From The South China Morning Post, via A Glimpse of the World:
We in the west – despite our ritualistic advocacy of democracy – do appreciate the decision by Beijing officials to clamp down on the anti-Japan protests, clear out the streets, order people to leave the incendiary anti-Tokyo chat rooms, and cease acting as if China were some sort of genuine democracy where real political demonstrations are freely allowed.
The truth is that, for a while there, we in the west were getting uncomfortable. It was beginning to look as if East Asia was pretty much the same old place – an ancient land of such intense national hatreds that true stability and prosperity were just an illusion. Would another war in Asia be just around the corner?
