Bob McCarty Writes

In a report yesterday about Chinese efforts to ascend Mt. Everest with the Olympic torch in hand, it took Associated Press a long time to get past the fluff and address the controversy surrounding the propaganda-filled run-up to the 2008 Beijing Games. Beginning with the article’s 12th paragraph, AP wrote this:

Tibetan activists continued to accuse Beijing of using the climb to symbolize its control over Tibet. China says it has ruled Tibet for centuries, although many Tibetans say their homeland was essentially independent for much of that time.

“The Chinese government’s obsession with summiting Everest with the Olympic torch betrays the depth of its insecurity over its rule in Tibet which was so clearly challenged by Tibetans in March and April,” Tenzin Dorjee, deputy director of Students for a Free Tibet, said in a statement.

Chinese officials and state media have tried to depict the climb as a demonstration of the Olympic spirit.

Thankfully, people like David Donar at Political Graffiti are able to cut right to the chase in addressing the issues through cartoons like the one above.