The torch comes to America and San Francisco will represent America and continue the world-wide opposition to the Chinese repression of Tibetans:
Authorities in San Francisco are bracing for anti-China protests Wednesday as the western U.S. city hosts the latest leg of the Olympic torch's world relay.
San Francisco officials say hundreds of police will patrol the 10-kilometer route of the torch relay in anticipation of demonstrations by thousands of protesters. Officials say they may change the relay's route at the last minute for security reasons.
U.S. authorities hope to avoid a repeat of chaotic scenes in Paris and London in recent days in which anti-China activists disrupted the torch relay.
The Olympic torch arrived in San Francisco early Tuesday and was kept at a secret location until the start of Wednesday's relay. One runner who planned to carry the torch has dropped out.
Meanwhile, in Tibet, the crackdown continues unabated:
Chinese police have detained 953 people suspected of involvement in riots in Tibet last month, the head of the Himalayan region said on Wednesday but added that they were a minority who did not represent the Tibetan people.
Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region government, told a news conference in Beijing that prosecutors had also issued arrest warrants for 403 of those detained, a step that generally leads to formal prosecution.
But he added the rioters were only "an extremely tiny minority" of Tibetans and the monks who took part in protests were also "an extremely tiny minority" of the Buddhist clergy.
The Chinese authorites have even brought along bodyguards for the torch:
China’s blue-clad flame attendants, whose aggressive methods of safeguarding the Olympic torch have provoked international outcry, are paramilitary police from a force spun off from the country’s army.
The squad of 30 young men from the police academy that turns out the cream of the paramilitary security force has the job at home of ensuring riot control, domestic stability and the protection of diplomats.
Questions are now being asked as to who authorised their presence as the torch was carried through London. The Conservatives demanded clarification from the Government last night.
The guards’ task for the torch relay is to ensure the flame is never extinguished – although it was put out three times in Paris – and now increasingly to prevent protesters demonstrating against Chinese rule in Tibet from interfering with it.
But the aggression with which the guards have been pursuing their brief has provoked anger, not least in London where they were seen wrestling protesters to the ground and were described as “thugs” by Lord Coe.
The Olympic medallist and organiser of the 2012 Games was overheard saying that the officials had pushed him around as the torch made its way through the capital on Sunday. He added that other countries on the route should “get rid of those guys”.
“They tried to punch me out of the way three times. They are horrible. They did not speak English . . . I think they were thugs.”
His comments came after Konnie Huq, the former Blue Peter presenter, who was one of the torchbearers on Sunday, described how she had seen the officials in “skirmishes” with the police.
Ms Huq, who was carrying the torch when a pro-Tibet activist tried to snatch the flame, said of the guards: “They were very robotic, full-on . . . They were barking orders like ‘run’ and ‘stop’ and I was like, ‘Who are these people?’.”
Related Previous Topics:
- Pro-Tibet Resistance Moves to Paris, U.S. Capitol
- 60 Minutes Exposes China's Control Over U.S. Economy
- Chinese Repression of Tibetan Monks Worsens
- Chinese Spying on the U.S. on the Rise
- Tibetan Protestors Attack Chinese Embassy
- British Filmmakers Expose Terrible Oppression in Tibet
- Tibet Unrest Continues Despite China Crackdown
How to make a difference...
No comments:
Post a Comment