China in a spin: when public relations is its own worst enemy

China’s leaders are learning PR lessons quickly over their Olympic torch disaster, but not quickly enough. I wrote here a few weeks ago about my meeting with a worried Chinese official from their London embassy. But neither of us thought their public diplomacy strategy would go this badly wrong. Now they have resorted to a tactic pioneered by the White House (and to a lesser extent Downing Street) by playing the terrorist card.