I had the opportunity a few years ago to spend a week in China. A very kind driver named Mr. Xu told me that there is no such thing as news in China because by the time anyone hears about it, it’s old.
This cultural tidbit came in the middle of the spy plane incident of 2001. Remember that? Two Chinese fighter jets collided with a U.S. EP-3E Aries II surveillance plane, forcing it to land on Hainan Island.
Events later that year tend to overshadow that incident, but China is back in the news and I’m wondering just how many Chinese know about it.

Beijing is hosting the Summer Olympics this year and that might be the only thing the Chinese people know about. Not simply because it’s meant to be a positive thing, to show off the country and all the progress it’s made since 1989, but also because any house that can be seen from a road had its highway facing exteriors repainted in “international colors.”
That’s white with a blue stripe, apparently.
All is not well with the Beijing Olympics and they haven’t even happened yet. Steven Spielberg stepped down as artistic director over China’s constant human rights violations.
Wait a second. OK, I respect the hell out of Spielberg but didn’t he know about China before taking the job in the first place? I mentioned 1989 not long ago and if Spielberg forgot about the Tiananmen Square demonstrations and the lone guy facing a tank, he needs to stop and watch some CNN archives.

Sports of all kinds seem to be shaking up China’s borderline stability. Maybe they are angry that Yao Ming is injured and the Houston Rockets just keep on winning.
Maybe they are mad that the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres played to a tie during an exhibition game held at Wukesong Stadium, or that the Padres won the second game.
A tense moment did occur after that first game when uniformed Chinese security guards tried to prevent Korean pitcher Chan Ho Park from signing autographs. They eventually relented.
None of this, however, compares to the new Chinese aggressions against Tibet.
According to Tibet Watch, 34 people died during clashes on Friday when Chinese security forces interrupted protests in Lhasa.

Every time this comes up, there is an international rally cry for Tibetan freedom. Richard Gere will hug the Dalai Lama on TV and the Beastie Boys will have another music festival. Tibetan freedom — any freedom for that matter — is not so simple. Even the Dalai Lama recognizes that.
He has said that Tibet is not seeking separation, but that ties to China can help Tibet modernize and catch up to the rest of the world.
In the meantime, though, he sees China’s actions against Tibet as “cultural genocide.”
Interesting, isn’t it? There’s China, trying to wipe out anything that is uniquely Tibetan and here is the U.S. taking baseball and Disneyland to China’s massive population.

I know. I was there. During one tourist stop, I saw a large group of Chinese schoolchildren on a fieldtrip. Their shouts of “Hello, America,” floated at me from above their Mickey Mouse T-shirts.
That was almost seven years ago. I hope some of those kids grew up to know more about what is going on in their country and in the world. If they don’t, the Olympics will bring the world to them.
They just won’t get to see it on YouTube.