« The Championship match | Main | Beat this »
April 09, 2008
The Olympic spirit
Free Tibet Protest GG Bridge 4-7-2008 11-42-07 AM, originally uploaded by wooac.
I'm pretty fascinated by the insanity currently surrounding the Olympic flame's march around the world. It just finished a chaotic tour through London and Paris, where Chinese officials actually had to extinguish the flame (though apparently the real flame is kept in a van.) Crazy scenes such as this unfolded:
There were confrontations between the authorities and demonstrators throughout the day as the relay attempted to crisscross Paris, birthplace of the modern Olympic movement, passing landmarks including l'Arc d'Triomphe, the Place de la Concord, The Louvre and Notre Dame.
The torch was eventually driven by bus to its ending destination, where it was displayed again during a public ceremony at a stadium.
Numerous protesters, some armed with fire extinguishers, were taken away by police, The Associated Press reported. At other times police used tear gas to remove demonstrators who lay in the road and tried to block the route.
The chaos came one day after human rights activist demonstrators made the torch's journey through London more like running the gauntlet than a journey of celebration, as UK police made more than two dozen arrests.
Then in San Francisco, some protesters hung Free Tibet banners from the Golden Gate Bridge, and then did enough to force organizers to again reroute the procession:
Massive protests forced officials to drastically change the Beijing Olympic torch route today, with the flame leaving McCovey Cove by bus instead of being carried along San Francisco's Embarcadero by runners.
The torch was driven to Van Ness Avenue where pairs of runners began to carry it north - a surprise route that for a while was lined by more police officers than spectators. By 2:30 p.m., the convoy, which was mostly walking instead of running, turned onto Bay Street then onto Marina Boulevard along the picturesque northern waterfront.
The relay route short was cut short after chaotic morning along the original route, where thousands of people descended to support and protest the torch run. They gave no indication of the route it would take, but City Hall sources familiar with the police response said the current route had been the plan since at least this morning.
Chinese officials, meanwhile, are in full Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf mode:
“A tiny number of Tibet independence elements sought to disrupt the relay of the Olympic Games sacred flame through London.” the official said. “We strongly condemn this vile behaviour.”
That tone was echoed today by Wang Hui, spokeswoman of the Beijing Games organising committee, as she placed the blame on protesters supporting independence for Tibet. “We strongly condemn the disruption of the torch relay by the Tibetan separatists,” she said.
“The torch belongs to the people of the world and these Tibetan separatists who dare to challenge the Olympic spirit will be condemned by the people of the world and are doomed to failure."
To me, this is great. China has a fairly despicable human rights record. If it hopes to become a true world leader, it has to change that. China wants to use the Olympics to show the world how far it has come, but the past few months have shown how much farther they have to go.
entry no. 1122
Posted at April 9, 2008 04:46 PM