Walking the Path

Richard Spencer of the Daily Telegraph has a great post on his blog that really sums up why I don’t buy magazines off of the newsstand here anymore:

“The Economist is so important that when it runs something the government doesn’t like the relevant page is ripped out before it is put on the few news stands allowed to sell it. (Tip: last time I found a page missing from a paper I had bought at the Friendship Store in Beijing  – the page, obviously, that I had bought it for – I returned it and successfully demanded my money back.)” 

I’ve switched to getting everything either by subscription or through the web (I use a proxy to view sites the Chinese government objects to). That way I get the whole magazine and don’t have to look at the spot were the ripped out page should be in frustration. I still buy novels here however at least if the Chinese government objects to books they just don’t allow them into the country. Not that doing that is any better.

J.