dingle_derry_doo:

How many murders of innocents does it take before you get upset? How many people thrown in prison unjustly? Don't Americans get to protest what the Bush Administration is doing? Do Chinese people get to protest what the Chinese government does? How about people from Tibet - do THEY get to protest?

Gee - I guess your "only a bit" is actually "quite a lot", you lying POS.

Sure, people get to protest in the USA, but unless you have suave PR and a connection to money/power, nothing gets done. People who get sentenced to death or put in jail for life mistakenly are often poor and from a minority group, i.e. groups that the government would prefer to not have to deal with. Do we get upset for these people? Yes, for 20 minutes on Nightline or a docudrama, in the form of entertainment.

The reason that the media has a fetish for China's "human rights violations" is similar to why high schoolers and college students go to volunteer in poor areas overseas during the summer:

You can brag about self-sacrifice, good reporting, not having showers, not having Wikipedia. You get a by-line, a line on your resume, an article published, a college acceptance.

But most importantly, you make yourself feel better about the excesses at home--ah, yes, that Vietnamese woman who squats at your pedicure, inhaling acetone for your comfort--ah, yes, those students in urban areas whose school budgets and after-school programs have become nonexistent, along with their bright american futures.

My POV, you POS.