China has announced that around 100 countries have voiced moral support for its recent actions against Tibetan protestors (Tibet's exile government claims 130 protestors have died). Xinhua, China's state news agency, ran a list of some of the said 100 countries (more here) -- and oh, what a list it is.

Highlights include:

• North Korea and Turkmenistan: both of whom actually managed to do worse than China in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index last year.
• Côte d'Ivoire: the number six Failed State (2007), dubbed "one of Africa's most dangerous countries for both local and foreign media" by Reporters Without Borders.
• Syria and Belarus: both recently proclaimed as among the worst human rights offenders by the U.S. State Department -- again, outdoing China.

In a list like this, the inclusion of Serbia actually seems to improve legitimacy levels.

Though the list may seem unsavory, Xinhua explains in a story today that German, British, and American media are actually full of lies. Through a series of "truth" and "lies" stills taken of Western media coverage of the recent riots, Xinhua makes a good case for why support from an up-and-coming superpower like Lesotho is far more valuable than say, a vote of confident from Nancy Pelosi.

(Thanks to Passport reader AS for the tip.)