Wall flowers

Wall flowers. Hey, I want my money back! They told me that on November 9, 1989, the Wall had come down and they would be celebrating the 20th anniversary of its fall here.

Wall flowers

Hey, I want my money back! They told me that on November 9, 1989, the Wall had come down and they would be celebrating the 20th anniversary of its fall here.

Um. Sir, this is China. The wall you’re talking about was in Berlin.

But hang on. What’s this then?

This, Sir, is the Great Wall of China. It is unlikely to ever be taken down.

Oh. But wouldn’t you like it to come down and end decades of people of the same nation being apart?

We don’t need to bring down this wall for that, Sir. Our policy on the Tibetan Autonomous Region is quite well-known.

Surely you’re not suggesting that Tibetans and Chinese are like the old East Germans and West Germans.

Of course not, Sir. We never needed a Russian with a red patch on his head to bring the same people together or stop World War III.

So what has been your trick?

To infest the world with our cheap, defective products. They keep the world safe and make everyone our customer.

Do say: So where the hell is the Wailing Wall now?

Don’t say: All in all, you’re just another brick in the Great Hall of the People.