Sinomania!

This writer hoped that President Obama would have his eyes wide open for his first trip to China - take it in, allow himself to see past the warped perceptions nearly every American has about the Celestial Empire. Sadly, he started his visit with yet another lecture on "human rights,” now defined by the USA as uncensored Internet access. Obama told a crowd of perky Fudan University students in Shanghai that: "...freedoms of expression and worship -- of access to information and political participation -- we believe are universal rights." As the USA continues to run the infamous Guantanamo detention camps, CIA black jails, and conduct military occupations around the world, it remains absurd to lecture other countries on "human rights". Not long before his death, Nixon - architect of the rapprochement with China - said that it was time to drop "human rights" as a wedge issue with China. The issue may have had some leverage in Clinton’s first term but is meaningless today. The Chinese people are not going to rise up and overthrow their government because the websites of state-controlled (BBC) and wealthy conservatives’ media in Western nations are sometimes blocked on the mainland.

Now in Beijing, Obama will meet privately with President Hu tomorrow (Tuesday) and visit the Forbidden City and the Great Wall....