This time, it’s not about a little girl lip-syncing to another little girl’s vocal performance that shows the country still has a lot to learn about public relations. Instead, China has done something a little more drastic than portraying all its children as cute and cuddly. This time it blocked access to one of the most popular music sites on the Net.

That’s right. China blocked access to iTunes.

The iTunes blockade is a result of China trying to discourage dissent within its borders regarding Tibet. The decision comes apparently after officials learned that Olympic athletes were downloading the album Songs For Tibet featuring performances by artists including Sting, Moby, Suzanne Vega and Alanis Morissette and produced by The Art Of Peace Foundation.

It turns out the foundation had provided free downloads of the album to Olympic athletes, encouraging them to download and listen during the Games as an act of subtle protest.

It may have taken a while, but China’s powers-that-be eventually heard about it. Starting August 18, some iTunes users in the country experienced technical problems when attempting to access the music download store, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The cyber blockade started within 24 hours of the International Campaign for Tibet announcing on its Web site that “over 40 Olympic athletes in North America, Europe and even Beijing ” had downloaded the album, thus showing that China, while still not clear on the free speech concept, does have impeccable timing.