State Media Editorial Calling for Political Choice Gets Censored
On August 26, 2011, Shanghai’s Oriental Morning Post (东方早报) published an editorial called, “Give the People Choice, Give Everyone a Way Out.” (给人民选择权，给所有人退路). Some excerpts: Everything that has occurred in Libya to date only further reinforces an ancient political proposition: If the people are not given the right to choose, the path to peaceful mediated transformation is blocked, and all leeway for the public, including for those who hold power, is eliminated. . . . . Gaddafi's mistake was a kind of ancient chronic illness that has been seen repeatedly in people throughout the ages, "The people of the Qin Dynasty were too preoccupied for self-pity, but instead were pitied by subsequent generations. But those generations pitied the Qin without drawing lessons from its fate, and this lead to each future generation repeatedly pitying the previous generation." Unless the people are gradually but resolutely granted the right to choose, society is faced with the terrifyi