Chinese Crackdown on Dissent Intensifies

Following the recent tightening of Internet censorship, the Chinese government has taken things one step further in the process of quelling rumored civilian uprising. Internationally renowned artist Ai Weiwei, best known for being the artistic consultant to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Stadium (bird's nest), has reportedly been detained on his way to Hong Kong.

This is the latest and highest profile target of the Communist Party's broad crackdown on political dissent. With the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa escalating, the Chinese government is taking extreme measures to prevent the same sort of thing happening on their own soil. Hundreds of protesters have already been detained. This crackdown is said to be the worst in over a decade.

US media coverage on China is becoming increasingly negative in light of these recent events. Stories like this and this are chock full of negative connotations. In reporting events like these, is it even possible to maintain a neutral tone? I can't help but feel like China is making it easy for the Western media to bite onto the negative. When you act like an oppressive police state by detaining social dissenters, it's hard to cast you as the peace loving nation you project yourself to be. I will keep a wary eye on this issue to see how things develop in these upcoming weeks.

-Annie-