A Little Jumpy, Don't You Think?

While some Madison protester supporters have made ridiculous comparisons of their protests to the Egypt uprisings (and shame on any teachers who claimed that), nobody in our Wisconsin or national governments thinks that they are under threat of being overthrown. Indeed, the Obama administration was openly supportive of the protesters for a while. The fact is, the protests do not threaten the legitimate, elected governments at either the state level or federal level.

Contrast our stability with the bizarre worry in China over the littlest hint of unrest inspired by the Middle East that was set out in an editorial in the official Beijing Daily condemning the Middle East unrest and dismissing the possibility that it could happen in China:

The editorial appeared amid anonymous calls posted on the Internet for Middle East-inspired protests in dozens of Chinese cities the past two Sunday afternoons.

While drawing few outright demonstrators, the appeals have deeply unnerved authorities constantly on guard for any sign of challenges to Communist rule. Police and security agents shooed away onlookers and assaulted and detained journalists who turned up at the designated protest sites in Beijing and Shanghai.

Foreign reporters have been repeatedly warned to stay away from the sites this weekend and threatened with unspecified consequences if they disobey.

From our perspective that is gross over-reaction. From the perspective of China's rulers? Apparently it isn't an over-reaction.

From Taiwan's point of view, wouldn't a survival strategy move from an arms race where Chinese power gains the ability to delay our intervention possibly long enough to conquer Taiwan to one that creates a China (or Chinas) with no interest in absorbing Taiwan?