Please don't come to our international events

So get this: I was planning to take photos at the 31st annual Theatre of Nations in Nanjing. The Theatre of Nations is a UNESCO-connected event involving performers from ten or more countries. The whole thing had been arranged. A couple weeks ago, I was told I would be able to come in and photograph the event, no problem.

Today, one day before the opening, I was told by the organizer that things had changed. The organizer, a Mr. Xu, said that because of the current climate in China, photographers from the international community are not invited and the only way I would be able to attend would be to go through an elaborate procedure with the government which he did not anticipate I would get. Well, there's one way to welcome the world.

These are the same sort of shenanigans which went on with the Olympics. It's why so many Olympic venues in Beijing were half-empty and the atmosphere there was so dull and vapid. If China wants to become a world leader, it needs to learn to get over its biases and xenophobia.


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