Meanwhile, in Beijing...

[steepholm]

I realise this isn't the most important aspect of the affair, but isn't it strange that the BBC can't seem to refer to the Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng without sticking the word "blind" in front of his name? I mean, his blindness is there in the suite of things that one might mention when introducing Chen to an audience ignorant of his existence, but why bring it up every time, when it's not a material element of his case? The Beeb leaves a fixation on Abu Hamza's hook to the tabloids, but blindness seems to be a different matter.

Meanwhile, hypermetropic Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected in China soon to hold talks with myopic Vice-Premier Wang Qishan and State Councillor Dai Bingguo, of astigmatism fame.