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The red tea lights are the same: outside Kunming railway station; insidethe Maidan (square) in Kiev.
Lights lit in memory of 29 knifed to death on Saturday by Uighur separatists in south west China, and 77 killed during successful demonstrations against pro-Russian President Victor Yanukovych, who fled the Ukrainian capital on 21st February.
Lively little lights to take away the stillness; unholy stillness which otherwise outlives removal of human remains.
Meanwhile in the Crimea, an Orthodox priest (just don’t say ‘Russian Orthodox’ to thewrong person) uses what looks like a washing-up brush to spray holy water on soldiers from both sides – Ukrainian security forces and troops from the Russian Federation.
The diplomatic situation seems too big for them; absurdly large like the hats on theheads of Black Sea sailors. While Russian infantry with chins tucked into dust masks are perhaps trying to hide their tender years; kissable mouths would give them away as conscripts.
Yet any Ivan can easily become Terrible, should the situation demand it. Terrible as theknife-wielding posse which ran riot – slitting and stabbing – through Kunming station, Yunnan province.
On the periphery of the world economy, in far-flung provinces and narrow peninsulas,the slow pace of development can turn into its opposite at almost any moment; outrunning the most mercurial diplomat, turning gunboats and sabre-rattling into live ammunition and thousands of little red candles.