Can yellow ribbons, lapel pins with the red flag and freedom fries be far away? While China and some in the West complain about unfair anti-China sentiment they always overlook the human rights issue and say "well what about the US and human rights?" Sure, it's an issue and yes, they ought to take notice that many Americans were and continue to be outspoken against US human rights abuses. They might also take note that when the US invaded Iraq and Bush's approval rating was still high, the rest of the world all criticized the US and rightly so. Was the world wrong to criticize the US? Absolutely.
Going back in history, British factory workers refused to work with American cotton from the south because they felt a moral obligation to rid the world of slavery. The issue of slavery was indeed an "internal issue" as China says of Tibet but it was also a moral issue for the world. During the apartheid years, the rest of the world viewed apartheid as morally repugnant and led boycotts against the former regime. Again, according to China that was an internal issue. The communist regime in Beijing needs to catch up with the rest of the world and show some flexibility if they want to be taken seriously. It's no skin off of my back if business abandons China and it's likely many Western businesses are looking at Plan B at the moment so go ahead and protest. Burn down more foreign businsses and attack more Western countries. Good luck with that strategy and let us know how it works out.
