China's reaction to the Melbourne film festival is childish and stupid, exactly like the childish and stupid response by some in the Muslim world to the Danish cartoons.
The Melbourne film festival is scheduled to show The 10 Conditions of Love, a film about Rebiya Kadeer, (pictured) international Uighur spokeswoman. But apparently because China believes she had something to do with the Uighur riots that killed 197 people last month, everyone needs to hunt her down and quickly deliver her to a glorious Chinese revolutionary court that is as fair as it is swift.
The Chinese are insisting that Australia ban the film and force it to be pulled from the film festival, echoing the sentiments of pointless Muslims demanding that the State of Denmark take responsibility for the actions of a private Danish newspaper. They've also expressed "supreme dissatisfaction" with both Japan and Australia for even granting Ms. Kadeer a visa to enter the country.
This is a good thing, though, because it provokes reflection on how readily we've accepted China so far as a major power player in the world. China's already terrified the Melbourne City Council by threatening to revoke its sister-city status with Tianjin, and its influence will only grow.
If China keeps ordering civilised countries to do retarded things like ban films for no reason, Chinese economic clout will mean that even if they can't treat us like their hapless subjects, they will have the means to force us into a reluctant self-censorship.
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