized society.

A teacher teaches by example. If the West fails to teach the world that they can fix their own human right problems at the pace China is doing right now proves their inability to lead by example. How long did it take for women to get the vote, how long did it take for Blacks to get the vote (not to mention racism still lingers heavily in the U.S. and most prisons are filled with Black people and minorities) and then you can see that China has indeed progressed at a faster pace than the Western nations.

And talking about China being “closed” for a thousand years shows ignorance. Read about Zheng He or the Silk Road. Then learn a little about the Opium Wars to find out why they restricted trade to the Western Imperialists.

That said, successfully spinning a web of deceit or half-truths require three parties to cooperate: the people that spin the story, other media outlets to perpetuate the spun story, and the citizens to listen and accept the spun story. It seems that China, like other closed societies around the world, are trying to cut out the middle man in this equation

Below is a funny qoute from a Chinese Olympic Official regarding the Olympic Torch Relay. (CNN.com)

“Liu Jingmin, vice president of the Beijing organizing committee, said the Olympic torch has been “warmly welcomed by the local people” in each city.”

The Chinese Government is so used to lying to their own people that they forget that the rest of the world sees through their lies.

Since the Chinese clearly chose to use the Olympics as a political tool to promote themselves, it is clearly appriopriate for the rest of the world to use the Olympics to protest China’s abuses as well.

Yes, the Olympics are political and always have been.