Great Photos from Shaanxi

I just came across Julen Potron's photos on Flickr via China Digital Times. They're great images of my favorite part of China: the northwestern loess plateau. Shaanxi, not my preferred Shanxi, but still great.

Stupid response to Wikileaks

China needed a good excuse on censorship. The United States provided that excuse when it went after Wikileaks, showing that liberal democracies, if powerful enough, will also not hesitate to shut down internet gadflies. Of course, hypocrisy by the U.S. does not undo China's obligations. But it makes the argument of rights activists that much harder.

Wikileaks is now banned from the Library of Congress computers. The site's temporary host, Amazon.com, has been pressured (successfully) to drop it. Funding for Wikileaks via Paypal and even Swiss banks has been cut off.

Beijing must be sighing a big sigh of relief.