Crouching Panda, Hidden Problems

There's enough interesting reading cropping up on China that it's worth a quick reading round-up. The Age, an Australian paper, has a great article explaining the Chinese reaction to pro-Tibetan western protests. Peter Sheer, of the Huffington Post, went off on an absolutist tear in support of freedom of speech in an article that is at best, technically inaccurate, if not plain wrong with respect to why China's networks are so slow...but you have to admire his vigor and his points, nonetheless. And, in a great sign of coming peace, the NYT reports that the Vice President-elect of Taiwan and Hu Jintao held the highest level talks between the Mainland and Taiwan that have occurred in fifty years.