I was just reading the Vancouver Province from yesterday, and amazingly, there were three (that I saw) mentions of the girl who got replaced in the Opening Ceremonies by a lip-syncing counterpart with a prettier face. Seriously, is this such a big deal? That's news from five full days ago (what a horribly biased headline, by the way..."banned" is much too strong a word).
I haven't asked anyone here yet, but I get the feeling this really isn't that big a deal to the locals. Again, it goes back to the population problem: with so many people in the country, everyone's replaceable. So, what the Communist government gives, it can also easily take away. People know that, and as long as they're not too put out by it, and it seems to be for the common good (the Olympics clearly qualify) they're fine with it. I'm not saying it's right, but that's just the way it is. This kind of mentality is so ingrained in the Chinese culture that officials didn't even see a reason to lie about it.
“The reason why little Peiyi was not chosen to appear was because we wanted to project the right image. The reason was for the national interest."
-Chen Qigang, composer and music director for the Opening Ceremonies
Internet posters seem to feel for the girl that got replaced, but nobody seems too worked up about it. Even the guy who pushes for an apology seems to be doing it more to sate the international community than the girl who got shafted.
And don't give me crap about the girl's self-esteem. The Chinese have very little regard for wishy-washy feelings like that. Either you make it or you don't in a country of 1.3 billion. Live with it.
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