I saw red during the torch run.
But it wasn’t from getting particularly angry and certainly not from wearing rose-coloured glasses.
It was from the thousands of Chinese flags flapping in the wind, temporarily tattooed on the faces of cute girls - not to mention more red clothing than a Santa Claus factory outlet.
Tens of thousands of Chinese visitors and Chinese-Australians from all over the country made the trip to Canberra today.
A people so proud of their nation is a truly beautiful sight: happy faces, waving flags, singing in full voice to their national anthem, drowning out the fellow on the microphone. But what are they so proud of?
If what we're lead to believe via the world media is true, they're proud of a country that embraces militaristic Communism, a country that values men far higher than women and a country that forces its will on its neighbours, denying the people of Tibet their right to sovereignty and self-government.
Now, I've never been one of those ‘the-Asians-are-taking-over’ types, because Asians have been here since before the Gold Rush. They've done the jobs Anglos were too lazy or too 'superior' to do, and now they enjoy wealth and prosperity many of us pitch as the Great Australian Dream.
But I witnessed a scene today not too far from where the Olympic Cauldron was burning that made me question this whole patriotism thing. A small group of Anglo and Asian Free Tibet protesters were making a silent and peaceful point about human rights abuses when they were swamped and subsequently washed away by a sea of red flags.
300 hundred intimidating voices circling the protesters singing the Chinese national anthem in full-voice, in perfect harmony.
They were chanting "Liar! Liar!", "Go home!" and "One China!"
‘One China’ struck me the most, because that's the value these people were demonstrating. A nation that's main value is unity at all costs. A unified nation is a beautiful dream, but these people seemed as though they've never questioned it. And perhaps they're not to blame, with their one avenue of inquiry, the media, predominately run by the State.
Honestly, they were like robots – pre-programmed robots – capable of saying and believing only one thing: ‘One China’.
Now to be fair, this scene only represented a handful of Chinese supporters present in Canberra today. Passions were inflamed like the Olympic Cauldron and these people clearly were insulted that anyone would speak ill of their homeland, especially before rolling cameras.
But these people are clearly unfamiliar with the democratic right of protest: to the extent that in a foreign country (for many of them) they imposed a slice of totalitarian ‘do as we say - think as we say’ politics.
The main protest image plastered all over the TV networks was a Tibetan national screaming "Free Tibet!" whilst being dragged away by the police.
What wasn’t the focus is the fervent pro-China psyche, of which today I've learned more than I have in a lifetime.
In Australia, Chinese visitors have the right to swamp the capital city with red flags, wash-on tattoos and red tracksuits. But in Australia, Chinese visitors have the responsibility to accept the liberal-democratic value of "say what you want".