Chinese Proverb

While I was having snowfights on the weekend, the Olympic torch was making its way through London on it's long (and increasingly controversial) route to China.

Which leads me to wonder:
If a tree falls down in the middle of the forest and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a noise?

and

If hundreds of people protest against Chinese human rights abuses, but the Chinese media block all news of this from reaching the people of China, is there really a protest at all?

One just has to read George Orwell's 1984 to be reminded of the insidious effect of media censorship...