I started out looking at posts at Global Voices on reactions to the protests tangling together Tibet and the Olympic torch. A vocal portion of Chinese are concerned that Western media shows only the anti-Chinese protests, and not pro-Chinese demonstrations. There are also various reactions to the Dalai Lama’s recent statement. The BBC prints reactions from Chinese individuals to the protests.

I can’t justify the violence on either side, but seeing as the historical Olympics in Greece were a time of truce, when all put down their weapons and thought of athletic competition, rather than violence, I think it is particularly sad for the two issues to have been linked this way.

I did find it interesting to compare the Xinhua [English-language PRC media] backgrounder with a somewhat longer history from friends-of-tibet.org.nz. Theoretically, wikipedia’s version is more balanced, and I’m not sure what to make of Lonely Planet’s story.

Also, we’ll see if this post is visible when I get to China. Alex’s office internet connect is reportedly outside the net, but certainly from the hotel I may not find much online about certain T- topics.