For much of the last two weeks its seemed as if China couldn't catch a PR break around the Torch Relay. In fact, the New York Times has even gone so far as to publish an article on how meticulous the PR of the Tibetan exiles has been. But it appears that the protesters scored something of an own-goal when they were photographed trying to wrestle the torch away from disabled Chinese athlete Jin Jing in Paris.

Oiwan Lam, of Global Voices, has cited to a post suggesting that the "protestor" may have been linked to pro-China demonstrators. That strikes Imagethief as a touch too conspiracy-theory for his tastes. The simplicity test suggests that the situation was what it seemed: an over-excited protester without the PR nous to realize that images of him looking thuggish and trying to snatch the torch away from a wheelchair-bound young woman wouldn't necessarily help his cause. I stand ready to receive any conclusive evidence to the contrary.

The incident has been rallied into a major domestic propaganda vehicle:

Actions speak louder than words, however the words of Olympic torch hero Jin Jing trumpeted louder than her brave deeds. "I would die to protect the torch," she said.

Wow. Strong stuff. The rest of the article is similar, and propels Ms. Jin to lofty heights of heroism (as do several other articles in the domestic media). While Imagethief doesn't expect this incident to reverse China's international PR fortunes, Ms. Jin does provide the domestic audience with a powerful, positive symbol at a time when it needed one. And she's better looking than Lei Feng to boot.

At least it's a change from another attack on the "Dalai Lama clique", or current public enemy no. 2, US Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

A propaganda gift

See also:

Danwei: Who is winning the Olympic PR war?