Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, February 10, 2012

China mishears Harper’s human-rights whisper

Like any smart tourist, Stephen Harper spent his first morning in Beijing at the stunning Temple of Heaven, its main structure a magnificent sight etched against one of those perfect blue skies that authorities in the smog-encrusted lair of Mao conjure up every now and then for visiting dignitaries.

Even better for our man in China, just a few Tiananmen Square tank lengths away is the ever-popular Echo Wall, not to be confused, of course, with that other great wall.

This one is a circular, brick edifice that was built, for reasons unknown, so that a person can whisper something along one side of the wall and have it heard clear as a bell by someone a fair distance away. So they say …

Of course, this may be apocryphal, but I have it on some authority that this is where Ha Po (as the PM is known in the People’s Republic) chose to raise the ticklish issue of human rights, which, as you know, he would never sell out for “the almighty petro-dollar.”

Mr. Harper faced the Echo Wall and said in a low voice: “Canada is concerned about the lack of human rights in China.”

A hundred metres distant, Chinese President Hu Jintao shouted back: “What did you say? I couldn’t hear you.”

And that was that.
Original Article
Source: Globe 
Author: Rod Mickleburgh 

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