Jasmine demos in China and their meaning

Reading the International Herald Tribune this morning, I have the feeling that the press is so ashamed to have been taken by surprise by street-led revolutions in Northern Africa and the Middle-East that they are now being pre-emptive and a tad early for China... One does not compensate for the other, and self-fulfilling prophecies always trigger a feeling of defiance in me. I could add that diplomats, at least the ones who are quoted, seem to be in the same state of bewilderment!