Pro-Tibet Flags: Made in China

Manufacturing-powerhouse China has factories producing just about everything, but workers in southern China were still surprised to learn that they were manufacturing one of China's most unwelcome symbols: pro-Tibet flags.

One factory in Guangdong province had to close down after workers realized they were manufacturing the offiicial flag of the Tibetan government in exile, also known as the "Snow Lion Flag." 

According to the BBC, workers thought they were making colorful flags, until they saw footage from Hong Kong of Tibetan supporters waving their flags.  Since the flags aren't big sellers in mainland China, it's an understandable mistake.

The factory has stopped manufacturing and exporting the flags, but many flags have already been shipped overseas.  Authorities are now beefing up their inspection of shipments that might be exporting more flags.

They're definitely getting extra use these days.  On Sunday police in Nepal detained 150 Tibetans who were demonstrating near the Chinese Embassy.  The protests were peaceful, and police did not use force, but over the past month and a half, Nepal has detained hundreds of Tibetans for protesting outside the Chinese Embassy.  The protesters are generally released after a few hours.

Chinese leaders have agreed to meet with an envoy from the government of the Dalai Lama in exile, but the six rounds of talks since 2002 haven't resulted in any notable changes.  With the upcoming Olympics, both sides have a greater motivation to resume negotiations, but the likelihood of a positive outcome is pretty low.  

We'll probably see many more Tibetan and Chinese flags in the upcoming months, though chances are most of the newly exported Tibetan flags will not be made-in-China.