Shanghai Scrap

I’ve just returned to China, and as I was exiting the plane, I couldn’t help but notice all of the discarded newspapers on empty seats turned to coverage of the recent and ongoing events in Tibet. I was (and now, am) aware that most of that coverage has been restricted in China (and state-owned media isn’t much of an alternative). So as I walked up that jetway, I was more keenly aware than usual that I was entering an entirely different political and media reality. And, more than usual, it felt uncomfortable.

I am not a news reporter, generally. My work in China is typically feature-based, and though I’ve devoted a considerable portion of the last five years covering religious freedom – particularly as it applies to China’s burgeoning Christians – I’ve never delved into the history or current reality of Tibet and its Buddhists. Perhaps, at some point, I will. But at this point I lack the knowledge – and thus, the competence – to discuss it in a way that can be meaningful to this blog’s readers.

That said, at some point soon, I intend have something to say about the so-called “Patriotic” religious education that seems to have been riling Tibet’s seminaries (it’s a topic that I know well from my writing on China’s Catholic seminaries). But again, I want to make sure that I know what I’m writing about, first. In any case, I hope my reticence doesn’t suggest indifference or something much worse. Believe me: I’m interested.

Dan at China Law Blog has an interesting post explaining his reticence on this issue, and it’s worth reading, both for the explanation and the list of other sources of information on “the situation out West.” Recommended.