hmmm, here i was wondering whether enough chinese nationalism, aggressively boosted by the rest of the world's criticism re tibet and human rights, would be enough to prevent a revolt of the chinese working poor, as they try to ascend the greasy pole, often without success, or have their farmland taken, or suffocate downwind of the umpteenth coal plant.

one the one hand, this might be the last chance for public opinion to have any influence on the growing economic giant, so embarrassingly dependent on a potemkin olympics for 'national pride' ...here we go again...

on the other, we look like fools criticising china for human rights issues, when our own houses are in such disorder in that respect.

whatever you believe, it seems clear that many chinese are learning to hate and wave their flag, especially if they know about the history of 'our' behaviour regarding them in the opium wars.

 

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty