Chinese PR Machine Rolls On

It's hard to imagine anyone more likely to spark a protest demonstration than the Dalai Lama, who is one of the most revered people on the planet ... until now:

SEATTLE (AP) - In a showing of pro-Chinese support, hundreds of demonstrators protested outside a college arena Monday as the Dalai Lama spoke to students on solving problems through dialogue.

Thousands of people have flocked to Seattle to hear the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader speak since he arrived Thursday for a five-day conference on compassion, but the city's Chinese community had remained largely silent until Monday.

It's interesting the reporter wrote "the city's Chinese community," as if it were both monolithic and monolithically pro-Beijing, which is, of course, a ludicrous assumption because the immigrant Chinese community, like the immigrant Cuban community, is made up primarily of people who fled totalitarianism back home.

Demonstrators held signs alleging media bias and protesting the violence from rioting by Tibetan monks.

The focus of the Chinese PR attack on monks as opposed to mainstream Tibetans enraged over the Chinese government's destruction of their religion, culture and traditions is just part of the China PR scheme. They must attack the monks in order to connect the uprising to the Dalai Lama -- but who other than AP is buying that? Just a few Chinese in Seattle:

Some echoed Beijing's stand that the Dalai Lama is behind the recent uprising against five decades of Chinese rule. Signs called the Dalai Lama a liar and a "CIA-funded militant." Many people waved large Chinese flags.

AP is still hasn't gotten to "duh"' at this point, even though "CIA-funded militant" is not the sort of language citizens routinely come up with. Rather, it's the sort of language the Chinese government cooks up -- slightly more refined than yesteryear's "running dogs of capitalism," but still of the same school.

Oh, and the helpful Chinese propagandists even came up with a slogan for the big day:

"Dalai, your smiles charm, your actions harm."

Let me offer up an alternative:

"Beijing, your slogans thrill but your actions kill.''