The upside down flag - a mistake or a subtle message?

Yesterday at the signing of a trade agreement with China the Union Jack (let's end this nonsense that that name is inaccurate) was displayed upside down. (BBC News: Flag mistake at UK-China ceremony) The government has since stated this was a mistake.

Now okay the flag is relatively easy to get the wrong way round but it's not as if the government doesn't use the flag regularly. And the agreement was signed by Peter Mandelson - a man notorious for both control freakery and sending out the right message. He is not someone one associates with casual errors of presentation.

So was this really a error or was the flag in fact being deliberately "flown" upside down as used in an old distress signal?

Ellee Seymour - live and dangerous

For those of you who haven't yet seen it, there is a site on the internet showing whether or not you own website is banned in China. (Great Firewall of China)

Ellee Seymour reports that she is banned. (Ellee Seymour: Why is my blog banned in China?) Clearly her output is unacceptable to the authorities there.

This blog isn't blocked (yet), so I'd like to say that the Chinese government is a despicable regime that is too cowardly to let its citizens find things out for themselves. Very soon the day will come when it is finally overthrown.