Thank you, VK3AUU,

Yes, that is my point. I spent the last 7 years of my life living amongst the category of people whom you describe in your second para. Had I not had different experiences beforehand perhaps talking to students and friends here about Australia would make it appear that this country was a hell-hole?

As I stated in my first post, it is this writer's way of painting a picture of widespread terror, lack of choice and government bullying that I object to. The way the truth is twisted by the use of subjective adjectives leads to misconceptions.

Demonising others leads to racism and chauvinism. It contributes to the reason many close their eyes to the horror and sheer waste of wars. Regarding others as Dirty Commies, Towelheads, Foreign Devils; and our own group as righteous, would perhaps not be so easy if we could evaluate others without bias.

May I respectfuly suggest that:
1. What may be technically legal or illegal in the PRC is irrelevant in principle (and practice), because the "rule of law" is always subservient to the rule of the communist party, in theory and practice in a communist state, and that one-party rule is required to be a dictatorship.The "rule of law" is a fiction in the PRC.
2. The errors of racism etc are dangers, but the atrocities of forced organ harvesting, including the killing of prisoners of conscience, are the prime responsibility of the persons who control the CCP. The citizens of the PRC deserve our whole-hearted support in their time of terror at the hands of those controlling state agencies. http://organharvestinvestigation.net refers.

Romany, please allow me to apologise for my long absence. I have just returned from New York. Please also allow me to state that I have to change my "birth" passport to Australian passport when I had to go and work in Beijing, China. You see at that time, China wasn't quite that "opened" to the democratic world yet and you were probably still in nappies. That is why I don't termed my first hand experience with the mainland Chinese as under "modern China". It was even prior the Tiananmen Square Massacre. I wonder what justifications you have got regarding the deaths of thousands of young innocent students. Another fact is that, the Communist Regime has gone against its own constitution by outlawing Falun Gong. Hence those Chinese people that believes in truthfulness, compassion and tolerance has technically not broken any Chinese law. Please also allow me to state that the people in China are my ancestral people. As they say, "blood is thicker than water". Are you blood or water in this regard?

A lot of valid points made acrossed here, u guys have surely made it hard to believe that they are worthy of their Olympic title. And with the reports of harmful chemicals in chinese made toys raises quite a few questions as well.

Romany, I have just been re-reading your comments about the anti-freeze in toothpaste.

The substance used in toothpaste is glycerine, a trihydric alcohol, whereas the material which caused the problem was ethylene glycol, a dihydric alcohol which unfortunately isn't very good for you. It appears that the latter was labeled as the former and because they are of similar appearance, no one got around to checking. Incidentally, pharmaceutical grade glycerine is a byproduct of biofuel made from palm oil etc. and there seems to be glut of it on the world market these days.