Factotum

It has long been a practise of dictatorships, oppressive regimes, tyrants, etc, to play down the seriousness of situations which show them in a negative light. The Tibetan-Chinese protests of 2008 give us two very different figures:

http://www.tchrd.org/press/2008/pr20080325.html

(Death toll rise to 79, over 1200 arrests and more than 100 disappear in Tibet - Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/21/content_8415574.htm

(Around 500 Tibetan separatists detained in Nepali capital - XinHua News agency China)

The 2 stories are wildly different, China's official XinHua news agency even going as far as saying the trouble was all in Nepal. And that's the only news I could find on the entire website! But those figures come from either side; pro and anti China. So, where's the middle? Let's look at Amnesty:

 http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=17792

(One thousand protesters unaccounted for in Tibet lock-down)

So, Amnesty's figures are closer to the Tibetans.

What would be the point of lying? If the local police are murdering your friends, robbing people or abusing their powers you might want to tell someone about it. If the local police are helping you carry your shopping home, fixing a blocked drain in your home or saving your cat from burning house wouldn't you just want to say how wonderful they are? People with something to hide or something to be scared of downplay the importance of events. Of course the Chinese dictatorship controls the media in China, so it's very difficult for normal people to really know what's going on, but that's not true in Taiwan, where democracy rules (sort of). The Taiwan government says:

http://www.kmt.org.tw/english/page.aspx?type=article&mnum=112&anum=6269&kw=17%2f5+protest (5/17 Anti-Ma March - no figures)

http://english.taipei.gov.tw/TCG/index.jsp?categid=36&newsid=12397 (Mayor Visits 2 Injured Demonstrators at NTUH - no figures)

Other news agencies say:

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=952130&cate_rss=news_taiwan517&cate_img=1139.jpg (Taiwan sit-in protest against President Ma Ying-jeou goes for full 24 hours - 600,000 <estimate> vs. 50,000 <Taipei City Government>)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8054127.stm (Taiwanese march against president - "thousands")

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/429911/1/.html (Taiwan opposition stages all-night protest - 600,000 DPP vs. 80,000 Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin 郝龍斌)

Now then, someon's telling a few lies. Or maybe Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin 郝龍斌 <sounds a bit like Gar-bage bin, doesn't it?!> hasn't received the correct information...? Can a mayor of a city really not know what's going on in the city he has been appointed to look after??!! Can he really be that retarded???! Oh, is it possibly a case of burying your head in the sand like an ostrich? Turning on the good-old dictatorship charms or propaganda? It's hard to get a balanced view, but it's easy to smell the bullshit.