CHINA / FRANCE: International Olympic Committee expresses disappointment at torch relay security as China condemns Paris and London protests

Record ID: 332444

  • Title: CHINA / FRANCE: International Olympic Committee expresses disappointment at torch relay security as China condemns Paris and London protests
  • Date: 8th April 2008
  • Summary: (BN03) BEIJING, CHINA (APRIL 8, 2008) (REUTERS) NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ABOUT PARIS LEG OF OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY FRONT PAGE OF THE CHINA DAILY NEWSPAPER CHINA DAILY ARTICLE WITH HEADLINE READING: "FRENCH PASSION GREETS TORCH IN PARIS" CHINA DAILY ARTICLE READING: "WARM RECEPTION IN COLD LONDON"
  • Embargoed: 23rd April 2008 13:00
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  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAAZ5G9PLV4A1L0AD3RD19TY6TQ
  • Story Text: Beijing residents on Tuesday (April 8) expressed their anger at the disruption to the Olympic torch relay in Paris and London over the last two days.
    Officials in Paris on Monday (April 7) were forced to extinguish the Olympic flame and carry it by bus when anti-China protesters tried to seize it. During the British leg the day before, activists waved Tibetan flags and shouted slogans like "Shame on China".
    Although newspapers like China Daily reported on the positive effect of the torch relay, locals in Beijing said organisers should not allow protesters to compromise the smooth-running of the torch relay. They also expressed their confidence in the Chinese government's efforts in solving the problems affecting the international leg of the torch relay.

    "If the torch relay does not progress smoothly, it would be a compromise from the Chinese government towards the protesters. We not only have to continue with the torch relay but also to tell the world loudly that we can do it," said Mao Xianmin, an insurance company worker.

    "The separatists' behaviour has really depressed us because it is such an important occasion for China to be holding the Olympic Games. Tibet cannot be separated from China. The way the Chinese government dealt with the Tibet issue was good," said IT manager Zhang Zi Qing.
    University student Li Luxing said she was in favour of allowing people to voice their opinions but felt that the protesters were using the wrong methods to do so.

    "I'm a little bit angry about what they have done. I think they need some sort of channel to express what they are thinking but they should use proper channels for doing so," Li said.
    Chinese officials also condemned the disruption of the Olympic torch relay in London and Paris, vowing it would not impede the Olympic spirit.
    In a statement posted on the Chinese foreign ministry website (www.fmprc.gov.cn), Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said China expressed "strong condemnation of the deliberate disruption of the Olympic torch relay by 'Tibetan independence' separatist forces, who gave no thought to the Olympic spirit or the laws of Britain and France".
    During the morning bulletin on Chinese state television, it showed some footage of protesters disrupting the torch relay, with the narrator calling it "the action of a small group of Tibetan separatists". The narrator added the disruption had dissatisfied the French people.
    In an interview with CCTV during the torch relay, Chinese ambassador to France, Kong Quan talked about the warm reception French people had given to the Olympic torch.

    "In this process we have noticed that there are a lot of enthusiastic spectators on the French side, shouting loudly 'Come on Beijing, Come on Beijing Olympics'. I am deeply moved by their expression of friendship. I believe that through our progress in preparing for the Olympics, we will be able hold a very special Olympic Games," Kong said.
    China had hoped the Olympic torch relay would by a symbol of unity in the run-up to the Games, which will open in Beijing on August 8.
    Instead, the torch has become a lightning rod for protesters advocating Tibetan independence from Chinese Communist rule, as well as other causes, following a wave of unrest throughout China's Tibetan regions.
    Beijing residents and Chinese are not the only ones feeling angry and let down. In Beijing, members of the International Olympic Commission (IOC) were reluctant to answer questions about the events in London and Paris as they gathered for a meeting between the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) and the IOC Executive Board.
    Speaking to Reuters Television outside the meeting, IOC member Alex Gilady said the security in Paris had let him down.

    "I am not very happy. I'm very disappointed with the inability of the security forces to control the flame and I'm very unhappy with the demonstrators who look at the flame as a Chinese flame, while it is an international Olympic Committee flame. And we are not happy, we bite our tongue and we go on," Gilady said.
    Gilady also said that it is the rights of the bearers of the torch to run freely, and reminded the activists to tackle their own problems before dealing with world issues.
    Because human rights is also the rights of the athletes to compete, it's also the rights of the runners of the torch to run freely, and it's also the rights of the people around their own capital that have no human rights. So before you are taking care of the world, maybe your back yard comes first,"Gilady added.
    The torch heads to San Francisco on Wednesday (April 9), where it is expected to face continued obstacles.
    Steven Roush, Chief of Sport Performance of U.S. Olympic Committee was at the meeting in Beijing. He said the U.S. is a free country and they were aware of what might happen once the torch arrives at San Francisco.

    "Our intent was always to have a safe relay, so there's not been any changes. I think we felt we had a security plan in place that was adequate to take care of and anticipated there would be some voice of concern from the different groups as it came to San Francisco," Roush said.
    The Olympic flame is expected to remain a magnet for anti-Chinese protests ahead of the Games in Beijing, with campaigns aimed at Tibet and also at Sudan, where critics say Beijing has not done enough to help stop deadly strife in Darfur.
    People outside China's political center Beijing are also doing what they can to ensure the torch relay can go well.
    In Xinzheng City, Henan Province, over 20,000 Chinese people coming from all over China and even aboard, gathered together to pray for the coming games. Twenty-nine former Olympic gold medallists showed up at the ceremony and chanted with the rest of the people on a rainy day.
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