Rupert Murdoch hearts China. No big surprise; the country is chock full of eager consumers, even if their government lags behind in the human rights area. However, the news that HarperCollins would be publishing the Chinese air force's travel guide to China in English surprised us. The News Corp. subsidiary signed an agreement last week in Beijing's Great Hall of the People with the People's Liberation Army to distribute Travel Around China in 25 languages around the world, in the hope it would be designated "an official travel guide for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games." The official HarperCollins press release helpfully omits any mention of the book's relationship to the Chinese military.

The People's Liberation Army and Rupert Murdoch: Two tastes that go great together.