I don’t respond to comments often but I appreciate your response and I did want to respond to a few things that you said. Much of my time in China has been spent in smaller cities away from the big metropolitan hubs like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. I do think that English speakers in these big cities are more aware of the information that is at their fingertips. But as you move deeper into China I think you will find an information disconnect. Those same english news websites are of course available everywhere in China but it seems that more people rely on state television. They see little need to access other information. Some of them that I talk to really don’t care what others are saying because it doesn’t effect them personally. So while my article makes a blanket statement about China in general I do recognize that there are people out there like you who are using their English to access outside information.

I am sorry if you feel that the West has hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. You might be amazed to know, however, that many foreigners feel that the West hasn’t done enough to protest the actions of the Chinese. Some feel that the West (especially the U.S. government) has not been harsh enough in its response. I think that people around the world (including myself) are excited about the Olympics coming to Beijing but we are also concerned about what has been going on in Western China. We hope that this issue can be put at rest soon and that the Olympics can proceed smoothly. Good Luck, my friend!