The scent of jasmine has spread, and with the incredible drama that accomanied the unfolding of the

crisis in Egypt, its reverberations are being felt around the world. Historical parallels abound from the Shahs Tehran to Deng Xiaopings Beijing. From Tunisia to Jordan, the blood of the people is up. Reactions to the situation within the region all constitute the same degree of fear and panic, with countries like Jordan replacing its government in reaction to the protests on its own streets. While the United States and the European Union, both with heavy investments in Egypt, understandably pushed for a transition to a more broad-based, democratic government, the reaction from two of the largest rising powers in the world was a little more unpredictable. China and India have both reacted in very different ways to the crisis in Egypt. For China, the Lotus Revolution, as it is known, resurrects rather unpleasant memories of the Tiananmen killings in 1989, not to mention the cyber-eruption the Party faced over its reaction to the awarding of theNobel Peace Prize to jailed dissident (and Tiananmen leader) Liu Xiaobo. Therefore, its public reaction has, hitherto, been careful and politically correct. In the only official commentary on the uprising, the spokesman of Chinas Foreign Ministry, Hong Lei, said: Egypt is a friend of China and we hope Egypt will return to social stability and normal order as soon as possible. While the statement itself is appropriate, the sentiments behind it are not so nicely diplomatic. The memory of the bloodshed in Tiananmen Square in 1989 is not something the Chinese Communist Party is able to put to rest. Though China suffered heavily in the aftermath of Tiananmen in terms of reputation, trade and politics, the Chinese Communist Party is still very much in power. Democracy is not a word that is looked upon kindly in China, and given the recent furore, both international and - over the internet - national, around Xiaobo, the news of the events in Cairo can hardly be welcome. Add to this that inflation is set to rage throughout 2011, and that consequently the

rich-poor divide in China will yawn even wider, it will not be easy to discount the possibility, however faint, of a people power style uprising. No wonder, then, that the media has immediately been gagged. All Chinese editors have been told by the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) Propaganda Department that they can only use news dispatches by the official Xinhua News Agency. Moreover, Netizens and bloggers are not allowed to discuss Egypt in the Chinese equivalents of Facebook or Twitter. Egypt-related keyword searches on various search engines such as Sina.com, Netease.com and Weibo produce error messages instead. Meanwhile, the administration has moved fast to divert any more attention from the issue by speedily dispatching chartered flights to pick up Chinese citizens stranded in Egyptian cities. A travel advisory has been put up on the website of the Chinese embassy in Cairo, warning citizens not to visit Egypt. It is cyberspace that has Chinese authorities really worried. China, which has the world's biggest online community with more than 475 million internet users, employs a vast censorship apparatus. While the authorities no longer widely restrict access to outside information, recently opening up blocked websites such as Wikipedia, the government has voiced particular anxiety over the impact of social media, restricting access to information-sharing websites like Twitter and Facebook. The one medium of information that was not available during 1989, the internet is now being used by millions of Chinese citizens to express opinions that would otherwise go unheard. It is, in other words, the biggest tool for political destabilization in the hands of the countrys citizens. And in this, Egypt is a exemplary revolutionaries in Cairo spread the seeds of the revolution using Twitter and Facebook. So, the state media is losing no time in demonizing the protests, and decrying the motives behind them. An editorial in the official Global

Times pointed out that Western-style institutions and norms ill-suited the people of Africa and the Middle East, stating, Color revolutions will not bring about real democracyIn general, democracy has a strong appeal because of the successful models in the West. But whether the system is applicable in other countries is in question, as more and more unsuccessful examples arise. Yet a number of respected Chinese intellectuals have called attention to the fact that irrespective of the element of outside interference, there are similarities between China and Egypt regarding the multiple grievances of the underclasses. Yuan Weishi , a historian at Sun YatSen University in Guangzhou, warns of the dire consequences of ignoring calls for political reform. "The mainland public now have strong awareness of their rights and they can never return to the old days when they were subject to manipulation and had no rights to voice their criticism," he says. Chinas leaders are attempting to head off any potential social unrest adopting a more personal approach when interacting with the people. Both President Hu and Premier Wen have pledged to pay more attention to the livelihood of the people, especially in times of inflation. It remains to be seen, however, whether the CCPs propaganda offensive, in addition to its time-tested carrot-and-stick approach of mixing economic inducements for its citizens with repressive measures, can keep the lid on now that the winds of change are sweeping through the far reaches of Africa and the Middle East. India, however, has gone down another path altogether. Adopting a far more cautious approach, New Delhi has stuck to refining its policy as per the circumstances. While critics have argued that the response, when it did come, was weak and overly guarded, India had no choice but to watch and wait.

As the largest democracy in the world, it was felt that New Delhi should have been stronger in its approval for the protests in Cairo. But a few compelling factors led the government to delay before responding. Firstly, it had no idea how long the street protests could be sustained for. Secondly, no good would come of jumping the gun and openly opposing Mubarak, especially if he survived. Then came the interests of India in Egypt to protect its huge diaspora and $2 billion dollars worth of investments in the country. So it was no surprise that Indias statement by Foreign MinisterS.M.Krishna came on the heels of US President Barack Obamas demand for a peaceful transition to democracy in Egypt. Since then, the swelling Egyptian uprising has prompted the Ministry of External Affairs to rethink its outlook on the West Asia region as a whole, an imperative in the light of Indias high level of investments. More than 5.5 million Indians live and work in the region - nearly 6,000 of whom live in Egypt - accounting for billions of dollars in remittance payments. The region is also Indias main source of energy, with two-way trade worth $110 billion, while many Indians visit the region for both tourism and pilgramages. The impact of the revolution in Cairo is already producing economic consequences, with the Indian Economic Advisory Council warning of a temporary increase in oil and commodity prices, leading to inflation and a tightening of the countrys monetary policy. Indian consumer firms such as Marico, Dabur and Asian Paints have already shut down their Egyptian units. Statements issued from the firms said that the longer the unrest lasted, the heavier the impact on business would be. Foreign office officials are fervently hoping the situation does not boil over, as India will face difficulties evacuating the thousands of its citizens in Cairo and other cities. But perhaps of more concern for domestic policy makers, intelligence experts have warned the government that the Lotus Revolution could well have a copycat effect of sorts on the people of the troubled region of Jammu and

Kashmir. Officials, though, feel the Gulf countries are less susceptible to volatile street protests than others. The Gulf not only has a wider resource base from its oil revenues to pacify dissent, it has shown a propensity to coopt, rather than coerce voices of opposition. In addition, the Gulf is dominated by monarchies which are largely based on strong tribal loyalties, thus imparting legitimacy to its rule and providing elbow room to undertake political manoeuvres. This is insofar as the Gulf is concerned. What will happen if the Lotus Revolution does not come to the end so desperately desired by the Egyptian people? For now, India prefers to watch and wait.

Setting the scene Today the media is hailing it as The End of an Era and the rising of A New Dawn. The unique thing about the Egyptian Revolution is that world media cannot deny nor ignore the raw achievement of the people. This has meant that, surprisingly, most of outlets have seen the uprising as a good thing. While this article will take a step back to look at some of the subtleties of recent coverage, there appears to have been a largely fair and observant portrayal by the worlds media, with even Fox News allowing a distinct tone of hopefulness to come through their coverage. Having said this, Egypt is at the centre of the world right now. Its border with Gaza, its position between the Middle East and Africa, and now the social and world media concentration on the Revolution, means that political players must be very careful in what they vocalise about it, as must their media. The Revolution holds a unique position. On one hand, the egyptian people are fighting for what is essentially the cornerstone of the West democracy. On the other, international interest in Israel and the

Middle East, and the domino effect Egypt is having on Algeria, Jordan and Yemen means that this is a dangerous time for Western governments. In a recent lecture, globalisation and development expert Jairo LugoOcando made the observation that it appeared as though the Western press were preparing to justify an upcoming attack on Egypt. Whether it comes through accusations of Iran blocking media coverage of the event, or CNNs curious focus on Obamas diplomatic difficulties, media coverage of the Egyptian Revolution will undoubtedly produce countless studies which define the dialogue of Western media outlets and their governmental interests.

Western media During initially lukewarm coverage, the words Egypt In Crisis (a stark linguistic contrast to Al Jazeera Englishs Egyptian Revolution) have been implanted on the bottom left hand corner of BBC viewers screens. This overriding title adds to the BBCs colonialist semantics of a failed state, focusing on dictatorship and economic instability. On the whole, the BBC celebrated the over-throw, providing a fair picture of the journey the Egyptian people had made but without providing a suitable backdrop of context. This goes against the essence of what the BBC is about, impartiality is at its heart, and the impartiality guidelines include ensuring context is supplemented to provide as complete a picture as possible. The Emergency Law and what it has actually meant for the Egyptian people has been minimally discussed by the BBC. The BBC also, somewhat predictably, shifted a space of their homepage to allow

the voice of Israel, as Fox News has also done, and of right-wing politicians, which support Israels blockade of Gaza (heavily supplemented by Mubarak) such as John Bolton, who has been promoting his own agenda; If Mubarak falls in Egypt, Israel should bomb Iran. In this case the BBC comes out better than most other British media outlets it may arguably put a taint on the level of corruption the Egyptians were fighting against but it has also let us see the rightwing, capitalist, Western view in stark clarity. The BBC website has again proved to be a valuable catalogue of dissenting views - and presenting these together and against one another allows us to directly question them. The British press, on the other hand, was slightly more dissenting. The spectrum of coverage allows one main intonation to be clear the danger of the Muslim Brotherhood. Murdochs empire celebrated on the surface with everyone else, but The Times seemed to be most weighted in providing official source opinion about the need for international intervention.The Daily Mail was far more outspoken: Forget the Facebook idealist, they cried, its the brotherhood the West should fear. Even the Guardian debated the potential Taliban treatment. Its fair and important for the Western media to look into the potential candidates for Egypts leadership. But the focus on fear, a language of terror and evil which has laced the discourse of media for several years, allows it to have a far greater impact than mere impartial investigation. Chris Hedges' (former New York Times journalist) recent observation that, any real opening of the political system in the Arab worlds most populated nation will see an empowering of these Islamic movements, is undoubtedly a terrified undercurrent running through

the British government's perception of the events in Egypt and this will ultimately translate to the media.

Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English has provided extensive coverage, supplementing their live footage with multiple opinions and outlooks. The one subtlety of its media representation which could be picked upon is its straying into non-objective journalism, by asking its journalists to describe their personal feelings as young Egyptians themselves. Though Im personally all for journalism of attachment, I fear that this division from impartiality will only give ammunition to democratic governments led by men who want to see the squashing of multiculturalism. AJE talked to many people on the ground, so why did they need to get their journalists to impound the sense of victory? It spoke too loudly for an impartial news channel. However, returning to issues of context, AJE is also one of the only channels to concentrate some coverage on the Palestinian Papers , and note the spontaneous bombing of Palestinian medical supplies by Israel bombings which began as the rest of the world started to really sit up and take note of the iconic events occurring.