Curb your zeal, baby

Xinhua, the state news agency, told the Chinese last week that they "must curb [nationalist] zeal" in reaction to the torch protests in Europe and North America. The Chinese government, and by proxy Xinhua, has been steely in its reaction to the Olympic drama elsewhere. But despite efforts the quell the rage at home, Chinese discontent and reactivity continues to be apparent in Asia and abroad.

Chinese nationalism is big and amorphous but only because it is so hollow. Its lack of substance allows it to shape-shift and emerge in unlikely places, especially where emotions are lit. And it is, thus, incredibly resilient. This kind of ideology is unsettling to the west (although I'm not sure it should be), and taps into our own xenophobia. It is not a difficult thing especially for American politicians to exploit, only enhanced by Taiwan's comfortable seat on the couch in Washington.

To Taiwan's credit, President-elect Ma Ying-jeou and his deputy, Vincent Siew of the Kuomintang have done an exceptional job of bringing the PRC and President Hu Jintao back into the fold, even before taking office. The picture for Tibet does not look so rosy.

But the real accomplishment of Messrs Ma and Siew is the bilateral nature of their dialogue, something the Dalai Lama has been less successful at, perhaps not for his own part but the stubbornness of his followers. Tenzin Gyatso (the Dalai Lama) has made it known in later years that he does not support outright independence for Tibet, something that western supporters are loth to acknowledge or even pay attention to. It is increasingly difficult for Mr Gyatso to hold a dialogue with the Chinese when those inside Tibet are subverting him.

The Tibet issue is so nuanced that it is hard to disentangle it from the threads of nationalism, Buddhism, independence, and the 2008 games. It is no secret that the Chinese have suffered an outrageous PR disaster at the heels of the country's coming out party. But it may serve them in the end to take Xinhua's advice, curb their zeal, take politics out of the equation and end the torch relay. Nicolas Sarkozy would be foolish to boycott the games now, as he threatened earlier, after the relay ordeal in Paris. Barack Obama is equally misguided in calling for the same from George Bush. China is a big, developing country and a flawed one. But they must be left to solve their own problems.