"Things we will forget by next week about Communist China..."

For a country full of Buddhist monks, Tibet has sure pissed a whole lot of people off lately.

Faster than you can say “Kosovo,” the Tibet issue has jumped to the forefront of almost every major media outlet in Toronto. It’s enough drama and back talking to make one realize the only difference between international politics and The Hills is the sobering prominence of ugly people -- although Chinese president Hu Jintao does sport some retro-chic aviator specs.

To say that coverage of the situation recently has been sensational would be like saying James Blunt is in touch with his feelings. The latest Macleans magazine features the headline “Butchers and Monsters” splashed across a photograph of a man in camouflage chasing after a Buddhist monk with a stick. Elmer Fudd would be proud.

The Globe and Mail featured a cover story over the past weekend about three Canadian women who for the last 8 years have been working to use this summer’s upcoming Olympic games as an international stage for the Tibet liberation movement. They were portrayed as heroic figures.

The Associated Press reported that China had been planting military instigators in Tibetan monasteries to pose as monks, acting as both agent provocateurs and plaintive decoys for government organized diplomatic tours of the volatile area.

It’s suddenly hip to hate on China.

As a journalist of Chinese decent, this all cumulated locally and personally when a friend of mine emailed over the weekend with video footage of the Pro-China rally taking place at Dundas square. “It’s about time,” he said, “China’s been getting such a bad rap in the media lately.” I can’t say this made much sense to me, but the words still struck an internal chord that had been nagging me for several days.

I heard the same exasperated tones from my father, who over the dinner table often wonders aloud why everyone makes the Chinese government out to be the most evil entity since the consortium that decided hotdogs would come in packs of 10 but buns in bags of eight.

The Macleans article in question calls for us to be witnesses who “make a difference” in the lives of the Chinese people. But I wonder; instead of worrying about problems nestled at the foot of the Himalayas, shouldn’t we be witnesses who make a difference in our own lives first?

How soon we forget that at the last G8 summit in Quebec, local police planted officers posing as fake protesters into the crowds? Or that when it comes to human rights violations and mindless environmental destruction, China’s track record may be horrendous, but still trails that of our friendly neighbours to the South?

The actions of the Chinese government are indefensible, to this I readily acquiesce. And to say China is getting a bad rap is like saying Rob Shneider doesn't deserve to be typecast.

But if the media is going to demand accountability, we as readers should be willing to at least do the same.

We deride our own actions, but ultimately tolerate the status quo. When it comes to change, party platforms rarely come to fruition in our quagmire of a political system.

Macleans is the same magazine that superimposed George Bush’s head onto Saddam Hussein’s body – but there aren’t too many student activists who suggest we boycott the NBA finals.

Maybe they should have shown Bush chasing an Iraqi with a stick.