Is This Actually A Good Sign?

From CNN:

The 50-year-old actress suggested last week that the devastating May 12 earthquake in China could have been the result of bad karma over the government's treatment of Tibet. That prompted the founder of one of China's biggest cinema chains to say his company would not show her films in his theaters, according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter.

Sharon Stone's comments were inappropriate. Did those individuals who suffered through 9/11 on the receiving end of karmic retaliation for American foreign policy? Since those individuals had nothing to do with the policy, much like those suffering in China, I would say no.

However, when I first read "China bans" I thought it was a government action, but it appears it is not, but instead the choice of the person who bears the consequences - the owner. Is this a good sign? Consider:

1. A foreigner criticized the Chinese government, and a private citizen of China actually heard them.
2. The government did not ban Sharon Stone movies, an individual who is under no compulsion to show her movies in the first place is declining to do so in the future.

Maybe the Chinese government didn't have a chance, maybe they are pushing this person behind the scenes to ban it, and maybe they let this criticism be heard because Chinese nationalism seems to be at an all-time high. But maybe it is a good sign that the Chinese are inching closer to a freer society.