About 20 years ago my son was an Australian working in communist Vietnam. He often used cabs - and on his birthday he hailed one. The cab driver who he had never seen before greated him with "Happy birthday Criag". Now that was spooky!

Maybe America could swallow its pride and headhunt some of China's and Vietnam's foreign policy adivsors.
It is rather embarrassing to see the West always get taken for a ride like this.

Could you ever in your wildest dreams imagine apartheid South Africa being allowed to host the Olympics? They obviously knew nothing about diplomacy. The more you kill, the more countries you invade or threaten to invade, the more software and copyright you steal, the more the West will go out of its way to placate you.

No amount of propanda can hide the brutal genocide being perpetrated against the Tibetians by the Chinese Government. 100,000s of people have been murdered during the subjugation of the Tibetians and a program of transmigation, the same as the Javanese used in Indonesia is in place to destroy their culture. There are so many Han Chinese in Lhasa that one has to play spot the Tibetian. Actually it's easy, the Tibetians have been reduced to beggars in their own country.
The Australian Governments, National and local kowtow to the Chinese Government on the matter of the Dali Lamas visit. Makes one proud to be Australian, not.