As it happens to many governments, there is a moment in the year when the Chinese Government presents an overall picture of the human rights situation in the country, and we at ICT are naturally interested in reading it, especially about Tibet. This year it happened last week. What is peculiar about China is that while (democratic) governments present their annual human rights reports trying to be accurate and objective, China’s authorities continue to embrace propaganda starting from its title -- "White Paper: Progress in China’s human rights in 2013" -- not even contemplating that...

The people of my generation were just teenagers when the Berlin wall fell and the demise of the social and political system built around the Soviet Union took place. I knew very little about politics and the world at the time, but that little was enough to remember Communist propaganda that was sometimes mentioned on TV celebrating a happy and florid land (images of beautiful Red Square on Moscow were in display) where people where not interested in "western freedoms," but instead enjoyed "real equality".