I was trying to talk to a group of residents, some young and a few elderly, about the Olympics. Nobody wanted to discuss the Games, which were dismissed as just

I was trying to talk to a group of residents, some young and a few elderly, about the Olympics. Nobody wanted to discuss the Games, which were dismissed as just another government-staged event. All they wanted to hear was news from the American campaign trail. That doesn't sound like any Chinese I know. The Chinese I know are completely apathetic about politics, anyone's politics. They are concerned with their day to day lives and making money. As long as the government isn't too bad, they ignore it. I think this piece is wishful thinking; the author is projecting his deep feelings about politics and democracy onto the Chinese public and I just don't see that as reflecting any kind of reality I've observed there.