Free at last, et cetera

The release (1) of Aung San Suu Kyi is, of course, to be welcomed. It would have been nice, however, if New Zealand could take pride of place among the nations celebrating it. Since we decided we're okay with useful trade links (2) with a bunch of militaristic despots with scant regard for human rights (3) however, if we're invited to the party at all, it's going to reflect on the remarkable generosity of our host, not on our worthiness.

Of course, we can redeem ourselves by ensuring we're leading the campaign for the release of Liu Xiaobo, nobel prize winner, currently detained by the despots in Beijing. Oh, wait, i see we cut a trade deal with them as well ...

1 - "Aung San Suu Kyi Gains Freedom & Challenges Regime," by Richard S. Ehrlich. Published by Scoop,.co.nz, 16th of November, 2010. (http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1011/S00130/aung-san-suu-kyi-gains-freedom-challenges-regime.htm)
2 - As described previously on lefthandpalm: http://lefthandpalm.blogspot.com/2008/08/is-is-most-unfair.html
3 - As described previously on lefthandpalm: http://lefthandpalm.blogspot.com/2009/08/aung-san-suu-kyi-guilty.html