'Free Tibet' flags made in China

Talk about aiding both sides of a conflict! According to the BBC, a factory in Guangdong province in China has discovered that it was making flags for the Tibetan government-in-exile. According to the article, the workers were apparently unaware of what the colors and flag represented.

This is a perfect story about this globalized world we live in. First, the flags were ordered from over seas to support a cause the Chinese government, to put it mildly, frowns upon. Then factory workers notice these same flags being used against the Chinese government via television reports (where protesters were holding them up for Tibet) and by searching for their meaning on the internet. Even more ironic, for the pro-Tibetan side, at many rallies, they will be flying pro-Tibetan flags, made for profit in Chinese factory. (Hat Tip: FP Passport)

For a different take on this "controversy" please visit The Useless Tree: Nationalism, Globalization and "Three in the Morning." I partially agree, but note that even in the US, in what Tom Barnett has billed as the world's first multinational union and "blueprint for globalization", nationalism is alive and well, and from time to time, rears its ugly head; in that, China is hardly alone.