Media cycles in China often follow predictable patterns. First a news topic is allowed, even encouraged as a way to teach the public a valuable lesson. But as worries mount over the destabilizing effect of bad news—be it a product-safety scandal or an instance of local corruption—censors step in and a once well-covered subject disappears from the papers. Savvy Chinese media consumers know how to read between the lines. But even China-watchers may have been taken aback by a development in China's financial capital. Shanghaiist, an irreverent independent blog, reported that police in Shanghai had visited bars frequented by expatriates to ask puzzled foreigners whether they were somehow involved with the OWS movement an ocean away. It's unclear what the cops planned to had they happened to corner a Wall Street rally instigator at a Shanghai nightspot. But one thing's quite likely: the incident wouldn't have been given much play in the now spooked state-controlled media.
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