Olympics Torch Excess Enthusiasm in Shenzen
PaPaPeng
Tania Branigan in Beijing
The Guardian,
Saturday May 10 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/10/olympicgames2008.china
China's Olympic torch relay has been facing a new threat since its
return to domestic soil - excess enthusiasm from spectators anxious to
glimpse the flame.
Thousands of onlookers broke through a police line in Shenzhen and
poured into the route of the torch, briefly delaying its journey, an
official involved in the relay told Reuters.
Millions of people reportedly took to the streets to witness its
passage and 15,000 police officers - four-fifths of the city's total
force - oversaw events.
Witnesses have also reported that the path of the flame had to be
changed in Guangzhou due to the sheer size of the crowds, and said
that the torch was extinguished accidentally as security forces
struggled to hold them back.
The national flags, cheering and general jubilation greeting the flame
this week are in stark contrast to the protests and disruption which
dogged the flame's international journey, sparking a nationalist
backlash in China.
Security remains tight, with paramilitaries and police jogging
alongside the torch. Only state media are allowed in the convoy which
follows it and the few thousand people invited to the opening and
closing ceremonies in each place have to pass through security
checkpoints with metal detectors.
But the greatest risk to security appears to be the desperation of
people to glimpse its passage. "The crowd was so enthusiastic, things
got too crowded," the Shenzhen official, who declined to be named,
told Reuters. He said similar disruption had occurred in Guangzhou.
The torch is travelling through every Chinese province and major city
on its way to the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing on August 8.
The state media reported yesterday that couples are even requesting
that photographers take their wedding pictures along the route.
But its passage through Tibet - and the ascent of Everest with a
separate flame there on Thursday - have been criticised by Tibetan
support groups overseas, who say that China is making a political
statement about its control of the region.
aozo...@aol.com
> Chinese crowds delay torch relay
> Tania Branigan in Beijing
> The Guardian,
>
> China's Olympic torch relay has been facing a new threat since its
> return to domestic soil - excess enthusiasm from spectators anxious to
> glimpse the flame.
>
> Thousands of onlookers broke through a police line in Shenzhen and
> poured into the route of the torch, briefly delaying its journey, an
> official involved in the relay told Reuters.
>
> Millions of people reportedly took to the streets to witness its
> passage and 15,000 police officers - four-fifths of the city's total
> force - oversaw events.
>
> Witnesses have also reported that the path of the flame had to be
> changed in Guangzhou due to the sheer size of the crowds, and said
> that the torch was extinguished accidentally as security forces
> struggled to hold them back.
>
Where have ve seen this before?:
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/triumph-will3a.jpg
http://www.jamd.com/search?assettype=g&assetid=3241980&text=welcome+german+troops
http://www.iwchildren.org/holocast/hitlrwrshp1.jpg
http://isurvived.org/Pictures_iSurvived-3/sweden-welcome_HITLER.GIF
YaluRiverRosie
SO FEARFUL are the Chinese communists that visiting athletes and
reporters will exchange complaints about the fake sense of order and
Potemkin Village aura surrounding the polluted Olympic Village that
the Chinks plan to post two plain clothes police officers at every
door in the housing, recreation, and restaurant areas of the complex.
Moreover, each dormitory and eating place will be bugged for voice
reception and amplification to capture any discussions of Chinese
government, culture, politics, trade, "news," Internet, and military
issues.
"Violators" will be ushered away from the place of "misunderstanding"
and taken to the Olympic Administraton Office for "debriefing."
Anything to make visitors feel relaxed and comfy.
------------------------------
"Olympic Gag Order"
"Why should China's repression of free speech be imposed on athletes
from the rest of the world?"
Editorial
Sunday, May 11, 2008; B06
WHEN BEIJING was bidding to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, part of its
pitch was that the games would help promote human rights in China, and
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) bought it. But with the Aug.
8 opening ceremonies less than three months away, it looks as if the
reverse is the case -- that China's repressive norms are affecting the
rest of the world.
Consider a letter the IOC recently sent to individual countries'
Olympic committees, clarifying its policy on political expression --
even nonverbal expression -- by athletes anywhere within Olympic
venues. Rule 51.3 of the Olympic charter, the letter noted, provides
that "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial
propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."
And, according to the letter, the text of which was first reported by
the Associated Press, that ban applies very broadly indeed,
encompassing "conduct of participants at all sites, areas and venues,"
which includes "all actions, reactions, attitudes or manifestations of
any kind by a person or group of persons, including but not limited to
their look, external appearance, clothing, gestures, and written or
oral statements."
The IOC's list of thought crimes discourages campaigns such as the
Color Orange, which is urging athletes to wear orange as a protest of
Chinese repression. It appears to rule out a move among French
athletes to wear a badge marked with the mild slogan "For a Better
World." It could even be construed to permit the political scrutiny of
hand signals and "attitudes." Cowardly as it is, this Orwellian edict
is depressingly consistent with previous British and New Zealander gag
orders -- from which those Olympic committees later retreated under
pressure. The United States must stick to its position that athletes,
no less than other citizens, are free to express themselves peacefully
in Beijing or anywhere else.
The IOC claims that it is merely upholding the nonpolitical tradition
of the Olympics. To be sure, not every international gathering has to
be a summit. There is a role for meetings devoted to goals such as the
one declared in the Olympic Charter: "to place sport at the service of
the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful
society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." But even
that gauzy objective is, actually, political -- it takes negotiation
to establish peace, and it takes justice, freedom and human rights to
secure human dignity.
No worthy public goal can be pursued without a measure of controversy,
debate and, yes, conflict. Let the struggles among and within nations
be peaceful. But don't pretend they don't exist -- much less try to
stamp them out for the sake of a commercialized extravaganza. In
helping China do just that, the Olympic "movement" risks sacrificing
values far more important than athletic competition.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/10/AR2008051002265.html