With a friend like this...

The Oct 2 edition of ABC (Australia) News ran a story titled, “Chinese reporter’s outburst in the UK could be a sign of things to come”.

“The incident where a Chinese state media reporter disrupted a Conservative Party conference in the United Kingdom, slapping a volunteer, comes as China is more forcefully asserting its world view on the global stage,” writes China correspondent Bill Birtles.

The story details the provocation by a CCTV reporter disrupting a UK political meeting. It then details a number of similar incidents occurring around the globe including the guard slapping the tourist incident in Bangkok.

All the events reported on contained the same elements: the incidents were staged, the incidents were filmed.

Chinese government entities responded immediately to those films with megaphone diplomacy containing threats and demands.

There is not the slightest doubt these in- cidents are scripted and there is a reporting protocol known to all Chinese tourists.

In the case of the UK, Naru and Perth incidents there is a political element. The ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Wang Li is seen as the conductor of these shams.

You can bet odds on that, in the next day or two, the Chinese government in one form or another will attack ABC. China already bans its website.

Are these the friends Thailand really wants?

When I first came here 30 years ago, I was reading all the stories about how Thailand kept its independence when surrounded by greedy foreigners.

Thailand has lost its independence to China. The ultra-nationalists Xi and Wang Li see the Chinese as superior to others, and Thailand is nothing but a convenience store. Censoring the guard for doing his job is kowtowing to China.

Whatever happened to the clever Thai who could see the other for what they really are? GEOFFREY OSBORN