In my previous post about dinner with my colleagues in Tokyo, I noted that “Ping” indicated that quite a bit of protest is tolerated in China, but certain areas are off-limits, among which are challenges to Communist Chinese rule.
Which brings me to a fascinating story in the Financial Times about the most popular blogger in all of China, a race car driving provocateur named “Han Han.” He has more the 300 million readers, which probably makes him the most popular blogger in the entire world. The story describes ways in which he challenges the authorities, including this little anecdote:
He caused uproar last year when, walking past a racetrack rostrum where high-ranking officials were seated, he raised his middle finger at them – but no action was subsequently taken against him.
Really? If that happened in the U.S., the offender would probably be tacked by the Secret Service and hustled off for questioning. Later in the story is this quote from Han Han:
“I don’t agree with some people who call for elections and a multi-party system in China now. That is clearly not realistic,” he said.
So, it’s OK to flip the bird to the leaders, but not to call for democracy.
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