Cairo - Beijing Axis

Contagious!

"...Now that Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution has inspired Egyptians, autocrats in the region nervously watch for signs of unrest in their own countries.  Most observers assume that the next Egypt is Yemen, Hashemite Jordan, or Saudi Arabia.

While all the cool kids are slowly and surely drawing up their plans for Hashemite Jordan (a literal tonne of hot! deets, smoking insight and a wicked little flashback to Sgt Pepper), true purveyors of diplopolititary giganteus zoom out on the big pic.

Check it! The Cairo - Beijing Axis Bay Bee!

ME despotries are not the only ones freaking the freak out.

"...Beijing’s leaders are concerned that 1.3 billion enraged souls will rise up and tear down the People’s Republic of China.

"...China’s communists have every right to be concerned. In a world connected by optic fiber, revolutionary fervor not only crosses from one country to the next but from one continent to another. That is undoubtedly the reason why Chinese netizens cannot search the characters for “Egypt” on some Mainland sites and the authorities are censoring news of the distant upheaval. Beijing’s officials know that every resentment felt by Tunisians and Egyptians is shared by those they rule.

"...So it’s not surprising the Chinese are closely watching the streets of Cairo and Alexandria. China’s netizens, for example, cannot stop talking about the lone Egyptian who stood in front of an armored car last week. “Must see!” Tweeted human rights lawyer Teng Bao yesterday. “Egypt’s Tiananmen movement, a warrior blocks a military vehicle!”   

Whoa! Is there a connectible connection betwixt Arab League's implosion and the world's largest collectivist nation state ever?

“Many people on the Chinese blogosphere and netizens believe that the future road that China takes is like Tunisia,” remarked Chinese blogger “Twokeqi,” in a session arranged by the American embassy in Beijing. Chinese netizens were peppering two American officials—Jeffrey Bader and Ben Rhodes—who were connected by a video link as they sat in the White House basement.  “Does the U.S. government also think so and does the U.S. government have a strategy if this happens?”

Bader and Rhodes did their best 44 and waxed elegant sincere blocs of irrelevant insincerity in a wonderfully weak moment of not offending the cats who have 2009's Nobel Prizer locked away

"...China’s citizens—or at least some of them—are not so concerned about the tender feelings of the Communist Party elite.

"...That’s a dangerous moment for autocrats, even if they dwell thousands of miles from the pyramids.  When a people begin to ignore authoritarians, political transformations occur. 

"...At this point, not everyone believes they can send Hu Jintao packing, like the Tunisians did with Ben Ali. Authoritarian governments, as we know by now, always look invincible until a week before their leaders leave for the airport.

Beijing’s lame attempts to suppress “Egypt” on the net—and the admission that “democracy” is spreading—make Chinese officials look fearful as well as inept. Because they are also making themselves appear obtuse and desperate, they are opening the door to “discontinuous political change” in the year that will mark the centennial of the first Chinese revolution in history.

Pic - "American willingness in 2009 to accommodate China and the unwillingness to do so this year reflects the deterioration of the relationship in the last year."