China Won't Alter Olympic Torch Route Despite Violence In Tibet
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Jiang Says Torch Relay Will Go
Through Tibet Despite Protests |
BOCOG officials Wednesday said that "despite violent protests in Tibet, China remains steadfast in its plan to take the Olympic torch to Tibet and to Mount Everest" prior to this summer's Beijing Games, according to Macur & Lague of the N.Y. TIMES. The torch Monday will be lighted in Athens, Greece, and "after a global tour of 135 cities, is to reach the top of Mount Everest sometime in May." Following Everest, the torch relay will go through Tibet capital Lhasa, the "site of deadly riots last week and a continuing Chinese crackdown." BOCOG Exec VP Jiang Xiaoyu said yesterday that he was "confident that the relay would be held as planned, despite its course through restive Tibetan regions, which he said had 'basically been stabilized'" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/20).
VIOLENCE AFFECTING IMAGE? Beijing's Tsinghua Univ. Institute of Int'l Studies Dir Yan Xuetong said of recent problems surrounding China, "The question is not whether these problems tarnish China's image around the world, but how much?" In Chicago, Osnos & Fang report "in a nod to global pressure for a peaceful resolution in Tibet," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown indicated that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Wednesday told him that "he is prepared to hold discussions on Tibet with the Dalai Lama under certain conditions." But China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs "swiftly added that Wen's remarks represent no policy change." Osnos & Fang note that French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner this week "caused a stir" by suggesting that the European Union "should consider a boycott of the opening ceremony, though not the full games, to signal displeasure with China's handling of the Tibet protests." President George W. Bush and European leaders have said that they "would not support a full boycott of the games -- something even the Dalai Lama opposes -- and the [IOC] is appealing to countries to avoid talk of boycotts." The response by foreign governments to the unrest in Tibet "has been relatively muted, reflecting the growing ties and interdependence that China has with the world." Bush has given "no indication that he will scrap his plan to attend" this summer's Olympic Games (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/20).
REAX: VANOC yesterday "spoke out against" a boycott of the Beijing Games. VANOC CEO John Furlong said that a boycott "would only end up hurting the athletes" (TORONTO SUN, 3/20). In Pittsburgh, Shelly Anderson writes, "Striking out at China by undermining the Olympics would serve no purpose other than to punish the athletes, coaches and fans. It's highly doubtful it would change anything internally in China and might even make things worse for some if embarrassed leaders lash out or abandon the notion of trying to look good for the rest of the world. Luckily, the latest cry for a boycott seems to have quickly settled into a whimper" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 3/20). A Portland OREGONIAN editorial states Kouchner's call to boycott the opening ceremony "strikes us as about as courageous as accepting an invitation to someone's house for dinner but skipping the cocktail hour on moral grounds." Congress in October awarded the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Gold Medal, and the editorial states, "It seems only polite, then, for [the U.S.] to indicate some displeasure at China's determination to drive him, his people and his culture into oblivion. There is, of course, an alternative. We could just sit and watch, sacrificing a culture on the altar of exports and IOUs" (Portland OREGONIAN, 3/20).
SAN FRANCISCO TREAT? In S.F., Wyatt Buchanan reports the Olympic torch relay is scheduled to travel through S.F. April 9, and the city's Board of Supervisors today will consider a resolution urging "the public official who represents the city during the ceremonies to 'make publicly known that the [torch] is received with alarm and protest." But S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom said while he has "very serious concerns" about the situation in Tibet, the city is "privileged" to be the relay's only stop in North America. USOC Chief Communications Officer Darryl Seibel said that he "could not remember any instances in which protests accompanied the torch as it passed through U.S. cities'' (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/20).
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