Well hats off to the Chinese authorities for actually proving a large number of the points that protesters have been, and will aiming at them in this Olympic year.
First the act of disagreement with the authorities is frowned upon, hence the curfew they set up in Tibet, the pressure they brought to bear on India to halt the march to India.
Second there is the misinformation or non-information. I was in the USSR when Iraq invaded Kuwait and didn't know about that until I returned to Berlin. Our interpreter got the newspaper every day and we didn't see anything about this. The same is happening within China the media is controlling just what the people get to here. Elsewhere in 1988-9 this was attempted as pro-democracy hit out across the communist world only in Beijing was the surge halted and brushed away.
Thirdly the generosity that those who give themselves up by Monday will be treated leniently. What does leniency mean in this case. The authorities have already been shooting to kill. So maybe the leniency will mean their lives are spared. It may not mean that they will not be placed in solitary confinement or possibly tortured to find out more information about the protests and fellow protesters.
So the protests being about suppression, and others against China's human rights record are being proven right now as having validity. I once condemned the IOC for awarding China this year's Olympiad, now in a way I'm glad as all media attention is now focusing on China. Maybe at last human rights will hold sway there as a result.
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