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Olympic protests continue

Chinese under fire over Tibet

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Political protests over the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing this year continue to increase.
Last week, the United States Congress passed a resolution sponsored by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling on Beijing to “end its crackdown on nonviolent Tibetan protesters” and put a stop to “cultural, religious, economic and linguistic repression.”
The legislation was not received warmly by the Chinese, who were busy trying to counter protests along the route of the Olympic Torch with a constant stream of positive press. On the same day that the resolution passed, the Torch was headed to its only U.S. stop: San Francisco.
“Regardless of the Olympic spirits and the principle of depoliticizing sports, a handful of congressmen, without the minimum of morality and conscience, publicly incite the disturbance and sabotage against the Torch Relay, arousing indignation and condemnation of all the Chinese people and people with justice around the globe,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Jiang Yu said last Thursday.
“To hold Beijing Olympic Games is a century-old dream of all the Chinese people at home and abroad, and the shared aspiration of people worldwide, including people in the U.S.,” Yu continued. “The Torch relay in San Francisco is a splendid event for China and the U.S. people of the two countries all wish to see a successful and smooth Torch relay.”
Yu labeled the resolution as anti-Chinese, saying it misrepresented Tibet’s “history and modern reality.”
The resolution also called on China to begin an unconditional “results-based dialogue” with the 72-year-old Dalai Lama to address Tibetan concerns and work toward a long-term solution to the dispute. But such talks seem unlikely, especially given Yu’s remarks about the Holy Leader.
“Dalai is the ruler of the theocratic serfdom system, which is the darkest slavery in human history. There wasn’t any kind of democracy, freedom and human rights, but only serfowner’s privilege under that system. Dalai’s ‘Middle Way’ is to restore his past heaven and put millions of already emancipated serfs back to the dark cage … Dalai lives on lies. His activities have proven again that his rhetorics of peace and nonviolence are lies to deceive the world.”
Yu also said the resolution failed to condemn the “Dalai clique” that China blames for orchestrating the protests that began peacefully March 10 among Buddhist monks in Lhasa before spiraling into violence four days later. Beijing has called the protests a plot to sabotage the Beijing Olympic Games and advance the cause of Tibetan independence.
According to Yu, it is the Dalai Lama who has caused the recent unrest and criminality. “What he has been doing recently is to incite and organize the criminal act of violence in Lhasa.”
The criticism of the Dalai and of Tibetan protestors by China has increased in recent weeks, as nearly every stop on the Olympic Torch Relay has been disrupted by protestors.
After the ceremonies were interrupted across Europe, the Torch route in San Francisco was changed and shortened without notice in order to avoid demonstrations, but the International Olympic Committee said it had no plans to cancel the rest of the relay.
On Thursday, the Dalai Lama said he supports China’s hosting of the Olympics, but insisted that nobody had the right to tell protesters demanding freedom for Tibet “to shut up.”
The U.S. Congress is not the only political body to condemn China for human rights abuses and use the Olympic Games as a means to do so.
The European Parliament is urging all EU members to stay away from the Games as an act of protest against the Chinese treatment of Tibet; German Chancellor Angela Merkel has already announced she will not attend the opening ceremonies. French President Nicholas Sarkozy has indicated he may do likewise.
Here in the U.S., President Bush has been asked to boycott the Games, but has stated firmly that he is looking forward to attending. According to the White House, the president will attend as a sports fan, but vows to raise the concerns over treatment of Tibetans in private with Chinese leaders.
President Bush will be the first sitting U.S. president to ever attend an Olympic Games in a foreign country.

Human Rights Torch Relay 

The Human Rights Torch Relay is on a journey across six continents, 40 countries and an estimated 150 cities — including over 40 in the United States. Saturday, May 3, the Human Rights Torch will come to Indianapolis, with a stop at Ellenberger Park at 1 p.m.
The relay is a global grass-roots campaign to raise awareness of, and stop, the Chinese Communist regime’s human rights crimes prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, including the arrest of 1,878 Falun Gong followers, support of corrupt regimes in Myanmar and Darfur and persecution of Christians, lawyers, reporters and all who have suffered as a result of what critics call Beijing’s pre-Olympics whitewash.
“So many people are affected by what is going on in China,” local organizer Laura Market says. “The issues aren’t political, they are about human rights — and that includes religious freedom, a clean environment and a living wage.”
For more information on the Human Rights Torch Relay campaign, go to humanrightstorch.org. For more information on the event at Ellenberger Park May 3, contact Laura Market at lauramarket@sbcglobal.net.