The Final Word on the Tibet Riots

I've always admired the Imagethief...but this long essay on Tibet and China's struggle to handle the PR and information flow in its wake is a must read for everyone...

While there are elements of truth to China's version, China's ability to sell it internationally has always been hampered by the government's time-honed credibility gap with western audiences. This is exacerbated by the difficulty of getting independent points of view. Reporting from Tibet was heavily controlled even before the riots. Furthermore, International opinion is subject to an effective PR campaign run by Tibetan exile groups and the charismatic Dalai Lama. It's safe to say that International audiences will never be entirely convinced by a Chinese state narrative that doesn't even allow for the possibility that there might be genuine discontent in Tibet. China is much better at dictating ideas to a captive audience than at selling them to an open one.

I've been wanting to write a longer piece on Tibet, but this just does it for me...there is nothing more to be said.  Read the whole thing.