All Disquiet on China's Western Front

The Economist reports on the political revolution brewing in Kirgizstan. Toppling dicatators seems to be the welcome new-new thing in our world (except of course in Pakistan).

Sol Sanders alerts us to the fact that this Kirgiz revolution is taking shape on China's western frontier -- adjacent to its restive Uighurs in Sinkiang. He sums up as follows:

For the Chinese, erosion or overthrow of what had appeared to be a friendly authoritarian government in full control, is a reminder of a classic nightmare scenario tracing back to the 1989 overthrow of their Romanian ally and acolyte, Nicolai Ceaucescu. On the eve of the collapse, China’s superspy, Qiao Shi, had attended the national congress of the Romanian Communist Party, reporting before he left Romania it was in fairly good [Communist] condition. As it turned out, the regime imploded and Ceausescu was executed shortly after Qiao Shi returned home.

No one is predicting overthrow of the Chinese colonial regime in Singkiang, nor in China proper. But growing public demonstrations against corrupt and arbitrary rule in China allied with the wave of popular uprisings across Asia must be giving pause to some in the Forbidden City.