Fifty Thousand Broken Eggs?

While I have tremendous sympathy for the people of China who have endured horrible tragedy and almost unimaginable loss of life from the earthquake in central China, would I be too cynical to think that the relatively open coverage the Chinese press is providing is approved by the ruling elite in order to garner sympathy from the West?

I've heard commentary that the Chinese press has been unusually forthcoming, in a way sympathetic to the government, of course--no FEMA-like complaints here. So why are they doing this?

Could it have anything to do with undermining the growing press gang-tackle going on in the pre-Olympics period over various Chinese human rights-related issues?

You'd have to be pretty cynical rulers to use 50,000 dead Chinese citizens as props to further your own agenda. Could the Chinese Communist Party really think of their dead as 50,000 broken eggs needed for their nice planned Olympic Omelet?

Yes, I think the rulers in Peking are perfectly capable of this type of calculation.

Which doesn't mean we shouldn't help the Chinese people in this crisis. Decency requires us to help.

Besides, perhaps our help will make it obvious to the people of China that human rights criticisms are directed at the communist government and not at the people of China, contrary to the xenophobic nationalism that Peking has promoted.