Beijing Apple Store coming by 2008 Olympics

And of course, to all of us (more-or-less) ignorant Westerners, there is only one thing that the name of that square rings up in our minds. Ad most current university students in Beijing probably know almost nothing about why that is so.

And on the subject at hand, I'm sure there will be brisk sales of Apple stuff once the store opens.

Great! Now Apple shoppers can enjoy the same view that thousands of peaceful demonstrators did in 1999 before the Chinese government ordered soldiers to mow them down.

I suppose we shouldn't be surprised. After all, the world's biggest human rights violator is allowed to host the Olympics with nobody even making a whimper about it. Why? Because we want our electronic toys made cheaply.

Pathetic.

I hope they start running the think different campaign again, maybe they could use that picture of the chinese guy stood in front of the tanks in Tiananmen square,

that would certainly enhance Apple's caring, pro-humanist, pro-rebel image that it so likes to cultivate.

"Here's to the crazy ones..."

the US (and Americans too) are not in much of a position to assume moral superiority over Tianenmen Square, considering our government's illegal invasion of Iraq, its use of torture and gulags like Guantanamo.

That was 1989.

And it's not because we want our electronic toys made cheaply. We want ALL of our toys made cheaply. And we want their markets to sell what few products we have that they might want.

I wonder how long before a chinese 'tax collector' stops by asking for that weeks payment...

Think China.

Hey, that's not fair. All the things you mentioned are all about keeping the world free from oppression and violence (assuming they have natural resources we need, otherwise we'll let the UN deal with the minor issues, like genocide), about preserving our freedoms (even if that means giving over all your personal information to the gov't and submitting to full-body searches just to board a plane - damn, sure hope no one tells those terrorists about buses, trains, etc), about bringing freedom to the world (by placing them under martial law), and preserving our way of life (where people choose to live in abject poverty and are proud of it) and know what is truly important (the death of a cute white girl from a rich white family, and certainly not the death of children from the inner cities; I mean, they're all but asking for it).

The Chinese way is about destroying these things we hold dear.

Oh, and you can't criticize secret prisons (they aren't ours, we're just using them) and Guantanamo (it's a military base). At least our leaders have to follow the law, and can't just do what they want when they want.

Yeah, in the US we let the citizens do the killing! (except for the capital punishment, but let's not count that)

Yup, the US foreign policy sucks.

But it does not absolve China for their abuses, many of which are not public knowledge. But hey, I guess it's OK to kill people as long as they are your own - right?

Oh yea, all those stupid chinese are being slaughtered like pigs and people have nothing to eat but their own babies.

I can bet anything on the fact that all of the above posters have never even set foot on china and see the place for themselves, and yet they talk like they knew it inside out, heh.

Keep dreaming.