The ability of Beijing to control information
about the crisis points to the limitations of the big U.S.
Web brands and others when news breaks that the Chinese
government doesn't like. "There are a lot of people that
think the Internet is going to bring information and democracy
and pluralism in China just by existing," says Rebecca Mackinnon,
assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong's Journalism
& Media Studies Center. "I think what we're seeing with
this situation in Tibet is while the Chinese government's
system of Internet censorship controls and propaganda is
not infallible by any means, it works well enough in times
of crisis like this."
The whole thing is a bloody mess as the 2008 Summer Olympics
in Beijing draws near. I think a vast majority of people
have no stomach for another boycott -- most Americans would
rather defeat evil on the athletic field, as Jesse
Owens did in Berlin in 1936, than take our ball and
go home, as Jimmy Carter did in 1980. That said, I'd like
to see freedom-loving people, from the U.S. and elsewhere,
figure out how to make some kind of statement this August.
PARIS (AP) - Moves to punish China over its
handling of violence in Tibet gained momentum Tuesday, with
a novel suggestion for a mini-boycott of the Beijing Olympics
by VIPs at the opening ceremony.
Such a protest by world leaders would be a huge slap
in the face for China's Communist leadership.
France's outspoken foreign minister, former humanitarian
campaigner Bernard Kouchner, said the idea "is interesting."
The problem is that a more effective protest would be one
mounted by athletes -- but that's banned under the Olympic
charter (anyone remember
this?). I think the VIPs should attend the ceremony
-- and at the right moment all hold up signs in Mandarin
calling for free speech and a free Tibet.
I'm sure we could convince Dick Cheney to do that.
